Rachel Callahan

Survey Saturday!!!

January 17, 2009 Rachel Callahan Quirky quirky quirkiness, Survey Says. . ., Utter Silliness

I do love a good alliterative title!!

So Chris and I have this quirk. . . .

I know, I know, we have tons.

Anyway, I’m wondering if it is technically a “quirk”, or if it is pretty common.

As soon as we come home from anywhere, no matter the time, the first thing we do is go change into our “comfy clothes” or “at-home clothes”. I may even change in and out of my “leaving the house clothes” and “comfy clothes” several times a day, depending on how many times I leave the house.

So. . . .the question is,

Are you more concerned with efficiency in your clothing or maximum comfort?

Do you put something on in the morning and wear it until bedtime?

Or do you have “leaving the house clothes” and “comfy clothes” that you change back and forth?

Or, do you have your own dressing quirk?

Two Minutes is a Lifetime.

January 17, 2009 Rachel Callahan Toddlers: The Experience, Utter Silliness

Ali and I were buying her a new toothbrush today, because she has managed to completely mangle hers to the point that it looks like a bird’s nest.

They had a Thomas one, so of course she was drawn to it first.

It had a button.

And the button played two minutes of the Thomas theme song. I think the idea is to time the brushing of teeth.

However, it only played one very short verse of the Thomas song over and over. . .

They’re two they’re four they’re six they’re eight
Shunting trucks and hauling freight
red and green and brown and blue
they’re the really useful crew

So we sat there, me at the buggy and her in her cozy coupe part of the buggy, through at least three loops of the verse.

I quickly decided that it wasn’t for us, and selected her a nice, quiet Crayola toothbrush.

So we put it back and wandered on. We looped around four aisles, browsing as we went, and came back up the other side of the toothbrush aisle.

It was still playing.

Seriously. Does anyone really brush their teeth for two whole minutes??

If we had gotten that toothbrush, from the time that Ali hit the button when we started brushing her teeth, then she took “Ali’s turn” and mangled her toothbrush for a while, then we gave her a bath, got her dressed and diapered for bed, read the bible and said prayers, it would have still been singing.

If our daughter has rotten teeth, it’s because we will never brush for two minutes.

And yes, I STILL have the theme song stuck in my head.

Who Needs TV To Teach Kids Violence?

January 16, 2009 Rachel Callahan Utter Silliness, Weird Strange and True

Ali has a new “musical nursery rhyme” CD that is her new favorite obsession.

When we got in the car yesterday, Ali begged me to “please play new CD!!”, so I put it in, and the following song started off . . .

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe,
She had so many children, she didn’t know what to do.
She gave them some broth without any bread,
Then whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.

Ali, thrilled that I was playing her new CD, broke in at this point and in her most thankful voice, said “Thank YOU Mommy!!”

Next song:

Goosey goosey gander, whither shall I wander?
Upstairs and downstairs in my lady’s chamber.
There I met an old man who would not say his prayers,
I took him by the left leg and threw him down the stairs.

Ali: “Yay New CD!!”

Besides these two, other features of the CD are:

the knave of hearts getting beaten until he was full sore,
a baby falling from the tree top, cradle and all,
a dog starving to death because the cupboard was bare,
two kids falling down a hill and breaking their crown,
an egg falling off a wall and smashing to pieces,
and kittens crying because they lost their mittens and were punished by getting no pie.

Maybe the strategy here is to tell your kids these horror stories called “nursery rhymes” to let them know how good they have it?

“See, Ali? Mommy has never whipped you soundly and sent you to bed without any food because she felt overwhelmed.”

Or, when Ali starts asking for a little sister – “But you don’t want Mommy to turn into the old lady in the shoe, who had so many kids she didn’t know what to do. . . “

Feeling Better!! And "deep" thoughts about American Idol, embarrassment, and teenagers

January 15, 2009 Rachel Callahan "Deep" Thoughts by Rachel, A Day in the Life, On a more serious note. . .

I am feeling 100% better today!!! I will NOT say “one-hundred-million-percent” because I DESPISE it when the judges on American Idol say that. So cheesy. But I do feel like I was never sick.

But I still say it was NEVER heartburn.

Anyway, speaking of American Idol, I’m not one to blog about TV shows much, but something about last night’s show made me thoughtful. And QUITE uncomfortable.

Namely, a couple of the “bad” contestants. I usually enjoy the bad ones as much as the next AI fan – It’s great (and terrible) entertainment.

However.

Two of them last night were 17 years old. Still in High School.

The yellow haired boy and the half red, half blue haired girl (obviously, both of them could have used some schooling about hair dye as well as singing).

You could tell that they were both extraordinarily awkward teens as it was, and I’m sure that they get made fun of in school already.

American Idol went out of their way (as they do with all “bad” contestants) to show their awkwardness and complete unawareness of their own lack of talent.

And all I could think about was “what is going to happen when they go to school tomorrow?”

As if they weren’t already teased enough. Practically every kid saw them on TV last night. Today is a rough day for them.

The thing is, I’m not going to say “don’t make fun of anyone”, because most of the terrible singers that come on AI are TRYING to make it on TV, and sure – it’s good entertainment.

And truth be told, the two teenagers in question may have been also.

However, I think that American Idol should have an “over 21 years old” rule for completely tearing people apart.

Why? Because most adults learn to “be nice” and “not make fun of” people that are different than them (at least ones down here in the South do).

However, most teenagers typically have no concept of this. Teenagers are brutal. Ruthless.

AND teenagers being made fun of are much more affected by the criticism and teasing from others than adults are.

I’m just afraid that something tragic is going to happen at some point.

Any thoughts? Am I being too “politically correct”?

I’m certainly very un-P.C. as a rule – I just think there needs to be an extra layer of protection for teenagers who choose to use the national stage to embarrass themselves.

Thankful Thursday is Back!!

January 15, 2009 Rachel Callahan Parent of the Year, Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday is a weekly column where I post what I am thankful about that week, and you have the opportunity (via your blog linked into this post OR via a comment on this blog) to share your thankful thought for the week.

After a two-week hiatus from Thankful Thursday, I figured it was time to get back to it.

Today, I am thankful that kids are so darn forgiving. Being that I have felt extraordinarily crummy all week, I haven’t exactly been up for nomination of Parent of the Year. But Ali has seemed completely unfazed. She is still so happy to see me, and nonplussed when I am not my usual perky self.

Today, I fell asleep while Ali was playing. Not deeply, just dozed. I couldn’t stay awake.

You know, that “heartburn” is bad stuff.

Anyway, she was so kind to continue playing, in the room with me, chattering so that I could be confident in my semi-consciousness that she was fine. Every now and then I would hear her tell herself very matter-of-factly, “Mommy taking a nap.”

So I am also thankful that I have a mostly non-mischievous toddler with which I can doze off and feel confident that she is playing quietly.

And one more thankful note: I am thankful when God rather hilariously gives me an example for which I can say, “I’m not as bad of a parent as I thought I was!!” Here’s one that I had the other day:

Ashley and I were feeding the girls in the food court at the mall when Ali started saying, “Watch that!! See TV!!”. I was looking all around to figure out what she was looking at, when I finally spotted a mother and toddler a couple of tables over. The toddler was younger than Ali – maybe 18 months or so. He was sitting in his stroller, where his mother had a DVD Player lashed to his tray, mere inches from his face. He was, of course, completely glued to it.

I would have taken a picture, but it was just too sad. That Mommy and child needs to rest in peace, and anonymity.

We couldn’t help but laugh, and give ourselves a pat on the back for never having thought to have a stroller with a DVD-Player as an accessory.

(errr. . . if any of you have ever strapped a DVD player to your toddler’s stroller, please forgive me for taking comfort in my mothering skills from this!)

So to summarize, I am thankful that kids are forgiving when we’re crummy parents, that I have a predictable and non-mischievous toddler, and that I’m not always as bad of a parent as I feel that I am. Phew!!

OK – your turn!! What are you thankful for today? Leave it in a comment, or if you have a blog, write a post on your blog and link it in with Mr. Linky (at the bottom of this post), and you can have the pleasure of welcoming my wonderful readers to your site!

To use Mr. Linky to link to your blog, just type in your name in the first slot, then copy and paste the URL of your blog post in the second one and click “Enter” – then there will be a link to your post from my blog! ***be sure to put the link to your actual “Thankful Thursday” post – not just your main blog URL.***

It Must Be Heartburn.

January 14, 2009 Rachel Callahan A Day in the Life, Just My Luck

I’m feeling very odd today. Actually, I have felt bad all week. It all started Monday with waves of nausea all day long.

Obviously, I took a pregnancy test, and it was negative.

On Tuesday, I woke up with a sore throat, fever, aches, chills, extreme sleepiness AND nausea. The nausea got so bad by the evening that I took Phenergan, which didn’t help. Which is a first.

Obviously, I took another pregnancy test. Negative again,

This morning, sore throat, aches, nausea, sleepy, etc etc etc.

Ashley graciously offered to keep Ali so I could go to the doctor.

It was one of THOSE doctor visits. You know, you go to the doctor feeling like crap, go through your long list of symptoms, fail every test that they give you (including throat swab, blood tests, and of course, ANOTHER pregnancy test), and the Doctor declares something totally off the wall like “It must be heartburn. Here, try this heartburn medicine.”

It’s NOT heartburn.

But I took a sample pill just to make sure.

Two and a half hours later, I’m as nauseous as ever. And achy. And sore throat. And and and. . .

Oh. Ironically enough, “Heartburn” was also the diagnosis that they so badly wanted to give me when Chris rushed me to the Emergency Room for what turned out to be a whole lotta gall stones.

Next time I go to the doctor, I am going to preemptively tell them “It’s NEVER Heartburn!!” with as much force as Dr. House uses when he says “It’s NEVER Lupus!!”
. . . or maybe they’d get the hint if I simply had a t-shirt made?

Wordless Wednesday: A Future Cosmetics Mogul

January 14, 2009 Rachel Callahan Wordless Wednesday - as IF I could be wordless.

Notice all of the toys in the background. Instead, this is what Ali does while I get ready (when she’s not drawing herself up with lipstick, that is):
She opens them all, looks at them lovingly (doesn’t touch them because Mommy has taught her not to AND she hates getting things on her hands),
then closes them one by one. . .
then re-opens them, exclaiming at each one, “pretty purple!! pretty pink!!”,
stares at their loveliness,
and wonders why I find this photographically worthwhile.
And to add to the fun, why not stand on a mirror while going through the makeup routine?
Check out my other WW post at B-Sides!
Check out everyone else’s at 5 Minutes for Mom!!

Announcements Galore

January 13, 2009 Rachel Callahan Newsflash, Shamelessly Plugging Away

First of all, my Reader Appreciation Giveaway winners!!!

The first winner, selected randomly from my top 11 commenters in the month of December, is Lindsay!!

The second winner, selected randomly from the commenters on the post, is Bethany!!!

Winners: I will be emailing you soon to find out where to mail your $10 Starbucks Cards!

Thank you all again for reading and commenting!!

ALSO : Another HUGE announcement: Jarrod Jones, author of 13 Ways to Ruin Your Life and The Backwards Life and a very good friend of ours, will be on Rick and Bubba tomorrow morning from 8-9AM!!!! That’s on WZZK, 104.7.

Be sure to tune in and listen to him! I’m sure it will be an awesome time with tons of laughs, but also some great insights!

Announcement #3: We all knew she was too good to be just a co-star forever. . .That’s right, AJ has her own blog now!!! Or rather, the Spurling family does.

At any rate, please be sure to go over and welcome them into the blogging world!!!

Last announcement, on a less important note: I have begun categorizing (“tagging”) my blogs, and so now if you’re looking for a particular blog, or trying to get the history on a certain category, You can easily find them!!

It’s going to take a while to get all of my back blogs categorized, but I got a good start (I think I’m back to October), and will keep plugging away at getting them all listed.

You can find the list of categories on the left underneath my blog archive. Click on a category and it will pull up all posts in that category!

And if you can think of a category that should exist that I’ve left out, comment and let me know!

Chipmunking

January 12, 2009 Rachel Callahan Toddlers: The Experience

Ali has recently started storing food in her left cheek. Yes, the left one only.

The first time she did it, it was the last bite (or two or three) of her dinner, and I thought she was doing it because she didn’t care for what I gave her for dinner (Sloppy Joe’s, or as I tried to spin it to her, “Hamburger in Dip-Dip”). She kept that huge wad of Sloppy Joe in her mouth for nearly an hour. I told her several times that she needed to finish eating, and she looked at me like I was crazy.

The next day, she chipmunked some candy. She killed my “I don’t like it so I’m not eating it” theory by holding several pieces of that candy that she was so excited about getting in her cheek until it completely dissolved.

My parents used to call me “chipmunk” because I was notorious for keeping food stored up in my cheeks for later. So I guess she comes by it naturally.

I thought I had told Chris about this new development, but if I did, he apparently didn’t remember.

I must have told him during a football game or something.

Last night, he was feeding Ali her dinner while I was at LifeGroup, and she chipmunked her last bite.

Thinking, accurately I’m sure, that this wasn’t good for her teeth, he told her to eat her bite. She didn’t do it (she didn’t refuse, she just looked at him blankly), so he decided, again accurately, that this was apparently a “battle of the wills” issue.

So, she sat, and he sat..

He would poke her cheek in, and then it would pooch right back out again.

She didn’t fuss, she wasn’t rebellious, just very. . . .uninterested. And lazy. He said she laid her head on her high chair tray several times. . . just. . . . doing nothing.

He tried to bribe her. . . “don’t you want to go play with toys??”

After about 10 minutes, he got bored and went and got a puzzle. . .”don’t you want to play with this puzzle??”

Finally, after 20 minutes of sitting and waiting for her to quit chipmunking, he got really bored and wanted to play with his little girl. So he got her to open her mouth, he pried the bite out of the side of her mouth, put it in the middle of her mouth, and told her to eat it.

And she did.

And then she was back to her bubbly, playful self, and was so excited to play with Daddy.

Several times through the rest of the night, she excitedly commentated to Daddy, “Ali ate the bite!!!!”

And, this morning, she let me know, “Ali ate the bite!!!”

This chipmunking phase could get interesting. And rather nasty. I am sorely afraid of the first time she decides to kiss me while chipmunking. Ew.

Historical Birmingham Photography Book Giveaway!!

January 12, 2009 Rachel Callahan Giveaways and Contests

UPDATED: I HAVE ANOTHER GIVEAWAY THAT FEATURES FIVE MORE OF THESE BOOKS BUT ABOUT DIFFERENT SUBJECTS!! $175 TOTAL VALUE!! CLICK HERE TO GO ENTER IT!
Turner Publishing sent me an awesome book to give away to you guys!!

It is called Historic Photos of Birmingham, and has 200 pages that poignantly tell the story of the city from the 1870’s to current day.

They sent me a copy as well so that I could check it out. When they offered it to me, I wasn’t sure if it would be interesting to me – I’m not huge on historical pictures normally. But let me tell you, the first night we got it, Chris and I both got completely sucked into it and read the entire thing!!

Now that might be impressive, but it IS a picture book. But we pored over it, reading every caption and studying every picture. It was fascinating!!!

The photos coupled with their well-written captions portray a storyline that is just completely captivating. It so made me want to go back and experience Birmingham in all of those time periods!! But just for a little bit. . . until it was time to do laundry or go to the bathroom or take a bath or. . . well you get the point.

If you’re not from Birmingham, this is a series – they also have similar books on quite a few other cities. Check to see if your city is on the list here.

Here are a couple of pictures of what is in the Birmingham book:

Downtown Birmingham in the 1870’s: dirt roads and tract houses.
The Jemison house in the 1880’s right in the middle of downtown. Apparently Mr. Jemison was “Mr. Birmingham” and owned quite a bit of it. Look at the tall buildings in the background that were already built that long ago!!
A traffic cop in the 1920’s:
The Spirit of St. Louis’ visit to Birmingham in the 20’s after it’s historical flight:
A group of CIVIL WAR veterans getting together to reminisce:
This picture really intrigued me. It was taken in 1961 at the Fairgrounds (somewhere I went many times as a child), and the kid in it looks JUST like my Dad did as a kid. Even Dad had to look at it for quite a while to confirm that it wasn’t him, finally deciding so that he looked a tad bit young to be him at the time:
The Alabama Cheerleaders back in the days of modesty:
All in all, it was a fascinating read. There were so many events photographed that mine and Chris’ parents and grandparents could very well have been in attendance. It’s a great read!!

So I have one copy of the Birmingham book to give away!! The retail price is $40 – this is a high quality, “coffee-table” book. It is really as good as I’ve said – I promise!!

All you have to do is comment on this post. Be sure to leave your email address if you think I might not know how to get in touch with you.

EARN AN EXTRA ENTRY BY SUBSCRIBING TO MY FEED (OR TELLING ME IF YOU’RE ALREADY SUBSCRIBED)!

EARN ANOTHER EXTRA ENTRY BY COMMENTING ON ANY OTHER POST ON MY SITE!

The contest will close on Monday, February 2nd. I will randomly draw a winner and announce it at 3pm on February 3rd. I will also email the winner if available.

Good luck!!

UPDATED: I HAVE ANOTHER GIVEAWAY THAT FEATURES FIVE MORE OF THESE BOOKS BUT ABOUT DIFFERENT SUBJECTS!! $175 TOTAL VALUE!! CLICK HERE TO GO ENTER IT!

Click Here to get back to Bloggy Giveaways Carnival!