The Outspoken Mom Blog

Follow your dreams

Good Morning Everyone!

I am sitting up here at my desk listening to my baby cry just praying she will actually take a nap this morning so I can finish cleaning our carpets and pack for the cabin.

I am not sure either of those things will get done or at least done well this morning if she does not nap.

So, my husband is currently looking for new office space because his company is growing...yes, even in this economy and they have hired a couple new employees, yes, even in this economy and he was telling me about one office space they found.  It sounds neat and I told him that it might make all of my dreams come true...even more than he already has!

My husband laughed at first but, when he realized I was serious, he thought it might be a good fit too.  Of course, they are in the infancy stages of looking for new office space and they are looking all over but, oh man, this one is in some sort of a company that does a lot of broadcasting stuff and advertising and stuff like that. 

Once he mentioned what the company did and what their offices are like, all I could hear from him is, 'blah, blah, blah, blah, blah'...sort of like when I am talking to him with a swimsuit or tight shirt on and all he hears is, 'look at my boobs, look at my boobs, look at my boobs.'

So my thoughts were racing, I was planning my big debut!  Yes!  I would go live with my blog!  I could do a local cable access show based on some of my blog subjects and really take it to the masses!...or at least who ever is watching local cable at that time.  OR, even better!  Radio!   Not really sure I want to be on TV anymore, all the wrinkles, blemishes, wrinkles, and someday gray hairs would be very apparent.  I don't want people watching me age on TV.  No, radio, that would be better!  I could just banter and not worry about looking into the camera, I could have guests, it would be great!

See, I have always had the dream of being 'famous'...not Madonna famous, or Michael Jackson famous or even George Clooney famous, just famous enough where people would actually want to hear me speak.  I dream of some day having my own radio show and even someday running for some sort of office.  Yes, I aspire to be like Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh or similar.  However, I would like to stay more on the local or regional level.  I don't care about Hollywood or NYC, I really have NO interest in Washington DC.  I care about my local area, I care about my city, my county, my state. 

It would be fun to be on the radio, talking about local issues, some world issues, and home, children, marriage and God too.  It would be great to have a radio show that I could speak my mind and it would be ok.  I am sick of everyone being so stinking politically correct even when truly they are so politically incorrect!

When I hear a story about how one of Obama's closest friends has written a book and speaks about sterilization of women and how we should put drugs into our country's water system to cause sterilization...or about health care and the myth that people can't get affordable or good health care, have any of you checked out Minnesota's health care system?!  We have one of the best and our state medical system and health care is fantastic!  We don't need the federal government taking that away or changing it.

Or, I could talk about car seat safety and booster seats, I could talk about the books I am reading, I could talk about the feminizing of men, I could talk about education, anything I wanted and that could all be just in the first show!  lol.

I don't know how to get on radio, I don't know anything really about it.  I do know that I am a strong conservative and I am a mother of 4 children, I live in a very liberal state however, I love where I live.  I am college educated and I believe Jesus is my Savior.

It would be fantastic to start guest spots on someone's show locally and hopefully someday move on to my own show.  Will it ever happen, I do not know.  Will I ever run or be in office, I certainly hope so someday.  Only time will tell.

So, as I dream a little bit more today about my 'big break', I ask all of you, what dreams do you have that you have pushed aside?  What are your dreams and what are you doing to make those dreams come true?  I am living one of my dreams right now, I am blogging my thoughts, my dreams, my words and people are reading and responding and I love it.  It isn't the Broadway stage that I always thought it would be or on the cover of a magazine or on the runway like I was sure it would be in jr. high and high school.  But, I am living my dream of public 'speaking'. 

My next step will hopefully be to begin speaking to a broader mass of people and my other dream of 'changing the world'  will be when I run for some sort of office and do what I can to change my world in my local government and city. 

Blessings to you all and although your dreams may change, never stop dreaming and never stop following your dreams!

-Liza

Life is hard / Real Life

Good Morning Everyone!

Well, the clouds have rolled in once again to Minnesota so, those few warm and sunny days we had last week are gone again.  I am not sure we are truly going to have a summer this year.

So, today I am writing about the hard things in life, the unjust things, the bad things, just the things that happen in life.

This morning I sent my older three off to camp again today for the day.  It is the 2nd day of camp, they love it and I do too.  While we were waiting for the bus to leave a mom who was putting her 4 year old on the bus for his 2nd day of camp was worried.   For some reason, the bus left the YMCA 30 minutes late so, this poor little guy had to sit on the bus for 30 minutes.  Just enough time for him to realize he is going to be away from his mommy again all day.  He started crying, wanting his mommy and his mom was trying so hard not to cry too.

The kids that run these buses need to understand, for the little people, you need to get everyone on the bus and just leave!  I remember the same thing happening to our son when he was 4.  Same bus, same camp, same thing, the bus waited over 30 minutes for some kids that never showed up and my son lost it.  He was so upset he actually walked off the bus and I had to convince him camp was fun again and I ended up driving him down to camp.  He did great once he was there but, man alive, he wouldn't get on that bus again to save his life so, I had to drive him to camp every morning that week.

It is hard sending your children off to camp for the first time, even if it is only day camp!  It is still hard.  My people are totally ok with it but, I can bet the first time I send our baby there, OH, the tears!  And it probably won't be from her!

So, my children are off, I have just the baby today, it is supposed to rain so, I am going to try and clean and clear out part of my house today.  The clutter has just piled up in our house and I am not a good thrower.   See, I come from a house where my mother threw EVERYTHING.  Seriously, my entire childhood is in a small 16 QT. Rubbermaid container.  All the photos, keepsakes, everything.  I have very few photos of me growing up, I have even fewer of me from high school, none from jr. high and all of my toys, clothes, everything, is gone.  My mom is a thrower.  So, hence, I am not.

I am probably more on the hoarder side of things.  I never had a lot growing up, I always struggled for what I had and things have an emotional meaning to me.  I can still tell you who gave me what and when I got almost everything in my closet and my house. 

Well, I live in a teeny house, it is time to let go of the hoarding and begin another cycle of purging.  I can always tell when it is time because I get super cranky, nothing fits, nothing makes me happy and everything bothers me.  I snap at everyone and everything.

It isn't good.  I am not sure if I am bugged because of the mess or I am bugged because I know I need to throw things.  I think it might be a combination of things.  All I know is I am miserable, my husband is worse, and my children are all walking on eggshells.

I am hitting the 'master suite' which for those of you who have seen my house, you know that 'master suite' is 10x11 with a closet the size of a doorway.   So, it is easy for it to get out of control but, it is insane now.  So, I am filtering, I am purging, I am throwing, I am dumping. 

Then, if time allows, doing the same thing with my hall closet, which by the way is actually smaller than the size of a door but, I keep towels, toilet paper, toiletries, and stuff in there for 6 people.  That too, one thing  out of place and forget it, it is a huge mess and there is no room for anything else.

Life sucks sometimes and yes, it is very, very hard.

Then you add to that whole emotional piece a story I read on the Drudge Report this morning and wow, am I sour.

I can't write about it even now, I am too charged up about it but, I will post a link to the story.  Can't miss it though.  I would really like to know what has happened to impartial media?  When did media become so liberal and since when is it ok to only report the news from one side?  It is a shame what the media is doing and what we are allowing them to do.  www.drudgereport.com  It is the headline right front and center about ABC.

We are saying it is ok by watching these horribly biased news hours, watching reality TV while the families fall apart, buying trashy gossip magazines, reading about stars, and reality stars on the Internet.

It is time to go back to real news.  Breaking news is NOT about celebrities or celebrity wannabes.  Breaking news is something like 9/11 or the LA Earthquake, or The Oklahoma bombing.

Breaking news, is NOT whether Jon is cheating on Kate or not, what the Octomom is doing, if Heidi or Spencer are real or fake, or if Brad and Angelina are breaking up.  None of that is even news!

I bet most of you reading this blog know who all those people are!  I bet you know more about what celebrities are wearing, who is hot and who is not.  I bet you know more about what athlete is dating what star or what athlete is playing on what team more than you know about what is going on in our country.  Do you even know what is going on in your state, your city?

Who is our Vice President?  Who is your Governor?  Who is your city council rep?  Who is your Senator?

Do you know what is going on in Iran and its elections?  Do you know what is going on with our health care, our welfare, our companies?  Do you know about the kidnappings and murders happening all over our country and in Mexico?  Do you know that parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas are in an almost all out war?

Do you know what is going on with your own family, your own neighborhood, your own job, finances, etc....I believe some of you may know more about Paris Hilton and her romances than you do about your own children and theirs.

Stop.  Get back to what is true, what is right, and what is real.  Reality TV is not real.  Celebrities and what you see about them, is not real.  The life you are living in Minneapolis, Memphis, Des Moines, Austin, Denver, LA, or wherever you live, that is real.

Off to my real life.  I need to be real and start cleaning out my trash.  What trash do you need to dump out of your life?

Blessings to you all!

-Liza

Reality TV vs Real Memories

Good Morning Everyone!

Last of the nice days here in Minnesota for a while.  But, it is ok because I am very grateful the children have a really sunny and nice day for their last day of school.

So, I have decided that I should walk around with a video camera running at all times in my house.  Yes, I know many of you that know Steve and I have said we should be on reality TV however, have you seen how many of the marriages fail after those things?!  NO WAY!  Plus, frankly we have funny stories but, I would be mortified by some of the things that would be shown on TV so, I will just stick with our home video camera and explaining things to you all through blogs.

I will say also, yesterday I was on the radio talking to one of our local morning shows and one of my son's teachers recognized my voice instantly.  She told me I have a great radio voice and should be on the radio.  I couldn't admit it to her but, that is my secret wish.  I would love to have a radio talk show or be on a radio talk show.  As many of you have found out, I have a lot to say about a lot of things.  Plus, it would be the perfect job for me.  The hours aren't very long and I would have a chance 5 days a week to have real adult conversation and to stimulate my brain!  Oh could you imagine?!

Anyway, back to the blog and I will just keep dreaming about my gig in radio. 

Last night, we had just finished dinner, I was getting ready to run out the door with my 5 year old to her soccer game as we were already late.  My husband has been reading me excerpts from a book my girl friend bought me last year for my birthday called, "Dirty Little Secrets from Otherwise Perfect Moms" by Trisha Ashworth and Amy Nobile.  By the way, if you are a mom, this is a really funny book and the sad part is I could have written my own book because I would say about 70% of the things in there I have thought or done or wish I had done.  Yikes!

Anyway, so he is reading me things from there, I think my favorite is the parents that forgot to strap their 2 year old in the car seat...you should read that one!  It is one of those books that is just filled with quotes from mothers.  Pretty cute although, even I can say some of them are pretty disturbing!  Oh back to the point Liza~he is sitting in the bathroom giving our baby a bath and he is sitting on the toilet(lid down) reading to me not paying any attention to the baby.  Oh man, I am laughing already and I haven't even typed anything!

I am just turning to walk out the front door and my husband yells, "NO, NO, oh crap!  Liza, don't you dare walk out that door right now!, oh gross."  I am already giggling not even knowing what is going on yet but, it has to be funny the way he is freaking out.  Turns out, our baby had pooped in the tub...ok, yes, funny and gross enough and what else is new in the Schwab house?  Well, apparently, she didn't want poop in her tub, (understandable)so while Steve had been reading quotes to me, she had been scooping out her poop onto the floor.  Hahahahahaha, seriously, I can't stop giggling!

I am just standing there laughing while Steve is scooping poop from the floor in the bathroom yelling for me to get some wipes in between a couple 'oh craps' or 'oh shits'.  If only he could have seen the hilarity in the words he was choosing, oh because I sure did!  Finally he feels like things are better under control and I leave with our 5 year old to her soccer game.  Giggling the whole way there.

Seriously, it really was one of those moments I am so sad I didn't have the video camera running the whole time.  Although, I am sure that even if we were doing a reality TV show their cameras would have missed the whole thing too. 

While at our daughter's soccer game I was wishing I had video taped it too because she got there and scored the first goal of the game, she showed great sportsmanship by helping those who had fallen down up, and she was just cuter than cute because she would pass the ball to her teammates to give them chances to score.  Really, have I told you all how nice our 5 year old is and how we think she will be our athlete because of how well she listens?

I wish I could video tape our life, just for a day or maybe a week just to have those times captured forever.  However, I have to remember that with those moments would also be the screaming, the yelling, the crying and the messes and that is just from Steve and I! 

Life is great and we all want to capture certain moments forever but, reality TV is NOT the way to do it.  Just try to enjoy the little moments in life and hold them near and dear to you and just look back and giggle or sigh every once in a while.  You can't save every moment but, you can cherish those you do.

Blessings to you all!

-Liza

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy

Good Morning Everyone!

Ok, I take a deep breath and decide that I have been way too negative and too serious lately.  I don't want to have a blog that is only one way or another so, it is time to bring back the joy.

As I sit here and listen to one of my favorite songs...which I am a bit embarrassed to tell you all is Nelly, "It's Gettin Hot in Herre".  Yes, I know, sad and a bit pathetic but, if you ignore a lot of the words, the tune is very catchy and gets you in a good mood.

OH, now another fave of mine just came on, Elton John, "Crocodile Rock".  Wow, good music!

Speaking of, so looking forward to seeing Elton John and Billy Joel in a couple weeks in concert!  I have seen those two before and they were really, really good plus, it is great when you know every single song played and you can sing all the words!

So, Steve and I were talking yesterday about how doom and gloom talk radio has gotten lately and he has stopped listening to it and now only does KTIS (our local Christian for you non-Minnesotans) and I have found myself not even able to listen to Rush anymore!            :-(

Everyone is so negative right now so, Steve and I are trying to bring back the joy in our lives......OHHHHHHHHHHH super good song!!!!!  One of my absolute faves...so much my children even know all the words!  "Sweet Home Alabama"!!!  How can you not get in a good mood hearing this song?!

Oh I have no focus right now sorry :-)  I have always been a huge music fanatic.  I love it, always have it on and love a lot of different kinds of music.

Although sadly, most of my favorite songs are Top 40 type things.  Although, not Top 40 for the past 5-7 years...it has gotten weird and dark and a lot of rap and street rap type things.

I like rap but, old school rap.  Oh sorry, this was really not what my blog was going to be about today. 

Anyway, I just want to tell you all to watch how much negativity you allow into your daily lives.  It will eat you up inside.

Turn off the news, put down the paper, shut off the talk radio.  Just for a day or if you are really adventurous for a week.  See what a difference it makes.  I promise you, if there is something you REALLY need to know, you will find out from someone or something you are not going to miss anything.

Our lives have become turned away from the joy in life and the joy in our Lord.  I believe this is the work of Satan trying to turn our focus away from the truth.

Have a happy day, enjoy and love on your family and find the true joy in life, God.

Blessings to you all!

-Liza

What is a man? What makes a man?

Good Morning Everyone!

So, today, I was logging in on my computer and this article popped up on Yahoo that intrigued me.  As one being married to what I consider to be 'a man' or more accurately, a 'cave man', I thought, hmmm, I wonder what is considered 'a man'.

I read the article, holding my breath just waiting for them to start ripping apart men like so many articles do and much to my surprise, it was a very nice piece written, I think, for both men and women.

I wanted to put the article in my blog but, I was afraid I would get in trouble so, I put the link at the bottom of the blog so you all can read the article too.

I do have to say, I never realized how much people, society, women, and men alike put down men.  Very often men are feminized and then chastised for being weak.  If you look at most sitcoms, the man is stupid, over-weight, a dumb jock, sticks hand down his pants, blows things up, and has no clue about anyone in his family and rarely has a say in how the house or the children are run.

However, the women in sitcoms are tough, strong, smart, pretty, they control their men with the threat of withholding sex yet, when the women want something they use sex to get it, they talk badly about their husbands behind their back, and very often they talk down to their husbands.

Since when did that become comedy?  That isn't funny at all.  It isn't funny that wives talk about their husbands in a demeaning way or that they show no respect to their husbands.  We live in the aftermath of a society that fought for women's rights and equality and now that things are 'equal' we blame men for being so weak.  WHAT?!

Women tend to want it all.  They want the knight on the white horse to come and rescue them but, then when he does, they spend the rest of their lives putting him down for being so weak and how she really didn't need him to rescue her in the first place.

Women want men to protect them but, then we get mad when they do.  We talk about how horrible of a guy our date was because he didn't even open a door for us but, when he does open the door we tell him we could have done that ourselves.

No wonder we are seeing so many issues in marriage, dating, and frankly unfortunately, I think abuse and date rapes.  We have thoroughly confused men so much as to what we want their roles to be that they now have no clue! 

I have heard from a lot of people in the high schools that the girls ask the boys out, the girls are the ones who call and if a boy calls the girl or starts to swoon a girl, he is stupid and a dork and weak and they just tease him and consider him an unacceptable person to date.

What?!!

Women have invaded all men's clubs and groups, how DARE those men do something that excludes women!  However, they better not think about joining our women's clubs.  What?!

I think women secretly want a strong man, a man that will take care of them, love them unconditionally, and one that makes them feel protected, and a man that will put them in their place.  Yes, I said it ladies.  We don't want a weak man.  If you really think of it, looking at your own relationship or marriage, when do you have the most respect and attraction to your husband/boyfriend?  Is it when he is doing everything you say or is it when he tells you flat out, "no" about something.

I love it when my husband takes the reigns of our marriage and runs a tight ship.  I love it when he tells me I am wrong or calls me out on something.  Hey, I may not like it at the time but, I respect him a lot more for that than I would if he just let me do my own thing all the time or if he let me take charge of everything.

We do share responsibilities on certain things, and I am in charge of certain things however, when it comes down to it, he is the man of the house, and frankly, he has the final say in everything.  That is a man.

I like that he is also a territorial pisser.  Oh yes, I get 'peed' on daily...not literally of course!  But, it is safe to say, people know he is my man and who his children are.  I like that.  I feel safe, protected and loved.

He isn't always right, sometimes I do roll my eyes at his actions but, for the most part, I respect him, I love him and he is my MAN.  He is my caveman.

Oh yes, I do believe that if it were still appropriate....he would club me over the head and drag me off by my hair :-)  Why do you think he likes me with long hair?!  There is always that chance that he might just need to do that someday and he wants to make sure he has hair he can grab and drag me by..lol.

Here is the link to the article this blog is based on:

http://dating.personals.yahoo.com/singles/datingtips/88036/dating-question-what-is-a-man;_ylc=X3oDMTJzbzEwODFzBF9TAzI3MTYxNDkEX3MDMjE0MjE2ODk4MARrA3doYXQgaXMgbWFuBHNlYwNmcF90b2RheQRzbGsDZGF0aW5nLXF1ZXN0aW9uLXdoYXQtaXMtYS1tYW4EenoDYWJj

Blessings to you all and enjoy this beautiful Easter weekend.  Our Lord will rise again tomorrow!  What a blessing to all of us.

-Liza

Super Bowl commercials and good books

Good Afternoon everyone!

So, how great was the Super Bowl last night?!   I do have to apologize to all of the Arizona fans though.  I am a jinx.  Always have been, I am sorry.

I couldn't handle watching the game anymore because I felt like Arizona was losing because I was cheering for them so, I left the game and went upstairs to put 3 of my children to bed.  I stayed upstairs until my hubby ran upstairs and told me I HAD to come down.  For Arizona had gotten a safety and were just about to score.

I was very excited and ran downstairs just in time to see the amazing run by Fitzgerald.  Well, I should have left after wards and I am sorry I continued to watch and cheer. 

Now, my husband doesn't believe me about me being a jinx however, for all of you from Minnesota....how often has Minnesota been in the playoffs and gone to the Super Bowl?  Yep. 

Seriously, I think my hubby is finally starting to believe me.  As last night he admitted, he doesn't believe I am a jinx however, it is a bit freaky how often a team I am cheering for falls apart when I am watching and does so well when I am not.

So, I guess I should probably apologize to all the Vikings Fans out there too.  As I bleed purple and gold and gosh darn if our boys can't pull it together!

So anyway.  I do have to say the commercials were some of the best I have seen in a long time.  I am a HUGE Super Bowl commercial person.  I will say though, some flopped BIG time.  I LOVE Budweiser and they usually have pretty good commercials but, the one last night about the two horses being in love and running away together, that was dumber than dumb.

I also wasn't too impressed with GoDaddy's commercials however, I bet it got A LOT of people to their website!  So, from a marketing stand point, I think they blew everyone else out of the water however, from a parental stand point...I had to send my son out of the room every time one of their commercials came on!

How about that great Bud Light commercial with Conan?  Wow, was that funny.  Also, I LOVED the 1 second High Life commercial, I think more companies should do stuff like that.

We really liked the 3D commercial for the new movie coming out from Pixar....can't remember the name but, cool commercial.  OH, the Sobe water commercial in 3D after wards was really funny too.

I think Pepsi blew Coke out of the water with their great commercials!  However, one Coke commercial rocked....the Coke Zero one...that was super funny.

What were your faves?

I also finished my book club book and am about 1/2 done with my Bible Study for tomorrow so, I feel like I am on task there.  Now, if only my house were in order again...Blech.

I will say, I highly recommend the book, "Beneath the Marble Sky"  great book.  It was hard to read at the same time doing Bible Studies though because I was finding myself mixing up the two.  Oh yes, I am very capable of that!  In the book they had very strong religious beliefs and it was set around the time of the Taj Mahal and they were Muslim, seriously, hard to read while reading the Bible too.

But, a good love story based on fact but, fiction about the building of the Taj Mahal and the family and empire around it.  So, check it out if you can.

Our next book is Revolutionary Road which is also a movie right now.  I wanted to see that movie before we picked out the book but, now I can't until I read the book and that is our Feb/Mar book.

Anyone have any other really good book ideas for our next books for book club?  At our next meeting in a couple weeks we will pick out another book and I would love to suggest something!

Oh, I need to go, my daughter is just about to get off the bus. 

Blessings to you all,

Liza