Death by MURPH

Have you met Murph?

 

If you have met Murph,

you would remember.

If you haven't,

consider yourself lucky!

 

Murph is not a person.

 It is a workout.

A mean,

ugly,

 workout.

 

Let me introduce you to

The Murph:

 

1 mile run

100 pull-ups

200 push-ups

300 squats

1 mile run

 

A horrible workout.

How do I know this?

 

Because I watched

 my husband & son

do it...

yesterday.

The Memorial Day Murph.

 

As if watching them wasn't enough,

 they convinced me & my daughter

 to do a 1/4 Murph.

That's because we are 1/4 the crazy they are.

 

I hurt.

Walking up stairs...hurts.

Walking down stairs...hurts.

Squatting to use the restroom...hurts.

Sleeping....doesn't hurt,

But then I roll over.

Rolling over...hurts.

 

Can someone please shoot me

and put me out of my misery?

 

I hate Murph!!

In all it's proportions.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Mass

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Mass

Goodreads Summary:
 After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for four years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

My review:
Who doesn't like a good fantasy book. I am not usually into fantasy, but I guess maybe I am as all the fantasy books I have read lately I liked. The thing I love about this book is that you know who the obvious "bad" guys are, but you are left guessing until the end who the EVIL bad guys are. I hear that these books get better as they go and I can't wait to see if it is true.

Things I've learned...

...being on Instagram.

1. Giving photocredit is only important if your child took the picture. If you took the picture they are posting, photocredit is not required.

2. No longer do you have to wait until their wedding day to embarrass your children. You can do it instantly. Thank you Instagram.

3.  I feel like I am in high school again because I find myself checking to see how many people liked  me my photos. I'm just glad they don't have a "dislike", "hate" or "completely idiotic" button.

4. It's such a great way to keep in touch with and see what your family and friends are doing. You may learn more than you ever wanted to know.

5. #stefbooks2016 is my "books read this year" junk drawer. I love that I can reference them in an instant. So convenient.

6. Who needs a bathroom reader when you have Instagram?

7. I guess my friends really like my husband and my oldest son as their pictures generate more likes than all other photos. Should I be concerned?

8. Hash-tags link pictures. Maybe check your # before using it. I'm pretty sure you don't want your child's first birthday photo coming up next to soft porn...or hard porn for that matter. #becareful

8. I love that I seem to take more and better pictures of my children than ever before. Filters rock!

9. It's how we carry photos around these days. Who needs a wallet when you have Instagram. Heck, you have instant mini-movies to show. Awesome!

10. How did I ever live without it?

Linking up with Writer's Workshop today!

Repost: SIMADM: Who's that?

...so I was telling you about our phone issues, right.

If you call me, on the phone...you know...the talking phone, I will talk to you. And it will be fun. And we will have a good time.

If you call me on the phone, the talking phone, and I am talking to you and Hubs comes in, he will ask "Who are you talking to?" To which I will sign your name.

If you call me on the phone, the talking phone, and I am talking to you and Hubs comes in and asks who I am talking to and I tell him it's you,  he will ask, "What are you talking about?"

This is slightly annoying, but I will, in a word or two, tell him.

If you call me on the phone, the talking phone, and I am talking to you and Hubs comes in and asks who I am talking to and he knows it's you and he learns what we are talking about and he is interested, he will ask me to interpret our call for him.

 Ummm... no! 

This is where I draw the line.

Understand this rarely happens...but it does happen.

But....if you call Hubs on the phone...the signing phone (video phone), he will talk to you, and it will be fun.

If you call Hubs on the phone...the signing phone and he is talking to you, I will not ask him who he is talking to. I will look at the TV. And there you will be.

No need to ask what He is talking about. I can see it. No need to ask if he will interpret for me, I can see. 

But I don't...because that would be rude, right?

So now, when you call me on the phone, the talking phone, and I am talking to you and Hubs comes in and asks who I am talking to and I tell him it's you, he will ask, "What are you talking about?"

 And I will answer, "Tampons."

Problem solved.

Wise words from my father.

"If you are in the right place,

at the right time, 

doing the right thing,

 99.9% the time,

nothing bad

will happen to you."



Little Pink House

"Little Pink House: A True Story of Defiance and Courage" by Jeff Benedict

Goodreads Summary
Suzette Kelo was just trying to rebuild her life when she purchased a falling down Victorian house perched on the waterfront in New London, CT. The house wasn't particularly fancy, but with lots of hard work Suzette was able to turn it into a home that was important to her, a home that represented her new found independence.

Little did she know that the City of New London, desperate to revive its flailing economy, wanted to raze her house and the others like it that sat along the waterfront in order to win a lucrative Pfizer pharmaceutical contract that would bring new business into the city. Kelo and fourteen neighbors flat out refused to sell, so the city decided to exercise its power of eminent domain to condemn their homes, launching one of the most extraordinary legal cases of our time, a case that ultimately reached the United States Supreme Court.

In Little Pink House, award-winning investigative journalist Jeff Benedict takes us behind the scenes of this case -- indeed, Suzette Kelo speaks for the first time about all the details of this inspirational true story as one woman led the charge to take on corporate America to save her home.

My Review
This story is shocking and completely outrageous and true!! Sometimes....more so lately... our government and courts shock me! How does something like this happen? In America? In my lifetime? This book was so well written. You can't help routing for the underdog, Suzette Kelo and her neighbors because in this day and age she could be you!! And then what? What do you do when government over-reaches? Would you have the courage to stand? Enjoy the book!

Things I've learned....

....matching socks.

There are seven people in my house. If each person has only one pair of socks for each of the seven days in the week that means, at minimum, there are 98 socks making their way through the laundry every week. But I can say, with confidence, that there are more than 98 socks roaming around my house.

Needless to say, I have learned a few things from matching socks.

1. They are the easiest thing to lose,
but the hardest thing to find.

2. Little boys don't care if socks are matched or not.
Heck, they don't even have to be the same color.

3. Never-mind that socks are bought in pairs.
Some socks just aren't meant to be together.
And so one of them leaves.
Where they go, I do not know.

4. I have a Most Wanted pile.
I know there is a match...somewhere.
I've seen the match....recently.
I know its here....someplace.
I just can't seem to find them both....at the same time.

5. It's okay to throw socks away.
There should be no guilt,
no anxiety,
no what-ifs,
no regret.
Just let it go.

6. If you leave a sock at my house, you will not be getting it back.
A mother knows her socks.
And your socks...are not mine.
See #5.

7. Holey socks are not sacred.
Yes, they are obviously your favorite,
but since darning socks is completely ludicrous,
please see #5.

8. Boring, one colored socks are optimal and easiest to match.
Buy those!

9. Socks should not have a foot preference.
That's just way too complicated for me socks.
I hope someone from Nike is reading this.

10. The only way to make sure all matches are found is to move.

That's what I need.

I'm ready to fix my yard.
The pointy evergreen
Has put me over the edge.

A climbing tree and flowers
So my kids can play for hours.

That is what I need.

Wait...what??

The other day I was cuddling with my youngest on the couch.

 

"When you get big you are going to go away from here.

I will miss you so much!!

So let's just keep you little

 so you never have to leave me."

 

Lovingly, he responded,

"Don't worry, Mom. It will be okay.

You will always be my cousin."

 

 

 

Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot

Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot" by Bill O'Reilly


Goodreads Summary
More than a million readers have thrilled to Bill O'Reilly's Killing Lincoln, the page-turning work of nonfiction about the shocking assassination that changed the course of American history. Now the anchor of The O'Reilly Factor recounts in gripping detail the brutal murder of John Fitzgerald Kennedy—and how a sequence of gunshots on a Dallas afternoon not only killed a beloved president but also sent the nation into the cataclysmic division of the Vietnam War and its culture-changing aftermath.

In January 1961, as the Cold War escalates, John F. Kennedy struggles to contain the growth of Communism while he learns the hardships, solitude, and temptations of what it means to be president of the United States. Along the way he acquires a number of formidable enemies, among them Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, and Alan Dulles, director of the Central Intelligence Agency. In addition, powerful elements of organized crime have begun to talk about targeting the president and his brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy.

In the midst of a 1963 campaign trip to Texas, Kennedy is gunned down by an erratic young drifter named Lee Harvey Oswald. The former Marine Corps sharpshooter escapes the scene, only to be caught and shot dead while in police custody.

The events leading up to the most notorious crime of the twentieth century are almost as shocking as the assassination itself. Killing Kennedy chronicles both the heroism and deceit of Camelot, bringing history to life in ways that will profoundly move the reader. This may well be the most talked about book of the year.

My Review:
I really like Bill O'Reilly. He is a great story teller. But the great thing about his stories is that they are historically accurate. He makes learning history so very interesting and his books read like a story! This book is no different. Not only did I learn about the assassination, I learned more about JFK, Lee Harvey Oswald, LBJ, Jackie Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, Oswald's wife, MLK, etc. I also learned about the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Civil Rights Movement, etc. Because I didn't live when these events took place, it was helpful to understand the events that were happening around the time of JFK's assassination. It's just a good, informative book. Read it!

Things I've learned ...

...talking to multiple customer service representatives.

I am just going to put this out there for those of representatives who are confused.

The word is ask.
A-S-K

Not aks.

I know some people struggle with that as it is a very difficult word to read, sound out and pronounce. 

But here's a little trick I use. Just remember, the soft "sssss" sound comes before the hard "K" sound. Kind of like it's spelled. If you can remember that, you should be okay.

And since you are a professional in a profession where you use the word ask often,  for example when you say, "I am going to need to ask you some questions for verification," and the like, you probably should know how to pronounce the word correctly.

It might help to write the word  ASK down on a sticky note and put it on your computer screen. Maybe consider writing it on your hand with a sharpie marker and practice pronouncing it correctly on your breaks. Heck, maybe your co-workers will join in.

Look at that, a win/win!

Remember ASK not AKS.
S before K.

Just trying to help. You're welcome, World.


***Next week we will work on saying library, and not libary.

It's a jungle out there

I don't usually mow the lawn.

I have a husband who loves to take care of lawns. Plus I have 5 children, 4 of who are male. With that much testosterone under one roof, why would I ever mow a lawn?

Why indeed.

Well, yesterday I did it. I mowed. Truth be told I had an overwhelming desire to turn my feet and toes green. Mowing the lawn in my sandals seemed the cheapest and most convenient way to satisfying that desire, so mow the grass I did.

And I have my green toes to prove it.

I know how to mow the lawn. It's not to hard. Mow in a straight line. When you reach the end of grass, turn around and repeat. Keep repeating for 30+ minutes until there is no grass left. Kinda like shaving your legs.

Except easier.

Like I was saying, I know how to mow a lawn. However, when it comes to "edging"...yeah, I don't do that.

But from the looks of it, neither does anyone else in my family.

Wait, that isn't true. My husband knows how to do it. He's actually really good at it. Remember he loves lawns.

So I am not quite sure what is happening with our "edges!" It's quite hilarious and embarrassing all at the same time. The lawn is beautiful! Short and green....well, it does have a few dandelions scattered, thanks to our friends who like to share. We love them. Really, we do.

Side note: They also have a dog who likes to leave us surprises for us. Sometimes they are small and you don't see them until you have stepped on them. But other times they are big...impossible to overlook. End side note.

Despite those few distractions, it is beautiful. But we no longer have edges. We have jungles...that almost come up to my knees. You can no longer see the nice rocks that we have lining our house. Or the low growing flowers for they are hidden. Protected. Blocked out.

 At this point we can no longer call it edging. It had now become weed whacking.

And I am a pro at whacking.

When I am just not enough....

I have a child. Well, I have 5 children. But I want to speak about one of them.

I love this child so very much. With all my heart. To its very core, I love him.

But for the life of me, I do not think he knows how much I love him. Not to his core. I tell him. I show him. But I still am not sure he feels it.

Many time I don't feel like I am reaching him. Almost like we don't speak the same language.

Yes, I have read that book... the "Love Language" book. Both of them. I have tried to make sure that I am showing him, and all my children, love in a way that they can feel it. I'm not an expert by any means. But I try.  Still.....

It's at these times when I recognize that I am not enough.

My knowledge is not enough.
My skills are not enough.
My words...not enough.
Even my love for him is not enough.

I, on my own, can never be enough.

It is in moments like these when I am driven to my knees.
When my pleadings fly heavenward.
Where knowledge exceeds all.
Where there is One who loves my boy even more than I do.
Who knows him like I never can.

He knows. He understands. He knows us. He is enough.
With his help, I know that I can be enough.

But saying that and feeling that are sometimes not the same thing. I know He can help me, but there are times when it doesn't feel like He is.
Helping me

There are times when I'm left asking...."Where are you??" "Why aren't you helping me?" "Why aren't you making me more?
Making me enough?"

Then I'm left to question.

Not my faith.

I know I am a child of God. I know He loves his children. And because I am one of those children, I know he does love me. 

But in moments like these I am lead to look inside myself.
Have I stepped away? From His light?
Am I not listening intently?
Is there something that I need to learn?
Is there something that he (my son) needs to learn?
Am I not doing ENOUGH??

I wish I had the answer to my own questions. I know they will come. Things will work out. They always do.

But being in the thick of it,
overwhelmed by my child's needs,
by my needs,
and not having the answers
really stinks.

The Hands of My Father

"The Hands of My Father: A Hearing Boy, His Hearing Parents and the Language of Love" by Myron Uhlburg

Goodreads Summary:
With candor and humor, Uhlberg recounts a childhood spent largely as a bridge between his parents and the hearing world. Translating from sign language to spoken language and back again, he enables his father to communicate with local shopkeepers, awakens his parents when his baby brother cries, and even interprets at a less-than-glowing parent-teacher conference. At times, he's embarrassed by his parents, and hurt that his father is called "dummy." But in the end, his overwhelming love and compassion leaves a lasting effect. 

My Review:
Obviously this is a book that is near to my heart. I live a large part of my daily life wrapped in the Deaf world. I am married to a Deaf man and my children have a Deaf father. My children's experience is quite different in many ways than Myron's was, and yet very similar in many ways. In reading this book, you will get a small glimpse into what it is to live with a Deaf person. I loved this book!!

Yumminess: Chocolate Potato Cake

Cake
Ingredients:
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups cake flour
1 tsp. baking flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup butter
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup mashed potatoes
1 cup buttermilk

Directions:
1. Preheat oven 350 degrees.
2. Melt chocolate with the vanilla, cool slightly. 
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and cinnamon. 
4. Cream the butter and sugar and beat in the eggs one by one. Add the chocolate and mashed potatoes. 5. Beat in the dry ingredients alternatively with the buttermilk. 
6. Pour into a greased 13x9inch pan and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for approximately 40 minutes (or bake in 2 round 9 inch pans for 30-35 minutes.) 
7. Cool before frosting.

Frosting:
Ingredients:
3 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 pound confectioners sugar
dash of salt
1/2 cup softened butter
hot milk
chopped walnuts

Directions:
1. Melt chocolate and vanilla; let cool slightly. 
2. Cream the sugar, salt and butter. Add just enough hot milk to make a spreadable consistency. 
3. Beat in the melted chocolate. 
4. Spread on the cake and sprinkle with chopped nuts.