I'm busy....

....but I'm blogging. Go figure.

I am feeling frazzled at work right now, so I am taking a moment. It's been a crazy day.

Yesterday evening I dropped an ice cube tray that was full of frozen avacado and banana cubes. I picked up all the pieces, or what I thought was all the pieces, and threw them away (no five-second rule for baby food). Then last night I encountered two little melted piles of green mush. Then this morning I opened the laundry room door (which is right off the kitchen) and slipped in another little pile of green mush, falling and brusing my pride, terribly. Bubba was amused and thought it was playtime since I was down on the floor, so he hurried over and dropped a big elbow on my stomach. Ooof.

In more Bubba news, he found a single serving baggie of cookies in his diaper bag this morning, and he promptly threw it on the floor and hit it with a toy golf club until it exploded. He then tried to eat as many cookie pieces as he could before I could get there from the kitchen. It's a small apartment, but by the time I reached him he had his chubby little cheeks stuffed full of cookie and was trying to scurry away.

While I was showering this morning he apparently decided he wanted to join me so he clambered into the tub (a new skill for him, or at least one that he has not shown me yet), fully clothed. I was mid-shampoo when he started climbing, and in my haste to keep him from killing himself by falling into or out of the tub I got shampoo in my eyes. So my eyes were watering and I couldn't open one of them all the way, and I am trying to catch him while attempting to to rinse my hands and get the soap out of my eyes. He made it into the tub and got soaking wet, then he slipped and fell down and had to be comforted. By that point I needed to be comforted, because I was pretty much done.

My sister believes that his antics are all related somehow to testosterone. Oh well; at least there is never a dull moment with Bubba around!

At least it's Friday, that's something. Back to work!

Quick Takes Friday

1. Tonight Bella asked, completely of her own accord, if she could bring her lunch tomorrow and put the $3 she would have spent buying her lunch into her Operation Rice Bowl box. And Fridays are pizza days, people, so that's a big deal. She's a good girl.

2. Bubba is teething, and he is having a terrible time of it. He got his two bottom incisors, then a month or so ago he popped one of his canines up top. It is really terribly amusing, because it's waaaay off to the side. I've been calling it his hillbilly tooth. He started gearing up into the teething process (extreme fussiness, low-grade fever, restlessness, diaper rash, did I mention the fussiness? ) and I started checking to see what was emerging next. A full two weeks in, I finally noticed a tooth coming in and it is the other canine up top. So he's missing a good four teeth in between the two. Bless his little heart, it's a funny looking mouth. It's so strange, too, because the canines aren't supposed to come in until 16-22 months. I guess he's just an overachiever.

3. When I attended the Ash Wednesday service at Bella's school, that is actually the first service I have attended with all the school kids there. For one reason or another I have never been able to make it. I have since decided that I want to be there as often as possible, because it is on my level. Before anything takes place (communion, distribution of ashes, etc) Father explains what is going to happen, what he will say and what (if anything) you are supposed to say and/or do in reply. Awesome! That is right up my alley! They are having Stations of the Cross tomorrow at 10:15, and I'm going to try and make it for that, Bubba permitting.

4. I finally decided tonight that yes, I really do hate Golden Corral. I had suspected it, last time I was there, but this evening's visit confirmed it - I just can't stand it. It stresses me out, in a weird way - all those people, jostling for position in the steak line, cutting in front of you and taking the last piece of cheese pizza, dropping the tongs on the floor. Yeesh. The food is usually terrible, too - my uncle worked there briefly and said that there is very little that is served there that doesn't come out of a can, even adding that you would be amazed at the things that come in cans that you would think really shouldn't. He didn't elaborate on the last remark and I didn't ask him to. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss.

5. I did not have girl scouts today, since our new policy of meeting every other week was put into place this month. It was lovely to not spend my Wednesday night prepping craft stuff, and it was lovely to have my Thursday entirely to myself. I think the breaks will be very good for me, providing me with just enough of a break to prevent me from absolutely hating it. I have been talking to one of the mothers about next year - she thinks it would be a shame for the troop to fizzle out, and I agree. She is willing to take a main leadership role if I agree to help her, and I think I am going to do it. I know I have said multiple times that this was it, I was never going to do this again, but Bella really wants to continue on, and I know how good the troop could be if done correctly (i.e, not what we are doing now). I'm such a sucker. I also agreed to help staff the book fair at Bella's school in a few weeks. The school librarian, whose twin daughters are in my scout troop, commented the other day that she knew we didn't have a meeting on a certain date, and that she could really use some help. After mulling it over for a couple of days, I sent her an e-mail offering to assist. I love books, though, and I loved books fairs when I was a kid, so I think this will be cool.

6. I took a nap today! And all because the television was turned off. Usually, if I lay down and snuggle with Bubba on the sofa and he falls asleep, I will lay there with him and watch TV for a while. Today we laid down and snuggled, he fell asleep, and I started wondering what I was going to do to while away his nap time, and then I promptly fell asleep, too. We napped on the sofa together for a good hour and a half. It was heavenly. Hooray for naps! I honestly can't remember that last time I took a good nap like that, and the baby snuggles were just a bonus.

7. I ordered a few new books and am anxiously awaiting their arrival. I purchased some books by Michael Dubriel - he passed away unexpectedly the other day, and I am a fan of his wife (I own one of her books and read her blog), and she mentioned in a post that, if people wanted to do something to help, they could buy his books. I headed over to Amazon and ended up ordering three of his books, and I am looking forward to getting them in my hot little hands, putting the kids to bed and doing some reading (especially since I'm without television). I love getting new books. I love books and reading in general, but I love getting something new to read.

For more quick takes that are probably far less blathery than my own, check out Jennifer over at the Conversion Diary.

Whew

Bella's school had a 9:30AM Liturgy of the Word this morning that included the school kids, so I opted for that instead of attempting the 8:15 Mass. I got to church and got settled in, and a few moments later Bella's class entered. They lined up along the first three rows and the teacher had them genuflect all at once, on her signal, which was cute. She settled them into their seats and then proceeded to do what anyone in charge of 18 first graders in church would do - a lot of shushing, a lot of shuffling around to separate the talkers, so on and so forth. I was in a back corner, so Bella was not aware of my presence.



I watched her for a while - she started out well, but then started talking and just would not stop. Her teacher shushed her three times, at least, and then moved her. She had just started talking to her new neighbor when she glanced over at me (I had been giving her the mommy glare for the better part of five solid minutes) and jumped a little bit, then promptly hushed, folded her hands and became the very picture of contrition. I snickered a little bit to myself as I watched her alternately stare lovingly up at the crucifix and then glance over at me to make sure I was watching - at one point even mouthing to me, "I'm looking at Jesus". Mm-hmm.



It was a wonderful service, and the priest in charge of the parish and the school is just wonderful. He is so good with the kids, and you can tell that he loves what he does. He said something that was for the benefit of the school kids that I realized I needed to consider, too.....he said that when you give something up for Lent, you should find something worthy to replace it. He used TV as an example, saying if you give up an hour of TV a day (you can give up just an hour? why didn't I think of that?!) you should replace it with prayer or good works or something that makes your sacrifice even more meaningful. I hadn't really gone any further in my thought processes than to give up television, but that made me think about what I would be (or SHOULD be) doing instead. I'm still working on that one.



I am starting to see why people love Lent.



On a lighter note, I haven't watched television since late Tuesday night - I went right up to the wire, shutting it off at midnight. :) I was fine with it this morning, since I was busy getting ready for church and work. This afternoon was a whole different story, though - I missed it, terribly.



I have since had time to mull over why the television is on so much in my house, and have experienced some dawning realizations. Namely that:

• Bella watches too much TV - and I am guilty of letting her do so. And I count on the TV too often - it's like a good friend that comes over and watches your kids while you make dinner or fold a load of laundry, only it's not a good friend, it's television, and I depend on it too much to keep the kids busy. Bubba ignores TV, for the most part, but Bella is hooked.


• I am lazy! I realized tonight that collapsing on the couch to rest when the TV is on feels ok, feels somehow permissible, because I am 'doing something'. I'm actually doing nothing, but somehow I am able to reason it away. Tonight, with Bella in the shower, the supper dishes mostly done and the television off, I plopped down on the sofa and....just felt lazy. Not to say there is anything wrong with plopping down on the sofa for no good reason - but when there are other things to be done, that's a different story. So I have to wonder how often I did that in front of the TV and then just zoned out, either completely forgetting what I was supposed to be doing or putting it off until later.
  
• I really thought that the logistics of giving up television would be harder than the act - you know, what do I do when I go to someone's house, do I let Bella watch cartoons, am I going to have to hide in a back room somewhere when Brian is home, things like that - I thought that was going to be the difficult part. I really thought that I wasn't watching television that much, that I was just using it for background noise, but I was wrong.

If anyone feels like offering up an extra prayer, my dear sponsor/Godfather is going through a tough time right now - his dad is in hospice care, and he is looking after his mother, taking care of all the details with his father, and that's in addition to the already sizable duties of his daily life. And despite all that he still makes sure that I go to mass. :) So this one's for Misser Mike, as Bella fondly calls him: we are praying for you and your family, that you will have peace, love and grace. And call me if you need anything. Like the good southern girl I was raised to be, help often comes in the form of a casserole, but I can do other things, too - just say the word! And I leave you with the last verse of 'Lead, Kindly Light' (this verse by Ed­ward H. Bick­er­steth):

"Meantime, along the narrow rugged path, Thyself hast trod,

Lead, Savior, lead me home in childlike faith, home to my God.

To rest forever after earthly strife

In the calm light of everlasting life."

Lent

I am hurriedly doing my part to polish off the last of the king cake before Lent begins. I was staring at it this morning, in all of it's colorful iced glory, and when my husband walked in I informed him it had to be gone by tomorrow. So we did our part, and breakfasted on king cake. The breakfast of champions, don't you know!


I think I'm ready for Lent. I still feel like a brand-new catholic, even though it's been two years since I became official, so I always wonder: am I doing this right? Can I be doing a better job trying to impart the meaning to Bella? But I'm trying, so that has to count for something.


Bella has decided she is going to give up gum, something she sees as an enormous sacrifice on her part (and I don't doubt that it is). And as for myself, I still had not decided until this morning. I had been mulling over a couple of things and was still unsure and then I read this post by Aimee over at The Mother Load, which made a lot of sense. And I hope she doesn't mind if I quote her, briefly -

"If there was something I thought I could NEVER do -- for GOD -- then I was
too attached to that thing."

That completely blew me away. What an incredibly good point! Because I have been thinking the exact same thing. My first thought, when I was trying to decide what to give up for Lent, was to give up TV. And then I was aghast - there's no way I could give up TV! I could come up with a reason after reason why giving up TV would never work - I spend time at other's peoples homes who watch TV, I like having the TV on for background noise when I'm home by myself at night, I would miss 'The Office' and the new season of 'Ghost Hunters', and so on and so forth. As the saying goes, I had a million excuses but no good reason. So TV it is, then. Yikes.

We also have a couple of other little things going on around the house, and our biggest project is attempting to raise, entirely within our household, enough money to 'adopt' a retired Salesian Sister. The Salesian Sisters are in charge of Bella's school, and they are so wonderful that we thought maybe this could be a very small way for us to do a little something to return the favor.

I will close by once again stealing Aimee's words, hoping that Aimee keeps in mind that imitation (or blatant thievery without permission, as in this instance) is the highest form of flattery:

"But I do know that if I don't do this, I will regret it at a very deep
level because it is ultimately not about something as small as blogging (*or, in
my case, TV*). It is about something as big as what God wants from me."

That Aimee, she's one smart cookie. But if you want to tell her, do it quickly before she closes the com box!

A royal visit

The king and queen of Spain were here in town today, in honor of the 450th anniversary of the founding of our fair city. They made quite a few stops, the last of which was to the Naval Aviation Museum on the base. Bella's school is mere blocks from the base entrance, so the royal motorcade passed right in front of the school. The entire student body gathered out front with Spanish flags and a banner that read, "God bless your majesties". I think that's so cool, that they had the opportunity to do and see that.

Bella is actually in this picture - a view of the banner and some of the children waiting for the motorcade to pass

They were an enthusiastic bunch, that's for certain.

This is actually Bella's second motorcade wave - when then-President Bush was in town a couple of years ago her school did the same thing. So she has seen a president and a king (or at least waved at them as they whizzed by). Lucky girl!

An offer you can't refuse

After scouts were over today, I was discussing a few things with our cookie mom (whom I would smother with grateful kisses, if that wouldn't be weird, which it totally would be) when Sister Betty Ann walked by. She stopped and listened to us talk, and then during a pause in the conversation asked, "Who is in charge of the Daisies?". I volunteered that I am in charge, although I use that term loosely. Then she said, "Jesus wants me to talk to you about helping out at vacation bible school", and then smiled her sweet smile. We all chuckled a bit, and then she lifted the hem of her habit a couple of inches and literally danced away, saying, "I know you're busy, so I'll talk to you more seriously another time. But remember, Jesus wants you to follow him! And right now he's leading you to VBS!".

I love Sister Betty Ann - she is so full of joy and sweetness. How can I resist? Well, depending on the schedule, I might have to resist, but it will be awfully hard to. Especially since it was Jesus' idea. :)

Photo Meme

Aimee over at The Mother Load posted this meme this morning, and I thought that, since I finally managed to get my computer and my camera to communicate, I would follow suit. You have to have to post the fourth picture in the fourth folder on your computer. This is mine:

Ignore the date, as it is obviously incorrect. Meet Bubba's girlfriend and Bella's cabbage patch doll. He loved to snuggle with the doll when he was little bitty like this. Now he carries her around by her hair. Ah, young love.

Fair Warning

We will soon be getting a new upstairs neighbor, or neighbors - I don't know yet, since the cleaning crew is doing some final touch-ups on the apartment before the new tenants move in. I can't help but feel a little nervous about the idea of having someone live upstairs again - our last upstairs neighbors were not the people you wanted to share a thin-walled living space with. Between the late night ping-pong tournaments and the parties, the cigarette butts they threw everywhere and the constant, ceaseless bass from their stereo, they were not the most pleasant people to live below. I'm praying for maybe a nice, really, really busy military guy (but just one!) or maybe even a family, that would be awesome.

I was fretting about it earlier and realized that I just can't do anything about, and regardless of who might move in, we're just going to have to live with them. On the other side of that coin, they will also have to live with us. We might not be the most pleasant people to live above. I was thinking that they deserved a warning as to what they could expect, and thought maybe a nice welcoming introductory letter would be in order. Maybe it would read like this:

Dear New Neighbor,

Welcome to our building! I hope that we can be friends, and if we can't be
friends, then at least we can co-exist peacefully as neighbors. It is in that
spirit that I would like to honestly apprise you of daily life here in building
20. I don't know much about the rest of the neighbors here, but I can tell
you what you might encounter from our neck of the woods.

The walls and floors in our apartments are pitifully and painfully thin. I
have heard far more conversations and *ahem* other things than I ever cared to,
certainly without trying to hear them, and I'm sure you will experience the
same. Having said that, we make every effort to be courteous to our neighbors.

We are a kind family, mother, father and two children. However, with
children there will inevitably be noise. We certainly do our best to curtail
anything extremely loud, but with a family such as ours there are some noises
and noise-making activities that can't always be avoided. We can sometimes be a
loud family. Voices are occasionally raised, either mine or my husband's
or the children's.

We do have a baby, a lovely, bubbly, bouncing baby boy. He
asserts himself by raising his voice, usually in complaint but occasionally in victory
as well. He does what all babies do - cry. Sometimes for no good reason,
and sometimes for what can seem like a very long time. This is normal for
children his age - he is not being abused, or neglected - he is very well cared
for, as a matter of fact - but you can expect to hear him howling from his bed
or from some other room in the house when things aren't going his way. We also
have a daughter. She sings in the shower, which you will also hear if you are in
the bathroom directly above hers. It is quite charming and amusing, if you ever
care to listen in. She likes balls and bouncing them against things - walls,
doors and the like. This can also be loud. I do make her stop when I notice
it.

I discourage door slamming, screaming for no good reason, and
ridiculously loud volumes on any of the various and assorted electronic devices
we have in our home. We don't have loud parties (did I mention we have kids?
that kind of cancels out the wild partying), don't smoke or drink to excess, and
we don't argue in the hallway or the parking lot. We don't curse at the top
of our lungs and don't have any pets, although if we did we would make sure we
picked up after them.

Oh, and I use dryer balls, so expect some noise in your laundry room at the
very random times that I do laundry, which can really be any time, day or night.
I apologize in advance but you should see how much they cut down on
dryer time - I highly recommend them.

We don't bother anyone and we keep to ourselves, although we are friendly
if approached. We will not try and proselytize you or anyone in your home. We do not
judge, and we offer up every common courtesy. All we ask is that you do the same
- we will respect you, we just ask that you respect us in return. I encourage
face-to-face communication if there is ever an issue between us - while banging
on the floor with a broomstick gets our attention, it can be difficult to
decipher your meaning.

I look forward to living peacefully below you. Until November, when we are
out of here faster than you can say, "Why can't they make that baby stop
crying?!".

Welcome to the neighborhood,
Your downstairs neighbors

It's a nice thought, but it would never work. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Oh, and I have one more letter to write that I will never send:

To my dear husband,

I appreciate the kind thoughts behind the beautiful flowers you brought me
for Valentine's day. They are absolutely lovely, and I am very thankful.

I simply can't put into words how grateful I am, but I do have one
observation to make: the particular variety of lily included in that bouquet of
flowers stink. They smell, honey, I'm sorry but it's true. The day you
came home and found them on the patio, and I said I thought they needed some sun
and you looked at me like I was crazy or possibly stupid? I know that cut
flowers don't need sunlight - I just couldn't handle the smell anymore. And
the day I mentioned that their scent was bothering my allergies? That was a lie,
too. I'm spiraling downward into a pit of untruths and have to come clean. I
tried to tell you, that one day, when I thanked you for buying them and then
admitted the scent bothered me, but you p'shawed me and said they smelled fine.

I walk by them, catch a whiff of them and start searching the
house, thinking Bubba must have peed somewhere. I once thought the neighbor's cat had somehow managed to get inside our house and spray. They are gorgeous to look at and have opened up beautifully, but they smell like pee or cat or maybe even cat pee and, quite frankly, and please know I say this with all the love in the world, I
just can't wait to have them out of the house.

Thanks again, from your loving wife,
Val

It's just a personal thing, my aversion to the scent of this particular lily. In a stroke of irony, though, the roses are drooping in a most pitiful manner, but those lilies are magnificent and holding up like some sort of mutant cut flower. Oh well - at least they look nice, even though they stink (to me).

Duly noted

Last Friday, as the wedding rehearsal was wrapping up, the bride's great-aunt came over to talk to me. She complimented Bella for being so well-behaved and said that Bubba is adorable. Then she said something that has resonated with me ever since. She said, "Just treasure and enjoy your children, because they grow up so fast. It might seem like forever, but in reality it won't be too long before you find yourself not sitting in the third row for the flower girl, but sitting in the second row as the mother of the bride". Then she pointed one row ahead of me to my friend's mother, who was dabbing at her tears with a tissue and nodding in agreement.

I know they grow fast - time has zipped by as Bella has gotten older, and it feels like it goes by twice as fast with Bubba. But that really made me think, about a lot of things. About how I maybe need to change some habits relating to my own health, so hopefully I can be around to be that teary-eyed mother of the bride. And about how I need to worry less about the small details and pay more attention to enjoying my kids, and to spending time doing fun things with them.

Instead of hanging around the house in our free time so I can get the laundry finished, maybe I need to let the laundry wait. Laundry will keep (albeit probably in a smelly way), but children won't - they just insist on getting older and bigger. So I need to strike while the iron is hot, and spend some quality time with my children while they still want to spend time with me, before they get to be too cool to hang out with dorky old mom.

It's not like this is some new, earth-shattering revelation - everyone knows kids grow-up fast, but I guess every now and then I need a gentle reminder - to slow down, to smell the roses, and let my kids be kids and enjoy them. Gotcha.

Wedding: The big day!

I was limited in the shots I could get because the professional photographers had some very strict rules as to when people could take pictures. These aren't the best shots, and I never actually got one of her in the dress alone (there is one on the phone, but the resolution is so crappy it's not worth the trouble of figuring out how to transfer pictures out of the phone anyway). Anyway, here are a few shots:

Bella getting her hair done.

The results, from the front....

.....and from the back. Beautiful!

The wedding party, after the ceremony. I was trying to be quick and sneaky so the photographers didn't catch me and yell at me. That is why this photo and the one below it are so bad. It's certainly not my lack of photography skills or anything, noooooo.

A poor quality close-up of Bella. Right after this the photographers caught me and kicked me to the back of the church.

Bella hanging on to her Uncle Shaun after the ring bearer asked her to dance.

Bella and myself dancing and crying and slowly unraveling - this photo was courtesy of Uncle Shaun. I didn't know he had taken it - thanks, Uncle Shaun.

A random shot of the reception that Bella took for me.

Bella dancing to the 'Train' song. Not the same pouty child from above, not at all. I'm glad she had a good time.

Hopefully, since the photographers banned the rest of us from getting good shots, their photos will be good and my friend the blushing bride will share with me. I'm sure she will - she is a lovely, generous and kind lady whom I wish all the happiness in the world!

Wedding Pictures: Pampering

My dear friend and the beautiful bride was kind enough to arrange for all of her wedding party to get manicures and pedicures, Bella included. And although spending two hours in a nail salon with two children wasn't my cup of tea, Bella had a blast:

Bella getting her first pedicure. They turned on the massage chair but she had to sit so far forward that she couldn't feel it.

Bella's post-pedicure pampered tootsies.

Bella getting her manicure. I didn't remember to take a photo of her finished fingernails with the digital camera, but rest assures they were a gorgeous glittery red. I took one with my phone to send to Brian and my SIL but forgot to get a shot with the real camera. And I was juggling Bubba the whole time, so frankly I am glad that I even remembered the camera. A one-year old in a nail salon is a dangerous thing.

Some photos: School Dance

I'm splitting these entries into different posts, because blogger's photo formatting drives me nuts. Anyway:

Bella's school turned 135 on February 4th. The following Friday they had a dinner and a dance, and these are some pictures I took there:

Bella (in the black dress) cutting a rug - in the foreground you can also see Sister Betty Ann throwing down some dance moves.

Bella again, and in the background you can see Sister Isabel showing off her moves. Note Bella's choice of footwear - pretty ruffled dress, black boots with chains. Sigh.

Whew!

The wedding was beautiful. We went to the bride's house at 8AM yesterday morning (in the pouring rain, no less - it rained almost all day) for hair and make-up. We all got dressed over there - the photographers got a couple of pictures of me helping Bella with her dress and her necklace, so maybe those will turn out nicely. They were also quite taken with Bubba, who fell asleep in his car seat half dressed. He was lying there with his dress pants and a white onesie on, and his button-up shirt and tie were hanging off the handle of his seat. They took some photos and some video, so it will be interesting to see those.

We headed over to the church around 11AM for pictures, which I think will turn out beautifully. The bride was gorgeous, her wedding party looked beautiful.....it really was very lovely. Bella was well-behaved and looked breathtaking. The wedding actually started on time, which was nice. It was a full wedding mass, so instead of walking all the way down the aisle to stand with the bride Bella just walked down to where we were sitting (in the third row - we had great seats) and then sat down with us. I cried, of course, when she walked down. But when she sat down, she leaned over to me and said, "I'm not sure, but I might need to throw up". I was alarmed, to say the least, but she said she was OK for the moment and didn't want to go to the bathroom. I think it was a combination of nerves and hunger, but she made it through.

Brian was able to make it to the wedding, but couldn't stay because he had to get some sleep. He held Bubba for most of the ceremony, which was a nice break for me. He also took Bubba to the reception while I waited with Bella for them to finish the post-ceremony pictures. When I finally got over to the reception Brian was looking a little glum. He had put on some pinstriped finery for the wedding - a pinstripe suit with a striped gray and white shirt and tie that I jokingly call his pimp suit. When I found him and Bubba at the reception he showed me a damp spot on his suit jacket. "Bubba peed all over me". So I responded: "Bubba put the 'P' in your Pimp suit, then?". He was mildly amused.

He left, I cleaned up Bubba and we ate. Bella was doing pretty well until the wedding party dance - the ring bearer (who was a couple years older and a head or so taller than her) sort of begrudgingly asked her to dance (because his mom made him) and she started crying and flung herself into the arms of her Godfather, who was sitting right in front of the dance floor. I went up and tried to calm her down, and a very nice lady who knows Brian but whom I don't know at all offered to hold Bubba so I could dance with Bella. I agreed, and Bella agreed to dance with me but only if I picked her up. So I danced with my baby, who was tired and nervous and a little frayed, and who clung to me like a baby. I stood there and swayed with her to the music and cried. Tears of joy, tears of exhaustion, tears with all sorts of meanings behind them. Sigh. I'm close to crying just thinking about it, so I'll move on.

Bella wanted to go home after that, but I had to stop and talk to someone before we left. While I was talking Bella started dancing to the music and then decided she wanted to stay. So we did the chicken dance, and we did the YMCA, and she rode the train, and at that point Bubba was a screaming ball of exhaustion so we opted to come home. If we had hung out another ten minutes or so we would have been able to see the bride and groom leave, but I don't think Bubba could have lasted another ten minutes. And I don't think I could have lasted another ten minutes with Bubba.

We got home and got settled and were glad to be there. Bubba happily went to bed and to sleep, and I was settling Bella down for the night when I noticed that she felt awfully warm - she was running a fever. And she is still running a fever off and on today. And, maybe to make her feel better and sympathize with her, I am now running a fever, too. So I'm going to lay on the couch some more. But I do have a few pictures that I will put up once we feel better!

Works for me.....Thursday?

Things have been crazy around these parts, so I apologize for my lack of posts. The wedding that Bella is going to be in is this Saturday, and that has been keeping us hopping. And work, and other things keeping me busy. Speaking of busy.......(what a segue!)





I was looking for a cookbook on Amazon the other day, mostly to reach their evil $25 free shipping minimum (oh, Amazon, how I love and hate your free shipping), and I stumbled across this one: The Six O'Clock Scramble

It looked intriguing, so I purchased it, and....I absolutely love it! The meals are organized seasonally, so you are buying and cooking produce that is fresh and readily available (and usually affordable). They are all quick and fairly easy. And the kicker? BOTH of my kids have eaten and enjoyed everything I have made from this cookbook. Do you realize how utterly insane that is? I made a baked spaghetti from this book the other day - one of the meatless recipes, and it includes broccoli - and my husband ate and enjoyed it, both my kids ate and enjoyed it, and I took some to my grandparents, who loved it. That's three generations of approval!

AND - on their website, you can print out grocery lists for each week. Awesome! They do have an e-mail newsletter you can purchase, that includes a week's menu and grocery list, but I haven't gone through the cookbook yet, so I don't really need the newsletter.

A few of the recipes are meatless, which suits me and the kids fine. I was a little worried about my husband, but he was fine with the meatless recipes I have made. And you can easily add meat to them, which I have done a couple of times as well. There are suggestions for easy side dishes and healthy desserts....this is a busy mom's lifesaver.

Things are only going to get busier for us as we get closer to Saturday, so I will probably be scarce again, but I just had to recommend this book. After working all day, I have been able to put hot, healthy meals in front of my family that they actually eat and like. Check it out, if you get a chance - it is very much worth it.

It's my birthday, and we're gonna party like.....

.....we have a sick baby at home and a husband who has to work and family members that are busy with work and school and other things. In other words, we aren't really celebrating, but that's OK - we have a lot going on around here. Bubba (whose birthday is also today - the best birthday gift I have ever received!) already had his party, and that's what matters.

I've got a lot on my plate, anyway - after work I have to rush home and relieve Brian of his childcare duties so he can grab some sleep before work, then it's dinner and cleanup and a quick trip to the store to pick up snacks for girl scouts tomorrow, then once baths are done and the kids are in bed I have about 350 little paper hearts to cut out to go with the 350 lollipops currently in the trunk of my car (we're making lollipop heart flowers for each other). I need a good movie to watch or a marathon of something on TV. Maybe I'll start with the first Harry Potter movie and guage how long I spend cutting out paper by what sequel I'm watching when I'm done. I'm guessing I would probably finish up halfway through the Prisoner of Azkaban.

When Brian asked Bella what she wanted to get me for my birthday, she told him I need an eye exam (I guess I complain about that more than I thought). So this morning she gave me a lovely birthday card with a gift card and she wrote: "This is for your eye exam". Thoughtful girl! I think my other favorite gift is the huge bag of Splenda my sister brought up to work for me. I can't drink sugar in my coffee, and I never remember to bring any kind of artificial sweetener to work. And now I have a big bag of it! Hooray!

Poor Bubba is not feeling well. He has a snotty nose, a low-grade fever and a baaaaad attitude. But who can blame him? I knew he wasn't feeling well when he didn't eat his grits for breakfast. That child loves his grits - when I start the microwave in the morning he rushes into the kitchen and stares up at it, waiting expectantly for his morning nom-noms to be ready. Nom-nom is my new favorite thing, by the way - as in, "Om-nom-nom", like you're eating something tasty. You'll find pictures on the internet of everyday things or animals with an 'Om-nom-nom' caption. Like this one:


or this one:

In honor of my newfound love, the fridge at my sister's house even has "Nom Noms Inside" written on it with magentic letters. Awesome.

Hope everyone is doing well and no one is freezing, or in AU Jen's case, burning up. Bye!

Just what I needed

I have had a lovely evening! Our friend that is getting married on Valentine's Day asked if I would mind helping her put her wedding programs together tonight, and I agreed. She asked if I thought Brian would mind watching the kids, and I agreed on his behalf. A small break from the kids? Sure, I'll take it!

She asked me to come by her house around 6:00. I get off work at 4:00. I was already close to her house from work and didn't feel like driving home, which would add twenty minutes and traffic to my drive, so I just decided to stay close to her house. And what's also close to her house? The mall. So I got off work and went to the mall. By myself. I didn't have to worry about stroller or a diaper bag or who went to the bathroom and when - I just grabbed my purse and walked inside. I hadn't found something to wear for the wedding, so I decided to shop for myself, and I found an outfit for the wedding AND it was on sale AND I can wear it for work AND it fit perfectly. Hooray!

I decided to vacate the mall and I headed to Target to walk around for a bit. It was so nice. I didn't have to buy an icee and popcorn, didn't have to get a shopping cart, didn't have to look at toys (although I did).... I had a very nice time. I didn't even buy anything at Target, I just meandered around because I could.

I headed over to my friend's house and we got down to the business of assembling 350 wedding programs that had to be tied with ribbon. When I first saw them I thought they were lovely. After the first 150 or so I was wondering why anyone in their right mind would voluntarily take something like that on. But I had a fabulous time there, too! It was relaxing to just sit and chat and laugh. My friend's future mother-in-law was also there helping, and she was absolutely hilarious. She spent two years in a convent as a novice nun before discerning that her calling was elsewhere, but she is still deeply involved in the church - she attends daily mass, adoration, the whole nine yards. She told stories that had me laughing until I was crying. About convent life, about life in general, about some of the priests in the area - she was a hoot.

There's really no point to this story - I just had a very lovely and relaxing evening. And I love my kids, please don't think otherwise, but it was nice to have a little time away. I think having such an easygoing day today will help me keep a little perspective when I'm rushing around with the kids in tow and no free time for the next two weeks. With the exception of tomorrow, I have at least one item on my calendar every day - school stuff and girl scout stuff, mostly, but there's also some work stuff and then next week there's wedding stuff. I'm going to be a busy girl, so I deserved today. I deserved to try on clothes by myself, without an audience. Without a little voice saying, "Mommy, do you have stretch marks because you stretched too much?" and without having to prevent Bubba from chewing the security tags off the clothes. Ahhh. Now, on to tomorrow!

Quick Takes Friday

-1-

Things have been hopping around here lately, so I apologize for my lack of posting. I've been working a lot, and on my days off I've been busy as well. We threw Manning a quick birthday party this past Sunday, so my mother-in-law could be there to celebrate with us. It went well, I think - just family at our house for a couple of hours, hamburgers and hot dogs, cake and ice cream. Brian bought Bubba his own little cake, and Bubba just poked holes in it with his finger. The same child who eats dryer lint and throws an enormous fit when I take it out of his mouth, the same child who will eat anything that isn't moving and will chase down things that are, that child did not put cake in his mouth. In his ear, yes, and in his hair and all over the rest of him, but very little cake or icing actually made it into his mouth. I was amazed. But it was a nice party and we all had fun, which is what matters.

-2-

The wedding that Bella is going to be in is coming up - Valentine's Day. My own wedding was very informal and low key, so even though I knew some people go all out for their weddings, all the things we have to do have caught me by surprise. There's the bachelorette party (which I really want to attend but dont know if I'll be able to) on Wednesday night, the bridesmaid luncheon on Thursday (which we will not be able to attend - Bella's in school and I will be working), and then a early morning appointment on Friday for a mani and a pedi (for Bella), then off to work with me, then the rehearsal dinner that evening (to which Bubba is not invited - the bride made that very clear, so I have to find someone to watch him). And I found out yesterday that the rehearsal is semi-formal, so I have to find something for Bella and myself to wear to that. And that's not even mentioning the fact that I have no idea what I will wear to the wedding. Thank heavens I still have some money left on the Kohl's gift card. Saturday Bella has a hair appointment in the morning before the wedding. Early. And then I have to try and keep her hair in that pristine condition until the wedding at 2PM. Yikes!

The woman doing hair wants me to put Bella's hair in curlers Friday night since she won't have time to do it Saturday morning. Which is fine, but I don't really know how to do that properly. We've played around with it, but as soon as we took the curlers out her hair fell straight again - not even a wave, much less a curl. Anyone have any suggestions? Know of a helpful website? Because I'm not good at stuff like that.

-3-

Bubba has taken a shine to one of my books, a dover thrift edition of Melville's Bartleby and Benito Cereno. No matter what I do, if he wants to carry that book around, there is no distracting him. I've offered him his own Sandra Boyton books (Moo, Ba, La-la-la - almost as good as the hippo book), which he will refuse. I have yet to find a toy or snack or anything that will distract him when he's in the mood for some Melville. And he goes back to that same book, every time. I have put it in different places on the bookshelf, and he will root around until he finds that same book. Fascinating.

-4-

I was worried about the meeting plan I had concocted for yesterday's scout meeting - I figured the girls would hate it, or they would finish it quickly and then I'd have to try and come up with some busy ideas on the fly, or something. The idea was to teach them about community and what makes up a community, so I made a house (a cardboard box house with pink paper shingles, no less - that idea is courtesy of T With Honey's mom, who is awesome) and then my idea was to pair them up and have them make the rest of the buildings that are in a community using a bunch of boxes I had brought along. And possibly to prove that my instincts are generally completely wrong, they absolutely loved it! I think part of it was because they had free reign, and unlimited access to materials and whatever else they wanted to put on their building, so the sky was the limit. One girl who constantly has a terrible attitude and refuses to participate in pretty much everything was one of the most enthusiastic about the whole thing, and kept calling me over to look at what she had done. She was a different child - kind, polite, she shared materials, she actually worked with her partner.....I was amazed. At the end of the meeting she asked me what my favorite color was, so she could make me a cross out of popsicle sticks. I was at a loss for words - the most I've ever heard this child say to me was, "I'm not coming over there because I don't do circle", and she was so sweet!

Possibly the thing that surprised me the most was that the girls wanted to take the buildings home, something I had not anticipated. Even the bigger girls - the second and third graders - wanted to bring home their boxes, they were actually the first to ask! I had actually brought along a big garbage bag so I could throw away the boxes, and then I found myself in a pickle because there were two girls to each project, and in a lot of instances both girls wanted to bring it home. I solved the dilemna by having one girl take home the finished 'building', and then sending the second girl home with another box and whatever materials she wanted to make her own building at home. Meetings like that one remind me why I do scouts, and of how good the program can be. Over the past couple of days I have actually mulled over doing it again next year, but who knows - ask me again after next week's meeting.

-5-

Bella announced this morning that she loves science and either wants to be a scientist or the president when she grows up. The love of science is new, and I believe could be genuine, for two reaons: 1.) she told me entirely on her own and out of the blue, and 2.) it wasn't bedtime or any other time where she was looking to stall by making conversation. So I am going to do what I can to encourage her. I think it's cool - I loved science as a kid, so I'm actually looking forward to finding activities and other things to support her newfound interest. And it is also remarkable because she rarely expresses a preference for anything. She has never had a favorite toy, and only recently selected a favorite color and cartoon character - she likes Tinkerbell, and that is the first time she has actively sought out anything specific like that. So for her to come out and say that she likes something.....well, that means that she really does like it.

- 6 -

I'm trying to encourage Bubba to use a sippy cup instead of a bottle for his milk, but he is not having it. He's been drinking out of a sippy cup since he had his first meal - he'll drink water out of a sippy cup all day long, but give him milk in a sippy cup? Forget it. I usually make the effort once a day or so, and he just refuses it. I'm out of ideas. Bella nursed up until she hit a year, and then she went straight to a cup, so the bottle was never an issue. This is new to me, and I'm not quite sure how to handle it. I gave him a cup earlier today, and he sipped it twice, realized what it was and tossed it down onto the floor. Should I adopt the position that he will drink when he is thirsty enough? I need some voices of experience. Help!

- 7 -

I was talking to my co-worker today and mentioned the fact that Bella has not really been sick lately. I was attributing it to the fact that she eats a cup of mandarin oranges almost every day with her lunch, but I was still amazed. And of course, what happens when I pick her up from school? She has the sniffles and a sore throat. Me and my big mouth.

Happy weekend to all, and if you want to peruse some more quick takes stop by the Converstion Diary.

Doing this so I don't have to do what I should be doing

I was surfing around the internet, looking up some information for my sister-in-law on how to properly time contractions (something I haven't ever had to do, since I never went into labor without medical intervention), and I swung by Bella's school website. And there it was - the notice that I've been dreading:

"The next PTO meeting will be held on Thursday, February 5th. The
purpose is to present the new procedures for registration, including the
registration deadline for all returning families, the announcement for the fee
schedule for 2009-2010, uniform upgrades, family volunteer requirements for
2009-2010, and 2009-2010 required fundraising. This will be the only meeting
where these items will be presented. Every returning family is required to have
at least one parent present."

Well, there you go. The parking lot rumors and panicky phone calls (that I have, up to this point, tried to ignore as not being based in fact) have all had an element of truth to them - there are some new requirements for volunteering and fundraising. And of course, the annual tuition increase, that's just a given.

I want to go to this meeting, I will have to find a way to go, since it is required, but I don't know how I'm going to be able to manage to go. Brian has to work, my mother-in-law is out of town, my sister is in school, and the other people that I could possibly call on to babysit are all parents at the same school. I can bring the kids with me, but Bubba turns into a grumpy, squalling pumpkin around the same time the meeting starts (and his bedtime is a half hour after the meeting starts), and I'm not going to learn much if I'm standing outside the cafeteria trying to get him to settle down.

I'm trying not to be too pessimistic here - I don't know exactly what the new requirements are, so before I freak out about being able to afford an entire new uniform wardrobe (when one piece averages about $25 and you have to drive 45 minutes into Alabama to get the silly things) or trying to sell $250 worth of overpriced gift wrap in the middle of a recession or trying to come up with some extra time to volunteer when I have a job and another child and a husband and a house that I like to try and clean from time to time, well, I shouldn't freak out about those things before I know exactly what the school will be expecting of us. Wow, that was a heck of a run-on sentence!

It's hard, you know? It's hard when you are struggling just to meet tuition, much less factoring in whatever new requirements, fees and responsibilities they are going to add in. I wouldn't have to work nearly as many hours, if at all, if we sent her to a public school, but I believe in a good catholic education and want Bella to have one. I really like Bella's school and I think she does well there, and I don't want to have to look elsewhere.

I actually got a phone call from a middle school parent (whom I have never even met) the other day who was talking about rumored changes to school policy - there is apparently a grassroots campaign going on amongst some parents to try and spread the word. What she said was:

• there will be a required minimum sales amount for the annual gift wrap fundraiser - the number she threw out was $250. If Bella did not sell this amount, I as her parent would be required to pay the difference out of my pocket. But, as I said earlier, there aren't a lot of people interested in paying $12 for a roll of gift wrap in August in the middle of a recession. And you can put as many festive chili peppers as you want on a set of plastic nesting measuring spoons, but that still does not make them worth $10. Not when people can't afford to buy groceries. So what happens if, despite our best efforts, we can't meet the quota and I can't afford to pay the difference? Is Bella booted out of school? I need to check my bible and see if Jesus said anything about that - "Thou shalt sell overpriced candy and gift wrap or else thou shalt take the bus to public school". Oooo-I'm bitter!
• Required scrip card purchases, most likely also in the $250 range. I could probably live with that - they have Wal-Mart cards now, so I could do that one.
• I'm willing to do whatever I can to help the school, so I don't really have a problem with volunteer hours, but I just hope that working parents are taken into consideration. I can't afford to take time off work regularly because I have to work so I can pay tuition. It's as simple as that. I wouldn't mind taking time off occasionally, but I work for a small business and I don't get paid time off. I will do whatever I can, however I can. But, I can't cut back too much on the time I spend with my kids, I just can't. I only get to spend about 3 hours a day with them because of work.

The woman I spoke with mentioned a couple of other things about box top requirements and some other things, but those seemed kind of small potatoes so I promptly forgot.

I'm not going to fret about it - I can't. Well, I will but I shouldn't. I'll just wait and see what happens at the meeting. And surely, if there is an issue, they would work with me. I hope so. Private school enrollment is down in our area (so much so that the local paper did a story about it recently), and I'm sure it's not just our area. Bella's school had a boost in numbers because another school in the area closed at the end of the last school year, but that has peaked.

So I'm going to put this little concern in the "don't know, can't change, no point in worrying" file, and I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Ugh.

Aaaaaaarrrrgggghhh

Things have been a bit nutsy around here lately. I am the proud recipient of two thoughtfully given awards I need to acknowledge but will have to do that another time. Thanks, by the way!

My sister-in-law has been under the care of a less-than-stellar navy doctor since her move to the north. I have thought all along that she wasn't really getting the best care, but aside from some small suggestions have tried to keep my big bazoo shut. They were only seeing her every six weeks instead of every four, they lost her sugar test results and then, after re-testing, determined that she had a ferocious case of gestational diabetes but didn't really do anything about it...it all seemed like very casual care. Her last visit to her OB lasted all of five minutes, they didn't check her, didn't even measure her fundal height, I'm not entirely positive the doctor even read her chart. This doctor told her everything looked good, her sugar numbers looked fine, and that she could go past her due date, which was February 13th.

She went yesterday to see a high-risk specialist, a routine visit since she has the GD, and the specialist was horrified - by the sporadic visits, and by the fact that at one visit she actually only saw a nurse and not a doctor. Her fasting sugar numbers were actually so bad that she was prescribed insulin shots to be started that very night. Then they checked her cervix and she was 50% effaced and 3cm dilated (I must confess to feeling a pang of envy - since I have a cervix of steel, and all). They did an ultrasound and the baby already weighs 7 1/2 pounds. So they said she could deliver any day now. The specialist called the other OB my sister-in-law had been seeing and canceled her appointments and notified them that she was taking over her care. Hooray!

They also set an induction date, just in case she doesn't go into labor on her own. And what date did they select? Why, February 4th, of course! Which also happens to Bubba's birthday. And my birthday. I jokingly told them that sharing my birthday with one cute kid was bad enough, I didn't want to share it with two. But I think that will be neat, to have three birthdays on the same day. Makes them easier to remember!

So that means that things around here have kicked into overdrive. My mother-in-law is flying out Tuesday to stay with them, so I'm looking for a babysitter. And in order for her to be able to celebrate Bubba's birthday, we had to schedule an impromptu family birthday party for Sunday. As in tomorrow. So I've been busy cleaning and trying to work out the logistics of party planning over a two-day period. It's nothing big, just family, but that doesn't make it any less stressful.

So that's what I've been up to.

And I will leave you with this story: my husband was just driving me absolutely bonkers yesterday before he left for work. He couldn't find anything he needed, and he was tired and grumpy to boot, and was just rather unpleasant to be around. When he finally left I dialed my sister-in-law's number and, after I heard an answering 'hello', I said, "I am so glad your brother finally left for work, he was driving me bananas". And then I heard Brian reply, "You called me, genius". Oops! We both laughed about it, but I felt rather silly. Hee-hee.

It ain't bragging if you really done it

I took the above quote from Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, by John Berendt, although I'm sure Mr. Berendt didn't originate it and that it has been used in many other places. The book is a nice, easy read, though, if you haven't read it. I like books about the eccentricities of southerners, being a rather eccentric southerner myself, not to mention coming from a whole long line of them. I didn't really love the movie, though. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't the best. As with most books, the translation into film left much to be desired. That's why I'm a little worried about Harry Potter 7. I re-read it the other night and was on that last, long battle scene, and I actually took a moment to worry about how it would look on film. It has the potential to be riveting, but.....you know how that goes. Anyway, back to not bragging - I have to tell this story, even though it took place a couple of weeks ago:

The tub drain in our master bathroom had been clogged for about a week when all this happened. I would notice it when I was in the shower and then would promptly forget about it, at least until the next time I was lathering up my hair and standing in three inches of water. I would usually take a moment to note the inconvenience, and the minute I was out of the shower, poof, it was gone. My husband is not as forgetful as I, and had spent roughly $40 on various and assorted drain cleaners and clog removers and all sorts of other toxic goo. I mentioned something about getting it out with good old fashioned elbow grease, and he took me up on my offer. And again, I promptly forgot about it until he emerged from the shower one day and said, "I thought you said you could unclog that drain". I told him that I could, I had just let it slip my mind, and he was dubious - if his overpriced chemicals could not unclog the drain, I certainly couldn't.

Of course I had to rise to the challenge, stalking my prey armed only with baking soda, vinegar, and a plunger. And what do you know, after about ten minutes....voila! Clear drain! I stood over the tub, smelling like pickles and triumphantly raising the plunger over my head in victory. And then I realized that I need a hobby. The drain is still clear, by the way - my husband commented on it tonight, that's what reminded me. It's the small victories you have to celebrate, because the big ones can be few and far between.

Alas, there is no rest for the weary, because my superpowers are needed elsewhere. To the garbage disposal! Keep a bucket of ice handy (in case of any detached digits) and 911 on speed dial, friends, this one is going to be tricky.