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Monday, October 25, 2010

red circles.

i don't think blogging is for everyone.
some people make small talk a little more painful than it should be.
random hillary clinton jokes are really kind of ... blech.

or random conversation during a first encounter about how awesome you look in your white bikini ... um, yeahhhhh, about that.  not so good.

yet some people think it makes sense when first meeting them.  that you really should be interested in that white bikini.
 
and that's why i know that blogging isn't for everyone.

not everyone has a vocal filter.
not everyone thinks twice about things they say.
this is why blogging isn't for everyone.

right?

i mean, if i sat on here and talked about how awesome i am all the time, you would sit there and click that little red circle at the top left of your mac browser or the little x in the top left of your MS browser.

and i can't blame you, only, if i were talking about "me" all the time, i certainly would blame you for closing out your window in my face because that's just who i would be.  at that time.  i'm pretty sure that would be the last you'd ever check in with my blog.  and that kind of makes me sad because it really infers a shallowness to my persona that i don't ever want to be accused of having. 

i guess what i'm saying is...

thanks for coming back, peeps.  it's nice to know you're interested in me, not for a white bikini, but for my experiences, or suggestions, or blog sharing. 

i'm not saying i am the best blogger, but i know i could be worse.  so as long as i can minutely amuse you every other time, then i will be satisfied in my vocal-via-written work of art.  knowing that you must like me for reasons beyond me telling you how awesome i am makes me feel a little more complex and spiritually voluminous.  and awesome.  hahahaha. you are awesome.

small talk isn't a gift unless you lack the skills to do so.  if you lack the ability to recognize you lack the skills to make small talk... well then, heaven help you.  small talk says a lot about a person.  i hope your small talk is good... it'll rope people in or fence people off.  and if you're really good, you have the skill to make it really good when it counts, or really bad to get out of things. 

but if it's only ever about you and that "white bikini"... count me out.  SHOW ME THE RED CIRCLE!

Friday, October 22, 2010

it's frideeeeeeeeeee

in my head i'm totally breaking into song right now.
and it's totally NKOTB...
"you got the right stuff... baby.  you're the reason why i sing this song."

my ode to frideeeeeee.

work is always better on frideeeeee. 
the sun is shining through my window at work and i feel all warm and cozy this morning.
everyone talks about their weekend and it's that extra bit of excitement that helps us all get through this final weekly workday.

family. family. family.
these next ten days is all about the family.

aunts in from washington state. 
little brother and SIL in from washington state.
tackle playoffs.
NAVY vs. Duke.
family dinners.
family fun.
family stuff.

busy, busy.
and also super duper.

i mean... we start these 10 days like this...

fresh cider from the farm tonight.  slow cooked on the stove.  cinnamon stick in tow.  and oh, did i mention, a bit of spiced rum in there too?  i'll be enjoing that while my kiddies paint their pumpkins tonight with their cousins.

*****

here are pics from last week's festivities.
in a previous post from this week there was a group shot of the nieces/nephews from the pumpkin patch.

here are pics post-pumpkin-patch (PPP)...
caramel apples are a must.
every fall.
every.
fall.







eye spy a tooth.
not a nut.
{well nuts too, but specifically a tooth.}
more specifically ethan's tooth.
he was so sweaty {shocker} because he feared he swallowed it.
but as you can see from above... it was nestled safely in the bed of caramel.


  




Wednesday, October 20, 2010

project nursery.

i am a huge project nursery fan.
huge.
not just because the logo is just-so-darn-cute-and-colorful...
but because it is {bottom line} an awesome site.
so much inspiration over there.

surfing through the site today landed me at
THIS.

whoa baby!

cha cha chooooooooow...
mama likey.


2010 Atlanta Symphony Show House & Gardens. Kids Craft Suite designed by Margaret L. Norcott, Allied ASID - Principal of Milieu Design Group, Inc.

i highly suggest you join PN's website for updates...
or follow on facebook...
or follow on twitter...
just. do.  it.

gloom does not = doom

gloomy days kinda rock my world.
they help me relax.
they definitely help me enjoy my coffee just a wee bit more.
today is dark, gloomy, and wet.
my world has been rocked.

walking into work today i stepped into a huge puddle.
i'm not wearing socks.
i'm wearing flats.
and pants just a tad too long.
{which are now wet.}

all that aside...

it's a great morning.
the dog slept until 7am.
i stopped and got an extra large coffee this morning.

and the best part?

it's hump day.
a day closer to my weekend.
a day closer to my sanity.
a day closer to seeing my little brother for the first time in a year.
today gloom = one step closer to huggin' on my brobro
***break break***

if you ever have a chance to hang with wendy & tyler = blue lily,
i suggest you do.

we had the most awesome time with them this weekend.
the kids made me invite them to dinner the next time they are in town.
that is how awesome they are.
that my KIDS want them over for dinner.

cannot wait to see the results.

i've got christmas-like anxiety running through my veins!

Monday, October 18, 2010

pride.

i like to live a life full of prideful moments.

while they aren't always perfect, these prideful moments help me live with no regrets.

it's a wonderful concept.

humor me by listening to this example. while i may not agree with my father's lifestyle, i still allow him to see my children weekly.  i can't rob my children of that.  i just make sure i'm not there.  i feel prideful that i don't let my argument with my father interfere with my kids' relationship with their grandfather.

while i am fearful because my husband is still without a job, i forge through the fear {and subsequent anger at the world} because we choose to focus on the positive.  the negative would just eat us alive.  my man is getting his degree and spending more time with our kids.  it's a beautiful thing.

*****

i drove 300 miles in/around the area this weekend.  i saw a brother-in-law home from the war for R&R ... he was home to see a terminally ill father.   the emotions in all of this were only amplified by the fact we found out my sister-in-law and her amazing kids and hubby are PCSing to the mid-west this summer.  it was a touching visit for all of us.  especially for my father-in-law.


it was a weekend my father-in-law was overjoyed at being able to experience.  a well deserved happy moment for him, and a great sense of relief and distraction.  he was able to have one day with his four children and all but two grandchildren surround him.  that is something he never thought he was going to experience before his pancreatic cancer {inevitably} wins this horrible battle against him.  but he did... and it was beautiful.

my laundry isn't done, i have no groceries in this house, and my sheets haven't been changed, but i lived a prideful series of days recently.

i may wish i didn't work, i may wish i had a bigger house, i may wish i had more money.... but i do have a wonderful set of family and friends that i would never exchange for anything.

i am not always able to make lemonade from lemons, but this weekend showed me the importance of making it as often as possible.  life is too short.

i am erica hamako.
i am NOT dying of pancreatic cancer.
i am NOT stationed in a horrible war zone.
i am NOT moving to the mid-west and leaving all of my family behind on the east coast.

i am me.
i am grateful for who i am and what i have in this short lifetime of mine.

Friday, October 15, 2010

psst, psst

Blue Lily tomorrow.
wish us luck!

one charming mummy.

check out One Charming Party...

look at these aDORable mummy juicies.


won't my kids be all SORTS of excited finding one of these in their lunchbox???

want directions on how to make them?
go right here and check it out.
it comes with a free printable set of eyes.
totally worth it!!!

if you nave never visited One Charming Party...
RUN, don't walk.
WONDERFUL STUFF!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

awesomeness

take THIS bullies...
workplace bullies
school bullies
all you mangy bullies...


welcome to the Anti-Theft lunch bags.

you want a piece of THIS??

i didn't think so.

thanks to http://www.thinkofthe.com/ we are now just a little bit safer at lunchtime.

you are saving generations of young children from the horrible, horrible scars that so many of us bare to this day.

i mean... if you like things like that.

you know... like saving the world.
or sandwiches.

Monday, October 11, 2010

wealth

i am just full of it today... creative wealth, that is.

i found a new {and wonderful} blog that i care to share...


check out the vinyl on canvas project she whipped together.



love.  it.

oh yeah, baby

it's fall.

baking is more fun in fall.

my tiny abode fills up with the heat of our oven and it is much less bothersome.

{because when that happens during the summer, it just makes me cranky.}

enter....

Apple and Cinnamon Cupcakes
from The Caked Crusader




full recipe and directions over at The Caked Crusader.
check.  it.  out.

my house is going to smell so good this weekend!!

Saturday, October 9, 2010

four score....

i don't usually make bets.
or gamble.
but i do bribe.

is that gambling?

i had no idea where my son got the trait when he was betting left and right that the Raiders would beat your {or your, or even YOUR team} during the season.

but it got old. 

he never struck pay dirt and everyone always seemed to give him slack on him coughing up his bet.

"Ethan, you owe me $10 because the COWBOYS WON!  Ten bucks means you have until you're 10 to pay up."

no sweat.  no deterrence from future bets.

the boy never stopped.

two weeks ago i {allegedly} bribed my son in order to motivate his tackling abilities on the field.

MOTHER F@CK$R!!

i {allegedly} told him that if he got one... SOLAMENTE UNO... tackle during his next game that i'd give him $5.

who the?  what the?  five bucks? 

the little rat did it and mama rat didn't even recall the bribe.  that's {allegedly} how much i must bribe these kids.  he came off the field and immediately started smack-talking him mom because she was a sucker and owed him five bucks.

schnikes.

so i paid up and vowed to never make that kind of foolish bribe again.  until tonight, when my son reminded me i owed him a pitcher of thai tea - made from scratch.



who the?  what the? made from scratch thai tea?

does anyone know what that means, in all actuality?

it means this... i have to run a pot of water and vinegar through my coffee pot to get out all the coffee/residue/jank.  i then have to run 3 full pots of plain water through the coffee pot just to get the vinegar out.  then i can brew 2 pots of thai tea, followed by a pot of vinegar/water and 3 more effing pots of plain water to get the thai tea out of the system.


do you know how long that takes?
only about 2 freaking hours.

but look at this face...


this is the face of a boy who came through with his end of his deal...
no F's this week.
fo' real.
not a one.

so as i wait for this last effing pot of water to run through the coffee maker at 9:50pm, i will sit and gaze upon the above picture of my boy... my F-less boy... and remember it is worth every pot of water i have to wait to travel through my coffee pot just to have an F-less week.

and of course...
to please his little face.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

three points.

i came home yesterday a bit worried.
i didn't break all day and knew it would be our first topic of discussion.
he must have felt the same way.

i was in ethan's room helping him understand his homework.
i hear the back door open and little Sophers walk in, declaring,
"Hello PEOPLE!  I am HOME!"
{so cute but so presumptuous.}

i sat and wondered...
"how is this going to unfold?"

and then...


in walks a bouquet of fall flowers.
first apologetic bouquet in years.
i'm pretty sure i started blushing.

"it was inappropriate."
"it was underserving."
"it was unappreciative."
"i was so wrong."

as my four year old would say...
"wigga wigga WHAT?!"

i love him.
i love that he truly has grown.
and i love that he thought about it all day.
sure beats the days when he didn't pay any attention to it.
that kinda sucked.

the words he chose to use in his apology made me feel his love.
he thought about it.
he really did.
he apologized in ways that described exactly how he made me feel.
he is in touch with me.
HE IS IN TOUCH WITH ME.
i feel valid.
i feel loved.
i feel proud.
i {also} feel like i made the right decision in waiting to apologize.
is that so wrong?

maybe it's not that he didn't pay any attention to it in the past...
but more that i didn't give him the time he needed to.
those blaseted catch 22s.




 

Monday, October 4, 2010

bummer.

going to bed in an argument sucks.
total bummer.
and totally not my fault.

i declared why i felt i got the shit end of the stick
he declared how he interpreted my tone.

dude.  listen to me.
you asked me to speak louder and i did.
you inferred something out of my response that is not my problem.
why can't you just apologize for your misinterpretation of my question/intent that then lead us to this argument?

i am one to take the first step in apologizing.
i can admit when i'm wrong.
and it usually leads to him admitting wrong, too.

take note:
i am always the one to apologize first.

and now i realize because i'm totally Type-A, i am also totally automatically stuck with stepping up and saying sorry before we can move on each and every time.

which infers i am the wrongest one.
arg.

it's not worth staying mad.
so i can honestly say that i know this won't go on much longer.
but until i hit that point where i'll finally apologize...
i'd kinda like to see if he does it first.
am i testing him, you ask?
sure.
why the hell not?
ten years of togetherness.
i can test.

and...... it's sorta his turn.
it's not a competition.
there is no score.
but it would show a lot of mutual respect on his part if he would just step up.

i will make the stretch and say that my tone might have not been the best.
i will then admit that he didn't necessarily miscontrue it because his reality is his reality.
his perception is his perception.
i will take the heat on the tone.

but....

i was set-up.  like a foo'.

don't tell me you can't hear me over your football game and to speak up if you're just going to yell at me for speaking up.

feel like apologizing first and maybe not being so defensive?
that would be like christmas for me today.
it's raining and i sure could use some metaphoric sunshine.

*****

i don't usually hang my laundry out to dry like this...
i carefully screen what i put out there...
but somebody out there has to feel my pain!

i've stopped calling girlfriends to vent.
i'm too old to bring others into my drama like that.
which is why i bring you into my drama like this.
because i love you.