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.