Random Thoughts and Happenings

Is this not the BEST photo ever?  ;-)

I have several thought-provoking and comical posts in the works but none completed yet.  AND since I'm tired of thinking/talking about my gallbladder removal surgery and the long, horrific recovery process,  I just want to be totally random and mention a few recent happenings that I hope to remember or write about further. 




This post is inspired by my wonderful blogging friend Kelly at My Voice, My View.  She often writes random posts about little things happening in her life -- like this one she did recently.  I LOVE it when Kelly writes these kinds of posts.  It makes me feel as if I gain a better glimpse into her world.  Plus I can relate more to her after reading her randomness. 



So here is my randomness of the week:

• My daughter, Viva the Diva has had diarrhea of the mouth recently -- In other words, she's talking up a storm these days!  She's now asking questions randomly and beginning to use full sentences.  It's rather exciting and always entertaining. 

          Here is a conversation that she and I had yesterday:

         Vivian: “BONO! No!” and she growls a little bit at our dog.


         Vivian: “My hiney!”

         Mandy: “Vivian, did Bono just touch your hiney?” (He was right behind her as she walked.)

         Vivian: “DON’T DO THAT!” she says with mighty force then points her tiny fingers in his face.

         Do any of you know if dogs can be sex offenders? Hahahah!

• I have a new writing project that I've started recently -- I'm creating my own favorite recipes cookbook.  For six months now, I've been meal planning and making big efforts to cook and try new meals.  I have been very creative in the kitchen and it's helped me provide better, healthier meals for my family.  Also, it helped me lose twenty pounds.  I want to compile all the recipes that I love best into a cookbook at the end of year and give it away (or sell it?) as Christmas gifts to family and friends.  I'm pretty good at layout and design so I plan to do it all myself but find a printer/publisher. 
  
  Have you ever undertaken a project like this?  Any advice for me? 

• My mom and I had a great conversation recently regarding teachers and teaching your children.  She said that so many parents expect teachers to do everything for kids when it's really, foremost, the responsibility of the parent to be at-home teachers to children.  Your kids learn best from you, she said.  Parents give them a foundation.  My mom is a retired teacher of 30 years and I really respect her opinion on this important issue.  I have a lot of thoughts on this and hope to write a post on this topic in the near future.   Hearing my mom's stories make me work harder to spend time "teaching" to Vivian each week.  I try to introduce new concepts and learning ideas.  I'm not a teacher at heart and I didn't know where to begin... but I gain ideas watching programs like Sesame Street.  As we drive around town, Viv and I point out shapes like octagons for stop sign and diamonds for road signs.  We also practice placements like "near" and "far" by running around in the yard.  Or we'll do "over" and "under" the volleyball net.  I find that most kids, especially my Viv, just want your attention so you can teach them new things all the time just by talking and playing with them.
  
  Thanks Mom for the reminder!  You have taught me a lot!

 

• Kirk and I went grocery shopping over the weekend and there was an attractive, young girl making her purchases.  The checkout boy and bag boy were both drooling over her, especially the bag boy.  The young lady seemed to love the admiration she was receiving.  I was clueless to the happenings as I was crossing off my list and looking for coupons.  Kirk, however, overheard their conversation and remarked how juvenile they were being.  I replied that he was probably like that at their age too.  Then Kirk says that no, actually, he never liked to give women who were too good-looking any attention or affections because most often it leads to trouble or an obviously attractive female may just be too needy and too materialistic.  (He quickly followed that up with the fact that he thinks I'm beautiful, by the way).  I told him that his theory is probably accurate -- that women who are used to getting lots of attention are most likely the needy type.  We then reflected back to our early courtship days -- how he thought I was very attractive in a less obvious, more confident way and how I thought he seemed so wordly yet boyish, compared to now.  I think Kirk gets better looking with age, as many men do.   We then said some mushy love stuff that I won't repeat here.  I sure do love my husband though.  And his random observations.
  
  Who knew that Kirk and I could have such intellectual conversation just by going to the grocery store?  ;-)

• I like to play event coordinator.  In fact, Kirk even nicknamed me "event coordinator" for our family.  If you tell me where you live (city), I bet I can find a dozen or more interesting things to do and see, including a club, festival or obscure event that you may have never even heard of yourself.  Sometimes I research fun things to do for my friends who live in other states.  With the internet, local newspapers, bookstore fliers, etc, there's just no excuse for not going out and seeing the world around you and meeting new people!!  In the past several days, I discovered a local "Painting Party" event where you bring friends to a paint class and you can learn to draw a picture while drinking wine and cheese.  I've done this before in another city I lived in and it's a lot of fun!  I also found a self defense workshop that I want to take later this summer.  In addition, I found a literary arts foundation full of volunteers that perform readings, plays and other "artsy" stuff throughout the year for retirement homes, schools and libraries.  I plan to look into that soon as it sounds very intriguing to me.  All of these things were written in local publications or printed online.  They were not hard for me to find!  So don't say you're ever bored!  Because unless you live in the middle of a desert or farm, there's got to be something in your area~

          Let me know if you need me to be your social event coordinator!  My fee is very affordable! 

• When the summertime comes, I become addicted to those frozen coffee drinks.  I want one at least every week.  Why do they make those caramel frappes so inviting?  I didn't even start drinking coffee at all until my mid-twenties and now I can't believe I had a life before it.  I don't need them every day but I sure do enjoy them once in awhile, especially on weekends.  I prefer McDonald's over Starbucks -- cheaper and quicker drive-thrus.  Of course, an ice cold beer or margarita is also very nice during the hot months too.  Or just anytime of the year!  :-) 
  
  Do you indulge in coffee?  Do you have any special summertime drinks or treats?

That's all I can think of for now.  Ask me a random question and I promise to answer you back.  You can ask me anything you want!  Go on..... you know you want to quiz me!  Please share something random about you or your week in the comments section.  I love hearing from you and it will help keep my focus off my post-surgery headaches.