John and Ansley » Random

Good Things (Ending the Day on a Positive Note)

Ansley — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 01:07:21 +0000

I’m feeling quite negative right now, so I’ll focus on some Good Things to end my day.

Good Things:
- Radar the Super Chihuahua took care of Charlie earlier this week when his neck was hurt. It was so cute!
- We finally got our downstairs painted.
- We found a fabulous Walmart just a short drive away (Chamblee-Tucker Rd.) that is so awesome – no more of the awful Walmart on Pleasant Hill Rd!!! I hate that store so much that I need Xanax, Prozac , Lipitor and wine just to enter the parking lot. It was like the clouds parted and rainbows appeared.
- Less than two weeks before we find out the baby’s gender!!!!

My Favorite Super Bowl Commercial

Ansley — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 16:12:30 +0000

My Accomplishments 2010

Ansley — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 03:43:40 +0000

Quite a few of our friends have made a list of their accomplishments for 2010 so I thought I’d join in the fun. However, I don’t want to make a bullet point list of all the things I’m proud of. It’s not that I feel that my list is insubstantial; I am quite proud of all I have done. But none of it seems worth mentioning except to say that I SURVIVED.

Baby Got Back

Ansley — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 05:08:05 +0000

I have about a million things I want to write about, but I’ve GOT to get in bed so I’ll share a funny conversation I had with Charlie in the car.

We were sitting at a big intersection and I almost saw a huge wreck, so I exclaimed, “Oh. My. God. Becky.”

CHARLIE: I’m not Becky, I’m Charlie.
ANSLEY: I know that, darlin.’ I just said that because those are the first words to a song.
CHARLIE: Will you sing it to me? (OMG.)
ANSLEY: Well, actually, I don’t remember any other words to the song.
ANSLEY: (Applying distraction technique) Do you remember your cousin Becky that we saw at Thanksgiving? She’s Maggie’s and Tavin’s mommy, the kids that you had fun playing with. Oh, and she was the awesome drummer who gave us the fun drumming lesson.
CHARLIE: Oh, yeah! They were at Nanny and Pop’s house.
ANSLEY: Exactly!
CHARLIE: I think I know the words to the song, Mommy! They go: Jooooooohhn and Becky! Joooooooohhn and Becky! Becky and Maggie! Becky and Maggie! (Etc. etc. all the way home.) I even joined in after a few miles of hearing it.

John was on TV!

Ansley — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 00:52:38 +0000

John had a sound bite on the Channel 2 evening news! Unfortunately, it was because our builder has gone out of business and our neighborhood is far from completion. We’re still trying to figure out what that means for us other than more overgrowing weeds in the vacant lots.

Full DVR = Too Darn Busy

Ansley — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:20:42 +0000

We’re both working a LOT more than usual and are completely exhausted. It’s so busy that we have THREE episodes of Lost DVR’d and don’t know when we’ll have time to watch them. Our recorded TV shows are what we use as a scale to determine how much is going on. When there are 3 – 4 favorite series/shows waiting to be watched, life is normal. But there are, like, 20-something shows right now!!! I know, it’s crazy.

Here are some photos from Charlie. They are self-portraits from one of his many photo sessions. Yes, I allow my 2.5 year old the use of my camera. And you know what? He knows how to use it better than me!

Awkward Moment of the Day

Ansley — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 19:36:51 +0000

This morning we got on an elevator with an elderly couple. The man was almost doubled over with osteoporosis, which inspired Charlie to start pointing and saying “THAT MAN IS SICK,” over and over again. I couldn’t get him to ~~shut up~~ stop saying it, because the kid loves to repeat himself when he doesn’t feel like his point has gotten across. I apologized and kind of awkwardly rolled my eyes and laughed about kids saying the darndest things, and got down on his level to distract him until we could get off the slowest elevator on earth. The poor man just quietly sat there while his wife gripped the handles of his wheelchair and looked at us disapprovingly. Pursed lips and all.

It was a lovely moment, and I look forward to many more.

Happy New Year!

Ansley — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 00:32:50 +0000

So often I read the blogs of others and feel exactly the same way about a post so much that I would rather just share that and say, “Exactly.” Here is an example:

2010! from Ashley’s Closet

There were also great moments in 2009, many of which are written about on this blog. How can there NOT be great moments with John and Charlie in my life?!

I’ve decided that 2010 will be an amazing year and the start of an amazing decade. I’ve needed a new decade for a long time.

He Sees You When You’re Sleeping…

Ansley — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 18:17:23 +0000

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been teaching Charlie lots of Christmas songs. But every time I started to sing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” I stopped myself…sure, I liked the song growing up, and it’s on my favorite Christmas movie, Elf, but OMG! Sing it to yourself and really think about it. And then read Rational Jenn’s post. (Ryan and I must be on the same wavelength.)

Laundry Debacle

Ansley — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:33:42 +0000

Charlie and I have been swapping illnesses since before Halloween, but hopefully as of TODAY we’re finally on the mend.

Because of my lack of energy and coughing fits, our house is a Code Red/Level 5 Disaster Area. I’m cleaning like a fiend and trying to catch up on laundry, but the laundry is kicking my butt! There are only three of us living in this house. We wear one outfit per day and maybe wear the same pajamas for a couple of nights. But anyone that could see the massive amount of dirty laundry could easily be convinced that the Duggans stayed here for a week. That’s with me doing a few loads here and there while sick!

I have some theories on how this has happened. Not all of them can be proven, but since when have I needed proof for my conspiracy theories? Here is my list:

(I won’t name specific names to keep from finger-pointing.)

1. We must all use a different towel every day. Maybe two each.
2. Someone thinks that dishtowels are only used once, like paper towels.
3. People are breaking into our house, borrowing our clothes, and then breaking back in to throw the used clothing into the laundry room.
4. Someone is throwing clean clothes into the laundry room to make me suffer.
5. Our parallel universe selves are jumping over into our world and leaving their dirty clothes for me to clean, and then coming back later to collect. I really should check our closets/drawers for duplicate articles of clothing.
6. It is a voodoo curse.

One day my children will do all the laundry and I will pay them handsomely for it. Clearly it will be worth it so that I keep my sanity. Plus, I’ll have more time to guard our house against clothes-borrowing home invaders and parallel selves.