Month: March 2017

Posted in Family Forever

Like Father, Like Daughter

Posted on by jenniferrsalveson

When people find out that my husband is married to me, and they know my dad (who is a retired Lieutenant Colonel from the United States Army) they often ask how he does it? How is he able to deal with “the Colonel” as his Father-in-law.  He simply answers…I’m married to him.

So yes, I am just like my dad. Almost to a “T” which is kinda scary for me some days.  I mean I love my daddy, but to think that in a few short years, I could be exactly like him…aye yi yi

So on his birthday (3.15.xx), I want to honor him and his many wonderful traits that I seem to mirror.

He is a money saver…AKA tightwad. But actually, I love to eat out and get a McDonald’s Coke every day… he would NEVER do that.  BUT, I do get pretty panicked if my husband wants to sit down and talk about money.  Like, I  need a brown bag to breath in, and break out in hives and become really hateful and want to just say, “save it all” or “I can’t do this”.

He is a worker. Always.  If he’s not working, he’s eating or asleep.  And that’s the same for me.  My husband wonders why I can stay up until midnight on a “work night” when he or I are out-of-town…I tell him it’s because I stay so productive that I forget what time it is and don’t get tired because my mind is still running running running.  But as soon as he and I sit down to watch our favorite TV show for the evening, by 9pm I’m asking if we can go to bed (or it’s possible I have face planted into the couch pillow completely unaware that the show has gone off…)

He is a rules guy. Don’t break the rules or you lose a friend.

He always thinks you can do better.

Wait, what?

You want me to expand upon “how” I might be like him for “he is a rules guy”? Oh you really don’t want to know that.  Are you sure?  Well, Okay.  I don’t just like rules.  I LOVE rules.  And  hate for them to be broken.  You know, like, “this is my box and everything stays and fits inside my box”…  Hey!  At least I recognize it!!

Anyway…moving on.

He always thinks you can do better. And typically, you can.  His famous phrase as a high school teacher and even as our dad (I have a brother. I need to write about him.  He’s handsome, successful, and single ladies *wink wink*) Anyway, his famous phrase was: “You did good, BUT…”  While that can be a hard discussion when you scored a 100 on the test, plus 5 bonus points (no lie)…I now see what he was driving towards.  So, I set that same expectation of my kids, my husband (I’m ruthless) and the people that work for me.  Probably a little too extreme at times.  But I’m grateful for this, because for me, it was better than teaching me I am #1, and everyone should know it, then fast forward a few decades only to come to the workplace and have all my hopes and dreams burst before my eyes, because reality hit.

He has integrity. And to quote my husband verbatim “he has more integrity in one pinky than most men have in their whole hand.”  Now, I don’t have that much yet…I still have some growing to do, but in my line of work (Purchasing), you HAVE to have integrity, otherwise you’re FIRED!

He loves COKE. And well, my love for COKE is no secret here, geez it’s even part of this Blog Site name.  When I was younger, he ALWAYS had a Coke in hand.  I can even remember times where he’d be standing around, drinking a Coke and all of the sudden he would need to use both hands.  So, instead of setting the Coke can down, he’d just hold it in his teeth.  Shew-I sure am glad he taught me that trick!

He Never Ever gives up. On anything.  Or anyone.  …But I actually do give up…  Not on everything, but on some things.  Like working out.  Who wants to do that every day anyway?? (Well. He does actually. Oh no…another one where we are not so aligned.  I better get back on track.)

He can’t lie. Which is a good thing I guess, and also why he’s not a lawyer.  Nor am I.  We are really just terrible at it.  Lip quivers and all.  But for me, if I know the truth, I must tell it, and do so quite candidly.  It’s like, if there was such a gifting of being brutally honest…then dad and I have that gift!  Sometimes, it’s quite beautiful.  And.  Well.  Other times, it’s just not.

He’s sentimental. Don’t let the military façade fool you.  Underneath that outer Army shell, is a loving and gentle dad, who…  Listen people, I’m not going to ruin his tough man front, we’ll have to save that for another day.

We are, what I like to call, “quick-task doers.” Although, dad’s never turn out too quick.  Anyway, since we like to work and stay busy, we often find the MOST random tasks to do, at THE worst times.  In fact, my mom was telling me a story the other day about how dad almost made her late because of some menial task he “had” to do last minute.  I just laughed.  Out loud.  In her ear, on the phone.  Hard.  She finally asked, “why are you laughing?  It’s not funny!”  To which I commented, “you’re right, it’s not, but I’m laughing because I am JUST like him.”  Oh Lord Help me!  Or my husband…or both!

He is the jack of all trades. And master of them all!  As I’ve gotten older, I often wonder why God blessed me with some true talents that don’t always go hand-in-hand.  But after seeing my dad for so many years, I believe it’s because we use these talents for the kingdom…whether we even realize it or not.  We impact people through our varying avenues where God opened a door for us and we decided to take a step and walk through.  And I guess, perhaps, not everyone walks through every door that opens for them.

So thank you dad. On your birthday, I celebrate you.  What you’ve taught me.  What you’ve instilled in me.  The leader you’ve taught me to be.  The integrity. The stamina. The loyalty. The compassion for mankind.  And to always serve something greater than yourself… God, our county, our family.

Now I’m crying and mascara is running down my make-up blotched face. Oh My face.  It’s ruined for the day.

Someone get me a COKE.

Posted in The Home Front

A mom’s hard day (AKA-the weekend, for me)

Posted on by jenniferrsalveson

It’s 8pm. Sunday night. Mountain Dew and iPad in hand. (Yeah, yeah, it’s not Coke but I needed something harder!)

And I’m drained. Physically. Mentally. Emotionally. And it’s all because I was solely (okay maybe that’s an exaggeration) responsible to keep watch over the kids for the afternoon. (Yes, I am their mother, but no one really understands how much my husband actually does in comparison to what I do. So yes, I’m a sad case-judge me, I don’t care. I’ve come to terms with the fact that God did not design me to be a stay-at-home parent…I further our family best by working outside. So while I’ve struggled with this for years, I’ve mainly accepted it & moved on.) Anyway, back to me being the main caregiver for the day…You see Sunday’s are usually “Race Day” in the Busby home (this can change to Saturday’s too…it strictly follows the NASCAR schedule.) And since my hubby sacrifices so much by staying home with the kids, I try to give him peace while the race is on. So that’s what happened today.

But before I get into the meat of this post, let me preface this with the fact that I love my children DEARLY. I mean they are my world…well they are 2nd. No. Still not right. They are 3rd in my world. Jesus being my forever #1 and my hubby #2…because well. Well, I chose him. And he was there before they came along. I wouldn’t have Them, without Him. And when they leave us, well quite frankly, we’ll be stuck together…forever! But they are so very loved by us and I am blessed God chose me to be their momma…but let’s be real. Some days this mothering thing is HARD! And none of them are even teens yet (in the words of a country artist and a good friend who uses this often…”Jesus take the Wheel”)

Let’s just start with how much and how often they eat. As soon as I get breakfast cleaned up, they are at my feet asking for a snack and when they devour that, they are telling me how they’d like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with no crust, 5 chips, and a glass of juice for lunch. And let’s not even mention the constant requests for a piece of gum…

Then there’s poop. Sorry for those of you grossed out by that, but it’s the current stage we are in which opens the door for this subject matter to have its own category. Either someone needs to poop and is telling me (just because). Someone has pooped in their diaper and it’s stinking up the entire room we were all just previously enjoying, thus vacating the area as if a bomb threat came in (yeah, I have stinky kids). Or the one that is going through potty training, needs to poop but is holding it and whining about needing to go poop because they refuse to go in the potty until A) a diaper is put back on for nap/bed time, or B) it starts to creep out and is inevitably found on the floor for someone to clean up…

And then there’s whining.

And because as a parent you are caught between potty breaks and handling the children’s food, you use about 1 bottle of soap per week and your hands feel as dry as sandpaper. And yes, lotion helps but every time I finish lathering up, there’s a reason to rinse my hands, again. Every. Single. Time.

Or perhaps, they come into your room, after having already gotten themselves ready, to announce they do not want to go to church today. They don’t like church. Well, dear one..in this house, we go to church on Sundays. My husband and I refer to this as a “drug ” problem that has long term benefits. We were both “drug” to church each week as children and we now serve Jesus through our church. (But really, the word of God does say  “Train up a child…he will not depart from it.”)

And the whining again.

And the time change is no one’s friend because besides loosing sleep, now when it’s announced to get Jammie’s on, I was questioned. My eldest even got up, went to the window, pulled back the drapes (oh who am I kidding, we don’t have drapes, but it sounded fancy), and said it’s still daylight. Yes. Yes, I know but that does not matter. In this home (I’m liking this phrase today) we go to bed when the clock strikes 8pm not when the sun says so…Sorry.

And the baby is teething and fussy and while he has 6 teeth the child flat out refuses to eat anything more than a liquid food. Forget the “slightly” (and I mean slightly) chunky baby food jars. No way. Not this kid. He finds those chunks, and by ever-so-cleverly scraping his tongue against his top lip, every chunk on that spoonful is right back outside his mouth. And while we’ve tried “self-feeding” with dissolvable bites, he only licks those enough to get some flavor, none are actually consumed.

Lets not forget the whining.

Then its bed time. Which doesn’t always mean anything. Just because they were put to bed at 8pm, doesn’t mean they actually lie down, oh no, they still need time to play by themselves (I mean I try to make it acceptable to play by themselves during the day, but they won’t leave our side…). And then they get louder and make enough noise to wake the baby a few times. Then a few more moans and whines, from the older ones this time, wanting a drink or whatever they can think of to prolong the actual activity of going to bed. And then suddenly you realize the house is silent.

Success. The day is done! Even if this may be accurate…

IMG_0267

But I wouldn’t trade this life for any other… like the old saying goes, it’s just a hard day, not a hard life.

However, I do foresee a McDonald’s Coke to start Monday though…

 

Posted in Random Ramblings

But they must be heels..

Posted on by jenniferrsalveson

Have I mentioned I have 40+ pairs of shoes, with 80% of those being heels?

No, this is not a post about all my heels and how I store them in their original box, on specially made shelves, where there’s a photo of the shoe on the outside edge of the box so I know which pair is which. But maybe I should consider that one day…

But this is one of my favorite type of posts, because it’s simply the randmness of whatever pops into my brain…

I do love wearing high heels. I think they clean up any outfit and give you a sense of confidence that is indescribable. And it’s not because I’m short!

Short. I was always known as the “short girl” growing up  but really, it was fine for me. I kinda liked the attention. Now I mask it with heels, so when I do wear flats occasionally, I knock the socks off people. Ha!

Lunch. I absolutely love to leave the office at lunch and eat out! I’d probably do it everyday if I knew it wouldn’t break the bank…or me, from the weight I’d probably gain.

Speaking of lunch, do you have those people in your life who just brighten your day when you grab lunch together? If not, find some…it’s life changing…for real though. Anyway, I ended up telling a good friend today, that I loved having lunch with her because it’s like a little bit of Jesus right in the middle of my day!

Trolls! This is my current obsession. Yes, I’m in my 30s, but this movie is bomb (pretty sure I’m too old to say that, and sound like a teenage wannabe, but oh well). I originally only watched it for the kids…okay, maybe not. But it is super cute and the music is awesome! And I may or may not know every word to every song because I downloaded the soundtrack…

Planner. I’ve already changed my method and we’re barely 2 months into 2017! I was seeking wisdom on Planner organization & was advised to use a 3-ring binder. I loathed the idea at first. I’m totally a “bound book” planner girl, but after perusing the aisles of Walmart, I decided a binder was actually cost effective (which spoke to my cheap, err economical, side) and “could” have potential… Minus the whole part that now my “binder planner” is not fully compatible with my handbag. *sad day* So, I’m not totally, 100%, sold out to the binder cause, but I’ll keep you posted on how March goes…

Girl Scout Cookies. Did the sleeves get shorter or did I just grow up?  I swear there are less cookies than what used to be, and did the price go up? Oh who cares…they are a little piece of heaven on earth, even if they are only two bites (one for some).

As a final thought, don’t blog when you are still exhausted, as you will end up trying to finalize the post for 1 hour because of the frequent cat naps inbetween.