Back in the day

I have a new client who is 7. I met with her alone for the first time tonight. I picked her up and took her to my office. So, while we were in the car, she was very chatty. Here is just one of the funny things she said:
Client: You know back in the day.
Me: Yeah. (Not really sure what she was talking about)
Client: Back in the day they had a rap song. Wanna hear it?
Me: Sure.
Client: Stop. Collaborate and listen.
:)

Back in the day...doesn't make me feel old at all.
I had the song stuck in my head the rest of the time I had her. Apparently she danced to this song for her dance recital.

Eavesdropping

I was in Target today and I overheard this comment from a girl who was about 6. "I wish I could get a cat! Pink is my favorite color!" At which time I look to what she is pointing to. The hot pink litter scoop. My first thought was, "Anything to do with a litter box would not encourage me to want a cat, no matter what color." But than I realized I have fallen prey to creative colors in the past. Thus the pale pink dust buster I have. I would have never gotten it if it had been gray or black. I guess if I had a cat and I had to clean out the litter box, a hot pink litter scoop might make it a little better! :)

Visitors are coming!

In two and a half days I will be invaded by Forsbergs! I am so excited. Dad, Amy, Daynah, Josh, and 8 kids from Sunshine Acres are coming to Peoria for 8 days! So, not only do I get to see my family, but I get to meet one of the new kids living in their house and see five of the boys I met when I was there in December! I will see them briefly Sunday night when they arrive, but than I won't get to spend very much time with them until the next weekend. They are coming to town for Mission Peoria so they will be busy most of the week. But Mission Peoria ends next Saturday afternoon and they don't leave until Monday evening, so I will have a whole weekend with them! Plus we are having a birthday dinner on Wednesday night to celebrate my birthday and Daynah's birthday. And Daynah and Amy are spending the night that night! Exclamation points all around!!! I am so excited! :)

Virgin hair and other miscellaneousness

This summer at work I have been leading a girls' self-esteem group for 9-11 year old girls. Today there were 4 girls and at the beginning of group we played a therapeutic version of Jenga. There are four different colors and a card with questions for each color. Each card has a "make up a question" category (if you pull the right color for that card). Apparently the "make up a question" category became "make up a question to specifically ask Teresa." The girls answered some questions that were actually relevant to group, but here are some of the conversations we had today based on the "make up a question for Teresa" cards:

Client: How old ARE you? (Previous to this I had told them I was older than 30 but would not tell them a specific age, which apparently did not satisfy this particular client)
Me: Older than 30.
Client: No, really. How old are you exactly? My stepmother and I were trying to figure out how old you are [interesting that they sit around and discuss my age when I am not there! At least I know its not out of sight, out of mind!]. Because we think you might be the same age as my dad.
Me: I'm actually older than your dad. (and than as she started calculating in her head, I decided to have pity on her). I'm actually only a few weeks older than your dad.

Client: How tall are you?
Me: 4' 11 1/2".
Client: I'm exactly 5' 1".
Me: Mmmhmmm.

Client: How much do you weigh?
Me: That is a personal question that you should not ask a woman.
Client: I weigh 95 pounds!

This is my favorite conversation. I'm not sure who said what or in what order, but it went something like this:
Client A: Have you ever died your hair?
Me: No.
Client A: Oh, that's why you have gray in your hair.
Client B: You mean NEVER! Not even in high school?
Me: No, I have never died my hair. But I do have lots of gray.
Client A: It's not really gray, its more like silver. It's kind of like having tinsel in your hair!
Me: Yep, just like having tinsel in my hair. :)

Client A: Do you have any kids?
Me: No.
Client A: Are you married?
Me: No.
Client B: How many boyfriends have you had?
Me: That is also a personal question. But, on second thought, I will answer it.

And then I tied some of these conversations back to self-esteem, talking about what women perceive as low/high self-esteem based on how many boyfriends they have had or whether they are in a relationship...

Nothing like being put in your place and having some self-disclosure forced on you by a few pre-adolescent girls!

Next time you see me, check out the tinsel in my hair!

Reasons why I would rather it be 10 below outside

I know at least half of the people who read this will think I'm crazy and may even curse at me for posting this! :) But I just figure my opinion needs to be stated. So, in true Teresa fashion I shall compose a list of why freezing cold is better than boiling hot.

1. For the most part I can always put on more clothing if I am cold. Can't so much take more off if I am hot.
2. Cold doesn't make me nauseous.
3. Cold doesn't make me tired.
4. Cold doesn't give me a low-grade headache all day long.
5. The heater in my work building can keep up with the cold (when it's working properly) but the window air conditioning unit in the third floor attic window cannot even begin to touch the 100 degree temperatures, thus making it feel like the heat is on in the building.
6. In general, cold doesn't make me cranky.
7. I don't have to shave my legs every day when it is cold outside.

The only things I can think of that they have in common is that in either extreme I sometimes find it difficult to breathe outside and that they both make me get horrible gas mileage.

Just the mundane

Nothing out of the ordinary happening here today. But some things that I felt were at least worth mentioning, just for the irony of it all.

I had to go to court with one of my clients today. I sat in the courthouse for 2 1/2 hours, sat in the court room for 1 1/2 minutes and than stood in the hallway for 10 minutes waiting on the paperwork! But I got paid to do it. And I get to bill for all that time, so it's not too bad! And the good news is, they closed my client's case. YAY! This is the family that they almost pulled the kids in January even though I thought it would have been a completely ridiculous decision. So, it was worth sitting for 2 1/2 hours, I think.

Than I was so hungry that I decided to go to Avanti's and get a Gondola. After living in Peoria for 5 years, I finally remembered to order the gondola with no cheese so I wouldn't have to pick it off later. I was so proud of myself for that :). But than when I started eating it, it tasted funny to me. Either it had some bad salami on it or all these years the gross American cheese has been altering the taste of the salami so that I like it. Hmmm...now what do I do next time I go to Avanti's to get a gondola?

Advice from a client

I was meeting with a client's mother today and as I was about to leave, she said to me "You need to find a husband and have some kids!" Great advice from the 28 year old mother of four with two different men! I'm not sure what prompted the comment, but here were my reactions, one after the other:
1. An internal eye roll.
2. An internal "Hmmm...I had never thought of that!"
3. An internal thought to myself, "Awww, that's kind of sweet!"
4. An out loud, "I DO need to find a husband and have some kids!" :)

And than she proceeded to give me some advice on how to find that husband! To which I did give an external eye roll and told her that I'd find him when I was meant to find him! :) Good thing I like this mom, or reactions one, two, or three might have not been internal reactions!

Birthday Happenings

This is a little reminder of what I got to do last year on my birthday: softball and holding a baby! Hudson was only a few weeks old!
So I thought it would be fun to show you what a difference a year makes (don't pay any attention to the gray in my hair!)!
Now he's taking a few steps and he's got teeth and will smile at you if you just look at him (unless you want him to smile in a picture! Boy, you should have seen how much it took to get this smile!)

This was actually taken on the 4th, as you can tell from Hudson's patriotic wear. Not so much from mine. Oops!

My birthday weekend was so much fun! Sunday evening I had some friends over to Kari's house to play games and eat dessert. We played Taboo and laughed until we almost peed in our pants!!! First it was in ways people tried to describe things. Than it was because Joe played Taboo so aggressively he tore a hole in his shorts! Than it was because Joe tried to kill Kristi by tripping over her chair and she managed to escape with a full pitcher in hand. Oh my, was it an exciting evening! :)

Than Monday was the 4th. That meant a picnic at Kari's parents' house with about 40 other people. Good food. Good games. Good shade to watch the games in. Kids to play with. People to catch up with. And than off to fireworks with the million other people in Peoria (slight exaggeration, but sometimes it doesn't seem like it!)

Than Tuesday I slept in until 9:15. Read. Emily came home and we went to get a free movie (thank you Family Video) and lunch from QDoba. Than home to open presents. You'll never guess what I got! Seasons 6 and 7 of NCIS! So we watched 3 episodes. Than I went to Kari's parents' house for dinner. Doug and Nancy adopted me into the family before Dad and Amy moved. But since they moved, they have especially adopted me! They do family birthday dinner for everyone in their family and they included me. I got to submit my menu--barbecue chicken, asparagus, and garlic potatoes. And than we had apple pie and ice cream for dessert. And than Kari beat me at a game of Bags. And than everyone beat me at a game of croquet. But don't worry, I didn't mind. It was the spending time with family (which included Kristi and Clay who were visiting from New York) that mattered to me. It was very special that they became my family since my family is no longer near by.

And I also got all my Facebook messages...and texts...and phone calls from friends and family! I felt very loved all day!

And than I got to stay up late reading a book because I knew i could sleep in the next day!

Thanks everyone for making my day so special!

I'm officially an adult!

It hit me last night that I finally, with the passing of this birthday, reached adulthood. And it made me sigh. And giggle. And think fondly of my sister. And than miss her. Don't you just love the emotions a girl can go through in a few short minutes!

Daynah most likely does not remember this conversation at all, except for how often I remind her of it, but when she was about 6, which would have made me 21, she informed me that I wouldn't be an adult until I was 32! At the time I was just fine with that. 32 seemed so far away and frankly, it seemed like a good idea to wait 11 more years to be an adult. :) But now, here I am, a full-fledged adult. I guess that means I should start doing adult things. Being responsible. Earning my keep. Doing chores instead of lounging around and reading a book. Oh, wait, I'm on vacation. I think I'll wait to be an adult until Monday :)

Sentimental and Silly

I was reading through my birthday posts from last year looking for something in particular when I ran across my birthday post to myself and it made me tear up a little bit (although I've been kind of emotional the last couple of days anyway :). I was going to actually repost it, but decided that if you want to read it, you can click on the link. Otherwise, I'll write some new sentiments that maybe will make me cry next year :)

Obviously, I love my birthday! :)I don't really know why, and everyone tells me that as I get older, it won't be as much fun to celebrate, but so far that hasn't happened. I think I like it because it's a fun day to anticipate. And I really do enjoy it because it gives me a chance to spend time with friends and family (but with a little control. Like, of course my team won the game at my party, because it's my birthday, so I can't lose!). But this morning I was thinking again about what God has done in my life, and I realized that while I love celebrating my birthday, I have so much more to celebrate. I celebrate two big dates in my life--my physical birthday and my spiritual birthday. They are both important. I obviously could not celebrate my spiritual birth if I hadn't first been physically born! But, to me, it would not be nearly as significant to celebrate my physical birth if I did not know that I would be spending eternity with God in Heaven, thus, the importance of celebrating my spiritual birth (which in January will be 14 years!). To me, they are both important days to remember and can kind of both be celebrated twice. So today, I am thanking God for physically making me a part of a great earthly family whom I love dearly. And I am thanking Him for making me part of a wonderful spiritual family, whom I also love dearly!

And now for the silly! It's the correct year for this quote from When Harry Met Sally. I love Meg Ryan and how animated she gets in movies, so I can totally picture this scene in my head, which makes me laugh even more. This is not meant to be a woe is me, I'm turning 32 (so don't think I'm trying to feel sorry for myself). It's meant to be just a funny quote that I thought of when I realized 40 is really 8 years away! :)
Sally: No, no, no, I drove him away. AND, I'm gonna be forty.
Harry: When?
Sally: Someday.
Harry: In eight years.
Sally: But it's there.

What?! The fireworks are not for my birthday!

But for at least 3 or 4 years of my life, I thought they were. Honest mistake, I promise! Let me tell you the story...(this might get a little long because I'm feeling kind of nostalgic, just to warn you!).

As you might have guessed, I was born on the 5th of July :). I was born in Illinois and lived near LOTS of family. From my memories, we often celebrated my birthday the afternoon of the 4th because my mom and dad had a pool. So everyone would come over, we'd swim, have cake, open presents, swim some more. Until it started getting toward early evening. Than we'd pack up and go to Grandma and Grandpa's house. My grandparents had the most wonderful backyard. It was huge! And at the back of the property was a big field with baseball diamonds and a park and a tennis court. The tennis court was lined on one side with trees and there was a parking lot (I think) behind the trees. Every year, the fireworks would be set off from that parking lot.

Fireworks are one of my favorite things. But that wasn't always the case. There was a period of time when I was deathly afraid of them. It was a fear that took a long time to get over, but I am oh, so glad that I did! But, I'm getting ahead of myself!

Grandma and Grandpa's yard was a free for all for family and friends on the 4th. I mean, it was the type of party where you could invite the friend of a friend of a friend to share space in the backyard. I can remember stories of "How doy you know Ray and Dot?" "Oh, I'm a friend of Sam's. He's Gayle's son. Gayle is friend's with Cindy. She's Ken's wife. Ken is Ray's son." It's kind of like the five degrees of Kevin Bacon. Oh, my, I digress... The yard would be littered with blankets. I can remember ours. It was a blue jean quilt that my mom had made. There were pockets from the back of jeans to hide all kind of treasures in. And then we would watch the fireworks!

Now, first, can you see why I would kind of think they were for my birthday? We would celebrate my birthday earlier in the day. We would go to my grandparents' house to watch fireworks. It was pretty cool that the whole town got to celebrate my birthday with me, don't you think?! :)

Anyway, onto the scary part. One year (I honestly don't remember how old I was, maybe 5or 6), the fireworks mis-fired and some shot into grandma and grandpa's yard. I don't actually remember much about it, but I remember people running. I don't remember anyone being hurt, but it scarred me for many years. I didn't want anything to do with fireworks after that. They were loud. They were scary. And they hurt people.

I don't remember ever going to fireworks in the 15 years I lived in Georgia. A smattering of times when we would visit Illinois, we would go, but I would protest till I was blue in the face. Ironically, there were also fireworks that were shot off a block or two from my grandma's house (other side of the family), so I remember going to those a few times. But I don't think it was until high school that I really began to enjoy them again. And now, the 4th is again one of my favorite holidays. I love spending time with friends (which is what I most often do). Having a picnic. Playing games. And now that I live in Peoria, heading down to the riverfront every year to watch the fireworks. Setting out blankets and playing games until the fireworks start. Hanging out with friends. Oooohhhing and aaaahhhhing over each boom. Being so close that you can feel the big booms in your chest. And then talking about them all the way home--which ones were your favorites, what was different from last year. Making memories until the next year where you'll make even more new memories. I can't wait! :)

Clash of the Birthday Rules

Last year, I gave a full list of birthday rules that I have. To read them, check this out. Now, the problem is, not everyone has the same birthday rules. And what do you do when your birthday rules don't match up to say, your roommate's birthday rules? Stubbornness. Staring contests. Planned ignoring. And lots of endless conversation back and forth where neither person will budge. But don't worry. I have the advantage. :) In this case, the copy of the recipe.

Emily has been adamantly opposed to me making the dessert for my own birthday. In most instances, I would agree. But this year, I just don't think it makes sense. I am doing almost nothing the next two days, and my party is not until 7pm tomorrow night. Emily on the other hand, worked A LOT this week, is going to be at her parents' house most of the weekend, has a sister visiting from Colorado, has a sister visiting from Chicago, and is co-hosting a baby shower for the Colorado sister. So, we had our first "argument" about the birthday dessert last weekend where she informed me that I was not allowed to make my own birthday dessert. I strategically dropped the subject, realizing in my head that if I didn't mention it again, she might forget :). Except today I forgot that I was not mentioning it and said something about buying ingredients. To which Emily said, "Oh, yeah, I thought I was making your dessert." And I said, "Yes, you thought you were making my dessert." I than revisited the reasons it was not practical for her to make it. I explained that it was a new recipe that I really want to make myself because I like new recipes. I reminded her of all the things that are on her plate. I reminded her that I had already shopped for all the ingredients. We stared each other down. She protested some more. I nodded my head sympathetically. I reminded her that she needed to be going.

Now, frankly, normally I would agree with her birthday rule. In general, the birthday girl should not have to make her own cake. But it just didn't seem practical. And it's not a clear cut rule in my book. So, I'll be making my own birthday cake and I'll be perfectly okay with it. Emily, on the other hand, might not ever be on speaking terms with me again :) (Especially after she reads this post). But she knows I love her!

Something's Different

And it's not that that I realized while taking this picture that the stuff at the corner of the picture is trash that I meant to throw away. Which means that what I actually threw away was all my birthday coupons. And in between throwing them away I cut up a watermelon and put the rinds in the trash. YUCK. E. But I laid them out to dry :)

Do you give up? I got another package in the mail today! :)

Welcome to July

It's a new month. And with it comes the chance to redeem myself from the dismal failure that was my blog postings in June. :)
July also brings worthwhile things to blog about (well, in my life anyway). Such as the 4th of July, my birthday, family coming into town. And hopefully some other things along the way. These have been sitting on my counter for two days now. Will of steel. Nothing can move me to open them before Tuesday.

Oh, and Emily and I have been really busy. She will be at her parents' house all weekend. And we have been filling in with JAG while we wait.

But still. Will of steel!

Today is the first day of my 10 day (minus next Thursday) vacation! I told Emily that I would probably wake up early because I have been getting up early to get to work to get paperwork done all week. But, I woke up at 7 and then fell back to sleep until 8:40. Which still doesn't really seem late, but it is the latest I have slept in a while. I'd keep you posted on what I am doing for my vacation, but I'm planning a bunch of nothing, so it might not be too exciting. Although this weekend is full of festivities with my birthday and the 4th. So, we'll see what you get updated on! :) I'll definitely let you know what is in those presents sitting on my counter.