Molly Piper

Since all the major retailers are telling us what to buy for the Haaallllidayzzz, and giving us all kinds of crappy ideas for things we don’t really need…I figured I’d put my recommendation (which isn’t crappy) into the mix.

Ladies and gentlemen…

Wait! Wait! let me rephrase…

[Ahem]

Ladies and the people who buy for them…

May I present the Makita BCL180W!!!

 Now you might be thinking, “Really? a vacuum? for Christmas?”

Let me just counter that with, “No, really…a vacuum…for Christmas.” (See how easy that was?)

 I got mine 2 Christmases ago and still use it multiple times a day. If you have hardwood floors, it’s amazing! It’s seriously the best practical gift I’ve ever been given.

I haven’t actually done this yet, but every time we leave the house to go on a trip I consider packing it to take along, that’s how much it’s a part of my life. I’ve even thought, as I’m happily vacuuming along, “I’d like to be buried with this here vacuum.”

 Why I love this Makita Vacuum

• It recharges quickly. I just disconnect that black battery and slide it onto the teal battery charger thing, and it’s done in maybe 15 minutes, max (just enough time to clear the dishes, load the dishwasher, and deal with the leftovers).
• It holds a charge for awhile. I probably charge mine every couple days (more if I’m using it more heavily).
• Great swivel action. (And we all want a little swivel in our lives, ifyouknowhatImean).
• You can take that long part off and use it as a dust buster thingy. Or attach the pointed part for corners or couch cushions. Basically all the parts are interchangeable for whatever your vacuuming needs may be!
• The filter thing on the inside is washable, so therefore, reusable. BOOM!
• This thing is a Makita power tool, so it’s really tough. I think they market it for construction dudes, but I think it’s a miracle product for moms.

And if I didn’t convince you, let the good folks at Makita try (**SPOILER ALERT!** Rad metal music and awesome feats of vacuuming strength to follow!)

This vacuum sucks in all the right ways. (I’ve been waiting to use that line for the whole post! I know, total dork.)

(Now for the fine print: Makita has no idea who I am or that I’m insanely happy about this product. They have offered me absolutely no compensation for this post. So you might be wondering, “Why are you doing this, Molly?” Basically, I’m just a woman who can’t help recommending awesome things to her friends. I hope you get one for Christmas!!!)

At this point in the summer, I have a 7-year-old, a 3-year-old, and two 1-year-olds. Here’s the swimming skills breakdown:

7-year-old: Can dog paddle and keep head above water for short distances. Improving his skills, but not independent.
3-year-old: No swimming skills (but he keeps close to the shore anyway).
1-year-old boy: No swimming skills (and also prefers sand and shore in his nautical pursuits).
1-year-old girl: Thinks she has mad swimming skills, but in reality has none.

I’ve taken them swimming by myself a couple times now, and here are my observations:

Splash Pads

-Easy in and out.
-Don’t have to worry about anyone’s head going under.
-Might have to worry about running and therefore subsequent stitches (thankfully that hasn’t been our story this summer).
-No sand. (NO SAND!!!!)

Pools

-I can really only do them by myself if they’re those 0-depth-entry ones. I don’t have enough arms for 3-year-old and two 1-year-olds in a typical “shallow end.”
-Life jackets, life jackets, life jackets. Life jackets are awesome. Morrow still fits in the infant one (cuz he’s only 32 pounds) with the head pillow thing, and he LOOOVES to lay on his back and just kick around. That’s his version of “swimming.”
*Side note about life jackets: I’ve found great ones at thrift stores. Keep your eyes out for those!
-NO SAND!!!

And in Minnesota, of course (the land of 10,000 lakes)…

Lakes

-God’s version of 0-depth-entry, so I must give credit where credit is due.
-The downside, of course, is SAND!! Two diaper-wearers in sand is just the worst, especially if you have a dirty diaper situation.
-More options for keeping busy (trying to catch fish, digging in the sand, etc.)

General Observations

-Put sunscreen on everyone before you leave the house. (Mom included, because once I get to the water, taking care of myself no longer exists as a possibility.)
-Mom, don’t expect to relax. This will not be relaxing. I remind myself that while I’m exhausting myself at the beach or pool or splash pad, they’re not at home trashing the house!
-I prefer a smaller, less populated beach for lake swimming. Simpler for head-counting, and less surface area if I have to run after one (or two!)
-I’ve been bringing after-clothes for my 3 youngest (any who can’t dress completely independently when you get back home) and getting them all dressed before we leave for home. It’s a little chaotic in the van, but at least the van is a confined space. Waaaayy preferable to them running every which-way in their swimming stuff when we get in the house.
-Don’t bring a lot of crap. A couple buckets and shovels or cups or balls, but the less you bring, the less you have to remember to bring home!

That’s what I’ve learned so far.

Any other awesome swimming tips?

[via]

Can anyone else relate????

Abraham actually sent me this the other day, not because he needed to apologize, but because it made him think of me.

One of the things my husband has had to learn (the hard way, I’m afraid) is that when I get hungry, I get mad. And I mean mad.

I didn’t even realize this about myself either, until we had some major meltdowns/fights after a prolonged interval without food. For some reason (pure grace, I suppose), my husband has much better coping skills in this area. He was always the one trying to figure out what the heck was going on…why is that we were having a good time 25 seconds ago and now my wife has turned into a raging animal?

I guess that’s part of marriage: figuring out the things that set you off and trying to help each other with them. Abraham has learned that there are certain high-risks times and situations and tries to anticipate with feeding me regularly. For example by lunch time after church we’re usually at a threat level orange.

I’m not proud of this flaw of mine. But it’s a pretty easy one to take care of, all in all. And I’m glad he doesn’t shame me for it. I know he’s not always happy with my behavior in my times of hunger, but he accepts my weakness.

And then, after my blood sugar’s had some time and perspective, I get to offer my apology for my hunger-induced actions. It usually goes something like this: “I’m really sorry I did (fill in the blank). I was just super hungry.”

You all know this is not a fashion blog. Some of you know that I can barely dress myself, especially if it means that the clothes have to be free of peanut butter handprints. But this is a blog where I write about whatever I want, so here goes.

I’d really like some non-dress pants that aren’t jeans (maybe some corduroys or something?) so I started bopping around on the old internet to see what’s out there post-Christmas.

I literally laughed out loud when I read the description for this one. This, my friends, is the person chosen to model Gap’s “curvy” jeans.

[break here for general laughter and guffawing]

Even granting the fact that there may have even been some airbrushing to the picture…still not curvy!

And while this woman may be a very nice person, she is definitely not (by any definition) curvy. I suppose she’s curvy in the sense that she’s not completely angular…

I have no problem with a woman who is healthy and skinny. I have a couple friends who are naturally skinny people. And I think they’re beautiful! But if any of them were chosen to model something curvy it would be the funniest thing ever!

So I’m guessing these “curvy” jeans are probably a non-option for me, since I look nothing like the person in this picture.

What brands sell actually curvy jeans? Especially for women who are about 5’4? (that’d be me!)

I had no way of knowing that asking a simple question about hand moisturizing would yield such response! Wow, y’all really came through on that one.

WORLD LEADERS! BE ADVISED!…you need some help out of a jam you’re in? Just ask a bunch of women.

(We would at least have lots to say about how they should deal with their dry hands anyway… And who doesn’t need help with that? Come ON!)

It just struck me funny that response came out of the woodwork! And the more I reflected on it, it reminded me of a couple things about people:

• They generally like to be helpful.
• They love to tell their experiences.

Isn’t that what communities do? They help each other and share their stories. Most times, they help each other by sharing their stories.

But seriously… I’m thankful for this little (maybe not so little?) community here. You all wanted to help me with my dry hands. It’s sweet. It really is. Thank you.

I hope you got as much help as I did from those answers. May we all have healthy hands this winter!

Who knows what we’ll help each other with next?

So I made these really yummy ribs in the Crock Pot today. I haven’t made this particular recipe in a couple years, just because I forgot about it! (Don’t you love when you kind of forget about a good recipe and then it crops back up?) Anyway… it’s super good, and the ribs are so tender that the meat literally falls off the bone.

I’m sitting here typing this, smelling the yummy goodness and already hungry for supper. Which leads me to ask:

If you’re cooking in your Crock Pot, do you eat more that day?

I feel like I’m smelling delicious food all day and salivating, and therefore I want to EAT!!! So far I’ve avoided a full-0n pig-out, but I don’t know if I can make it till 5:30. That’s HOURS from now!!!!

If I cooked in the Crock Pot regularly, I feel like I’d gain weight. Agree? Disagree?

Talk amongst yourselves.

About two months ago, a friend at my church had a 35-week stillbirth. Her placenta just burst, and that was it. All her 35 weeks of

love

care

protection

nourishment…just over.

And while I know it’s not truly over, but that her son has true meaning and value in this life (and in the next), I feel the rawness of her loss sometimes as though I’m re-living some of my first days and weeks. It’s been a hard, but good, thing.

Here’s something I’ve been reflecting on the past couple weeks:

When we say to grieving people, “Oh, I can’t imagine” we might be saying “I don’t want to imagine.”

I say that because, if we took a few minutes and put ourselves inside that person’s situation, we would (in part) imagine.

And I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that anything less than that is not love or care.

Now, there might be people who say, “But I’m not a mom…” or “I’ve never lost a baby…”

“…when someone loses their baby, I really can’t imagine, because I’ve never been there.”

(I’m using my example, a stillbirth, as the example here. You really could fill-in-the-blank with any tragedy or heartbreak you’re seeing someone through.)

And while that’s valid on some level, it really isn’t the whole story. I have dear friends who aren’t married, have never been pregnant, and yet are extremely sensitive and caring about things they haven’t experienced. It just means that they’ve taken the time to enter into someone else’s heartbreak.

And no, you won’t imagine it perfectly, because it is what it is–an imagining…an image. You will probably never understand what it’s like to labor for hours with a dead baby. You’ll probably never understand how it feels to have terrors in the night, horrified that you forgot the baby somewhere or awakening to imaginary baby cries.

And I’m not trying to be overly dramatic here. These are real things that really happen.

I think another reason we shy away from imagining is that it’s not going to be pretty or comfortable. It’s often horrific and terrifying and depressing. But it’s your friend’s reality.

Real love gets into the trenches of grief and suffering. It imagines. It lets it’s mind’s eye linger. Real love will not avert its eyes. It won’t say, “Your disaster is too much for me.”

As I’ve watched friends walk through tragedies like mine in the past few years, or some others walk through tragedies very different from mine, I’m trying to be really mindful to not say, “I can’t imagine.” Because in some cases, it’s all I have. It’s the only window I have, with my puny little brain, into prayer, into continued love and care for that person–imagining their pain, imagining their grief or loss, imagining their ongoing need and brokenness.

Imagination is what will take you closer, even when you feel very distant from the situation.

I think we underestimate imagination. We shut it down too quickly, afraid we’ll either presume too much understanding or that it’ll just hurt too much.

You might be wondering

What do I say in that uncomfortable moment, when all I want to say is ‘I can’t imagine?’ What are some alternatives?

I think it would be okay to say, in the most heartfelt and heartbroken way, “I can only imagine.” And then go on from there, telling them some things that you’ve been thinking and feeling on their behalf, how it’s led you to pray, whatever. This communicates a love, a presence in their pain–even if from a distance.

Let’s gather the grieving in our imaginings. You might find it to be a powerful point of connecting, doing what you can to understand.

Most people post Friday Funnies or something like that. I’ve not been in a very funny mood today, so these were the posts that grabbed me and I found myself wanting to share:

• My husband wrote a really thought-provoking piece on his blog that I thought some of you would enjoy reading. Sometimes his wanderlust scares me, sometimes I encourage it. It’s part of who he is, and I love him. So…I live with a husband with a serious case of wanderlust. Regardless, this is a great post. And also kind of ironic, since he takes a couple lines to hate on having a car, and we’re in the market for a minivan.
• My friend Elizabeth Esther wrote a gut-wrenchingly honest post about losing our joy in motherhood. I can so relate today. And knowing that she’s a mother of twins, it’s a sobering thing for me to read. But it’s also good for me to have people like her in my life who don’t pretend that everything’s peachy-keen. It helps me pray and prepare for the hard days ahead, as well as the joyful ones.
• And lastly, my dear internet friend, Mrs. MK, lost her baby at 18 weeks yesterday. I’m crushed and devastated every time I think about it. She lost a daughter just after I lost Felicity, and we’ve grown to love each other over these here internets. I was so excited that she and I were pregnant at the same time. Perhaps you have some time to drop over and share an honest condolence. And if you don’t have one to give, then don’t feel obligated. I just know she’s hurting. So many of you have reached out to comfort me. Let’s share the love with my friend Mrs. MK.

It would seem weird to say “Have a good weekend!” after all that heaviness. But that’s life, isn’t it? Not all of us are having “a good day” today. I want to live honestly and share openly, even if it’s a Friday.

Time for true confessions: I don’t drink coffee.

[insert audible GASP!]

I know, I know, I know. Will you still be my friend? I can drink tea! Or even a chai tea latte (see… SEE? I’m getting closer, right?)

But seriously, all funny business aside, I’m at peace with my distaste for coffee. I can still be a grown-up! I can still do all the things that responsible adults do!

I figure, if I made it through college and graduate school without resorting to coffee, then I will probably do just fine for the rest of my life (with a cup of caffeinated tea from time to time). You know, they say “It’s an acquired taste.” I just chose not to acquire it. I love the way it smells, can’t stand the taste.

So, with that fumbling preamble out of the way, I had to pass on this adorable (yet informative) cartoon about… coffee!

I like this cartoon because:

• It’s so cutely illustrated.
• The points are short enough to keep my attention (that of a non-coffee drinker).
• So much useless information (but could probably be of use in Trivial Pursuit someday)!

So if you actually like the stuff, you’ll probably be doubly entertained.

(via Wesley Hill)

I was very honored that Mandi at Organizing Your Way asked me write a post in her series this month “More Than Resolutions.”

And then I read the topic that she wanted me to post on—“Volunteer More”—and I almost laughed out loud. I probably guffawed. Because I don’t think of myself as a big volunteer. And that’s because I’m not. But I accepted anyway. “Why?” you’re probably wondering.

I suppose if you count how much I volunteered in 2008, and compare that to 2009, then my volunteering efforts increased dramatically—they went from zero to one!

See, I totally dropped off the map from 2007-2009, after the stillbirth of our daughter at 39 weeks gestation. All organized volunteering was completely off the table. We spent the entirety of 2007 & 2008 surviving (and having another baby—a son—born 11 months to the day after his sister).

I spent 2007 and 2008 being the recipient of peoples’ volunteering: meals, cleaning my house, babysitting my kids. I can’t even begin to communicate how thankful I was and am for people volunteering for me. It’s humbling.

In 2009, however, I was given the opportunity to serve and volunteer. Because of my blogging, I was asked to participate in one of Compassion International’s blogger trips to see their work and write about it. So I guess that leads me to my first point about volunteering:

1. Do Something That Interests You

I love kids. I love working with kids (I’m a pediatric speech language pathologist). I love blogging. I love travel. I love the thought of children being released from the grip of poverty. So many of my interests and passions came together on this trip!

If you get asked to volunteer in the kitchen at your kids’ school and you HATE being in the kitchen, maybe you should ask for a different opportunity. Chances are there are other things to do. (There’s always work for a willing volunteer.) If you make your interests known, you’ll probably end up doing something you actually like and will therefore thrive in, instead of dreading.

Of course there are times when you kinda have to die to yourself and just do the thing that needs to be done. I’m not saying we should turn our noses up at things we don’t like or things that aren’t glamorous. There’s always going to be jobs that no one wants to do, and sometimes we should accept those. Sometimes there will even be joy in doing the things we didn’t think we liked doing.

But for any ongoing, long-term volunteer work that you’d be expected to care about…probably something that interests you would be best.

2. Do Something Possible

All of us have to figure out what works for us and our families. The Compassion trip I took was only 5 days long. It fit nicely into our family schedule without disrupting too much. I’m not saying I wouldn’t have gone if it had been a longer trip; it just meant that fewer things had to be juggled around, and that made the trip feel more possible for me and my family.

Also, I already had a blog. And I was pretty sure I could write a decent post for what they were doing. It would’ve been silly of me to accept an offer to do something outside of my skill set, like be the tech support for the trip. That, my friends, would’ve been a disaster, an epic FAIL.

If you’re horrible with numbers, don’t volunteer for an accounting opportunity. That would be really silly, right? But that’s often how we respond when we hear about those gaping volunteer opportunities. We talk ourselves (or let others talk us) into jobs that don’t match up with what we can actually do, just because the need exists.

3. Pace Yourself

If you’re already an exhausted, overwhelmed mother of young children, you probably feel like you have very little margin in your life to be giving much more (because you’re giving all day long). Maybe you only have one hour once a month—that’s honestly what’s possible for you. Be okay with that. Be willing to give more when you’re in a season for giving more.

Perhaps for some of you, this is the year of more time, more margin, more availability. Be on the lookout for what you can do with that time!

If we try to do the impossible in volunteering and overextend ourselves, not only will we overwhelmed and rue the day we ever thought that volunteering was a good idea, but we’ll burn out and be of no use for an even longer period of time. (Because you’ll probably swear off of volunteering all together!)

For me, at the end of 2009, I was finally willing and able to step into a volunteer role again. I wanted to be there. I felt ready to be there. And I did one thing in 2009. And it was an awesome, life-changing one thing.

4. Volunteer Under the Radar

You can give of yourself in a million ways every day. Just because you’re not signing up for a regular slot on a schedule with a specific company or organization, doesn’t mean it’s not valuable.

Be your own organization!

• If you love making meals for new moms, be that person that shows up six weeks after all the other organized meals have stopped coming and bless someone’s socks off!
• Be the person who secretly drops off flowers for someone who just lost a loved one.
• Show up randomly for the graveyard shift in the hospital room, giving the parents of a sick child a chance to go shower and sleep in their own home.

When I was in my darkest hours of need, this type of kindness was exactly the kind of volunteering that saved my life.

I think it’s right and good for all of us to have volunteering in our minds at the beginning of 2010. Who knows what that will look like come February or May or September? For some, you will have jumped in with both feet and be volunteering to your heart’s content. For some, you’ll still be looking for just the right thing. To be honest, I don’t have a plan for how I’ll volunteer in 2010. I just know I want to be open and available when opportunities come my way. I’ll say no to some and yes to others.

But I do know that I’m more likely to accept an opportunity if I get a chance to use my interests in a way that feels possible, and at a pace I can handle.

*               *               *

I’d love it if you read about my trip to El Salvador with Compassion. And, more importantly, I’d love it if you sponsored a child. 2010 is your year!