Seven Blessing Sunday

It is that time again, seven things that I am thankful for:

1. Living 1.5 hours from my family so I can go home if I need/want to.

2. Kerington's new favorite word, "dewishious"

3. Carving pumpkins with friends

4. The television at dance that shows what is going on in classroom (closed circuit TV??).

5. Discussions with hubsies about our future.

6. A hubsie who will DVR the Tiger football game so I don't have to go to the grocery store along (then some dude told him the score anyway, GRRRR!)

7. Beautiful Fall weather

Seven Blessing Sunday

Sooooo, I have been in a funk. . . for a few months. . . nothing is REALLY wrong. . . I could tell you several little things that have been bothering me and I have let get me down . . . BUT that is not what this is about. I am going to break my funk!! Step one: Seven Blessing Sunday. Seven Blessing Sunday is to blog about seven things that I am thankful for or have been blessed with. So starting this week . . .

1. Steven Glen Condron, Jr., my hubsies, my love, my BFF, my support, my shoulder to cry on. I know everyone says, "My husband is the best." (Well maybe not everyone :/, but I really think MINE is. He really picks up wherever I leave off. He is a great dad, he makes Kerington and I a priority, he does whatever he can to make me happy. What else could a girl ask for?

2. Kerington LeeAnn Condron - Ohmygoodness, who knew a little blond haired, gray eyed, bundle of energy could make me so happy? She is so sweet and kind. She is sensitive. She is all of the best qualities of Steve and I rolled into one little happy package. Tonight, as we were making cookies, she told me, "I am so happy!!" It may have been about the prospect of eating cookies, but I am going to take it to mean, she is happy about her life :)

3. Mom and Daddy-O Cook - My mom made a Cupcake Fairy costume with me being skeptical and putting time constrainsts on her (it turned out beautifully), my dad drove 1.5 hours to help Steve put together a swingset, they both drove to Tulsa to sit with me while I was 8 months pregnant because I did not want to be alone; then stayed 2 weeks because K was 3 weeks early. Then came back three weeks later because Steve had to go take the bar. They have supported me emotionally, spiritually, physically, and financially through all kinds of ups and downs in my life. They are the first people I call when something bad happens and the first people I call when something good happens. I am not easy to deal with, but they love all the same.

4. Uncle Anny - aka my brother by the same mother - He lets me call him that so that should be reason enough to be a blessing in my life. I bossed him around most of our childhood yet he forgave me and as adults we get along spledidly. He is one of the most easy going, laid back, funny people I know.

5. Job - I am very thankful to have a job. In this economy, not everyone can say that. It is not only a job, but a job that I enjoy. I went to school for many years and it is rewarding to be able to do what I trained for. Also, I work with some of the nicest, most giving people I know. It does not matter if I have a professional problem or personal problem, I can talk to anyone at work.

6. Lazy Sundays with my little family - Today, we stayed in our pajamas ALL day. We made cookies, we played outside (in the backyard), we worked puzzles, read books, got some cleaning done, watched Nemo, got caught up on our DVR-ed shows. It was a delightful day.

7. Our neighborhood - we live in the cutest little neighborhood. The houses are about 50 years old. It has beautiful old trees that are turning colors and losing their leaves. The neighbors are friendly. We take a walk most evenings and stop and talk to people who are outside. There was a block party. It really is a cute area.

Seven blessing for seven days in the week. I will be back with seven more next week!!

Summertime walk

Tonight, we had our good friends, the Lohrey's, over for dinner. It rained this afternoon and the temperature dropped below triple digits so we took an after dinner walk. Kerington's boyfriend, Kai, and her had the best time splashing in puddles, running after each other. Kerington tried to hold Kai's hand, which he wanted NO part of and it became a game. Kerington chased after Kai yelling, "hand, hand, hand!!" Kai ran away laughing.

At one point in the walk, Kai was upset. Kerington went back to comfort him. She patted him on the back and top of the head. They hugged it out and the hand holding game started all over again. Kerington is such a sweet little girl. She was really worried about Kai.

We stopped at a particularly large puddle and the splashing became sitting. It did not matter though. They were having the BEST time. They chased each other through the puddle, they sat down beside each other laughing and talking the whole time.

As we were finishing our walk, I was thinking about my sweet little girl. I was so happy just thinking about the perfect summer evening with friends, the innocence and happiness of my daughter, and how much I love the simplicities of life.

Bittersweet Move??

So, if you have ever talked to me for more than five minutes, you know that I hated, loathed, despised, and resented the duplex we lived in. When we moved to the 'burg, we had only one income and already had a mortgage so we moved into a duplex that was. . .awful because it was all we could afford. Everyday, I would look around that place in disgust. The old carpet, the bland walls, the unidentifiable smells, the refrigerator held together with tape, the cigarette burns on the bathroom counter, the loud neighbors on the other side of the wall. UGH!! My blood boils just thinking about it.

I was so excited to find this house. It is clean, we could paint, it had a backyard, no noisy neighbors. It is in a nice neighborhood. We came over and painted. We talked to Kerington about moving to the house. She would ask to go to, "house?" She would tell us she was "movin." I painted one of Kerington's walls pink (something I had been dreaming about since she was born). She liked "house."

Wednesday night, I went to dinner with a friend. When I got home Steve told me Kerington was moving her rugs and chairs and baby doll crib out of the room. He said he asked her what she was doing and she said she was, "movin." Poor baby was confused, I decided I would talk to her some more about this being where we lived now, etc.

Thursday, we went to check out of the smelly, old, nasty duplex. We arrived a little early to make sure everything was clean and I had not forgotten anything. Kerington walked into her old bedroom and said, "room mommy, my room" I nearly broke down right there. To her, it was not a gross, yucky, dirty duplex. It was her home. That is where she learned to crawl and learned to walk. It is where she took her first bite of cereal, ate her first bite of cake, it is where she first sat in time out. It is where we had her first Christmas, where she turned one and two, she got her first tooth, she first sat in a high chair, she first sat in a booster seat.

So while I loathed that smelly, old, nasty duplex, we had a lot of happy family memories while we lived there. I know we will make happy family memories here, and Kerington loves her pink wall (maybe not as much as me). I just did not anticipate that it might be an adjustment for her. So while I never thought I would say this, it was kind of a bittersweet move.

5 Bands I like and 5 Bands I don't

So this is Steve. Lori somehow conned me in to writing something for the blog. She asked me what I was going to write about and I didn't know so I made something up. I really like music so I decided to write about my 5 favorite bands and 5 that I don't care for. I will say that my dislike for a band or singer is sometimes purely arbitrary.

1. Weezer: Rivers Cuomo is a complete genius. I love the song writing, I love the guitars, I love the vocals. I really can't say anything bad about Weezer. "Buddy Holly" is still one of my favorite songs nearly 17 years after it was released. Let that sink in "Buddy Holly" "The Sweater Song" all were released almost 20 years ago, this is almost classic Rock. The band has the staying power of the Stones. I have every Weezer album and I think that "Pinkerton" was a great album.

2. Wheatus: I like quirky groups. They don't get much quirkier than this one. They have never sold out. Lori and I drove 180 miles once to see them play in a little coffee shop in Springfield, MO. I was the only person in the audience who knew all of their songs and at that time the show was an all request set. I got to sit and talk with the whole band and even had a part int eh show itself. I think I had a smile on my face for a month afterward. Check out the "Too Soon Monsoon" album if you haven't, it has a good sampling of what the band puts out there.

3. Foo Fighters/Nirvana: I list these together because I feel like if Nirvana hadn't ended Foo never would have happened. I think Nirvana is the most influential rock group of the past 30 years. I think Foo has been the most consistent group of the last 20 years. If you ever want to argue with me, tell me you disagree with Nirvana being on par with The Beatles for influence. I get paid to argue and I will seriously rip any other group apart.

4. Garth Brooks: This is easy, Garth is awesome. I love the early stuff, the Chris Gaines album was terrible, the other stuff is fantastic. My favorite Garth song is "The Cowboy Song," it is beautiful in my humble opinion. In the 4 years we lived in Oklahoma, I heard all kinds of people talk about seeing Garth at the Owasso Wal-Mart, we went there all the time and never saw him. This may be one of the biggest regrets of my life.

5. Cake: I regularly tell Lori that if I had any musical ability of my own I would start a band and it would be just like Cake. I am crazy about Cake. I like that they don't change the way they make music to sell more records, they are who they are and that is all.

Honorable Mention: The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, George Strait, and any Rock group with a female lead singer. (Side Note: I want Kerington to grow up to be in a rock band, someone please teach her to be musical, because Lord knows I can't.

Bands I don't like

1. The Eagles: Hate is a strong word, however, it is the correct word to describe my feelings toward The Eagles. There used to be a commercial calling them the greatest American Rock Band. I almost threw up any time I saw the commercial. The Eagles did nothing to advance the state of music, they did nothing to test boundaries. All they did was suck and sell a bunch of records which brings me to;

2. Nickleback: If you could make one song and repackage it again and again and again, and somehow make more money everytime, you would have Nickleback's keys to Rock for Dummies. While I have a lot of respect for Carson Dailey, I think he should still be doing TRL, I do not think Nickleback should be allowed to pollute the airwaves our children occupy.

3. Lady Gaga: I just can't stand her. That is all I have to say about that.

4. 80's hair bands not named Poison: Wow, that was a worthless break from decent music, right?

5. Rotates to whoever is making really horrible music in my opinion. Right now Ke$ha, and Miley Cyrus are running neck and neck. Oddly, I kind of like Katy Perry, don't tell.

These opinions are mine and don;t reflect anything except my personal feelings.

We're Moving!!

A couple of housekeeping issues before I get to the topic at hand. . . first, I did not really write 4 blogs today. I write them and keep them a couple of days before I post them to see if I still like them or sometimes, I have to wait until I can get pictures downloaded to the computer. It had been a few weeks since I had posted anything so I went in and cleaned out my draft folder.

Second, and MOST EXCITING, Condron Family blog is going to have a guest writer!! That is right ladies and gentlemen, Steve will be guest writing in the near future!! Get excited!! Disclaimer: Views expressed by the guest writer are not necessarily the views of Condron Family blog. :)

NOW on to today's topic . . . WE ARE MOVING . . . next weekend . . . to a house . . . AND I have not packed ONE box, cleaned out ONE closet, organized ONE drawer. Am I stressed? Not really BECAUSE, we have moved 6 (yes SIX) times in 7 (yes SEVEN) years of marriage. What I have done is arranged 5 guys, 2 pick ups, and 1 dolly to arrive at our duplex at 10 o'clock next Saturday. In my opinion, the most important part of a successful move is having a dolly and many strong men, you don't want to wear out your help.

Now, I will say each time we move Steve and I have a huge blow up. Steve is a no nonsense mover and I get caught up in the senimentality of all the little hidden treasures I find. But each time it gets finished, each time we get settled into our new place, and each time I am grateful that Steve kept me on track. I am also so grateful for all of our helpers!! It makes the move so much easier.

We are moving less than a half of a mile away, and it is NOT our shortest move. In Tulsa, we moved 2 city blocks from an apartment to our house. I am excited to move out of our duplex into a house. Duplex living has served its purpose, but I am ready to be back in a house, with a yard where K bear can have a swing set and Zeke can roam.

Ker Bear is TWO!!!

So it happened, my sweet little girl turned two!! I knew it would come, I thought the more I talked about it the better prepared I would be. I wasn't, it is sad. She is no longer a baby. She is a running, laughing, talking, cuddling, opinionated LITTLE GIRL. I think that the only thing that makes it bearable that she is not a baby anymore is the little girl that she is becoming. She is sweet, considerate, and sensitive (oh we have our battles, she is two). But each day she brings a smile to my face. She gives the best hugs and kisses. She has stellar dance moves. She says the funniest things (I hunky- I hungry, I do it, I dancin mommy, I two monkey, I jumpin, are you?, No Zekie). Maybe they aren't funny to everyone, but they bring a smile to my face. She is sharp as a tack, not much gets by her. She is a "watcher," she watches everything; people, animals, cars, airplanes, TV, etc and remembers EVERYTHING!!

Yesterday we were at Lowe's and saw our friends the Eatons, Kerington and Riley ran up and down the aisle while we chatted for a couple of minutes. Today we were back at Lowe's (we stalk all of our Lowe's purchases at least three times before actually buying anything) and when we were in the aisle where we saw the Eatons yesterday, Kerington asked, "Are you, Iley, are you?" She remembers EVERYTHING!!

Anyway, I digress . . . so to celebrate Kerington's birthday, we had a small party at the park (one of Kerington's favorite places). Very simple, very relaxed. . . cupcakes, ice cream, singing, and presents. A lot of family and some friends were there to help Kerington celebrate. It was hot, but short and sweet. Kerington had a great time, I know, because she slept for a long time afterward. That is how you can gage a good party, by how long the sweet girl sleeps afterward.

Aging is part of life so I guess, I just have to accept that sweet little 6 lb bundle we brought home from the hospital is now a beautiful, lovely, active two year-old full of life and brings joy to us everyday!!