Today's Surprise!

Luke and I were playing in the living room earlier this evening, when he disappeared into our bedroom.  I didn't think anything of it, because he has free range of the house.  Then I heard the toilet flush.  Two things entered my mind:  1) He could be filling the toilet with TP, and I would soon walk in to find an overflowing mess, or 2) He could just be practicing flushing, since I had recently made him flush his cheese snacks after he dropped them on the floor (Even though I...uh hum...just mopped the floor very, very thoroughly last night.). 

What happened next caught me off guard.  He ran back into the living room, and I said, "Did you just flush the toilet?!?" To which he replied, "Pee pee."  I hadn't heard him utter the word with such gusto before, so I followed him into the bathroom.  (And I knew it was safe, because he was wearing a diaper, and he can't get up onto his training seat by himself.)

Seizing the moment, I instantaneously tossed the training seat on the toilet seat and ripped off his pants and diapers.  Of course, not much happened right away, but I was a bit hopeful, since he had taken the initiative. 

He sat there playing with toilet paper, until I took it away.  I went to turn on the bathtub and hide the TP, and when I turned around I saw the door shut to the tiny room with the potty.  I opened the door, and, sure enough, there was a little bit of wetness on the seat.  I figured he had just stuck his hand down in the toilet. 

Apparently I was wrong!  He seemed very excited, and, when I got him down and moved the seat there was, indeed, a yellowish tint to the water.  We both jumped up and down and shared supreme excitement for the next few minutes. 

So that's how it happened.  Way to go Luke!!!

Makeup Alley -- Best Site. Ever! (For Women AND Men!)

I'm not even sure how I came across it, but I'm about to make it my new homepage. :-)

It's called Makeup Alley, and it is just amazing.  People log on and give reviews of their favorite cosmetics and beauty products--everything from the most wallet-conscious stuff to the high-end, stuff-I-can't-afford stuff. 

Nail polish? Lipstick? Hair color? Skincare? Men's Fragrance? This site has reviews it ALL!  Oh, and there's even an option to swap makeup with other people.  Weird?  Maybe!

The last time I checked, the website touted "1,837,826 reviews of 119,368 products." And I really like that the reviews are thoughtful reviews by real people. 

So check it out.  Indulge yourself!  You will thank me!

Oh, and if you're still reading, I'm going to include my favorite review so far.  This girl cracks me up!

Review of Revlon Frost & Glow Highlighting Kit by she25

I highlighted my hair for the first time ever last night using this product. My hair is long, natural red, and layered, about to the middle of my back. My boyfriend had agreed to help me do that back, so I strapped on the cap and went to town. I knew I didn't want it all over, so I only pulled hair through the black holes. The hook sucked, but I wasn't sure if it was the cheap hook, or that I had put the cap on so tight I was choking myself. As I was pulling hair out I wasn't sure if I was pulling too much hair through. I had to pull hair through each hole about three times to get what i thought was enough. It went fine until I got to the top of my head. I had the cap on soo tight that I could barely catch any hair! After an hour of this (seriously, it takes forever if you have long hair) I only had the front done and went to ask my pitch hitter to start on the back of my head. He was dead asleep and I was becoming claustrophobic with that thing on my head. I called my cousin, and asked her to finish it for me. She agreed, and I slipped a hoodie on and I was out, praying I didn't get pulled over while looking like the Tales from the Crypt monster. She quickly calmed my nerves by telling me that I had the right amount of hair through the holes. She started pulling hair through, and it was a nightmare once she got to the back. Long hair and these caps just do not work. Every piece was tangled. I finally untied the death cap and we had to comb out my hair underneath, which still did little good. Okay, after 3 hours of pulling, and cursing, my hair was out. She took it out of every black hole on the entire cap. I took a glance in the mirror and had a moment of panic when the back looked FULL of hair and it looked like there was barely any out of the top. She assured it would be fine, and began slathering my hair with the grindy mixture. Half way through she says "uh oh" which is always so nice to hear when you are getting your hair done, and informed me we did not have enough dye. I should have known this, I wasn't even thinking, so I tossed a $20 and the old box at her husband and told him to make it fast. The old dye set on my head for about 15 min before he got back. It was all over, just thin, and not saturated at all. She threw the second batch on my head, covered it with the platic thing, and we were good to go. The crappy thing about this is trying to seperate your hair under the cap, from the dye. I wrapped a towel around it but was still nervous stuff was getting on it. After about 20-25 minutes I looked in the mirror (for the 20th time) and notcied it looked super blonde. I rinsed my hair in a big sink, and pulled the cap off with great ease. I was beyond shocked because I knew what kind of rats nest lived under there from all of the pulling and tangling. I wrapped my head in a crap towel and headed for the shower. I did have an ["oh &^%!"] moment when I took the towel off and saw platinum streaks in my hair, but after shampoo & conditioner I saw it wasnt so dramatic. My hair def wasn't silky soft anymore, which I expected, I combed it out and blow dried it and was seriously surprised at the results. I thought for sure it would be jacked up. It was not only even, it was a blonde honey color. It of course had a golden tint to it, because of my previously red hair. It lightened my hair nicely, and the streaks are visible. For some reason the hair at the top in the middle of my hair is a bit blonder, but i think it's just becuase that is where the dye was first put, and was on the longest. I wish you could upload before and after pics on here. I think this has to be a fool proof highlighting kit. I thought for sure the cap wasn't tight enough, I didn't have enough hair through, I had too much hair through, not enough dye, on too long....and it turned out great. I can't say i would have left it on any longer, or any shorter. I would say that if you don't want the entire thing highlighted (which will dramatically lighten your hair) don't do the back section of the cap. Even all my hair underneath that I left out is full of highlights. I would also say that if you have long hair, you better have at least 4 hours to do this from start to finish. The only reason I said I wouldn't be buying this product again, is because it was too much of a hassle to get my long hair through. In fact my cousin told me about 20 times she wanted to just stab me in the head with the comb because she was so sick of every piece being tangled. Make sure the person you have help you has a lot of patience. :) This product rocked, and I would suggest it to anyone.

Changes (in TC)



Trees are blooming where a perfectly good house once stood--signs of progress in our small town



"They" are widening the roads here in The Colony.  Our four-lane state FM is about to get wider, and we're very excited about it (even though we're not excited about the construction-related traffic). 

But it's been kind of weird.  We've lived here for eight years now, and we've already seen quite a few changes.  But this change is big.  The city/state (not sure which) has been purchasing up a lot of land to use for the development, and that means buildings are disappearing left and right (literally, on the left and right side of the road). 

I saw the absolute weirdest change last year one day on my way to school when a giant bulldozer reached up and took a chunk out of a perfectly good house.  I saw the first chunk removed, and it looked partly like a movie and partly like a children's game.  I may have had my camera with me, but the only thing I could think to do while I was driving was grab my phone and call Jeff excitedly, because I knew he'd think it was cool and want to hear a play-by-play. 

I'd say about 15 buildings have been removed.  It's been surreal.

On the one hand, we've got this progress that we absolutely need.  On the other hand, the buildings destroyed (mostly homes and gas stations, but one bank, too) belonged to people and were either their livelihoods or the place where they made their lives.  That's kind of sad.

So yesterday something really caught my eye.  Where the houses were removed, the landscaping was kept.  I'm not sure if the trees (planted with love, if they are like the trees in our yard) are going to be relocated or removed at a later date.  But yesterday, where a house once stood, the Bradford Pear tree was in full bloom.  I thought about the significance of it all...

The house made by man was gone, but the tree--God's sign for growth--remained.  It was serenely lonely and beautifully majestic, all at once. 

It will be interesting to see the rest of the project unfold....



Signs of progress in TC



Dissertation Update: White Flag (the NASCAR kind)

Okay, so I was lying awake during the night, about to reenter the "panic" mode on my dissertation (which I seem to be entering a lot lately, given that my original 70-page proposal is now serving as drawing paper for my 15-month old, I'm paying course fees until I finish the darn degree, my ten-year limit for finishing the degree is a lot closer now than it was six years ago when I started, and with all the play dates, story times, diaper changes, and laundry loads I seem to have completely lost site of the fact that I've completed a bachelor's, master's, and 5/6 of a doctoral degree), and I realized that I don't have my assignment sheet. 

In teaching, especially in my Pre-AP classes, I always gave my students an assignment sheet detailing the expectations for the essay they were about to write.  They had all the details of the expectations for the assignment, and they were to refer to it throughout their writing.  My advisor gave me an especially helpful assignment sheet when I was writing my 40-page qualifying paper. 

And just why couldn't I write myself my own assignment sheet?  After all, the dissertation is such a personal assignment that I'm really the only one who can make the assignment sheet, anyway.  Oh, and I must add that in many ways the assignment sheet--especially those written for my developing high school writers--is a sort of scaffolding; the instructor outlines his/her expectations in a way that gives the student a very clear message on which way to take the paper.  And since my attempts at an outline have left me completely overwhelmed, why not start with an assignment sheet?

So I sat down here to try to create one.  I was well on my way when I decided to go back and format the paper.  Whenever I created handouts for my students I made it my signature to include the title in a catchy font and a graphic to help guide the visual learners.  After trying every font in my expanded list of fonts (and declining my own offer to find and download a font especially for this purpose--I'm a procrastinator, remember...), I settled on one that was more academic--hallowed halls of academia, that is--and less frilly (I wanted to send the message to myself of how important the task is.).  I then set out to find my graphic. 

Liking the clip art of the ladder stacked against the tall pile of books with the diploma on top, and thinking I could put a "You are Here" arrow at the second-to-last rung to show how far I had come--and how little I had to go, really--I decided I would edit the clip art to make it all more in harmony with the school colors (UNT's colors are white and green.).  After all that, I didn't like the way the art looked on the assignment sheet.

Then I decided I just needed a flag.  You know, the kind that is waved in a car race when the drivers start their last lap.  Like NASCAR.  Except I don't know the first thing about NASCAR.  So like any other procrastinating writer, I went to Google.  And I learned the most interesting, troubling thing.  The flag for the last lap is white.  White?  Like "We surrender!" white???  No way.  Who thought up that???

Anyway, at that point I decided I was tired of looking at the assignment sheet, decided to save it, and figured I'd come back to it next time to add some more scaffolding for myself and maybe find the world's best white flag clip art. 

I am excited that I got a few points down on paper.  That is, after all, the goal.  Just 110,000 more words or so, and I should have a finished paper.  I'm really annoyed about this white flag thing, though. 

Brought to you by...the letter "E"

This morning Luke and I were cleaning up the guest bathroom, and, as always, I pointed to the monogrammed towel hanging up and spelled out the letters L-U-K-E and said "Luke."  I make the effort as often as possible, because I figure with a last name like Schwertner we'd better get a running leap on learning his names.

I continued cleaning, and Luke continued playing.  Then, a couple minutes later he pointed to the "E" and said, "E!"  I did a double-take.  "WHAT?!  Did you just say 'E'?"  He said it again.  Three or four more times he pointed to the "E" and told me the name of the letter. The more excited I got, the more he did it, and then he started to realize what he was doing, and he got excited, too. 

Immediately the English teacher in me started thinking, "Yes! we can read Charles Dickens!  And Mark Twain! He gets it!"  I remembered being a kid and having my own mom teach me the letters.  I was cautiously very excited.

Of course, any good teacher knows that true learning is only present when transfer occurs. So, to see if Luke really knew his letter "E" I took him to the kitchen and got out the plastic fridge magnet letters to see if he could find the "E" in a different situation. We had so much fun taking the letters off and putting them back on the fridge. I never did find the "E" though, probably because it was lost months ago when I thought Luke could benefit from seeing his named spelled out everywhere. Haha!

Undaunted, a few hours later I wrote his name, pointed to it, and asked him which letter was the "E". He looked at me like I was crazy. Not willing to give up, I took him back to the bathroom, put him in front of the towel, and asked him to find the "E". Guess what! He did it! He found the "E" again! So true learning hasn't occurred--yet--but at least Luke can find an "E" if he's ever in a tight spot--as long as he's in our guest bathroom. :)

French Roast

Since I'm so far behind on watching the Oscar films, I thought I'd go back and check out the short films from last year's Oscars.  I love that so many of them are on Youtube. 

I am in love with this one.  It's called French Roast, and I think it is sweet, funny, artistic, thoughtful, and very clever.  And, it says so much about the human condition, which makes it a winner in my book, even though it didn't win the Oscar.

Here it is.  Check it out!

My Latest Addiction: A Retrospective

I found this one in my drafts from last year, updated it a bit, and thought I'd publish it.



While I'm still awake I decided to make a confession.  I've become addicted to getting Luke's photos taken at the mall. 

My friend Andrea suggested early on that I make the effort to have a professional photo taken of Luke every month on his birthday.  She said it wore her out, but she was glad she did it.  So, we decided to start on Luke's first official month--December.  Fortunately, Jeff was able to accompany us to JCPenney. 

Luke's second-month pictures are a little bittersweet for me.  My mom took Luke for his pictures while she stayed with him while I went back to work.  While there's the sweetness of Luke's Mimi taking him for his pictures, there's the horrible memory I have of going back to work with postpartum depression and the feeling that I had to relinquish a very motherly rite of passage.

Luke's third-month pictures took us through Luke's hair loss and regrowth.  Luke was born with so much hair, and we were sad to see him lose it and wait to get it back.  The poor little guy looked like such a middle-aged man with his comb-over.  :)

By the fourth month, however, I began a new trend.  Every few months Luke would have his portrait made with a black background while he wore a white shirt and denim.  So simple and classy!  And, what's even better, as time has progressed we have a great line of coordinating portraits.



Luke at 4 months old ~March 20, 2010

 

Luke at 7 months old ~June 20, 2010

Luke around 8 months ~July 20, 2010

Luke at 12 months old ~November 20, 2010

My enthusiasm for seeing Luke's face encased in wood and glass around our house skyrocketed recently, when I received a Super Saver card from Sears.  Almost as cool as the license to drive (well, not quite THAT cool!) I got at age 16, the SS card gives me the privilege of getting one free 8x10 per day, if I want it.  And so far I've wanted it!  Today was our third day in a row to travel to Sears!  I should probably be embarrassed, but  I figure I'm now just part of the club of overzealous moms.  I'm sure I'm not alone.  :)

• Thursday's portraits:  http://www.SearsPhotos.com/ViewSharedAlbum.aspx?ShareID=b47b89fc-7a12-47dd-a679-030b5052491d
• Friday's portraits:  http://www.SearsPhotos.com/ViewSharedAlbum.aspx?ShareID=91459a54-c717-4389-8b20-be3ff39e6253
• Saturday's portraits:  http://www.SearsPhotos.com/ViewSharedAlbum.aspx?ShareID=7b90f5c7-82d3-498a-94b1-d6737f884c6d 

February: One Last Look

I almost forgot!  Luke was Mr. February!!! 

Because Jeff's company produces/manufactures/makes chemicals, the entire company is very big on safety.  Wait...isn't carpal tunnel the only peril that might befall a hard working accountant?!?  Not necessarily.  ESHA makes appearances frequently to the office, and Jeff has to get a certain number of "safety points" each year, including getting his desk chair checked to make sure he's not uncomfortable.  I'm trivializing it here, and I really don't mean to.  It's important, and I'm glad that my hubby and his entire family of coworkers are taking safety seriously.  (Even though I'm a little bitter that the entire time I worked at ___ ______ High School nobody ever seemed concerned about my safety.  The only way I got rid of the broken 1960's chair that was at my desk was to change classrooms, hide the chair in the teacher's lounge, and pretend I had never seen it before when people asked if I knew where it came from.)

Anyway, each year Jeff's company gets the employees' kids involved with a calendar/art contest.  Last year we just missed the entry deadline (because Luke came three days after his due date), even though we had the hospital nurses take cute little prints of Luke's feet and put under them a caption about getting fingerprinted in case a bad guy gets you or something like that...  So this year, Luke colored the picture of fire.  His medium of choice was finger paint.  And his picture was chosen to represent February.  (And I'm positively sure it had everything to do with Luke's creative vision and nothing to do with Jeff's position as safety chair for the Dallas office.  Hehe!)

So here's the masterpiece that Luke created when he was 8 months old.

Anyway, I thought if I didn't get the items in the blog I'd end up hoarding the whole calendar for years to come, wondering if I should be keeping it. 

So on to March.  We hope it's a happy March for you and yours!

Does Ft. Worth Ever Cross Your Mind?

We  spent Saturday afternoon in Fort Worth with Mimi & Grandpa and Aunt Megan & Uncle Kelly.  Strangely, I felt somewhat like a tourist.  When we got home I looked at my sister's FB posting, and she also commented on life as a tourist in Ft. Worth.  So that got me thinking...

It's been over 600 days since I've been on an airplane!  Booooo! 

And since airline travel is apparently (temporarily, we hope!) off of our radar, maybe I should start paying more attention to the so-called "stay"cation.  So I think it's time to define some peramters.  What exactly makes a vacation? 

I'm sure it's different for everyone.  But for me, there are certain elements required to meet my idea of an ideal vacation. Here are just a few:

1. There really should be some element of transportation.  Car travel is fine. But we have to go there.
2. There must be at least one meal of food particular to the place.  You know, eating like the locals...
3. Some serendipitous instance of entertainment should occur.  We love things that we don't plan on and don't pay for, but that we can't wait to tell people about.
4. We also love to come home with one picture we wouldn't mind framing and hanging on the wall. 
5. Not to mention the "life is good!" moment, or the "please make time stand still so I don't have to leave this moment" moment.
6. And a sense of adventure.  The idea that we don't know what's around the corner, but we're interested in finding out...

That's just a partial list.  But those things make a vacation a little sweeter.  And what about those trips that don't include the elements above?  Well, they're nice, too.