Badges of Honor

Lady on the leg press machine: I can tell you're a mom.

Me: Oh? How?

Lady: You have stickers on your back.

Ainslie's first joke

She actually made this up at the pediatrician's office on October 23, and she says it the same every time. The inspiration was a picture of a bunch of different nursery rhyme characters. A cat just happened to be sharing the wall with Humpty Dumpty.

Without further ado, here is the joke:

Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a...cat!
(beat) (beat)
I didn't know he had a pet! (followed by hysterical laughter)

Seven months today

Seven months today since our house was listed...
I never dreamed it would take this long. If we'd known, we wouldn't have done this; which in a strange way makes me feel that actually we are where we're supposed to be. Again, things were looking bleak, and then today something happened. Something small, but meaningful, and I choose to take that as a sign to hang in there a little longer.

I really, really wish the house would sell NOW for an extra reason, and that is we agreed with Aunt Barb to find a different realtor if the house doesn't sell by the end of the year, and I hate to fire family. I KNOW she has done everything she can do to help us, and I know she is a pro with an excellent record over the past 25+ years, but on the other hand, we have to sell our house, and changing to a more local agent is the one thing we haven't tried.

So. Baby Steps. Living with family has actually become somewhat easier, but the Not Having My Own House issues are seriously causing me a little bit of what I can only guess is depression. I feel a little blah--and I don't think drugs will help because I KNOW what will make it go away. So, I take baby steps. Today was our mom's group Christmas party and it was very fun, and so nice for Ainslie to be with a bunch of kids her age where she can just run and play. A week from today we leave for KC. Week after that we have a few things going on, then I have to go home to Chicago to interview agents, I guess. Then we leave for our cruise. Hopefully after that I'll have to go back to Chicago to pack...

A service of Lessons and Carols

Parenting is an awesome responsibility, fraught with tough decisions, lessons to teach, battles to pick, etc., all in the hopes of raising loving, responsible, productive members of society.

Today, it's been just plain funny.

Today, we had two Hilarious Teaching Moments while out running errands, both in response to me overteaching the meaning of some Christmas carols.

First, "Do You Hear What I Hear", as we searched for parking...

Me (getting her out of the carseat): Did you hear that? A child shivers in the cold! Do you know who that child was? It was Baby Jesus! Remember, how he was born in a barn?

Ainslie: Yeah...

Me: It must have been cold, being outside (never mind that it was the Middle East...). And here He is, a little baby, and people are bringing him gifts of silver and gold...

Ainslie: Holy Cow! That's Amazing!

(I can only attribute that response to Veggie Tales. She routinely babbles to herself, "That was amazing. I laughed, I cried, it moved me, Bob.")


Then, in Dick's Sporting Goods, we heard "The Little Drummer Boy". I was singing it as we shopped, and I explained that the little boy was poor, but he still wanted to give something to Jesus, so he used his Gift of Music to play a song, and that made Baby Jesus so happy that He smiled at the little boy.

Ainslie: But mom, could Baby Jesus talk to the little boy? He was just a baby.

Me: You're right. He was a baby, so he couldn't talk, but he smiled because he liked the music and He was happy the little boy shared his music with Him.

Ainslie: Um hmmm.

Me (pushing it for a 2-yr old): Do you know what that means? It means that we should use the things we are good at to make God happy. So, if you are a really good singer, you should sing joyfully to the Lord! (borrowing from one of our Bible Story books). And....if you are really good at gymnastics, you should...ummm...you should always do your best!

Ainslie: I should do a straddle roll for Him!

Yes!

Books and Covers

While I am in a blogging mood (or maybe I am incredibly BORED, hence the handmade Christmas cards you may have received...), let me talk about some houses we are interested in. With the drop in our asking price, what we can afford has also dwindled a bit, although luckily, the market here trails the Chicago trends by just enough time that we should come out ok. Anyway, there are three houses we are interested in right now.

House Number 1 is gorgeous from the outside. It has a beautiful circular drive and these cute little brick posts with gaslights around the drive. It has a True 3-car garage and a beautiful sloping back yard that abuts (did I spell that right?) a cornfield. There is a nice brick patio going the whole width of the house. It is the most spectacular house in our price range, from the outside. Inside, it is fine. It's large enough. Once we finish the basement (which we would be able to do right away) we would have all the rooms we want. But. But there are some weird things in the floorplan (the powder room and laundry room are right off the family room, on the front of the house) and the kitchen is as tiny as our Chicago kitchen, although I think in time we could open it up a bit. There are a lot of great things about this house, I love the neighborhood and I love the upper floors (yes, floors-plural, it has a wonderful finished attic with windowseats!), and it looks great from the street, but I think the main floor would bug me a bit.

http://www.caaronline-mis.com/spi/jpg/267849.jpg
http://www.caaronline-mis.com/spi/jpg2/267849.jpg

Then there is House Number 2. Ugly from the outside, although with the price reduced nearly $60,000 from when we looked at it, not quite as ugly as I originally thought. By ugly, I really mean, Not What I Would Pick. Dark on the outside, 70's brick arches....but I love the floor plan (despite some unfortunate carpet and wallpaper choices that would have to go before we move in). It is so spacious, and the basement is already finished, and the backyard--gorgeous! A great screened porch leading out to a large deck and then a huge yard backing up to a running path! So, great on the inside, but would I be embarrassed about it from the outside? Is that so shallow?
http://www.caaronline-mis.com/spi/jpg/263999.jpg
http://www.caaronline-mis.com/spi/jpg2/263999.jpg


Then there is House Number 3, which we've never actually looked at. Same neighborhood as House Number 2, but better looking on the outside. Much Better Looking. Great price, bad wallpaper according to the online pics, but a $5000 decor allowance at closing. Floors look good (new hardwood), several French Doored rooms (we love that.) Someday we should actually GO inside.

http://www.caaronline-mis.com/spi/jpg/265533.jpg
http://www.caaronline-mis.com/spi/jpg3/265533.jpg

Anyway, here we are, trying to teach Ainslie never to judge books by their covers, and doing the same thing over inanimate objects. Who wants to live in an ugly house? Would you sacrifice cooking space for curb appeal? Can you have Ugly on the Outside if you could afford to makeover the spacious inside to your exact specifications?

Points to ponder while we wait for this young couple to make an offer. Please?

Please let our house be the Bride this time!

We had two showings over the weekend. One couple is very interested, although they had questions like why has the price been dropped so drastically...? (Ever lived with your in-laws--or anyone-- for 7 months?) Anyway, we are on their Short List. We've been on several lookers' Short Lists before but so far have been Bridesmaids. HOPING for a Christmas wish come true. We bought this house in December, it could happen again!

Meanwhile, here are a few photos of Ainslie at gymnastics last week:

One man's Bacon is another's Meat.

One of my favorite fiction books is called, "Lamb, the gospel of Biff, Christ's childhood friend" by Christopher Moore. This book, while some may find it irreverent at times, really touched me and in one especially poignant scene, brought the Point of my faith out in stunning relief. Basically, for those intrigued by the title, it is the (obviously fictional) account of where Jesus was and what He was doing during the years the Bible doesn't tell us about. In Moore's view, He was learning all the things he needed to know in order to take on the burden of the crucifixion and resurrection. Biff is his very, very human, affable friend who is sent to stay with Jesus (nicknamed Josh) through his travels. Being Jewish, they are not supposed to eat pork, but as they grow and learn, Jesus tells Biff that many parts of the Law are Just Bacon. They are rules that are or were there for a purpose, but are not necessarily the Meat of the Jewish faith.

Craig loves this book too, and we use the term, "Bacon" quite a bit as we discuss our own faith. We were both raised Protestent, but Craig was raised decidedly more High Church (he would be Catholic if I'd let him) and I way more Low Church, and though we have compromised over the years, we both feel more at home in the type of church we grew up in.

So here's my quandary. We have been members of a couple Lutheran ELCA churches over the past few years and I have been pretty happy with them. We have found some good congregations, we love that there is Communion every week, and we feel this denomination's stance on social issues meshes with ours. There is also a ELCA church here that we like--for all the above reasons, plus it runs one of the biggest preschools in town and the congregation is positively teeming with little kids. However, at this church, there is one piece of Bacon (to me, Meat to others) that is specifically spelled out.

My question is this--can one belong to a church and not share faith of one key tenant of that denomination? To me, the tenant is bacon, to them, it is absolutely meat. I do feel it is lying to pledge membership to a church, knowing you don't share this particular belief. On the other hand, I also believe that, well, it is Bacon...

Just some Food for thought, I guess.

Happy Half Birthday!

I had this whole entry planned out for today, about what I have learned over the past two and a half years, it was going to be kind of funny and sweet, but instead...

This morning, in a futile attempt to get Ainslie to go back to sleep at 5:45, I crawled into bed with her, to try to get her to be quiet. She snuggled up to me and said, "I love you, Mommy." I responded with, "I love you, Baby." To which she responded with her very typical (these days), "I'm not a baby, I'm a Big Girl." So I responded with my usual, "but you'll always be my baby girl."

This one was new---her next response was, "Welllll (another new vocabulary staple), I'm a big girl now but in a minute I'll be a grown-up."

I almost started crying right then. She's right.

Happy Half-Birthday, My Baby Girl, and please, please, please stay two-and-a-half for your full allotted time.