Well, the Texas weather has finally caught up with me and I’m down with a head cold. However, even in my current state of snot-filled agony, there have been a couple of things that have been making me happy. I thought I would share:

1.) Emergen-C
I have tried dozens of times in my life to take a multi-vitamin with no luck. Inevitably, a big vitamin pill upsets my stomach. Even when I was pregnant I had to split my vitamins up into four separate pills and take them throughout the day. Well, no more. Emergen-C is a liquid vitamin. You mix it with water and drink, twice a day. I like the raspberry flavor. It is fizzy, sweet and doesn’t affect my stomach at all. Even though I’m sick I do think it has prevented me from getting really, seriously sick.

2.) Archer Brand Nuts
This is like my thousandth reason for loving Target. I’ve recently (as in yesterday) discovered their buttered-crunch cashews. OH MY GOODNESS!! I’ve eaten almost an entire jar in two days and I don’t even like nuts. I also like their cinnamon almonds. They are like a little present for my mouth and aren’t nuts good for you? Even if they are covered in butter and cinnamon?

3.) School
David and I made the quasi-controversial decision to send Lucy to private school. Honestly, the whole idea that some private Christian school would accept me and my child seems mind-boggling to me. I mean, if they really knew me. If they knew the sarcastic, irreverent, smart-ass, analytical, academic, sometimes not-so-together mother, they would never let me in their school. And yet, we were happily and readily accepted this week. I’m happy for Lucy. It is a small school and I feel confident that this will help her make the transition. I have no idea how long we will be able to afford to send our kids to private school, but we will take it one year at a time.

4.) The Neti-Pot
It is gross. The whole thought of doing it offends me. However, after everyone in the house getting sick I was desperate to do anything to speed this cold along. That is right, I’m flushing my nasal passages. But you know what? It works. That is right, it really does help control congestion.

5.) My Husband
I’m working on a post that discusses why, or if, we complain about our husbands on our blogs. However, until I publish that I want to give props to my husband today. He has worked close to a 60 hour week over the past 4 days and he’s completely exhausted. He works this hard so I can stay home, raise our kids, and noodle on the internet (oh, and teach part-time, but whatever). I know this is a large burden to carry and he does it with little complaint. Not every woman has this option or this latitude in her life and I could not feel more blessed. David’s job is stressful and many times when he comes home he is an empty version of what I kissed goodbye in the morning. Perhaps I should stop nagging at him about leaving his clothes on the floor? Nah.

This is our oak tree. Every spring it develops wasp galls. These little sacks house a wasp larvae. It grows, crawls out and the gall turns brown and drops on our yard. Very annoying. This is also my indication that spring has arrived and with it my allergies. Even though I sound sick and feel sick, I am not sick. Whatever.

Per societal instruction, David and I child-proofed our house when Lucy was two. Lucy, being the rule-follower, didn’t really need these added safety measures and so we didn’t go crazy. When Max came along we realized that greater precautions were required and so things like the china cabinet got packed up. We installed latches on certain cabinets and electrical outlets were covered. Well, most of the electrical outlets were covered. We ignored the ones we didn’t think he’d notice – like the one behind the couch.

Lucy: MOMMY! HURRY! We stuck something on the wall and it won’t come off
Me: what?
Lucy: We stuck something on the wall and it won’t come off
Me: what did you stick?
Lucy: I don’t know what it is called but hurry.

I meander into the family room expecting one of the following; a booger, a piece of gum, or yogurt. Instead, I find Max jumping on the couch squealing; “huwwy, a fiwe! a fiwe!” Lucy dodges behind the couch and points to a paper clip sticking out of an electrical outlet. NICE.

Me: WHO DID THIS?!
Max: ME!
Me: Maaaax, are you okay?
Max: YEP!
Me: Maxie, this is bad. Look at Mommy, you are NEVER to stick ANYTHING into an electrical outlet. Do you understand?
Max: (jumping and laughing) uh-huh.
Me: MAX! Look at me I want you to say “yes Ma’am”.
Max: Yes Ma’am! (still jumping)

At this point I’m dumbfounded. How he managed to find the paper clip, find the outlet, make the two things meet and not kill himself is mind-boggling. I go get David.

David: MAX LANE DID YOU DO THIS?
Max: YEP!!
David: MAX, THIS IS VERY, VERY BAD! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?
Max: YEP!!
David: Did you see sparks?
Max (quite excited now): YEP! THERE WAS FIWE AND IT WENT POW!

David and I exchange the “Lord-above-our-child-almost-killed-himself-but-we-aren’t-going-to-show-panic” glance.

David: Max, why would you do this?
Max: uh, I don’t know
David: Did it just look like fun?
Max:(shrugs his shoulders) yeah

I have years of this ahead of me. Conversations that end with me asking “Why would you light your own fart?” or maybe, “Did it seem like a good idea to skateboard blind-folded?” or perhaps, “Why would you shoot yourself with a paint gun?” I would like just one of my friends who has all girls to tell me that they have experienced anything even remotely similar. It doesn’t happen. Girls do not need to experience life in a completely “hands-on” mode. You can say “that is dangerous” and that is enough for them. They don’t still feel compelled to find out exactly how dangerous, the warning was sufficient. Little boys only understand the world by rolling around in it, eating it, tasting it, smelling it, poking it and shoving it into their ear. It’s a miracle any of them survive to see adulthood.

Max and Lucy have both loved “Where The Wild Things Are” . In fact I could probably recite the entire book by heart I’ve read it so many times. Max is my “wild thing” and precious to my heart. All I can say is that I almost cried watching this preview. I hope it lives up to the trailer.

I’ve discovered some new blogs that are awesomely cool. I’ve had several of my old blog haunts begin to lose their luster and so I’m happy to discover some fresh space to wander around.

Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist
Penelope is a combination of career guru, divorced mom, and funny feminist. Currently she is sort-of dating a 25 year old and I must admit I’m a bit impressed by this achievement. I think. At any rate, she has some interesting and funny things to say.

Dad Gone Mad
Danny, is a writer Dad living in LA. He’s hysterically funny and writes mostly about living in LA and being a dad. In this world of mommy-blogging craziness it is always nice to find a Dad’s opinion.

Conversion Diary
This is a fascinating blog about a former atheist turned devout Catholic. She has had some fascinating posts recently about faith and Catholicism. In the sea of Mormon Mommy bloggers it is nice to just find a Catholic. (I kid – I joke – love the Mormons – however, you are slowly taking over the blogosphere).

Undomestic Diva
This is your straight-up mommy-blogger, but she’s pretty funny. She is quite fond of the f-word, but somehow it is endearing coming from her. I have found her candor and honesty rather entertaining, although at times shocking.

Let me know of any new blogs you’ve discovered. I’m looking to make some new friends.

Two weeks ago we were going to take a mini-break. I had booked a hotel in Fort Worth and purchased four tickets to see the “Imagination Movers” at the Bass Performance Hall. It was going to be the perfect family get away. The day before we were to leave Max landed in the hospital. Of course we didn’t think twice about canceling our plans and the tickets to the show sat at home unused. In the back of my mind I remembered that David had already scheduled two days off during Spring Break and so it made sense that we would just reschedule the vacation for then.

Some plans are best left canceled. God was trying to send me a message and I was ignoring the signs. Once again, the night before we were to leave for our re-scheduled vacation Max came down with a 103 degree fever. Most sensible people would have canceled again but their were plans in place. PLANS PEOPLE!! Plans that I had labored over. Plans that I had already been forced to reschedule once. Plans that I had researched, plotted and organized very carefully. PLANS!! I conceded to postpone our plans by a day but we were not canceling. (Yeah, did I mention I can be prideful and stubborn too?)

When Max woke up fever free on Saturday I was ready to go. We drove over an hour to go to the Fort Worth Zoo where we were met by a record number of visitors. Hmm. Who could have foreseen a large crowd at the zoo on a Saturday during Spring Break? Let me summarize our experience at the zoo: TOO MANY PEOPLE AND TOO MUCH WALKING. We walked close to a half-mile to even get to the entrance of the zoo. Max, overwhelmed by the sheer number of big people, and the fact that we couldn’t rent a stroller, went into a full-blown anxiety attack. He whined/cried for the next 3 hours.

The hotel was beautiful and David, recognizing the delicate emotional state of his son, ordered over a $100 in room service. We curled up on the couch and watched “Bolt” on pay-per-view. Max refused to eat. Max refused to watch the movie. The next day when we went to the IMAX movie theater Max would not stop crying. Did I mention that we spent close to $50 in movie tickets? David and Max saw the lobby and Lucy, terrified of the surround sound, saw my armpit.

This was definitely NOT THE PLAN.

The problem this weekend was not the plan – it was me. It was my unmitigated desire to have everything follow a plan. It was my prideful need to want things to go according to MY plan not God’s plan. If I could go back over my life and point to all the times that God has tried to teach me this lesson, well, I could write a book. My children were given to me to teach me to “let go” of the plan. To stop worrying about the plan.

When Max gets stressed or anxious he cries, and throws temper tantrums. He’s not a bad kid. He’s a scared kid. In my need and desire to make this the “perfect family weekend” I over-booked Max. Instead of being in the moment and allowing my son to be himself, I flexed my fist of control. I insisted that nothing was going to disrupt MY plan. Yeah, that didn’t work out so well.

I’d like to think that I’ve learned my lesson. I’d like to think that I could tell God, “yeah, I get it. I don’t need to learn this lesson again”. Unfortunately, I will do it again, and God will laugh.

Jane, over at What About Mom has “interviewed” me blog-style. This means that she posted some questions on her site and has publicly called me out to answer them on my blog. Since I’m rather fond of Jane and I thought the questions were interesting, I figured I’d answer. At the end of this I get to tag my own peeps with my own questions. So, keep reading

1.) Which of your kids do you worry about most? Why?
I worry about both of them for different reasons. I understand Lucy’s shyness and the need for her to overcome her fears. I was that same fearful child. My mother gently (and sometimes not so gently) pushed me and forced me to adapt. It is important that I do the same for her. She’s also such a “people-pleaser” that I worry that she will be susceptible to peer pressure.

I worry about Max because I fear that he has the Callaway-temper. My family has a tendency to lack social tact and to force our way through life. It is a little early to tell so we’ll see. I also worry that he’ll be short. That fear is pretty stupid though so I try not to think about it too much.

2.) How did you know your husband was the right man for you? Have you ever seriously doubted that in the years since getting married, and if so how did you work it out?
I love this question. Well, I suppose there were several things about David that made me realize he was the right man for me; his beautiful blue eyes, his warm smile, his non-stop sense of humor. But, I really need to acknowledge God in this situation. There have been about six times in my entire life where I felt like God was screaming at me and meeting David was one. If God could have put a neon sign on David’s head that was flashing “HE’S THE ONE!!” — well, that is what it felt like.

David and I have had our share of fights. Some of them not so pretty (ask David about his great wall patch). However, I’ve actually never doubted that he is the person I am supposed to be with. At times I’ve wanted to bonk him on the head or throw shoes at him (that never make it into the closet) but never leave him.

3.) Have you ever practiced your acceptance speech for an award that is pretty out of your league? Which award? and how does your speech start?
I cannot even believe I’m about to say this in public. Sigh. The Academy Awards for screenplay writing. Yes, it is not all that romantic, but there it is. However, my speech would be the same as my dedication in my book; “I want to thank my parents for always being honest and encouraging me. I want to thank David for always challenging me to be better and my kids because without them I would have nothing to write about”.

4.) Has the recession affected you yet? How? Are you afraid of what’s to come?
We’ve been pretty lucky. The housing slump hasn’t really affected Dallas all that much because housing prices were never all that high. David and I have always lived beneath our means and never on credit so we’re in good shape there. David’s job feels pretty secure and teachers rarely get laid off. However, before everybody starts throwing stones at me we had our own recession when the Internet bubble burst. David and I went over a year without either one of us having full-time jobs. We free-lanced, we ran our own business, we managed. So, we’ve had our bad times and survived.

5.) Underwire or not?
Underwire. However, I am an oddity in my family. I have been “blessed” with certain “attributes” that gravity and having children have not been kind to. Without modern science and the beauty of an underwire I would be — well, it would be bad.

Now my turn. Since Jane tagged me, I suppose it would be in bad form to tag her back so I won’t. I’m going to single out Anne (The Daily Digress), and Rebecca (Ezra Pound Cake). I have selected these two because I think they should meet each other. (Anne this is Rebecca, she likes to cook. Rebecca, this is Anne, she likes to eat). Although I’ve singled out these two I would like to hear everybody’s answers so feel free to leave them in the comment box. If you answer them on your blog then hey, link back to me (or Jane). Cool?

1.) If you could magically excel at any profession(outside of your current one) what would it be?
2.) What is the one thing you hate about blogging? Why?
3.) Besides where you currently live, is there another city you wish you could live? Why?
4.) List one food that is in your pantry that you are embarrassed to own and why did you originally purchase it?

And with that, I’m taking a couple of days off. David and I are taking the kids to Fort Worth for the weekend. We’re going to the zoo, the IMAX theatre, and the Cowgirl museum. However, I think it is the hotel pool the kids are the most excited about.