Y'know what I really hate?

• The Yahoo! mail beta. It is so slllloooooowwwwwwwww and jumpy!! The old interface was butt-ugly, but at least it didn't feel like an e-ternity before I could see my e-mail. It was why I preferred Yahoo! mail to Comcast and Hotmail, both of which I have accounts for. I could totally send that "I've changed my email" message that everyone hates to get, telling my friends and family to switch me, thus becoming the pain in their ass for the 3 minutes it takes to open Address Book/Copy/Paste. (It really is a pain, isn't it?) But I didn't do that. Yahoo! I loved you! I stuck by you! But you're a poseur and I've decided I don't like you anymore.
  
• My inability to shop properly. I've mentioned this affliction before. My Mom knew, when I was a teen, that I could only go for a few hours before I was cranky and bored with it. And now, what with being in charge of my own money and all, I like it even less because it means PARTING with said money. Boo. I was in Old Navy recently, however, and I think if I could go in there once a week, and buy one item, I could have a pretty decent wardrobe lined up here by at least Beach Week. Except the thought of spending ALL that money (NOT! Old Navy's the cheapest of the cheap for heavens' sake!) gives me the shivers. Boo. I am so annoying. (Even when I have $260 in my pocket. That's right -- hubby said "Take it, it's yours." So now I've gotta muster up the courage to Spend It.)
  
• The complete lack of a Michael's or a Hobby Lobby or a dang JoAnn Fabrics around my office or my home. I mean, a girl's gotta get her craft stuff, peeps. EASTER IS COMING!!! I can't tell you how frustrating it is for me to not have ONE INCH of pastel grosgrain ribbon anywhere in my house, and no way to get it except on a Saturday with a 20-minute commute attached. On Saturday! (Why do I need grosgrain? I don't know. To wrap eggs with. To decorate. I just NEEEEEEED it. Shut up.)

I'm a little grumpy.

Yard sale take

I got in a tad bit of trouble for my comment about the Rusty Wallace print. We were moving the last of the stuff up to the garage Thursday night, and hubby lifted it up and said, "You know? Maybe I'm going to KEEP this print... I mean, it's AUTOGRAPHED. And I do really LIKE this frame." Heh. He got me there. I was all SORRYs and IT'S NOT THAT BADs, and he said it was okay, but if I EVER made fun of his Bill Elliott print... ! (Guess he DOES read the ol' blog!) But all's well that ends well -- someone gave him $10 for it. :) We made about $260 total which felt like a pretty good deal for other people hauling away our junk. It was a yard sale fiesta -- my next-door and across-the-street neighbors joined in, so we were shouting across the yards: "I can't believe you just sold a TOILET!" and "My Halogen lamp's in better condition than yours, nyah!" It was actually sorta fun.

.... ... .. . .... ... .. . .... ... .. .

Swistle wanted to create her own meme, and I say, GO HER and her 3rd-trimester self! So ambitious! So forward-thinking! :) Hee. It's about perfume. Name 3 (or however many) perfumes that mean something to you. I think this is ladies' perfumes only, but I am not certain on that. Here are mine:

Tommy Girl - I wore it when DH and I started dating. Pushed the "Pause" button for a couple years, but this Christmas I got a new bottle. It's my favorite, on me.

Cristalle by Chanel - My Sis and I used to be allowed to wear this when we were young. It was really HER first perfume, but I adored it. Haven't seen it in years, I don't even know if it's still being made. But it's young and fresh, and reminds me of sweet innocent childhood.

Jessica McClintock - This one means "Mother" to me. Mom's been wearing it for a long time and even if she changed her perfume and chose a new one (and you can, Mom, feel free), THIS one will always make me think of her. :) Want to play? Go ahead!

A new item for That Topic. Yeah, that one.

(The one that makes moms say what they think, then *duck for cover*.)

I heard something on NPR the other day that made me, personally, feel better about some of my mom-guilt. It was this:

New study shows working moms today spend as much time (or more) with their kids than SAHMs of the '70s.

So me? working mom? Doing as much for and with my kid as my mother, upon whose generous, wonderful example I would love to pattern my own mother-journey.

YAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY!

Here I was, all pouty and "boo, I don't get to spend enough time with my ittoo bittoo wuzzums, isn't it saaaad?" when it's about the same amount of time (if you'll pardon the generalization) as I was given.

(I mean, I've known AJ was going to turn out fine, but this confirms it This lets me know "I'm OKAY.")

It's true my SAHM wasn't with us 24-7. I don't remember the toddler years, but the summers and holidays? No. We played. She did needlepoint. (I'm kidding, Mom!) But you know what I mean. What the report is saying, is that Moms of the previous generation worked super-hard at keeping house and cooking 3 squares. My generation? Has cut out a lot of that to make room for quality kid-time. Our Moms weren't told by Baby Einstein that they had to "engage" their kids and jump-start their educations with "learning toys" and such from age 3 days. So they maybe didn't.

Not saying our Moms didn't do enough! Just the opposite. And not to glorify fast- or freezer-foods in favor of Quality Time, of course. But it's just the way the world has turned. They didn't even MAKE Lunchables back then. ;) Lucky us, we have them now!

I'll certainly concede that TODAY's at-home moms are spending much more time with their kids than I am with mine. And more time than the '70s SAHMs, too. I'll also add that the last sentence from that article:

"...in general, I would agree that working moms put their children first, their jobs second, and themselves last."

shouldn't use the qualifier "working." All moms rank it that way. Themselves last. It's nature.

But just the fact that I'm doing statistically as well as my own mom did? Oh, you can't know how relieved that makes me feel.

(The NPR story was better than that article above, but you have to have RealPlayer.)

Exclusive Crap for Sale!

All items priced to move

... white Halogen lamp (barbequed fruit flies included, no extra charge!): $5 (you have to say "fi dollah!")

... matching set of yellow pencil-drawn Big Cats (1 cheetah, 1 lion). Brown wood frames. Testament to 1978: $5 for the SET!

... Wilson Tennis racket and black vinyl shoulder-strap case that I thought was OHSOCOOL when I was on the middle school tournament circuit: $2!

... RoomsToGo coffee table and end table in "brushed maple," no scratches (cough): $25 for both!

... Rusty Wallace SIGNED print, with "kick-ass frame" (acc'd to DH) -- not unlike this one, but about 15 years older and dustier. (Bless Hubby's sports-lovin' heart, but this thing is ugly!): $10 (Hey, we live in Georgia, it could happen.)

... Seven Denise Austin VHS tapes (from the poufy bangs and leotards era): quarter apiece

... Good Lordy, the MUGS. and the VASES. Get 'em while they LAST, people: quarter apiece!

... Xbox. Plain, not 360. SO three years ago: $40 (big ticket item)

... oversize Express blouses from 1989 (or so), peg pants, real (not faux) plastic rain slicker, couple of darling 'business suits' -- fashion savvy *not* included: ONE DOLLAH!


(... my pride: priceless)

Some endings

This weekend we found out that a couple we like is splitting up. That's how they said it, too, "splitting up." Not "divorce," because that word's much too hard to stomach. I've been warned before that the 10-year mark is when you sometimes see your friends' marriages start to break up; these friends had been married about 11 years. Right out of college. We thought they were actually perfect for each other; both talkers, both "refined tastes," (in their own minds, at least), both uninterested in having kids. So it's strange to hear the Mrs. say, "We were good roommates, but never got the marriage right." I took her phone call on the back porch where I could listen without the interruptions of my own happy marriage -- namely, AJ, in his Saturday-morning-excited voice. My mom put it well when she said that, even though it doesn't make me worried or overly sad -- I know they'll get through this just fine, they're 2 strong people -- they were part of mine and Hubby's "anchor to the earth." Jacques and Christina. They just Went Together. They were a fact.

Now comes the weird part of sorting out the friendships. Whom do we stay in touch with? Or, if both, does it have to be me with her (sorority sister), and Hubby with him? Because I actually love talking to Jacques -- he is passionate about cooking and food, he and I share Louisiana & Catholicism in our blood... so that'll be odd if some ties have to be cut. I hope not.

We also heard that another friend, who has battled cancer the last ten years or so, has been taken from the treatment center to her mom's house... and "she's being given pain medication." Two kids involved in that one, so sad. No telling how long she has, but her liver was mentioned, too, so I'm guessing not long. She's remained so strong and faithful throughout the whole thing -- I don't know her too well; her husband and I went to college together -- but... man. There's just nothing to say about it besides It's not fair, and not right and too, too sad.

It makes me, no surprise, appreciate the everyday goodness that is our life. I hate to have to be reminded that each day is precious. Each meal, each laugh, each glance. I hate to be too sentimental because it feels cliche. Maudlin. But there it is. I can't help it.

To counter, we have at least two weddings to attend in the next few months, and at least 2 babies are being born in our circle. I like a good balance.

I want to stick around and tell some funny AJ stories, but I have work that needs doing. He's cracking us up with his, "I rilly need some Spidey cookies, Mama." (Me: "You do? Really?") "...yeah, I lure do." (yesterday at Publix). After that it was a rather long evening -- he had about 4 mini-meltdowns, for various non-reasons. But these are the little trials and treasures we have to be grateful for.

Speaking of treasures: Yard sale this Saturday! Maybe later I'll tell you what we're unloading. Maybe we'll have a laugh. :)

This is my 500th post

I know! Do I EVER do my real work?! ha!

I'm pretty sure all of my secret 2-liners sitting there as "drafts" count toward the total, but I'm not going to count them all up to confirm. I am going to pretend I deserve some sort of glory for this random number and go ahead with ma bad self, reflecting. I could write a haiku, in fact:

five hundred blog posts.
Much ado about nothing,
but oh, my sweet life.

Much "ado" about every golden syllable that's run from AJ's mouth. (Lately: "I tooted.") And every squeeze of emotional juice I can get from the wee hours of the night. And happy sunshine times on the driveway. And good lord, the memes. (...this is getting to be like a "flashback" episode of a sitcom! Annnnnnd now you're changing the channel! Bye!)

I don't know, sometimes, why we all continue doing this. I don't know if my descendants (or even my husband) will ever go back and read every word I've clickety-clicked. But I like doing it. I like when it comes out good. I like when I make myself laugh, and think, "I can sorta be funny, how 'bout that?" I like sharing myself with some of my closest friends and family in real life. I especially like meeting the nice people who come here, not knowing me from Adam, and tell me, not in so many words, that they like me. It's nice to be liked. :) And then I get to read about their kids' golden syllables, and their wee hours, and feel a part of something. Plugged-in. Included.

It's not about a theme, or THE thing that sets me apart from any other mom-blog out there. It's just my journey. My book of days. We sang a (terrible contemporary) hymn the other day at Mass, and it went:

"...let no one walk al-ooooone,
The Journey makes us One."

Cheesy enough to make my chorister skin crawl, but it makes a point. This is about life. It is ups and downs and curves and arrows and dead-ends and hidden pathways, too.

Hello, self... (I do like to imagine I'm talking to myself) ...You are still becoming, my dear. But you're in there. You're living - working - playing - praying - singing - collecting - dorking around - reading - bearing - sharing -- a dandy little life. :) Pretty cool.

New faves

I don't know if anyone's going to be able to talk about each of the bazillion new blawhgs she discovered during the party, but here are 2 of them I keep returning to to which, to whom I keep returning:

Mrs. Flinger, my new bff (...she said! i'm her "new favorite!"*blushing*), curses on her blog like I wish I could. And, not every post. Sometimes she's all, "how the #(?@!-fing heck..." with modest little symbols. But then she'll toss in a well-placed "Mr. Flinger's wang..." and I'm in hysterics. But Ahhh am simpleh too close to Miss Pitty-Pat's Porch and the livin' breathin' Old Sah-outh to say such things, y'all. I am drawn to her writing, for more than her foul language skills.

Marketing Mommy's all full of ideas. And I don't mean "how to get spit-up stain out of the couch." She's got SMART written in big letters across her forehead, I betcha, and a marketing degree to boot. I like her a. lot. Plus, Chicago. Man, I want to go there again and take the hubby.

... ... ... .. .. .. .. . . . . .

We signed up to do the neighborhood yard sale the 24th. Yipes. I've never done one. My parents were not yard sale people. Do I really need to get tables for displaying? I read that somewhere. I know I need to price things, too, and that it can take longer than you'd expect to do that. Ugh. I'm glad and I'm apprehensive all at the same time. But it did spur me to clean out my dresser drawers on Sunday. Got rid of a bunch of t-shirts and sweaters, just because I didn't want them any more. Ha! Take that, warped sense of not-having-enough-money-to-be-fashionable when-really-we-do. I am so weird about clothes. I just don't buy them for fear of spending actual PAPER MONEY. But I need to be better about it. I think some of those shirts were starting to make me look like a cat lady. Or someone from the very back poorly lit cubicle, who, buried in dot-matrix printouts, might scratch her head absently with the blunt tip of a #2 pencil, sniff often, and store paper clips in used styrofoam cups. Truly... faded, horizontal-striped short-sleeved sweaters? That cinch in at the waist? Not meant to mingle with the good looking people.

We went for donuts on Saturday morning

I didn't get online all weekend, and I am not sorry about that. We had the best weekend, just being a family (and me, being a girl -- I went to a bridal shower and drank real wine, and ate cheese straws!) But Dooods! I won a prize from the Ultimate Blog Party; how awesome is that? A very fashionable wavy scarf, and I can't wait to get my little hands on it. Thanks, Stephanie!

I really enjoyed making so many new blog friends. I think the rule is I'm supposed to post about some of them as a wrap-up, so I will work on that. Today, though, there's a lot on my to-do list. Work-wise, as well as home-wise.

We bought curtains this weekend for our living room. SO EXCITING. Something lit a fire under Hubby's tail, because he claimed the "curtains" assignment long ago and then promptly did nothing about it. For 5 years. This weekend he was on a rampage, though. He also cleared out our TV entertainment center/shelf-thingy, bought coordinating new storage baskets for it, and began the daunting task of filing all our 1200+ CDs (heretofore displayed, all bachelor-like) in binders. Such big projects!

So today I need to put the curtains in the dryer (ironing!), Swiffer-dust the new shelves, help with some filing (tonight), and, oh yeah, 1 load laundry + empty the dishwasher. These in addition to the work to-dos, which are plentiful. Some letterhead template coding, some project managing... fun, fun stuff.

Y'all, the weather: Gorgeous. We got tons of Vitamin D yesterday, picking up sycamore balls and putting them in our buckets. (Easy way to get AJ to help with yardwork? Told him with big eyes it was practice for Easter! He would have done it all day long.) The Daylight Savings thing? Was great yesterday -- we burned dinner off by playing soccer in the driveway 'til 8:00. But then of course I couldn't get sleepy 'til 11:30 pee-em, and I'm feeling it now. BTW I TOTALLY flubbed up the Mass on Saturday night, cantoring. The accompanist and I were not together, some itinerant saliva (tmi) made me choke DURING a song, the priest had to turn his mic back on, to right a song which we were doing too fast (he's a wanna-be cantor)... GAH. Makes me want to crawl under the table to think about it. At least I think I was in good voice, but the rhythm screw-ups (and choking) were less than professional. DH said "Hey, sometimes our goalie lets 8 get by him. Ya just have to go out there next time and show 'em." So sweet. Also BTW, I've hurt my knee. Turned it funny, or something. Stoopid aging process. Stoopid 32.

Other than that!! Perfect weekend. Hope yours was, too.

Barney, of all people.

I should NOT have to feel this much gratitude toward everyone's least favorite purple dinosaur. (Although, as many a parent has noted through the years, he's not that bad. His "Clean up" and "Wash Hands" songs are teaching America's kids decent values at least.) But last night he went above and beyond.

See, Comcastic Digital Cable has this wonderous thing called On Demand, meaning AJ can have his Barney fix whenever he wants. Have I told you how he knows which buttons to push, in the correct sequence? And can even look up at the menu and say, "B for Barney," so he knows he's on the right item. (I told him "B for Barney," he didn't just figure that out. But he remembers it.) Pretty impressive right there, and I have to thank the umbrella category of my cable provider before I get down to Barney. My child is learning to read ...the TV menu screen. I'll take it, it's READING. :)

Last night the Barney episode we chose included a song we'd not heard before. A slow one, sung on the astro-turf playground, of course, but this time, it was twilight. (I don't know what these kids' parents were thinking, letting their kids play pretend at the schoolyard at 7:00 pm -- hello, anyone read Little Children?? -- but that's not the point.) Hannah and Linda and Robert and Danny -- and BJ, godhelp his irritating nasal voice -- all joined in to sing, "Listen to the Nighttime," and it was... well... sweet. And since I somehow got caught up in the crickets and fireflies and sat there with AJ, I told him, "It's fun to listen to the nighttime; maybe WE can do that after dinner."

And so we did. Just at dusk, we went onto the back deck and listened to... well, mostly nothing, as there didn't seem to be any audible bugs or frogs out. We heard a bird or two, and then some BATS! flew over, and we definitely heard the neighbor's BARKY DOG -- but again, the POINT was that AJ was all whispers and wonder. He sat hugging my neck (because he's a little bit "scary of" being out there in the dark), and asked me quietly "did loo hear dat?" and even DH came out with us... and it was just magic.

So thank you, HIT entertainment, for composing the little song that inspired us. And you too, Barney. I mean it.

E.F. Hutton*? Is that you?

(Party-goers, check-in here.)
........
Several weeks ago, my work-group had a meeting wherein we racked our brains trying to think of any freelance writers we knew who could take on some of the projects we had lined up for the next month. Names were suggested -- people we'd never heard of -- and because we seemed to have no other options available, they were hired. "They'll learn how we do it," we decided. I doodled during that meeting: WRITERWRITERWRITER.

Yesterday, I was invited to write and edit a project "on the side." It's not a big project, not a glamorous one. But it's a writing job. I haven't had one of those since, I don't know... freelance? Since about 2001.

Today, someone else's writing job went awry. I listened as she was admonished for not making a deadline, and as scrambling commenced to recover the project in the quickest, most efficient way. By whatever writer was available.

Today also, appropos of nothing, a friend started chatting at lunch about her other friend, who'd asked her what did it take to be a freelance writer. She basically unloaded a bunch of advice that I might have called her up to ask her, if I was, someday, looking to become a freelance writer. If that was maybe an idea that had crossed my mind. Once or twice. If it's something I thought I might be inclined to do. Or... encouraged to do. (OR CLUBBED OVER THE HEAD FROM HEAVEN.) Or something.


*reference for you youngsters

Dance party!

First, some dancing that took place at my house yesterday.



(One of the many reasons I am loving 2-and-a-half!)

Next, some legendary dancing -- Click here -- because:

• zefrank makes me laugh every time
• his last day of vlogging is fast approaching (sob!)
• this was the video that started it all for him
• Parties are for Dancing!

Enjoy!

Party!

I thought for sure I had missed the Big Party, but it turns out I have until the end of the week. I always missed the big parties in high school. Always. Until I started doing theater All. The. Time, and then I had my OWN parties to attend. At one cast party we watched Logan's Run, which was so surreal and creepy and sort-of more... um, exclusive than any of the other movies you could rent at Blockbuster... well, that was when I knew I had 'arrived.' Or maybe that I had really weird friends.

But anyway, it's blog party time, and I'm supposed to tell you a few things about myself in this, my official party post.

(Am I becoming an outright Slave to the memes and Mister Linkys that exist in the blogosphere? Yes. Yes I am. I will admit, I have had so few ideas for interesting writing in the last couple of months that I ought to just shut down my blog altogether. It's a sad commentary on my "libary of thoughts," an embarrassment to the tagline above. My library is dusty and probably still uses a card catalog with creaky drawers and dull pencils. Ugh. I can't figure out why this is... if I just don't have time? or watch too much TV? or have a bad attitude. Anyway, I apologize. I'll try harder... Someday. But for now I'm just going to blather on with memes and junk-food for the brain.)

Sspeaking of food. One of my favorite kinds of parties is BRUNCH, and I want to share with you the gosh-dang easiest biscuit recipe ever. I made these for my parents on Sunday morning and they were delish:

Jubilant Biscuits
From "Merry Christmas from Georgia" by Michelle Stone.

3 cups Bisquick
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 can (12 oz) beer

Mix dry ingred first. Pour in beer. (You can use lite.) Mix, then fill muffin tins half full. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Makes twelve.

These are a crowd pleaser! Serve with butter and jam. I mean, Smart Balance and jam. If this were a real-life party I'd also have mimosas. Or my dad's famous cranberry daquiris. And for those coffee-drinkers like myself, Bailey's. I mean, COFFEE with Bailey's. :)

Okay! Now that you have something to eat:

I am 32. I am a work-outside-the-home Mom, and two days a week a work-from-home Mom, even though AJ goes to daycare on those days, too. He's 2.5 and ADORABLE. Right now, I could simply eat him up with a spoon, he is so delicious. I think I love this age best.

I think I define myself WAY too much by my work status above. But once I became a Mom, I just couldn't define myself any other way. It overwhelmed my sense of self, and still does.

I attended Catholic schools through high school, then Emory University. I stayed in the Atlanta area. I met my husband at work. We knew by the third date that this was It. I had constant butterflies for 2 weeks, even when I wasn't with him, and I couldn't eat when we first started dating. I loved that feeling. :) We've been married almost 6 years.

I love hamburgers on the grill, reading a book outside, that out-of-breath feeling after getting in a good workout (though I don't do it enough), falling asleep by the TV, comfy pants, beautiful china and crystal, the morning, choral music AND solos by me (!), cooking, and my family. And so many other things. I am not a photographer, a nag, a social butterfly, or much of a volunteer. I wear my heart on my sleeve, but I censor my blog somewhat. I have another private blog for private thoughts.

I think the idea of blogging to meet people, and this "party," is just cool. It's too bad we don't all have 25 hours a day just to play on the internet. I like this party especially, because I didn't have to clean up the house. :)

Thursday Thirteen #9

13 things I did yesterday

1. Made my own coffee before leaving the house, i.e., programmed the coffee maker the night before. It's been a while since I've done that (Starbuck's gift cards in-hand, thank you Mom)!

2. Dropped AJ off at daycare, and heard him tell me, "Go bye-bye, Mama." As in, the imperative case. Hmph!

3. Exported a whole bunch of data (names/email addresses) and made Excel spreadsheets.

4. Ate a lunch of ham-n-cheese sandwich, baked Lays, a V8, and a 6-oz Diet Coke. And some Wheat Thins.

5. Doodled myself through a somewhat annoying meeting with a red Sharpie.

6. Probably made an ass of myself by loyally agreeing with my manager during the meeting, then rolling my eyes about him afterwards, with my coworkers.

7. Picked up a graphic design magazine from my mailbox, but then didn't even open its plastic wrapper.

8. Played tee-ball for 3 and a half minutes with AJ, when we got home. (I'm trying to teach him to run to "first base" after he hits it. So cute!)

9. Refused to let him have a Scooby-doo fruit snack. But gave in on juice at 5:30pm.

10. Got irritated with hubby because when AJ was playing with his trains, Thomas and Percy were about to crash, and hubby nearly yelled at AJ to try and stop the crash from happening. He was all, "AJ! No, go GET the train... Arrrghhh..." I then raised my voice with hubby to say, "DUDE, THAT is HOW HE LEARNS." It kills me. Hubby thinks that play is better when it's perfect. Clean. Orderly. Play is not about 'perfect.'

11. Apologized later. Half-heartedly.

12. Dispensed Little Noses saline spray. We seem to be having trouble breathing. Stinking weather. Warm, cold, low pressure, high pressure.

13. Started a new book. A light read that I'm not particularly interested in. It's the first of a trilogy, but I read the 3rd about a year ago.

Book Meme

So Melessa is the latest person I've seen with this meme. Since my Mom is racking her brain trying to choose a Destin Book Club book, I thought maybe this list could help jump-start her.

The ones I’ve read (or started to read) are in bold.
The ones I want to read are in italics.
I've left alone the ones that I'm not interested in.

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (J.R.R. Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (J.R.R. Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (J.R.R. Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (J.K. Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (J.K. Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (J.K. Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (J.K. Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (George Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Charles Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Scott Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (J.K. Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolsoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davies)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Victor Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Helen Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (John Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In the Skin of a Lion (Michael Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (William Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce) -?did I read this in High School? Surely I did...

Obviously a Book-Clubber of some sort created this list. I'm disappointed that I've only read 43 of them. Although, I can think of some better choices I'd have put in besides EACH of the LOTR series, and EACH of Harry P. Like, The Borrowers. A Wrinkle in Time. Walden, hELL-oOh.

Sing song

We're beyond thrilled that AJ finally enjoys music. He enjoys it a little too much, to the point that we fear for the safety of his CDs. But we were WEARY of holding him up to reach the alarm clock/CD player every. time. we entered. his room., so recently I put it down on a nightstand for him.

OH THE JOY! He will stay in his room now, while I'm in the kitchen making dinner. Not that I NEED him to do that -- he WANTS to be there, alone if that's what it takes... So he can take CDs out, and put them back in. On "endless loop." He'll just play the first 2-3 notes, to confirm that indeed, that IS the Wiggles, then he opens it up, cracks it out of place, takes hold of the no-touchy part in order to slide the center gently down over his index finger -- you know, so it won't get any "feener-pints" on it, as we've taught him ;) -- and then quickly picks the next one in rotation. He clunks that into the player, scraping it just a bit and making me and DH wince.

I guess our parents worried that we'd yank all the tape out of their cassettes and 8-tracks, leaving it in a trail along the floor. So it's all relative. I pick my battles. And if he wants to listen to CDs, fine by me.

Here are the songs that most often get stuck inside my head:

"It's the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! Come inside, it's FUN inside."

"JACK and Jill went UP the hill, to FETCH a pail of WAH-TER..."

"Little Mister Roo... don't grow up too fast, too soon...." (makes me cry)

"The wonderful thing about Tiggers, is Tiggers are wonderful things!"

"Look at you Now" (Bear and Treelo, from Bear & the Big Blue House)

"Lights, Camera, ActionWIG-GLES!"

I wish I could post clips but you Mommies should be familiar already. AJ also asks "Did loo bwing loor iPod?" every time we get in the car. Because I have uploaded all of his music to iTunes, in case he destroys the CDs. Because I am smart that way.

Just another night on the town

We didn't go to the hockey game Saturday because why? BECAUSE ATLANTA TRAFFIC SUCKS SO MUCH ASS. (Oh excuse me, was I speaking French just there?) I swear, you leave your house in the suburbs, oh, 2 HOURS before the game starts -- on a Saturday -- and there's still a rush hour. We didn't get even close to downtown 'til 5 minutes before the puck was to drop. AND there was no parking at the Arena. Who the hell scheduled the BMX motorcross, skateboarding whatever convention this weekend? And who the hell decided it'd be a good idea to construct all of Atlanta's major event venues WITHIN 2 BLOCKS of each other??? IDIOTS. ARGH. We went to dinner instead, which was lovely. The stinking Thrashers lost the game anyway, and the restaurant, we learned, is known for its GUACAMOLE, made tableside. So clearly it was all meant to be.

(Stating the obvious:) A glass of wine also helps in these kinds of situations.It's even more fun when it's from somewhere special that you've visited before. Awww.

When we got home (early, surprise!), every DVD that AJ owns and all the corresponding cases lay on the floor of the kitchen. Evidently the babysitter let AJ do whatevertheheck he wanted while we were gone. Which is exactly what babysitters are for, I commend her performance. I really like this girl -- she's on the school's Academic Team. And she drives her own car, bumping her right to the top of my list.

I don't have a witty end to this. It was our Saturday night.

Doing

Everybody seems to be DOING something. I have pregnant friends, friends who are cleaning out their houses, friends who are planning weddings, looking at new houses, friends who are starting blogs, friends who are moving... I just feel stuck. I'm sitting here and not DOING or PLANNING anything. Waiting for something, but I don't know what. I talked to my friend Cantus the other day and she asked, "What's been going on with y'all?" I couldn't think of one single. damn. thing. We work, we come home. We feed the kid, we watch Lost and the Amazing Race. On weekends, we sleep quite a bit. Geezus, that's depressing.

It has a little to do with DH's job. He's kind-of in limbo, waiting for something that 'might' happen, but isn't certain. If it did, it might set off a whole set of THINGS. But he's been waiting for this something for 2 years now. I'm tired of it. Of stewing in this same grey dishwater. The endless loop. It might... oh, not now... oh, maybe in a month... oh, they say it's coming... (where'd it go?)... we'll see. It might.

It makes me want to... go spend a lot of money, just because it's something. And heaven knows I don't need to do that. We ARE planning to have a big old yard sale in the spring... maybe I need to start planning it. Or... and this has been on my to-do list forever, I probably need to schedule the siding replacement for the 2nd half of the house. Ugh. Not to mention getting our entire HVAC system in the house replaced. It's OLD. I'm praying it can withstand another summer (we had a service guy out a year or two ago and he said it might not). But those things are not fun things, or interesting. (Why am I blogging about them?!)

Of course I desperately want to replace the cabinets in my kitchen, and have my master bath redone -- seriously, I should take pictures to show you JUST how ugly they are. My mother-in-law is getting new cabinets this week, actually. DOING.

Yesterday I gathered up all my tax stuff, so there's one thing. And, we did go to Chuck E. Cheese last weekend. I can't get excited about any of it, though. We have hockey tickets Saturday, AND a willing and available babysitter. Do I care? Not really. What's with me? I'm not depressed, I'm just... bored.

Thursday Thirteen #8 - Lent edition

I can't help it. I'm addicted to the Thursday Thirteen. And then I find out today this is the LAST Edition! Waaa.

Thirteen Great Things about Lent A small display of my faith tradition today. I realized the other night at Mass, I feel guilty and 'unworthy' a lot: Catholicism still works! Hee. I'm joking. Anyway, I guess I'm "giving up" Starbucks this year, just for tradition of giving up something. But there's more to Lent than that. Here are some of my favorite things. 13. Ya can't have Fat Tuesday without Ash Wednesday, and Fat Tuesday is pretty darn fun! We used to go to New Orleans when I was a kid. 12. Praying Lent by Creighton U. I think I've used it for 3 years now to help me with the *prayer* part of the season. 11. The Thursday between Ash Wednesday and that first Friday -- you get to eat whatever you want, no restrictions. It's somehow a "relief" that you get this one day in between. 10. Going through the OCIA program in Lent is very meaningful; I got to do it as a sponsor for a dear friend who was being confirmed one year 9. Friday Fish Fry! All over America. We should go to our parish one this year. 8. Also: peanut butter and jelly, anyone? YUM. 7. Stations of the Cross on Fridays of my childhood 6. Running into other people with ashes on their heads on Ash Wednesday. (At my college there was an interdenominational Ash Wednesday service; so lots of people were showing their Jesus-spirit on those days!) 5. Seeing boxes of Matzoh and Passover foods on display in the grocery store. A special little bond with our Jewish ancestors and friends. At least that's how I think of it. 4. Speaking of the Seder, in my (Catholic) elementary school we had a whole-school Passover Meal every year. Picture "dinner tables" in the school gym, lights dimmed, candles. It was mysterious and interesting, and we read the stories and ate PARSLEY (bitter herb). :) 3. The good feeling you get if you go to after you go to Confession. 2. We don't have to sing the gosh-dang Haugen MASS OF CREATION for six whole weeks! HALLELU….. I mean, oops. GLORY TO GOD for that! (No Celtic Alleluia, either!) 1. Learning that Lent isn't supposed to be an entire 6 weeks of misery, but a time to deepen your relationship with Christ and prepare for his most Blessed Passion and Resurrection Day (grown-up Lent! I'm still trying to get there)...

Sun and Sand

I bought this votive candle yesterday (I know. I BOUGHT something. Frivolous!) -- it was called "Sun and Sand." Through the cellophane it smelled, hmm... fresh and... inoffensive, so compared to "Peach-Cranberry Pie" (too spicy) and "Ultra Vanilla Frosting Sugar," (possibly too sweet) it was a go... $1.79 wouldn't change my register total too much, since I was buying 3 throw pillows to replace the ones that recently smelled like puke. All about positive smells, yesterday's errand.

Anyway I got this candle home and unwrapped it, and y'know what it actually smells like? Y'know what its creators PURPOSEFULLY made it smell like? SPF 45. No kidding, it smells like steamy, lotion-y kids, and the inside of my beach bag. They probably tossed a bit of chlorine in there just to be sure they got it right. It's no "fresh air, zen-your-mind" beach fragrance like I thought -- it's the REAL smell. The 21st-century don't-get-skin-cancer smell. The where-is-my-kid-I-only-see-4-heads-above-water, and "has it been more than 60 minutes heneedsmoreBullfrog" smell. I wonder what they gave the guy who came up with it, after they slapped his back with hearty congrats over at the Yankee Candle factory? Maybe a day off... with a bottle of Coppertone, wink wink.

It's making me think about our beach vacation, which I was already dreaming about. June will be here in, let's see... 4 short months. Now, I wouldn't want to mention dieting, because Linda said that kind of talk on a blog is just beyond lame. (I trust Linda on this. She is very much to be trusted.) So I'll spare you. But yesterday I ate a vitamin-rich salad and a Whole Grain Lean Pocket for lunch. All I'm sayin'.

* * * * * * * * *
And now, from the I-Am-My-Mother's-Daughter News desk: I've ditched Fat-free creamer in favor of (skim) milk, warmed in the microwave, for my morning coffee. It's so much better. Simpler, more natural. Real Cafe au Lait. Thanks, Mom. :)

Gratitude time

Y'know what I haven't done in a really long time? FIVE THINGS.

1. I'm grateful for the weekend, with social plans. Even though they happen to involve a large mouse (I think?) named Chuck and a lunatic-bin named for him and his coagulated dairy product.

2. I'm grateful for a lunch buddy today, who didn't want to talk about anything deep or meaningful, and who appreciates a good salad bar as much as I do.

3. For jeans and a purple sweater.

4. For Diet Coke with lemon AND lime wedges. (it's the simple things)

5. For success and hard work, spurring me even now to want to complete a work project even if it means working a bit tonight. The fact that my mind is focused on this, and anxious to do it, helps so much... Since the deadline is coming fast and furious. Thanks be for all of that.

Being a responsible grown-up

Starbucks was giving away a FREE! EXTRA! SHOT! OF ESPRESSO! this morning so forgive me if I'm feeling a tad SPASTIC.

HI HOW ARE YA GOOD MORNING BOY IS IT COLD OUTSIDE AND OHMYGOODNESSIHAVE ALOTOFTHINGS TO TELLYOU!!

I am hooked on a new TV show that isn't nearly as funny as the genius Mac ads, but is equally compelling. I ran upstairs during a commercial break last night so I could hurry and turn on the "bedtime" TV and not miss a moment (sad, I know): MTV's "Juvies." Anyone else see this one? I'm probably the only 32 year old who actually watches MTV anymore but this one has edge. I never went to Juvie. (Surprise.) I don't even know where it's located in my hometown, or know anyone who went there. We were all quite boring and suburban and had supportive families who raised us right. So it's very satisfying, in a weird voyeuristic way, to see this side of young life.

I've always been highly annoyed by badly-behaved teenagers; even as a teen I thought, GAWD. What is the point, y'idiots? I feel the same about these kids, but it gives me some insight into "their side of it." And maybe as a parent, I see things differently. At any rate, Husband and I were talking last night as we watched, and we decided high school is just crappy no matter who you are. Pretty, popular, studious, party-guy, slacker. It's the Age of Rotten, no doubt about it.

I think it's incredibly smart of MTV to broadcast the documentary, not only because it paints the network as one who wants kids to BE GOOD (instead of as the Beacon of Bad Behavior (Jackass) and the Instigator of Fulll-On Drunken Hot-Tub Stupidity (Real World) that it has traditionally been since the 1990s)... but also because truly, kids need to see this stuff. They need to see that riding in the car with someone [who has illegal drugs] could actually get them in trouble. Not that it's showing anything violent or harsh "inside." The detention officers are actually quite caring. The kids wear sweatshirts and sit in a newly remodeled lounge (doing nothing). I loved the one security officer last night who was listening to an "inmate:" The runaway said, "I don't ever want to come back here." The officer, a mom-aged, tough-looking woman, responded quickly, "Well, ya shouldn't-a been here in the first place," and kindof shook her head & rolled her eyes sadly. Like, DUH. And the JUDGE is no-nonsense. You can tell she's had teenaged kids. She bangs the gavel heavily. Her judgements are very fair, and so far (3 or 4 episodes in) she's let most of 'em go home to their parents, but it's clear that her role is to put the fear of God in them, and she does it well.

personal disclaimer: watching MTV is Serious Market Research, thank you.

Meanwhile in my grown-up life, I've listened to Morning Edition all this week and their series on Shiite Islam, Iran, Hezzbollah, and That Situation. Have learned A.Lot. I hope to retain it. You just have to TRY to understand the history behind all of that mess in order to be an informed citizen in this world.

Heavy thoughts for a Friday, eh?!

Thursday Thirteen #8

Dude, is it Thursday again? I don't know how you people stay on top of things so much better than me.

In honor of my BEST FRIEND in the entire world, MARYB -- otherwise known as "larry" -- coming out of the dark and into the Light! of the Blogosphere! I present to you a list of my favorite blogs that maybe aren't in my links yet. (I am too stoopid just don't have time to figure out Blogrolling.) Tooot-toot-Ta-DA!

1. Playgroup Dropout. I am certain Beth thinks I'm stalking her, but I think more than one person reads both her ClubMom
gig and her "regular" gig, So the Fish Said. NB: Small Change -- it's time to re-up your charitable commitment to kids, go check it out. :) Love your smokin' a--, Mrs. H! :)

2. Purple is a Fruit. Also of "All & Sundry" fame. Her Riley could top AJ in the cute factor. Seriously, I am mom enough to admit that. And she is in Seattle, what could be cooler?

3. Procrastamom. One of the funniest Canadians I know.

4. Moxie. Best parenting advice on the 'net. Smart, sassy, (watches TV like me), and eloquent.

5. 4andcounting. Just met her, but I like her!

6. A Hole in the Fence. This is a delurk! Not sure I've ever even commented to this person but, she lives in GA and she's a working Mom = instant friend, right? (Hi, Sophie.)

7. Light and Momentary. Fantastic writer. Crunchy goddess! Model of goodness. Love, love, love.

8. Sam Jackson's College XP. I read this for work. Sometimes. He's pretty savvy at 18 years old, but then, he attends Exeter so that's not too surprising.

9. Amy. Met her through the T13! Howdy, neighbor!

10. a.k.a. Brandi. Met her through MaryB! They're real-live freenz. I'm tagging along.

11. Tomato Nation. Actually I haven't read Sars in a Loooong time but she is a witty observateur. Ann Landers she ain't and I love that!

13. The Advice Smackdown. AwYeah. Amy for the souuuuuul. And the slightly wrinkled eyelids. (beauty "advice")

So. Now you all have something to do Friday night. Linky, linky!

Valen-times, past and present

I'm sort-of borrowing this idea from Swistle, whom I've just discovered if you can believe that (Swistle, if you find this link, hello! you're neat!). Today is St. Valentine's Day and it means lots of things to lots of people. I wanted to share two of my favorite Valen-times. Bear with me as I fire up the old, rusty memory:

It's senior year in high school (right, larry? or was it junior year? you have to help me with this story!) and neither me nor my best friend is attached to any one guy. Thank goodness, right? Heh. So she came up with a brilliant plan to have a Valentine's Day dinner with two of our favorite guy friends, Mike and Alex. Both of these kids were "eligible" enough -- and by eligible I mean "cute," one moreso than the other -- but we never had the idea that we'd want to date either of them. And they were best buddies, as well. So we invited them over for a completely platonic, completely unromantic dinner at larry's house, which she and I would cook. At the time, she was already on her way to becoming a master chef, and I wasn't much interested in cooking... but we were lab partners in Chem and Physics, so I could follow her directions or read the recipe to her with no problem. :) We made it FANCY, because it was Valentine's Day: Cornish Game Hens with an orange glaze, (some side dish that I don't remember), (probably a salad, and tea), and Chocolate-Kahlua Cheesecake. We sat the boys down at the dining room table, with candles and everything, and they probably thought we were beyond weird for wanting to play happy homemaker for them. I doubt they've ever had a nicer Valentine's meal, even now that they're both happily married. That was a fun one.

This year, Husband decided and announced: "Let's not do the usual flowers for Valentine's. Let's do one of those Couples' Massages at that spa-place you like, okay?" To which I responded, ooooo-kaaaaayyyy... because he's had exactly one massage in his entire life and I didn't think he was that enthralled. But! I'm not one to turn down a dark room and a Swedish guy with big hands! And besides that I think we're going to take a Friday afternoon off to do it, which: ROK ON. I am happy about this gift. I asked DH, "Can we still give each other something small?" because I'd already bought him some chocolate espresso beans. (Extra-generous, I know.) This morning he answered that question by surprising me with a sweet little white-gold-and-diamond right-hand ring, fit to my middle finger, which I'd been wishing for. He is the best Valentine.

Blips

Around 11:30 p.m. I woke to loud sobs coming from the baby monitor. I went in AJ's room to find him comfortable, asleep, head on pillow, eyes closed, covered up neatly, but truly CRYING. "Mama... Mama..." Real tears had dripped down and his cheeks were wet. I stilled him with coos and my warm hand and "I'm here, it's OK"s, and that was that. It makes me so sad when he has bad dreams.

. . . . . . . .

Last night was Taco Night. (Ole!) I got all experimental in the kitchen and created for AJ a mini taco shell by cutting a smaller circle out of one of my 6" flour tortillas, and frying it up in canola oil. Then hung it over a wooden spoon, you know. You watch Food TV, right? It tasted like one of those edible Taco Salad bowls and he liked it. I figured something Tiny might entice him and I do believe my plan WORKED. Score one for Mama. (Never mind that he only ate the cheese and the shell. Score one for Fat, as well. But it's the PRINCIPLE of him eating the same thing we ate. I STILL WIN.)

. . . . . . . .

Kid phrases live on in family lore. I know this because I still think "maza-gine," for magazine, and "brek-swift" for breakfast. (Sis and I were so cute, weren't we?) One of AJ's latest goes along with his recent viewing of Scooby-Doo's various nemesises (word? Nemsii?)... He says, "I not scary of dat dhost." I hate Scooby Doo and I always have, but I just love when AJ says "not scary of dat." Preh. Shuss. Worth that stupid cartoon.

'Course, maybe cartoon monsters are creeping into his dreams. whoops.

. . . . . . . .

Last night hubby called to say he'd be home late. Then he called again "from traffic" which was supposedly very bad. I have a sneaking suspicion he was trying to fool me again. (Aren't I lucky?) :) I think it's more fun now for me to try and guess what his strategy will be, than to even receive the gifts. Hee hee.

Baby gift ideas

Since my next-door-cube-neighbor can't stop thinking about BABY, and since Julie has an announcement to make, and since Stacie asked, here are my five top most-favoritist baby gifts.

1. The "refresher" basket at the hospital.
One of my friends delivered to me, when she came to the hospital, a little decorative basket with "comfort" goodies. Since I had a blue baby (boy), nearly everything in the basket was packaged in blue. There were packs of peppermint Extra and Denteyne Ice gum, those little snack-size Oreos, I think a bag of Ghiardelli chocolates, some bottled water... Maybe there was a blue something for the baby, too. I just remember this being such a thoughtful thing. I clearly would have no inclination or time to go out and buy gum for a few weeks, so she did it for me.

2. A good quality classic toy.
One of my dear Book Club buddies bought AJ the coolest gift set of wooden blocks. I say "high-end" but I mean Pottery Barn, which isn't THAT out of the price range. (Much cheaper than some of these! Sheesh!) Ours came in this sturdy cylindrical canister, they're painted in solid primary colors (safe paint, of course), and building blocks are simply a must. Pottery Barn Kids doesn't seem to have those exact ones anymore, but you can find something similar.

3. Books A Million.
Of course, we started reading to AJ before he was actually born, which at first meant Reader's Digest jokes and sometimes a Southern Living. Oh, and DH read from Electronic Gaming Monthly. Therefore! When we started getting real books, some old favorites and some brand new, we were elated. We continue to read to AJ any time he asks (within reasonable limits, of course), and every night before bed. A couple first favorites: Jamberry, Owl Babies, and any books like this with the bright images and "learning words." LOVE!

4. Fluffy, cuddly things.
I know it seems cliche but we got some of the cutest little stuffed friends for Baby AJ. Sandwich was my particular favorite, because he was just about the size I imagined Baby would be, before Baby arrived. I'd tiptoe around the nursery and pretend, using that yarn-covered lovey. I've bought these for several new mommies and had great success. They're just so unique-looking. But this guy, too, proved invaluable. (Ours was a blue bear.) Soft and cushy, and AJ slept on him for many weeks in the beginning, in the pack-n-play. The head was perfect for propping Baby on his side to sleep (he was NOT a back-sleeper, ever).

5. The ever-wonderful "Meal on Wheels" gift.
I know you can't tote this to a shower, but I'm telling you the single nicest thing you can do for a new mom is make a quick casserole (nothing spicy or weird, just some delicious comfort food), buy a bag salad, whip up a pan of blondies (not chocolate 'cause some mommies don't want chocolate if they're b'feeding), and pop by the house. She's got to entertain, you see, while she's trying to recover. And even if it's her own Mom visiting her... well, just EVERYONE will appreciate an already-cooked supper. I received, for posterity: chicken pot-pie & lemon/blueberry pudding, which were divine, as well as a tupperware-full of gumbo, YUM. :)

I also condone and encourage:
anything from her baby registry
gift cards from WalMart, Target, Babies R Us
a box of diapers in any size (seriously)
a "mommy's brag book" small photo album (or daddy's, or both) - purse sized

There aren't any real practical gifts listed here, and practical is great if you've had success with something. But these things really meant something to me and have been cherished.

Thursday Thirteen! #7

Things I daydream about:

1. You can probably guess the first thing.

2. Having a clean car. My darling hubby keeps saying he's going to wash my car "this weekend" (for the past 4 weekends)... but it keeps being SO FREAKING COLD OUT that he goes outside, shivers once, then turns right back around to say, "Damn! Not washing the car today." I'd go get it done somewhere, but I hate to step on his toes. (He's really good at detailing.)

3. What heaven is like. Is it, where you sit in a glass-bottomed room and watch your family and friends try to continue life without you? A la The Lovely Bones? Or is it more of a feeling, a flying, warm, everything-that-ever-was-good feeling, a la Embraced By the Light? What about Purgatory, is that for real? Are there Pearly Gates? I've skipped Mass a few (dozen) times: Do I have any hope of getting to heaven, anyway?

4. Great gifts to get my husband. Like currently I'm thinking for Xmas next year, since we won't be buying season tickets to Thrashers hockey, I'm going to seriously try to get him some All-Star game tickets. That would be COOL. Of course I probably won't remember. When the time comes to get him gifts, I panic and wait until the last minute and end up disappointed in myself.

5. What AJ's going to be like as a school-age kid, pre-teen, and teenager. I love to picture him as just sweet and innocent, an A-student who gets along with everyone, even the freaks and the geeks, (and is devoted to his mother, NATCH). But I am not stupid enough to think that it's going to be all roses and scholarships. So sometimes I giggle when I daydream about silly "But MO-OM!" arguments, acne, surly pre-teen boy with his mouth agape (because there is that stage where, you know, they just hang their mouths open), and all that fun stuff.

6. My Oscars speech. Or really, how fun it would be to get all dressed up and parade down the red carpet. Not that I'll ever be a celeb! But that's the whole point, it's a daydream.

7. Currently, I'm daydreaming about baby gifts. Which ones I appreciated most, and what to get my friend who's due in May! I LOVE buying baby gifts, don't you? :)

8. Destin, FL. Week-long beach vacation. Delicious.

9. Geography and Genealogy: In other words, what it would be like to live next door (or down the street from, or in the same town as) my parents. And/or my sister. And/or my friend "larry."

10. Baby #2. And names for such.

11. A new iBook and Mac OSX-point-four TIGER. Raawwwrr.

12. What might've been. This is maybe something people don't admit, but I do sometimes catch myself thinking about the road not taken. There was a fella in college, for instance, upon whom I had a large crush, and he me, but we never pursued that for some reason. (Mostly for the reason that I had A BOYFRIEND at the time, and I treated that relationship in all CAPS like it was THE most important love of my life. Which it turned out not to be.) I often wonder what would have happened if we'd taken a chance. Is that bad? I'm perfectly, one-hundred-and-ninety-nine-percent happy in my marriage, and my husband is absolutely the ONE for me. But I still wonder. I guess (hope) that's just human.

13. Being a pro blogger. It'd be mighty cool to get paid for typing the nothing that is in my head. I can hardly beleive that exists, actually. Dream job.

Stalling

A play in one act.

Scene: Present-day. Post-dinner, Dad's calmly washing dishes and Mom's tidying up in the family room. A young boy stares at the TV. Or alternately, throws small plastic letters onto the floor.

Mom: "AJ, let's turn off our James and the Giant Peach DVD and go up to take a BATH!" :) :) :) [symbol represents the level of Mom's effort to make something fun! or happy!]

AJ: "Yah, and foost let's put dat James an-a Diant Peat DFeeDee in-a its TASE."

"Honey, we don't need to put it in its case; let's just leave it in the DVD player [because God KNOWS we'll be hitting the Play button the MINUTE we are both in this room again tomorrow]..."

"Tase?" [stomps little feet]

"No, honey. Time for Bath."

[tries new tactic] "May I pease toon off da DFeeDee player, Mama?"

"[OH you ask so politely so as I cannot refuse!] OK, turn it off. Push that off button. Good job."

"I did a dood job wif dat, Da-da."

"Come on, AJ. Let's go up the stairs. Move it, monkey, move it." :)

"You tarry me????"

"No, buddy, you can walk like a big boy."

"You hafta hold my hand."

"Okay, I'm holding your hand, here we go."

(insert whine) "Mama, you TARRRRRRY me. [I'm so forLORN.]"

"Nope, walk like a big boy. Or Ah-ma gonna GET YOU!" :) :) :)

"Aaah! Mama! NO, don't GET ME. [stops walking, pouts] TARRY ME."

"I will carry you halfway, then you have to walk by yourself."

"Otay. I goin' all da way UP."

"Up, that's right. [All 28 pounds of you. My poor knees...] [winces]"

"Tan I listen to a HeeDee in my room?"

"We will turn on a CD while we get undressed for your BATH. [Remember, the bath? THE BAAAATH.]"

[runs off] "I put dis HeeDee in my BED? OH! Dere's Woody and Jesse!"

"No, honey, CDs don't go in your bed. PUT WOODY DOWN and come over here, let's get undressed."

"I wanna be a DOGGIE [pulls shirt over head, halfway]. Arf! Arf! [crawls away]

"Which CD do you want, AJ? Come on, pick one [already, and get over here]."

"Mmm, whit one I want? [quizzical. also adorable.] Hode me up an I will hee, Mama. Hode me UP."

[opens and shuts each case]

[begins to lose her mind] "HONEY. Just pick one or I am going to put in the Wiggles one."

"NOOOOO MAMA! I don' WANNNNN A Widdles one!!!"

[ohnolordjesus, please not this now.] Okay, how about Pooh Bear?"

"Pooh. An maybe... Mickey Mouse? TWOOOO HeeDees, Mama? ...*I* will put it in. [long emphasis on I]

[mama debates addressing the 2-CD request at all, decides against] "You do that. Okay. There we go. Push Play. Very good. NOW. Bath time!" :)

"I tan't hear dat. I need a toon it UP."

[fortheloveofpete] "Turn it up. Now that's it. Into the bathroom."

[...much strife over Mama's soliloquy, "To Pee or Not To Pee"...]

[AJ runs to bathtub] "*I* wanna do da bubbles. *I* do it."

[Mama sits wearily on tub's ledge] "Yes, honey, you do it."

[pours bubbles]

"Now I haffa rinse dat (the bottle cap)."

[mama sighs]

"Now I haffa dwyyyy dat. Where my Mr. Frog...?" [goes looking]

[mama crumbles to floor] "AJ the bath is getting full. Let's go."

"Maybe Woody wan to take a baf wif me, Mama? Tan I go get him an' put him in?"

[mama looks up from the floor] [Have we even moved from ten minutes ago? Are we progressing? No? Okay, good. I'll just lie here then...]

:) :) :).... :)


Curtain. (The story-reading in Act II was equally entertaining.)

Yay, the little ponies won!

So, did ya watch the Game? We went to our friends' house and it was a bona fide PARTY. I mean, look at these cutie patootie partying kids:

In JAMMIES! My favorite kind of kid, now that ya mention it.

Everyone was rooting for Peyton, to no one's surprise, since one of the aforementioned kids (the middle one) is NAMED Peyton. Not for Mr. Manning, but coincidentally this family is a bunch of Tennessee fans. They'd picked the name because it would work for either gender, and then realized, hey, this will also showcase our team! The ultimate bonus in baby-naming, yes? Okay, maybe not. Anyway, it was fun to be together, and besides that we ate pigs-in-a-blanket(s) -- help! grammatically clumsy phrase! -- with honey-mustard sauce and PUFFY CHEETOS. My heavens, did AJ love the Puffy Cheetos. I was reminded of a boy named Cartman, whom I used to watch way back in the late '90s. ("Screw you gahs, Ah'm goin' home!")

Oh, sorry. Tossing out "South Park" lines used to be funny. Right?

I thought the commercials were SUB-PAR. Not a one of 'em, in my opinion, deserves to be in the hall of fame of million-dollar SuperBowl ads. Except maybe the KFed one, in which he totally gets points from me for making fun of his own craptastic public image. ("You need a dollah? 'Cause I got a wholllle stack." HA!)

It turned out to be a late night so I am more tired today than I should be, even though I've had my requisite two cups of coffee. What's with that?

Krissy called it

I need to learn to keep my trap shut. Remember this?

AJ development log

Geez, do I sound like a downer!

I've been neglecting the important task of keeping logs on AJ's development here, lately. But my mom brought me a dusty 3-ring binder this weekend with handwritten details about mine and my sister's developments -- what would have been her mommy-blog, had there been such a thing in 1974. :) In it, I learned that my sister had a pretty bad ear infection in late 1976, and that I was crawling by 9 months. My pediatrician typed up a little report at every visit, which Mom saved, and he always typed, "If all goes well, return in another year." HA! I love that. "If all goes well."

So anyway, it made me want to keep notes. I guess when they hit 2-and-a-half, it isn't that they're doing NEW things so much anymore (although the ability to find "Caillou" On Demand by pushing several different buttons, all in the correct sequence, is certainly a NEW skill), they're just doing the same things FASTER and BETTER and more smoothly.

1. We now speak in long sentences, like this. "Can I get it mylelf? If lou hold me up I will get dat, Mama."

"Lou (you) may put the CD in Daddy's CD player and then I will push 'Start.'"

"Let go play in Polie's room, Mama. Come on, follow me in 'dere and we will get my ambimals out."

2. We can take off a shirt all by ourselves and can almost push pants down, too -- getting undressed! Fun times! Especially fun if you leave your shirt half-on, half-off on your head, with the sleeves hanging down like doggie ears. Woof, woof.

3. We're learning how to brush our teeth. Or, more to the point, how to spit. I even got some Dixie cups and the classic dispenser for his bathroom. So far, AJ takes a little drink of rinse water, shakes his head back and forth, then spits it out. But it's a start.

4. We use napkins at mealtimes. Sometimes multiple napkins, but hey, better than none! Until about 3 months ago, he was still calling it a "nanny." Now he can say the actual word if he chooses to pronounce all those sounds. (Sometimes I think he's just being lazy.) He's also using his fork and spoon much more easily, learning when to scoop and when to spear something. Also learning that WE DO NOT BANG OUR FORK, AJ.

5. We like Mac and Cheese! I lamented when he was a bit younger that he didn't like the big blue box. What kid doesn't like this stuff? Is he demented?? Answer: Hooray! We ARE related after all. Other favorite foods: cinnamon oatmeal, fish sticks, gummy snacks in any form or fashion, and PB&J.

6. We love to push buttons and run MACHINES. And by that I mean, CD players and DVD players. Cars or dump trucks? Meh. Could take 'em or leave 'em. But this kid definitely wants his MTV. He carries his 4 CDs from room to room; whichever one we're in, he wants to play the music in that stereo, right now. And then when it's done, put the CD back in its case. Oh, the cases! The cases are going to be the death A bit tiresome for me, but I'm glad he has an ear for tunes.

7. Two and a half means the aforementioned tantrums are going strong. This too shall pass this too shall pass this too shall pass...

Molars I guess.

Oh, people, my head is SO not in the game right now.

My head is still spinning on the floor of AJ's bedroom, where last night he had a mental breakdown that should possibly have been recorded for use in child psycho-analysis classrooms, it was that out of hand. Out of his mind. Out of body experience. He threw himself back and forth, scratched at his own face, kicking and punching me, and cried, cried, cried 'til MY heart actually broke into pieces and I cried, too. I know that he's TWO and can't control his emotions or verbalize what it means to just feel crappy for no apparent reason. We have used every technique we can think of. Timeout. Speak calmly. Distract, distract, distract. "No more movies." Hold him tight. Pop his butt when he blatantly disobeys. Nothing gets through. It's "Hold me," then, "NOOOOOOdon'tHOLDmeIdiin'tWANTthaaaat..." Inexplicable. After a quick screaming bath I was down on the floor with him while he thrashed around; I suddenly took his shoulders in my hands, and looked into his eyes.... they were not his happy, sweet soft doe-eyed brown ones that I know. They were from somewhere else. He was heaving with raspy "WAah, wah, wah" sobs, and I told him, "You're scaring mama. You're going to hurt yourself." And I think it was as bad as any parenting day can get. In the end his blankie, the one that always comforts, helped him to take a breath, and we shut off all the lights in the room and I just held him close and whispered, and he finally lost his battle with whatever demon seemed to be inside him. I have to describe it that way, because that is how it felt. That bad. I try to breathe deep about it and say, "He's two." But it feels much, much heavier than that this morning.

It was maybe a tougher weekend than we would have liked. And yet, I really, really wish I were with him right now in case he needs me.

Thursday 13 number 6

Thirteen Things about This Ca-Razy Week Or: "Good GraciousSakesAlive I Am Tired." 1. Monday AJ woke up with fever of 102.7, so despite having stayed up late to bake a yummy Chocolate Ribbon Bundt Cake in time for our January office birthday party, I stayed home. (Sent the cake with Husband.) 2. Monday night I asked Husband to keep the baby monitor on his side of the bed since I had to leave for the airport before dawn the next morning. But I heard a teensy sick-baby sound at 1:47am, and after checking on him, didn't go back to sleep until at least 3:15. This mother's super-sonic hearing-thing sometimes amazes me. And what's with the father's lack thereof? I even turned the volume UP on that stupid monitor! 3. The alarm I had set (for 5:00pm, it turns out) didn't chime on Tuesday morning. Something in me jerked, and my arm flopped over and knocked into the headboard, which is what woke me exactly at 5:00am. Weird. 4. I chose to walk to Terminal A instead of riding the train in Atlanta's airport. To get my exercise, you know. At the top of the stairs I learned Gate 32 was ALL the way at the end of the hall, so I got to walk another half mile or so. Bully for me, and my feet hurt goshdangit. 5. My laptop is entirely too heavy to lug around airports. When are they going to make a REAL feather-weight one? 6. We met with close to seventy people, in thirty-minute increments, over the course of our 2-day visit. And can I just share with you? People are funny. Not so much ha-ha. 7. College cafeteria food, even when it's decent, is just never all that fantastic. 8. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the dryer finally died its impending death. Husband was planning to wash the sofa cushion cover, which had been puked upon by AJ when he was sick Monday. That cover remains Febreezed all to heck, but unwashed. Eew. 9. Our 8:00pm return flight was slightly delayed. Go figure. 10. My dear parents are driving up tonight, bearing furniture that is meaningful to me from my Grandmother's home. I am anxious to curl up in my Mommy's arms and let her pet me and make it all better. 11. Mom, Dad? The house is a wreck and the couch smells like puke. 12. I haven't worked out in a week, even though I took my shoes on my trip for use in the hotel Fitness Centeryeahright. My knees hurt because of not exercising. I am officially old. 13. I (am a VERY good whiner, aren't I? And I) believe I am going to drink some quality beer on Friday night. :) Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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From the road

I think I could fill an entire notebook with my thoughts about traveling for business, here, for the first time since AJ was born. But I'll only bore you with the three topmost, distilled in my brain while I was taking a hot shower after a day that started 5:07am (alarm didn't go off, but something startled me awake, thank goodness).

1. There are nice people everywhere. One of the women we're meeting with announced she's 33, so I know she's in my peer-level-group-thingy, and she completely reminds me of one of my closest friends, Melissa. It's so comforting to have people like that when you're on a trip you'd rather not be on. (which is ANY business trip, don't you think?) She has the cutest round little East Carolina southern accent, and I'm thinking, they're picturing me as some "agency" person from big-city Atlanta, but really? I grew up surrounded by the love of people with a similar accent (West Texas). Kind, good simple people, just like here in Nowhere, NC (their words, not mine). My boss? Nowhere, AL. We're the same, all of us.

2. The Chicken Marsala was not the right dinner choice. I'd give it a C-plus. The chocolate mousse pie? Definitely the right choice.

3. Why am I in this hotel bathroom on a business trip shaving my legs, really? In a word, motherhood. Perpetuating the species. See, back when women started liberating ourselves and all that, getting ourselves careers... they also decided they should shave their legs in an attempt to woo the lovers/husbands with soft, silky skin, right? Wooing. For the purpose of what? (whispers) s-e-x. For the purpose of what? Besides it being all kinds of fun of course? Well, Babies. The biological, instinctive reason. Motherhood. Liberation allowed us to do all this, including shaving and cutting our hair short, but for what purpose? The same purpose women've always had. Survival of the species. (Did anyone follow that? I'm not sure even I did.)

Clearly, I need to go to bed.

A Musical! In Prime-Time!

Scrubs is without a doubt, one of my favorite shows, and last night it blew me away with its brand-new episode:

A MUSICAL.

Yes, I was a musical-theater junkie in high school. But who knew that all of these actors could actually SING? Even Dr. Cox, which was a shocker. (Not that I know anything about their backgrounds, I'm not that kind of uber-fan.) The music and lyrics were evidently written by the same folks who did "Avenue Q," which I'd never heard of until today, but, hello, a Tony winner? I'm a believer already.

My favorite part was, right before the first commercial, they ended with JD (Zach Braff) closing a blue hospital curtain kind-of in slow-motion. Get it? Curtain? Act One? BRILLIANT. (When I said that to hubby, he called me a Nerd.)

Here, take a look at this trailer. The quality's not great but you'll see what I mean.



(To top that off, The Office and 30 Rock were high-larious last night, too. Man, I love good TV!)

I am feeling :~|

So, to explain. Monday, I was told that I would be in North Carolina next week, for work. I was told, not politely asked could I please plan on this trip as part of my schedule. It felt a little like being suddenly handed a heavy, oversized box as the other person bends down to tie his shoe. Kind-of poorly executed, awkward. But the boss gets to do what he wants I suppose. It's happening a lot lately, I'm getting scheduled for conference calls or meetings without warning. I don't appreciate it.

It isn't that this particular one-night trip is a huge deal. But it is a shock to my system when I haven't business-traveled in, ohsay approximately 30 months. Since the day AJ was born, perhaps. Actually the company has very nicely let me skate by without travel, and I'm grateful. Especially to you, sdw. But I suppose it IS part of the job description: "occasional travel," and it's time for me to return fully to that responsibility.

I'm coming to terms with it. Maybe not in the way you think I mean. At any rate, next Tuesday night I will be staying at a Holiday Inn Express and making my very own coffee on the bathroom vanity, and I'm thinking that, plus an expense-account dinner, might help me feel better about it all. Might.

Wish I'd thought of this!

Man, the Internet is so cool. While everyone else was busy making resolutions to GET SKINNY, Beth was busy making resolutions to Do Good. Now, the imperative phrase "Do Good" speaks to me on a special level (Melessa! wink!), but it's so simple and kind and perfect that everyone should say it to themselves at least few times a day. Do good. Just, hey: do good.

Beth wants, specifically, to do good for kids, and she was inclined to ask everyone else to make this little bitty change in their lives, too. Now it's grown and... oh, just go over there and read this. Then think about what little thing you could do. I don't feel like I have a ton of extra cash floating around, but I did send some cards to some sick kids, and man, was it fun to draw little stick-figure cheerleaders on them and write, "way to go! I'm rooting for you! woo hoo!" in little bitty block letters. Made me feel really good, and hopefully it will do the same for them.

p.s. Somegeek, please explain to me how to make the badge over there to the right be a link. I can't get around blogger's widget tags to add the href code. Rrrrrrr! A programmer I am not.

Sunny, with a chance of sunshine

This weekend was gorgeous in Georgia ("Joe-Juh," AJ says). Seventy degrees or more, and nothing but sun in my neighborhood. Besides that, it was a tantrum-free zone: AJ managed to stay in his happiest mood, three days running. A miracle! He sat with us during dinner. He ran around the house and the yard, singing at the top of his lungs sometimes, playing his heart out. He entertained himself with his letters (fridge magnets), or colors and a coloring book, or Mr. Potato Head. If he did something we asked him not to and we responded, he accepted the "punishments" (No Blue's Clues, no story before bed, no dessert, that kind of thing). He was a dream.

Saturday was a lazy one. We watched two hawks playing in our backyard trees (likely pilfering from other birds' nests). We played a bit of basketball on the driveway. We ate lunch on the back deck, and talk-talk-talked all the way through it. While AJ napped, I played with my wedding china (re-organizing after Christmas), a hobby I adore. AJ had Batman-shaped Chicken Noodle soup for dinner, and slurped it all down. Then Mommy got to go out! A girlfriend and I went to dinner and saw "The Queen." I only fell asleep twice, and thankfully I don't think anyone noticed. Hey, the movie started at 9:50pm. WAY past this little girl's bedtime. The parts I did see were fantastic -- a telescope into the life of the royals. Helen Mirren is a wonder. I have loved everything I've seen her in.

Sunday we took the dog on a lovely walk, and then took a trip to Lowe's. Bought some new shelving for AJ's room (and put it together, whee!), so we could retire the Jenny Lind changing table. My big boy needs room to PLAY in his own space, and now he has it. We're convinced that toys will be dumped OUT of the trendy storage baskets, instead of stored IN -- that's the fun of baskets, I guess, at age 2 -- but maybe it'll be easier to clean up after him. Next steps in this "Growing Up" project: 1) the Potty Training and 2) the crib-to-bed transition. Not that we HAVE to, mind you. I'll keep him in that crib as long as possible. :) And I know, I know, I shouldn't be in a hurry to potty train him necessarily. Three. That's my goal. Poops on the potty by three. I need a strategy, though. He's not responding to our M&Ms offerings anymore. There will probably have to be a pants-free week or weekend in his future.

...sorry, where was I?

Last night we whipped up a quick Shrimp Fra Diavolo with a salad and it was delicious. Refreshing. Filling. Then we made fun of watched Jack Bauer return to glory... for 2 hours. And it's only half finished! More Kiefer Sutherland on tap tonight, and I am *just fine* with that!

I couldn't have asked for a nicer weekend. There was nothing special about it. But it was perfection.

Crowning glory

My tresses had gotten fairly long, so this is
a rather startling change:


AJ's, yesterday, was a
rather startling hat-head: