Things you wish you knew before you started....

[sweet sparrow]

I wish I knew golf carts had a brake before speeding around 18 holes of a golf course with a handicapped co-worker in the passenger seat.

That was his face. Really. He retired very shortly afterwards.

[GoJays]

omg too funny ^^

i wish i knew what i did yesterday to attract the pretty cardinal to my backyard yesterday, and he was back again this morning singing a song in my catalpa tree.. i'd do it again to get him to come back

[hollyquaiscer]

I wish I new what I did yesterday that made my dh so happy he brought me flowers...I'd do it everyday

[glowworm2k]

I wish I knew that I would be having problems with concentration before I started working on this project - my poor brain just isn't up to snuff today, or any day lately

[TaraF]

I wish I knew that spraying pledge on a wooden chair over a hardwood floor might not be a good idea. Slippery floors for a person with balance issues is not a pretty sight.

[sweet sparrow]

I wish I knew golf carts had a brake before speeding around 18 holes of a golf course with a handicapped co-worker in the passenger seat.

That was his face. Really. He retired very shortly afterwards.

The awful thing was, the senior manager was trying to do me a favour because I was considering going for a driver's licence. He thought he'd let me have some practice.

Later I asked another co-worker: "He let me drive, but what is that other pedal?"
Co-worker: "The brake. You mean you didn't use it at all, all day??!!" (his eyebrows disappeared into his hair)
Me: "No one told me these things had brakes!!" (getting red)
Co-worker: "How did you stop?"
Me: "When we got near where we were going, I stopped pressing the gas and hoped we'd slow down." (getting redder and feeling super stupid....)

I *so* wished those things had seat belts on those sharper turns.

[i_forget]

I wish I would have known that having 3 kids so close together was going to make me into a SAHM. Not because I do not like staying home with my kids, but because if I would have known that I would have put off going to college because now I feel my education was a waste as I have not worked in 6 years and probably will not work for another 5 more.

[lotus]

oh my, sweet sparrow -- thank you for the laugh this morning! "what's the other pedal for?" should be on a t-shirt... it's replaced my old favourite question, "what does this button do?" I don't have my license either & me riding even a golfcart would've played out much the same way...

in other news, I wish I had known a red-winged black bird had a nest right off the path the pup & I took on our walk this morning. it attacked my hair, which was conveniently in a bun (& kinda resembles a bird's nest, unfortunately) much longer than necessary. territorial, maybe, but I'm taking it as nature's way of telling me I need a haircut.

[Natalka]

I wish I would have known that having 3 kids so close together was going to make me into a SAHM. Not because I do not like staying home with my kids, but because if I would have known that I would have put off going to college because now I feel my education was a waste as I have not worked in 6 years and probably will not work for another 5 more.

Never EVER think that your education was a waste - it's helped to make you into the wonderful person and mom you are now!

I have two degrees and was a SAHM, intending to go back to work, but we decided it was for the better that I continue to stay home even as our son (yes, just one!) went through school - and it turned out to be very true!

[sweet sparrow]

I definitely think your education wasn't a waste. It reinforces your perseverence, hard work, shapes your character, tests your mettle.... I'm going to stop before I completely turn into my mother.... Remember those all-nighters you pulled in school studying? Weren't they good mom-practice?

***edited to add: Kids have a way of throwing a wrench into your best laid plans. Not that they mean to, but they are masters at sucking time and money away from parents. After the kids are big enough, will you have the money to pay off a school education? Will you also be paying their school education? Will you have the time and attention to devote to your studies while you're trying to attend rehearsals, concerts, and special events?

There's no way you could plan for timing and circumstances. Think of how prepared you are to get a job, even if a bit of upgrading is needed. It makes it so much easier to pay for your son's new braces, or your daughters glasses. I think that degree is a good emergency backup, as well as providing a good role model for your kids, that education is very important. ***

I remember during my thesis, we had a fancy new instrument. It was worth well over a million dollars, one of five in North America, and state of the art. When I remarked that I was afraid I'd break it, my prof said, "If you do, then you learnt something and it'll be a lesson well learned. Besides, do it now while it's still under warranty. I don't want one with manufacturer defects." BWAHAHA!!

[sweet sparrow]

oh my, sweet sparrow -- thank you for the laugh this morning! "what's the other pedal for?" should be on a t-shirt... it's replaced my old favourite question, "what does this button do?" I don't have my license either & me riding even a golfcart would've played out much the same way...

in other news, I wish I had known a red-winged black bird had a nest right off the path the pup & I took on our walk this morning. it attacked my hair, which was conveniently in a bun (& kinda resembles a bird's nest, unfortunately) much longer than necessary. territorial, maybe, but I'm taking it as nature's way of telling me I need a haircut.

The really odd thing was, I didn't actually notice the second pedal until the day was over. I was too busy looking around for rocks, turtles, slopes... Because I didn't think there were brakes, I drove veerrry slow. He asked me a few times to go faster, but the times we did, he had to hold on to his hat!

A new haircut for summer will be nice! Hope the bird didn't hurt you!

[sweet sparrow]

I wish I new what I did yesterday that made my dh so happy he brought me flowers...I'd do it everyday

Awww... It probably IS what you do every day!

[MrsSunshine]

oh my sweet. you poor thing lol. im sure he'll be fine. just consider it a lesson learned.

Holly.. after everything you've been through..its the least you deserve.. not too mention.. it just shows he's paying attention. thats a good thing.

Glow.. im right there with ya.. helpful hint.. open up Wordpro or whatever you have.. make a list.. and check back often. thats how I get things done lately.. the rockin music i play helps.

OMG Tara.. PLEASE be careful my mother pledged a headboard my sister gave her on her hard wood dining room floor.. lets just say its NOT something a 70+ year old woman should be doing.. after nearly 3 months of PT she recovered well and my sister and I were rewarded well for helping her around the house while her spiral fracture healed. its been over 3 years i'll never forget it.

i forget.. don't EVER say an education is wasted hun.. ever.. its always an asset. whether your 5 or 95. go for your goals in life. im sure your kids will love you for showing them it can be done



as for me.. I wish I had a faster gutt instinct on whom to call friends etc. before I get hurt. its taken 35+ years but im learning. thankfully god has given me a best friend for life who never will.

[i_love_to_save]

i wish i knew how to coupon before i started (i heard it was so much better before). I saved enough $$$ to go on vacation this year... i will try to do the same this year

[ninna]

i wish i knew how to coupon before i started (i heard it was so much better before). I saved enough $$$ to go on vacation this year... i will try to do the same this year

I'll second that motion for me too! Gawd, I wish I'd started using coupons 20 years ago instead of 2 years ago. LOL.

As for the pledge incident...ya...gotta be careful with that stuff. When I was a kid, me and my sister would spray Pledge on the hardwood floors so we could go for slides in the house when my mother wasn't home. hehe. Oh boy. The stuff we did when mom wasn't home. Like jumping on her bed and raiding the ice cream in the freezer and the cookie jar.

Wait. There's one. I wish when I was a kid that I'd have known that my mother knew all along what hijinks we were up to when she wasn't around. ha. She probably had the same kind of laughs at our expense that I have sometimes with my own kids when I overhear them talking about things or catch them playing hijinks.