What can I say - it happens ...

So does every toddler that's catching onto new words say the words shirt, shoot, or ship wrong - coincidentally wrong?  Like, the kind of wrong where an older child who knows better would say, 'Mommy!  Mommy!  That little girl said a bad word!' or the kind of wrong where an old lady might react by plugging her ears & then give you & your daughter a shameful look while shaking her finger type of wrong?  Or the kind of wrong where this little toddler's daddy is cracking up so hard, he calls his brother to share the potty mouth & even video tapes it type of wrong?   Or the kind of wrong where ... just kiddin - I won't drag you through another one.

Last night Paul was working at the computer at the kitchen table & said 'Shoot' about something & all of the sudden Taya just said 'Shoot' - we thought it was pretty funny & she repeated it, but somehow she couldn't say shoot anymore.  Instead she replaced it from the 2nd time on with 'Sh**' - and because we couldn't contain ourselves, she started saying it over & over & over again ... and over & over ... 

This morning I was curious if she would give the same ironic results when I asked her to say shirt - and sure enough!  It just so happened to come in handy though - because this morning I was on the phone with someone dear who needed a good laugh.  So I put Taya on the phone & asked her to say shirt & she brought that good laugh out like only a child can!  

Each time she said it last night, Paul couldn't help his reactions, while I was discreetly laughing trying to shield my face, then moments later attempting to tell her either not to say it or how to say it correctly, just so I could feel like I tried!  

(Isn't it completely scary how spongy our little ones are? - they soak up everything we do!!  But sometimes on moments like these, you just have to laugh - and then retrack your steps :)  )

Ooosh! Balkie! And Results!

Oh hey there. ... What am I doing, you ask? Oh, I'm just putting on my ooosh so I can go on my balkie, perhaps my fifth balkie today even.

What now? Who? What you ask? ... you know, Balkie! Get the stroller out, put my little Darlin in it, and go on our balkie after we put our ooosh on ...

All day long, starting from the time she wakes up, Taya says 'Ooosh! Ooosh!'and brings us various pairs of *shoes* to put on her. She then either proceeds to take them off & asks to put them (or another pair) on again anywhere from 2 to 20 minutes later .... OR ... she asks us to take her on a 'Balkie Balkie Balkie' - adding up to about a dozen requests per day to go on these *walks*. And if she's really lucky, we'll go en route to the park, where from 100 feet away, she starts saying 'Wee Wee Wee!' to ask to go on the slides. Well unfortunately for Taya, I can only drop everything in an instant and take her on a walk so many times a day (1-2 times right now - some are itty bitty walks). She makes sure to finalize her hints (pretty much demands) by bringing me my shoes, even if it is first thing in the morning & I'm still in my bathrobe.

I'm proud of this girl; this says A)She's got an interest in style B)She balances her passion for fashion with an interest in the outdoors C)She likes to stay active (sometimes she walks instead of riding in the stroller) & D)She's striving to fill big shoes (half the time she puts our shoes on).

DaDa's shoes will do just fine.

It's not always just shoes that Taya brings us to put on her; she loves the layered clothing look as well. See here? She definitely thinks she is ready for our walk. And me on the other side of the camera probably in pajamas or bath robe attire however, am NOT ready for our walk.

Enjoying her BalkieBalkieBalkie

Here's the WeeWeeWee!

While we're on the topic of shoes, how many pairs of shoes do you think the average woman has? How many do you have? And how many husbands do you think are under the impression that their wives' shoe amounts are gaspingly excessive? (yes, I'm making 'gaspingly' a word). I see this over and over again on my closet design work appointments: I tell the couple that after I measure the size of the closet, I will be tallying amounts of rod space needed, etc. & counting pairs of shoes for a basis for my upcoming custom design. The wife always immediately looks embarrassed or smug while husband & wife simultaneously tell me how the husband thinks the wife has waaaay too many shoes. Then as I go on to tell them the average female shoe totals I encounter, the wife dramatically sighs with relief of the validation she's been searching for her entire marriage, maybe even her entire life! And I smile, feeling a bit validated myself.

So how many do you think? I have my mental totals for what's a little for a woman, a lot, and just about average. After I get your votes, or even juicier - your confessions (if you're embarrassed, you could always comment anonymously), I'll add my totals and maybe find some official sources to compare against (since I know you're all dying to know womens' shoe total averages)!

Based on Taya's 'Ooosh' interest, I'm afraid she might be on her way to the gaspingly excessive end! (except probably not under our roof!)

****************************************************************************

Post Edition just for you!

So as for shoe pair averages?  Here are my mental tallies according to my closet designing appointments:  

Women:  Low = 5-20, Average = 20-40 (especially 25-35), Pretty High End = 40-60, Really High End = 100 +/-

Men:  Low = 7 or less, Average = 8-15, Above average = 15-25

BUT, the highest tally of shoes I've ever counted in a closet was for a MAN!  He was a sports reporter & had dozens of suits & over 150 pairs of shoes.  

My internet search didn't turn up much, but the one main result I found said the average woman owns 19 pairs of shoes; do you believe it?  Are my demographics that off?  It's ok, just throw that number out the window if you want so that next time your husband rolls his eyes at your amount of shoes, you can say, 'Breanne counts shoes in her job & says this is normal!  I'm normal!  And my shoes need me like the desert needs rain!' - that last part is optional

So I started this original post one night; couldn't think of one of the parts of it that I wanted to write; well I put it to rest, then finished it the next morning, still forgetting the last part I wanted to include:  then in the comments Francesca took care of it for me - wonderful woman she is!  The real D) that Taya's 'Ooosh & Balkie' obsession says about her is that she adores Balki from Perfect Strangers and wants her first full sentence to be something like 'Don't be reedikoolus'.  C'mon, you remember Perfect Strangers right?  See our dear Balki friend here?  So that's the real meaning of this all I guess.   (?)

Man, I wish Paul wore red silk shirts like Balki. If only ...

Three's Company

Imagine three awkwardly skinny girls walking the neighborhood block, ... or depending on the day, roller blading or biking it. Swim suits partially covered by shorts soaked through on the hiney with bathing suit wetness... Stair steps in height, spanning over a foot's difference. You would have thought they were sisters with at least a few years age difference, rather than friends aged within 11 months of each other. ...Always giggling, probably about the night before when they had stuffed their older sisters' wonder bras with socks under their shirts for pretend, making sure to keep the bedroom door locked to any siblings who would surely tell the entire world of their 'stuffy' secrets.

They played restaurant through the window connecting the kitchen to the back patio, serving bread spread with peanut butter topped with cinnamon & sugar, and English muffin pizzas. Each New Years Eve, they recorded themselves on cassette tape documenting the year or the evening, or whatever entertained themselves most at the moment.

Weekend after weekend, these girls' parents were approached in the most careful (and even childishly manipulative) ways possible begging for yet another sleepover. Whose house would the sleepover be at this time?

These friendships started (hip attachments included and all) at ages 7/8 (even age 6 for two of us) and are still strong to this day! Perhaps it was that Friendship Pact four of us made at Dillon's Beach on our multi-family camping trip during early middle school.

(Remember that too Kara? - good thing we've gotten back in better touch the past couple of years, we would have broken the pact! Not to mention, I completely value our friendship!)

These particular three included Jessica, Caitlyn and me! Jessica & I found a chance to be college roommates for a year and we were able to keep close tabs with Caitlyn who was in school a couple of hours away. Now we still all talk regularly on the phone, even all three on conference call sometimes. Our conversations have gone from planning carefree summer days filled with swimming days & rather interesting versions of lemonade stands to boys to young adult relationships and woes to married life to pregnancy to young motherhood.

Well, lucky me!! Because now I don't just have to have PHONE CONVERSATIONS with at least one of these dear friends; Jessica! I just found out a few days ago that Jessica, her husband & their two adorable daughters (just older & younger than Taya) are moving here to the valley for PA school for her husband (Dave)!! I have known that this might be a possibility for a long while now, but even last week they thought they were probably choosing a different school in California.

Lucky for me, they're coming to sunny Arizona instead!

Yay! Time to celebrate! Should we stuff our bras, pick up roller blading again, or make a celebratory cassette tape recorded with nonsense to celebrate?! Probably get together and watch our daughters play is more like it (but we'll just remember the good ol' days). Except what I love about our friendships now too, is that it's not just about remembering the good ol' days. We continue to relate & have substance & understanding of each other.

Maybe we can get Caitlyn to visit us if we're lucky!

Can't wait to have you here Jess!!

See that foot difference in height I'm talking about? Our lovely outfits were for the school talent show in which we had performed our sweet Michael Jackson jazz number. Oh, and the faded pics? Those are of us performing our little toe shoe ballet number to Pocahontas at Girls Camp in the lodge.

And then there are these glamorized photo shoots my brother-in-law humored us by doing while we were in high school. I love the over-the-shoulder effect. It cracks me up!

(Me=left, Jessica=middle, Caitlyn=right)

Poster Child

So, you remember how I said Architect magazine had interviewed Paul about his layoff? And how the photographer, Joe Pugliese granted us with his artistic presence for a photo shoot in our home?

Well, looksy here...

Looks like I can check that off my Honey-Do list (pheeww, I was beginning to wonder when he was going to get that one done!);

To-Do: Have husband & daughter on a magazine cover - check!

Pretty crazy & cool huh? We're crossing our fingers for opportunities that could eventually come from this; even if it is not now (but hopefully it is), but even later when Paul can contact the editor that he now knows with a project that is deserving of publishing -- that's his (and my) dream :) He is quoted 2 or 3 main times in the article; we had no idea he would be on the cover until a couple friends started calling him with the news -- it took an extra week for us to get our copies!

Fortunately Paul just started a temporary drafting job that is helping for now, but he is still thoroughly searching for a permanent architectural position.

This link goes to the magazine website, and to the article specifically (The cover with Paul on it is shown on their home page. That 2nd picture - which is the 1st page of the article, is on the 3rd page on that link). This link goes to a digital reading version of the magazine, with the article shown on pgs. 57-63.