Rachel Callahan

Ramblings about Fall and Football

August 21, 2008 Rachel Callahan "Deep" Thoughts by Rachel, Football and I have a Complicated Relationship

The last couple of days, I’ve been starting to feel on the inside as if it is the beginning of Fall. I am not sure why – it’s certainly not due to the temperature. Maybe it’s that the leaves are starting to fall, or that I had my first cup of Starbucks in what feels like years (or at least since last Winter), or that it’s almost football season. Which is another subject entirely.

Anyway, I love Fall. I also love Spring. I love them both because they bring newness. Summer is just a more severe version of Spring, as Winter is to Fall, but the other two seasons usher in completely opposite temperatures that their predecessors. That’s why I love them. I always feel an excitement inside as it is starting to turn.

That is, until the time changes, then I have an unbelievable loathing for whoever created Daylight Savings Time. Until the time changes back, when I love them with all my heart. This dichotomy is due to the fact that I don’t know which time is right and which one is due to their scheming. So I love them half the year and hate them the other half of the year. Whoever “them” is. I guess it’s best that I don’t know.

So football. It starts NEXT WEEKEND. I’m just not ready. We go to most of the home Alabama games every year (Chris’ family has been attending together since he was 13), so football takes up nearly every weekend for the whole fall. It’s fun and exciting, but it’s a LOT. Especially since we usually get to Tuscaloosa around 7am.

Yes, SEVEN A.M.

EVEN if the game isn’t until SIX P.M.

I don’t even know what time we have to get up to get to Tuscaloosa at 7, as I have a standing agreement with Chris to wake me when he thinks I need to be woken but don’t tell me what time it is so that I don’t get cranky. And I even avoid looking at clocks, again, to prevent crankiness about being up so early.

Anyway, usually I am ready for a new season towards the end of the summer, and ready for it to be OVER halfway through October. But this year I just don’t feel ready yet.

Luckily, the first game comes with a special treat – it’s in Atlanta, so waaaay back in January when they announced it’s location, Chris reserved us a couple of nights in a fancy Atlanta hotel (one of my favorite treats) and arranged with my Mom to keep Ali, so that I get a special “Atlanta Date” out of the first football game of the season. So that will be fun. Hopefully my “football spirits” will be reawakened next weekend.

If you are thinking right about now that we are being frivolous by staying in a fancy hotel, I would just like to throw out the justification that fancy hotels are extremely cheap in Atlanta. There are so many that high supply equals much lower prices (that tidbit of Economics was a freebie from me to you). One time we compared how much it would cost for gas + hotel in Atlanta to just hotel in Birmingham, and it was still significantly cheaper to go to Atlanta.

Back to my football spirits, or lack thereof. If the trip to Atlanta doesn’t work, I guess I’ll have to resort to the one thing that can always get a girl in the mood for something: go shopping for clothes related to it. Yup, Ali and I will have to get some new Alabama gear for the season to help it be more exciting.

Not “Bama” gear, Alabama gear. “Bama” sounds waaaay too redneck to wear. At least to me it does. Last night I was telling Chris that Ali and I might need some new gear, and he said “yup, you need some new Bama gear”, and I said “no, I don’t like ‘Bama’.” And he said that he knew this about me and that he had always figured that it was too redneck for me. I never realized that about myself (I hadn’t even had the conscious thought that I didn’t like “Bama” gear, I had just avoided it), but wholeheartedly agreed. Good thing I have Chris around to inform me of the reasons why I don’t like things.

This has been more rambly than my usual posts. Is it annoying if I ramble every now and then? AND don’t even have pictures to go along with my rambling?

Oh well. I’ll try to be more entertaining on my next post.

8/22 Editor’s Note: After reading this post, my good friend Deidre frantically scrounged around to find a “Bama” shirt to wear to small group last night. Thanks, Deidre! :)

More Quirkiness: Shower Bugs

August 21, 2008 Rachel Callahan Quirky quirky quirkiness, Shower Bugs: Not Just Nice Little Buddies.

Ok – I mentioned in my first post about quirks that houses have quirks too.

I’ve noticed a new one in the past few weeks. We have shower bugs. I’ve never seen anything like them – they are teeny-tiny flying creatures with pretty rounded wings (rather than oblong buggy wings) – they’re very fragile looking, and if a bug COULD be pretty (which they obviously can’t be), they might just qualify as pretty.

The only place I’ve ever seen them is in our Master Bathroom shower. There will be one or two in there when I go to take a shower. They don’t really fly around and therefore don’t freak me out, they just hang out on the shower wall or near the drain. And, since they’re nearly pretty and not freaking me out, I don’t usually go to the trouble to end their life. After all, I’m trying to get clean, not get buggy-gut-goo on my hands. Although, I guess if you’re gonna kill a bug, might as well be when you’re near a faucet to get cleaned up. Anyway.

When we got home from vacation on Sunday, I was the first to go take a shower, and there were about six in there, all hovering around the drain. It makes me wonder if they somehow live in the drain. . . but at any rate, seeing so many of them on Sunday, and only seeing them in the shower really solidified that they are, in fact, shower bugs. Obviously, since they were higher in number than one or two, I DID try to drown them. Which wouldn’t do much good if they do live in the drain. Oh well.

I just happened to think about them tonight, and so I asked Chris, “have you noticed our shower bugs?”, and he looked at me surprised and said “yes! In fact, I HAVE noticed our shower bugs!! I’ve never seen anything like them!”

I just thought that you would like to know that we have shower bugs.

Editor’s Note: Here is the sequel to this post.

Weeee

August 20, 2008January 29, 2011 Rachel Callahan I'm No Videographer, Utter Silliness

One of Ali’s favorite original games is to “Play Wee”. Not quite the same as when we play Nintendo Wii, but she thinks it is the same thing and loves it. The rules to Wee are as follows: toddler stands up on the couch and falls onto the back of it and “slides” down, while gleefully yelling “WEEEEEEEEE!!”. All of this with parental referees, of course.

Last night she decided that she would make a slight rules change to Wee, substituted the couch for Daddy’s lap. After a few minutes of her falling backwards onto him, Daddy resorted to adding a pillow into their game of wee. Not sure why. . . :) Anyway, she played Wee for a good 10 minutes or so -it’s amazing how a most of the time a toddler’s attention span is approximately 1.03 seconds but can go on for days when the object of their attention might be causing discomfort or exhaustion to the parent involved.

Here’s a video of the very end of their game. You’ll see at the end why it was deemed the end of their game.

Thoughts on self-sufficiency, bad driving, and childbirth side effects

August 19, 2008 Rachel Callahan "Deep" Thoughts by Rachel, I embarrass myself just for your amusement., Survey Says. . .

A few weeks ago, my “check tire” light came on for the first time. Actually, I had no idea what the light was. It’s symbol was exactly this: (!) . Does that look like a “check tire” light to you? I was determined to figure it out by myself, so I pulled over, got out my manual, and after quite a bit of searching, found that it meant my tire pressure was low.

As soon as I finally found the explanation for the mysterious signal, of course, another set of lights came on that was actually a visual, showing that it was my back left tire. That sure would have been useful a few minutes earlier.

Still determined to be self-sufficient, I got out and checked it, and it didn’t look low, so I drove to the nearest gas station (slowly) and a) checked my pressure, b) compared it to what my door said it should be, and c) aired it up to appropriate levels all by myself!!!

I was so proud. I of course immediately text messaged Chris with my successes, and he was proud of me also!

Fast forward to last week: While Chris was in the car over the weekend, the lights came on again. Indication: slow leak (yes, I came up with this conclusion ON MY OWN!!). So Chris found where there was a nail in the tire and showed it to me, and asked me if I could use my super-car-powers again and get it plugged one day during the week before we left for the beach. I eagerly agreed, hoping to show my true self-sufficiency! So I was careful to note that the nail was right above the second “o” in Goodyear, so I was all prepared to fix my problem.

The very next day, I drove to Express Oil Change, and confidently told the service man that “I had a nail in my back left tire right above the second “o” in Goodyear.” I was really hoping to impress him. It worked – I got a “wow, you have a good memory, ma’am!!”.

So he then gives me these long winded instructions about pulling out wide and pulling into one of the bays. I was aggravated, because he obviously assumed that I was a woman driver, giving me instructions on how to park. Hmph. And I thought I impressed him.

So I pulled in perfectly, only to get a disappointed look from him as he and made a circular motion with his hand. Oh. He was giving me long winded instructions because he wanted me to BACK in the bay. I was embarrassed that I lived up to his “woman driver” expectations.

So then I was flustered because I knew what he was thinking, and forgot to put it in park when he got the tire to where he wanted it, and so had to back up and go forward again to get the tire right.

Ugh. So much for impressing him with my self-sufficiency and ability to follow instructions.

This all made me think of all of my recent driving “occurrences”, for lack of a nicer word. I won’t even link them all into this post – I don’t want to relive them. I really used to be a very good driver. It seems like it has all gone downhill since I had a baby, so I’m wondering if it could be one of those lingering after-effects of childbirth.

You know how some people’s body chemistry changes after they have babies? I’m not talking about changes in the shape of the belly area, which I am convinced never really goes back to “normal” no matter how much weight is lost (at least I tell myself that to feel better). I’m talking about physiological changes. For instance: I had terrible allergy problems until I got pregnant, and they’ve never come back.

Could my bad driving be another result of childbirth?

Anyone else had any weird changes after childbirth?

William Hallmark

August 18, 2008November 12, 2013 Rachel Callahan Actually Possibly Informational, I Love Birmingham, Shamelessly Plugging Away

I was getting close to running out of checks, so I started my usual perusal of all of the coupon sets in the Sunday paper, to see which of the check printing companies had the best current promotion, and the best design.

I usually like the geometric, modern, symmetrical designs, but this time I completely did a 180. They had checks with William Hallmark paintings on them! I had to get them.

Which reminded me that although I had made a quick mention of it in 100 Random Things about Me, I have never fully blogged on this subject.

So you’re wondering, who is William Hallmark?

Well, it is very convenient of you to ask such a question, since this blog is, after all, titled “William Hallmark”.

William Hallmark is an amazing artist who lives in Birmingham, but whose paintings are sold all over the world. His greatest skill, in my opinion, is capturing eyes. The eyes in his paintings are absolutely piercing.

Although I absolutely love William’s artwork, my connection with him goes a little further than that. My parents were friends with William when he was in high school (when I was a very little girl). From what they have told me, he painted amazing paintings in his basement, but had never really let that many people see them. They were astounded with his art, and so paid him to paint a picture of our family (his first paid portrait). He did an awesome job, but apparently, he wasn’t happy with his portrayal of me. According to my Mom, I was a challenge to paint – I came out looking unhappy. I have always thought that my natural expression doesn’t look happy. I’ve been trying to work on that.

So he repainted me, and then wanted to paint me again in a separate painting. I think I was about 3 or 4 years old. I vaguely remember that somehow that painting was displayed at a First Alabama Bank, and so we went to see it.

A few years later, after he had become a professional painter, he had an idea for a painting and wanted me to be the little girl in the painting. I, of course, was absolutely thrilled with the idea. As an 8 year old, I had quite the “little girl crush” on the 20-something year old that took enough interest in me to feature me in a painting. Then, it was even more unbelievably fun when I found out that I was going to get to hold and feed baby lambs for the picture posing! It was the most fun opportunity any little girl could ever dream of. Here it is, along with the paired painting that he did a few years later (both are hanging in our Living Room):

Blessed are the Pure in Heart

Such is the Kingdom of God

I haven’t seen William in several years, but I did attend a showcase of his artwork in ’06 and got to talk to his Mom for a while. Here is a picture of me and the humongous original painting from that showing:

The original above was on loan from business man in Memphis that owns “me”, according to William’s Mom. I am curious who that is and where I normally hang out when not on special showings.

William has an amazing testimony, a very humble heart (he teaches art classes to kids in Trussville! I bet Thomas Kinkade isn’t that humble!!), and is an amazing artist. If you are looking for some affordable and spiritually-focused paintings to display in your house, I highly recommend checking out his website. A lot of his paintings are also really awesome for children’s rooms.

. . . and before you ask, NO, I am not one of the paintings on my checks, darn it.

Home!! And A Question.

August 18, 2008 Rachel Callahan Toddlers: The Experience, Yes I'm a beach bum. What of it?

We’re home!! Vacation is awesome and we had a wonderful time, but it’s always nice to be home.

This morning when we told Ali we were going home, I think she really got the concept, because she kept saying “Home – AJ? Home – Pop? Home – Gramamma?”. It certainly seemed like she understood that we were out of town, and we were going back to town where all of her people are.

Ali had a curious thing happen while we were at the beach, and so I thought I’d put it out there and see if any of you other Mommies (or Daddies) know what could have caused it:

We ate a wonderful seafood dinner Thursday night at The Original Point Restaurant, one of our favorite places to go.

I got Ali the kids combo plate, with fried fish and fried shrimp, along with french fries and green beans. This was her first experience with shrimp, I think.

She ate a TON. She loves green beans, so she ate all of those, all of the little shrimp, the whole piece of fish, and several fries. All dipped in tartar sauce.

On the way home, we stopped at CVS for Daddy to run in and get a few things, and while he was inside, I looked back at her, and her eyes were filling with tears, and I could tell she was holding her quavering lip in, trying not to cry.

She finally gave in and started crying. I wasn’t sure what the matter was. I started by trying to comfort her, ask her what was wrong, placate her with a book, remove her shoes, tell her “no fuss” (thinking it might be a fit), all to absolutely no avail.

I finally got her out of her car seat and started walking around with her, with still no luck.

Now, this is VERY odd for Ali. She never cries unless she’s hurt (these days). If anything, she’ll whine, but not a full out cry.

Chris came out and was able to calm her down, but as soon as we put her back in the car, she started screaming. At this point, we started to suspect a fit again, so tried the “no fuss” thing sternly again (which actually does usually work if she is pitching a fit).

I then tried to bribe her with m&m’s – “you can have an m&m if you stop fussing!” She stopped long enough to get her two m&m’s, then started again. She cried very convincingly on and off for a while.

After all of those strategies, I finally realized that something really was the matter. It certainly seemed like a pain cry – she didn’t have an attitude about it at all, and the way it would come and go as if she was in pain certainly seemed genuine.

The best thing I could figure is that her first exposure to shrimp may have needed to be a little lighter, rather than a whole plate of them, and maybe it was hurting her tummy? I was going to have Chris stop at Rite Aid, but she calmed down a few minutes before we got there.

She was fine for the rest of the night, except for the extremely icky (and hot-tub-cooked) diaper mentioned earlier that also seemed to indicate a tummy issue.

So I was wondering, is this a known issue with shrimp? And has anyone else had this problem with their toddlers?

I’ve heard several different things about when toddlers are allowed to eat shrimp, but at any rate, it will probably be a WHILE before we attempt shrimp again.

Sand Dollars, Sleepwalking, and Strange Photography

August 16, 2008 Rachel Callahan I'm a Professional Sleepwalker., Just My Luck, Why Yes, Yes I'm a beach bum. What of it?

The last few times we’ve been to the beach, I have tried to find a whole sand dollar. Partially for the sport and achievement of actually finding one, and partially because my friend Amanda told me that she always wanted a genuine, found (not found in a gift shop) sand dollar.

I have tried several strategies and times of day to find them, but I have never been able to. However, I have somewhat given up, as I have had no luck, so I hadn’t even thought about looking for one on this trip. Then today, we were sitting in the surf with Ali, and all of a sudden, the tiniest, but whole, sand dollar I’ve ever seen floated up right next to me!! It was so cute. It was more like a sand dime, but it was great!

I carefully kept it between my fingers – it was so fragile! I managed to awkwardly carry it up from the beach while helping tote a baby and a TON of gear. We got back up to the pool where Chris’ Dad was, and I surveyed the scene of all of our bags to find a safe place to put it, to shield it from breakage or from blowing away.

I finally decided on the little pocket on the front of Chris’ Dad’s bag. I gently dropped it in there, just thinking about how happy Amanda would be to have a genuine sand dollar, especially since she couldn’t join us for part of our trip as she had hoped to.

However, as it dropped into the pocket, it broke completely in half. Why, you ask? I have no idea. I was so careful.

I guess the native sand dollar likes to stay elusive.

Sorry, Amanda.

In other news, I injuriously sleptwalked again last night. Sleepwalking always happens when something stressful happens the day before, because my mind likes to relive it in my sleep. So I was rushing to keep the doors open between the rooms (I guess Ali was shutting them in my dream), but instead, I more like fell out of the bed. I woke up this morning with an EXTREMELY sore arm, skinned knee, and a water blister on my ankle (randomly – not sure how one goes about getting a water blister by falling out of the bed, but I am THAT talented).

Chris had barely noticed – I think bumps and crashes in the night are becoming fairly commonplace to him. He groggily said “what was that?”, and I told him “I was trying to sleepwalk.” He said “ok”, and fell back fast asleep.

We’ve had a great day today – Ali enjoyed the ocean for a while, and then said “all done ocean. bye bye ocean”, and so we went back to the pool. Here are some pics from our ocean time:

Oh! While uploading photos, I just found out the answer to a confusing visual we saw a bit ago. Chris and I were looking off the balcony, and there were about 6 men and a little boy headed for the dunes with a professional photographer. They all had the typical white linen shirts and beige shorts on. BUT there were no women!!! We were speculating what in the world would motivate a group of GUYS to do that. I don’t think a typical conversation before a bachelor beach trip is “don’t forget to bring your linen shirt and beige shorts so that we can get our annual beach reeds photo together!!!!”

BUT Chris just text messaged me (from the pool with his Dad) and told me to look out the window because a wedding was happening on the boardwalk. They were the GROOMSMEN and the RING BEARER!!

Life makes sense again!!

Hotel Mischief

August 16, 2008 Rachel Callahan Just My Luck, Parent of the Year, Toddlers: The Experience, Yes I'm a beach bum. What of it?

So my Father-In-Law said that he’s been at this hotel this week every year for the last 8 years, and has never had security called on him. And (according to him), that’s a big deal.

Plus, the one-man-band that has played at the pool for the last 256 years informed us that earlier this year when Kid Rock stayed here, K.R. didn’t get security called on him, either. And (according to me), that’s a big deal.

However, my 19 month old daughter did.

Before you get too worried about what we’re doing down here, we were the ones who did the calling.

We were trying to get ready to go to the pool this morning, scurrying around and picking up floaties, sunblock, sunglasses – you know how much gear it takes to take a toddler to the pool.

We have an adjoining room with Chris’ Dad, and we’ve been leaving the doors open between the two since we got here.

All of a sudden, we hear a very soft “bye bye”, then a shutting door. At first it didn’t register, since Ali is really into shutting doors, and so this scene happens all the time. Then Chris realized that she had just gone in Chris’ Dad’s room and shut the door ON HIS SIDE behind her.

Now, if you’ve ever stayed in hotel adjoining rooms, you know that the doors are 100% to the option of each room, meaning that you have no way of opening the opposite door. And we had no key to his Dad’s room (something I had been saying we needed to get all weekend but we just hadn’t remembered to ask his Dad for. At least my Motherly instincts weren’t COMPLETELY on the fritz.)

Now, let me say that Chris’ Dad’s room isn’t exactly child-proofed. It has, after all, been a few decades since he’s had to think about such things.

So we hear her walking around and exploring, perfectly calm and happy. I frantically tell Chris to call security. I calm down and am okay, thinking that surely she can’t get into anything TOO bad before we get to her. Chris, meanwhile, is freaking out.

I talk her back to the door and try to get her to turn the doorknob (which of course she can’t do yet, but a Mom can hope that this would be her first time!). She plays with the doorknob for a few seconds, then I hear her wander off again.

Chris panickingly tells me to get her back to the door and keep her there!! So I call out to Ali and tell her I have candy. Realizing this ruse wouldn’t last long, I found some M&M’s on our dresser and started shoving them under the door, trying not to think about how dirty the threshold carpet is.

I never hear her come back, but I’m still okay, thinking she can’t get into anything. Then I hear her start coughing, and am just imagining what sort of peril is causing it. I panic.

I tell Chris to call down the hall for the maid and ask her to let us in since security is taking too long.

He goes and gets the maid, and she tells him very sternly, “OK, but next time you call security!!” He explains that we did, but they’re taking too long. (I assume that she’s been threatened within an inch of her life not to let people into rooms).

As she’s opening the door, security comes up. Let’s hope she didn’t get fired.

Chris runs in and scoops Ali up, and I meet them in the hallway. Her mouth is STUFFED full of something. I start squeezing her cheeks and asking her to spit it out, and I get a handful of half eaten M&M’s. Note to self: even when you think it doesn’t, candy bribes always work.

After inspecting the room, it looked like all she managed to get into was taking his trash bag out of his bathroom trash can and dragging it to the middle of the room. All else seemed untouched.

And, needless to say, I now keep a room key to Chris’ Dad’s room in my back pocket.

Here’s a couple random pics from the day for those of you who INSIST that I have pictures on every blog:

Ali was no longer satisfied with just HER glasses on her head. Now she has hers AND Daddy’s on her head! And proud of it!
We went to G’Pa Leo and G’Ma Kitty’s to check out the new pier.
From the top deck:
Me, Ali, Kitty, and Leo

I’ve been featured at 5 Minutes for Mom!!

August 15, 2008 Rachel Callahan Shamelessly Plugging Away

This is SUCH an honor and I am so very excited! I have been featured in The Sampler on the ever-so-popular 5 Minutes for Mom blog! I kind of feel like I’ve been featured on Oprah’s Book Club for blogs!! (Happy Sigh)

I wrote and submitted this post about 5 weeks ago when Ali was giving us a (thankfully short) preview of the movie, “Terrible Two’s”, coming to a house near us January 2009. I was so excited when it was chosen!!

You can either click the button on the left or click HERE to read my article at 5 Minutes for Mom.

For those of you who are visiting my site for the first time due to my Sampler article, WELCOME! I’m SO VERY glad you came!

I blog about my life, motherhood, day to day events, and my relationship with God, all while trying to make it entertaining, and even funny on a good day. Please feel free to peruse the site, and especially check out my “most popular posts” I have listed at the left. They include stories about art made from my Uncle’s toenail clippings annually for my Aunt’s Christmas presents, a photographic rendering of everything I learned NOT to do with my baby during the first year of her life (or maybe everything that I learned wasn’t so dangerous after all – but I’m not admitting which it is!), my only venture into political blogging in the form of “The Moment of Truth”, how I managed to brutally wound myself while sleepwalking, and various other adventures and stories.

I’m so glad you visited, and I hope you enjoy your stay! And be sure to fill out a comment card before you leave to receive a $3 coupon for your next visit! ;)

Vacation: A Great Opportunity to Catch up on Quality Time with Daddy

August 15, 2008 Rachel Callahan Toddlers: The Experience, Yes I'm a beach bum. What of it?

Snuggling after nap time. . .
Relaxing in the steamy hot tub after the chilly pool. . .
. . . but when I discovered that unbelievably rancid, gag-inducing diaper that we had inadvertently cooked in the hot tub, it was time to spend quality time with Mommy.
;)

p.s. – in case you ever wondered, swim diapers apparently DO work. I have no idea how that thing didn’t leak.