Over the hills and thru the woods, puking all the way...

Well, that's how this story begins. This has been the week of Dear Husband's major back surgery and what a week it's been. This will be a trilogy blog entry since there are several stories to tell.

We chose a doctor from Napa. The closest hospital, to our home, that the surgery could be done at, was St. Helena Hospital. We had to go over to the hospital on Thursday for a pre-op appointment to make sure Dear Husband was healthy enough to go under the knife. An EKG, blood tests, urine test, etc. were planned. We decided to take Pirate with us, since we didn't have childcare for him. We traveled over Mark West Springs Rd and Pirate began to complain about being hot. Ah oh! He has a history of getting carsick, so panic began. We did all we could to prevent the vomit. We made it down the hill and onto Hwy 29, headed toward St. Helena. I, of course, opened my big mouth and said, "whew.. he didn't puke. That was a close call" Not 30 seconds after the statement came out of my mouth, Pirate puked and puked all over himself, the car seat, and the back of the driver's seat. It was 8:30 in the morning. We had no change of clothes or towels. (I know, we should know better. Shame on us)

After trying to clean Pirate's face with a baby wipe on the shoulder of the road, while commute traffic whizzing by... we headed on. We knew that Pirate couldn't enter the actual hospital since the H1N1 issue is going on. No children under the age of 16 allowed in the hospital. We were told that Pirate could come to the Pre-Admissions Office though. We arrived and parked the car. We took Pirate's shirt off and put on his sweatshirt that avoided to the puke. Into the building we go with our smelly little boy, who was being such a BIG BOY! (we were so proud of him) I had Dear Husband go up to the 3rd floor, just to be sure Pirate was still invited. Nope! We rec'd miss information. Him and I had to sit in the waiting room chairs at the entrance of the hospital while Dear Husband went ahead with his appointment.

What was I going to do to entertain a 2-year old covered in vomit for an hour? I pulled out my secret 'bag of tricks'... aka 'my purse' and started letting Pirate play with anything that occupied him. Our hour wait for Dear Husband flew by and before I knew it, Dear Husband was coming down in the elevator to meet up with us.

I must have had my guardian angel sitting on my shoulder or my little Pirate turned into an angel for an hour. Whatever it was, I am eternally grateful.

If you can't go Organic, at least try this

I don't think most family and friends realize that our house went "Organic' shortly after Pirate's birth. We only buy organic milk. It is very expensive but we decided that certain things that the kids eat and drink all the time, we would commit to buying organic. This also includes juice, crackers and snacks, and fruits and veggies. It doesn't mean that we don't feed them junk food or processed food because we do that too! Since the kids don't really eat any meat, we haven't committed to organic meat just yet. It is great that Costco and other retailers are really beginning to offer the organic variety now. Since we can't always buy organic fruits and veggies, I have found a fabulous recipe for fruit and veggie cleaner to counteract all the chemicals that is sprayed on our produce before it makes it into our homes.

Here's the list of the "Dirty Dozen". The 12 produce items that you should buy organic. We aren't always that good in our house. Depending on finances, hot sale items, and the store we are at determines if it's organic or not.

http://www.greenthinkers.org/blog/2006/06/organic_dirty_dozen.html

I do clean all our fruit and veggies with the following. I got the recipe from the book, Gorgeously Green by Sophie Uliano. My luck, I will get hit with some copyright crime for reprinting it but it was posted on Oprah's website too!

Ingredients:

1 cup of water

1 cup distilled white vinegar

1 Tbsp. baking soda

20 drops of grapefruit seed extract (available at local health food store)

Combine all ingredients in a large container. Then transfer to a spray bottle with a pump. (Don't mix ingredients right in spray bottle. You will have a science experiment, just like you did in the 5th grade - trust me)

Spray on produce and rinse thoroughly after 5 to 10 minutes.

Just much to do, too little time

I have to admit that the blog has been the least of my priorities as of lately and my biggest guilt. I love to write this blog, I just haven't found the time. I go to bed each night with such guilt that I didn't have the time to add a new entry. I have been too busy catching cats, dealing with plumbers, wrangling a two year old and negotiating outfits with Princess. Then there is Christmas and Dear Husband's back surgery next week. I think my plate is full and spilling over. Oh, and because Dear Husband and my therapist told me I need to start going to the gym to burn off some stress, I am on my 5th week of my 9-week running program. It's kicking my butt yet the butt isn't disappearing.

Though we have been scrambling around trying to get all our Christmas shopping done before the surgery (Dec. 18th), I haven't grasped the holiday spirit just yet. As we get closer to the surgery, I am beginning to get stressed about the severity of the surgery along with the responsibilities that fall on me as of Dec. 18th. I am going to temporarily become a single mom with two small kids and a husband that is useless for the unforeseen future, while he recovers.

I need to find and bring the holiday cheer into our house along with playing Santa Claus on the 24th. You can call me bah-humbug but I did veto a big tree this year. Could you imagine me dealing with the two kids, husband is upstairs in bed after surgery and the two darn indoor cats have knocked over the tree ? (its a guarantee they would to) I had to make the tough decision to go without this year. We have an itty-bitty tree that I will put out instead. When the cats knock it over, at least I will be able to pick it up myself and I won't have water leaking into our laminate flooring.

To Catch a Cat....

We have been battling a feral cat issue in our yard and neighborhood for years. I have mentioned it before in past blog entries. I am ecstatic to announce that we think we have finally capped the issue. We have caught the last known female that was not fixed. She had two litters this past summer that we had to catch and find home for. A total of 5 kittens that we found. This cat, who we call Beauty, has been dodging us for well over one year and has caused a lot of stress in our house. We began trying to trap her last summer and were successful one time until Dear Husband took pity on her and 'dumped' her from the the cat trap to a dog crate so she would be more comfortable for the evening, while she waited to be taken to a spay clinic. Needless to say, Beauty got away and Dear Husband ended up in Urgent Care with a cat bite. Since that day, we have never been able to get her in the cat trap. We have caught everything else in our neighborhood, including a 20lb. possum just last week. In desperation a few days ago, I called Forgotten Felines of Sonoma County to get their advice. They suggested I use a 'Drop Cage' which they were willing to loan me. They said that if we screwed this up, the hopes of every catching her were slim.

Last night I left Dear Husband in charge of the trapping while I took Princess and Pirate out for a few hours. Dear Husband not only was able to trap Beauty but trapped two of the other ferals at the same time. We had been told this might happen and were given instructions on how to just get Beauty in the portable cat trap. I was sweating bullets and stressed out to the max! If this failed, we were screwed. I am happy to say that we successfully transferred Beauty and settled her down in our garage for the night while we figuered out what to do next. I hardly slept a wink last night, knowing that if we didn't find a vet today to spay her... we would most likely have to take her to the animal shelter. She is very wild so she has no chance of being adopted. I called our vet first thing this morning and they were happy to help. Beauty is currently being spayed as I type this email. She will be put back in her cat trap right after surgery so she awakes in the trap. I will pick her up tomorrow morning and release her back into our neighborhood. Whoo Hoo! I am a very happy camper today. Have we finally conquered the ever-expanding feral cat issue in our neighborhood? No thanks to our neighbors either. Nobody helped us financially or physically to resolve this issue.

Please Spay and Neuter your cats, no matter if they are indoors or outdoor cats.

One Tall Tale

I have to share a tidbit of my life yesterday. It is just a sampling of what I have to work with everyday.

I had been eyeballing a new cheap haircutting place that was opening yesterday. Princess needed a trim and I just couldn't bring my self to spend $18.00 + tip to a 10 minute haircut. I figured the new haircut place might have a grand opening deal so I called them in the morning. They didn't have a opening deal but the kids haircuts were only $13.00. I couldn't beat that! So off Princess and I went to get her hair cut. We left Dear Husband and Pirate at home napping. The haircut didn't take long (will be going there again too!) so we decided to run over to Kohl's to make a quick exchange on a present for Pirate for Christmas. [That's a whole other blog entry: trying to Christmas shop when you always have at least one kid tagging along]

We didn't even get out of the parking lot into the store and my phone rings. It's Dear Husband in the background of a screaming Pirate. He is trying to get me to calm Pirate down over the phone. Yeah right! Since this has been happening a lot lately, I know the drill.... get home as quickly as possible. More for Dear Husband, not Pirate. Dear Husband is not able to deal with the kids when they cry and tantrum for Mommy so I get these wonderful phone calls while I am trying to get something down by myself or be by myself.

Princess and I rush home and as soon as I walk in Pirate calms down. Dear Husband doesn't even look at me, as if I did something wrong! He tells me Pirate has been like that since Dear Husband went and got him out of the crib after nap. Okay, I was going along with the story for a few minutes and then I discovered the truth. Dear Husband made the slight comment that he was so out of it during his nap (Must be nice!!!), that he slept through the phone ringing. Hummm.. made me start thinking. Pirate had been probably playing in his crib when he woke up and nicely calling out over the baby monitor that he wanted out of his crib. Dear Husband was so crashed he didn't hear Pirate until Pirate became outraged and scared that no one was coming. How long did it really take, I wonder? By the time Dear Husband staggered into the room with only one eye open, Pirate was pissed and Daddy was the last person he wanted to see. Can't I say I blame him. Oh, the joys of motherhood and wifehood!

Help! I am being held hostage......by a 2 year old!

My dear friend Angela called me a week ago to make sure I was okay since I hadn't blogged in awhile.(We are currently playing phone tag, I'm it!) I know this statement is overused but I have been 'so busy', mostly by a my sweet little Pirate who is 2. I like to say that he is holding me as a hostage. While I love spending time with him, once in awhile I would like a break and I am just not getting any these days. I am going to the gym at least 5 times a week now, for 1 1/2 hours in the morning just to get some peace and quiet. Pirate LOVES the kids area at our gym. I am sure your thought is... 'wow, she must be in great shape now'. I can do pull ups and run for quite a distance and a bit toner but you probably won't notice anything different with me. Since I am now putting myself 'first' as I am always told I need to do, the time I am taking at the gym is just setting me back on all the other things I need to do during the day. Another challenge I am facing with my little guy (and Princess, the two days she isn't at school) is that I am not able to hold any type of phone conversation. It is further isolating me. It really sucks.

As I have mentioned in previous blog entries, being a stay-at-home is great but can be tough if you don't get some kind of daily break.

Halloween

Princess was Cinderella at her Preschool Halloween parade and party. I love this picture because the little boy in the picture is Princess' crush, Jakey. She is IN LOVE with him. I love the look on her face. I know she is thinking, "come on Mom, you are embarrassing me in front of Jakey" He is clueless on how Princess feels.

For Trick or Treat, Princess decided to model her Sleeping Beauty costume and Pirate was a Pirate, of course. The vest came off within seconds of this picture being taken and the hat was put on his head at each front door as the doorbell was being rung. We didn't trick or treat for long. Princess had trick or treated during her Preschool parade the day before and was a bit burnt on the concept by this point. Pirate loved it and would have kept going if we let him. He had major tears when we had to take the bucket of loot out of his hands at the end of the night.

Happy Birthday Pirate!

My sweet little Pirate turned 2 the day before Halloween! He received a pirate hat & vest as a gift. How perfect! Pirate didn't really get what was going on at first. He is one that loves a party so he was happy when all his family started arriving at our house for dinner. I don't think he realized everyone was gathered for dinner for him until present and cake time. He began opening presents and became so fixated on the first toy that we had to egg him on to open the next present. Then he became fixated on the next toy and so on. Princess began opening the gifts for him to speed things along. She also had an ulterior motive. She was VERY jealous and envious of one of Pirates' gifts from us. She knew in advance about the gift and had already put it in her head that it was hers. It is a little animal carrier with dodads in it such as a little doggie, doggie dish, play food,etc. That one gift has caused so much grief between Princess and I. She has hogged it all weekend. Dear Pirate saw how attached Princess was and just let her pretty much take over the gift. I was the one that kept on reminding her that it was Caden's and he needed to be able to play with it once in awhile. Many tears over the damn doggie carrier this weekend. I told her she can put it on her Christmas list if she loved it that bad. (oh, how I am looking forward to Christmas- not!)

When it was time for cake, we put Pirate in front of his Backyardigans themed cake and luckily my brother had quick reflexes because little Pirate was getting tired and saw the Backyardigans figurines on the cake and lunged to rip them all off. We say 'Happy Birthday' so fast while he kept on trying to demolish the cake. I blew out his candles and said a little wish for him. He ate cake and then off to bed for the little Pirate!!

Tender Moments

Pirate is turning 2 years old in 2 days but still loves to be rocked to sleep at night. If I am home, he insists that I rock him & not his daddy. I just love this time with him. He typically isn't the cuddlies little boy during the day because he is always movin' and grovin' and in his sister's business but when night comes... he is a little teddy bear.

We have a little routine at night for him which includes a playing a certain cd. Princess and Pirate have both been listening, at nap and bedtime, to the same cd since their births. I calculate I have heard the cd over 2,500 times and I still enjoy it.

Pirate is an excellent sleeper. I have been blessed with two kids that love to sleep through the night. On the rare occasion that he wakes and needs me to rock him, I jump out of bed to see him. Since it is so rare, it's not a chore for me but a wonderful and snuggly time with him. I love how he tucks his head under my chin and gets as close to me as possible. He never falls asleeps in my arms, he always motions to me to put him in his crib. I then slip out of his room, while the cd music is drifting over the baby moniter and fall back to sleep myself.

The picture above is how Pirate sleeps every night. He has been doing this since birth. I can't imagine it is too comfortable.

Best trick in the book, so far....

We struggle daily to get Princess to 'clean up' her toys and such after she is done playing with them. I typically insist clean up takes place when she moves from one activity downstairs to another upstairs or vise versa, when we leave the house, or bedtime. I try my best to ignore her room and just let it be her crazy, messy space if that is what she choses. It's hard for me but I practice resistance each and every day. The one thing I insist is her bed be made every day. I only insist the her room gets clean when it has been days of the mess and I can't walk in there anymore.

We have learned from the teachers at school that Rylan typically leads and organizes 'clean up' at school with the other kids. Now that she has been outed by the teachers, I realize her laziness at home. A fellow mom shared with me that she will get out a garbage bag and start throwing toys in the bag if her girls don't clean up when told. She has gone to the extent of actually throwing them [toys, not kids] in the garbage. (I haven't got to that point yet) I tried this trick it home and HOLY MOLY!!! I can't explain how quickly my living room got cleaned up. I love this trick and have been using it all week. I get as far as getting out the trash bag and Princess jumps to attention and starts cleaning while telling me to put the garbage bag away. Love it!

Good Ole' San Francisco

Princess and I went on a Mommy/Daughter getaway this past weekend to San Francisco. We had a blast! This is the second trip we have taken. When Pirate is a bit older, he will get to go on trip alone with me too.

We got a room in Fisherman's Wharf at a nice little hotel with a king size bed. I was anxiously waiting to go to bed so I could spread out and actually finally have some room when I sleep without Dear Husband and 2 cats. Wishful thinking! Princess hogged the bed, along with her 8 sleeping buddies she brought along on the trip (Yes, we did count them because I wanted to be sure we knew how many to look for at the end of the trip) I clung to the edge of the bed all night and listened to Princess grind her teeth. During my sleeplessness, I began to rationaloze what is worse, Husband's snoring or Princess' teeth grinding. Dear Husband lost! Princess is much more cuddly and cute so I can deal with the teeth grinding.

We went to dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. Princess wasn't too thrilled with the stampede of animals sounds so we sat in the fishtank room and admired the fish. The hightlight of the trip for her was the gift store at the restaurant. She has already picked out the next two items she will purchase on her next two visits. She suggested that we get a babysitter for Pirate and bring Daddy to the Rainforest Cafe for his birthday. I was so proud of her thoughful planning but later realized she had alterior motives... to get the next item on her wish list at the gift store..

We took a cable car from Aquatic Park to Market Street and then another back to Bay Street. That was my favorite part of the trip. The sun was setting and Princess was so into all that we were seeing.

The next morning, we headed over to Hyde Pier to tour the Balclutha ship and Eureka ferry. I have good memories of visiting the Balclutha, several times, when I was a kid on field trips with school. Princess was a bit apprehensive about going down below on the ship but soon got over herself and enjoyed the visit. I am still amazed that the captain of the ship had his wife on board too and she gave birth to their child on the ship somewhere out on the Atlantic by India. The toddler stayed on the ship for the first few years of her life. I think life is tough living in our tiny little house, I couldn't having my baby on a ship in the middle of the ocean, teaching it to walk and protecting it from pirates and turbulent seas. Motherhood in any era is difficult and has it's challenges. (Shoot.. that could be a whole seperate blog post)

Princess soon grew homesick for her dad and brother and was happy that we were heading home. She and I had a great time and we look forward to our next trip.. whereever it might take us.

Little room for air

Finally able to find a few minutes to blog tonight. It has been tough for me lately. I just don't find the time. Blogging has become a type of therapy and outlet for me. I love writing and reflecting on my day or a thought or a cute story. So, when I am not blogging you must know I am buried to my ears in life. The idea of not having 15 minutes to blog a day has really highlighted to me that I never take the time or am given the time to breath on my own, all by myself. I am smothered from the minute I wake up until the last person in my house has gone to sleep. Then I begin to emerge and regroup. This is typically at 10pm.

I can now say that I understand fully the issues that stay-at-home moms have with losing themselves into the people they love. I am trying to catch myself from that before it is too late. Let me tell you, it is tough and not nearly as easy as people say. I was told to go to the gym and burn off the stress. I do that now every weekday. It is nice and I am getting great exercise yet I am still not being given the chance to breath. Dropping Pirate off at the Kid's Gym and walking over to a cardio machine and exercising for an hour does not help me with the things in life that are burying me... keeping in touch with friends, looking for a job, paying my bills, peace and quiet at a decent hour, etc. It's actually setting me back on my available time.

I need to start getting on the bandwagon of finding a job now that the economy is starting to turn upward yet I am struggling with finding the time to do so. It is tough to hold a business conversation when a 2 year old is crying in the background or the 4 year old is wondering who I am talking to and when I will be off the phone. It is tough to go from wearing the mommy hat one minute to the professional hat the next minute and then back to the mommy hat at a moments notice.

In looking at the calendar today, I realized I have not been kid-free since Oct. 3rd. On that day I ran a few errands all on my own and then received a phone call after about two hours wondering if I was going to be home soon. I went from wearing the 'Me' hat to the 'Mommy' hat as quick as my phone can sing Kid Rock's All Summer Long. October 3rd. was 17 days ago. I have not been out of a 50 foot range of a child ever since. I need a little room for air!

Keep your germs to yourself

Today I took the kids to get their H1N1 (swine flu) vaccination. Princess got her's but Pirate wasn't able to get one because he's not 2 years old yet. Apparently they don't have a vaccination for the babies yet. The (nasal) shot clinic told me I could bring Pirate back in a few weeks when he is actually 2. I guess they need to be that rigid but I don't see what difference two weeks will make. Oh well... we need to go back anyways because the kids need two doses of the vaccination this year.

I am still trying to figure out who is paying for these vaccinations because at our clinic today through Sutter Medical Group, they didn't take any insurance information or even double-check that we were a patient of a doctor within the Sutter Group. I asked if I needed to pay a co-pay and was told "nope". Humm.... I am sure a bill will catch up to me at some point. Nothing is free these days.

Shoot, who knows when I will get my H1N1 shot. I'm still waiting to get my seasonal flu shot. I had an appointment with my doctor two weeks ago and they canceled because they ran out of the seasonal flu shots. They have more on order but have yet to receive their shipment. I call every few days and they don't have any type of ETA. I know my age group is last on the list to receive the H1N1. I just don't want to get sick like I did a few weeks ago. Not only does it suck to be sick, it sucks to have to take care of two little kids when you are sick.

Ghost of Whitefield

If you don't believe in ghosts or things of that nature, read no further, you won't be interested in this blog post.

A month ago I visited New Hampshire and shared in my blog post on Sept. 20, 2009 our visit to the former home of my maternal great-grandmother, Mary Day Poore Osborne. I am the 5th generation 'Day' and Princess is the 6th generation. http://redherringreality.blogspot.com/2009/09/home-sweet-home.html

The house has effected my mom, brother, and I all to different degrees since we have arrived home in California. For my mom and I, we can't get the house off our mind. There is some yearning for the house that neither she or I have ever felt before about something. We have both independently, without knowing the other was doing the same thing, made attempts to find out more about the current owners of the house. We have hit a dead end for the time being because we don't know the exact street address of the home since it resides on a remote, rural road. Something is pulling us to this house and we don't know what it is. We have both been to the house since it was sold out of the family. I saw the house in 1988 and my mom saw it in 2005. Neither visit stirred the emotions we have now.

On top of everything, my brother took a picture of the house that has created some odd things since returning to California. As I mentioned in my previous blog entry, we were all a bit uneasy standing in front of the house on the day we visited it. It felt like someone was watching us. There were no signs of anyone living in the home, though there was some furniture in the house. The electric meter was not spinning yet the front door was ajar. We had the major creeps and we didn't know why.

My brother took this picture of the house. He says that if you zoom in on the downstairs left window to the right of the formal front door (not the door on the porch) there is an odd figure that appears in the window while in zoom. It is a bit eerie and you can make out eyes, nose & mouth. My mom was a skeptic too but she did zoom in on the picture finally and swears there is a figure of something standing back a bit in the window, like not wanting to be seen. The creepy thing about this picture is that when my mom went to print the zoomed picture, her computer and printer completely locked up and it took her over an hour to get it sorted out. She has not attempted to print the picture again.

Spooky.....

Pumpkin Patch

We took the kids to the Pumpkin Patch today. Do pumpkin patches actually grow their own pumpkins anymore? The one we chose to go to didn't, though it was on a farm and they made it look like they had grown the pumpkins. The kids had fun, of course.

Dear Husband and I were taken back by nickle and diming that took place on the patrons of the pumpkin patch. They had a jumpy jump set up, which cost $2.00 per kid for 5 minutes. Okay, we didn't think that was too bad since we doubt they keep a jumpy jump in their barn and, most likely, had to rent it. Also, the teenage boy manning the jumpy jump didn't seem to have a stopwatch for the 5 minute limit.

The kicker was the tractor rides that they charged for.... $4.00 per person or $10.00 for 3 people. Come on! That's ridiculous yet it gets even worse. Dear Husband noticed that the tractor had been loaned to the pumpkin patch as advertisement. The tractor was brand-spanking new (even I was impressed) and there was an advertisement for the local New Holland distributor on the tractor. Seriously... that is highway robbery for a tractor ride.

What has happened? I know times are tough and everyone is out to make a buck but still....

In the moment

One of the best inventions ever, for me, is the DVR. We are able to record and keep the whole series of Backyardigans for Pirate, Angelina Ballerina can be played whenever Princess is feeling her Angelina fix. Dear Husband can watch and rewatch a Raider game and I get to watch Oprah, after the kids go to sleep.

I am a few days backed up on watching my recorded Oprahs' but watched one today that aired earlier in the week. The show began about the horrible murder that took place in Florida and left 9 adopted special needs kids without their parents. The second segment was about a husband and wife that were in a fiery plane crash and survived. The segment mostly focused on the challenges of the mother now that she recovers and caring for her 4 children. That particular segment made such an effect on me. The Oprah show did a brilliant experiment and sent a frazzled stay-at-home home to spend the day with this burned mother. What an eye-opener for the visiting mom and me! The lesson to be learned is 'live in the moment' with your children. Sometimes I know we all, including me, get carried away with the chores & errands, email and the silly little time wasters in life. This show reminded me that our time with our children is a blessing and goes very quickly and we will never get it back.

I can't wait for Pirate to wake up from his nap today and pick Princess up from school so that I can practice living in the moment with them. Of course life does require dinner to be made, etc. but I plan on beginning to shift my focus and bring myself into the moment as much as possible with the kids.

Reconnections

The past few months has been quite a ride into my past, and it's been a great ride!

It started with my best friend from kindergarten thru second grade reaching out to me on Facebook. She moved away and out of my life just at a time that we could have really used the support of each other at the age of 7. We were going through similar life experiences that we had no clue we shared. It was so great to share pictures with her and catch up. I feel like I have gained a friend back that I hadn't realized I missed for so many years.

I took my trip to New Hampshire last month which was a trip down memory lane but also opened up some real "what ifs" for me. I am still trying to process them all and don't know where they will take me but am enjoying the spark that was lit inside of me. Only time will tell...

This past weekend, my former step mom found me on Facebook. She and my father divorced when I was 17 years old and she kinda just disappeared from our lives. Not her fault, I was 17 and didn't know how to maintain a relationship without relying on my dad to facilitate it (which he didn't). It's been 22 years since the divorce and I am so happy to hear from her. I truly think that we won't lose touch again. It feels good to know that someone still thinks about you after all these years and reaches out to reestablish a connection.

Curious George

Hummm... Which one is my child??

Parenting a 2-year old boy is a completely different parenting handbook than a girl at the same age. I didn't get an owner's manual for either child upon leaving the hospital after their births. It's amazing that I received a 100 page instruction manual for my brand-new printer I just purchased but zippo, nothing, for a real live baby.

My little Curious George is all boy! Right down to climbing, hitting, pushing, tantrums, not sharing, and wanting to be a mommy's boy. We love him but Dear Husband and I feel like this is the first time we have been down this road. Princess was a breeze child. If she had been like her brother, she would have been an only child. We are doing all the classic things that we shouldn't be doing. Super Nanny would be ripping us apart if we dared ask for her advice.

I was trimming Princess' hair the other night while Pirate was watching. The thought actually crossed my mind that I shouldn't be demostrating how to cut hair with scicssors right in front of him. He will show me sometime in the future that he saw me cut hair, and that he can do it too. Unfortunately, I am sure it will be after he is all done creating his masterpeice.

But isn't he cute???

One sick dog

Yesterday morning I woke up sick as a dog, fever and all. I was putting on as many clothes as possible to stay warm. Even little Pirate came up to me and touched my skin and said "hot". It was truly a miserable day. Dear Husband went off to work (happily, I am sure) and left me home with two kids who had no sympathy for my condition. Princess was scheduled to go to Preschool yet I told her she could stay home. I didn't tell her that Mommy had selfish reasons as to why she could stay home. First one being, then I didn't have to get out of my pajamas and brush my hair and teeth to drive her and walk her into preschool. I was so out of it, I am sure I should not have been driving a motor vehicle anyway. The second selfish reason was that she could play with Pirate and I could try to just lay on the couch.

The kids were good for the most part. I had to break up a few squabbles. We watched way too much kids television. Luckily I was so feverish that I could stand watching Backyardigans for the 6th time in a row. When Pirate's nap time came, I told Princess that I was taking a nap too. She was down with that and let me get all settled into bed and asleep and then she decided she needed my help with something. I never fell asleep again yet she did, just as Pirate was waking up from his nap. I got jipped!! (gosh, is that even a real word or just bad slang?)

Trying to be the noble one and keep my germs to myself as much as possible, I decided to sleep on the couch last night. Note to self for the future: Never disclose to Princess in advance, of my plans to sleep on the couch, because she will take up residence in our bed, on my side, right away. I don't think I really slept all night. I couldn't breath each time I tried to lay down. Pirate kept waking up every 1 1/2 hours because he is cutting his last set of molars. I had to go in each time and sooth him back to sleep. The two cats thought the camp out in the living room was fun and decided to join me on the couch. They seemed to sleep great. Finally, at 3:30 am I went to my bedroom hoping that there was a bit of room for me to squeeze myself into our queen size bed. I found Dear Husband and Princess, snoring and grinding teeth respectively, both oblivious that I had been up countless times with Pirate. There was no room for me. I went back downstairs and sat on the couch and waited until Dear Husband's alarm went off at 4:10 so I could at least claim his side of the bed and try to catch a few zzz's.

The hardest part of being a mom to small children is when I get sick. They don't understand and still expect me to do 'mom things' for them. Dear Husband tries to compensate but there are times when they insist that I do something for them and will stand for nothing less. Oh, how I wish I could check into a hotel room when I am sick and suffer in silence with a bottle of NyQuil and a nice dark room.

Charades

Today I played the game of charades all day with Pirate and not 'for fun'. His speech is coming along but some of it I just don't understand, no matter how hard I try. He has full comprehension of what I say to him but not vise-versa. It was a tough day for us. He was very cranky and quite insistent too.

He has a new habit of wanting to climb into his own carseat all by himself. I am all for him doing things on his own but not when we are in a crowded parking lot and someone is waiting for our parking spot and it takes him a few minutes to accomplish his task. He would take no help from me to speed up the process. I have learned to pick my battles, either let him get in his carseat all on his own or put him in his carseat and listen to him have a fit for 15 minutes while I am driving. I swear I am going to end up in a car accident one of these days because Pirate has me so twisted and stressed while driving.

I cut my errand list in half today because I just couldn't see myself having to deal with Mr.Cranky getting in and out of the car each time. We did have one errand that we had to do. The Sonoma County Humane Society called us last night and said they finally had room for our two little kittens. Pirate and I had the task of taking them there. I know they will be just fine and find great homes but it was sad to say goodbye. We had grown attached to the little guys. Pirate came into good use at the Humane Society. He had me running all around and talking my ear off, that I didn't even have a moment to cry (which I would have if I were alone). Also, he allowed me no time to look at all the animals that were up for adoption. That would have made me cry even harder.

If anyone has room in their home for a sweet cat or dog, please go to the Humane Society and adopt one. There are so many animals there that need a home.

Another sad story...

Our 21-year old nephew has just buried his second friend in the past two years, who has died as a result of driving a street bike. We knew both of the kids. They had been in our home over the years . One of them we had taken camping with us a few times when he was twelve or so. The other worked for Dear Husband for a period of time.

It makes me very sad for the mothers of these boys. They have to live with the horror for the rest of their lives because their sons thought that they were invisible and never thought it would happen to them. I keep on playing it over and over in my head. What will I do if and when the day comes that Pirate buys a street bike? He's only 2 but it has got to be a mother's worst nightmare when their baby (a young man who has only legally been driving for a few years) buys a street bike. I have years to prepare for this but are you ever really ready for that day?

My hearts and prayers go out to these two mothers. I can't even imagine their pain.

Girl Power!

Princess & I caught the kittens. They are cute and we are mighty proud of ourselves.

First, the details on the twins... They are 7 weeks old if I tracked the gestation cycle of their Mama Cat correctly. Two boys. They are identical to the kitten we kept (Sake) earlier this summer from the last batch. It is deja vu. They litter boxed trained within minutes and love to play with the kitty toys Princess gave them. Currently they are shacking up in our downstairs bathroom [aka... the kitten room]. In case you think we are crazy.. we are not keeping them! We are hoping that the Humane Society has room in their adoption area for them. We will find out tomorrow. If not, we will be having to find these two little guys homes ourselves.

We have been trying to find these kittens for weeks but finally began seeing them in our yard this past week. Unfortunately we have a small gap in one section of our double-layer fence that we had never noticed. Well, the little kitties did and they used it as their hideout. We couldn't close up the gap because we never knew if the kittens were in between the fence boards or not. Dear Husband made an attempt earlier in the week to try pull a board off the fence. He wasn't much into the task and, as I was watching, about to destroy a board in the process. Minor issue but I knew I would have to be the one to go get another board cut to fix the fence. Also, we wanted to be able to close the fence up right away in case we didn't catch them.

I racked my brain for days trying to come up with some creative way to block the gap as soon as I saw the kittens in our yard. Each time I went outside, they ran into the gap in the fence. It was starting to stress me out. Dear Husband wasn't helping matters by telling me I was get obsessed. He was starting to bug me. We have such a feral cat problem and no one is doing anything about it other than me. If I didn't catch these little guys, that would be two more male cats to impregnate the one feral female I have not been able to catch and spay. Princess was the only one that seemed interested in my pursuits and tried to help me.

So, Dear Husband went to work on Saturday morning and I began my methodical process of catching them without the 'peanut gallery' criticizing me. I saw them playing in the yard and I went out outside to see them. They ran into the fence as usual. This time I got down and took a little twig and starting poking in the boards and realized they were right there behind a board. I got our my trusty screwdriver and hammer and slowly started trying to lift the nails delicately out of a fence board without damaging the board . It was damn hot! I picked the hottest day of the year in Santa Rosa to do this. Princess came outside to offer me encouragement and also confirmed that she could see the kittens between the fence boards. Finally I was able to pull a board off and, sure enough, the two little kitties were sitting on top of each other. I realized that I hadn't planned very well because they weren't cuddly little guys just yet and didn't want me messing with them. Princess came to the rescue and held the board for me while got the cat carrier and garden gloves.

As soon as we got them settled in our bathroom. Rylan came up to me, gave me a high five and said, "Mom, we did it! Daddy said we couldn't! Girl power!"

As a mother, there is nothing like sharing an experience like this with your daughter when someone had doubted you. She and I were so proud of ourselves and hopefully she will always remember that if something is important to you and you set your mind to it, you will achieve your goal.

Anybody interested in a really cute little kitten?

The Hampster Wheel called "Mommyhood"

When I became a mom four years ago, I dreamed of how life would be if I didn't have to work and could be a stay-at-home mom. I used to envy my friends that had the 'luxury'. I used to think, "how stressful can their lives be?" I envisioned going to Mommy & Me groups, long walks with my child in their stroller, time to invest in my friendships, being skinny, cooking wonderful dinners, not having to pay a housekeeper to clean my house, not being stressed, etc.

How does the saying go?... 'The grass isn't always greener next door'

I am going to stop for one second and put in my disclaimer. By no means am I not thankful for my life at this very moment. I actually am loving being a stay-at-home mom! It just isn't not what a working mom might dream about.

Okay back to my point... My life is crazier now that it ever was when I work full-time in a very highly stressful job. I am more disorganized and have even less time for myself. Stress just shifted from one stress to a completely new type.

I have been off work for 8 months now and am finally getting myself on some type of schedule. My husband suggested that perhaps we might need to bring our housekeeper back at least once a month. I don't cook dinners. I really don't have the time. I have less time for 'me' than I ever did before. I don't get a 15 minute break nor a 1/2 hour lunch. I am lucky to go to the bathroom by myself these days. I can not have any type of phone conversation while the children are awake because I will be constantly interrupted. My chores take longer now. Maybe it's because I don't feel the intense pressure of time to get them all done in the evening or over the weekend or maybe it's because I have children following me around all day long.

My current daily schedule is broken into four different segments: Morning consists of getting the kids up, fed & clothed, dropping Princess at school and then running to a dr. appt, errands, chores, KinderGym, or my gym if Pirate thinks it will work for him. The next segment begins around 11am when Pirate takes is nap. I do chores that can't be done with Pirate underfoot (most all these days), I take a shower, return a phone call when needed, check email, look for a job, etc. The third segment beings when Pirate wakes form his nap. I feed him and then run back up to preschool to pick up Princess, feed her a snack and begin carousing the fridge for ideas for dinner. The fourth and final segment begins when Dear Husband comes home from work. We prepare dinner, get the kiddos bathed and to bed, and then watch an hour of reality television and hit the sack to start our day all over again the next morning.

My days are so regimented now that I am finding there is no beginning and ending. Everything just runs together. I am going 24/7 still - just like when I worked full-time yet now I don't have a 'hard' beginning and ending to segments in my day. Before, I would change hats as I went through my day depending on what role I was in. I am always wearing the same hat now.

Dear friends that are full-time employees along with being moms, please know that life isn't easier when you stay home. Life isn't less stressful. It's just different. It has it's pros & cons just like everything in life. I wouldn't change the life I have right now yet I would love a few perks and benefits I had when I was a working girl. BTW... I didn't even mention the closet full of clothes and shoes I don't get to wear now.

Back to School Night

Tonight I went to Back to School Night at Princess' preschool. I couldn't figure out why exactly the Preschool needed to have back to School Night since I am at the school two times a day for pick-up and drop-off.

As I assume you know, I can't just drop Princess in the parking lot each morning, give her a kiss good-bye and tell her to have a nice day and eat all her lunch. Nope, I have to get out of the car (looking hideous since I haven't showered yet, I might add), get Pirate out of his car seat, get Princess out of her car seat, put Princess' jacket on because she refuses to wear it while sitting in her car seat (it sucks big-time for me when it is pouring rain outside - she takes no mercy on me!). Then I have to gather lunchbox, kids and any misc. items and walk into preschool and directly into the classroom, along the way greeting all the teachers and other parents. Oh.. and I don't dare put Pirate down because he will take off on me and get comfortable in some classroom and then I have one screaming child who wants to stay and can't.

I follow the same routine in the afternoon. The only difference is that I have showered and put some type of coordinated outfit on (my summer uniform: double layer of tank tops and knee-high shorts & flip flops) I swear parents who see me in the AM and then in the PM, don't know I am the same person. Typically, the afternoon pickup take three times as long because all the preschool kids want to 'high-five' me and the teachers get chatty with me. Typically, I end up having to put Pirate down and he takes off to play in one of the classrooms and then Princess and I have to peel him away from some play kitchen or train table.

Tonight I went to Back to School night very curious as to what I would learn or see that I already don't know or don't see on a twice-daily basis. Dear Husband backed out on me at the last minute, using the excuse that it would be easier if Pirate stayed home. He also didn't get the concept of the event and wasn't one bit curious. It was important to me to go, no matter what. I have made a promise to myself that I will be as involved and interested in the kids' school, as humanly possible. My mom didn't make much of an effort in that regard when I was a kid. She worked in San Francisco and used the excuse that she was too tired after work to go. It really sucked as a kid to have to tag along with the next-door neighbors to Open House. I will not do that to Princess and Pirate.

So Princess and I headed to school this evening and got there a few minutes early. I was shocked to see that most parents were already there. It was a packed house. Maybe they were as curious as me or had also made a commitment as a parent to be involved every step of the way.

It was a nice evening. We learned about the policies, the two upcoming field trips, the swine-flu issue and precautions (I am sure that will be a future blog for me) from the Owner and then we met within the classroom with the teacher and parents of the kids in the class. It wasn't a waste of time and it was nice to know that all the parents cared enough to come. Princess thought it was sooo cool that we were at the school in the evening. I can also see the point now. The Owner and Director had the opportunity to pull all the parents together and facilitate a group meeting with the parents, outlining all that was expected from us as parents. We can't say that they didn't tell us or warn us, when an issue does arise.

Oh Man... More Kittens

So my little Pirate has learned a new phrase that I just have to share. He walks around the house and when somethings tips, spills, or doesn't go quite his way.. he says "Oh Man!" It is the cutest thing. He always says it perfectly in context. He doesn't say a lot of multi-word phrases yet so we giggle every time he says it. We are now trying to figure out who is it in our family that says it so often that Pirate has picked up on the phrase. I never realized how often I say "God Dammit" until Princess started saying the phrase in perfect context a few years ago. I was shocked the first time she said it and then began observing how many times a day I actually said it. I had no clue.

We have another batch of kittens in our yard. They are from the same mother cat that our sweet little Sake is from (See Sept. 10th blog entry). I think there are two kittens and they run so fast, I can't tell what colors they are exactly. Every time I go into the backyard they run into a small hole under our fence and up between the double layer of fence boards. We don't want to block off the hole because we can't tell if the kittens are in there or not. Tonight, I am hoping, Dear Husband is going to take apart the fence a bit to see exactly where they are going. I will post their cute little photos once I finally capture them. Anyone interested in a cute little kitten?Just one more thing to add to the craziness of our lives.

Trying to get my groove back

I have been home from my New Hampshire trip for 5 days now and I am still trying to get catch up. 5 days on my trip and 5 days to recover. It seems that when I am not home... nothing gets done. So on top of getting home very jet-lagged, I had a house that need cleaning, baskets full of laundry, kids that needed extra hugs & kisses, doctor appts., wild kittens running around the backyard (still trying to catch them) and a long list of emails to respond to.

I am trying to get back in my daily groove writing the blog but am struggling to find the time. My goal is to be back on schedule by Friday. I have a long to-do list this week but slowly am checking off my tasks. Stick with me and I'll get my groove back.

Home Sweet Home

Back home from my whirlwind trip to New Hampshire. It was a good trip minus the plane part and the time change. The family all got along (thanks to separate hotel rooms) and it was a nice trip down memory lane. My favorite part of the trip was on the last day. We took my Grandfather's ashes to a little town called Piermont, NH where he wanted them to be buried alongside my grandmother and relatives from generations ago. (My great-great grandparents and older) It was a gorgeous day. The cemetery was very old, dating back to the Revolutionary War. The weather was warm, the leaves were turning their autumn colors and horses were galloping in a neighboring pasture.

After we buried my grandfather we headed up the road to Whitefield, NH located within the White Mountains. My maternal great-grandmother had a house there from the 1920's to the mid-1970's that we

wanted to go see. My grandmother, my mom, and myself all were at this house as children. The house was built in 1834. There is a date sign over the formal front door. When my mom visited the house as a child, they had to use chamber pots since there was no plumbing. My great-grandmother had plumbing installed in the later years. The home doesn't look like much now. It has been abandoned and actually we all were a bit on edge standing in front of it. It was located down a dirt road and was very overgrown and there was an odd echo when you spoke. There was furniture in the house though we don't think anyone lives there. My brother walked up to the door on the porch and the door was slightly ajar. He lost his nerve and quickly returned to the dirt road. We were waiting for a squatter to burst out the door with a firearm in hand (guns are legal to carry in NH). I do think the curtains in the upper windows date back to my great-grandmother's time. I would have killed to walk in the house. If there was no furniture in the house, I would have gotten up the nerve to walk through the door.

The house has been on my mind ever since we visited on Wednesday. I have always dreamed of fixing up an old house (this one is 175 years old) and how perfect this would be since it was our family's house. Logistically and financially- I don't see how I ever could but it fun to dream.

The irony of the day was that we had items that had been my grandmother's in our rental car since we didn't feel safe leaving at the hotel. The crazy thing is that many of these items in the trunk of the rental car were items right out of this house. Talk about a full-circle experience for them.

On the way back, we stopped in the neighboring town of Littleton, NH. I bought a fabulous apron (yes, I wear aprons. Something my grandmother got me started doing). The folks that own the cute little shop are from Larkspur, CA in Marin County (I went to high school in Larkspur) Very small world! Anyways, I felt that this apron was a delightful memento for our day of going down memory lane.

Greetings from New Hampshire!

I am half-way through my trip to New Hampshire and am ready to come home. Missing every bit of my day-to-day life. I have to say though, I would move to New Hampshire is a quick minute, If Dear Husband was open to the idea. (He's not, so Santa Rosa is where we stay). I have known that Santa Rosa is congested but never realized how bad it affects me on a daily basis. There is no congestion here. No honking, no traffic jams, just simple peaceful driving. It makes a big difference in how you feel. I dream to own one of the houses here. We have nothing like it in Santa Rosa, except perhaps McDonald Ave. Not all the homes here are not groomed and pristine but still are fabulous. There are no massive tract home developments. People leave their bikes on the front porch, without any fear of it being stolen.While I am very familiar with the East Coast from years of commuting between parents as a child, I now see as an adult how California has evolved into such different way of life compared to the rest of the country.

Today we went through all my grandfather's belongings. It is amazing how a person interprets what is important and what to hang on to. I promises my children now that I will not 'packrat' as I age. Tomorrow we go to the rural cemetary that my grandparents had chosed to have their ashes put. There is an old family plot that dates back at least 100 years. It should be a beautiful drive. On Thursday, we head home. While I have enjoyed this trip and am glad I joined my mom and brother, I long to be with my own family and be sharing these experiences with the kids and my Dear Husband.

Japanese, Japanese, pleaaasse Mom!!

We took the kids out to dinner tonight at our family's favorite restaurant, a local Japanese restaurant called Sakura. With Pirate being the age he is at now, a family dinner out is a rare occurrence and always to Sakura.

There is no other restaurant we have found to be as family friendly as they are. We always leave our table with the biggest mess and Hansel & Gretal trail of rice out the door. The owners and staff are just terrific. The kids are brought special plastic plates and the straw color of their choice in their water. Pirate is brought bowl after bowl of tofu. Basically all you can eat for him! I have never seen a human being eat as much tofu as my little guy.

Tonight, as soon as we sat down, he tried a new word on us, "eat", and kept on repeating it until his tofu was brought. Princess and I always share a Teriyaki Chicken dinner while Dear Husband gets to eat his dinner of choice all to himself. Just for that, I always order myself a nice glass of wine and pass the bill to him.

My next life... I am coming back as a cat

We have a colony of feral cats in our neighborhood. It all started around about 5 years ago when our former white-trash neighbors moved and abandoned their pregnant black, female cat. After she had a few litters one summer, we finally caught her last batch of kittens and got her spayed. She had to recoup for about a week in a dog crate after her surgery. When the day came to set her free, she wouldn't leave. Can't say that I blame her!

Her name is KitKat and she is now our outdoor, microchipped, black cat. We believe a few of her kittens became what we now call "The Backyardigans" - four feral cats that show up at our house twice a day for food. We have named them for our own convenience since they all look alike (Blue, Biege, Beauty & China - There is also Bart & Bear but they aren't backyard regulars) We refuse to take ownership of them but we have spayed and neutered all but one. The elusive one, Beauty, was caught once in the cat trap but Dear Husband moved her to the dog crate without realizing he had to get he back in the trap to take her to be spayed. Needless to say, she freaked and Dear Husband ended up at Urgent Care getting a tetanus shot. She will not get anywhere near the cat trap now.

So far this summer, Beauty has had two litters of kittens. We found and caught the first batch of three kittens. Since they were so small when we found them, we kept them for a few weeks to allow them to be adoptable. BIG MISTAKE! Don't let a cat-loving family with two small children bond with a kitten and then plan to give it away. Long story short... we fell in love with the tiger-striped male but knew in our hearts our house was too crazy for another cat. We found a home for him and were very sad to see him leave. A week later, his new adopted mom couldn't keep him due to her living situation. We jumped at the chance to get him back.

His name is Sake Beau (Sake:because our family LOVES Japanese food) (Beau:because Princess for some reason wanted to name him that). He is now 5 months old and is living the life of luxury as an indoor cat. We got suckered in, our house is now overflowing even more with chaos, but it was the best decision. Princess and Pirate just love their kitten and he is sooooo patient with them and I love that he is the biggest cuddle cat in the whole-wide world. I am happy to share my pillow with him each night. Neka, our other indoor cat tolerates Sake though she sure seems to enjoy it when he cleans her. She doesn't want to let on but we know she loves him too.

The morale to my story... please spay & neuter your animals but also sometimes there is just a bit more room for one more. (I'll keep you posted when I finally find the current batch of kittens in the yard, just in case you have room in your home & heart)

Little toes and big memories

I just couldn't resist to post these pictures of Princess' & Pirate's little feet. I think the pictures say so much, other than that they just have clean feet. The photos remind me of innocence, summer days, and just being carefree. Summer is now beginning to wind down and I have to say that I have had the best summer of my life. We didn't go on any fancy vacation. Shoot, we never even left town yet we had so much fun in our yard and at the pool and just hanging out. I cherish the memories from this summer. Sometimes it's the simplest things that make for the best of times.

I'm on a roll

I have made it to the gym so many times this past week, I actually have lost count. My little adorable Pirate is no longer holding me hostage on a daily basis. He went through a 8-month phase of freaking out when I left with him with someone he didn't know - so the gym has been out of the question up until now. He also refuses to ride in a stroller (How did we get so lucky with 2 kids that hate strollers?) so long walks have been and still are out of the question but at least I can go to the gym.

It is so cute how he gets so excited when we pull into the gym parking lot and struts his stuff walking into the gym. We are making it a routine each morning and he is becoming a 'regular'. When you add up the expense of his Kids Gym fee each day, it's not cheap, which is even more incentive for me to pedal away for longer on the elliptical trainer so I can get my money's worth each day. I have been timing it perfectly to coincide with my two favorite morning shows which keeps me entertained.

Since I stopped working, I have wanted to start taking care of myself yet having a young one below the age of 2 with me constantly, that has been tough. Now that Pirate is venturing out on his own, I am getting an hour plus of time just for me. It is just what the therapist ordered and I am feeling great! Thanks Pirate!

The Fruits of My Labor (day)

Princess turned 4 today on Labor Day!

Princess & her idol - Sleeping Beauty

It is Princess' 4th birthday today! She wasn't actually born on Labor Day but this year it happen to fall the holiday. She was so nervous and restless last night. She didn't want to go to bed. I think she didn't know what to expect during the transition between 3 & 4 overnight. She did everything in her power not to go to sleep. When she woke this morning. She was at peace and seemed content that nothing seemed to change except the number of fingers she holds up when she is asked how old she is. She did declare though that this is her "birthday week" and we would be celebrating all week long. You go girl!

Happy Birthday BabyGirl. You truly have made all my dreams come true. Thanks for being the best daughter a mom could ask for. I love you. xoxo

R.I.P

This morning I got the call that my grandfather, Pops, passed away last night. He was a grand 94 years old.

What a life he had. He fought in WWII. Worked on the dry docks repairing submarines. He was an accomplished architect and went on to mentoring Yale students after he retired. He loved to sail. He was a stable man that provided for his family. He was quiet and conservative yet there were times that my grandmother and I got him to laugh so hard he shed a tear at the dinner table.

I had not seen him for several years. He lived in New Hampshire and since I have had children - I haven't made it across the country to visit and with his increasing age and my grandmother's passing two and half years ago, he hadn't made it to California recently. He never had the opportunity to meet his two great-grandchildren. He would have thought they were terrific.

Thank you Pops for being such a part of my life growing up. I have wonderful memories of my visits I shared with you and Gamee. Rest In Peace......

OMG! I am not the only crazy, OCD mom

My dear friend, Angela ,was nice enough to share a long list of her favorite blogs with me so I could check them out. The very first blog I looked at, I happened across this blog entry below. I had to do a double take to make sure I hadn't written it in my sleep, under some alias name. Here's the entry below:
You Didn't Have to Be There http://suburbanturmoil.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-09-01T12%3A51%3A00-05%3A00&max-results=4
Posted 8/28/2009 8:32 PM CDT
"I spent about an hour yesterday cleaning up our playroom. I hadn't cleaned it in about a week and in that time, it seemed like Bruiser had managed to get every single toy out and spread it all over the floor. I'm one of those moms who can't stand to lose a single piece of a toy. I will hunt for MONTHS until I find the missing Polly Pocket shoe. I will obsess for YEARS about the one missing wooden block in our alphabet set (true story). In fact, I was certain it went missing after my eldest stepdaughter babysat my daughter three years ago. It was totally on my mind as I cleaned out my stepdaughter's room last week. I was just sure it was under her bed (along with about 5,000 other things). It totally.... WASN'T. I was wrong, N. I thought you had the block and you didn't. Sorry 'bout that.Um. Anyway.You will understand why I was frustrated yesterday when one flashcard turned up missing from a set of alphabet flash cards that had been scattered all over the floor. Scattered and colored on. They were from the Dollar Tree, so it wasn't like it mattered that much, but still. A MISSING ALPHABET CARD. Dread and despair.For some reason, I decided to organize our DVD shelves and lo and behold, I found the missing alphabet card among our movies! It was like a miracle!"I found it!" I shrieked to my children, who were playing in the room. "I found my V card!"They didn't even look up. Immediately, I realized what I had said and thought it was really too bad that my audience was too naive to snicker appropriately.Which is why I'm telling you now.Snicker away. "

Back to me....It is so nice to know there are other moms out there just like me. I don't obsess when the kids clothes get dirty (and yes, I do let them get dirty). I have the magic cure for all stains. Bring a stain to me and I'll get it out. I don't obsess about most things. It's all the little pieces to their toys that brings me to a full OCD moment. I still have hopes of someday finding a rubber sheep toy that went missing shortly after Princess got it for her first birthday. I think the housekeeper threw it out by mistake.


The kids and I have a saying when something is missing. The person that realizes something is missing says.."there is an reward out for ......" Just by saying the phrase everyone in the house knows to be on the lookout. We don't obsessively run around looking for the piece (well, at least most of the time). It always shows up in a day or two. There really is no reward. The finder gets special recognition. Typically, Princess or dear Husband finds it. He is still wondering when he is going to get his reward. Sorry Charlie... no real rewards are handed out!

Mistaken Identity

Yesterday I was a victim of a mistaken identity: a she-said, he said situation. It was a crazy accusation that I had truly nothing to do with and I am absolutely horrified by it. I am actually blown away that it happened. It stopped me in my tracks, literally.

I won't retell the story here for many reasons, one being I don't want to add any fuel to this fire. I want out of the situation as quickly as I got put into it.

There are few things worse, I think, than being accused of something you said, when you weren't even there or have any idea what was said. I have spent hours and hours trying to get to the bottom of this false statement and trying to have my reputation restored. There is such a feeling of helplessness because you are put into such a defensive mode that is truly ugly and not who I am. It takes me back to the days of being a school kid and the rumors that would get spread on the playground that could ruin your whole school year.

Please always validate your facts before you publish them.

A picture is worth a 1,000 words....

Or at least a $1,000.

I entered my first photo contest today. I thought why not?! What the heck? It didn't cost anything to enter and the Grand Prize would be nice to have. I love taking pictures, especially with the new camera I got earlier this year. It's the camera that takes great photos. I can't take the credit.

I am not a big fan of portrait pictures, especially of kids. I believe you need to take pictures of kids in their natural state of play. You can get great shots that blow the portraits away.

Somehow, someway I would love to make a little career out of this hobby.

Are we really that interesting?

Why is it that when I am with the kids out in public I feel like I am with someone famous, with the amount of people that stare and comment? Lately it has become really obvious to me and is starting to bug me. Maybe I just notice it more because I am not working and am with the kids a lot more, out and about doing our day-to-day activities. I know my kids are cute but that's not it. My kids act up but not real bad or very often, so it's not that either. Maybe I look totally under qualified to be caring for the kids, who knows!

We went to Costco the other day and it seemed that everyone in the Food Court area had a comment for us or just watched up eat our hot dogs. I felt like we were the center of attention and it was a bit unnerving. One person even noticed that we needed more catsup and offered to get it for us. I know the person was just trying to be helpful and I appreciate that.

It is a very odd feeling to know that people are watching you as if you aren't there. Something is so interesting about us and I just don't know what it is. I can truly understand what it must feel like to be in the company of someone famous. At least we don't have the paparazzi trailing us with their cameras too.