I’m testing out my new iPhone app from WordPress. Yes, pocket blogging you can do anywhere without lugging a laptop around or relying on wifi availability. \\\\n\\\\nSo far: loving it.\\\\n\\\\nIf I had to change one thing, it would be to post the picture at the top – or at least give me an option.\\\\n\\\\nI like to lead in with that cute smile!\\\\n\\\\n\\\\n\\n\\nUpdate: can you see the pic below? \\n\\nAlso: paragraph breaks didn’t format. Boo. \\n\\nBut still, not bad for a free app.\\n\\n
This is the time of the month when I panic on a daily basis over whether I’ve paid all the bills for the month. Never mind that I sit down sometime during the first week to pay them all via online banking – I STILL flew out of bed at 6am this morning to check the American Express account online.
And?
PAID.
Obviously I don’t trust myself. And rightly so, since I forget Important Things all the time. Even with all the various online to-do lists I’ve tried (previously Vitalist, and currently Remember the Milk), my chronic procrastination usually sabotages it all anyway.
So this *sigh of relief* is brought to you by a complete set of checked boxes.
I’m so mad I could spit.
I came home from the store today to find a car in the parking lot across the street had its window smashed in, likely something stolen from inside. I don’t know whose car it is, but it pisses me off that some ass-crack got away with this in broad daylight in front of MY HOUSE.
Because I’m like fricken Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window around here and have a dog that barks at rain, so if something had smashed while I was home you can bet I’d have seen it AND let my dog out the gate to chomp some ass.
I’m also mad because our car was broken into a few weeks ago, which I could have easily chalked up to a random casualty of urban dwelling, but now it seems we have a CRIME SPREE on our hands. I told Bryan we should get a surveillance camera and do our own little sting a la The Wire.
At any rate, it was raining, and there was a baby’s car seat in the back, so I put some plastic over the window to keep it all dry.
Here it is. My ignite presentation.
I’m pretty proud of it, just to let you know. I think maybe I like public speaking because I never really get nervous at the time of presenting.
I DO, however, have a nervous breakdown SEVERAL TIMES during the preparation of a presentation – particularly this one, as I feared NOBODY WOULD CARE about what a stay at home mom has to say to this particular crowd. But as you can tell by the laughter at appropriate times, I think I pulled it off.
Huge huge HUGE thanks to Bryan & the kids for putting up with my irrational mood swings, the growing laundry piles, and the generally chaotic home environment as I prepared for this event. Also, Bryan put up with a disproportionate amount of verbal abuse whenever he said the words “bullet points.” But in the end he was avenged, and did his victory lap around the house.
Also, big thanks, of course, to Brady and the selection team for picking me. Yea!
It was great fun, but I’m so relieved to have my regular life back, slaving away at home.
Hack [hak] Verb –
To jury-rig or improvise something inelegant but effective, usually as a temporary solution to a problem.
I am scrambling to hack a new childcare situation for tonight now that Thomas is sick.
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Twelve hours from now I am to report to The King Cat Theater for my presentation at Ignite Seattle on The Sanity Hacks of a Stay At Home Mom.
However.
Thomas woke up at 5:30 this morning coughing and screaming from an ear ache, which means I likely can’t take him to my friend’s house where he will infect all her children.
So if ever I needed a sanity hack, IT WOULD BE RIGHT NOW.
Me: So Ruthie, your homework tonight is to write three words in the “air” family.
Ruthie: CHAIR!
Me: Awesome. What’s another one?
Ruthie: STAIR!
Me: Yup. One more!
Ruthie: PAIR!
Me: Close! I know it sounds the same, but that’s actually spelled P-E-A-R.
Ruthie: [blank stair stare]
Me: Um, yeah. Actually, PAIR is right. Good job.
Just so you know, a kid threw gum at J__ on the bus and she put it in her mouth “because it still tasted good.” I made her pinky-swear never to do that again.
Wow. That was quite the flu bug. It waxed and waned then struck again with a vengeance of ear aches and sinus infections in Ruthie and Bryan.
Me? I came down with it on Monday, and it was Saturday before I could take a shower without needing a nap.
By Tuesday my flu was in full swing, but Ruthie was feeling better. So I did what any sane person would do when everything down to her hair hurts – WE WENT TO THE ZOO.
I’m pretty sure if the gorillas were allowed to roam free they would not act this stupid.
The makers of Ibuprofen should pay me money out of their marketing budget, because for about three hours that morning I felt like a normal person.
AND I TOLD THIS TO EVERYBODY I SAW – which may or may not have made me look like a crazy person.
Shortly after lunch I lost Ruthie. We were there with a friend and had four kids between us. If you’re ever in charge of multiple children you know the counting game you constantly play in public – one-two-three-four – over and over again. But after lunch I only came up with three.
WHERE’S RUTHIE? I said.
Squinting into the bushes, spinning around in circles, looking for that blond hair bobbing.
WHERE’S RUTHIE? I shouted again.
My friend masked a snicker and nodded down to my side – I was holding Ruthie’s hand.
And that’s how I knew it was time to go home.
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But now it is Tuesday again and I’m busy digging myself out of this pile of laundry and clutter and bills and receipts.
I’m also working on a writing project with an actual deadline that is only two weeks away, so watch this space for more news on that.
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The strawberries pictured above were roasted under the broiler and served with chocolate pudding, just a little gift from me to you. Try it!
Guess what! It’s April! And you know what APRIL means, right?
DING! DING! DING!
I’m sick.
Oh, you don’t remember? You don’t remember LAST April when I had THE FLU? And it turned into PNEUMONIA? And I was sick for an ENTIRE MONTH? And almost DIED?
Okay that last part was a little exaggerated. But I FELT like I was dying.
But at least Thomas is learning his math through the experience. He’s the only one not sick right now, and boy does he know it. He’s all “THERE WAS TWO PEOPLE SICK BUT NOW THERE’S THREE PEOPLE SICK BUT I’M NOT SICK BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE FOUR.”
It’s a den of viral slime in this house. First Ruthie was sick. Then Thomas was sick. Then Ruthie was sick again. Then Bryan was (still is!) sick. I’ve been taking care of everyone while they all lay around watching bad Disney, but now that I’m sick do you suppose I’ll get to lay around?
At least tomorrow is supposed to be warm and sunny. I can take the kids to a park and pass out under a tree.
What a gorgeous weekend! Our first spike into the 70s and it was purrrrfect. I spent the weekend filling in holes Lucy dug in my garden and digging up part of the lawn where the dirt was so compact grass wouldn’t grow anymore.
And? There were bubbles.
I created this mosaic over at Big Huge Labs, thanks to a link from Dacia. It was so easy, I’ll definitely try that again.
What’s the weather like where you are? Did you have a fun weekend?
Beginning after Spring Break I’ll be teaching a bi-weekly writing workshop in Ruthie’s Kindergarten class. To help get the kids excited about reading and writing, her teacher is telling all the kids a “real writer” is coming.
This makes me smile even if it is only six year olds.
Ruthie, playing with Thomas: “I’m gonna kill you!”
Me, scolding: “Ruthie!”
Ruthie: “Oh. Sorry mom.” Then to Thomas: “I’m gonna slice you into pieces!”
Me: “RUTHANNE!”
Ruthie: “Oops, sorry.” To Thomas: “I’m gonna…TURN YOU INTO A GROCERY STORE!”
Thomas, today you are four years old. I can hardly believe we’re here already! You inspire me every day with your generosity. When you experience something amazing – a taste, a view, an object – your first reaction is to want to share it with someone.
“THIS IS SO GOOD, MOM, YOU HAVE TO TASTE IT!”
“WOOK AT THIS DWESS, MOM, WET’S GET IT FO’ WOOFIE!”
You are slow to warm up to new situations – it took you three three months to say hello to Daniel at the bus stop, and four months to stop clinging to me at preschool drop off. You sit back and assess a situation or person, determining who will be one of your trusted peeps. But when you make a determination, it seems to be a set relationship.
This year you also claimed a “best friend.” You ask to see him on a daily basis, and tell me you wish he was part of our “famiwy.” Your sleepovers and park dates are filled with Light Sabor wars, kung foo fighting, and SuperHero rescues. Knowing your intimate, faithful, and dedicated personality, I imagine this friendship lasting many years despite attending different schools in the future.
Like most sibling relationships, you and Ruthie are love/hate, but mostly love. You adore her, and you protect her. That time we went to Santa Cruz beach and Ruthie ran in and out of the surf? You were so worried for her safety that you screamed at me and pushed me toward the water to stop her.
You follow her everywhere and do what she does. This sometimes gets you into trouble because you don’t evaluate whether your choices are foolish or wise, only whether Woofie did it. My prayer is that your conscience will override the strong draw of your sister’s leadership, and you will one day speak into her life regarding some of the choices she makes.
I think your challenge will be to believe in yourself and to trust your instinct. You are thoughtful in your determination, and quiet in your execution, but your ego bruises easily and you worry what people will think. I’m confident Jesus will lead you through all this, and I think you’re already working out what that looks like. When I make a decision that puts you in tears, your question to me often is, “Does Jesus agree with you?” And when I say, Yes, Jesus gives me wisdom to be a good parent, you are satisfied.
I love you, and I love being your mom. I’m continually aware that I walk a fine line between leading you and raising you to be a leader. I want to support you and nurture you in a way that bolsters you up as a man, but still cuddles and snuggles you like a boy.
And your dad? You are WAY INTO your dad. Every morning when you wake up you ask, “Where’s dad?” Every night when he comes home you skooch your chair around the dinner table to be right next to him. And on the weekends you LOVE to run errands and do GUY STUFF with your dad. Sometimes you even climb into his lap with your blankie and your thumb and chuckle just a little bit – you are so content in that space it brings an uncontrollable giggle up through you. I LOVE that – the happiness and contentment that expresses itself in a bubbling over of laughter.
In closing, know that I want to encourage your natural curiosity. You are filled with striking questions and keen observations. Here are a few of the things you’ve said to me over the last year:
Why does the sky change colors?
How did Scout get up to heaven when there’s nothing for him to stand on?
How do things melt?
Why does Jesus live in the sky?
Hey I know! We can send the [broken] spoon up to heaven for Jesus to fix, and then he can shoot it back down to us!
I wish I was Jesus or a Super Hero so I could save people.
Daddy I need to change my pants so I have somewhere to put my gun. (he needed a pocket).
Daddy, can we break our car so we have to buy a new one over there and I can play in the Spiderman house? (re the Spiderman jump house in the used car lot)
I wish there was a machine that could make it so the WHOLE WORLD could watch Clone Wars!
