Old Fashion Christmas
Tuesday, November 25, 2008

One Christmas when I was about 10 or so, we had an "old fashioned Christmas". This was a complete surprise to my brother and I. My Mother never discussed it before Christmas day. We had no idea we were having an "old fashioned Christmas" until we ran to the fireplace, tore through our stockings only to find apples, oranges, and walnuts. I looked at my mom waiting for a punch line of some sort only to see her smiling back at me with a "TA DA!" expression on her face similar to that of a magician's assistant. I couldn't help but think my mom had completely lost it!

My mother always likes to change things up. Once we took a surprise flight to San Francisco just because she thought it would be cool to wake us up before dawn, get on a plane and not tell us where we were going. We could have been running from the police for all I knew.

Now back to the "old fashioned Christmas".

The economy was suffering much like it is now but as a kid you have no idea what an economy is. Why does the economy suffer? Does it cry when it suffers? My mom was a widow at the age of 29. My father passed away when my brother and I were 5 & 6 so we were always a little strapped but we didn't really know it. We had food, clothes, a home and a large family that helped each other out.

It wasn't until I was an adult that my mom confessed we were broke and she couldn't get stocking stuffers. Believe it or not, I was happy to find that my mom was broke and not insane.

My boys have herd the "old fashion Christmas" story several times. Not a year goes buy when we don't laugh about it. I could only imagine the look on our faces and the hurt in my mother's heart that morning.

Now, every time the boys ask for toys before Christmas I tell them "OK. I'll buy that for you now, but that means we'll have an Old Fashion Christmas this year."

It works every time!

posted by World of Wright at 9:06 AM | 2 comments
Let The Decorating Begin
Monday, November 24, 2008
Jagger spent a good part of the weekend begging me to get our tree out and start decorating.
I know I will loose some good friends for confessing this but....we use a fake tree. Since I'm the one who cleans up after the tree I get to choose between fake or real.
Usually the boys watch football in the same room I am decorating in and every year they claim they "helped" me decorate when actually they just happened to be in the same room. There was no HELPING of any kind going on. I know every year that the boys don't help because they are in protest of the evil, demonic fake tree.
This year Jagger broke from the pack and was itching to decorate. I got the tree down, he helped me straighten branches, hang ornaments, plug in lights, the whole 9 yards. The bottom half of the tree was crowded with ornaments. He would hang 3 or 4 on a single branch then I would go behind him and rearrange them so they were spaced evenly.
As we get closer to finishing I hear Jagger talking to himself. Then I realize he is pretending he is a sports announcer on ESPN. Jag starts shouting "Jagger hangs a gold one!". I can hear the crowds roar in my head. "Jagger is hanging some in the back now!"...."The Wright Family has won the tree decorating contest!!!"
I guess he was so used to watching a game while I decorated he had to improvise.
posted by World of Wright at 10:39 AM | 2 comments
Vaseline
Friday, November 21, 2008
One day Stephen had chapped lips so his Dad told him to go get the wonder goo known as Vaseline to put on his lips. If something is burned, itchy or chapped, you go get Vaseline.
Jagger being the wise 6 year old he is said "Vaseline is for lips and butts and that's all! Right Mom?". Later he told me that you shouldn't put Vaseline on your butt before you put it on your lips.
Let this be a warning to all of you.
Hide your Vaseline when Jagger comes to visit!
posted by World of Wright at 11:48 AM | 1 comments
The Big Debate
Wednesday, November 19, 2008



Last night while watching Dancing With The Stars, Julianne Hough made her T.V. debut as a country singer. I told Stephen she should have been singing "What A Feeling" from the movie Flashdance since she is a dancer after all.

This brought our conversation to a HUGE debate Josh and I had a few years ago.

Now as you read this story, keep in mind my husband is much like Kevin James' character Dough Heffernan on the show King of Queens. The debate played out much like a lost episode of that show.

Josh and I were singing the popular Flashdance song "What A Feeling" one night. I have no idea why but we sing random 80's songs together often. When it got to the part "Take your passion and make it happen" Josh sang "Take your pants down and make it happen". We laughed thinking he was trying to be funny but he was totally convinced those were the words. I told him it's "take your PASSION and make it happen" to which he replied "Take your PASSION down? That makes NO sense!". Josh then began singing his version again complete with pelvic gyrations which I assume were meant to validate his point. "Nobody is taking anything down Josh" I replied..."It's TAKE YOUR PASSION!"

As I write this I have tears rolling down my face from laughter.

I am going to get in soooo much trouble for this blog but it's totally worth it.
posted by World of Wright at 10:31 AM | 5 comments
Preparation is Key!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
As many of you know I am a personal insurance agent. I have been getting many calls from clients and friends asking for advise on how to best prepare for a home fire.

Often we resort to the coulda, shoulda, woulda reactionary method which is obviously not the best approach.

  1. Make sure your home policy limits are high enough to rebuild your home. Many who lost homes in the fires do not have enough insurance money to rebuild their home and most companies will not give you the cash value of the policy. The fine print in your policy says "It is the policy holder's responsibility to know the actual cost of construction for the home insured on this policy". I am happy to help you with this if you need me.
  2. Make a videotape of the items in your home and store in a location away from your home. Go through your garage, closets, etc. and make a record of all your belongings. When you need to itemize the things you lost in a fire, you will be glad you had a "memory jogger" to help. How could you possibly remember everything you had in your house without a tool to help you along.
  3. Keep copies of all your important documents away from your home. Birth certificates, marriage certificates and copies of tax filings for the last few years will be extremely helpful to have after a fire. I recommend keeping copies at a friend or family members home but also keep a PDF copy on a file in your email. That way you can access them quickly from any computer.
  4. Sit and think about what would be the most important things you would need if you were evacuated then make a list. People grab the strangest things when they are in a panic. Having a list will help you feel in control of the situation and you will be better prepared for the situation if it ever happens to you.

That is my professional advise for what it's worth. I could go on and on but that would be boring.

I'm also happy to get quotes for you. Tis the season to save money...

posted by World of Wright at 3:39 PM | 0 comments
He's Still a Little Boy
Friday, November 14, 2008


Last night our choir rehersal ran about 45 minutes later than usual. I sent a text message to Stephen to go hang out with his little brother after youth group ended but he had already gotten a ride home with a friend.

As I walked to over to pick up Jagger, he and the babysitter were waiting anxiously for me.

Jagger run up and threw his arms around me. Poor Jag had been crying because we had taken too long and all the other kids had already left.

It's nice to know he's still my baby boy.

posted by World of Wright at 9:50 AM | 4 comments
What a Morning!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
This morning Stephen had Surf Club. Josh works the night shift so he usually picks Stephen up on the way home from work. Today Josh ran late and he is also sick so I had to get Jag and I out the door by 7:15 to get Stephen. We pick up Stephen, rush home, I hop in the shower then rush Jag to school with we hair.

Our conversation on the way to school
Jag: "Why isn't Stephen going to school?"
Me: "Well Jag, Daddy washed Stephen's clothes but never dried them. Now Stephen has to wait for them to dry."
Jag: "Mom, Is this a really bad morning?"

Apparently Jagger has never experienced a "bad morning" until today.
posted by World of Wright at 11:06 AM | 2 comments
Memory
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Jagger and I played the good old fashion game Memory last night. We spread the little cardboard pictures all over the table, flipping them over two at a time to try and get a match. Jag was the victor and I was not.
This morning as he was eating his toast, he ran in with his crust in hand. He said "Look Mom it's the letter L! L for LOSER like when you played Memory with me last night!"
Did he really need to go there?
posted by World of Wright at 9:08 AM | 2 comments
Could You Knock First???
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Jagger usually fixes his hair and brushes his teeth in my bathroom every morning. He gets ready in stages, usually brushing his teeth first, then he'll come back and flat iron his bed head (he's a vein child), and then he'll come back again to check himself out one more time before we leave for school.
Well, yesterday he barged in as usual but this time I had not gotten dressed yet. My first thought was "That poor kid will be scared for life". I yelled "THAT'S WHY WE KNOCK BEFORE WE GO IN MOMMY & DADDY'S BEDROOM!" My sympathy for my son soon turned to anger and shock when I hear Jagger mumble under his breath "WOW, I had no idea your butt was so big".
He's lucky to be alive.
posted by World of Wright at 8:50 AM | 3 comments
Change
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
The big buzz word of the last few months has been "change". Change is good and sometimes hard to accept but it will happen and we can only accept and embraced it.

As Americans, we look at the greed in Washington and Wall Street with shame, but have we ever truly looked at the greed in our own homes that mirrors that which we despise?

I commonly see my American brothers and sisters complain about the greed of Washington or Wall Street and turn right around to purchase a car they really cannot afford or a T.V. using credit, all in an attempt to make others jealous or create illusion of happiness which apparently comes from the size of your car or T.V. The mentality that says "I want it and I will get it any way I can" has created a credit monster that is now being blamed on the government. Government allowed this to happen, which cannot be denied, but just because it's allowed does not mean it's the right thing to do. We blame Government for our poor choices however I doubt you would rather have government make every little financial decision for you.

Trust me when I tell you I have first pointed the finger at myself. I spent a great number of years buying my happiness trying to look cool. My hope is for others to learn from my mistakes for a truly wise person learns from the mistakes of others.

These are tough times that have mostly been brought on by our own greed. The real change needs to begin in our own homes and hearts. The only change I can control is personal change.

OK I'm done!
My next post will be strange or funny.
posted by World of Wright at 9:18 AM | 1 comments
Kids and Dogs
Monday, November 3, 2008

I was visiting my Grandma this weekend in Apple Valley. My cousin was there with her 3 girls and all the great-grand kids/cousins were having a blast playing together in the back yard. My cousin looks out the window toward the children and says "UH OH!". I immediately think one of the kids is hurt. Thankfully everyone was fine except her 3 year old decided to drop trout in her pants instead of missing out on the fun with her cousins.
My cousin cleans everything up and leaves the soiled panties in the bathroom while she goes to get a bag to put them in. Now Bear is my Grandma's dog. I always hear about what a great dog he is and now I understand why he sits high on such a high pedestal. As I walk around to the back of the couch I see Bear "cleaning" the soiled panties.
How do you train a dog to do laundry anyway?
posted by World of Wright at 3:35 PM | 3 comments