Help husband. Help husband quickly, especially when he tries to go shopping.

Funny–I was JUST about to write a post about how much fun we had last weekend! He acted SO NORMAL. He did normal things! He didn’t dress normally, but that’s to be expected. He wore a beige fleece sweatshirt with these really thin black sweatpants the whole weekend–and I almost certain these “sweatpants” are actually a pair of long johns. He thinks he has people fooled–but not me. But I have our three young boys to keep up with, so hey, if my husband wants to wear long johns in public, more power to him.

Yeah, so I was going to post how normal he acted (other than the long johns). Oh, also he totally forgot to buy me a Christmas present. However, I also forgot to buy him one, so we cancelled each other out on that one. Not much to complain about. We’re just not present people–it was a little irritating though when he said, “Did you buy me something?” and I asked, “No why?” And like the spoiled husband he is, he replied, “Thank goodness. You never buy the right things.” Precisely. That’s why I stopped trying. And he never started trying, so as I said, that’s fine. Thank heaven I have so few expectations–clearly expectations would create issues in our marriage. (hahahah!!! good one!)

SO, wasn’t I trying to say something about how normal he acted? Well, forget that. But we did have a GREAT time!!! However, there is a reason this post is titled “Help Husband When Shopping”…Today he went to the store again. He calls me on the phone as I’m tucking the boys into bed. He says, “You will never BELIEVE what I found!”

I get all excited, “What! What did you find!? Is it for me?” That was such a dumb question. But the response was soooo much dumber.

“Yes, it’s for all of us! It’s a HAMMOCK.” Uuuuhhhhhh, our “backyard” is only like 10 by 10. We have no front or side yard. Where does he think the hammock is going to go? I was already annoyed.

So I explained, “Honey, a hammock isn’t going to fit in our yard AT ALL. Don’t buy it.” I didn’t mention the obvious fact that we don’t NEED a hammock, our boys could seriously injure themselves on a hammock, and I hate hammocks because I fall out of them but keep trying to lie down in them regardless. For this reason they negatively affect my self-esteem.

Then he said: “That’s okay. We don’t have to put it in the yard. It’s the kind of hammock you can stand up on its own.” Hu? Oh good. So, you mean we can put it anywhere? Like the living room? Or the kitchen? I have a better idea–how about the stairs? Because I can’t think of another area in our extremely small apartment where we could FIT A HAMMOCK. See why I said to help my husband? Man, glad I nipped that one in the bud.

Assuming you are much more “with it” than me, you have probably long known about the famous blogger Dooce, right? She’s a Southern girl who grew up Mormon, but then decided not to be Mormon. In case you don’t know who she is, to make a long story short, she worked in LA with internet stuff, got fired from her job for her blog, got famous for that, actually coining the term “got dooced” meaning “got fired for something blog-related.” THEN she had horrible post partum depression and had to go to a hospital and blogged about that too…Now she lives in Salt Lake City, Utah and writes notes to her daughter each month. She’s very open and curses like a sailor. She makes a lot of people mad, but tens of thousands of people read her blog (literally).

Well, her latest post says that she’s about 2 months she’s PREGNANT with her second child!!?

Little known fact: Dooce (or Heather Armstrong) grew up in Barlett, Tenessee. I lived in Bartlett too, till the ripe old age of 8.  It’s possible that Heather and my sister could have been in kindergarten together, as Dooce’s blog says she graduated high school in 1993, the same year as my sister. If Heather weren’t so famous, and if she didn’t get thousands of emails every day, I’d ask her if she by any chance remembers my sister–the girl with three boyfriends, including one who threw up every day at naptime.

Even lesser known fact: The due date of Dooce’s baby is my sister’s birthday, June 14. That’s also Flag Day. he he. A very fun day, indeed.

So with Flag Day, Barlett, 1975, and boyfriend throwing up at naptime…Do you think Dooce and my sister have a cosmic connection? I doubt it. I’m the only one in my family who keeps up with blogs–my sister has no idea who Dooce is.

Perhaps if I kept up with blogs just a little less frequently I could make more progress on the horrid writing project that I am suppose to be working on. THANKS.

This photo is our 3rd baby. Newborns are so irresistable! We saved hundreds of dollars when we banked his cord blood. If this is something you want to do, save $250 with coupon code M4125 through Cord Blood Registry (CBR).

We really wanted to store his stem cells. We didn’t with our first son in 2001, and then kept reading news stories about stem cells being used to cure juvenile diabetes, leukemia, cerebral palsy, and other conditions in children and their siblings…I regretted not doing it. But it’s expensive…SO this time, I scoured the net for ways to bring the price down. Hope this information can help someone:

1. Use the above coupon code for $250 off: M4125
   You can use this discount code when you enroll by phone or online at Cord Blood Registry (CBR). (Here is the actual coupon.)
2. To further lower the cost, CBR offers payment plans. We did a 6 month plan with no interest.  (They have several payment plans that bring the cost down as low as $48 per month).
3. Save $125 more with a year of storage FREE. To do this, refer a friend to CBR. (She can also use the $250 cord blood coupon above.)

PS. Feel free to e-mail me with questions! It was very easy, and I would be happy to share–sometimes nicer to talk to a mother who did it rather than a rep at a company.

I just realized how we got along splendidly during this recent 2 months of unemployment.  I think it was because we (the boys and I) hadn’t seen him for sooooo long before that.  Last year at this time, we didn’t see him either, even though he was technically here. He worked almost 7 days each week till late, late at night through fall, winter, and spring.  So, during the past 2 months, though he did all of the same things he always did (meaning he constantly 1. told confusing, incomprehensible jokes 2. did really ugly stuff to the house 3. wore embarrassing clothes 4. did lots of other new things–like irritating barbecue-related things)… But it didn’t bother me like before. I was so glad to have him here that none of it mattered much at all.

Oh well. Back to independent living. At least it won’t last too terribly long, then he’ll be home again. (And of course, when I say at “home,” that actually means at “work,” as he usually works all the time. But still. It’s different when he’s out of town.)

First, the unemployment began right when our third child was born. Oh! Ha ha! I just realized that this sounded ironic, though it wasn’t meant to…Why would I be happy that my husband and I are unemployed right when we have our third child??? Well, several reasons:

1. One could say that I haven’t seen my husband for an entire year due to his employment (before August, when he became unemployed). He was working on movie after movie after movie, and therefore, he was never home. Mind you, I don’t complain about his work hours due to years of unemployment a while back–I’m always thankful employment, always have been, it’s just the way I am…Nevertheless, this 2-month bout of unemployment=God send for my family.
2. I haven’t spent nearly enough time with my children during 2008 and for a few years before that. Why? Because of my employment. I do work hard to balance work and family, and sometimes I do a great job! But sometimes I do a lousy job, and family is far too important for that. So, occasional unemployment is a perfect cure! Thank goodness I had 2 months to think this through thoroughly:)
3. My husband and I had savings (though shamefully small) to fall back on. Not a ton, but enough. Remember, half of our marriage, we had employment issues (okay, he did, not me, and by “issues” I mean he had no job) BUT…the other half we have moved a thousand times and stuff=costly. So, it was hard to build savings. But we deprived ourselves of many nice things and we built one. And now we have spent it. HAHAHHHA. So amusing. Oh, but main point: We had it when we needed it.
4. My husband and I are officially employed as of Monday. Back to normal for us–on a holiday nonetheless. After a 2-month holiday, I won’t complain. But many people are not so lucky. This is disturbing me a great deal, and I keep trying to think of ways to help. I may have one or two ways to help on a small scale–but they may not help very much…We shall see.

So, I’m in one of my occasional (alright, almost non-existent) deep moods. In a way, our country, and apparently the entire world, is lucky to be experiencing this recession. We’ll learn to spend time with our families, help each other more, and once again after a few decades, college grads will be grateful for, not scornful about, their first jobs. People will be thankful for their possessions and not constantly trying to upgrade, outdo, redo, and purchase anew…

So, on one hand, I’m really thankful. Unfortunately, I keep coming back to this–ya know, some children are going to have a hard time getting a meal because their parents can’t find work. This thought is very difficult to cope with. It’s making me really sad. It also brings me back to the time when my husband has as much luck getting a job in the US as I’d have had at…say, landing Arabic jobs. (I don’t know Arabic, and he didn’t know English). Jobless times are hard times. I just want everyone to be okay!