 |
| (just so we're clear, I'm aware that this is a grotesque picture of me. but Ben looks super cute, and I wanted to prove that Matt and I were actually there--I rarely post pictures of all of us.) |
I went into the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life...to put to rout all that was not life; and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. ~Henry David Thoreau
Friday, May 27, 2011
Winner Winner Picnic Dinner
Remember how I said I was a total failure at the whole dinner thing this week? Well, last night after Ben's and my haircuts I made us a picnic and we went to the park. Win win.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Life and Things
It's been over a week. My aunt is getting antsy without a post (she hasn't said anything, but I'm assuming...and since she lives in the south she could be blown away at any moment, so she could probably use a diversion).
We've been busy, I suppose. School is almost out (15 days, but who's counting?). The kids are losing it, and I might be too. The house is a mess because I haven't been feeling well. I tried to make dinner twice this week; one night I burned it, the other I just completely lost my energy, motivation, etc. as soon as I turned the oven on. I took Monday off because I was so sick all weekend. I still dropped B off at daycare and prepared to enjoy a luxurious day to myself. I went to Target to wander around and maybe get a few things. I decided to look at baskets because we got a lot of things for Emma at my work baby shower last week, and we don't have anywhere to put them. I came home with no baskets, a pair of baby pants, and the insane urge to nest. I rearranged a good portion of furniture, kitchen items, and the like. I made a huge mess, and after a couple of hours I ran out of energy and couldn't finish. I did find a place for the bottles, but not for the extra bed. Another day.
The other day I ripped off this tiny remaining piece of surgical glue that was still on Ben's forehead from his Mother's Day Adventure. The stuff was supposed to fall off on its own within 5-10 days, and most of it did, just not that one tiny little piece, and it had been 16 days and it was driving me crazy. I actually didn't even do it--I simply put my hand on his forehead and touched it and Ben screamed. He put me on time out. I asked for how long. He said, "40 years." Man. That's a long time.
But yesterday when we got home he told me I was his best friend, so I guess we're good. Then I did a sneak-attack and ripped off the glue. He looked shocked, mostly by the fact that it didn't hurt at all.
A couple of days ago I made some break-and-break cookies we'd purchased at Henry's on Sunday. I ate one and it tasted funny. Turns out they'd expired over a month ago. Um, that's bad.
I have a chest cold. It's making success as a teacher/wife/mother very elusive. I hope I feel better soon so my husband doesn't leave me for someone who actually does something other than lay on the couch and watch 16 and Pregnant. Speaking of which, did you see this week's episode? I wanted to punch that mom in the mouth.
Because most of you only look at my posts when there are pictures, I will offer a few from Ben's friend Hayden's birthday party this weekend.
We've been busy, I suppose. School is almost out (15 days, but who's counting?). The kids are losing it, and I might be too. The house is a mess because I haven't been feeling well. I tried to make dinner twice this week; one night I burned it, the other I just completely lost my energy, motivation, etc. as soon as I turned the oven on. I took Monday off because I was so sick all weekend. I still dropped B off at daycare and prepared to enjoy a luxurious day to myself. I went to Target to wander around and maybe get a few things. I decided to look at baskets because we got a lot of things for Emma at my work baby shower last week, and we don't have anywhere to put them. I came home with no baskets, a pair of baby pants, and the insane urge to nest. I rearranged a good portion of furniture, kitchen items, and the like. I made a huge mess, and after a couple of hours I ran out of energy and couldn't finish. I did find a place for the bottles, but not for the extra bed. Another day.
The other day I ripped off this tiny remaining piece of surgical glue that was still on Ben's forehead from his Mother's Day Adventure. The stuff was supposed to fall off on its own within 5-10 days, and most of it did, just not that one tiny little piece, and it had been 16 days and it was driving me crazy. I actually didn't even do it--I simply put my hand on his forehead and touched it and Ben screamed. He put me on time out. I asked for how long. He said, "40 years." Man. That's a long time.
But yesterday when we got home he told me I was his best friend, so I guess we're good. Then I did a sneak-attack and ripped off the glue. He looked shocked, mostly by the fact that it didn't hurt at all.
A couple of days ago I made some break-and-break cookies we'd purchased at Henry's on Sunday. I ate one and it tasted funny. Turns out they'd expired over a month ago. Um, that's bad.
I have a chest cold. It's making success as a teacher/wife/mother very elusive. I hope I feel better soon so my husband doesn't leave me for someone who actually does something other than lay on the couch and watch 16 and Pregnant. Speaking of which, did you see this week's episode? I wanted to punch that mom in the mouth.
Because most of you only look at my posts when there are pictures, I will offer a few from Ben's friend Hayden's birthday party this weekend.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Similes and Curtains
Two conversations: one from yesterday evening, one from this morning.
Ben: Look, Mommy! I'm hopping like a bunny!
Me: Amazing! That's a simile. Can you say simile?
Ben: No, you want to say simile.
Ben (wandering into my bedroom at 6:00 this morning): It's a sunny day, Mommy.
Me: No it's not. It's cloudy.
Ben (pointing to the window): No, it's sunny. Look'it. That's the sun. It's time to play?
Me: Nope. Too early. Why do you keep getting up so early?
Ben: I opened the curtains and looked and it's sunny.
Me: That's how you decide when to get up? You open the curtains?
Ben: It's a problem for me.
Well played, Benjamin. Well played.
Ben: Look, Mommy! I'm hopping like a bunny!
Me: Amazing! That's a simile. Can you say simile?
Ben: No, you want to say simile.
Ben (wandering into my bedroom at 6:00 this morning): It's a sunny day, Mommy.
Me: No it's not. It's cloudy.
Ben (pointing to the window): No, it's sunny. Look'it. That's the sun. It's time to play?
Me: Nope. Too early. Why do you keep getting up so early?
Ben: I opened the curtains and looked and it's sunny.
Me: That's how you decide when to get up? You open the curtains?
Ben: It's a problem for me.
Well played, Benjamin. Well played.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
The Perfect Storm
This is why people the world over laugh at and judge the citizens of Orange County.
" RAINFALL FROM THIS SECOND SYSTEM COULD RANGE FROM AROUND ONE QUARTER INCH AT THE COAST TO ONE HALF TO LOCALLY ONE INCH ON THE COASTAL MOUNTAIN SLOPES...THIS HAS SOME SIMILARITY TO A WEATHER SYSTEM THAT BROUGHT ABOUT ONE THIRD INCH OF RAINFALL TO LINDBERGH FIELD ON MAY 23RD AND 24TH 2008. THE STRONGEST STORM TO IMPACT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IN MAY IN RECENT YEARS WAS ON MAY 22ND 2006 WHEN MORE THAN THREE QUARTERS OF AN INCH OF RAINFALL WAS RECEIVED AT LINDBERGH FIELD."
A whole quarter inch of rain?!?!?! Should we cancel school? Close the roads?!?!? Why, God, Why?!?!?
" RAINFALL FROM THIS SECOND SYSTEM COULD RANGE FROM AROUND ONE QUARTER INCH AT THE COAST TO ONE HALF TO LOCALLY ONE INCH ON THE COASTAL MOUNTAIN SLOPES...THIS HAS SOME SIMILARITY TO A WEATHER SYSTEM THAT BROUGHT ABOUT ONE THIRD INCH OF RAINFALL TO LINDBERGH FIELD ON MAY 23RD AND 24TH 2008. THE STRONGEST STORM TO IMPACT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IN MAY IN RECENT YEARS WAS ON MAY 22ND 2006 WHEN MORE THAN THREE QUARTERS OF AN INCH OF RAINFALL WAS RECEIVED AT LINDBERGH FIELD."
A whole quarter inch of rain?!?!?! Should we cancel school? Close the roads?!?!? Why, God, Why?!?!?
Friday, May 13, 2011
Happy Friday the 13th
I finished BTSA this afternoon.
The husband and I are headed for Dana Point, sans child, for the weekend.
Happy Friday, Suckas.
The husband and I are headed for Dana Point, sans child, for the weekend.
Happy Friday, Suckas.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Chaos Is my Normal
It's been an interesting week. Last Thursday I whined my head off about how hard my life is, waaa waaa waaa.
God's response? "That's so cute."
Friday I was super impressed with myself. Thursday night I painted my toenails. Friday morning, I did not get up at 5:30 and clean the living room and bathroom as I'd planned. When the bell rang on Friday afternoon, I quickly finished the paragraph I was typing, then left, with my desk a mess and all kinds of things undone. Then I took Ben to McDonald's for dinner.
Ummm, hello?!?!? Breakthrough!?!?!
Except that as Ben and I were eating our french fries he threw up all over the place. Like a week's worth of food. And here's where my incredible fortitude and parenting skills came in: I was super calm, handled it, and did not blame myself and my decision to go to McDonald's. Thursday I would have. Thursday I would have said, "see what happens when you take shortcuts!?!?!" But I didn't say that. I told Ben it was no big deal, that I would clean it up, and that we should go watch some TV. That's right--extra TV. A couple of hours later Ben's babysitter texted and said that one of his daycare pals had gone home throwing up that afternoon. Confirmed: the barf was not fast food related, so there was no need to blame myself and go into a shame spiral. We took a bath, watched TV, cuddled, and went to bed. And I was totally cool the whole time. And I stayed that way when he threw up some more on Saturday. And then when the neighbors sat outside for 10 hours drinking their way through a case of Budweiser, getting progressively louder and cutting Ben's much-needed nap in half. And when Ben's puking became diarrhea.
Progress, people.
Of course, I felt bad about not doing my chores on Friday so I did them on Saturday.
No one's perfect.
But seriously, I was very impressed with myself for accepting the chaos. As Liz Lemon said on Thursday's episode of 30 Rock, "Chaos is my normal." I've embraced it. And it feels so good.
Today is Mother's Day. I was looking forward to letting Matthew work like a dog and pamper me and not feel a lick of guilt about it. It started out great. Ben woke up at 6:00, but whatever, it's fine. I was exhausted, but whatever. I'll live. I completely forgot to bring the Mother's Day gifts sitting on the kitchen table for my mom and grandma to the Mother's Day brunch. It's okay. They'll forgive me, and I'll deliver them later. No big deal.
Then when we got home, Ben sat down and quietly started playing with his cars, Matt laid on the couch with his iPod, and I sat at the computer to write a post about the blanket I just finished. Then there was a loud crash and a decent amount of screaming and blood. I will be honest--I don't really know what happened, and I feel pretty guilty about that. We were all three literally in the same room, so it's not like he was left unattended. But I wasn't actively looking at him while he played, and I really don't know what he did. He clearly hit his head on the side of the bookcase that holds his toys, but I'm not really sure how. He wasn't climbing it or anything--I would have noticed that, as I was really sitting right there. I'm thinking he somehow slipped. At any rate, there was screaming and blood. We did all the tricks I learned at first aid training, then headed to Urgent Care since it looked fairly deep and was still bleeding. Thankfully, there was no one there. I guess other people's kids were behaving themselves for Mother's Day. After we checked in and sat in the waiting room, I went to see whom to ask to push play on the DVD player (the TV was on the menu of Ratatouille...Kaiser, you are awesome for knowing the best way to keep a kid content at a medical facility), but they called Ben in before I even got to the front desk. He was traiged quickly and we were in a room within 20 minutes of his fall. Within another 30 minutes he was cleaned up, gash glued shut, popsicle and Buzz Lightyear sticker in hand. By the time we got home it had barely been an hour since the whole thing began. A Mother's Day miracle.
It has been a pretty crazy three days, between the puking and the sleep deprivation and the blood. But seriously, I'm good. There's definitely something to be said about motherhood making you strong. You go from bunny to ox faster than you can say "epidural, please." But I'm in. Because seriously, have you seen this kid's face? Even with the gash, he melts me. I'm like an ox that is also a bunny. A "box". And I've got another one coming in just a couple of months.
Epidural, please.
God's response? "That's so cute."
Friday I was super impressed with myself. Thursday night I painted my toenails. Friday morning, I did not get up at 5:30 and clean the living room and bathroom as I'd planned. When the bell rang on Friday afternoon, I quickly finished the paragraph I was typing, then left, with my desk a mess and all kinds of things undone. Then I took Ben to McDonald's for dinner.
Ummm, hello?!?!? Breakthrough!?!?!
Except that as Ben and I were eating our french fries he threw up all over the place. Like a week's worth of food. And here's where my incredible fortitude and parenting skills came in: I was super calm, handled it, and did not blame myself and my decision to go to McDonald's. Thursday I would have. Thursday I would have said, "see what happens when you take shortcuts!?!?!" But I didn't say that. I told Ben it was no big deal, that I would clean it up, and that we should go watch some TV. That's right--extra TV. A couple of hours later Ben's babysitter texted and said that one of his daycare pals had gone home throwing up that afternoon. Confirmed: the barf was not fast food related, so there was no need to blame myself and go into a shame spiral. We took a bath, watched TV, cuddled, and went to bed. And I was totally cool the whole time. And I stayed that way when he threw up some more on Saturday. And then when the neighbors sat outside for 10 hours drinking their way through a case of Budweiser, getting progressively louder and cutting Ben's much-needed nap in half. And when Ben's puking became diarrhea.
Progress, people.
Of course, I felt bad about not doing my chores on Friday so I did them on Saturday.
No one's perfect.
But seriously, I was very impressed with myself for accepting the chaos. As Liz Lemon said on Thursday's episode of 30 Rock, "Chaos is my normal." I've embraced it. And it feels so good.
Today is Mother's Day. I was looking forward to letting Matthew work like a dog and pamper me and not feel a lick of guilt about it. It started out great. Ben woke up at 6:00, but whatever, it's fine. I was exhausted, but whatever. I'll live. I completely forgot to bring the Mother's Day gifts sitting on the kitchen table for my mom and grandma to the Mother's Day brunch. It's okay. They'll forgive me, and I'll deliver them later. No big deal.
Then when we got home, Ben sat down and quietly started playing with his cars, Matt laid on the couch with his iPod, and I sat at the computer to write a post about the blanket I just finished. Then there was a loud crash and a decent amount of screaming and blood. I will be honest--I don't really know what happened, and I feel pretty guilty about that. We were all three literally in the same room, so it's not like he was left unattended. But I wasn't actively looking at him while he played, and I really don't know what he did. He clearly hit his head on the side of the bookcase that holds his toys, but I'm not really sure how. He wasn't climbing it or anything--I would have noticed that, as I was really sitting right there. I'm thinking he somehow slipped. At any rate, there was screaming and blood. We did all the tricks I learned at first aid training, then headed to Urgent Care since it looked fairly deep and was still bleeding. Thankfully, there was no one there. I guess other people's kids were behaving themselves for Mother's Day. After we checked in and sat in the waiting room, I went to see whom to ask to push play on the DVD player (the TV was on the menu of Ratatouille...Kaiser, you are awesome for knowing the best way to keep a kid content at a medical facility), but they called Ben in before I even got to the front desk. He was traiged quickly and we were in a room within 20 minutes of his fall. Within another 30 minutes he was cleaned up, gash glued shut, popsicle and Buzz Lightyear sticker in hand. By the time we got home it had barely been an hour since the whole thing began. A Mother's Day miracle.
It has been a pretty crazy three days, between the puking and the sleep deprivation and the blood. But seriously, I'm good. There's definitely something to be said about motherhood making you strong. You go from bunny to ox faster than you can say "epidural, please." But I'm in. Because seriously, have you seen this kid's face? Even with the gash, he melts me. I'm like an ox that is also a bunny. A "box". And I've got another one coming in just a couple of months.
Epidural, please.