Is This Normal?
The chaos that is the KerbersArchive for August, 2009
Happy birthday, Daver!
Today is the anniversary of my best friend and husband, Dave, being born. In honor of his birthday, I’ve come up with 41 things (can you guess how old he is?) I love about Dave.
41. He wears shorts 10 months out of the year.
40. He likes landscaping, and keeps our house looking great.
39. He’ll always read Emma a book when she brings it to him.
38. When he really cracks up, his whole body shakes.
37. He lets Ben help him work with him as much as possible.
36. He can figure out technology problems when I can’t.
35. He will research and study a product until he knows what will be best for us.
34. He makes me yummy breakfasts on the weekends.
33. He will do anything for his siblings or parents…even when they don’t ask.
32. He has patience with the kids when I don’t.
31. He compliments my cooking all the time.
30. He truly wants me to do more things for myself.
29. He wants to go back to school.
28. He still loves to go on dates with me.
27. He rubs my back until I fall asleep many nights.
26. He likes my friends.
25. There is very little he can’t fix.
24. If he doesn’t know how to fix something, he’ll read and study to figure it out.
23. He likes Liz Phair as much as I do.
22. He’s getting more and more sarcastic every day.
21. He would literally do anything for our kids…anything.
20. When Emma sees him come home from work, her face lights up.
19. When anything breaks, Ben is sure that Daddy can fix it.
18. He will always play cars, trucks, or action figures with Ben.
17. He’ll stand between Ben and Emma, each on a swing, pushing one with each hand.
16. He can handle emergencies much better than I can.
15. He is a whiz with tech support on the phone…and he always gets his way in the end.
14. When he’s motivated, he can get more done in a day than most.
13. He tries to stump me with movie quotes all the time…
12. …and he’s still impressed when I get them right.
11. He truly appreciates my love for cheesy movies.
10. He thinks my elbows are soft.
9. He makes me laugh almost every day.
8. He loves Kadzilla, his old Cadillac madly.
7. Upon seeing some old cars, he’ll say, “You’d look great in that car, Hon!”
6. He wants to take our kids all over the country to show them how beautiful it is.
5. He’s more impressed with a little gesture than a grand act.
4. He’s very sentimental with his things.
3. He wants to keep everything the kids bring home if they made it.
2. His priorities are the same as mine.
1. He really has no idea what a wonderful dad he is.
These aren’t really ranked in order of importance to me…they were just typed in as I thought of them. Happy birthday, Sweetheart. I truly think my life is better because you’re in it.
If it’s not one thing, it’s another
No truer words can be spoken when you own a house. Yesterday morning our garbage disposal stopped working. So today Dave dove in trying to figure out why. Approximately $125 and several hours later, we have a functioning disposal again. But there were some struggles getting there. At one point, Dave was worried that we would have to rewire the whole thing, which would be a really tough job considering it’s over the finished part of the basement. But luckily it was just the switch that was bad, so he was able to rewire that and it was working again.
Thank goodness Dave knows how to do so many home improvement things. I would have really hated to pay someone to do that job. I know he gets tired of constantly having new projects pop up, but we’re so lucky that he can do them himself. Just add that to the many great things about Daddy!! 
We should have named her Sandy
I’m pretty sure that Emma is addicted to sand. The girl absolutely loves playing in our sandbox, but that’s not really a problem. The trouble comes when sand starts getting into places it just doesn’t belong. Tonight was a sticky humid night, and while we were playing outside with our friends, Ems was laying in the sandbox…both on her tummy and on her back at different times. She was sweaty to begin with, so consequently she was covered in sand. Her scalp literally looked like the beach. Ugh. And for some reason, she likes putting her fingers into her mouth when they’re covered in sand. Seriously, Emma? I’m not even going to talk about how much sand came out of her diaper when we stripped down to get into the bathtub. Ick.
Words cannot describe how much sand was in our tub at the end of baths tonight. I swear I had to rinse that girl’s hair for several minutes straight, and I’m still not sure that I got everything out. I’m so glad we have the sandbox. Sure, it makes for a holy mess at the end of the night, but that little girl truly loves it…which makes all the mess worth it.
Date night
Tonight Dave and I went to dinner to celebrate my birthday. I chose Outback Steakhouse simply because there is a steak sandwich there that I absolutely love, so I wanted that. Sadly, when the meal came my potato was ice cold and the sandwich was pretty sad looking. Typical, right? So I sent it back to get a hot potato and they said that they were making a new one. Of course, when the plate returned, it was a new potato, but it was a heated up sandwich that was now pretty soggy looking.
None of that really mattered, though, because the whole point of going out was to spend time alone with Dave. It’s so nice to go out with him. I feel like we never really get to have much of a chance to really sit and talk when we’re home. We’re always trying to clean something, fix something, organize something, or finish something or another. I love just getting out and enjoying the company of my best friend. It’s really the best birthday gift I could ever get.
Happy birthday to me
41. Ugh, that seems really old to me. But today I’m turning 41. I know, I know…it’s better than the alternative, but still, it’s weird. Now I’m not just 40, I’m in my 40s. How in the world did this happen??
Every year on my birthday I try to make some kind of birthday resolution. I figure that’s a better time to do it than at New Year’s Eve, when everyone is saying all the same standard fair…I’ll lose weight, I’ll work out more, I’ll eat healthy, etc., etc., etc. Usually there is something that immediately comes to my mind…some kind of improvement know I have to work at making. This year is no exception. My birthday resolution this year is to have more patience with the kids. I find myself losing my patience with them more quickly lately, and I don’t like that at all. With Ben especially, raising my voice rarely works, yet it still happens all the time. So this year I’m going to try to yell less and to keep my cool even when I’m upset with them. I really think that the old adage “you can catch more flies with honey” applies to toddlers very much.
My day today was nice…we were in Sycamore this morning and Dave and the kids had some nice gifts for me. I finally got the new U2 album and Ben & Emma gave me some of my favorite candy Mike & Ikes. Grandma Judy had a little cake for me after lunch, and the Swartzies gave me some really cute new cookie cutters shaped like farm animals and numbers. I can hardly wait to make cutout cookies! When we got home this evening, it was gorgeous outside and the kids spent the evening running around and playing with all of our neighborhood friends. It was a good day.
So I guess 41 should not be that big of a deal, right? My life is fuller than I ever thought it would be, and there is still so much ahead of us. I am really thankful for everything I have. I’m a pretty lucky girl.
Bonnie!
Bonnie Raitt and Taj Mahal were playing at Ravinia last night, and Rod & Nance and Dave & I were there. 
We went very early, so we got great seats. If you’ve never been to Ravinia, you may not be familiar with the setup. There is a pavillion in front of the state, but a majority of the grounds are lawn seats, and that’s where the real fun is. We packed a big variety of crackers, cheese, fruit, sandwiches, and of course plenty of wine and beer. The Swartzies had borrowed a little table from friends, and we even had a tablecloth and candlelight. It was an awesome spread.
The night could not have been better. The concert was so good, the weather, although it got a bit chilly after dark, was beautiful, and the company was awesome. We’ve decided that we definitely need to make a trip to Ravinia an annual event.
Movie night
We’ve been having family movie nights on Friday nights for awhile now. The kids both look so forward to it, and by Friday night Dave and I are beat from the work week, so it’s a great way for us to veg out and relax a little while still having some good quality time with the kids. We hop in the bathtub right after dinner, pop some popcorn, and head downstairs. Tonight’s feature was “Lightning McQueen” (Cars for all of you movie purists), a classic.
What I love about movie nights is that there are already routines and traditions that we must follow. We always sit in the same place on the couch…Dave on the left, then Emma, Ben, and me on the right. Emma holds the bowl of popcorn on her lap so we all have easy access. We must dim the lights the perfect amount, and then we start the show. The funniest thing is that as soon as the popcorn is gone, both kids are off the couch and playing with toys. Then Dave and I sit and watch a cartoon we’ve seen a million times before.
There was a time when Friday nights were the start of a fun, partying-filled weekend. Now, they are the end of a busy week and they’re filled with Pixar and popcorn. My, my how things have changed…for the better, of course!
The next generation
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of Illini has begun. Today Ryan moved into the dorms at the University of Illlinois. Of course, since we’re both alums, Dave and I are thrilled about this. In some ways it literally seems like yesterday that Mom, Dad and I were unpacking my stuff in Weston Hall. In others, it seems like that was more than 23 years ago. Holy crap…23 years ago!? How did that happen?? Anyway, it is very exciting to know that someone else in the family will now bleed orange and blue. Now that he’s officially set foot on campus as a student, the Illini loyalty is inevitable. :) I hope that he has even half of the fun I had when I went there. If so, he’s bound to love it.
Good luck, Ry! Study hard, keep an open mind, learn something new every day, and HAVE FUN!!
Another first day
Tonight was the first night for my ISU class. This is the fourth fall that I’ve taught C&I 442–Organization & Access of Information in the School Library. The class is for certified teachers who are looking to get certified as school librarians. Each year it changes and evolves a little bit, but I seem to enjoy it more and more each time I teach it. This fall, for the second year, the class takes place completely online. I teach from our office upstairs, which is a bit surreal, but really awesome, too. We use software that puts all of the class members into a virtual “room” where we can all talk to each other, we can type comments to each other, and I can present my information to the class using a PowerPoint just like I would if we were all actually sitting in a room. Last year, my first using this software, was a little bit rough trying to alter my plans and presentations to make them ’online class’ ready. But I waded through and the class and I learned together. It was pretty great. As a huge plus, I get to take our break right at bedtime and still kiss the kids goodnight. It’s really the best part.
I’m so glad that I have gotten this opportunity to teach other teachers wanting to become librarians. It’s truly a fulfilling experience for me.
School days, school days…
…good old fashioned rule days. Well, it came again…the first day of school. Even though it was just a teacher’s institute, it was somewhat fun to get back into the school buildings and feel the energy in them. I would find it hard to believe that any good teacher didn’t like the first few days of school. It’s so nice to see all of your teacher friends again, and we’ve had the entire summer to rejuvinate, refresh, and reenergize.
The true test will come on Wednesday, when the new high school start time goes into effect. We’re going from a 7:55 start time to a 7:15 start time. It may be only 40 minutes earlier, but man, they are a precious 40 minutes when it’s 7 o’clock in the morning! Let’s hope the students (and the teachers) can handle this huge change!
