Favorite Hot Sauces

I love hot sauce. I put it on 90% of the foods I eat. No, more like 94%. Pretty much the only foods I don't put hot sauce on are cereal and dessert. Here is a list of my favorite hot sauces in ranked order:

1. Taco Bell Fire Sauce
2. Tapatio
3. Cholula
4. Tabasco (regular)
5. Tabasco (jalepeno one)
6. Sriracha

A few thoughts about hot sauce:

1. If you make me dinner, don't be offended when I pour hot sauce all over it. Your food is really good, I just really like hot sauce.
2. Hot sauce is really good for my marriage. Jesse hates spicy food and I love it. We make normal food, and then I make it a lot better with hot sauce.
3. It's really uncomfortable to ask for hot sauce in a fancy restaurant, but I still do it.
4. When I was moving from California to Minnesota, I realized I was getting closer to the midwest because fewer and fewer restaurants had hot sauce on the table.

The end. :-)

Cutsie Pet Names

I hate cutsie names and most pet names. I think in the almost 9 years that Jesse and I have been together, we've never called each other some kind of nickname or pet name (except for I think a total of three times he's called me "Kel" and that's actually a nickname I even like). But let me tell you the list of pet names I've called Aaron so far:

Sweetheart
Nugget
Lil Nugget
Peanut
Punkin'
Snuggle Buggle (I'm really not proud of that)
Cranky pants
Cranky butt
Baby
Lil Man
Honey Bunny
Cutie
Cutie Patootie

I'll add more as I catch myself saying them. Also, why do I do this???

Pet Peeves

Here's a list of all of the things that bug me:

• when people smack their food, especially cake
• speed bumps
• when people say "just" repeatedly while praying outloud
• getting a response to an email with a question that was answered in the first email
• when people fish for compliments 
• when people ask you to do something for them without actually asking- just hinting really loud.
• "scooping" when singing
• also, vibrado
• when people flake
• when people tell me that I look like a kid, and when I don't look happy about it instead of apologizing, they tell me that I'll love hearing things like that when I'm older
• telling me the same thing 10 times in a row
• long goodbyes where you start doing small talk again
• rude political memes and also any political memes
• being a passenger in a car with someone who hits their brakes too hard, especially in traffic 
• misusing they're/there/their and your/you're
• popcorn stuck in my teeth
• dogs licking me
• snoring
• hearing my alarm at another time in the day
• the patriarchy
• being cold
• realizing the clothes I wanted to wear are dirty or lost in the black hole of my closet
• bad breath
• people who aren't Jesse getting close enough that I could know they have bad breath
• when people stand stoicly during the hymns at church and refuse to sing
• clinginess
• nails on a chalkboard or similar surface
• any sentence that comes after: "I'm not a racist, but" or "I'm not sexist but..."
• most commentary on Christian radio stations
• the comments section on pretty much every article I've ever read
• when people don't have their dogs on a leash and they come charging at my dog on a walk
• loud noises
• pessimism
• any post on facebook that says, "share if you agree" 

Well, I'm sure I have more. Also, I'm sure I do a lot of these. Sometimes I bug me too. :-)


 

Sleep Deprived Hallucinations

Well, no one is surprised, but I'm pretty tired. Infants are a lot of work. And our kiddo must be having a growth spurt, because he's hungry all the time, including all night. It's ok, that's what infants do. I'm just pretty tired. So a funny thing has happened to me a bunch of times in the middle of the night. In that in between zone of being awake or asleep, I am convinced that Aaron is in our bed with us. I've caught myself panicking because I think I've rolled over him or that he's going to fall off. I've caught myself rubbing the comforter thinking it was his back. I also snuggled with a rolled up part of the blanket for a while. In the moment, I'm convinced this is really happening and sometimes I even think I see him- though who knows if I actually have my eyes open or not. #sleepdeprivation

My dad, the rocker.

My dad is a self-proclaimed "rocker". He loves his music. It's mostly of the classic rock and '80s power ballad variety... although the Celtic Women sneak in there from time to time. I think one of the happiest days of his life was when he learned how to use an ipod, and the second happiest day was when he learned how to connect it to his stereo in his truck.

When we were growing up, every night after dinner my dad would plug in the boom box in the kitchen and blast his favorite jams while doing the dishes. And, if you were lucky enough to be driving by our house, you might just catch a glimpse of my dad air guitaring through the kitchen window. Some of the regular tapes and CDs were The Doors, Reo Speedwagon, ACDC, Queen, Richard Marx, Boston, Journey, Aerosmith, Foreigner, and Pink Floyd. Thanks to my dad, me and my sisters now call most of these artists' songs: "dishes songs". A lot of the time we were annoyed to have the kitchen and living room taken over by dad's rocking out, but I think we all had a little extra grace since he was also doing the dishes. Less grace though when on the occassional Saturday morning, my dad found a little extra joy in playing this one as loud as possible to wake us up when we were sleeping in too late.

This is one of my favorite things about my dad. I love how much he loves music. I love how he can tell you where he was when he first heard a song or how he remembers exactly what year it came out. I love how any remake of one of his favorites is a inherently a cheap comparison. I love how he loves to share his favorite songs with anyone who will listen.

I've been on maternity leave now for five weeks. I am so grateful to have this time to spend with Aaron and it's been wonderful to start learning how to be a mom. It's also been pretty tough. Beyond the normal toughness of not sleeping, changing a million diapers, life and family adjustments, etc., as an antsy extrovert, I've just had hard time being stuck inside all day talking to no one who will respond to me with words. 

At the end of my first week being home with Aaron by myself, I had cabin fever pretty bad. It was a rare February day with warmer weather and a lot of sunshine. Our dog had a vet appointment, so I very quickly volunteered to be the one to take her, just to have a reason to leave the house. On the way there and back I turned up the music as loud as I could handle just because there was no sleeping baby in the car and because I could. And it bought me so much joy. For twenty minutes in the car, blasting some music, there was this tiny bit of freedom that I realized will come in shorter supply for the next 18+ years. 

I thought of my dad and wondered if that's what it feels like to him. Dad, is that what it's like? Am I turning into a rocker? Maybe I'll also start doing the dishes more?

HGTV

Reasons I love and don't love HGTV:

Love:

• TV vacationing to tropical places and a bunch of countries I’ve never seen
• Touring houses
• Chip and Joanna Gaines
• Watching home renovations take less than 30 minutes
• It’s good background noise
• Tiny House Hunters, and fantasizing about getting rid of a bunch of stuff and living on the road.

Don’t love:

• The property brothers. They just kind of bug me.
• House hunters is pretty much the same episode with different people and houses. There’s a couple that has opposite tastes and they complain about every house that looks like something the other might like.
• Despite having a beautiful new kitchen, HGTV infiltrates your mind and makes you think you need a new, new kitchen.
• The following phrases: turn key, curb appeal, “this room has an airy feel”, master retreat

"Only pay attention to me." -Me

When I was little I was used to a certain amount of attention. All of it.

I was the first kid, the first niece, the first grandkid, and the first great grandkid. I had no shortage on love and attention.

My grandma used to watch me during the day when my parents were at work. I loved playing all the games with Grandma and was used to playing all of my favorite games with her all day long. But, when I was around four years old, my great-grandma moved in with my grandparents for a little while. The adjustment was pretty tough. For me.

I have a pretty vivid memory of sitting next to my grandma while her and my great-grandma were chatting in the living room. I kept waiting to play with grandma, but she just kept talking. Finally, exasperated, I grabbed her face and made her look at me and said, "only pay attention to me!" Turns out I actually said that to her a lot.

Well, I'm not sure that I TOTALLY outgrew loving all of the attention, but I've learned to not grab peoples' faces and yell them in order to get it.

Also, as I'm writing this, Jesse has been trying to read the newspaper while holding Aaron. Everytime he picks up the paper, Aaron starts screaming. He might be my kid. :-)

You burp, I burp.

I'm sometimes a bit overly empathetic. It turns out I'm more than a bit overly empathetic with our son. Every single time I try to burp him, I burp. I don't think about it, but it always happens.

If I wonder if he's swallowing when I'm feeding him, I start swallowing.

If he stirs in his sleep, I wake up.

If he cries for too long, I cry. That's maybe less about empathy and more about desperation.

When he's tired, I'm tired. And I'm tired when he's not tired.

I guess I feel a little connected to him. And I really like and love him.

A list of 48 possible titles

It really helps me to have a bunch of random topics already picked out so I don't have to spend a million hours coming up with some idea of what to talk about. Here's a brainstorm list so far:

1. You burp, I burp
2. Sleep Deprived Hallucinations
3. Today I unloaded the dishwasher.
4. I sometimes hate facebook.
5. Don’t say no for me
6. “Welcome to…”
7. Why do people hate being PC?
8. I didn’t drink during the elections
9. Who I am according to all the personality inventories
10. Grocery store glares
11. I don’t want to watch myself watch tv
12. Ellen
13. Snowflakes
14. Oh, you don't practice imaginary interviews in the car?
15. Sizzler and Hometown Buffet
16. My kid is making me give up the following for Lent:
17. The Perfect Piece of Chocolate Cake
18. My Dad, the Rocker
19. Be
20. Fav The Office Quotes
21. Whole Convos in Movie Quotes
22. My Old Friend, Nostalgia
23. Time Hop
24. Millenials
25. A Few Life Goals
26. Does EVERYTHING happen for a reason?
27. Cruising Around T.O.
28. Feel stuff. It’s a lot better than not feeling stuff.
29. Cool Wedding Hashtags
30. Internet Trolls’ Talents
31. Thank You Cards
32. I love museums.
33. We have so much in common.
34. Favorite Hot Sauces in Ranked Order
35. Floor Mat, Ceiling Fan, and Baby Toys
36. HGTV
37. Our dog loves people too much.
38. Is Netflix a hobby?
39. I’d prefer to be laughing
40. Pet Peeves
41. Fishing
42. Wait, before I do that I need to check Facebook 600 times.
43. My Planner Binder
44. “Only pay attention to me.”
45. Shot Glasses of Water
46. Always missing hundreds of people
47. Senior Quote
48. Where do you see God?

You will see that few of these post titles are very serious, I'd say 10% are serious. That's why I named my blog "10% Serious". Because I'm pretty straight forward. 

The Lenten Diet

I used to give up something for Lent every year. I usually switched between desserts, fast food, and soda. I want to believe I had good intentions, that I wanted a good spiritual discipline, but let's be real, it was a diet. The only difference between my Lenten practices and health kicks I would go on before summer is that I would actually follow through during Lent. For God. And hey, wouldn't it be a fun bonus if those pants I've had at the bottom of my drawer fit again as a result of my faithfulness? I can't say that there was no helpfulness in my fasting practice, but I had mixed motives at best.

So, instead, I'm picking my blog back up again. Last year when I did this, it helped me be creative, a little vulnerable, and lighthearted (and disciplined!) every day. That feels a bit more faithful to me. So, that's what I'm going to do, while eating cake. Read it if you want. :-)