runlikejoy

Displaced Stay At Home Californian in rural N. Carolina

The Many Faces of Joy

The Many Faces of Joy

Saturday, April 23, 2011

8 year old boys

Eight year old boys are a huge pain in the ass. Let me just back up and state that we are at my folks for the weekend and are wrapping up a spring break that has been full of family, fun, trips and exhaustion. Anyway, back to eight year old boys. Eight year olds in general are a handful, they know everything, they are bossy, they are pushy, they are sassy, you can't tell them anything and if you are trying to get their attention, they ignore you very well and disguise it as a hearing problem. Or they just pretend they are deaf.

My nephew is eight and he runs the show around here. When I say he runs the show, he thinks he runs the show. We went to church this morning with the family and he spent the first 10 minutes of Sabbath school talking over the teacher about how he would be skipping the potluck and how he would be turning 9 soon and what date his birthday was and on and on and on. I have to hand it to the Sabbath school teacher, she ignored him with ease, it was as if he wasn't even talking but he kept at it until I shushed him. With the skill only an 8 ear old can muster he pretended he didn't hear me and kept on until he realized that no one was paying attention to him and he stopped.

Eight year old boys are a blessing too. He has managed to entertain both our kids for 24 hours and will continue to do so until the minute we turn out of sight. I say that because he always chases us down the road and entertains the girls by racing the car until we pass him up and leave him in the dust. He has filled them full of half truths and non truths and some truths and we will filter all that out when we get home. He has told them stories and whoppers and we will be hearing about "Alex said this" and "Alex said that" for the next 2 weeks. We will eagerly look forward to the next time we see him and when we do, we'll make it about 2 hours into his visit when we will look at each other and have to start saying, "Nine year olds are a pain in the ass".

I love that kid!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Stuck in a Rut

I swore I would not turn this into a weight loss blog but I do have to announce that this week I bought my first pair of size 10 jeans in a looooooooooong time. In order to ensure that I could indeed fit into a pair of size 10 pants, I tried on about 20 pairs and only 2 or 3 didn't fit. Based on my kind of math, that means I am now wearing size 10 pants all around.

As I paid for them I thought about how I've been here before, the process of shedding weight and buying smaller clothes and wondered why I was here again. Was it because I had been forced to go to a weight watchers class and run laps with my Mom when I was 13? Was it because I wanted to keep up with my brother and sister in all things including how much they ate? Was it because my high school religion teacher told me that boys would only want to be my friend because teenagers didn't date fat chicks?

Whatever the reason or reasons, I am here again and I don't like it. The first time I downsized I was 19 and quite honestly I just wanted a boy to ask me on a date and try to paw at me. I was tired of being the funny, chubby girl who hung out and listened to all her friends talk about all the boys they were going on dates with and having to fight them off at the movie theater.

The next time I found myself shrinking was when I was 32 and recently single. Nothing spurs weight loss like being single and wanting to date again. There were also these 4 weeks in Peru that left me with a little bug of some sort that caused me to shed weight at an alarming rate. Once I got back I got some medicine that helped me shed the parasite and helped me feel much better and the end result was a substantial weight loss.

Here I am once again and this time I am having to do it the honest way - no substance abuse, no exercise addictions, no parasites and no skinny pills. I gotta get out of this rut I'm stuck in and do this right.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Once upon a time . . .

Once upon a time there were two little girls, best friends and age 6. They loved to play together and they especially loved playing at Francine's house because Francine had tons of great toys and a baby sister whereas Nicole had 2 other sisters near to her own age and had to share everything. So they met one afternoon at Francine's house to play and they were having such fun until they could no longer agree on what to play and the play date started to fall apart.

"I want to play Hawaii" said Francine, backpack on and stuffed bear clutched in her hands, ready to board the plane.

"I want to play church!" said Nicole as she headed back toward the easle with chalk in hand.

"NO!" insisted Francine, "It is my house and I want to play Hawaii".

"Well I want to play church because I am your guest" said Nicole and she put her arms stiffly at her sides in protest.

"I don't know how to play church" said Francine and she walked back toward her friend.

"Why don't you know how to play church?" asked Nicole.

"Because I don't know what church is" replied Francine.

At this point Francine's mother who was within earshot and had heard the girls arguing came around the corner to help them settle their dispute. Nicole asked Francine's mother why she didn't go to church and Francine's mother said, "Because we do not go to church and we do not believe in God." Nicole's mouth hung open in shock and her eyes started to well up with tears. She looked like she was going to burst out crying at any second.

"I . . . . I don't think we can have anymore play dates then . . . . if you don't believe in God . . . . . " trailed off Nicole.

"And a little child shall lead them" Isaiah 11:1-10

Oh and this is a true story, I only changed the names to protect the parents of the two 6 year olds in the story.