frazzled & frumpy

Last night was the finale of Dancing with the Stars . I'll admit, I don't watch the show on a regular basis. But, this season, I had more of an interest because of one dancer-- Amber Riley . I 'know' Amber from her role on Glee. (The girl can sing!) I love her Glee character because she's very outgoing and confident. Riley said once, "I never wanted to play a character that hated herself. I wanted people to know that those aren't the only roles for people like me, normal girls." I didn't know until DWTS that Amber is like that in real life. The thing about Amber is that she doesn't apologize for her size. She doesn't obsess about losing weight. She doesn't demean herself in any way. She is confident in who she is. “I don’t think it should be an anomaly for a person my size to be able to dance or have confidence,” Amber adds. “Everybody should have confidence. … We deserve it.” This is what we need. We need role models who do...

Valinda Mae Stuffins sat in her chair, The dates on the calendar caused her to stare, They proclaimed that the date was soon to be here, The date that she waited for all through the year. The day it was circled and gave her no doubt,  "The race for the stuff!" she said with a shout. Valinda's house, it was filled to the brim, But, she knew something was missing, and she tapped on her chin, Then, she saw it,  one nook that was empty and bare, "I must have some stuff for that space right there!" And then there was Bobby, and Suzy, and Jim, "I must buy stuff. And give stuff, to each one of them. For surely they have empty nooks just like mine, And they need stuff to fill them, there isn't much time." Her life it seemed empty, so stuff she must get, Just a few more things and then she'd be set, "I need golf clubs, and mixers, and lovely stuffed pheasants, And, soon, I'll also get more stuff...

Noah is on the bed next to me-- counting. He was so bummed about missing school today. The only one of my kids who wants to go to school. (Oh, except Spencer. He has three AP classes and school is sort of, you know, fun for him. The Handy Man and I are wondering if he was switched at the hospital.) But, Noah is in first grade, which is pretty much kindergarten without the snacks. He loves school. Also, today was hat day and he really wanted to wear a hat. This hat-- (Grandpa would be proud.) He's home because his foot is healing--finally. After three weeks, four doctor visits, two ultrasounds, and a partridge in a pear tree, they discovered that he had a 2X4 in his foot. OK, not really, but this thing was way too big to be in his tiny foot for 24 days. His poor foot has been so sore that limping was an improvement. He's been hopping around the house so much that I'm sure his right leg is twice the size of his left by now. On the bright side, he'll be awe...

(Original here. ) I was driving home the other day from taking the Handy Man to work, listening to the radio. The DJ's said they were going to do 'girl talk', which I'm guessing is a regular feature. They then went on to talk about an article some idiot guy wrote about how women should never cut their hair short, because women with short hair are ugly. I waited for the DJ's (one man, one woman) to rebuff this guy's opinion. Imagine my shock when they began agreeing with him, even naming some celebrities who recently cut their hair. "So-and-so cut hers and she looks like a man." "Oh, and this person cut hers, it's awful!" I sat in stunned silence. They weren't actually doing this, were they? And, then, it got worse. "We'd like you to call in and tell us, 'what makes a woman ugly'." This is not happening. I am not listening to two adults, one of them a woman herself, asking people to call in and tr...

Once Upon a Time... I was young,  and thin, and cute.  (I even wore heels.) And then I met  the Handy Man. He dazzled me with his handy-ness. He thought I was cute.  The feeling was mutual. So, we got married. And, then.. We had a baby. A bunch of them. And, now,  I look like this. frazzled and frumpy. The Handy Man? Looks like this. But, he still thinks I'm cute. And, the feeling is still mutual.

The trees have let go and shed their fancy, fall dresses. They stand bare against the blue sky, proud in their nakedness. Soon, snow will fall and cling to branches wide and narrow. They will wait amid the cold and gray, patient, for spring. I too, am in between. I have dropped old habits, ideas and fears. I shake myself, to discard the image of who I thought I was. And wait for my springtime to reveal my true self, blossoming, blooming, stretching toward the sun.

It's been a week. Not one for the record books or anything. But, you know, LIFE. Good - gave a talk in church yesterday which went well. I actually like public speaking, so it wasn't nerve wracking or anything. This is one of those areas where my husband and I balance each other out. He'd rather have a root canal than speak. Bad - Noah's foot (which he injured by stepping on a broken popsicle stick. Where he found a broken popsicle stick in my incredibly clean house is s mystery.) wasn't getting better. He limped around, and then started the one-foot-hopping again. So, back to Instacare, where he was diagnosed with an infection. He's on antibiotics. (Just FYI, if you tell your doctor that your kid is good at swallowing pills, maybe ask him how BIG the pills are going to be. Noah can swallow pills meant for people, not for horses. We cut them.) Good - I went to the library last Monday to write. Got in over 1200 words-yay me! Bad - That's the last time...

(This is one of my novel inspirations.) Are you NaNo-ing? If not, are you working on something? Something that lights your fire and keeps you awake at night? Do you have a dream? Something you want very much to do, but are afraid to speak it because you're sure someone will laugh or roll their eyes? Is there a hidden talent you know you could be fabulous at, but you don't know where or how to start? If you didn't know, it's *NaNo month. The one where thousands of slightly insane people try to write a novel in a month. (Yes, I'm one of the crazy ones!) It's hard. It's frustrating. And, it's thrilling! So, let's all embrace the spirit of NaNo and go for it this month. Do something. Dance. Sing. Sew. Cook up a storm. Write something. Creating makes us happy. It makes us better. It brings us closer to God. "God left the world unfinished for man to work his skill upon. He left the electricity in the cloud, the oil in the earth. He left...