Thursday, June 30, 2005
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Emo Rant, Mood Swings: Enter With Caution
Well there are two things on my mind today. For one, I am waiting, like a maniac, at the door for my Canon 20d to arrive. I keep peering out of my front door, looking through the curtains like a crazed old woman who keeps checking to make sure that the neighbor kids aren't trampling her begonias. Every time that I hear a delivery truck (or even a large suv) I rush to the window to see what's up. Mind you, when Craig was the one waiting for the g5 to arrive, I was totally making fun of him. I think I suggested that he permanently glue his face to the window because that is what the neighbors saw everytime they happened to glance our way. So I continue to be edgy and neurotically get things done around the house.
The second thing (this is where the warning comes into play) is this. A few months ago, we recieved a wedding invitation for someone that Craig only vaguely knew. "Uhh, I think that is my Uncle Kevin's step-daughter," was his enthusiastic reply.
Now you have to understand something about Craig's family. For one, the family is a "blended family". I am not saying that my family is the "Model for All Families Wishing to Attain Perfect Functionality in Today's Society" but frankly, not one person that I can think of fits into the "blended" category. This is not a bad thing, it just makes things a bit, well, confusing at times.
The second thing about Craig's family is that they invite literally everyone and their mother to weddings. To get gifts. There. I said it. I know this first hand because the same thing happened at our wedding. (No, Craig. We are not inviting your dad's colleagues to the wedding. No, I don't care that they bought Ryan and Brenda a big screen tv.) I really wanted to pretty much elope. I mean for real, if I could do it over, I would take the money, run away, get married on the beach in Italy. Whoever wants and cares enough to schlepp all the way to Italy will be the ones who are coming to the wedding.
That said, Craig frankly had possibly not ever met this person. I asked if this was a wedding that we *should* attend and he said, "No." I then asked if he thought that is was something that might be "fun" because it was in northern Minnesota (albeit about a 10 hour drive) and would sorta be an excuse for a little weekend away to which he replied again, "No."
Now we get to the good part. (Visions of dooce.com and her getting fired b/c of her emo rants about her job on her blog are now skipping through my head. Can you be excommunicated from your husband's family?) Anyway, on the "official family site of Craig's family", there was a huge post about how only a couple people from the clan showed up to said wedding of mystery family member and how terrible that was and we all should have made it a priority to be there. Bad, bad adult children who make poor choices!!
OOOOOKKKKKAAAAAYYYY. Let's set some things straight RIIIIIGGGHHHT NOOOOWWWW. For one, I really don't want to show up to a wedding where they are simply sending a invite to get a gift. Now I have done research on the subject. The article that I read said that IF YOU DO NOT KNOW THE PERSON OR FEEL WEIRD ABOUT THE INVITE you are not required to be there or to even send a gift. Just mark "no" and return the response card.
And number two, IT IS MY PERROGATIVE TO DECIDE IF I AM TOO BUSY TO ATTEND A WEDDING. I am not "carving out" time to go to a wedding 10 hours away for someone that I have never seen and will never see again.
My last and most thrilling argument, IF YOU ARE ACCUSING SOMEONE ELSE OF NEVER SHOWING UP TO THINGS, IT MAY BE A GOOD IDEA TO HAVE PREVIOUSLY ATTENDED YOUR ONLY GRANDCHILDREN/NEICE/NEPHEW'S FIRST BIRTHDAY BASHES, BIRTHS AND OTHER IMPORTANT EVENTS.
These are my last words as I am being taken away to bad in-law prison. May you learn from my example.
The second thing (this is where the warning comes into play) is this. A few months ago, we recieved a wedding invitation for someone that Craig only vaguely knew. "Uhh, I think that is my Uncle Kevin's step-daughter," was his enthusiastic reply.
Now you have to understand something about Craig's family. For one, the family is a "blended family". I am not saying that my family is the "Model for All Families Wishing to Attain Perfect Functionality in Today's Society" but frankly, not one person that I can think of fits into the "blended" category. This is not a bad thing, it just makes things a bit, well, confusing at times.
The second thing about Craig's family is that they invite literally everyone and their mother to weddings. To get gifts. There. I said it. I know this first hand because the same thing happened at our wedding. (No, Craig. We are not inviting your dad's colleagues to the wedding. No, I don't care that they bought Ryan and Brenda a big screen tv.) I really wanted to pretty much elope. I mean for real, if I could do it over, I would take the money, run away, get married on the beach in Italy. Whoever wants and cares enough to schlepp all the way to Italy will be the ones who are coming to the wedding.
That said, Craig frankly had possibly not ever met this person. I asked if this was a wedding that we *should* attend and he said, "No." I then asked if he thought that is was something that might be "fun" because it was in northern Minnesota (albeit about a 10 hour drive) and would sorta be an excuse for a little weekend away to which he replied again, "No."
Now we get to the good part. (Visions of dooce.com and her getting fired b/c of her emo rants about her job on her blog are now skipping through my head. Can you be excommunicated from your husband's family?) Anyway, on the "official family site of Craig's family", there was a huge post about how only a couple people from the clan showed up to said wedding of mystery family member and how terrible that was and we all should have made it a priority to be there. Bad, bad adult children who make poor choices!!
OOOOOKKKKKAAAAAYYYY. Let's set some things straight RIIIIIGGGHHHT NOOOOWWWW. For one, I really don't want to show up to a wedding where they are simply sending a invite to get a gift. Now I have done research on the subject. The article that I read said that IF YOU DO NOT KNOW THE PERSON OR FEEL WEIRD ABOUT THE INVITE you are not required to be there or to even send a gift. Just mark "no" and return the response card.
And number two, IT IS MY PERROGATIVE TO DECIDE IF I AM TOO BUSY TO ATTEND A WEDDING. I am not "carving out" time to go to a wedding 10 hours away for someone that I have never seen and will never see again.
My last and most thrilling argument, IF YOU ARE ACCUSING SOMEONE ELSE OF NEVER SHOWING UP TO THINGS, IT MAY BE A GOOD IDEA TO HAVE PREVIOUSLY ATTENDED YOUR ONLY GRANDCHILDREN/NEICE/NEPHEW'S FIRST BIRTHDAY BASHES, BIRTHS AND OTHER IMPORTANT EVENTS.
These are my last words as I am being taken away to bad in-law prison. May you learn from my example.
Sunday, June 26, 2005
sunday, sunday...
it is sunday morning and i am sitting in front of my delightful g5. yes the pastor's wife is feeding her internet obsession when she should be saving souls and acting holy. we had a rough night at the hensel house... i was ready a scary crime book that freaked me out so bad i could not sleep. (the book is now sitting on my front porch cause i am too scared to look at it.) in the midst of this, malin was waking up about every 2 hours crying. i had a good alabi though, i was too mortified of what was lurking in the shadows to leave the confines of my bed. default: craig goes to see what is the matter. then this morning she woke up with a temp of 101.2. so i am sparing all other mothers of cbc the dreaded "mystery fever" that malin seems to get now and again.
so i figure that i better write a bit more often cause when i sit down to write i have writer's block. not because i am at a loss for words, oh no. i have too many things running in my mind.
well, moxie moms is going along swimmingly. it is great. i finally got over the "correct" way to do business and just started calling people. i was sick of trying to coordinate the 2 hours a week that i did not have an entourage consisting of a butterfly chasing 3.5 year old and a 20 month old once obsessed with one word commands (taste! taste!) who has graduated to two word commands (stop it!!!) with the one hour a week that a business owner was actually at their business. it reminded me of the breif by bill geist on cbs sunday morning about the "mail girls" of lake geneva, wi, who literally have to jump off a moving boat onto a dock of a wealthy chicagoan on vacation for the summer, deliver the wealthy chicagoan's mail, and jump back onto the boat. all while the boat is still moving and there are paying spectators on the boat with their faces plastered against the plexiglass as they munch on popcorn. talk about making a small window of opportunity even smaller. after i got over the courtesy of "face to face" business dealings (images of my mother saying to me, "i would never hire someone who came in looking for a job in jeans" were calling to me) and besides the fact that having to look somewhat professional when you are choing back tears of rejection was somewhat of a challenge, i realized that i would become a moxie mom at the age of 47 at the rate i was speeding along. so i called my first victim. it happened to be the owner of "heart's desire" (a gift shop in town) who answered the phone. i gave her my schpeil, "himynameisjenahhenselandiamworking
onstartingaclubformomsinwinonacalledmoxiemoms...doesthatsoundlikesomethingyou
wouldbeinterestedin??? and to my great surprise she said yes! i was elated! after about 15 calls, i have 9, count 'em, 9 businesses on board. so much for the proper way to do business. it was also such a great feeling to shout into the reciever after a rejection, "yeah, well, too bad i am telling everyone in town how much you SUCK!" with nary a tear in sight.
so i figure that i better write a bit more often cause when i sit down to write i have writer's block. not because i am at a loss for words, oh no. i have too many things running in my mind.
well, moxie moms is going along swimmingly. it is great. i finally got over the "correct" way to do business and just started calling people. i was sick of trying to coordinate the 2 hours a week that i did not have an entourage consisting of a butterfly chasing 3.5 year old and a 20 month old once obsessed with one word commands (taste! taste!) who has graduated to two word commands (stop it!!!) with the one hour a week that a business owner was actually at their business. it reminded me of the breif by bill geist on cbs sunday morning about the "mail girls" of lake geneva, wi, who literally have to jump off a moving boat onto a dock of a wealthy chicagoan on vacation for the summer, deliver the wealthy chicagoan's mail, and jump back onto the boat. all while the boat is still moving and there are paying spectators on the boat with their faces plastered against the plexiglass as they munch on popcorn. talk about making a small window of opportunity even smaller. after i got over the courtesy of "face to face" business dealings (images of my mother saying to me, "i would never hire someone who came in looking for a job in jeans" were calling to me) and besides the fact that having to look somewhat professional when you are choing back tears of rejection was somewhat of a challenge, i realized that i would become a moxie mom at the age of 47 at the rate i was speeding along. so i called my first victim. it happened to be the owner of "heart's desire" (a gift shop in town) who answered the phone. i gave her my schpeil, "himynameisjenahhenselandiamworking
onstartingaclubformomsinwinonacalledmoxiemoms...doesthatsoundlikesomethingyou
wouldbeinterestedin??? and to my great surprise she said yes! i was elated! after about 15 calls, i have 9, count 'em, 9 businesses on board. so much for the proper way to do business. it was also such a great feeling to shout into the reciever after a rejection, "yeah, well, too bad i am telling everyone in town how much you SUCK!" with nary a tear in sight.
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
long summer days
here i am, sitting around on a summer afternoon, bored again. it kinda sucks having to wait around for a little one to wake up from said nap. i made this old family recipe called "great aunt eva's beef stew" and it is wonderful but the thing of it is that it takes 6 hours in the oven. no. i am not making this up. a literal 6 hours to cook. and no, not in a crock pot, the oven. basically when i walk past the general vicinity of the oven, i feel like those guys on the titanic must have felt, you know the guys who stoke the boilers? i just feel the heat radiating from the oven from about 4 feet away. so beacause dinner literally went in the oven this MORNING, i have not a lot to do this afternoon.
so back to the boredom.
i have recently decided that since we are not going to be run out of town with pitch forks (the church turmoil has settled down a bit) i would try my hand at starting a business. well, not really a business, well, let me explain. my sister lives in boulder and she told me about this great club called moxie moms. you pay like 50 bucks and get a great membership card that gets you discounts at local shops and stuff and also you get a calendar with a lot of awsome events that you are automatically invited to. so the objective of moxie moms is two-fold: 1. support local businesses and 2. to get moms off their butts and out the door. hmm, i said to myself, wouldn't it be great if they had one of those in winona? (stop laughing! i was just hoping!) so i emailed them. the reply was something like this, "there is no moxie-moms chapter in winona, but if you would like to start one..." that was all i saw. the rest of the email was all blurry. at that time, there was no way i was going to "start" anything. i was attempting to get life off the ground (college ministry) and that was totally consuming every spare minute of my time. but at the end of this past school year the idea popped back into my brain. "what if i were to start up a chapter?" so i emailed again which lead to some phone calls with the directors (no, i have absolutely no background in business) and some calls around town (when will the manager be in? yes, i'll hold) and here i am trying my hand at something new. i have to recruit some moms, which should not be too hard to do and plan some fun stuff to do. when i called a friend (who is the manager of a local business) she said, but honey, aren't you too busy already? curses! you're right! i am! i have a ministry, a pastor husband, two little kids, an exchange student and who knows what else i am forgetting. i was a little discouraged.
which leads me back to this afternoon.
this afternoon has been a perfect example. dinner made and me wondering what on earth i could possibly do with my spare time. clean out that closet? nah. do something crafty? nope. make cookies? not if i want that svelte bod i have been hoping for! start up moxie moms? sa-weet!
so back to the boredom.
i have recently decided that since we are not going to be run out of town with pitch forks (the church turmoil has settled down a bit) i would try my hand at starting a business. well, not really a business, well, let me explain. my sister lives in boulder and she told me about this great club called moxie moms. you pay like 50 bucks and get a great membership card that gets you discounts at local shops and stuff and also you get a calendar with a lot of awsome events that you are automatically invited to. so the objective of moxie moms is two-fold: 1. support local businesses and 2. to get moms off their butts and out the door. hmm, i said to myself, wouldn't it be great if they had one of those in winona? (stop laughing! i was just hoping!) so i emailed them. the reply was something like this, "there is no moxie-moms chapter in winona, but if you would like to start one..." that was all i saw. the rest of the email was all blurry. at that time, there was no way i was going to "start" anything. i was attempting to get life off the ground (college ministry) and that was totally consuming every spare minute of my time. but at the end of this past school year the idea popped back into my brain. "what if i were to start up a chapter?" so i emailed again which lead to some phone calls with the directors (no, i have absolutely no background in business) and some calls around town (when will the manager be in? yes, i'll hold) and here i am trying my hand at something new. i have to recruit some moms, which should not be too hard to do and plan some fun stuff to do. when i called a friend (who is the manager of a local business) she said, but honey, aren't you too busy already? curses! you're right! i am! i have a ministry, a pastor husband, two little kids, an exchange student and who knows what else i am forgetting. i was a little discouraged.
which leads me back to this afternoon.
this afternoon has been a perfect example. dinner made and me wondering what on earth i could possibly do with my spare time. clean out that closet? nah. do something crafty? nope. make cookies? not if i want that svelte bod i have been hoping for! start up moxie moms? sa-weet!
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