The One Where We Craft

While I was scouring Swagbucks one day, I noticed they had an offer from Kiwi Crate. Kiwi Crate is a company that will send craft projects for your child to your doorstep each month. Kiddo LOVES craft projects, so I was intrigued. Would this be something that she would enjoy? Would this be worth the investment? There was a free trial package offer, so I snapped that up and waited. 

Kiddo had no idea this was coming, but I did. I waited anxiously for it. Kiddo is really in the age group for the Koala Crate, but I figured we would try it and see what happened. 

She LOVED it! While the actual crafting was a little advanced for her (she just turned 3), she sat there with me and "helped" me while I tackled the parts that she couldn't (or got tired of waiting on) and then jumped in to finish the project. 

Here are are a few snaps from our craft time: 

And before we finished, kiddo had to strike her over the shoulder top model pose: 

I would say our first adventure with Kiwi Crate was a success. I think Santa may be picking up a few of the stocking stuffers for her for Christmas. Kiddo's love of crafting means I'm about to spend more time in craft stores than I have in my entire life and that our house will have something I never thought it would have: a craft corner. 

Time to scour Pinterest for some ideas on crafts to make for Christmas! 

The One Where I Reflect

(Warning! This post is more random reflections than formed thoughts.) 

Something is different about this Veteran's Day. I can't put my finger on it, but for the first time in my life, my dad has voluntarily chosen to let the world know that he is a Veteran. He stood to be honored at church, searched the house for his discharge papers to prove his status for freebies today, and was rocking his Vietnam Veteran shirt when I left the house this morning. 

This isn't like my dad. He's done a very good job of keeping his service almost a secret. There are only two stories I've ever heard my father tell about his service. 

One story he shares is the Christmas he spent in Vietnam. He was in his mid-twenties and was the oldest member of his platoon. He had heard the stories of what all of the kids wanted to do with their lives, and then sent a list to his mom of small tokens to give them at Christmas to remind them of what they would be going home to. (Example, one kid wanted to be a detective, so my dad had my grandma buy him a Dick Tracey detective kit.) 

The other is a partial story about his coming back to Louisiana. He went to the field to see my grandpa (who was a drag line operator). My grandpa told him to go home because another worker had just gotten the telegram that his son wasn't coming home. When my dad got home, he learned that his mom had thrown away his baseball card collection. He was a man now, so she didn't think he would mind. 

My father refuses to talk about Vietnam with us. I feel a large part of that was because he was a soldier by chance, not by choice. I overheard my dad and another Vietnam vet that lives in my complex swapping stories. It may seem weird, but the connection I've seen with Vietnam vets seems to be different than those of other veterans. 

One time, my brother found his stuff and then my dad turned around and hid it somewhere better. Neither of us has found it since. Granted, I haven't gone looking for it. If my dad wants me to know, he'll tell me. Until then, I'll respect his privacy. 

My dad has started to be a little more open about his service, but not much. He has alluded to things, but never confirmed. As military intelligence, there are many things I'm sure he CAN'T share with us. Many of my friends who are history professors would love to talk to him, but he refuses. Maybe one day he'll share more, maybe he won't. 

Veteran's Day always makes me reflect on the mystery that his my dad. He always told us that we don't always get to chose the path we take, but that doesn't mean we can't do our best with the path we've been given. My dad learned that early when he was told to be a soldier, and it's hard to argue with someone who was told they were going to war over being told you have to do certain chores. 

I'm proud of my dad, even if he sometimes isn't proud of himself. I wouldn't have the courage to be sent into situations that he's been in. I don't know what's made him change his thoughts on acknowledging his own service, but I'm grateful for whatever it is. He deserves to be proud. 

 Let's all take a moment to remember that some veterans didn't come home to a warm welcome, so days like today are difficult to them. Veteran's Day should be every day, but we all tend to forget important things, so it's nice to have a day set aside to remind us. Thank a vet today, and remind them that their service was important. 

The One Where I Earned My Nickname

One of my best friends in the whole world has a nickname for me that has stuck with me since my freshman year of college. I take that back, I earned the nickname my freshman year, but it was not given to me until my sophomore year when I revealed my secret to her. Here's the story.

I've never been a great cook. In fact, I've never had an interest in cooking. My idea of cooking tends to be based on the "what can I toss in the microwave" philosophy over the "what ingredients do I have that go together that can be placed in an oven" philosophy.

One day after softball practice, I decided that I wanted a poptart. I know that you can eat them without heating them in a toaster, but I wanted my smores poptart to be ooey and gooey. My roommate and I did not have a toaster, so I decided that I would just pop it in the microwave.

There are microwave instructions on the box. I can't screw that up, right?

Wrong.

I took the poptart out of the box and tossed it in the microwave. Instead of the 10 seconds that the instructions told me to heat it, I set the microwave for 1 minute. (Have you noticed the step I forgot yet?)

After about 20 seconds, sparks begin flying from the microwave. I rush over to shut it off, and see a flaming poptart. Guess who forgot to take the poptart out of the foil wrapper.

In an effort to not have everyone on my floor know that I'm a complete culinary idiot, I did what any freshman would do. I put out the fire, praying the smoke alarm wouldn't go off, and then began my walk around the floor.

Once I had successfully made it to the complete opposite side of the floor, I tossed the poptart in the trashcan and continued the lap back to my dorm room.

Everyone on that hall was wondering what the awful smell was, and my roommate and I never revealed my secret. (She's awesome like that.) Towards the end of my sophomore year, I was telling one of my best friends who lived on the hall where I tossed the evidence, and after laughing so hard that I thought she would get sick, she nicknamed me Betty Crocker.

Betty Crocker has stuck with me to this day. There are a few dishes that I can make that would be referred to as "real cooking". For the most part, I tend to steer towards the grownup version of the microwave, the crockpot, to handle the cooking needs for my family.

And I've never placed a poptart in the microwave since. Lesson learned.

The One Where I Share My Wish List

It's 5:00 somewhere, right? Today I'm going to share with you the top 5 items from my wishlist at Fleurty Girl! 

Fleurty Girl is one of my absolute favorite stores. After I left Louisiana and moved to Tennessee, it became my equivalent of having home packed up and delivered to my door. Now that I'm in Texas, I've watched my wishlist grow and grow while I debate on having items shipped to me or planning a shopping spree and getaway to NOLA. 

It was extremely difficult to narrow down my list, but here are my top 5 WANTS/NEEDS/PLEASE BUY FOR ME items that Fleurty Girl sells: 

5) 

The Purple and Gold Louisiana Infinity Scarf

Isn't it adorable?! It's purple and gold (two colors that when put together only someone from Louisiana could love)!!! It also has the state of Louisiana on it to remind you of where you came from. Isn't that cool? Wouldn't it look great on me? I have an ever growing collection of scarves, so shouldn't I buy this to help complete it? 

4) 

The King Cake Apron

Let's be honest. I need an apron like I need a hole in my head. (I don't.) But the apron is speaking the truth! And it's on sale! And maybe if I had an apron I would spend more time in the kitchen trying to be domestic, or something...

3) 

Aimee Fleur de Lis Dress in Black and Gold

OMG!!! I could probably never pull this dress off, but I love it. It will forever stay on my wishlist just because it's adorable and I could see myself wearing it on Saints game days. Would I ever wear it on Saints game days? Probably not, but I could. That's all that matters when buying an outfit, right? 

2) 

Harvey's Seatbelt Bag Medium Tote

How adorable is this? And yes, out of all of the color options, I would want the purple one. It's a happy purse. I prefer my purses to be happy colors instead of the boring "I go with anything you wear" colors. I think fun color purses go with anything, don't you? 

1) 

Louisiana Is My Happy Place Mason Jar Tumbler

You don't know how many times I've almost pulled the trigger on this one. I need it more than I want it. Louisiana isn't just home, it's my happy place. I want to show that to the world. I need this as a reminder on those days when life is tough. This would be a symbolic reminder of all of the happy times that Louisiana gave me before I moved on to the next chapters in my life. 

------------------------------------------------------------

You can see more about the items I've selected by clicking on the pictures. If you want to purchase any of them for me, I'll love you forever! (And like you for always) 

Until next time, y'all!

The One Where My Date Called Me Racist

Ok, so I may have decided last night to let November be a month where I just share stories from my past. In honor of my friend Whitney and her love for the TV show Friends, I'm also going to title them in the same way they titled their episodes. Cool? (It's cool...)

The first and last blind date I've ever had was one summer when I was taking classes at the college close to my home. My friend set me up with one of his friends that we'll call him Bob, since I can't remember his name. Bob had a good job, was smart, funny, loved sports, and my friend just KNEW I would be into him.

After a few calls and texts back and forth, Bob and I agreed to go on a date. He kept mentioning that he wanted to take me to this intimate Italian restaurant in town. I kept telling him that the times I had eaten there, it had not turned out well for the home team. My friend also told him that there was no love between the food there and my stomach, and he hoped that Bob would pick a different restaurant before date night arrived.

Date night arrived, and I left my brother's apartment to meet Bob at the meeting place we had arranged. I arrived early (in my family if you aren't 10 minutes early, then you're late) and waited. Meeting time came and went, and Bob was not responding to any of my calls or text messages. An hour after our scheduled meeting time, I drove back to my brother's apartment. I changed into my lounge clothes and settled in to watch a movie.

30 minutes after I got back, Bob finally calls and says that he was tied up in a meeting and couldn't answer his phone. I still agreed to go out with him, but this meant he had to meet me at my brother's place. Bob wasn't happy with waiting on me to change back into my date clothes, and the drive to the restaurant was a little tense.

My heart sank when I realized that Bob had not listened to anything my friend or I had told him, as we pulled into the Italian restaurant that hates me. I put on a smile and ordered a salad. Salads are harmless, right? Bob blew up in the restaurant. He told me that if I was going to just order a salad, then he would just order a dessert. He then yelled that it was stupid for him to agree to go out with me anyway.

He walked away from the table and the waiter asked if I needed him to call someone to come get me. I told him that I would be fine, and I just needed to get through the date.

After Bob cooled down and we ate our salad and dessert, we left to go to a movie. Bob was complaining about being hungry, so I told him he could just pull into a McDonalds drive thru and grab something to eat if he was hungry. This did not sit well with Bob. (This was becoming a theme of the date.)

There was nothing playing at the movie theater that we wanted to see, so I suggested picking one of the random movies playing at the $1 theater in town. That did not sit well with Bob, and he let everyone in line know it. I was the cheapest date he had ever had, and that didn't sit well with him. (When is being frugal a bad thing?)

After we got inside the movie, he wanted to make out. That didn't sit well with me. You don't get to be an asshole to me all night, and then expect me to make out with you (or give it up) later. That didn't sit well with Bob. We drove back to my brother's house in silence, and Bob didn't even stop the car completely to let me out.

The next day Bob called and told me if he had known I was racist, then he would not have agreed to the date in the first place. I was stunned, and asked him where he got the sense that I was racist. He said that the fact that I didn't want to make out with him proved that I was racist, as well as the fact that I only ordered a salad and water at dinner and not a full meal and a glass of wine.

I let him hang up on me because I was in shock. One, I don't drink wine. Two, I told him, repeatedly, that the food at that restaurant was richer than what my stomach could handle. Three, he was 2 HOURS LATE in picking me up with no phone call to let me know! Four, he yelled at me in the restaurant to the point that a waiter had to ask if I wanted him to call someone to get me.

I would say that me not liking Bob had more to do with him being an asshole than his race. Assholes come in all races, and I'm not fond of any of them. Unless asshole is a race, and I'm unaware. Then yes, I'm racist towards assholes.

The One Where A Stranger Showed Kindness

It's November and my co-worker and I were talking about how the obvious thing for anyone to do on a blog in the month of November is a month of posts on things they are thankful for. While I'm sure I'll gravitate to a little of that this month, I wanted to share a story of kindness from long ago that has stuck with me.

When I was in college, I spent a semester in London. For the first month of the semester, we stayed at a bed and breakfast in the middle of London until we learned our way around. After that, we were placed with our homestay families.

We didn't get lucky like most of our classmates to have a family that lived along the Tube line. I knew how to navigate the Tube. Buses and trains, that was a whole 'nother ballgame, and getting to my new home required taking a train. (Public transportation is practically nonexistent in Louisiana.)

The first time I had to navigate the train, I was FREAKING OUT! It took me over 30 minutes to find the train that was going in the right direction. The thing I didn't know about trains? That some of them are express trains, and some of them don't stop at every station on the way to the final destination.

I was mortified when the train whizzed past my stop. It took a minute to register what was happening. I was on an express train out of London. I knew my pass was only good through Zone 3, and my stop was on the border of Zones 3 and 4.

When I heard them coming by to check tickets, I began to cry. I didn't have enough money to pay for a pass to cover the rest of the trip AND to come back. I know the other passengers in the car were probably wondering what was wrong with the crazy American bawling her eyes out on the train, but the man coming around to check tickets sat down next to me and asked what was wrong.

I explained to him that I had just moved in with the family, and didn't fully understand how the trains worked. I then had to embarrass myself more by telling him that I didn't have enough money to cover the remainder of the fare and the fare back...and that I actually didn't have enough money to cover both.

I'm not sure what reaction I was expecting, but I wasn't expecting him to tell me not to worry, explain to me how to read the train maps and tell me that I needed to make sure the train was calling my station before getting on, and then he gave me money to cover my return fare. It was, and still is, one of the nicest things a stranger has ever done for me.

When I was in London, I was going through a point in my life where I didn't trust people. I was struggling with some personal issues and trying to build up the strength to leave some personal demons in the past that had followed me to London. This stranger's act of kindness made a huge impact on me.

I share this story to remind all of us as we go through this season of gratitude leading into the holiday season that there are people all around us that need a little kindness. It may not seem like a huge deal for us to stop and explain something as simple as a train map, but to them it could mean everything. Let's not make being kind to strangers just a holiday thing, let's start now and keep it going.

Being Sick Sucks

I planned on writing a blog post on Saturday about what my goals would be for the month, but that didn't happen. When I got home from my volleyball game on Thursday night, I wasn't feeling so hot. I woke up Friday morning feeling horrible (it seems to be a stomach virus).

 I didn't have time to be sick because our homecoming game was Saturday, so I spent yesterday afternoon and will continue spending today resting and recouping before a busy month.

I don't get sick often, and I'll be the first person to admit that I'm horrible at being sick. I push myself to workout and continue to do everything that I would normally do.  

Not today. 

Today, now that I can be sick for a day, all I'm going to do is eat my jello and soup, do some laundry, and rest. 

I don't rest very well, but hopefully I can get sucked into some good books and The Biggest Loser and maybe sleep a little bit. 

Hope everyone enjoys their Monday!