Glad to be me

If I were famous, this is what I would be famous for:

1. My chocolate chip cookies

2. The fact that I am so forgetful

3. My speed at installing carseats

4. My patience

5. A sincere love of babies

Since I am not famous though, I just thought you might be interested in knowing those few things anyway!  Number 2 has been driving me crazy lately though!!  I can't seem to remember anything anymore; last night I couldn't find the only pair of shoes that I wear in the winter!!  I had to take my kids into town to the grocery store and I couldn't find my shoes anywhere!!  Finally, after searching high and low, I remembered I hid them in the laundry room (because we got a new dog - a one year old lab - and I didn't want them chewed), and when I opened the door, there they were!  This morning I couldn't find my flip-flops - what I wear around the house - and drove myself cray looking for them!  I am not an organized person by nature - I am a classic middle child - and have a hard time putting things back in thier place or finding them again once I have forgotten to put them back in their place!!  A very good friend of mine, Amanda, has the best idea for people like me - a book to write down all the things you don't want to forget - only problem is, I would probably forget where I put the book!!  Every November I call Amanda and ask her the same question: "Where did I put my Boney M CD?"; You would think that perhaps I would put it in the same place each year, but I don't ever seem to remember to do that either!!  As I said, I am a classic middle child, but my Mom and a lot of my friends are all oldest children and you know what?  They are really good at finding the things they have put 'somewhere', even if they have piles of papers or stacks of boxes...they always know where they put it - classic oldest child!  I read the book "the birth order book" by Kevin Leman and besides analyzing everyone I know, I have learned a lot about myself.  Greg is very organized - and an oldest child, go figure - and thank heavens for that, or we would be in big trouble!!  I can go to the grocery store and completely forget why I went there, standing in the produce section wondering what in the world I need!  I end up with $200 worth of groceries when I really only went to get some sandwich meat or milk!  I have never forgotten any children anywhere though, so I guess when it comes to the really important stuff, I am still on top of it. 

As for the rest of those things that I would be famous for:

1. My chocolate chip cookies - I don't want to sound like I am bragging, but they are really, really good!  I use the same tried and true recipe and the really good quailty cookie sheets.  One of the biggest secrets when it comes to baking cookies though is to take them out when they are still soft and look uncooked, that way they keep baking while they sit on the hot cookie sheet - otherwise they will turn out crunchy and dark brown.

3. My speed at installing carseats - I am very FAST!!  I have been installing carseats for many, many years now and I have done it many, many times!  I am constantly changing the arrangement in my vehicle because some kids just can't sit next to eachother and I often have to take seats out to make room for teenagers or adults (or Costco runs!!).  The invention of UAS clips in vehicles (if you have not had a baby since 2000, you may not be familiar with this wonderful new concept), but it makes putting in carseats much more simple and quick!!

4. My patience - simply said, I am a very paitent person.

5. My sincere love of babies - I could had been Michelle Duggar in another life!  I would have 10 babies, except my husband put his foot down and said no!  I like all children, but babies are my favourite!  I often wonder if it is wrong to tell another mother (who desperately wanted to stay home with her child, but instead brought him to me) that I have absolutely fallen in love with her baby. 

I am glad I am not famous, would never want to be.  I am just glad to be a regular person living a regular life.  I am glad to live in a small town where just enough people know me, and just enough people don't know me.  I am glad to have house large enough to keep all my "stuff", but glad to not be a hoarder.  I am glad to have the ability to bake yummy cookies and love sweet babies.

SJ