Random Thoughts on a Random Subject

As a mother who spends countless hours each year at soccer practices and games, I’m still amazed at how all of these child-focused activities take place in areas where there is no access to restrooms.  At the occasional park where there IS a restroom, I’m terribly suspicious of it.  I dread it every time, the child who needs to use the restroom (but who naturally waited to tell me until it was already a crisis) in the middle of a game. Yes, this is one of those silly things that makes me stress, especially with 5 daughters.

Imagine my surprise at my son’s  soccer games, to see a port-a-potty standing next to the entrance of the locked up school.


The Honey Bucket label made me laugh, so I had to take a picture.

It’s also a memory because my four year old insisted he didn’t need to use it when we left the game for our hour plus drive home.  A quarter of a mile down the road, however, he needed it.  We turned around to drive back, and naturally he didn’t make it.  Oh, the joys of little boys.

I both love and hate these Honey Buckets.  When there’s an emergency, they are most helpful.  I have my children use them.  But as for me, I can’t stand them.  Simply can’t.  Even as a child I had this horrible aversion to them.  I remember going camping with my family and using the bathroom at home just before we drove away.  I would then walk to the car thinking, “I won’t need to go again until we get home.”  And I didn’t.  Ever.  Still don’t.

I remember camping with my husband and children when I was 8 months pregnant.  When I had to climb out of the tent in the dead of night and find my way to the outhouse without my contacts in I almost got in the car instead to drive away.  (What was I thinking, agreeing to camp in the first place?)  There’s nothing like knowing the only option is an outhouse to cure me of the need to go at all.  They’re something that I can’t stand the sight of, and yet feel relived to spot.

How would I ever have survived a life without indoor plumbing?

I guess I would have made it just fine, not knowing any other option.

And for the record, I never thought I’d see a beautiful picture featuring port-a-potties, until my sister posted a rainbow on her blog a few weeks ago.  Proof positive that beauty lies hidden in unlikely places.  Check it out!

And that sums up my random thoughts on a random subject.  Yes, I know.  Totally random.  Oh well.

HH

Toilet Paper Fort



What good would a major toilet paper sale be without also using it for building blocks?

I joke with my husband that we’re living the super sized life.  Forget a super sized meal at a drive through; we’ve got a super sized car, super sized grocery bills, super sized laundry piles, super sized messes, super sized wrestling matches… you get the idea.

Our super sized stack of toilet paper provided hours of entertainment as my children built and re-built forts for an afternoon before we moved it to the basement storage room.


The real truth is that I was just too tired to haul it all down there when we bought it late the night before.  Seeing their fun made me feel better about being lazy.

Plus, I’ve got super sized help in the day.  Together we got it down there a whole lot faster than I would have done it alone.

The end.

HH

One Step Report #41



I loved this sunset earlier in the week.  There is something about watching the sun disappear over the horizon that calms my heart and helps me shift into a slower gear for the evening.  So beautiful.

Here I am, another week gone.  It amazes me how the weeks,  months and years fly, yet how long the days can be.  This was a week of hard work.  Steps recorded:  78.

Highlights:

1.  On a whim, I tore my family room apart on Monday.  As it is right now, there are 2 items that have remained in their original location while the rest is completely different.  I love it.


2.  Tearing apart the family room created a ripple effect around the house, and I’ve cleaned out closets, rooms, etc. ever since.  A large majority of all my “storage” boxes and other containers now house completely different things.  It’s been a whirlwind, and I hope I can remember where things are.

3.  My husband and I went to the case lot sale at a local grocery store and stocked up on many items.  Later in the week as my four year old son was in the basement with his Dad pouring rice into buckets, he said, “Dad, I know what this means.  It means Heavenly Father loves us.”  Amen to that.

4.  I’m on a “finish all my projects before beginning another” kick, and I hope it lasts long enough to make some real dents in my bad habit of not finishing as much as I start.

5.  We had a couple of days off school this week, so we cleaned.  And cleaned, and cleaned, and cleaned.  And it shows.

6.  We had a soccer game in North Salt Lake this week that we found out was canceled…. AFTER we got there.  The other team neglected to pass the info on to my son’s team.  So we turned around and drove home in rush hour traffic with construction on every imaginable road.  Talk about a waste of time and gas!

7.  Yesterday we cleaned out our garage, moved my husband’s tools, and swapped spaces for our cars.  Now we can walk to the refrigerator out there without opening the garage.  Hooray!  We’ve needed to do this for months.


8.  Today I took my eight year old daughter to the Mt. Timpanogos Temple for some pictures in preparation for her baptism.  Oh, I would have loved to have my sisters here to help me!  I prayed it would turn out, and we got several shots that both of us really like.

9.  My husband was awesome and played games with the older children tonight.  Four of them don’t have school tomorrow, so we were especially relaxed.  I appreciate his good example for me.


10.  Sat up late tonight talking with my husband about a thousand little things.  It was awesome.  Now it is very late and I’m dozing as I type.

And so I’m off to begin another busy week.  I wish you all the best in yours!

Jennifer

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