Mom-bo Jumbo

/mäm-bō ˈjəmbō/ Noun, informal- mom-bo jumbo: A wish-wash of jumbled thoughts in my head, scattered and unkempt as a result of motherhood.

[taborca09-blog]

I Did Something Yesterday That I Haven’t Done in 20 years

I did something yesterday that I haven’t done in 20 years…I went to church.

Yes, you read that correct. I went to church. Not Polish mass, or some random church with a friend; a local church that I pass on my drive home all the time. All by myself. Why you ask? Well. It’s strange. Lately, something has just been telling me to go back. 

I must say, for picking a church at random off the side of the road, I picked one that was right up my alley. This church does A LOT of singing (my shower voice was in full effect) and not just the quiet hymn-type singing. They really rock it out with a full band and everything. I was quite impressed. 

The sermon part was only about 20 minutes and it was actually interesting too! The theme or topic for that Sunday was, “restoring life” and being in the right ‘position’. The pastor likened it to a football play and excuse my next attempt at explaining his football analogy- you will soon see, I don’t really get football. Going back though, he likened it to a quarterback making a pass downfield to another player, be it the wide receiver, tight-end, or running back. (Thank you, Wikipedia). The quarterback can throw the ball before the other player is even at the correct spot because that player is going to be in the right position. He said when we look at the idea of God restoring life in us, we need to understand that it is important how we position ourselves and where we place ourselves. Positioning is important. It is necessary for us to put ourselves in a place where God has the opportunity to work in our lives, OR, that we get in position for God to throw us a pass…

Joyfully, I think this might have been just what was telling me to go back. I was putting myself into a place where God could have the opportunity to work in my life, or I was getting in position to essentially catch God’s ‘Hail Mary’ pass.

Well, God…I’m open. :)

[taborca09-blog]

I Wish Heaven Was on Speed-Dial (Part 1)

Every now and then, when I’m going through a really hard time, I find a stray animal. Well, really, they find me. Sounds strange, doesn’t it? But it’s true. It all started the day my grandmother passed away…

My gramma, Betty, was a cat fanatic. She was an animal-lover in general, but cats were her favorite. We had grown up with my grandparents and they always had cats while I was growing up. Cat paraphernalia was spewed all over the house; those cutesy-type, feline trinkets that said things like, “Dogs think they’re human, cats know they are” could be found in every room of the house. The day she died, I headed over to a friend’s house in the evening. I had been living with my grandparents at the time but was too depressed, understandably, to hang out in her house the night of her death. As I was on the phone with another friend telling her my gramma had passed around three that afternoon, I looked up to see a strange, grey cat staring at me through the back, basement window.

“Hey! Your cat wants in” I called to my friend. “What?” she called. I repeated, “Your cat! It wants in!” My friend walked into the room. Staring at the furry face, she said, “That’s not my cat. I’ve never seen that cat before.” This cat, rubbing affectionately against the window, was meowing at me like we were old friends who hadn’t seen each other in a long time. Like an old bestie who was locked outside in the pouring rain sans umbrella with that silly look in their eyes saying, “Come onnnnn.” In other words, she was asking for our help (in her own kitty-like way).

We met the cat at the back door. Bam! Right away it hit me. My gramma, the cat-lover extraordinaire, passes away earlier that day (just as I went out to get lunch, in fact) and out of the blue this cat finds me in my friend’s basement? It was too weird. Too weird that I knew it was her.

I knew this was a message, but what? My friend (who at this point thought I was losing my marbles, but let’s face, I lost half of mine long ago) suggested maybe my gramma was just trying to tell me that she had made it to heaven okay. Or…she wanted me to have a cat? (I liked the latter idea better). Nevertheless, the cat would not leave the house. She didn’t belong to any neighbours (yes, I checked) and she had no tags and no tattoo.

I decided to try and take my new found friend home for the night since she was still outside when I was leaving. The lumpy sac of fur was having none of it. Who knew that cats didn't like being shoved into boxes? Frustrated and defeated (this cat had some scrappiness in her), I finally looked up at the sky and said, “Fine. I got your message; you’re okay.”

The next morning my friend called me. “What are you doing?” she asked. “Nothing. Just driving home” I told her. I’ll never forget the words that came out of her beautiful mouth next: “Well…you wanna come get your damn cat?” Apparently, every time she looked outside, the cat was there staring at her through the window. Ha ha. Picture that!

I decided to bring the cat to a great, local, animal shelter. This time, I just shoved my new, lumpy friend in my truck. I had discovered that cats and boxes don’t mix unless your last name is Schrödinger.

“Do you have a name for her for now?” the shelter lady asked after we checked in. “Let’s just call her, ‘Betty’.” I grinned. And you know what? No one came for Betty. (Sad, but it worked out for me). I had no idea why she chose that basement window to peer into. I had no idea where she came from or how far her pink pubbies had traveled, but I did know that she belonged to me now. I had found her and now she was coming home with me. It was then that I realized, Betty had actually found me and when I was in most need of being found. 

And you know what else? If my gramma were to look like a cat, she'd pretty much look like this one. (^_^)

To be continued…

[taborca09-blog]

Why I Need Feminism

I wish I thought of this blog myself, but nevertheless, here’s my girl, Jacqueline’s blog. :) Happy reading! 

[taborca09-blog]

A Whole Lot of Mom-bo Jumbo

“It’s a boy! No. Wait. It’s a blog.”

Here it is. My first blog post. And a whole lot of mom-bo jumbo…

I finally decided on a name for my blog and I came about it while attempting to write my first post. Why did I start writing my first blog post without a name you ask? Well, I did have a name. It was, “Mom Hat.” ‘Mom’ because I am a mom, and ‘hat’ because that is not the only ‘hat’ I wear. I wear so many other hats: hard hat, cowboy hat, Santa hat (at Christmas) and even the odd fedora. Ha ha, actually, no. I was speaking figuratively but I enjoy laughing at my own jokes. I wasn’t entirely satisfied though with the name, “Mom Hat.” 

You see, yes. Yes, it is true, I am a mom. But I am many other things as well. I’m a writer, a joker, a (semi-)retired acrobat (we’ll get to that later), a psychology graduate, a Tarantino movie buff, a major Fawlty Towers fan and a British comedy fan in general, a soupetarian, a wife, a (currently decaf) coffee-drinker, a Libra (if you’re into astrology), a FRIENDS quoter (you know they exist and I’m one of them), a FIRST 48 addict, an extrovert, a lefty, a behaviour analyst (you ABA folks will get that), a professional shower-singer, a children’s story book writer (hopefully coming out later this year), a slow cooker queen, a feminist, an animal-lover, a little corny at times, a little crafty at times, and so on and so on. See, essentially I didn’t exactly want to have just another ‘mom’ blog. You know, the kind where people take a glance and see the word, ‘mom’ and think, “Oh, here we go. Another mom blog where they talk about all things ‘mommy’. From their unconditional love to diaper-rash home remedies and where they bitch about all the mommy things that annoy them.” Let’s face it. There are A LOT of mom blogs out there and many great ones. I know because I’m a mom and I’ve read many of them. Absolutely no offense to any other mums out there; I totally get (and do) all that mum stuff. I live and breathe it everyday and I love it. As I said though, I am many, many other things and I wanted that to shine through my writing too. I wanted to showcase a blog that encompassed all the many ‘hats’ I wear and that make up the enigma that is me.

After a troubled start, I began writing my first post and I realized (well I didn’t just realize, I’ve known for a while) that my thoughts are a bunch of mumbo jumbo swirling aimlessly around in my head. They’re disorganized due to lack of sleep. I’m currently raising butterball number two (I give birth to chunky babies) and she’s almost 6 months old now. I don’t get much sleep. I started writing about how my thoughts were a lot of mumbo jumbo but then wrote the pun, ‘mom-bo jumbo’ because she’s the reason my brain can’t get its act together...and voila! My new blog name was born.  

I think having this blog will serve as a creative outlet for me to tell my stories but also serve as a place for me to attempt at organizing my thoughts. You know, sort of like a closet organizer for the mind. And in all, if I fail-it can serve as reading material to help fill your time while on the can and provide you with a good chuckle at my attempts.