You are here: Home / Archives for Family / me me me
Jan 15, 2008

Still Running On Fumes

By ·

Our weekend trip to Chicago was fun, but I’m glad to be home. While my agenda was very free and open, Mira made sure that I got as little sleep as possible. After this weekend, I now understand why sleep deprivation is banned by the Geneva Convention. During the drive home I was so tired I began to hear voices in my head. They were carrying on a conversation, but I was too focused on driving to listen in. They were probably saying something like, “Stop driving and get some sleep!”

I’m still too tired for a full narrative, so here are the highlights:

– Traveling with a baby is great! Mira slept for most of the drive up to Chicago, and the entire way back. This was in stark contrast to traveling with a toddler two years ago who decided to stay awake most of the trip.

– But traveling with a baby sucks, too. Although she was the perfect driving partner, Mira wasn’t so happy about sleeping in a hotel room. Or sitting in a hotel room. Or doing anything in a hotel room that doesn’t involve being held and comforted the entire time. As a result, I spent little time in the room, and suffered through only three hours of sleep each night.

– There are things you don’t anticipate when traveling alone with a baby. Aaron left for Chicago a day before me, so I drove with only Mira in the car. About three hours into the drive it dawned on me that maybe drinking lots of water and tea wasn’t a good idea. I had to pee, but Mira was sleeping peacefully, and I couldn’t leave her in the car. Tough situation. I can tell you that holding an unhappily awake baby while trying to pull your pants down in a narrow public bathroom stall is a feat that should be included in the Mommy Olympics.

– Meeting other bloggers is fun! Last year I met up with Mrs. Fortune (who has since moved away from Chicago), and this year I had the pleasure of meeting Tracey from Just Another Mommy Blog and her three kids for lunch, shopping, and ice cream. They were very patient with me as I dragged them into store after store. Tracey made wrangling three kids look easy – I have no idea how she does it! Of course, I forgot my camera was in my purse until the end, and then I couldn’t get it powered on until after they left. Mira loved seeing the older kids, although all of the excitement (and ice cream!) finally took its toll:


– Babies love to see other babies. Sunday was spent at Ikea (of course!) and also visiting my old college roommate and her husband. She had her first baby in September – I saw her very pregnant when I was in town for BlogHer in July, but had yet to meet little Julia. She’s a beautiful four month old with an amazing head of hair. She also weighs the same as Mira, despite Mira being three and a half months older. Mira and Julia sized each other up, probably using baby telepathy to plan out the havoc they will cause next year when we get together again and take them to the children’s museum.

Still not quite sitting up on your own yet?

It’s OK, you’ll get it soon. Once we walk, we’ll own this town.

– Leaving Chicago at 8:30pm is stoooopid. I wanted to be on the road by 6:00 or so, but outside forces (as in, the workshop Aaron was attending) prevented that. We were both tired, it was already late, and we were too poor to pay for another night at the hotel. Bad combination. But we struggled through it and somehow arrived safely at home by 5:00am, just as Cordy was waking up for the day. I faded in and out of consciousness when I wasn’t driving, vowing quietly to never do this late night drive ever again. (and this time, I mean it)

Now I must attempt to catch up on the 500 or so posts waiting on me from the weekend. Oh, and thank you all for delurking last week! Did you see I had 100 comments? I’ve never hit triple digits before. And it was good to see so many other moms would hide and eat the cookie, too. I love my kids, but I won’t share my fudge stripes.

Filed Under: me me me, Mira, mom blogs ·


Jan 10, 2008

I’m Waving At You. How About You Wave Back?

By ·

Apparently today is a delurking day – one of those days where those of us who are out here writing all the time ask you to show yourself.

Bloggers love comments. We have to, or we’d be writing in little paper journals kept in our desks. Feedback is nourishment to us.

So just for this one day, leave me a comment to let me know you’ve been here. I look over my stats all the time, and I know there are more people visiting than commenting. I’m not hurt by that – I’m a secret stalker for many other blogs, and sometimes I read my favorite blogs and don’t have anything to say.

But I do love me some comments. Seeing that e-mail pop up telling me I have a new comment on a post is like getting another fix of my favorite drug. When I get a lot of comments, I’m downright giddy.

You don’t have to be witty, or funny, or philosophical. A simple “Hi!” works fine. Anonymous is cool, too. (Spammers and trolls excluded, of course.)

Or if you want a reason to comment, answer me this question:

You have discovered one lonely cookie left in a bag. It’s your favorite type of cookie. Do you:

A. give it to your child
B. share it with your child or…
C. turn the TV on and hide out in the kitchen so your kid doesn’t see you eat the cookie?


OK, let’s see how many people are out there. I’d love to see over 50 comments. And just to add a little guilt:


PS – Want to really make me happy? There are some blog awards going on right now. And I hear there’s a Parenting blog category. And I’ve never been nominated.

Just sayin’. If you think I’m cool enough and all…

Filed Under: me me me · Tagged: ,


Jan 8, 2008

Forgive The Bragging, Please

By ·

I know some of you mommy bloggers out there have been posting lately about your husbands behaving badly. Being wimps. Being lazy. Being selfish, condescending, and mean. The labels “assholes” and “pussies” have been thrown around lately.

I’m sorry, ladies, for the story I’m about to share. But maybe you can show your husbands the end of this post and the testosterone desire to compete shaming sweet tale will convince them to make up for their ways.

Sunday, Aaron and I were given a rare break from the children to see a movie. Aaron wanted to see I Am Legend. I was uninterested. I wanted to see this instead:


Uh-huh. A chick flick. And not just a chick flick, but one containing the actor who is at the upper-most, highest peak, tippity-top of my List of Five.

Allow me a moment of high school girl obsession: *droooooool*

And do you know what my sweet, loving husband said to me when I casually suggested seeing P.S. I Love You, trying to sound as if I was interested in the story and not that I just wanted to stare at Gerard Butler on the big screen for two hours?

“Sure.”

Even knowing I’d be searing every shirtless image, every sexy smile, every word spoken in that hot Scottish accent into my brain, he agreed to see a movie he wasn’t interested in on our one chance in weeks to get out together.

And he dislikes Hilary Swank.

And in a theater filled with women, he was one of TWO men.

And the other guy was so old he probably didn’t remember what movie he was seeing afterwards.

Not only did he agree to see this chick flick without complaint – he enjoyed it. Teared up at times, even! (Note: bring kleenex to this movie. No matter how stone-faced you think you are, it’s a four hankie tear-jerker.)

I’m a lucky woman.

Oh sure, he’s not perfect, and he can piss me off sometimes. Or a lot, depending on the week. (and I’m sure he gets sick of me, too) But I’m glad I have him, and after almost five years of marriage, he’s still willing to do little things to make me happy.

Now, mommy blogger husbands out there, listen up: I challenge you to top this. Do something totally selfless, something entirely for your lovely wives. Make these women unable to resist bragging about how great their guys are.

I want to see some happy mamas out there, because these wonderful women deserve a little special treatment!

Filed Under: Aaron, love, me me me, more than parents ·


Jan 1, 2008

2008 Un-resolutions

By ·

Everyone out there is writing about their New Year’s resolutions for 2008. I tried to think of some, and there’s none I can think of that aren’t 1. obviously easy for me to keep, making them no challenge at all, or 2. so hard that there’s no way in hell I have a chance of keeping them.

So I’d like to present my list of un-resolutions for 2008 – things I will not be doing in the new year.

1. Go to the gym. We have a gym membership and I haven’t used it yet. Why start now? Besides, we have Dance, Dance Revolution now. It has a workout mode. I’ll get fit and fit in at the local arcade at the same time.

2. Wear more makeup. Hahahaha! It’s not that I’m a total slob (please, people! I do brush my hair and teeth every day!), but any morning prep that takes longer than five minutes is too long. For now, I’ll stick with my current makeup routine – only for holidays and maybe my anniversary.

3. Stop procrastinating. It’s 9:25pm as I write these un-resolutions, less than three hours before the new year. I somehow doubt my procrastination tendencies will improve.

4. Blog more. I wish I could write more, maybe even every day like some crazy people. But then there’s nursing school. And a preschooler with special needs. And a baby who demands that I do a song and dance for her every five minutes to keep her entertained. And I have a house that occasionally needs cleaned. Now do you see why I can’t get to the gym and don’t have time for makeup? I do hope to at least keep up the pace I currently have of 2-4 posts a week.

5. Clean my house. See #4.

6. Learn a new hobby. See #4.

7. Lose weight. Nearly everyone says this, don’t they? I could make some valiant declaration about dropping x number of pounds before 2008 is done, and then silently fail as Valentine’s chocolates lead into St. Patrick’s Day stews and soda bread, which then is followed by Easter chocolates and those evil Cadbury caramel eggs. Better to not set a goal, enjoy my food and if I happen to lose a few pounds, great! After all, I weigh 20 pounds lighter than I did at this time last year. Of course, I was pregnant then, too.

8. Allow less TV time for the girls. I possibly could have accomplished this one, until Noggin announced they were going 24/7 as of tonight. Knowing there can be Dora at 4am almost makes me want to put a TV in Cordy’s room in the hopes that I could get more sleep. It’s all about survival, people.

That’s enough for now. The big hour is getting near, and there is champagne calling my name.

What about you? What are your un-resolutions?

Filed Under: holidays, me me me ·


Nov 29, 2007

Strong Women

By ·

My two aunts – my mother’s older sisters – are very interesting people. One has her MBA and is an executive of an academic publishing company. In a male dominated business world, she’s fought for the recognition she deserves and refused to let her gender stop her from reaching her goals. As a child I always admired her expensive style, and as an adult I know she has worked hard to get to a position where she has the financial resources to live that high life.

My other aunt has her library science degree, along with a PhD in Middle Eastern Studies, earned from the University of Edinburgh with additional studies in Iran. She knows Arabic, and is a professor and librarian at a prestigious university. She can beat most people in Trivial Pursuit, and will correct your grammar in an instant. Even though she was from a poor family in rural Ohio, she never let that keep her from seeing the world and reaching all of her educational goals.

Both of my aunts have never married. They didn’t have time for it, and they weren’t interested in having children. That’s not to say that they dislike children – they have always enjoyed their roles as aunt. And they both consider education to be one of the most important things in a young person’s life.

Growing up, these two women were the most educated people I knew. And they were the ones who stressed the importance of education to me. I never knew that there was a choice to not go to college – I simply knew that after high school, college was the next logical step.

They also helped me form my identity as a woman. Seeing the successes of my aunts, I really believed I could do anything I put my mind to. In a small town where girls were expected to be good at Home Ec and English, while boys excelled in Math and Science, I was the winner of the Math award my senior year, honoring the student with the highest math scores over all four years of high school. I was the first girl in many years to win that award. I give some of the credit to my aunts, who encouraged me to do my best in all areas, especially math and science.

It always surprises me to meet women who believe they are less important, less valuable than men. My aunts taught me that I was an equal to anyone else, and not to let others try to shove me into a narrow definition of being a woman. Of course, I went on to marry and have children, unlike them, and doing so certainly slowed down any career aspirations. I love being a wife and mother, but there’s so much more to me than that. Continuing to learn and find new ways to make an impact with others is so important to me, too. I have a degree, I’ve worked on graduate degrees, and I’m now back in school to become a nurse. I enjoy writing and improving my writings skills through practice. I participate in social and charity groups to help others.

My aunts, along with my mom and my grandmother, provided the role models I needed to become the person I am today. I’m grateful that I had such strong support, and I hope that these women will continue to provide a positive influence on my daughters as well.

Thanks to Susan for tagging me for this very interesting meme! Now I’d like to pass it on to Bub & Pie, Violet the Verbose, and Momma to LG and ask them: who has influenced you in your life/career?

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Filed Under: me me me, meme time ·