こんにちは！

                                                                  いらつしやい! 

          Or Welcome as most would say. I'm Brokn. Or at least, that's what most of the internet knows me as.

           I'm a good friend of the Empress, and I'm a strange one at that. I am going to be contributing to the blog as well. I'm mostly going to post about the silly things I do. Whether its I watch a new anime, read a new manga, cook a new recipe, or just have a rant about things, I will be here to share with you. 

           I'm a housewife who spends a lot of her time bored since her husband is never around. But, that is the price I pay for having a husband in the military. Right now I'm living in the middle of a corn field, and hoping to move soon. I've been studying Japanese (badly) for years now, and have just recently started putting my foot down so that I study better.  

          I also love to bake and cook. I'm not very good at original recipes, but, I'm always looking for ideas or ways to change the recipes I know. I'm also studying Japanese cooking (badly right now), and my dream in life is to one day be a professional baker of traditional Japanese confections. Though, at my age I wonder if thats still possible....oh well!

 I look forward to sharing with you!

                                                                         またね...

Poor Horse

Have you ever heard that saying about beating the dead horse?  Yeah, so have I.  I never thought I’d be the one to say it though.  I typically don’t tell people to stop whining, because well, there are times when I whine too.  I’d rather not run the risk of being a hypocrite.  In recent times though, I have to say I’ve seen a bit of horse-beating.

I have been thinking about it and I think the phrase can be said for more things than just about something.  So, with that in mind, I thought I would make a little list that might help someone you love know what they are doing so you don’t have to choke them.  Now, for the record this is supposed to be a light-hearted blog post and is being written in fun, not criticism. 

 

Do you……

Consistently complain about that one time when you were 10 and your brother snatched your candy? 

Post constantly on Facebook about the issue you have with that one friend?  You know, the one you don’t want to name but everybody under the sun knows who it is?

Try to destroy your ex’s relationship even though you’ve clearly “moved on”?

Try to reassure yourself with memes that tell you that you’re awesome and can do better?

Do you constantly tell that one “awesome” story that everyone knows and can repeat by heart?

 

Are you still complaining about what a family member said to you 3 years ago?

 

If any of these apply to you or a loved one…STOP BEATING THE DEAD HORSE.  Yes, I know he can’t feel it, but it’s painful for the rest of us. 

A birthday to remember

So today is my 29^th birthday.  Yep, one more year until the big 3-0.  Actually I say it’s one more year until the big 2-9…again.  Honestly, I have a habit of forgetting it’s my birthday, but today…well today was fun to say the least.

I woke up this morning in a rush to get together something for my wonderful future husband to take to work with him.  Sleepy eyed I printed and packed and got it all ready to go.  There was a bit of commotion in our neighborhood this morning.  It was nothing violent, but rather sad and I won’t go into detail. 

After he was off to work, I got Joey up and we sat together for a little while.  That’s when it all started.

My totally adorable son, who I remind you woke up cheerful and just spent snuggle time with his mommy, decided it was time to throw not one, but two bowls of cereal all over my floor.  Okay fine that’s typical toddler behavior.  He is two after all right? 

So I go ahead and grab the vacuum, plug it in, turn it on and the stench was horrible.  I do not know what happened between when my loving future hubby cleaned the filters and that moment, but I gagged.  I was then left to pull all the filters out and clean them…again.  Needless to say there was vinegar involved to kill the odor.

After that I found the broom and swept up said cheerios (reminds me of the great cheerio toss of 2013).  Thinking that the worst of the day was over, I went about my morning without any more mishaps.

Until I started to change Joey that is.  Now, I will spare you the details of the diaper and will only say that it definitely gave the vacuum a run for its money.  Cleaned up and down for his nap, Joey fell right to sleep.  I did the dishes, cleaned a bit in the kitchen and when he got up he was a little cranky, but that was okay.  Compared to everything else, it was the most normal part of my day and I could handle it.

Then the dog started to gag.  I started to gag and he upchucked in the middle of the floor.  I don’t handle those things very well and I am lucky that my mother has a very strong stomach.  She got it all cleaned up for me and I could never thank her enough. 

Dinnertime was near so I pulled the hamburger meat out for tacos.  It was bad.  Fish sticks and mac and cheese it is!  The rest of my night has been pretty okay, except for almost burning the pizza I made a little while ago. 

Moral of the story:  all in all, I had a great birthday because I was able to laugh at everything that happened.  Yeah, I must be getting older.  Or maybe I’m starting to be senile already LOL.

Fingers Crossed!

One of the major purposes of this blog is to share my life experiences, good and bad.  I have to admit I feel a little self-centered when I write on here, and I hope that it never comes across that way.  Now that I’ve babbled, I’ll get to the real point of today’s blog.

If you have read my prior posts, you know that I am a mommy to a wonderful little boy who is 2.  His name is Joey and he is my world.  He is super smart and no I’m not just saying that because he is mine.  There is one peculiar thing about Joey though.  He doesn’t really talk. 

Joey does say a few things, but usually he talks with his mouth closed.  He’s been evaluated and we’re seeing a specialist.  It’s always hilarious when they ask what he does, because I can’t do it.  No matter how many times I’ve tried, I just can’t.

Obviously it is hard to understand everything he says that way, but there is a lot of it that is quite clear.  Even his speech pathologist wonders how he makes the consonant sounds that you hear when he talks.  Go ahead and try to say truck with your mouth closed.  Make sure you make the t and ck sounds.  Did it work?

Joey was born tongue-tied.  I was too, and I was unaware that it is a genetic defect.  We spoke with his pediatrician and she suggested that we do occupational therapy to help stretch the frenulum instead of clipping it.  It worked.  We used the exercises OT showed us, used pacifiers, and bottles.  We had no issues when it was time to start eating with a spoon/fork. 

We were excited when he started babbling.  As time would go on, there would be a small (but very exciting) development here and there with his speech.  We kept thinking, ok this is it! 

This brings us to now.  We are teaching him to sign along with phonics, emphasizing words and sounds that get him to open his mouth.  He’s picking up signs rather quickly and always “says” the word while he is signing.  We don’t have an answer yet, but I think it’s going to be soon.  He has to have one more test and I’m sure that’s going to be fine.

In the end we truly think he will just need to have his tongue clipped.  He will have to have surgery to have it now because of his age, but we’d rather him have to do that vs. something else being seriously wrong.

Fingers crossed!

Sign on the dotted line

In my last blog I said that life had been crazy.  It still is.  Honestly when isn’t life at least a little crazy?  There are many things going on in our lives right now.  I want to share them all, but there’s WAY too much for one blog lol.  So, I figured I’d start off with one of the biggest things going on in our lives right now.

My lovely fiancé joined the Marines earlier this year. He has not left for boot camp yet, but will be doing so later this year.   I understand that this will change our lives and I have no issues with it, but wow it happened so fast!  There have been schedule changes and times of him being away for a few days.  While a few days sharply pales in comparison to how much he will be away from us later, it’s still strange and not easy.

This journey is going to be long.  I know it will have its ups and downs.  There is always the possibility of missed birthdays and holidays.  But, I have to say, that this is a journey that I am prepared to take with him.  He is a wonderful, kind, caring man and if his heart has led him to this, then I support him 100 percent all the way. 

With that being said, expect me to post about things that may or may not make me seem like a whiney brat later on down the line.  We all have our days.  There’s more exciting and boring things to come soon!

Wave that flag proudly Mr. Giraffe!

I know I haven’t written anything in a while and I apologize.  Things have been a little crazy lately.  However, I’m back and with something I think every parent can relate to. 

Why can’t they make stuffed animals that are safe to be washed???  We totally just had a leakage that made all of his past diaper leaks look like dribbles.  Seriously!  Somehow his diaper ended up like an overflowing river.  And, of course, he was sitting on his stuffed giraffe.  Why he chose to sit on the poor thing I will never know. 

So after mommy’s pants were nicely perfumed by the smell of pee, he was stripped and got a nice warm bath.  He is now tucked nice and dry in his crib for some sweet dreams.

The giraffe, well he’s now lying by me waving white baby wipe flags of surrender.  Why can’t they make stuffed animals that are able to be washed?  Yes, I understand buttons…err eyes...come off and get lost and stuffing stays wet and will probably mildew, but seriously.  We have technology that can do some of the most pointless things.  So again, why can’t I wash a stuffed animal?!?

For now I will sit here and try to de-funk the helpless giraffe that never saw it coming.  I think they need to put this in the next Toy Story.  I want to see the little guy’s real feelings on the situation.

Don't look at me...I didn't touch the salt!

I have been wondering all day what to write about.  I don’t want to bore anyone with incessant goings on about my son (although he’s absolutely adorable).  I’m not necessarily one to get into political arguments so I’m definitely not going there.  I could write about how my dog is overweight and has to be on a diet or the fact that my cat is weird but eh.  So I did all the other things I needed to do and then it smacked me right in the forehead.

Family.  There’s so much that goes into being a family that that little word does not do it justice.  Not in my opinion anyhow.  You have your ups and your downs. There are fights and there are hugs.  You cry together and laugh together.  Distance may separate you.  Age may separate you.  Some families have feuds that last a lifetime and some are pretty much like the Cleavers. 

We all have that one family member that drives us up the wall.  You know the one I’m talking about.  If you say you don’t have one then something is wrong.  We all have our own attitudes and preferences and from time to time they clash with other family members.  That is completely okay.  The real meaning of family is being there for one another.  Whether it is being there to hold each other in times of sadness or to loosen the salt shaker at family picnics, we need each other.  After all, that’s what we’re here for.

Family relationships are always dynamic.  I think one of the most awesome things about family is all of the little quirks.  The most beautiful part is coming together when something is wrong (even if it is that ONE family member who you can’t stand to be around).  Always remember that you are loved and needed by your family and never take them for granted. 

P.S.  If any of my family reads this…don’t look at me if the salt shaker comes open =P