Haiku Friday: Our light

Who else got their free McDs this morning? I couldn’t resist. There is a McDonald’s on my way to work. I got a medium ice coffee in Hazelnut and a free Sausage McSkittle. Is it really stupid that I just started drinking coffee drinks (not regular hot, make-at-home coffee) at the age of 34? Isn’t that like starting to smoke sometime after, say, 22?

I am an office bee, an advertising/marketing copywriter and sometimes journalist –– in case you wanted to know, I sit at a desk most of the day. Sometimes I forget how lucky I am. I was reminded today on the way to work. Twice.

The service was a little slow this morning at McDonald's. I waited a few minutes to place my order. I didn’t mind as the manager kept apologizing to me. Plus, she forgot to turn off the intercom, so I could hear what was going. This is just part of what I heard.

Manager to other workers: I need you to stay on the fryer, Janet’s doing service. I need her there. Herbert should be in any time now.

Manager to me: I’m sorry again; we’re running just a little behind. I’ll be with you in just a second.

Phone rings, Manager: Hi, Herbert. (pause) Is everything okay? (pause) You’re not going to be here until 9 a.m.?!? I really wish you had called in sooner. Please get here as soon as you can.

Manager to me: Ma’am thank you so much for your patience. What can I get for you today?

Wow, she has to deal with that every week for 60 hours for 22K a year and crappy benefits and she is still gracious to her workers and me? Also, sadly enough, as a teen I was Herbert. I didn’t show up, was late, quit without notice. She probably worked harder in those five minutes than I worked all week. Hats off.

Less than a block later, I saw a huge line of people and wondered what was happening. I assumed a work strike, but didn’t see any placards. I slowed down and rubbernecked. It was the assistance office. People were lined up at 7:45 a.m. in the freezing cold to get their checks. I know some take advantage of the system and it makes me mad, but really, what are they getting out of it? The means to get by with no chance of advancement. That’s not much of a free ride in my book.

I felt a little sad today while heading in to work. I know I shouldn’t feel “sorry” for people. Perhaps the manager at McDs makes enough money to support her family and sees her job as an exciting challenge. Her face told a different story. In any case, I hope there is something special waiting for her at home when she gets off work.

Here is our sunshine after a long day at the office. Another reason I am so lucky. Happy leap day and have a great weekend!

Our light

Can’t wait to come home
And play with our little boy.
Forget drab office.

On a long hard day,
there’s a light shining at the
end of the tunnel.

Thursday 13: Fads and Favs

Recently we dressed The Baby in a blue tie-die onsie. Did he ever look cute! I haven’t seen much tie-dye since its resurgence in the 90s. I just started wondering what kinds of fun fads and fashions The Baby has in store. Will he play a Pokemon-type game? obsess about something like Webkinz? (my niece and nephew love these), what clothes/brands will he HAVE to have? So many neat things to look forward to!

For now, join me on a trip down memory lane.

13 things that I loved during youth to the point of ridiculousness (in no particular order):

1. High hair – I had hair higher than the highest hair! I looked like a lion in my junior photo.

2. Peg roll – I remember a specific conversation with a friend in which we were saying that we did not care if rolling your pants went out of style, we’d do it forever!

3. 90210 – Okay, I loved it until Brenda left. Shannen Doherty was my Hollywood crush. I just wanted to be her so badly! After Brenda went to Europe to explore acting options (or whatever happened to her) I lost interest but watched until the bitter end. I also loved Claire and was bummed when she got written out.


4. Silver Spoons – I was convinced that I would marry Ricky Schroder when I was in 4th grade. Check out Ricky dancing...



5. Michael Jackson – I was convinced that I would marry Michael Jackson when I was in 5th grade.

6. Friendship pins – Oh, boy, I had sneakers full of these. I wasn’t sneaking up on anyone.

7. Biker shorts as a fashion statementt – I thought a nice boxy jacket looked great over biker shorts.

8. Chinese jump rope – I hope The Baby or The Baby’s future sister or brother likes this, cuz I want to play!

9. Strawberry Shortcake Dolls – I loved these dolls. They were so cute and smelled like a mix of new-car scent and watermellon gum. I still have them somewhere.

10. Converse All-Stars – aka: Chucks. The more angry teenage sayings markered on the canvas, the better!

11. The Love Boat – I thought the captain’s daughter was the luckiest girl in the world!

12. Sassy magazine – By the time I was in high school, I HATED Seventeen and Teen magazines and LOVED getting Sassy every month. I locked myself in my room and read it cover to cover. Sassy rocked!


13. Guess jeans – when I was in 8th grade, I wanted Guess jeans more than anything. My parents weren’t name-brand kind of people, so it took a lot of moping around to get me a pair. I peg-rolled them and wore them until they were rags.

Call security, there's something funny going on!

While I was pumping I had my share of scares and embarrassing moments… knocks at the door, people trying to bust in on me (click here), milk splotches on my pants, possibly flashing motorists while car pumping, etc.

There are two places to pump in our building: The handicap bathroom (click here) where I pumped, or a larger bathroom in a seldom-used part of the building. I always wondered what people thought when they would come upon a locked bathroom that would remain occupied for 20 minutes. Other employees aren't aware that these restrooms are also lactation rooms. There was no memo or email. Maybe there should have been. One of the pumpers came out of the bathroom on Friday and there was a security guard waiting there to intercept her. Somebody else had reported that there was “funny business” happening in the bathroom.

Oh, boy. So my colleague has to explain the security guard that she was pumping.

*Crickets chirping*

Pumping milk for her baby, she says, you know hooking up a machine to your…

Ohhhhh, okay, his wife did that, he knows exactly what she's talking about and sorry for the trouble. My colleague assumes that the security gaurd thought he was going to break up some office hanky-panky.

Wow. What an awkward situation.

Rookie Moms (click here) has a bunch of funny and/or embarrassing pump room stories. The post dates to 2006, but the stories are timeless.

The Baby is Walking!

I am using the term "walking" lightly, but he's definitely taking steps. See for yourself:



The first steps were taken at his grandma and grandpa's house on Saturday. Grandma, as always, had out the video camera. We weren't expecting The Baby to walk. My husband was holding him up in a standing position and The Baby took three steps, much to all of our surprise and delight. AND we got it on video. What are the chances of that? The video showed The Baby from the waist up since no one was expecting him to take his first steps.

We took the video clip above yesterday. Can't you just tell that The Baby knows he's doing something special. Hehehe...

Uh-oh, we're in for a whole new round of bumps and bruises.

Haiku Friday: Duet

I'm running dry on inspiration, so I'm doing what writers have been doing for centuries, stealing it. My husband is an artist, so I'm haikuing (is that a word?) about a few of my favorites pieces.


Has he lost his mind?
It floats above him in clouds,
he grabs on to air.




She sits, hands folded.
She is painted in brave bold strokes
but lives in silence.





It is someone else.
I wish I could say it was
me in this drawing.

Have a fun weekend and be safe to those of you in the bad weather!

Top 13 reasons babies make lousy roommates

In “Bird by Bird,” Anne Lamott wrote in passing that kids make lousy roommates and as much as we love them, it’s true. Let me count the ways… at least 13 of them.

1. They are messy eaters. In a post long ago and far away (click here) I complained, yes! complained, that The Baby was such a neat eater. No Kodak moments for us. Now The Baby regularly has hair mats caused by sweet potatoes or oatmeal and has a hit/miss ratio of about 70/30 as far as getting the food to his mouth.

2. They fall over their own feet (or knees, or toys, or nothing at all) and bump their head. Withstanding that one chick who couldn’t hold her alcohol that you roomed with in college, roommates are expected to be much more coordinated.

3. You don’t have to cut your roommates fingernails.

4. Your roommate didn’t scratch his face when he forgot to cut his fingernails and make you feel like a bad roommate.

5. Roommates pick up after themselves.

6. Okay, scratch that. They usually don’t.

7. Your roommate doesn’t suddenly head butt you, making you bite your tongue.

8. Roommates don’t get all up in your face and smile and be cute and then belch. It only happened once. Ick.

9. Babies like to eat the remote. And they aren’t easily fooled. Not only does The Baby have a brightly colored toy remote that makes noise, he has “real” toy remotes from VCRs and stereos that we no longer have. Does he eat those? Heck, no.

10. Whining. Ugghhh… The Baby is starting to whine when he wants to do something, eat something or be somewhere and he can’t figure how to get what he wants. I empathize, but I was still hoping that our precious baby would never whine.

11. Babies don’t travel well. Your roommate was probably always fun to go on road trips with, not so your dear child. For one they can’t take turns driving on road trips. Fair enough, but than there is a double-edged sword: sleep. I know this from experience, if The Baby sleeps the entire way to your in-laws (nine hours), he will not sleep right for the duration of the trip. If they don’t sleep, they’re bored. Bored 10 month old = tears. See number 10.

12. Roommates don’t wake up at 3 a.m. and stand on their bed and cry. At least not that you know of.

13. Tub poop. Enough said.

Feel free to comment with your own! I love to know what I am in for and love to reminisce about what I no longer have to deal with!

Here's to a good body health

Every now and than I get the urge to try to improve my body health. It usually involves envisioning myself in a swimming suit. We’re going to the beach in June. EEEEEK! So, I got the bug back. I’m not planning any major life changes, just eating a little better, exercising a little more, drinking more water, drinking less iced coffee and mochas – that sort of thing.

Let me dispel a myth right now. Just because someone is small, does NOT mean they have a good bathing suit body. Don’t throw anything at me, but I’m a size 4 and I can tell you that I jiggle, bulge, sag and pucker in the same places that I did when I was 35 pounds heavier (and no, I don’t mean when I was pregnant). Unfortunately, exercise is the solution. Exercising for me had been non-existent since I had the baby. I did strength-training (lunges, squats, free weights) often when I was pregnant and was moderately active beforehand. One of my favorite things to do was Total Body: Body Sculpting Basics by The Firm. It is from 1995, sounds like a porno and has a lot of spandex, but it works well.

The reason why I love the workout is it is simple and it is challenging. There are no dance moves. NONE. So you have plenty of room in your living room. There’s nothing worse than grapevining into the coffee table. Plus, if I’m blundering around trying to figure out a combination of moves, I’m not exercising. In this video, to elevate your heart rate you jog in place and do jacks, sometimes you do them with weights in your hand. The whole thing is a combination of weights, floor exercises and bursts of cardio. If you do it, you get toned fast. The only thing “optional” you need are hand weights (they use a board to help position your feet, buy I never used it).

Anyway, I was stoked when I found The Firm Bootcamp with Alison Becker on sale at Target. I thought it might be just what I need to get back into it…. something new and different. I was disappointed. There aren’t many dance moves, but some of the combinations of lunges, hops and skiing motions leave me scratching my head. I know that in time, I’d learn what they are doing, but I guess I just want to get down to business. The workout was just fine, but for the time invested, I’d rather do the other. In fact, I popped it in the DVD player so that next time I work out, it’s ready to go!

I eat pretty good 85% of the time. If you opened my freezer you’d see lean meats, and leaner cuts of beef and pork. I have fresh fruits, canned and frozen veggies. I don’t have anything that ends in “-helper” or “-aroni” or any product that is the self-proclaimed “cheesiest.” But I have been overdoing the flavored coffee products, the fast food (I do it about 3-6 times a month, way up for me) and the snacking.

One of the easiest rules of dieting is not to drink your calories and until I started drinking the iced, frozen and hot coffee drinks (I don’t drink “regular” coffee) a few months ago, I always followed that rule. If you are a sucker for the hazelnut-flavored coffees like I am, try Bigelow Vanilla Hazelnut tea. It’s a good substitute, it has antioxidants and it has no calories. The smell is heavenly. The hazelnut and vanilla flavors are yummy. I didn’t think it would taste as rich as it does since it’s a tea. Add just a touch of 1% milk and Splenda and it hits the spot. It’s certainly not Starbucks, but it fulfills a craving and tastes good.

Another thing that I am starting to do since The Baby is mobile and eating and licking everything in his path is replace some of my regular cleaning products with ones that are “safer” for kids. Clorox anywhere, for example, is marketed to be safe to use around children and food, so I bought some for kitchen cleanup and disinfecting (like I have time to disinfect, but I now could do so safely). I picked up a bottle of Method daily shower/bath cleaner since The Baby is now bathing in the tub.





Thanks to my sister-in-law for scaring the bejesus out of me about skincare and hair products for babies, I am buying organics. We use California Baby (Target, Wegman’s, Giant Foods). It’s expensive, but a little goes a long way.








Speaking of hair, I also picked up one of these so that I can’t butcher The Baby’s hair again with the scissors. My husband is taking over barber duties with his clipper. This 1" comb should keep The Baby's hair from looking too short or too long or, ummm, crooked.

Working Mom's Guilt

I'm a career mom. Sometimes I like it, sometimes I hate it.

I enjoy the people I work with, I like to get out of the house, I like to make money, I like to have a "career," I like that my child gets to be with other kids during the day. On the other hand, I hate that my job is no longer creative, I hate feeling like I don't see The Baby enough, I hate it when I feel like I DO see him enough (we all have those days, right? right?!?), I hate knowing that I may never be the mom strolling her children through the park or packing them up for the pool to pass a summer weekday (Mom, if you are reading, I LOVED that and CHERISH those memories). I hate the guilt.

So, why did I send my kid to daycare yesterday on the one day I have off? I wanted to sleep in, that's why. But I wasn't going to get off that easy. On Sunday, I stayed up until 2 a.m. reading blogs and writing about my husband's wonderful, if ill-measured, cat door. Then I watched "Family Guy" on Adult Swim. Finally, I went to bed. Just as soon as I got into deep sleep, The Baby started to wake up every 30 minutes or so, then at 5:30 a.m. he was up for good. *sigh* So, I was up until 8 a.m. when hubby took The Baby to daycare. I then fell back asleep until 10:30. Bliss.

I took my time getting showered and dressed and picked up The Baby--I did want to spend the day with him, just after I got a little shut eye. Then I did something that I've been doing way too much, I went to McDonald's. Gah... but that's another post.

Living room picnics are the best
Anyway, it turned out good. Totally worth the calories. We got home and I sat down on the floor at the coffee table. The Baby stood along side of me snacking on puffs, while I ate my hamburger and drank my iced coffee.

Since it's unseasonably warm, The Baby and I pretended to be picnicking outside: the couch, which we were facing, was a lake, the floor lamp was a tree with the sun behind it... you get the picture.

Then something very un-The Baby-like happened -- he crawled up into my lap. He sat there contentedly listening to me chatter about our picnic. This may not seem like a big deal, but my kid isn't a lap-kid. While he's quite sweet, he has an aloof independent side that he may have learned from the cat. At first, I thought it was a mistake -- The Baby must be trying to crawl over me, not onto me. I even took him off my lap to help him out! But he just looked at me as if to say, "Woman, are you nuts? Put me back. I was exactly where I wanted to be." I did. We enjoyed are picnic immensely.

In fact, it was the best lunch date I ever had. Who says that you can’t have the best of both worlds?

How to make a homemade cat door

We live in a modest ranch home. Due to our home’s size and floor plan, we do not have a good place on the main floor in which to put our cat’s litter box. When we moved into our home we decided that the most logical course of action was to put it in the basement and leave the basement door cracked so that our cat would have access. Our basement isn’t finished, and since our cat is a jerk sometimes and poops on the floor, this was really the only good solution.

Here’s the problem: we now have a cat and a baby. This was just fine until The Baby began to crawl. Since our cat is fat fluffy, we couldn’t expect him to leap over a safety gate to enter and exit the basement. We purchased a cat-door at the hardware store, but our cat was too fat fluffy to fit through it. So we (by “we” I mean my husband) made one ourselves.

1. Mark the area on the door to be cut with pencil
2. Take the door off its hinges and saw out the hole for the cat
3. Frame it with corner molding (in Lowes/Home Depot with the wood trim)
4. Paint molding to match your door
5. Hang piece of white fabric behind door (not pictured)

Here are the results:























Uh-oh… make sure baby doesn’t fit through the hole. NOTE: measuring the width of baby's shoulders doesn't work since they can maneuver them to fit through many a tight spots like the birth canal or, say, the new cat door that your husband just made.



An award for me?
Weeeeeeeeee... Thanks to MommyK at Great Walls of Baltimore for honoring me with an award! With the exception of an honorable mention in a science fair, I never won anything! Oh, and I cheated - I picked the leaves off of plants to make it appear that they didn't grow as well with rock music as they did with classical music. They actually didn't grow as well, I just wanted to make it more obvious. Anyway... Thank you!

Haiku Friday: Winter Blues

In a world of ice
it is easy to slip out
of your senses.

Winter's grip grabs me,
even my words are chilly,
too cold to utter.

I swim in sweatshirts,
dream of white sand and sunshine:
happy summer days.

13 reasons why my husband is hot

Here is my Valentine's Day Thursday 13. It is, of course, dedicated to my husband, not only because he puts up with me, but for these other reasons:

1. He has an innocent charm about him
Our first date was in April and it had been raining, though it
wasn't raining at the time. As my husband walked me out to his car he
took a deep breath and said, "It smells like worms." Some people have
you at "hello," he had me at "worms."

2. He is cute
I know it's superficial, but he has big blue eyes and these amazing eyelashes... swoon. He was that guy in school who talked a lot, goofed off, dressed in Old Navy or Gap (or his team's sweatshirt) and just looked cute and comfy. In high school I would have had a secret crush on him, but would've dated some jackass with a mullet or a mohawk.

3. He's a rock
I don't mean he is unemotional, I mean he is solid and dependable. If he commits to something, he follows through.

4. He loves me
It's as plain as the nose on his face. He cuddles me, hugs me, kisses me, listens to me, respects me and his eyes still light up sometimes when he sees me.

5. He's a true partner
He cooks, cleans, does dishes, changes diapers, drops The Baby off at daycare, and a million other things that I could list. I know from listening to other women's stories that this isn't always the case.

6. He's mega-talented
He's a graphic artist by day and fine artist by night. Here are two of my favorite drawings.













7. He's a family guy
His family lives nine hours a way in a place where they call soda pop. He talks to his parents every Sunday and visits every chance he gets. I knew he'd be a family man from the first weeks I knew him.

8. He's a great dad
Not only does he get on the floor and play with The Baby and do typical "dad" stuff, he is also very nurturing. The Baby is lucky to have such a good role model.

9. He's quirky
One of the first nights I spent with him, he woke up at 4:30 a.m., looked at me, and said, "You're donations are in the hall in a bucket." LOL. He was sleep talking. It's one of his quirks.

10. He's caring
When we first started dating, before he met anyone in my family, I confided in him that I was worried about a family member as they had gained a lot of weight and had diabetes and trouble getting around, etc. I was pretty upset and he asked if I wanted him to call this person and talk to them for me. It was innocent and childlike and plucked my heartstrings.

11. He doesn't get rip-roaring mad
He gets angry, of course, but the most anger-filled action I ever saw was when he threw a crumbled napkin at the TV during an Ohio State game and yelled, "Gosh darn it!"

12. He completes me
I'm an introvert, he's an extrovert; I'm complacent, he's proactive; I'm scared, he's strong... we're opposites in so many ways. In fact, I'm not exactly sure what we have in common except a kid and a last name!

13. He's my soul mate
It took me 29 years to find him, but when I'm in my husband's arms I know that it is exactly where I belong, and that is an incredibly fulfilling feeling.

Baby babble

I’d like to take a moment of silence for, well… silence

My son has become a blabbermouth, among other things (expert crawler, good cruiser, beginning stander, moderate eater). There is a frank determination in his speech. He gestures, makes eye contact, bobs his head as though he is making a point that you certainly should be aware of. Once in a while he even says, “uh-oh,” though he doesn’t use it in context – at least not that we are aware of.

I have, for you, an example. One of his favorite places to talk is the window. I have a two-minute clip of The Baby blabbing away, looking at the Real Estate section of the paper, blabbing some more, looking over at my husband who was recording it for future bribes posterity, and then yelling at the camera. I’ve managed to cut it down to the funniest 13 seconds, including an endearing shriek / tongue-thrust combo.

Get a piece of my kid’s mind. Click Play.

Who me? Quirks? Nah.

Stacey at realworldmom.com posted this tag-less meme along with her innermost quirks :-). I’m running short of time to write the entry I really want to write today, but I am far from short of quirks, so here goes!

The Rules for the no-tag meme:
1 Link to the person that tagged you.
2 Post the rules on your blog.
3 Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.

My Six Non-Important/Habits/Quirks:
1. If I eat cereal, I like to have socks on my feet. If I don’t, they feel strange - especially if I walk on a non-carpeted floor. Dead serious.
2. When I was little I thought scuba divers in your belly caused hiccups.
3. I’ve gotten so sensitive over the years that I’ve stopped reading certain authors, watching dramatic movies, and even certain TV shows (Grey’s Anatomy, for example). I get so upset when people lose loved ones that I can’t sleep. I cry when I here the song “100 years,” by Five for Fighting. The fragility and beauty and randomness of life overwhelm me.
4. Holy crap, was that too deep for the list? Second guessing things – especially inconsequential things – is quirk number 4.
5. I shave even when I don’t have to. Before I went to the hospital, after laboring for six hours at home and amid contractions, I shaved my legs, pits and bikini line.
6. For a half of a year, I recorded my dreams. It’s true that this helps you remember them. I quit because I just didn’t have time to write all the details that I began to remember. It’s a very cool journal to have and re-read.

Mommy and Baby Makeovers

Let me preface this by saying that my husband does nutty things when he has too much time on his hands. Things like, oh, making our little boy into a blond bombshell. But to his defense, he couldn’t find a head shot of himself or me. We have thousands of shots of The Baby. Thousands.

So, Friday afternoon I get this shot of my son dolled up like Miss Piggy in my e-mail. After causing much commotion laughing, I clicked through to instyle.com and checked out the makeover section. This is some good, cheesy fun. Take or find a picture and try out hundreds of hairstyles, change the color, add highlights and lowlights and even rotate or flip the do to fit the angle of your head. Make sure you have an hour or more – it’s addicting. ivillage.com has something similar, but they charge a fee to use it.

Here are the results. I’m wearing Ashley Olson’s do with the color changed to auburn. LOL:
















From the Pump Room in my Heart:
Speaking of ivillage, if you are exclusively pumping (or nursing and pumping), check out the Exclusively Pumping forum/message boards. I wish I had found this board sooner. I found it about a month before I hung up my horns. You can ask anything, search on past topics, and people are really nice and offer good advice and plenty of support.

Happy Monday. :-)

Haiku Friday: Baby Mullet

He has a mullet,
my husband says, "Cut it off."
I get out scissors,

But he won't stay still.
I try to hold his head firm...
snip, snip, snip, snip, snip.

Uh-oh. That's not good.
The Baby's first bad hair cut
came from his mommy.


The Baby. Look Ma, no more mullet!!
Hey, wait, is he giving me the bird?

The Baby is standing by himself! Plus, Thursday 13

Over the weekend we had a fluke. The Baby was standing at his play table talking a mile a minute to the fake bowl of alphabet soup when he turned his head to look at me and took his hands off the table. Honestly, I think he forgot he couldn’t stand by himself. Had I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted, “Timber!!” it would have been perfect timing.

Flash forward to last night. He did it! Not for long, but he can take his hands off whatever he is getting in to standing against for a few seconds. We’re so proud. I never thought I’d be “proud” of milestones – I mean all healthy kids hit ‘em, but I wish I had pictures and video so I could bore you to tears share.

Oh, boy… how far away could walking be?








The Songs in my Head

If I could burn a CD right at this very instant this is what would be on it. I will even throw in a bonus: my favorite line from the song so that you too can get them stuck in your head:

1. Save a Prayer, Duran Duran
Feel the breeze deep on the inside, / Look you down into the well / If you can, you'll see the world in all his fire / Take a chance
Like all dreamers can't find another way / You don't have to dream it all, just live a day

2. 99 Red Balloons, Nena (English version)
99 decisions treat / 99 ministers meet / To worry, worry, super scurry / Call the troops out in a hurry / This is what we've waited for
This is it boys, this is war / The president is on the line / As 99 red balloons go by

3. Just like Heaven, The Cure
Daylight licked me into shape / I must have been asleep for days / And moving lips to breathe her name / I opened up my eyes
I found myself alone / Alone / Alone above a raging sea / That stole the only girl I loved / And drowned her deep inside of me

4. Bullet the Blue Sky, U2
Suit and tie comes up to me / His face red like a rose on a thorn bush / Like all the colors of a royal flush / And he's peelin' off those dollar bills / Slappin' 'em down / One hundred, two hundred

5. Add it Up, Violent Femmes
I've given you / decision to make things to lose / things to take / just as she's about ready to cut it up / she says wait a minute honey, I'm gonna add it up / add it up! add it up! add it up!

6. Laid, James
Caught your hand inside the till / Slammed your fingers in the drawer / Fought with kitchen knives and skewers / Dressed me up in women's clothes / Messed around with gender roles / Dye my eyes and call me pretty

7. Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana
And I forget just why I taste, / Oh yeah, I guess it makes me smile. / I found it hard, it's hard to find. / Oh well, whatever, never mind.

8. International Love Song, STP
“neeeer neeeer neeeer neeeer ner-ner-ner-ner neer-neer-neer!” Mouth guitar by Pump Mama. Seriously, I don’t remember the words. I was drowning in flannel.

9. One, U2
You say love is a temple, love a higher law / Love is a temple, love the higher law / You ask me to enter, but then you make me crawl / And I can't be holding on, to what you got / When all you got is hurt

10. Across the Universe, The Beatles
Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup / They slither wildly as they slip away across the universe / Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my opened mind / Possessing and caressing me

11. Buffalo Soldier, Bob Marley
Woe yoe yoe, woe woe yoe yoe
Woe yoe yeo yo, yo yo woe yo woe yo yoe
(It’s a serious song, but these lyrics are just so FUN to sing)

12. Anna Begins, Counting Crows
So maybe I should / Snap her up in a butterfly net... / Pin her down on a photograph album...

13. White Houses, Vanessa Carlton
Crashed on the floor when I moved in / This little bungalow with some strange new friends /Stay up too late, and I'm too thin / We promise each other it's til the end


Note: lyrics from LyricWiki. As if Wikipedia wasn’t cool enough.
Note.2: Daylight licked me into shape??? I thought it was daylight faded into shade. I like my version better.
Note.3: 99 ministers meet……That’s what she is saying?! Shheese, I just sang min-IS-terse me. I had no idea what she was talking about. Nena put the EM-pha-SIS on the wrong syl-LA-BLE.

Weaning from a machine - is that possible??

Yesterday I had a serious case of blog block. I was feeling boring and uninteresting. It happens. BUT I found a really funny photo that I meant to post and then I started watching The Office on TBS and then I forgot, so here it is:



It’s still funny today. :-)

In response to my Friday Haiku, I can only say, “Phil, you suck.” But it’s 62 degrees out, so I forgive you.

From the Pump Room:
Confession: I’ve cut out all my work pumps. I was doing 4 pumps a day and getting 4 oz a day. I just couldn’t do it anymore. It was becoming frustrating to me. I’m trying to wean off the pump completely and, go figure, have suffered my first clogged duct and first case of cracked nipples. Now there are two words that should never, ever be strung together. OUCH. Thank goodness for lanolin (Target has a great store brand that works as good as what the hospital gave me), it’s instant relief. Anyway, I will continue writing from the pump room in my heart (lol). Since we’re soon going to be trying to make The Baby a sibling, before you know it, I’ll be right back in the real pump room and complaining about supply issues.

Anyway, the last book that I read (actually, re-read) in the pump room was “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life,” by Anne Lamott. If you enjoy writing and want to read a book that could help you along your path as a writer, this is one for your collection. The writer has a very straightforward, humorous style that makes it easy to read (good for the pump room or anyone with kids). She also, apparently, has a low-self esteem. She writes a lot about working through your demons and doubts … whether they be silencing your inner-critic or dealing with what she terms “shitty first drafts.” It’s an inspiring book by a good writer who seems real.

Good weekend, cheap thrills

I had a really great weekend, but I’m not going to tell you about it. If I do I will jinx The Baby and myself. So you won’t be hearing about how The Baby’s cold has cleared up and how he’s in a great mood. He’s cruising along furniture, toys, legs, TVs, a ball (didn’t end pretty), and he even forgot that he couldn’t stand by himself and took both hands off his play table (also did not end pretty). I wish I could share how funny it is when he uses his high chair as a walker or when he gets his hand stuck in the mail slot, the goofball. Also, you’d be happy to know that The Baby is once again eating off of a spoon. Thank goodness. He’s still getting a lot of finger foods, but he’s once again accepting cereals and veggie purees. I’d also tell you that he’s starting to show his affection, but I’m afraid he’ll somehow sense me typing this and go back to his cute-but-so-aloof old self. Whenever you are really close to The Baby, he’ll lean his head into yours and smile a great-big open mouth smile. Then he’ll try to bite your face. The thing is, you can really tell he’s doing it to say, “Hey, I like you enough to take a nibble.” We call him Hannibal. He’s very sweet, but I’m keeping my mouth shut.

So I can’t tell you all that, but I do have an awesome shopping experience to share. On Friday, I was on Playgroups are No Place for Children. Jennifer reviewed the Wal-Mart generic L’Oreal Wrinkle Decrease (not that she has wrinkles, she’s too hot for that…). I’m 34 and I’m getting some apostrophes and I was very excited to see this review because I have wondered for quite awhile if this stuff really worked. I was extra excited to see that the GENERIC version got a positive review. I immediately put Wal-Mart on my list of to-dos for the weekend and bookmarked her blog as she obviously was reading my mind.

Yesterday, we dropped The Baby off at The Grandparents and were preparing to go to Wal-Mart for my wrinkle cream (don’t tell my husband that, he doesn’t see my wrinkles). Then, my husband suggested going to Marshall’s instead. Who am I to turn down a trip to Marshall’s? My apostrophes can wait. Here is what we got: men’s polo-style shirt, men’s wool sweater, women’s wool blend sweater, DKNY sweater/hoodie, cute denim blazer, Express Drew Fit Capris, a gorgeous navy TAHARI blazer, and two DKNY bras, one of which is convertible. The suggested retail price of the Tahari blazer was $250. We paid $96. Not for the blazer, but for all of it. WHEEEEEEEEEE!

Anyway, I popped back onto Jennifer’s blog this morning and was excited to see a whole othr post about cheapies! I posted a really long and drawn out comment on my favorites and there are many others. If you have a few minutes, it’s well worth the read!

Friday Haiku / Groundhog Day

Around the corner…

I’m cold through and though.
Please, furry little groundhog,
Don’t see your shadow!

I live in PA and people make a huge deal out of Groundhog Day. This year, Puxsutawney is expecting 30,000 people since Groundhog Day falls on a Saturday (tomorrow, in case you don’t know!).

www.groundhog.org





















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It’s not your fault!

Parenting lessons
Do not stop toddler tantrums:
Paris study says

Okay, so this is a found haiku – I just finessed the headline. But isn’t it nice to know that temper tantrums really aren't a result of you NOT doing enough? Now you have a study to site to those perfect moms who give you the look as your child bangs his head on the grocery cart and screams because you won't let him nibble on your arm.

Yahoo News