How I Doth Love the Boob Tube

Watching TV is probably my favorite thing to do.  Scratch that...watching TV is DEFINITELY my favorite thing to do.  I don't like reading, unless in small installments, such as People magazine; I thoroughly enjoy catching up with my friends in Hollywood.  But with the advent of book clubs, I can't help but be left in the dark, except for the light that illuminates from my TV.  I've been thinking lately about why I love TV so much.  They say TV can be bad for you and that books are so much better for you, blah blah blah.  But I'm going to prove otherwise.

1.  For us, it's a ritual...Fran and I make dinner and sit down at the coffee table (I can count on one hand how many times he and I have actually shared a meal at the kitchen table) and continue on the series that we are following.  Currently, our favorite is "Mad Men".  (Other winners that I recommend are "Arrested Development", "Weeds", "The Wire", and more currently, "Parenthood", "Modern Family", and "How I Met Your Mother".)  We pick a series and stick with it to the end.  Positive: We are not quitters.

2.  I get to zone out.  Completely.  I involve myself in a fictitious character's life and follow his hopes and dreams and romanticized life.  Positive: That's just like reading a book, right?

3.  My all-time favorite show is Friends.  I have hundreds of memories of visiting with my best friend at her condo each and every Thursday night while our puppies played together (well before children came into the picture).  We would talk, catch up, and completely focus on our Friends, Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler and Ross.  We LOVED Friends.  We still watch reruns and call each other up and remind each other of a funny scene that we love.  My favorite episode of all time was "The One with the Embryos" in which the group challenges each other to a healthy game of "Who Knows Who Better?" trivia.  "Chanandler Bong...we steal that TV guide every week!"  Positive: TV makes your friendships stronger.  

4.  We quote TV.  Fran and I use quotes from TV or movies almost daily at our house.  There are some funny ones that just stick.  One of our many favorites is Steve Carell as Andy in "40 Year Old Virgin": "I don't want to cram pimpage."  Or Will Ferrell as Chazz Reinhold in "Wedding Crashers": "Mom!  I want some MEATLOAF!!!"  We even have Reese yell this on days we are having meatloaf.  Sounds strange and out of most contexts, but we do incorporate it into daily conversation.  Positive: Watching TV improves your memory and your recall ability.

I'm a proud supporter of the boob tube.  I think it's a fabulous device.  (Disclaimer: I do not feel the same way about it for Reese, though.)  MTV has been advertising for years, "I want my MTV."  I'll settle for simply, "I want my TV."

(Type) A is for Awesome!

I am admittedly a Type A+ person.  I like things neat and organized all the time.  I really am not trying to toot my own horn, but I am good at organizing things and I enjoy the act of organizing.  It relaxes me.  I have often thought of starting my own organizing business.  If things are not in their proper place, I have trouble relaxing.  I like things to be clean looking and sorted into their proper containers.  Reese already knows how to sort things accurately because of my undiagnosed OCD.

My motto is, "If it's not a right angle, it's a wrong angle." A friend I used to work with, who will remain nameless and too has a shared undiagnosed case of OCD, used to come into my classroom and move things on my desk so they were no longer at right angles.  She thought this was funny and did this to tease me.  It worked.  It totally worked.

I thrive on calendars, organizers, and lists.  I inherited that trait from my mother.  I have an impeccably clean and organized calendar.  I have many lists going at once.  I actually love the act of crossing things off of a list.  It makes me feel like I have accomplished something.  Sometimes, after I have completed a task, I'll add it to my list, just so I can cross it off.  Don't tell anyone that...it's actually kind of embarrassing to admit.  But my mom does it too, so it can't be that unusual, right?  Sorry, Mom...I realize I just threw you under the bus too, but great minds think alike.  My question in life is this...How on Earth does someone live without lists?  I just do not understand it.  Lists rule.

So bottom line...if you need a closet organized or ideas on how to make a task more efficient, I'm your girl!  I know I'm a nut, but I know there are other nuts just like me out there.

What's In A Name?

For twenty-seven years, I fought tooth and nail for people to pronounce my last name correctly.  "It sounds just like it's spelled," I'd say, while the person trying to pronounce it would either butcher it or give up before even trying.  Chabalewski...yes, it looks like a mouthful with all of its eleven letters, but in actuality, it's really quite easy.  I could spell and say it by age 4, while the rest of the world seemed to admit defeat at the "C".  I've heard every possible butchering that I can only imagine should have been spelled like these...Chabalenski (Chab-uh-len-skee; there is not a single "n" in my name), Chabalowski (Chab-uh-low-skee; ok, no "o" whatsoever), Chabaleski (Chab-uh-les-skee; where'd the "w" go?), and my favorite, "Well, I'm not going to even try."  On the first day of school when teachers would take role, I'd raise my hand in acknowledgement of my presence at the mere sound of "Ch".  Chab-uh-loo-skee.  It's not tough, I promise.  All my friends and family are doing it!  Try it; you'll see!

Then I got married and had no doubt that Lenahan was going to erase any bad memory I had of name mispronunciation.  How hard could that seven letter name be?  Boy, I had that one wrong.  It's pronounced "Len-uh-han".  All short vowels, for those of you who remember short and long vowel sounds.  I hear all sorts of crazy variations...Leen-uh-han, Lend-a-hand (seriously?), Lend-a-han, Leen-han.

I heard my new favorite today while in the waiting room at a doctor's office.  The nurse walked through the office door with a chart and called "Mrs. Line-um".  Since I didn't recognize this name as my own, I looked around to see who was going to get up and walk through the door with her, only to realize that maybe she was talking about me.  (The only comparison I could make to my name was that it too started with the letter "L".)  When nobody got out of their seat, I asked her if it was "Len-uh-han".  Never in a million years would I have thought that I should be the one to get the dirty look and "huff and puff" for pronouncing MY name correctly!  The nurse acted as if I was questioning her; I merely asked because I wasn't sure she was actually calling ME.  Her attitude continued all the way down the LONG hallway to the doctor's office.  I still can't believe she was angry at me...since she butchered MY name, shouldn't I have been the one to get angry at her?  (For the record, I wouldn't have because I am a nice person.)

Lesson learned today...pay attention in Phonics class in elementary school.  There really are great lessons to learn!

I Didn't Come To The Concert To Watch YOU!

Last week, we went to the 311 concert in Virginia Beach.  We have been going to see them play each year for the last 15 years as it has been Fran's favorite band since high school, and one of mine since he introduced them to me in college.  We always have a great time; we listen to their music and take in the new sounds that they have been working on for the previous year.  However, each year we go, we get older.  That may sound like an obvious statement, but what I really mean is that we get older and the youngest seem to get younger (and more risque).

When we were nineteen and seeing them play, we had a tolerance for distractions that can come with being in close quarters with others.  As we age (to our current "young" age of thirty-five), our tolerance for distraction has diminished greatly.  In other words, it seems that the increase in our age is indirectly proportionate to the amount of irritating distractions we can handle.

With the soaring costs of tickets and fees, we make only a few demands.  To the Jersey Shore guys next to us who thought it was "cool" to dance side-to-side and interrupt our view every 2.5 seconds, dance vertically and not horizontally.  To the three attendees in our near vicinity, Facebook is not to be checked during a concert.  To the girls in the row in front of us who were so utterly scantily clad, put some clothes on.  To those same girls, your bottom is not designed to be shaken like that except in a gentlemen's club.  And to those Jersey Shore dudes, videotaping said gentleman's club dancers on your smart phones is, alas, not so smart.

We attend concerts at $50-60 a pop because we absolutely love music.  It's not necessarily a social event for us; it really is all about the music.  We love the instruments, we love the band members, and we love the memories that the music creates for us.  We always attend 311 concerts with my sister-in-law and her husband, and we always make memories at these concerts.  This year, we just have some memories that we hope won't stay with us forever.  Aside from the fantastic music, of course.

Believe it or not, the moral of the story is not for us to loosen up.  We are fairly cool, mid-thirties people.  But I'll use a few cliches to sum up what I learned:

Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be pole dancers; and
You can lead a horse to the concert, but you can't make it listen to the music.

Vacay!

I used to think of vacation as an escape from the routine of the fast-paced life we lead.  Instead of work, we would lie perfectly still on a beach for hours, nap whenever we felt like it, and casually stroll to dinner at whatever time we felt like waking up and going. 

Now that I have a child, vacation is no more than just a transfer of activities and routines of our busy life to another location, with very little down time, after packing and lugging five suitcases full of "kid stuff".  There is no suntanning on the beach; we dig sand, build sand castles, and splash in the water.  There is no afternoon nap before dinner; we shower and get ready for the rest of our day.  And there is no casual stroll to dinner at any time of the night; we hit the family-friendly restaurants around early bird time to avoid the crowds and feed our hungry child before he turns into the boogie man. 

Our A/C broke yesterday.  I have had the pleasure of staying at my in-laws' house while our house cooked itself at a balmy 85 degrees.  They were ready to babysit at any moment, played with Reese while I got things done, prepared a filet mignon and shrimp dinner, insisted on doing the dishes themselves, offered up their guest room in which I watched cable (which I don't have at home) and ate chocolate ice cream bon bons.  Literally, bon bons!  I have to say this was a mini-vacation of the mostly pre-baby kind.  I got to lay around a bit (just like I would on a beach), I had some relaxation time during Reese's nap, and dinner was served at a more adult hour. 

So although vacations with a toddler are quite different than those from just two-and-a-half short years ago, I can say that I've just had a refreshing mini-vacation just ten minutes from home.  A/C, you may feel free to break at any time. 

(Special thanks to my fabulous in-laws, Diana and Fran!)

Oh, Sweet Starbucks!

Hi, my name is Rachel, and I am a Starbucks addict.

We have been unemployed now for four weeks and we've learned to do with less in many ways.  We cancelled cable immediately, started turning off lights we weren’t using, raised the temperature in our house (it now resembles that of a sauna), and cut all unnecessary spending.  We now ask the question, "Do we NEED this?" The answer, most of the time, is no.  But what about things we WANT?  

I don't miss cable (very surprisingly, as I am a lover of the tube), I don't care about turning off the lights when we are not using them (it actually makes more sense to do this), and although I like to sleep in Antarctic-like temperatures, I can live with 75 degrees during the day and 72 degrees at night.  What I DO miss though is my sweet Starbucks.  

I admit to a pretty regular Starbucks habit before we became unemployed.  I am not proud of this.  It's expensive at $4+ per cup...Grande, Non-fat, No-whip Iced Mocha, please.  It's frivolous...this is probably more than you want to hear, but you really just drink it and pee it and it offers no nutritional value. And I'm pretty sure that Starbucks puts a little crack in their cups of coffee to keep you coming back.  (Disclaimer to Starbucks...I don't really mean this, but for joking purposes, I do.)

So why do I love my sacred cup of chocolate coffee?  Because I get together with my girlfriends to catch up...while drinking coffee. Because, when I get the rare chance, I sit and read a magazine by myself...while drinking coffee.  Because during the winter when I am freezing cold, I warm up...while drinking coffee.  And because, for some reason, I feel like an adult...while drinking coffee.  I can't explain this last one well, but in a life now that revolves around a two-and-a-half-year-old, drinking coffee might be one of the only times in my day that doesn't revolve around sippy cups, diapers, or Thomas the Train.  I get to feel like a grown-up.  

I absolutely love my girlfriends.  Many have sent me gift cards to Starbucks to "get me through” or treated me to a cup.  I am so grateful to these fabulous friends who have enabled my delicious habit.  And I hope that as soon as we are gainfully employed, I can resume my contribution to the Starbucks Empire.  

You Never Think It Will Happen To You

Unemployment

It happens to a lot of people. It has happened to friends and family members. It has even happened to people I've worked with. But you never think it will happen to you.  And we certainly never thought it would happen to us.  My husband lost his job two weeks ago.  Fran worked tirelessly for his company for seven years. He arose at 4:30am to drive almost an hour to get to work by 6:00am, and worked a solid twelve hour day for the duration of his employment, only to drive almost an hour home. He felt pressure to maintain these hours as he was the sole breadwinner for us as well as the manager of this company.  As a stay-at-home mom to our wonderful little boy, I too had my job to worry about, but worried about him more working so many hours and exhausting himself for the sake of providing for his family. He was let go without a breath of notice. He never missed a day, never broke a rule, never put his feet up on his desk while sipping coffee for one second while managing the business. So to lose his job was quite a blow...to his ego, to our finances, to our employment status. But we vowed from second one that it would NOT be a blow to our family.

You never think it will happen to you. Then it does. And everything in your life changes. But one thing I've learned through all of this is that you are only as good as the way you react to situations. If we crumbled and fell apart, our lives would too. People we've told about this have complimented us on our positivity, even only two weeks out. We know it may take time to find another job (one of us plans to stay home with Reese). We know that I may be the one to return to work on a teacher's salary. We know that Fran may have to find a job that pays significantly less. But we are FINE with it. When you are faced with a crisis, you choose to either rise or fall. We choose to rise.

So we are now on to our next chapter. A new job, maybe a smaller house, a smaller budget, and lots of new experiences as a family given the gift of some time together. We can deal with that. It's all in your attitude and how you deal with things that come your way. 

Let's Try Out This Blogging Thing...

I love to write, but I am not a writer.  I am a stay-at-home mom with a lot of ideas and little time to put those ideas on paper.  So I thought I'd try out this blogging thing I hear so much about.  I thought maybe one person might get something out of it.  That one person may be me, but I am okay with that.  I just thought I'd give it a shot and see what came out.  

In setting up this blog, I had to complete an "About Me" section.  Even after knowing myself for thirty-five years, I found it hard to sum up what I am all about in just a few short sentences.  This is how I would describe myself if given more space.

I am the mother to the silliest and sweetest little two-year-old boy, who makes me laugh every single day.

I am the wife of a fabulous guy I met in college, who I am crazy about.  

I am the daughter of my brilliant father and charismatic, driven mother.
I am the daughter-in-law of caring, supportive golf fanatics.

I am a sister to two awesome siblings and two fantastic sisters-in-law.

I am the aunt to the cutest little curly-haired boy you'd ever meet.

I am a friend to the most fabulous women I know. 

I am a die-hard HOKIE!!!!  Only Virginia Tech fans could possibly understand the significance of being a Hokie.

I am a runner.  Not a fast one.  Just a runner.

I am proud to say that I'm organized and love organizing things.

I am a lover of television.  There...I said it.  "Friends" is my all-time favorite.

I am moved by the song line, "Where you invest your love, you invest your life."

And my life's motto is that things, both good and bad, happen for a reason.

I hope you enjoy what I have to say.  Feel free to post comments if you'd like.  I'd love to hear from you!