7 Quick Takes with entirely too many words

--- 1 ---

So, these past couple weeks have been the weeks of new stuff (thanks to signing bonuses and potentially imprudent decisions).  Aaron got the profuse TV we discussed on facebook.  Is it ridiculous?  Absolutely!  Would I have purchased it?  Absolutely not.  That being said, Aaron very rarely does things for himself, and he's wanted it for a few years, and so.... it is done.  In the meantime, I 'upgraded' my iphone to an Iphone 5s.  Thanks for all the help with that team facebook. I was very torn between the galaxy and the iphone.  But, the thing is, I like the iphone, so why fix what isn't broken?  I wanted to upgrade mostly for the camera.  Like many of you, our only family camera now is my phone, so I wanted it to be fancy. Lemme just tell you though, now that I have been introduced to siri, I think she is going to be my new best friend.  She is awesome. I mean, the bees freakin' knees.  Our whole family enjoys conversing with her.  Big Aaron often asks her questions like, "why is my wife Mary so mean?".  And listen, I know she was a 'thing' several years ago, but now, she is my thing.  Oh, and I got me a new computer too.  I wanted one for work stuff, so I am pumped.  Apparently I need to start using, 'visuals' to appease visual learners doing presentations (or so says my ministry partner, Mike).  #annoying. but he's probably right.  That is all from the land of new purchases.

That was a pretty boring take, hopefully they will get better from here.

--- 2 ---

Lil' A started 'school' once a week at Christ the King in Ann Arbor.  He loves it, and the class is adorable. I am so excited for him to be learning in a quiet environment. Because our house is a house of boy crazy, and we allow pagan things like screen time...sometimes, things are a little, um...loud.  Watching him learn silently in this class was AWESOME (it's Catechesis of the Good Shepherd).  Funny story though, once or twice I peaked in on him to see how he was doing (I had some concerns).  He looked at me both times, but didn't come to me.  After the class he said, "Why did you keep coming in my classroom?"  And I said, "because I wanted to see you learn."  He said, "Okay, could you please not do that anymore?"

Shot to the heart...and he's to blame.

And so it begins.

--- 3 ---

I'm having major blogger commenting issues.  Can someone tell me what I did to screw it up (I can't respond to anyone's comments)?  Also, how to fix it?  And while your at it, fancy bloggers, how do you do that thing where you respond to my comments directly in my email inbox?   It's fancy.  But I have no idea how to do it.  Thanks for any help you can give me in the comment box, if you can comment, which you probably can't.

--- 4 ---

So, this is for real...I had NO IDEA that people in the good US of A actually thought it was okay to beat children to the point of marks.  Lemme make this clear after a lot of thought and back and forth, Aaron and I are constantly discerning how to discipline.  So, I am not making any remarks on 'spanking' or 'swats' because, truth be told, I'm still a bit torn on the whole thing.  But, beating a kid with a branch seems to be a really bad idea right?  Apparently not to everyone. I was driving in my vehicle the other day, listening to some sports radio on the way to a fancy meeting with fancy people.  They were discussing the Adrian Peterson situation (for those of you not in the 'know' he was arrested for whopping his child with a switch and leaving devastating bruising all over his legs).  I find it black and white.  Child abuse.  No question.  BUT, a stunning amount of people called in, many from the African American Community, who were DEFENDING THAT FORM OF PUNISHMENT.   One guy even saying, 'it's suppose to hurt for a few days, otherwise it won't have an impact."  In listening to the national dialogue, many people are claiming it's a cultural thing, and is good for kids.  I.WAS.SHOCKED.  I was spanked as a kid, spanked real good.  I had fear of doing something wrong, because I feared the punishment. I don't think that's a terrible thing.  But, lemme make this clear, leaving bruises or welts on your kid is NEVER okay! I mean, RIGHT?!?!?!

--- 5 ---

So, I started MOPS this week.  And I can I tell you something I really appreciated?   Right at the first meeting, they went over rules.  And one of the rules is participants are not allowed to use MOPS to network their various products (home sale products). I love that.  They encouraged home businesses, and said they will compile a list of those selling, but this is not the place to network the products.  As someone who stays out of the home business reality for a bunch of reasons (both selling and buying) I REALLY appreciated it.  I don't mind the occasional facebook party request and the like, but I HATE being put on the spot to buy a product I don't really want or need.  I hate feeling like if I say 'no' or 'decline' that I am somehow being insulting.  I actually just don't like the entire structure.  (again, I am not talking about the occasional gentle invite- I am talking about the hard sell).  And I am super glad I don't have to deal with it on the regular through my MOPS involvement.

--- 6 ---

So I thought it was weird that Apple put U2's album in my music.  Even though I like U2.  And on 'the facebook', everyone was like, 'no it's not'. So then I thought, "it must be me".  I don't think that anymore. I like my illusion of privacy.  It felt weird to me to break that.  And lots of others, because Apple was pretty much like, 'our bad' and showed people how to remove it.

--- 7 ---

So I don't think I ever quick-take'd or blogged about our big fancy trip this summer.  You know, the one we had been planning for a year.  To the all inclusive.  For a weekend o' fun?  It was pretty much a disaster that began with a missed flight (because 'someone' didn't bring the passports, the 'someone' is still a hotly debated topic in our household).  Which led to freaking expensive one way ticket purchases.  For those of you who know us, the ol' husband was also unemployed, so the ticket purchases were probably the worst idea ever.  Then, because the ol' husband was unemployed, he was hustling to take interviews/research while we were there, so any chance of it being a refreshing bonding for the two of us was out the window.  THEN on the way home, our flight was rerouted, we were on the runway for hours, it just wasn't good.  My dad said, 'you are the only one who could make a trip to Cancun sound miserable." Touche father.

But another part was, I HATED leaving our kids. I HATED being away from them.  I even told lil A, I am not gonna do that ever again.  It was four nights, and just entirely too long to be away from the boys.  We do 'hotel nights' about twice a year, overnight in the Detroit area.  That's just fine, but usually that isn't even over 24 hours.  Leaving the boys for that long was heart-wrenching and honestly, on the flights I came nearer to a panic attack than I have ever been.  It was terrible.

All of that was to say the EDEL conference is in Charleston.  And I've always wanted to go.  And technically, Aaron and I could go together for a couple nights for a five year anniversary trip. I'd assume the city is very romantic, and Aaron could chill while I did the conference thing and then, we could hang out together for a bit as well.  That sounds so lovely to me.  But, honestly, I don't know if I could leave the kids again.  Especially on an airplane.  It was really difficult for me (and btw- I know everyone is different when it comes to that stuff and I do NOT think it makes me a better mom that I don't like leaving them, in fact, I wish I could do it with a bit less emotional baggage).  So anyway, that's what I'm gonna be discerning 'round these parts in the next couple weeks.

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