Glorified Errand Run

I wasn't really looking forward to today last night.

We had game night and stayed up way too late.

I had received a call earlier reminding me that I had signed up to help clean the church.

It wasn't the idea of cleaning that bothered me, it was the idea of being to the church by 8:00.

Have I every mentioned that I am not a morning person?

At any rate I had to pry myself out of bed at 7:00 and Isabelle out of bed at 7:50.

We got the job of cleaning all of the blackboards in the building.

It's probably the easiest job. 

Once we were there working I quickly became thankful for the opportunity.

Isabelle said "We are cleaning Jesus' house.  That means we are giving him service, huh?"

It 's a good lesson for kids to learn to be respectful of our church building, but it was an even better lesson for me to learn not to be so selfish with the time that Heavenly Father has graciously given to me.

After cleaning Isabelle and I had to rush off to our Korean class.

Today's class was pretty fun all things considered.  I understood a good portion of what we were talking about and I think I only got laughed at twice!  That is a huge improvement!

Once we got home mom was kind enough to watch the kids so that Soung Sik and I could go out on a date.  I remember when dates with Soung Sik were actually dates and not just glorified errand runs.

I guess that is what happens when you get older.  But even the glorified errand runs have been few and far between for us.  We are making an effort to get back into a dating schedule.

Today we ran to some banks and then Soung Sik bought a gun. 

I honestly have no idea how many guns we own now. Some people would say "wow, you people are gun crazy" while others might say "your gun stash is pathetic".

After we got the gun thing taken care of we went to Fashion Place mall and walked around.

Again I started thinking about our pre-kid phase of life. 

I remember walking around the mall and actually buying something. 

It's much funner that way.

There also seemed to be a lot of strange people there. I felt like such an old foggie. 

I don't know when I became an old foggie, but we decided to celebrate this transition by going to dinner at 4:00.  We didn't split a meal - I mean we aren't  super old foggie's yet.  Dinner was great and my company was even better.  Date night is definitely going to have to become a permanent fixture in our marriage again!

Imaginary Friends vs. My Self Esteem

Isabelle has a few imaginary friends right now.

These are not the first, and I doubt they will be the last.

Her first imaginary friend was Kennedy from "South Jordan, Florida".

Kennedy gave me the creeps.

Isabelle would say things like
" Mom, she is standing right behind you.
Can't you see her?  She looks mad". 

I would then hear the "Jaws" theme in my mind.

Luckily Kennedy hasn't shown up for a few months.

I understand that children have imaginary friends - I guess.  I never had one.

Last night as I was tucking Isabelle into bed she told me

"Guess what? I have friends that you can't see.  McKinnley is 15 and her brother Jake is 17.  Jake is sooo nice to me.  They have an older sister named Sarah. Sarah is so beautiful! 
She has long blond hair, wears makeup on her eyes,
and has long eyelashes and rose red cheeks. 
She also has the prettiest pink gown.

Oh I wish you could be that beautiful mom!"

It's amazing how quickly a child can deflate any
self-esteem you may have left at 9:00 at night.

Feeling resentful I just flatly said "Go to sleep or I will close your door."

She responded enthusiastically "Sure thing mom!"

I don't like looking at real women and
comparing myself to them only to fall short.
Falling short happens a lot when you are 5'2".

Yes, I may be a mom but I think I still qualify as a
woman at least 20% of the time, so comparisons are bound to happen.

It is very unfair to have to be compared to a 19 year old imaginary girl! 

At the very least it should be the 19 year old me and not the
31 year old me that has to compete.

Here's to hoping that Isabelle's next imaginary friend is a
wart covered troll named Imgren.