I am Spiderwoman

I have two car seats in my car, which is a big deal considering my car only holds four people.  Now, having the car seats in the car is not as big of a deal as what they are accompanied by (mind you, at some points there are children in them).  They are currently joined by crumbled Teddy Grams that are scattered throughout the backseat, a sure sign that I have entered un-chartered territory (at least for me).  

Last night I took two kids to T-ball, and here’s how that went: 

1. Get kids ready.  (This includes getting them dressed and fed.)
2. Put car seats in car.  (When you have a 2-door car, this is like yoga.  I had to contort my body in all sorts of ways to buckle in the gigantic seat with cup holders…CUP HOLDERS!)
3. Put stroller in trunk.  (It didn’t fit.  That’s right, my trunk was too small.)
4. Retrieve kids from house.  (Adasyn, 1, had taken off her shoes and socks, so repeat step 1.)
5. Put kids in car seats.  (At this point I am sweating.)
6. Finally, drive to T-ball and keep the younger one occupied while Colby, 4, demonstrates his T-ball skills (which includes running with the rest of his team to dog pile the ball in the outfield).

After this escapade, I now fully understand why so many moms have mini vans and SUVs, and none drive cute little yellow Mustangs.  I also have more experience in fielding the question “why”.  Although I don’t think I did a very good job explaining why it gets dark at night and why it rains to the 4-year-old who desperately wanted to play Batman outside.  I told him it was because God wanted it to (what I thought was a very decent explanation, and one that didn’t warrant further “whys”).  Well, now he isn’t very chummy with our pal, God.  Great, huh?  I’ll work on that one next time…

Finally, as bedtime is drawing near, I am designated the role of Spiderwoman and trapped inside a web of blankets.  As I lay there in a room full of Transformers and Hulk Halloween costumes, I wonder…who said life without Facebook was dull?

Have hearts been broken?

So what, might you ask, does someone without access to the wonderful world of Facebook do with all that free time?  Well, since coming home from school 2 weeks ago, my parents have introduced me to the game of Hearts.  It seems every summer they introduce me to a new game (last year it was Gin), and every summer I become addicted.  

Yesterday, we sat down to play, and it turned out to be one of the most eventful games yet.  For once, I was winning, and the game was nearing its end (or so we thought)…

My dad’s score was in the 90s, and it was his goal to hit 100 points and go back down to zero.  So my mom and I set out to stop him, and in our pursuit my mom hit the magic number.  I was no longer winning.  Now my dad needed only three points to hit 100 and join my mom at the top of the game, and of course he does it.  Now, not only am I not winning, I am losing.  Badly.  My only hope is to do the same thing, but being that I am so inexperienced in the game, this is damn near impossible.  But somehow, by the pure grace of God, I do it.  Now it’s anyone’s game.  But my lack of skill soon comes into play again, and I am skyrocketing towards my doom.  My mom and I are in close range of each other, with no help from my dad who loves to shoot the moon and give us 26 points (he has mastered this skill and bleeds hearts like he’s the club’s lead singer).  The end of the game is drawing near and my mom is in close range of hitting 100 again, with me not far behind, but the odds of both of us getting lucky are slim to none.  I have to stop her.  So I send the bitch her way (the queen of spades who is worth a whopping 13 points), thus putting her over 100 and ending the game.  I didn’t win, but, hey, at least I didn’t lose, right?  Wrong!  My dad wastes no time in informing me that there are only winners and losers, no in between (a wonderful thing to tell your daughter, don’t you think?).  He soon changes his mind and says that this rule only applies to games and not life in general after he realizes what he’s said.  But after spending over an hour playing the game of Hearts, my mind has started to wander to some of its parallels.

Is life like the game of Hearts?  Should we lay low and let other people take the tricks or should we play like my dad and always shoot the moon and hope to get lucky?  It really all comes down to this: is the way to success playing it safe and never taking chances or breaking as many hearts as it takes to finally reach the moon? 

Book of Quotes

I have this journal and every time I come across a quote that I like I write it down. Some of them are really thought provoking and others are just fun ones that I want to remember.  But I figured I would use this as a place to share some of my favorites.

One of which comes from my mom, Joy.  I think it's wonderful when I hear really memorable quotes in everyday conversation, especially because I am a journalist (and it makes my job so much easier). But some people just say things that really stand out from the rest.  My mom wrote this one in my senior salute in my high school yearbook:  "May your dreams lead you to places unknown, may your heart lead you home."

I mentioned before that I am currently obsessed with Grey's Anatomy, and it just so happens that those writers really know how to make a line stick.  Talk about gaining wisdom from a TV show...

"If you get a chance, take it.  If it changes your life, let it.  Nobody said it would be easy.  They just promised it would be worth it."

Another one of my favorites from Grey's is:  "The things I remember best- those are the things I wasn't supposed to do and I did them anyway."

And let's not forget about my 10-year love affair with the world's favorite wizard. One of the best Harry Potter quotes I could find is:  "It is our choices that show who we are far more than our abilities."  

And last, but certainly not least comes from Marilyn Monroe:  "Well-behaved women rarely make history."  Now she may have had some "blonde moments", but saying this was certainly not one of them.

That's all for now.  I'm sure I'll have some more to share soon enough.

It's worth a try...

So, I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing here, but I needed something to do this summer to distract me from the fact that I can't Facebook stalk my wonderful friends.  Since I am a Pi Chi (Panhellenic Counselor) for sorority recruitment in the fall, I had to disaffiliate from my chapter and leave the wonderful and addicting world of Facebook.  Unfortunately for those of you who are like me and the second you find out someone is greek you much know their affiliation, you are going to have to wait until August.  

A few things about me you may need to know if you are planning on stalking this blog are:

I am a photojournalism major at the University of Florida

I am slightly obsessive; once I get on a kick it tends to stick for a while (right now I am re-watching all the seasons of Grey's Anatomy)

I am currently suffering from sunburn, which has got to be the only negative aspect of living in Florida...well unless you count hurricanes.

This summer my place of employment will be the homes of some of the cutest 2-4 year-olds ever, as I will be spending my time baby-sitting.

And finally, I am a southern girl who is dying to break out into the world and photograph all there is to see (especially Paris)! Too bad I don't have the magical power of being able to fly...then it wouldn't cost so darn much.

So maybe, if all goes as planned, I can document my travels right here and keep you all up-to-date.