Grown-Up Girlfriends (book review)

Last semester at JBU during one of the Women of Walker nights, Erin Smalley from JBU's Center for Relationship Enrichment came to talk to us about how to be "grown-up" girlfriends (this is a girl-girl friendship kind, not a girl-guy kind). I really liked what she had to say, so I soon went down to the bookstore and bought the book she wrote with her friend Carrie Oliver. I finally read it this summer! And it is a very good book.

Book info:

Title - Grown-Up Girlfriends: Finding and Keeping Real Friends in the Real World

Authors - Erin Smalley and Carrie Oliver

Publisher - Tyndale House Publishers, 2007

Paperback, 13 chapters, 223 pages

My review of it:

This is a terrific book that takes a good look at how to have deeper and more lasting friendships. Writing from a Biblical Christian perspective, Erin and Carrie discuss various characteristics of friendships that are "grown-up" rather than childish and selfish. The chapters include subjects such as "The Grown-Up Girlfriend Experiences Levels of Intimacy," "The Grown-Up Girlfriend Embraces Differences," and "The Grown-Up Girlfriend Forgives." The authors use many real life examples, both from their own lives and from other's, to illustrate their points. Each chapter has several reflection questions at the end to help the reader apply the principles to her own life.

I know for me, this book pointed out some of the ways that I could be negatively impacting my friendships through my selfish actions. Some of the things I hadn't ever thought of before, or hadn't quite pin pointed what I was feeling. It took me a while to get through this book - it's not really a difficult read, it's just a little meatier than some books are.

If you feel like you're missing out on something - if you feel like you don't have any really good friends, I would highly suggest reading this book. It can help you think through how you approach and maintain friendships.

oh dear.....

Yesterday was my last day of nanny work for a little while, and boy was I glad of that! Thursday evening had been really tough (no details because that would be gossiping), and I was glad they were going out of town all next week so I could have a break. Then yesterday the parents told me I wouldn't be seeing Brian (the older one) for three weeks because he's going to do a summer program through his school for two weeks after they get back from vacation. And now I'm sad because I won't see him! So even though it's very tough being a nanny sometime - I really do love those guys!

Last week was, for the most part, fun. I went in the mornings, and the boys and I went several places. On Monday we went to the Museum of Nature and Science at Fair Park. Christopher loved the fire truck down stairs in the Children's Museum part :) Tuesday and Thursday mornings we went to the park and to Barnes and Noble (the park is Christopher's favorite, B&N is Brian's) and I also stayed for the afternoon those two days.

On Wednesday the boys and I rode DART down to the Dallas Zoo. That didn't turn out to be what I had expected it to be. I thought we would get to see lots of animals, but Brian was more interested in the activities at the Children's zoo area. But they had fun, so it was ok. They both freaked out when birds landed on them in the aviary though ;-) The birds were the sweetest cockatiels, but the boys weren't used to birds flying onto their heads...for some reason.... ;-) Brian enjoyed the train ride too, and Christopher did fine with it.

Yesterday I took them to their local swimming pool. Christopher is a bit afraid of the water, but he did pretty well. We just stayed in a shallow baby pool (only gets to two feet in depth) and in the splash area.

Boy oh boy, I really am going to miss "my" boys.....but I think it was time for a little break.

P.S. Brian asked on Monday why I couldn't stay all day - quite a change from him asking my first day what I was doing there ;-) And I've been invited to his birthday party :)

Heard Wildlife Sanctuary

On Thursday morning, Mom and I went with a friend of ours to the Heard Wildlife Sanctuary up in McKinney. I hadn't been there in a l-o-n-g time, so it was fun to go back and remember it. We went there a lot when I was younger :) One of the main reasons we went this time is because they had a baby ring-tailed lemur that Mom had seen when she and Dad went in March or April. Here is a picture of the baby. He's sitting on the door to the little playground set, and his mom is on the ground.

We also went into the butterfly house for a while - here's a couple pictures from that. I'm not good at knowing what butterflies are what species though, sorry ;-)

Then we went back to watch the lemurs more - baby was riding on his mom's back. They knew it was about time to be fed :D
The volunteers came and fed the animals - here's an albino raccoon!

I forget exactly what this one is called, but it's a relative of raccoons that lives in Mexico/South America.

And some Capybaras (or something like that!) They are actually rodents, but they are more like the size of pigs! And they love being in the water.
One more peek at the lemurs - they were all sitting together. The dad is in front, the mom is in back, and the baby was nursing. It was pretty cute :)
Then we went to an area inside that has big windows with feeders outside to watch the birds a bit :) Right when we got there, there was a beautiful male Ruby Throated Hummingbird. Sadly, I was too busy watching him and didn't get a picture :/ Below are House Finches at the tube feeder. There were lots of them.
Several other species of birds that we saw - on the left is a Hairy Woodpecker (or maybe a Downy), on the top is a Nuthatch that we saw just before leaving, and on the bottom are Mourning Doves, a male Brown-Headed Cowbird, and more House Finch. We also saw Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Titmice.
We had lots of fun spending a couple of hours there :) The bad part is that we got chiggers :P So I'm still a little miserable from that :(

Nannying - the joys :)

My main job this summer is to be a part-time nanny for two boys. I was hoping to get a "real" job at a restaurant or retail store, but this is what God has provided for me and I am very thankful for it :) The family is related to a friend of a high school teacher of mine - so that's how I heard about the opportunity.

The two boys are Brian and Christopher. Brian will turn six next month, and Christopher just turned 2 last month (Christopher is above, Brian is in the picture riding his bike).

I babysat one evening in May as a trial run of sorts, but I really started my job on June 1st. The first week, I worked during the mornings and only had Christopher because Brian was at a tennis camp. Christopher and I had our schedule down pat :D He and his dad would pick me up from the train station at about 9:00, and then he and I would play with his yellow truck out front, look at the flowers, and walk along the rock pathway counting the rocks. Sometimes I would push Christopher in his tricycle. After a while, we would go to the park not too far from their house. The first day, all Christopher was really willing to do was go up the regular steps and walk around on the playground. By Friday, he was climbing up just about every way to climb up, going down the slide by himself, and swinging in all the swings :) We would play for a couple hours, then go back to the house and eat lunch, look at a couple of books, and then he would go down for his nap.

Even though Christopher just turned two, he is very smart! He knows the ABC song pretty well, can count up to about 7 (though he often says "one, two, four, five..."), is fairly good at identifying colors and shapes, knows what and where all his facial features are, knows lots of words, and is almost potty trained! Both boys go to a Montessori school, and I think that is where Christopher gets most of his training.

These second two weeks I have gone in the afternoons and have had both boys. I get there at about 12:30, feed the boys lunch, and put Christopher down for his nap. Then Brian and I usually do play dough, play with his pirate ship, he gets dressed up in costumes, and sometimes we look at books. I also take Brian to his swim lessons, and last week I took him to Ride and Glide (a bike camp at the YMCA). Sometimes the boys and I go to Barnes and Noble and look at books there.

Christopher is super cute, and thankfully he and I hit it off pretty well :) I taught him my name on Thursday or so of the first week, and he's always excited to see me when they pick me up from the train station :D I was going to put in some of the cute things he's done, especially the first week, but I feel like I've already forgotten some of them :(

One is that he says "Peek-a-bo, I see you" in the cutest voice! He also says "I've gotchyou, I've gotchyou" any time he's feeling nervous/scared/uncomfortable. He has the biggest blue eyes - lots of people comment on them when they see him. And he can say "yes!" or "okay" in the cutest voice possible if he wants to do something you're suggesting. Also, he always notices what is on my shirt! I wore two different horse shirts two days in a row, and so now he keeps asking for horses when he sees me :)

His dad told me this funny story - evidently the mom has the same kind of tennis shoes that I do. So one day she was squatting down talking to Christopher and he looked at her shoes and said "Esther's shoes!" So that shows you that he is a *very* observant young fellow! :D

Brian and I get along pretty well too....we had more of a rough start, but that's rather understandable since he's six and thus has stronger opinions! I think we have come to a fairly good understanding, but we still have a couple tough spots once in a while. I can't really think of anything cute or funny he's done yet...oh well.

I'm only going to blog about the positive/fun things that happen.......but believe me, that doesn't mean that's the whole story. These boys are, of course, human just like all the rest of us. But I just try to focus on the positive and love on them a lot.

a messed up morning..........

So I'm house sitting for the next few days...and this morning I was going to ride the bus/train/bus to get back to my house after spending the night at the other house. It was all going to work out very well, because I wouldn't have to wait very long at any of my transfer points! Well, it did not end up working out like that. At all.

I left the house plenty early because I didn't know how long it was going to take me to walk to the bus stop. It only took me 10 minutes to walk the .4 miles, so I had 12 minutes to spare! I went to a Starbucks on the corner and got a parfait, then went back to the bus stop and ate it. I could see the bus on the other side of the intersection. After a few minutes, I realized that the bus was just sitting there with its hazard lights going! I was pretty confused...I waited for a while, until the pick up time had passed, and the bus was still just sitting there.

I was getting worried, because I only had one minute to spare between my bus arrival and the train departing. Looking back on this, I wasn't thinking very straight at all!!!!! I decided to walk to the train station since the bus wasn't seeming to come. Well, I did. It was spitting rain. At one point the bus zoomed past me. To make a long story short, it was a little over two miles to the train station. A couple times I ran because I didn't know how far it was and I was still hoping to make my train. That was a crazy hope.

I missed two or three trains as I walked to the station (it took me 24 minutes), so when I finally got there I had just missed one and had to wait 15 minutes for the next one. I finally got on the train and rode down to the station closest to my house. Took a bus that got me a little ways toward my house, then had to walk another .6 miles.

All in all, thanks to my impatience and not being rational, a trip that was supposed to take one hour took two. The end.

why I will (not) miss Nathan

Nathan, my (not little) younger brother leaves for USAFA (the United States Air Force Academy) on June 23rd. When he does, he will just about fall off the face of the earth for the next four years. The below story is an example of why I will (and will not) miss him a TON.

Sunday afternoon my upper back was really sore (it's a long story but includes a car accident over 5 months ago and lifting a 2-year-old) and I was lying on my floor in pain...

My dad was asking Nathan and me if we had any expectations for the afternoon. I said something like "no, but I do expect Nathan to go heat up my heat pad for me!" (as in 'hint hint'!)

Nathan responds "Oh, that's a bad expectation to have!" He then tries to convince me that I'm closer to where my heat pad is so I should do it. I retort that I am more comfortable lying on the floor than he is standing up, so he should do it. He responds "but I don't know where it is and I don't know how to do it!" So I tell him where it is, but he's still acting like he won't do anything about it....he wants me to tell him every move to make. So I tell him "open the drawer" and he does, "pull out the heat pad" and he does, "shut the drawer" and he protests that's not a necessary step.

He almost tosses it to me and I'm like "but it's not hot yet!" So I tell him to go heat it in the microwave on high for 2 minutes. And the rascal acts like he doesn't know how to use the microwave - like I'll have to tell him every move to make out there. So I say "it's one step! You go out to the microwave, open the door, put the heat pad in, turn it on..." As I said that, I counted on my fingers without thinking! Nathan caught me, of course. "That's not one step, you're counting on your fingers!" and then he mimics me, sending me into peals of laughter :D

So he went out to do it, acting as if he was going to come back in to get a new instruction every time. I heard the microwave go off, and then he came back with his hands behind his back and was like "ok, what next?" And I said "hand me the hot pad!" because I am smart and I knew he had it behind his back even though he was trying to trick me into thinking it was still in the kitchen :D

So that's what my crazy brother and I do to amuse ourselves :)

well well...what have we here?

My poor little blog...I have just rediscovered you! I'm sorry I've been so neglectful for so long....I'm afraid it's because of a strange phenomenon called LIFE - and COLLEGE. Also, I feel like no one really reads what I write here....so I feel like there's no point in posting! But maybe if I get in the habit a little more this summer...maybe, just maybe I shall be more consistent.

So what I'm not going to try to do is give a daily report of the last seven months - or to give a daily report from here on out!

That was all written last night...and guess what? I got distracted talking to two of my good friends on Facebook :D So a blog update got put off once again......