My Magnificent Obsession

Written by Lloyd C. Douglas, my favorite book of fiction is called Magnificent Obsession. I have now read it at least 2 times through completely, but I think three times, actually. Anyway. I can't leave it alone. Now I have to talk about why I love it.

Themes: Work makes me happy. People need each other. Loneliness brings sadness. Service makes me feel great, and anonymous service is far better; in fact, anonymous service makes me a far better person. Science and religion are not as far apart on the belief spectrum as you might suspect. In romantic love, anonymity may have its place, but must give way to openness, in order to allow for unity.

There. I've said it. I LOVE Magnificent Obsession, even though it's a pretty impossible fairy tale, and has all these themes that might put some readers off. In fact, I'm pretty sure the outdatedness of the writing is a pretty big deterrent.

So here's my challenge for you, my dear reader. Yes, you. The few (only), the proud, the labonnedanse reader!

I DARE YOU TO READ Magnificent Obsession by Lloyd Douglas.

Please let me know if you are up to the challenge. Just leave me a comment. You can find M.O. at your local library, I'm betting, or buy it online on eBay. But don't bother with the movie. It's just not worth your time. That is, until I remake it. ;)

Still Clueless But Trying

So I tried again to post my Mosaic Meme here. Not sure this is the best way, but at least now there are pictures :)

Mosaic Meme

OK, I am clueless when it comes to adding pictures here. So you'll just have to click on the title please to see these gorgeous pictures :)

I just found a fun meme at Chocolate on My Cranium.

Aren't these pictures DELICIOUS!?!

I hereby tag Naomi, and everyone else who reads this ;)

Here's what you do:

1. Type your answer to each question below into Flickr Search.

2. Using only the first page, pick an image.

3. Copy and paste each URL for the images into Mosaic Maker. Choose 3 columns with 4 rows.

Questions:

1. What is your first name?

2. What is your favorite food?

3. What high school did you go to?

4. What is your favorite color?

5. Who is your celebrity crush?

6. Favorite drink?

7. Dream vacation?

8. Favorite dessert?

9. What you want to be when you grow up?

10. What do you love most in life?

11. One word to describe you.

12. Your flickr name (kid version: favorite animal?).

What Did You Just Say?

You know how sometimes, when you hear somebody say something, you just have to say, "WHAT?!?!"

Even though you're sure you heard what you heard, you just have to ask.

Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's shocking, and sometimes it's just plain original.

I don't usually read my horoscope, but if I did, I'm pretty sure this week or last, it would say something like:

Hold on, buckle up tight, and open your ears. You will get lots of bad news and strange surprises! If you tell the truth, and just try to show love to those around you, you just might find yourself showered with more loving kindness than you know what to do with.

First thing this morning, my 2-y-o said, "Please get the booger outta my nose."

And if that weren't cute enough, later, when I held her on my lap and asked if she was hungry, she answered, "I'm hungry for your milk," all while doing this darling move where she tilts her head to the side, shrugging her shoulders, and slid her hands up to my shoulders.

At church on Sunday, I was nursing this darling in the mother's lounge/ladies' room, when a probably 5-y-o cutie pie I used to teach in Primary (kinda like a junior Sunday school) came in to use the bathroom. She asked what my daughter was doing.

I said, "She's nursing. I'm feeding her." Since Cutie Pie is the youngest in her family, I wasn't sure she knew about nursing babies.

Cutie Pie said, "She's old to be doing that."

I loved hearing her say just exactly what she thought. Notice she did not say "TOO old", just "old". And she's right.

Last night at the dinner table, my 6-y-o special daughter said, "Thank you Mommy" and "Thank you Daddy" several times. Every time she said it, I was like, "Awwww!"

How sweet it is to hear these precious darlings' sweet signs of gratitude!

Just now, she woke up and started humming. The first thing she said was, "Mommy, I love you."

Sometimes I wonder if my sweet little girls are whispered to by the angels, to know just what to say, and just when to say it.

Lately, I've heard a lot of bad news, and I've been so tired of the excessive drama going on around me.

Just yesterday, I barely made it home in my vintage station wagon, with 3 overheated daughters (2 of whom were excessively whiny, by the way), after having traveled the wrong way, on the wrong road, for way too long, and the poor car was overheating for about an hour before we got home. We were sad, hot, tired, and hungry, and we had to use the bathroom!

We had been inside for maybe 10 minutes when my hubby came home with the news that his car was dying, and he'd had to use some gutsy daredevil driving tricks to get himself and his car home, too.

So the rest of the day was spent indoors, where we enjoyed our air conditioning, being together, and the tender, spontaneous offerings of love and affection from our little darlings. 

Yeah, I'm choosing to focus on the positive. I thought that was a better direction than gritching about the obnoxiousness of teens and ancient vehicles.

How to Answer "How do you do it?"

I get this question a lot. If you have a big family, you know what I'm talking about.

There are lots of questions, actually. Everything from "How do you do it, seriously? I had 2 and went crazy!" to "Why? Really, why?"

People sometimes ask me when they see my toddler and me alone together if she's my first. Or sometimes when I've been pregnant, they just start talking to me about what to expect about parenthood, and it quickly becomes obvious that they've assumed this is my first. ("It changes EVERYTHING!" they gush.)

One friend's mom (who had 6 kids, as I recall) told me that someone had once asked her whether she was crazy or stupid. I think she claimed stupid. It's funny the way she tells it.

But that's not the answer I'm looking for.

Do I claim to be such a good mom that I just can't say 'no' to a child who would otherwise be condemned to a life with some less-worthy parent? Or joke that I am still figuring out how to be a good mom, and this is just Rough Draft #7?

Mommy Mercy Missions

Some days are SO perfect. Not what just anybody would call perfect, though. 

It's Tuesday, and I have three youngsters at home, although two of them are normally at school. There have been headaches, stomach aches, sore throats, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Louella and Mozelle normally get along great, but not today. And Mozy keeps trying to run away. I'm sure I saw, heard, and smelled her vomit. How can she feel up to scheming and escaping?

When the phone rings for the fiftieth time, I'm sure it's just another bill collector, but the caller ID says otherwise. It's Jolie, who IS at school, and she is calling to ask me a favor. Seems her permission slip is inside a pants pocket at home, and she needs it turned in NOW. 

Me:I don't know how I could do that, because I have three little girls here with the flu, and even if I did try, I'd probably run out of gas on my way up to the school. 

Jolie: Will you please try to find a way to get it up here?

I sigh a pathetic, "I'll try" before hanging up and shaking my head.

A dear friend calls within the hour. She has heard that my kids are sick again. Says she has a little chicken we could maybe make a nice chicken soup out of. I say I'm thrilled to have it, as my oldest son had just told me that he needs chicken soup and nothing else.

She seems happy I said yes, but Kirsty doesn't stop there. She asks if there's anything else she can bring us. 

I ask her if she would take Jolie's permission slip over to the school for me. Kirsty assures me that taking the note would be no problem, and that if I hadn't asked, she'd be offended! I hang up with a smile on my face. 

I should kneel down right now and thank God for such a good sister-friend, but I have to determine my daughter's whereabouts.

A little while later, I am bringing Mozy home from one of her sneaky expeditions. I'd had to run out through the garage 'cause Mozy had locked the front door from the outside! I'm in my PJs, barefoot, and getting HOT. Holding Mozy by the arm, I meet Kirsty in my driveway. 

Kirsty: I didn't see y'all come out--

Me: I'm just bringing Mozy home from across the street . . .

I take Mozy inside, and we start putting the bags of food on the kitchen table, but before we can put it into the fridge, Noelle alerts me to the fact that Mozelle is ON THE GATE!

So I guess my visit with Kirsty is cut short (AGAIN). . . I use my garden hose trick (see "Walk Swiftly" post) and ask Kirsty to lock us in . . . Later I finally get around to taking the little chickadee out of the bag, and find some yummy side dishes, and a BIG surprise. 

A folded twenty-dollar bill with a note attached peeks out of the chicken bag. "Wouldn't want you to run out of gas on your Mommy mercy missions!"

Walk Swiftly, and Carry a Fire Hose

When dealing with a special child, you might find yourself using unique techniques.  I have a 6-year-old daughter, for example, who will do anything to run away. She has attempted to climb out of 2nd-story windows, and she has unlocked locks, locked us in, and climbed the fence. We propped heavy objects against the gate, and she climbed over that. Tired of running down the street, chasing a sometimes naked, sometimes cat-strangling, but always faster-than-me, 6-year-old, I finally got smart. When I knew she was attempting to climb the gate again, I stood in the front yard, holding my very powerful sprayer hose, pointed at the gate. I gave her one warning before blasting her. Every time her little hands re-appeared, I sent another blast. Sometimes she yelled, sometimes she squealed . . . but she always got wet . . . and she was soooo persistent! I almost ruined my strategy by telling her that I was getting tired of standing there . . . but I held my tongue, and held the sprayer. Viva la garden tools!