On the quest for justice

It's a little after 9:00 pm on Sunday. My husband and I are winding down our day, in our pj's already. EJ has been fast asleep for a little over an hour, the neighborhood is quiet, and it's dark outside. Suddenly, the phone rings. The first thought that goes through my head is Uh-Oh, what happened? I reach for the phone and barely glance at the caller id before answering.

"Hello?" I say
"Hi, can I please speak to Tara?"
"This is her." (Before I can ask who is speaking, the female caller begins a spiel)
"I'm calling from New Mexico Survey and I have a brief..."
(I cut her off) "Are you kidding me? Ma'am where are you located right now?"
"Where am I located?" she replies
"Yes, what city are you in right now?"
"Well, I, why ma'am?" she asked me
"Do you realize that in Albuquerque it's 9:00? AT NIGHT?"
"Yes I do ma'am."
"You realize how late it is and you are still calling people's houses interrupting their nights?"
"Yes."
"WHO TOLD YOU it was okay to call people this late at night? Do you realize children are asleep? Do you not care if you wake them up? Do you realize only bad thoughts come to mind when you hear the phone ring at this hour? What is the deal?"
To which she replied-"I understand thanks" and proceeds to hang up on me.

She didn't really care. My passionate speech did nothing to persuade her that what she was doing was a complete injustice and horrible inconvenience., The questions I asked should have at least caused her to pause and reflect and realize that I was right, it is wrong to call so late and that she should seriously consider finding a new job.
So then I began to wonder what happened to the do not call list? Did we fall off? Do we have to re-register? So I will be investigating that today.

PS- A little side note
I obviously didn't complete the survey last night because of time. But I do refuse to complete any survey when I am called because of a segment I watched on TV few years ago. It was an investigative report about how burglars, or predators can find out so much about you by asking seemingly harmless questions which happen to coincide with questions many legitimate surveys ask.
For example -
What is your average household income?
This answer is loaded because it can tell them what type of home you may live in, and the quality of things you may have in your home.
How many people in the home work?
This can tell them whether the home is vacant during the day or not
What is the highest level of education completed?
This gives them access to demographic info such as whether you have a professional career or not, and also can give them an idea of your income
What radio station do you listen to the most?
This question allows them to categorize your age. For example statistics show that older, upper class individuals listen to classical stations, while teens and early twenty somethings listen to hip-hop and rock stations.
So just an FYI. I realize not every burglar or predator is dedicated enough to figure all of this out and take the time to actually do this research, but you never know who is on the other end of the phone!

The merriment of commencement has commenced

The last day of EJ's swim lessons is upon us. His first little graduation, yay! He got a cute little report card and I am so proud of him.

I have to say the lessons turned out better than I thought it would. I absolutely love the water, however I had reservations about going to lessons every day for two weeks, right smack in the middle of the day, at noon, when it is sooo hot. Seeing how much EJ enjoyed being in the water made it was worth it though. We made great friends, and EJ can now blow bubbles in the water, sit on the edge of the pool and jump in, and kick his little legs.

He must have really enjoyed what he learned because the other night while taking a bath he held his HUGE rubber ducky face down in the water and leaned his head down next to the duck's and I could hear him making car noises to teach his duck how to blow bubbles. It was so cute. Anyway, thanks to Ms. Tessa we are a few steps closer to having a little fishy!

EJ and his teacher

Playing ring around the rosie

Just jumped in!

Not sure exactly what he's doing, but it's a cute pic!

A Boy and his dog

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The trivial and mundane things in life

So I hate to do the dishes. Of all the household chores, this is my least favorite thing to do. We used to use our dishwasher but at the time we both worked, with only the two of us, it took quite a while to fill up the dishwasher to justify doing a load, and by then we were out of the dishes we needed to make dinner and eat it.
So I started doing dishes by hand. And oh, how I drrrreeeeaaaaaddd it. I try and psyche myself out before I start every day, telling myself I should be happy that I am blessed with dishes to wash, and it means we have food to eat, and it means that I have a family who is eating the food. Well that works to make me feel an immense sense of love for my family, but doesn't encourage me to start the dishes. I tried buying really cute colorful dishcloths, telling myself it'll be more fun to do the dishes and use the bright happy colored cloths, rather than boring old plain cloths. Well that worked for a few days. I decided to take a look around and see if what others think about doing dishes, and here's a funny little article I found on how to enjoy doing dishes-

Let's see.

• Don't wait until the end of the night to do your dishes. We've been known to make a nice meal, eat dinner, and then watch a couple hours of the Rock of Love marathon on VH1 before finally getting around to doing the dishes. When we wait until the end of the night to do dishes, it's hard to enjoy the task.

Yeah I figured that one out a long time ago. In fact I will usually start a sink load right before I start cooking so I can do the dishes as I go and they won't build up because that makes it all the more unappealling. What's next?

• Listen to music. Putting on your favorite CD makes any cleaning job more fun. Doing dishes is the one time when we really have a chance to listen to our favorite music.

Okay, I do this one too. I have even gone above and beyond and I sometimes sing out loud while I do the dishes. Doesn't make it any more enjoyable. Next?

• Use green dish soap that smells great. Scent is a powerful mood elevator. Some of our favorites are Mrs. Meyers Geranium Dish Soap and Caldrea's Citrus Mint Ylang Ylang Dish Soap.

Hmmm, I have to say, my Dawn with bleach alternative isn't quite the powerful mood elevator.

• Make a station for dishwashing supplies so you're ready to go when you need to. We have a wall-mounted basket that holds dish soap, sponge, hand lotion, and dish towel. If you don't mind reusable rubber gloves, they're a good addition to your supply rack and will help to protect your hands.

Okay, check. Have one of these.

• Think of it as time alone...or time together. If you need some time by yourself, dishwashing is the perfect opportunity for introspection. If you prefer to make it a joint task, ask your roommate or partner to dry while you wash, and use the time for conversation.

This is assuming your roommate or partner will actually say "Sure buddy, let's go tackle them dishes!" (Actually, dishes is one of the things my husband will do for me on occasion)

• Love your dishes and invest in a good dish rack. We used to have a cheap dish rack that we hated. A friend gave us the Simplehuman Flip-Top Dish Rack as a gift. She told us it would change our life, and it did.

Oh, well, I do love my dishes! I had to work really, really hard at having a successful Taste of Home Entertainment party so I could receive this beautiful Mario Batalli set of dishes for next to nothing, but it was all worth it! However I don't use a dish rack...

• Give yourself a reward when you're finished. If you really hate doing dishes, you can help yourself out by creating a light at the end of the tunnel. Something small works well: a cup of coffee, some time with a good book, or an extra 15 minutes of sleep.

A Reward huh? I think chocolate qualifies as a reward. So let's review.

Apparently all I need to enjoy doing the dishes is Geranium or Citrus Mint Ylang Ylang dish soap, a super duper dish rack, and a BIG chocolate reward.

Yeah. I'll let y'all know how that works out.

That which doesn't kill you, can really stress you out

So in light of everything that has been happening with my husband's job, I have been a little stressed out. I struggle with anger more than any other emotion, and I am daily repenting and repenting for the feelings I have toward a few people in particular at my husband's old job. In the meantime, I have been trying to encourage my husband as much as I can, adapt to a new routine that includes having him home with us, keep EJ entertained so Joey can work on resume stuff and look for jobs, all the while trying to stay patient and still and wait on God. My first response is to run to the computer update my resume and start looking for a job as well. I even halfheartedly looked through the paper with a friend of mine Sunday "just to see what was out there". So today, I received my daily devotional from Proverbs 31 Ministries, here is a couple of exerpts-

The Weight of Waiting
Van Walton

"Why doesn't the Almighty bring the wicked to judgment? Why must the godly wait for him in vain?"
Job 24:1 (NLT)

Devotion:

I don't like having to wait. It can bring out the worst in me...
God knows me. He is well aware of my weaknesses. So He calls me to His workout room were my weights are actually waits. "Here lift these. When you have completed this exercise, you will emerge a stronger woman."

So I begin to "strength train" with the waits in my life.

Daily I encounter light waits that serve as a warm up for the heavier waits. How I behave as I wait in line at the post office or grocery store, for example, becomes a testimony to my growing strength and maturity. Sure I sometimes drop the load rather than handle the wait well ... I occasionally give in to impatient eye rolling, snide under-my-breath comments, or quick steps to assure my place in line.

Thankfully, God believes in me as a savvy coach believes in his well-chosen athletes. He hasn't given up on me. He continues to assign me to His wait room where I'm learning daily "wait training" strengthens me for the larger times of waiting. Like the time I had to wait for my first job. As I waited for a call back, my self-esteem plummeted. Yet in God's good timing He opened the doors to the perfect position. Or, the time I waited as my dad's health deteriorated. Sadness threatened to overwhelm me. But I emerged from God's wait room wrapped in my Father's comfort, having learned to trust Him.

I've discovered that waiting isn't a waste of time, but an opportunity to grow my character. When the wait feels impossible I try to focus on building patience and my relationship with Jesus, rather than fretting. I spend a lot of time in God's wait room. Next time you find yourself there, remember that God provides the ability to endure when we willingly yield to His strength training process.

Psalm 5:3, "In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; ...I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation." (NIV)

Isaiah 49:23 b, "Those who wait for me shall not be put to shame." (ESV)

Romans 15:4, "...the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God's promises to be fulfilled." (NLT)

So, I will continue to lay my requests before Him and wait in expectation, for God's promises to be fulfilled!

Summer

Where did May go? I cannot believe it's June already. I seem to have missed May somewhere in between all of the graduations, first holy communions, and birthday parties. It is now HOT, HOT, HOT all of the time. We have spent almost every day either inside with the air conditioner blasting, or outside so EJ can swim in the ice cold water that comes from the hose in his little pool. He loves the water and it doesn't even phase him when he's shivering and his lips are blue.

We love having his friends over to swim with him, and I secretly sit there wishing I was a little smaller so I would fit in the pool as well! In order to fulfill my secret longing to be in the pool,
I signed EJ up for swim lessons today, since I have to be in the water with him, I figure I'll get my water fix, and I'm hoping I will have a little fishy by the end of the month!