Okay, I am so tired of catching crap because of my daughter's name.  She is almost 10 months old now.  You'd think that the comments would have stopped by now.  But oh no.  They just keep coming.  And the comments are mainly from the same people.  SHUT UP!!!  That's what I want to yell everytime I hear "You named her WHAT?"  Here's a little history....

When I was pregnant with my son, who is now 8 years old, I knew what his name would be whether a boy or a girl.  Boy - Chaz Allen to honor my best friend and my father.  Girl - Kelsi Anne - I just love the name and Anne is both my middle name and my mom's.  So, I got Chaz and not Kelsi.  That was all fine and well.  Fast forward almost 8 years and I have a little girl.  The entire time I was pregnant, I was sure that I would name the baby Kelsi (we knew it was a girl very quickly).  However, about a month after Chaz was born I realized that he looks so much like my mother that I should have named him Max (her name is Maxie) for her.  Everyone called him "Little Max" for a long time anyway.  This time I was going to have a back up although I was still SURE that I would be naming her Kelsi Anne. 

Well, she was born and guess what.  She just didn't look like a Kelsi Anne.  Thank goodness I had a list of other possible names, right?  Wrong.  I still could not think of a name that I really liked and fit her.  She actually weighed two pounds more than my son did when he was born, but was so much more delicate looking.  She had these tiny rosebud lips and just looked so very delicate.  None of the names "fit."  Well, at least I had two days to think about it. 

Since Kelsi didn't work, I wanted to name her something that honored my mother and possibly my father as well.  As I said before, my mother's name is Maxie Anne.  Well, Anne, in my opinion needs something snazzy to go along with it since it is a single syllable, traditional name.  Did I mention that I prefer unique or different names?  Two days may not be enough time.

One of my oldest friends (from Kindergarten), Autumn, came to the hospital and she and I went over names.  My mother was there and we had her mom (who happens to be my mom's best friend).  Name after name got vetoed by the mothers.  Autumn and I agreed on a couple - vetoed.  Well, my mom left, her mom got off the phone.  We talked some more and then Autumn had to leave.  She was in the parking garage when I called her with the name.  It was a formerly vetod by the mother's.  Oh well!  She loved it and so did I.  When I mentioned it to my mother her response was, "Yeah!  I really like that name."  Go figure.

Now before I tell you the name let me say that my dad and I had two huge common bonds.  We both loved the Sousa marches and Neil Diamond.  I couldn't name my daughter after my dad because my aunt named her daughter after him already.  My other aunt names all her dogs named for my dad (he started it by naming his dogs after her husband).  Anyway, I went through all the possibilities and came up with something to honor my relationship with my father and for my mother.

My daughter's name is Shiloh Rose.  Shiloh came form the Neil Diamond song "Shilo" and Rose is because my mother wanted that name.  Now starts all the flack about he name. 

I have one "friend" (a say it like that because she did used to be a friend and now she is little more than an acquaintance) who told me from the beginning that she will call her "Shyla."  I explained to her the reasoning behind the name Shiloh and she still says that her name should be "Shyla" and that is what she will call her.  She came over right after David died and started that "Shyla" crap again and I told her in no uncertain terms that her name is Shiloh and she can either call her by that or even by Rose, but until she by some strange fluke becomes her mother she will quit calling her by Shyla (she does it to irritate me and has even told me that).  If it hadn't been for David dying and me being in a really bad mood (understandably so) I probably wouldn't have gone off on her like I did.

Aside from her, I also get comments like, "You named her what?"  "How could you do that to her?"  "I can't believe you saddled her with a name like that!"  "That shoulds like a topless dancer name?"  (Why do they know that?  Hmm.)  And on and on and on.  It is really unending and most definitely unnerving at this point.

To all those that don't like the name Shiloh, be thankful that the Neil Diamond song "Crunchy Granola Suite" wasn't mine or Daddy's Favorite song.  Can you imagine the names that I could generate out of that?  Or what about "Soolaimon?"  (Hey, I think I kinda like that.  Maybe. Nah.)  Oh wow!  I just thought of a name from Crunchy Granola Suite.  It is too ordinary for me , but Nola is sure in there.  

I really think that Shiloh is rather tame compared to some of the names that I had thrown out there or that were thrown out to me.  Like Mecca, Petra, Maximillia(no, no, no) although I do like Mecca and even Petra, but Maximilla was a big NO! - sorry Mom.  Heck, I could have named her Diamond or Sousa. 

So, to all my friends and acquaintances that don't like the name Shiloh, just remember, it was either Shiloh or Crunchy Granola Suite = Crugrans =  Krugerrand.  Wouldn't that have caused some sort of uproar?

Thanks for letting me rant a little about this.

Here is my Crunchy Granola Suite and Chaz (boy did he need a hair cut).

I've read several of the "Things About Me" entries and thought it would be fun to do one myself.  However, I thought I might not be able to come up with a list of 25 interesting things about me.  (About me - are you kidding.  I am the 2nd most boring person I know.)  Anyway, I decided that my list could be as long or short as I wanted it to be and didn't have to do the full 25.

Well, I just finished number one and here came my son who had been in bed all day sick.  He's hungry.  So I got him all set up with food and a spew bucket and sat back down at the computer and forgot everything that might possibly be interesting about me.  I mean, nothing.  The only thing interesting that  I could think of was that my son stopped me from attempting the list.  So, apparently God loves you all very much and didn't want to torture you all with little tidbits about me and nipped that in the bud real quick.

Isn't God just AWESOME!  No really, it's okay to admit He is awesome in direct relation to stopping the list.  Remember, I am really boring.  Actually, maybe He didn't want me to realize just how boring I am.  Either way He saved you and me both on this one.

Now, just so you know, this is the only warning I will give you about my doing a list.  I may attempt this in the future (when the kids are healthy and sound asleep).  Acutally, I'm not really all that boring.  I don't lead an extremely active life right now, but it's still summer vacation for us and I am vacationing from all the stressful crap that I don't want to deal with.  (Okay, so I am trying to do that anyway.)  Although August was a consisently bad month.  From the very beginning through now.  Thank God it is almost over.  Actually it the month was so bad that it (the month) ended for me on August 16th.  That is when I officially declared that there would be no more August in our house and it was then September negative 15 (15 days until September).  More on that another time as that saga doesn't end until August 30th, at the earliest though it could very well continue into September or later.

abadee..abadee...abadee...That all folks.

We have all either asked or been asked that of ourselves.  As mothers and wives we often hear that coming out of our mouths in reference to something out beloved has done or said.  Well, I have a whole list of "What was I thinking? moments.  I'll share a few with you.

What was I thinking....

During Intro to Algebra....and Algebra....Algebra II (I could go on, but I won't)

When I married David.  True, he was my best friend, but he failed miserably at being a husband.  I divorced him, forgave him for being a lousy husband and had my friend back.

When I had confidence in that dang condom.  Did you know that they have expiration dates?  I didn't.  Apparently they are more likely to spring leaks after a certain date.  They aren't kidding about those dates either.  I have an 8 year old to prove it.

When I stated emphatically that I wanted 4 kids by the time I was 30?  Luckily, God smiled on me in my ignorant bliss and being so wise didn't give me what I thought I wanted.  As it turns out, when I was 27, I decided that I didn't want children and was going to have my tubes tied.  Three weeks before I could have it done, the aforementioned condom episode happened.

When I told everyone, while pregnant, that my daughter's name would be Kelsi Anne.  She came out and looked nothing like Kelsi Anne.  Besides, I have this thing about naming my kids to honor important people in my lives.  My son was named to honor my best friend and my father.  My daughter turned out to be named to honor both my parents.  And I am mad (not really) at Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt for stealing my daughter's name - although I had it first and it is in honor of my father and his and my mutual interests.

When I started working from home. True, the commute is great and the dress code is fantastic, but the benefits are lacking.  I am interrupted several times throughout the day because I am home and therefore "not working."  Because of the interruptions, my hours widely vary and I am often working into the wee hours of the morning.

When I decided to homeschool.  Actually, I know what I was thinking here.  I am tired of my son being bored, bullied and not being taught, but just languishing.  Too many public school teachers have told me that the schools are so structured and governed now that they are not really able to teach the children and the majority are slipping through the cracks.  Because of those that are slipping through the cracks, they have "dumbed down" public school.  I actually fought this for three years, but know that I have made the right decision.  I am just a little nervous and daunted right now because this is the first year.  I am however, excited and so is my son.

When I agreed to help my mother if she got some chickens as long as she got some ducks too.  If you have ever done this you know what I am talking about.  This is not a for profit thing.  She just thought it would be fun.  WHAT?  Well, it is funny to watch this one chicken duck it's head level with it's body and chase the cats.  It looks like a winged battering ram.  It really is pretty humorous. 

Last and not least, what was I thinking when I started this at almost 1 AM?  I am sure there are more "What was I thinking?" moments, but I am too tired to think of them.

Do you have any what was I thinking moments?  When I get the top secret time thing developed, I will let you know so we can all go back and rethink those moments.

Goodnight all and many Blessings.