Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

I have a wonderful Mom, who helped to shape who I am today. In our family, each family member has a different name for Mom. Today I would like to share with you all our names for Mom, in celebration of just how wonderful and loved she is!

Dad calls her Dearie.

Jaisha calls her Momma.

 

I call her Mumsie.

Jackie calls her MMMAAAAAAAA (pronounced like a sheep might).

Julie calls her Marmie.

No matter what her name is, she will always be our Mom.

 

Happy Mother's Day, Mumsie! I love you!

Cliff Notes for Jess & Joel

Day 11: Sell yourself in 10 words or less.

Caring

Determined

Humorous

Irrational

Loved

Loyal

Optimistic

Seeking

Smart

Taken

 

 

Hardworking

Rational

Determined

Loyal

Stubborn

Relaxed

Persistent

Caring

Calculating

Loving

 

 

 

A Peacock Visits

Day 9: A moment in your day.

We have a resident wild peacock and two wild peahens, or his special lady friends as we call them, living in our neighborhood. This evening Joel and I were in the yard when we noticed the peacock was out and about. Probably running peacock errands after a long day of doing peacock work.

The peacock wandered around our side yard for a bit.

He is such a brilliant blue, so beautiful!

Joel was chasing the peacock, trying to make him open his tail. No such luck.

Aside from the loud bird calls early in the morning, the breaking for peacocks, and fear he might make a nest on our roof, it is kind of fun to have a peacock in the neighborhood. He has almost become our mascot, I guess.

 

Be Kind To Yourself

Day 8: A piece of advice you have for others. Anything at all.

Be Kind To Yourself. We are all our own toughest critic and it is hard for me to remember to be kind to myself. I work hard to be the person I want to be. I try to eat right, to workout at the gym, to be a good wife, a good sister, a good daughter, a good friend, and a good co-worker.

When I really listen to what I say to myself, I am a real jerk! "Oh my goodness, you look ridiculous today, did you even look in the mirror?" "Did you really just say that out loud, they are going to think you are stupid!" "How could you have misspelled that word and missed it!" "You are such a fat pig, don't eat that cupcake!" "You look stupid in workout clothes." "You could never wear skinny jeans, you are too thick." Seeing them typed out on the screen, these statements are hurtful. But I still say them to myself every day.

I need to stop. I need to be kind to myself. I need to remember that the people who count, my family, my friends and my amazing husband, don't care if I am thick, if I eat cupcakes and if I wear silly looking clothes. They love me. I need to love me.

Be kind to yourself.
 

 

Failure

Day 7: The thing(s) you're most afraid of.

Failure. I am pretty darn afraid of failure. At being a wife, a mother, a sister, a friend, anything.  I dont' want to be a failure. I don't have to be the best at it, but I want to at least be good at things.

I worry that one day I won't have Joel by my side. I worry that something terrible will happen, something that either takes him from me or damages our relationship beyond repair. I worry one day I won't be Mrs. Odell to my Mr. Odell.

I worry that I won't be a good mom. I worry that I will ruin my kids or that I will damage them in some way that will mess them up for life. I worry that they will hate me and I'm not talking about the teenager-stage-of-my-parents-are-stupid, but the lasting feeling of genuine dislike for your parents. I worry I won't be half the mom, my mom was.

I know I failed at being a big sister, but I worry I don't have time to make it up. I know that sisters have a deep bond that nothing else can touch, and I worry I have missed out my chance to have that with all of my sisters. I want that bond, but worry I have missed my chance.

I worry that I am a terrible friend. I worry that my friends think because I don't always call, because I don't see them regularly, that I don't care. I worry that I will loose friendships or do something to damage our relationships beyond repair. I worry the efforts I make to keep friendships appear to be fake or disingenuous. I much prefer in-person conversations, but given time and distance, it is hard to make that happen frequently. I worry I will grow old without a friend.

I worry I will fail. I am afraid I will be a failure at the important things in life.

What do I do?

Day 6: If you couldn't answer with your job, how would you answer the question, "what do you do"?

I organize. There is so much I want to accomplish in my life, from daily activities like laundry and workouts, to big picture stuff like travel and raising a family. I worry sometimes that it won't all happen and I will look back on my life one day and I will have regrets.

So I organize. I plan and I make lists. I start from sunrise and don't stop until sunset. It starts on Sunday and I plan out my whole week; I know which days I will be going to the gym, which day I will weed the flowerbeds, which day I will run errands, and what I will eat all week. If we have an activity planned for the weekend, I plan out everything we might do, what we need to make it all happen, and when I will have time during the week to prepare for the weekend.

Joel and I like to spend as much time with all our friends and family members as possible, so we plan out our lives months and months in advance. Our calendar gets so full, but it is the only way I know we will see everyone and we won't miss out on any of the fun!

At work I help to plan events, big and small, I track archives, I manage large marketing documents, co-chair one committee, serve on a couple other committees, and I manage several websites, just to name of a few of things I am responsible for. All of these tasks involve other team members and I help to coordinate the work.

I'm also a control freak, so organizing tames the beast within that needs to be in control. If I feel like my house in order, my plans are made and my lists are checked off, then I stop worrying about things going wrong. I'm trying to cut back on my controlling ways, but I am who I am...

So I organize. That is what I do.

Whom do I love?

Day 5: Publicly profess your love and devotion for one of your blogger friends.

My friend Anna and I once made plans to live next door to each other so we could just walk over after work, sit on the porch together, drink wine, and be together. But life has temporarily put these plans on hold. We have both found our Happily-Ever-Afters and are living in different cities, about an hour apart. Even though there is physical distance, I feel like we are still as close as ever.

We met in college and when she moved in to an apartment in the same building. We became quick friends and when it came time to move again, we moved in together. Live was great, when I lived with Anna. Some of my favorite memories of college come from that duplex on Puget Street. We discovered Jim Gaffigan, created the Lobcoon, dented the walls and door with champagne corks, drank at the beach, went to concerts, walked Christmas trees home from the store, chilled champagne in the snow when the power went out, and had lazy nights in.

 

We might see each other less often now but we still know how to have fun together. Times change and we grow older, but our friendship just grows deeper! One day, our plans will work out and we will be old ladies together who do nothing but drink wine and tell the stories of our youth. I love you, Anna-my-Birch!