murphy's law

or should it be chapman's law?
i mean, who is murphy? and why does he get a law?

i was just reading up on murphy's law on wikipedia. man, i'm a wiki junkie. i pretty much think it's like an encyclopedia for dummies. so it's perfect for someone like me. anyway, wikipedia explains Murphy's law as:

anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

wow. has Murphy been eavesdropping into my life the last few weeks?

let me give you some scenarios...and then you tell me if it should be called chapman's law or not.

scenario #1: the birthday party

weeks of beautiful weather in may. lovin' the sunshine. a bubble bath birthday party (including kiddie pools, bubbles, and ducks ducks ducks) would be perfect! of course i have this lovely expectation of everyone sipping lemonade, having otter pops and splashing each other in the sun saying to themselves, "this is the best birthday party i have EVER been to."

think again, lady.

then the most bizarre 400% precipitation for june rolls in. what!? isn't it summer? of course, our hopes were brightened the day of the party as we woke up to blue skies and sunshine. my prayers had been answered! all day i cooked, baked, prepared, wrapped gifts, set up decorations... the party was to start at 3:00. i look outside at 2:00 as M was shivering setting up the kiddie pools (what a man i have). i could hear his voice in my head saying, "well, maybe we should have a plan B." my little yapper snapped back, "no. it won't rain. there IS NO plan B." 2:30 rolls around. meeeaaannnn clouds growled in the west. M comes inside, "those clouds are heading towards us." again, i snapped back, "the clouds don't ALWAYS come from the west!!........or do they?" the clock strikes 2:50. people start to arrive. and down pours the rain. luckily, E didn't notice the rain. she loved her gifts, her cake, spending time with her little friends and family, and of course, all the ducks.


5:00- the party ends. 5:15- the rain stops.

seriously.

scenario #2 the car
looking forward to an awesome birthday party back in october. missed it because of car troubles (you can read more about it here). quick re-cap of unfortunate events: our engine broke down on I-15...which led to us buying a new one...which led to us having our car serviced for like 3 weeks- or more like FOREVER- which led to us being car-less FOREVER...which led to us ultimately buying a new car (well, new to us, it's a 2007). you don't expect to have problems with your new car right? think again. on our way to a friends birthday party today (has anyone else noticed how these murphyisms all surround birthday parties? what does that mean?) we hear the most bizarre noise- it was like a semi was tailgating us so closely that it was hitting our bumper or something. then we felt a BOOM and we knew...the tire blew out. what? aren't these tires brand new? are we seriously on the shoulder of i-15 right now? how did we not just die? will E stop crying already? then i take E out of the car. what is that wetness on my leg? did she just pee on me? (she was wearing a swim-diaper...and while those are handy for the pools because they don't swell up...they are NOT handy in any other situation because...well...they don't absorb and swell up.). yikes.


agree with me about chapman's law yet?

scenario #3 the diet
M and i have been on this health/exercise craze. M has a friend who is interning with a nutrition/personal training company that is using him as a guinea pig. but M has to be a very obedient guinea pig so that his friend can really learn the ropes and his results can be accurate so that he can become credible as a trainer (whew, i think that was a run-on sentence). anyways. so we've been really, really good. really. no sugar in this house. whole wheat everything. light yogurt. and mayo. and cheese. and anything else that can be light. yes, we're serious here. well, tonight i just couldn't take it anymore. i blame it on all these wacky hormones floating around my weaning body. well, i saw those oreos...the ones that i never used that i bought for E's party a few weeks ago..and they were just calling out my name. "eat me, eat me. marci, you loooovveee my chocolatey goodness." and i thought to myself, "yes mr. o! i do love you. who cares about a skinny butt."

so i looked around to see if anyone was looking (aka M), and i grabbed the oreos ever so quietly and subtly (i was going to sneak them under my shirt and lock myself in my bedroom and pretend to be earnestly preparing my YW lesson for tomorrow. what? don't tell me you've never secretly eaten treats before). well, i wasn't so subtle. that huge sam's club bag of pistachios that i thought was such a good deal decided to lurch itself onto me (and of course it didn't have a clip on it) and it spilled. all. over. EVERYWHERE. and did i mention that it made a huge noise? and did i mention that M was like, "hey, what are YOU doing?" and did i mention that he saw the oreos? and then asked me what i was doing with them? and then i couldn't secretly eat in peace?

stupid murphy.

well. there are many other scenarios. but i'll just leave it at those three.

so what do you think?

* update *

i'd like to add a scenario #4 to my list:

scenario #4 sacrament meeting
yes, in the less-than-twelve-hours-ago that happened after i wrote this post, i have another murphysim to add to my list....one that just couldn't go undocumented.

we get a call- a meeting with the bishop before sacrament meeting.
we get another call- we're saying prayers in this sacrament meeting.
in my heart of hearts, i knew i was going to be released from my calling in the YW presidency. i was very sad about it. of course, we were running late...we got there 5 minutes before the meeting was to begin...but bishop insists on meeting with us. he was blunt and prompt: "thank you for your service sister chapman. you will now be released. the end." (ok, it was a little nicer than that, but that's how i remember it in my brain. we are so dispensable in the church, aren't we?)

so he shuffled us out of there reallly really fast. and he was conducting the meeting. it begins. tears start welling up in my eyes...inevitably. hello! i'm a girl!! and even though sometimes i complain about how time-consuming it is, or how i am nervous to teach a lesson, or yadda yadda yadda, having a calling makes us feel worthwhile...like we are contributing something. and hello! i love the girls! and the ladies i've served with have become such good friends! i love them. and will miss them. and will inevitably feel left out when they still meet for YW without me on Sundays and Wednesdays. sigh.

anyway, so after the world's shortest song, it was my turn to pray.
i say a pretty decent prayer...considering how distracting E was being.
i say amen.
i look to E.
she's pretty much freakin out now.
and.
WOOPPPPSSSSIEEESSSS.
there are STAIRS THERE.
yeah.
i fall.
you heard me.
I FELL.
i almost swear.
YOU HEARD ME.
what!? in sacrament meeting????

back to the falling part:
the four-inch heels that i thought looked so hot this morning were suddenly the stupidest things ever. i wanted to throw them out the door and i wanted to die. and everyone was looking at me. and please, can someone take the attention off of me for a second??

thank goodness, bishop starts talking again.

"we'd like to release the following sister from her calling: sister chapman as YW second counselor."

all the attention right back on me.
grrreat.

needless to say, i ran out of there as fast as i could. straight for the door. went outside. BAWLED MY EYES OUT. (i'm hormonal, remember?)

case in point: anything that can go wrong WILL GO WRONG.
the end.

(p.s. sorry i'm so dramatic :) ).

xoxo

what's on my mind at 8:57 this morning.

sometimes i wake up with a mind-ful. and then i go throughout my day thinking non stop. and then i go to bed and toss and turn with my crazy thoughts.

this morning i keep thinking of what kathleen kelly says in you've got mail, "sometimes i wonder about my life. i lead a small life. well, not small, but valuable. and sometimes i wonder, do i do it because i like it, or because i haven't been brave? so much of what i see reminds me of something i read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around? i don't really want an answer. i just want to send this cosmic question out into the void. "

so this morning, i'm going to send my cosmic thoughts out into the void.

• M graduates this week. as in, he receives his degree this week. he is on his way to take his last final and pick up his graduation robes. i'm so proud of him and all of his hard work these last few years. on that note, our time at BYU is growing short. everyone keeps asking me if i am sooo excited- and yes, we are so excited...but i can't help but feel this tinge of sadness thinking of this BYU chapter coming to a close. Provo has been so good to our little family...and while everyone jokes about "the happy valley," i'm going to miss it. a lot.
• i really miss carelessly eating a bowl of cinnamon toast crunch...or eating a powdered sugar donut in one bite like i did when i was a kid. when did my metabolism slow down and not burn of those calories the way it used to?
• i'm learning lots of words in other languages, thanks to baby einstein. but i keep going around and these words pop into my head...like "agneau" (french for lamb) and "tutzi" (i don't know if that's how you spell it, but that's how it sounds...and i don't even know what language it is, but it means belly button) and "abeja" which is Spanish for bee. i also can recite the entire "cow jumped over the moon" poem in Spanish. yeah, baby einstein is teaching me some pretty useful stuff.
• along with baby stuff, i'll just throw this one out there- i constantly have to restrain myself from eating the jar of bananas/banana-strawberry food i buy for Ellie...i love that stuff. i know to the normal being that's gross..but to me...it isn't. ok?
• i have over 10,000 pictures of Ellie now. i'm very overwhelmed by scrapbooking, to say the least.
• why did they have to bring tony almeida back on 24 and make him bad? i really liked him...and i hate how 24 makes you hate everyone you once liked (minus jack bauer, that is). having said that, this season has been amazing.
  
• thinking of moving to San Francisco in less than 4 months makes me smile and want to barf in the same breath. i have major anxiety over this one.
• i'm in love with the sunshine. and get mad at jodi saeland of fox 13 news when she even mentions the words "storm" or "rain." poor jodi. it's not like she made the rain...but i still feel like i have to get mad at someone for it.
  
• kindergarten is winding down. i'm mixed emotioned because i've loved this phase of life- my kindergarten students are wonderful. me co-workers are my friends. having said that, i am having a really hard time leaving Ellie anymore. my heart is at home. and while i know i'll look back and miss this, i'm ready to become a homemaker.
• my house is messy. and i want it to not be messy. but, you see, there's a baby who lives in my house...who loves to destroy everything in her path...and fortunately for me, her path includes every nook and cranny of this little 2 bedroom apartment. please, do you have any tips for me on this? she's into EVERYTHING (which i love) but it also makes for a chaos. and living in chaos is...well, chaotic.
• i think about eating frozen yogurt probably 9 times a day. M and i have come to the conclusion that there are addictive substances in the frozen yogurt. someone please prove this for me.
• seeing my brother and sister-in-law have a baby has made me think about it again for the first time. i'm freaking out about that.
• i'm already tired of doing laundry and there are only 3 of us..and i am only 23. my future of laundry-doing feels daunting and bleak.
• why do they do disco night every year on american idol? it's always THE WORST. i can only imagine what adam will do tonight...
  
• why can't i see and hang out with all of you whenever i want, family and friends?

ok, i think that's it for now.
thanks for taking a dive..or doing a canon ball, rather, into my psyche with me.
xoxo

live mighty

de-stressers.
i need lots of those.
because, if you know me at all, even by just reading my blog, you know that i tend to be a stressed-out individual.
i don't know why i'm that way.
but i do know, i've been that way ever since i can remember.

in fact, i remember as a toddler, being so stressed out by my dad eating my cotton candy that i couldn't stop crying about it and screaming about it. i was not the sharing type. cold-showers often did the de-stressing trick then.

then, i remember as a high schooler getting so stressed out about tests and papers and piano practice and girls gossiping and boys thinking that other girl was cuter than me and not being skinny enough and i'm getting stressed just thinking about all that nonsense.... but i remember locking myself in my room, pulling out dozens of magazines, and cutting out all the pictures of who i wanted to be and my favorite hair-styles and outfits...and i'd daydream into the wee-hours of the night. that did the des-tressing trick then.

now i'm me. an older version of me, that is. and bigger things stress me out. i mean, i at least think they're bigger. they feel bigger. and i find myself still needing de-stressers.

some destressers of mine include:

• exercise (gotta love those endorphins)
  

• a long talk...often with my mom...but also with M or a friend
  

• reading a good book

• eating something delicious. like frozen yogurt. mmm.

• clenching my jaw down really hard (creepy, i know. i feel sorta vampire-ish when i do it. but it helps)

• blogging/writing

• screaming really really loud while going through a car-wash

• cleaning something

• picking up lil E and hugging her extra hard...even if she pushes me away.

• if hugging her didn't work, just looking at E or singing to E would often do the trick as well

• a nice long drive

• using my grandpa's favorite phrase: breathe in, breathe out. breathe in, breathe out.

• and of course, being spiritual...reading scriptures, etc.

on my way to school today, i practiced one of my all-time-favorite destressers: blasting the stereo in lil ol swan (yes, the swan lives on). the louder, the better. something i can sing to is preferable. today's pick: jason mraz. M & i love mr. AZ. one of the songs on his latest CD has stuck with me all day- the chorus says these words:

live high
live mighty
live righteously
takin' it easy

i felt so much less stressed after hearing that.
because, i feel like most of us give life our best (living high).
i feel like most of us leave the world a better place (living mighty).
and i feel like most of us are doing good and fighting against the bad (living righteously).
so, dudes, we can take it easy. (be less stressed).

so, in stressed out moments, i can tell myself: breathe in, breathe out. breathe in, breathe out.
take it easy.

will it always work?
probably not.
but today it did.

{grin}

curious:
what destresses you?

good vs. bad

today i am grumpy, grouchy and grumbly. i'm trying to live "come what may and love it" but all i want to do is complain and wallow and be grouchy and eat cookies.

so, i'm going to vent...vent about the good and the bad going on.

the bad (that really isn't so bad, but seems mega-super-stressful because i am a mega-super-stressed individual)

• the drivers' side window in our car won't roll up and the door won't open. serious. it is stuck. this is due to the minor accident i had on I-15 before Christmas Break....where i 180'd into a mile meter on the right shoulder on a snowy blistery day. this means that i have FREEZING car drives to work and back (yesterday it was 25 degrees)...but what's worse is that people look at me all suspiciously as i crawl into the car through the passenger door. it sucks. now, if this is hard for me, imagine what it's like for M. funny mental picture, huh?
• it is still January. what a bleak month. cold. holidays are far away. flowers are far away. back to the grind. can it be over yet?
• due to pregnancy, post pregnancy, and nursing horomones, i've lost a considerable amount of hair...chunks and chunks, actually. well, now it's starting to grow back. should be a good thing, right? well, think again. i have these little teeny hairs all around my face and the top of my hair that i have no idea what to do with....it's starting to resemble a mullet (short on top, party in the back). what the heck can i do to resolve this issue???
  
• i am a full-time student AND teaching so that i can get my teaching license by the end of this school year. i know, i know, people do it all the time. but not people like me. i'm a stress-case. i forgot how time-consuming it is to be a full-time student. i love learning...and am so excited to receive my license... but really, my head might explode with all of the info running around my little brain right now....lists, due dates, exam dates, assignments........BAH. i can't think about it for the time being or else i might eat an entire pint of ben & jerry's...which leads me to my next bad:
• it's been almost a whole month...and i still haven't made it back to the gym. serious. what will motivate me? why is it so hard to get out of my cozy bed in the dark bleak winter?
  
• my principle is observing me teach today...and i am still fighting off this terrible migraine. please, migraine, will you buzz off? thanks.
• parent teacher conferences are next week. i don't even want to go there.
  

ok, now that i feel even more frustrated and validated in my frustration, i need to count my blessings and tell the good that is going on so i can feel better:

• Ellie is crawling..and walking along things. she LOVES to look at books and read stories, too. it is so cute how you can just see her little brilliant brain working. she also is eating cheerios, and trying to learn to self-feed, which is quite possibly the funniest experience ever. this is by far the funnest, cutest stage of all. i really wish i had a giant pause button to push because i am loving this phase so much.

{toldja she is cute}

• we are so blessed to have such wonderful families. M's family who is helping him finish school, my family who is helping me finish school... my mom who comes every Friday to watch Ellie while i teach...and Jeffy who comes by whenever we need him (which seems pretty frequent these days). we are so lucky to have such wonderful families.
• january IS almost over. i know you probably think i'm joking, but i really do NOT like january.
• LOST is on tonight. i know.
• only 4 more months of being a working mom! i can do it, i can do it! i ache for the day i'll get to stay home with little E and run my chaotic home exactly how i want it.
  
• and though i'm excited for it to end, i am sad too, because i have been so blessed to have this experience of teaching kindergarten. what a wonderful school i am at this year- we have so much fun! and my students are AMAZING and HILARIOUS. i will definitely miss my friendships and interactions with my 5-year old buddies.
• M has a job lined up for the fall..which is perhaps the biggest blessing of all in this crazy economic crisis we are living in. so while i am nervous for the big move, i know the heavens are watching over us in providing this opportunity for our little family.
• ok, i lied, the biggest blessing of all is that i have an M to stabilize my craziness....while i am the crazy, rambunctious, get-stressed-at -the-drop-of-a-hat individual, M is the calm, peaceful, reassuring, never-gets-stressed-about-anything type of dude. i'm so grateful we're not both full of fire...because that would make for a very explosive relationship...instead, he is the water and i am the fire...and he is constantly calming me down when i am bursting out of control. how i love my handsome dude.

ok, thanks for letting me murmur...and then count my blessings. i'm feeling much better now that i got all of that out in the internetness. and now i'm going to stop wasting time, go clean something, take an excedrin and hold little E...and hopefully i'll be back to my normalized human self in no time.

signing off,

stressed-out Marci