There is a small circus going on in the lot next to Ben's school so we got two free vouchers for the kids if we bought tickets.
Cool, we love all circuses so we're in.
Show was at 3.30pm.
We arrived at 3.40pm to a very long line at the ticket booth. Hmmmm...
Plenty of people arrived after us.
There was another line for people who had groupon tickets or something so there was confusion and annoyance and plenty of those pesky people who can't accept being livestock in a line so insist on marching to the front to try to figure it out. They are the worst.
The lines kept changing as people realized they were in the wrong one but we stayed firmly in place.
Eventually another line started accepting cash-only sales so we lost more people from our line.
Then they called for more groupon or whatever to another place so even more defected.
At some point, we somehow became the last people in our line.
We absolutely can not figure out how this happened - there were no cutters (I'm from Tennessee, where we will perform a citizen's arrest if we spot line cutting) so we assume plenty of folks just gave up on this podunk little sideshow.
Finally, as we could already hear the late-starting festivities kicking into full gear inside, we reached the ticket booth with our little vouchers and our eagerness to see some half-assed clowning.
"Okay, the 3.30 show is sold out but we can get you into the 7.30 show."
"Uhhhhhh..."
"Do you want the 7.30?"
I looked at my children who would be white hot messes by 7.30 and wonder what the hell just happened.
I looked around and there is NO ONE else waiting.
Every single other person has gotten tickets.
"No, that's too late."
We started to trudge away and my anger was at a steady simmer while I tried to explain to Ben why we were walking away from the circus with its heavenly popcorn smell and the come-hither call of dated techno music.
Now, I am a shady parent at the best of times but when we are literally THE ONLY FOUR PEOPLE to be turned away from a suddenly sold-out circus, what bit of parental magic I may have, fails me.
"Why don't they have any more tickets?"
"BECAUSE THEY'RE IDIOTS, BEN!"
"Why can't I go to the circus?"
"BECAUSE IDIOTS ARE IN CHARGE OF THE CIRCUS!"
Ben starts to wail.
Tears are welling up in my eyes too.
I'm not weepy because I want to see this particular second rate shit-show but because this circus has become a living metaphor for our life at the moment.
Now I want to cry because I've said that a circus is a metaphor. Blech.
My husband is sometimes a much smarter person than I.
While I took my defeat swiftly and with much concealed fury as I marched across the school parking lot because we were too cheap to pay $3 for parking, Marcel had gone to the cash-only line to see if there are any lingering tickets there.
Magically, there were!
After a little confusion because we didn't actually have cash so they had to figure out how to physically carry two tickets to another booth where we could use our card (I was right about this circus being run by idiots), we were in!
And it only cost us 60 freaking dollars.
(Please keep in mind both kids were free so this is $60 just for Marcel and me.)
An usher showed us to our little ragtag section of morons who obviously don't use groupon or have cash so got stuck with the crappiest $60 seats in the big top:
The worst of the line obsessors, who marched to the front to figure out what was going on four different times, was there (of course).
The odd early 20s couple with no kids who looked like they were in the middle of a fight were there.
The family who each filmed every act of the show on their separate iPads or smartphones were there.
We were there.
Sitting at an angle to a giant rigging pole so we could see about half of what was going on.
Evan was terrified of everything to begin with - the woman on the swing, her dramatic music, the "clown" that looked like Carmine from Laverne and Shirley.
He was having none of it.
So we moved to the back row where we had more room for them to squirm and distract Evan.
Now we were directly behind the rigging so could see maybe 25% of the action.
Ben wanted popcorn, cotton candy and a blinking plastic gun that shot bubbles so naturally we bought and shared a $3 bottle of water because that's all the cash we had.
Ben asked where everyone was going at intermission.
Having no money and no desire to give any more to these circus hoodlums anyway, I didn't want him to realize there was a whole world of overpriced food and souvenirs beyond the door so I panicked and said everyone was going to the bathroom.
I think you know what happened next.
"I have to go to the bathroom too."
He did not need to go to the bathroom and I did not want to stand in a long line with a restless four year old for a port-a-potty experience so I held my ground.
Needless to say, we left the circus in a huff before intermission had even ended.
DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE WE CAN GET PARENTING CLASSES??
We are not doing this right.
18 August 2013
07 August 2013
Ashley cried about the following things this week
PMS, am I right?
Between the two pregnancies and literal years of breastfeeding (you thought I'd shut up about all of this by now, didn't you?), I went about 4 1/2 years without experiencing these joys.
I'd like to think that those years would have just been swept under the rug and forgiven.
Instead, it appears that my body stored up all the emotional wreckitude and has chosen to release it upon me for a few black days every month in the form of uncontrolled weepiness that is just not cool.
Therefore, I present to you a list of things that have made me cry this week in order of acceptability:
1. The story of the 2 year old boy with leukemia who only had a few weeks to live so his parents decided to get married immediately.
He was their tiny best man and was carried down the aisle.
He DIED two days later, comfortably in his mama's arms, causing me to s-o-b uncontrollably for my entire commute home last night.
My commute was 50 minutes.
TOTALLY ACCEPTABLE (if you didn't shed a tear, you are a robot)
2. Seeing Ebony's multiple September issue covers dedicated to Trayvon Martin.
Well done.
ACCEPTABLE
3.. That commercial about finding the cure for cancer where people are reacting to seeing the headlines that literally say "Cure for cancer found" or whatever, then show a montage of people obviously suffering from cancer hugging those they love.
I am living my normal life, then this ad comes on and I am immediately a wreck.
I can't deal with it.
KINDA ACCEPTABLE (but really could be solved by turning the channel if I was capable)
4. Watching .gifs from the Jay Z Picasso Baby artsy fartsy gallery performance.
*sigh*
Let that sink in.
Not the entire video, just the little silent seconds-long clips from it.
Mind you, I was listening to a very poignant song from Josh Pyke's new album while watching these but the song doesn't bring tears on its own (I tested the theory).
I find the clips so damn delightful and unexpectedly sweet that apparently I am charmed into tears.
UNACCEPTABLE
5. Hearing that old Katy Perry song about hot & cold and yes & no.
It is the theme song for Australia's Masterchef, which I apparently miss more than I thought I did.
This is my rock bottom.
TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE.
Hopefully I won't have any updates for this list but if I do, I'll share.
Between the two pregnancies and literal years of breastfeeding (you thought I'd shut up about all of this by now, didn't you?), I went about 4 1/2 years without experiencing these joys.
I'd like to think that those years would have just been swept under the rug and forgiven.
Instead, it appears that my body stored up all the emotional wreckitude and has chosen to release it upon me for a few black days every month in the form of uncontrolled weepiness that is just not cool.
Therefore, I present to you a list of things that have made me cry this week in order of acceptability:
1. The story of the 2 year old boy with leukemia who only had a few weeks to live so his parents decided to get married immediately.
He was their tiny best man and was carried down the aisle.
He DIED two days later, comfortably in his mama's arms, causing me to s-o-b uncontrollably for my entire commute home last night.
My commute was 50 minutes.
TOTALLY ACCEPTABLE (if you didn't shed a tear, you are a robot)
2. Seeing Ebony's multiple September issue covers dedicated to Trayvon Martin.
Well done.
ACCEPTABLE
3.. That commercial about finding the cure for cancer where people are reacting to seeing the headlines that literally say "Cure for cancer found" or whatever, then show a montage of people obviously suffering from cancer hugging those they love.
I am living my normal life, then this ad comes on and I am immediately a wreck.
I can't deal with it.
KINDA ACCEPTABLE (but really could be solved by turning the channel if I was capable)
4. Watching .gifs from the Jay Z Picasso Baby artsy fartsy gallery performance.
*sigh*
Let that sink in.
Not the entire video, just the little silent seconds-long clips from it.
Mind you, I was listening to a very poignant song from Josh Pyke's new album while watching these but the song doesn't bring tears on its own (I tested the theory).
I find the clips so damn delightful and unexpectedly sweet that apparently I am charmed into tears.
UNACCEPTABLE
5. Hearing that old Katy Perry song about hot & cold and yes & no.
It is the theme song for Australia's Masterchef, which I apparently miss more than I thought I did.
This is my rock bottom.
TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE.
Hopefully I won't have any updates for this list but if I do, I'll share.
18 June 2013
Step up Ladies and Watch out Boys
Cracked open the crate of CDs that I've been hanging on to since the 90s and popped the Squirrel Nut Zippers in my car's player today.
Time machine back to 1997.
August was fading away and blessing me with the kind of magical balmy night that you can't convince me happens anywhere but Tennessee. By my side was a particularly handsome specimen of high school heartbreak and I still thank the Southern summer for memories of his arms in that t-shirt.
The Italian Street Fair was alive with swing music in the park right by Nashville's full-size Parthenon replica.
I'll wait while that sinks in ...
I was falling in love with swing music and summer breezes and love itself. I probably ate cannoli.
When it was over, I floated to my best friend's place on a cloud. I don't remember if I gushed about his smile or if I swore to her that I was going to start dressing like the swing crowd. I hope I told her about his arms.
I know we watched the news.
Princess Diana was being pried out of a car in a tunnel halfway around the world & in my best friend's bedroom, we had a front row ticket. We stayed up all night, waiting for the good news from the hospital in Paris, but we all know how that that turned out. I thought of my other best friend who had already called dibs on Prince William and I knew would be devastated watching the same news.
I'm not sure if I cried, if we tsk'ed at the tragedy from the cynicism of our teenage wisdom. Maybe we just watched quietly. Did we do anything quietly?
I'm furious that I can't remember little details of the days and nights I was so certain I could never forget. Was there anything remotely Italian about the street fair that wasn't on a street? Did I get to enjoy those arms? I'm just going to assume I ate cannoli. I've got to hang on to that damn CD.
Time machine back to 1997.
August was fading away and blessing me with the kind of magical balmy night that you can't convince me happens anywhere but Tennessee. By my side was a particularly handsome specimen of high school heartbreak and I still thank the Southern summer for memories of his arms in that t-shirt.
The Italian Street Fair was alive with swing music in the park right by Nashville's full-size Parthenon replica.
I'll wait while that sinks in ...
I was falling in love with swing music and summer breezes and love itself. I probably ate cannoli.
When it was over, I floated to my best friend's place on a cloud. I don't remember if I gushed about his smile or if I swore to her that I was going to start dressing like the swing crowd. I hope I told her about his arms.
I know we watched the news.
Princess Diana was being pried out of a car in a tunnel halfway around the world & in my best friend's bedroom, we had a front row ticket. We stayed up all night, waiting for the good news from the hospital in Paris, but we all know how that that turned out. I thought of my other best friend who had already called dibs on Prince William and I knew would be devastated watching the same news.
I'm not sure if I cried, if we tsk'ed at the tragedy from the cynicism of our teenage wisdom. Maybe we just watched quietly. Did we do anything quietly?
I'm furious that I can't remember little details of the days and nights I was so certain I could never forget. Was there anything remotely Italian about the street fair that wasn't on a street? Did I get to enjoy those arms? I'm just going to assume I ate cannoli. I've got to hang on to that damn CD.
07 May 2013
Anyone still out there?
Hello & hi there. It's been a while but you're looking mighty fine these days.
I'm going to start this blog with a major plug for work. If you're a Facebook friend of mine or follow me on Twitter, you're probably already sick of me sending out work links but this is a really fun project & we want to get it out there in the world.
I haven't talked much about work but not because I don't love it. I really do love it. I get to write & be creative all day every day so there's not much to not love.
Now this project was shot before I came on board but I've been in the wings watching it come to life through the editing, sound, graphics & the still photo shoot to accompany it. It's really awesome & I hope you get some chuckles out of it.
If you do enjoy it, let me know - it would be cool to get some feedback on it. If you really want to support us, like our facebook page or follow us on twitter.
Or don't. Whatever. I don't want to be a pest but we are a very small production company who would like to keep growing & being awesome so I'm going to be plugging this for the next few weeks.
If this is all new to you, let me introduce you to The Hangover Theory, a mash-up of The Hangover & The Big Bang Theory. It's a fun experiment in branded entertainment, which is a direction we are heading in at Sapling.
The first video is a trailer & the second is the first short episode.
There are five more to come then we'll release the final full version of it.
I couldn't embed the video from youtube so I've uploaded it here. Therefore, if you want to share it with your friends & loved ones (no pressure but it would be awesome & I'll repay the favor when you have something to flog), I beg of you to use the following link so we can get more views out of you:
http://youtu.be/cF3xhyeVIiU
Thank you kindly!
Now on to the triumphs of parenthood...
Benny dressed himself today!
Light blue Humpty Dumpty shirt with light blue jeans & flannel shirt to keep warm.
Everything put on, zipped & buttoned by himself.
I couldn't be prouder!
I have no idea at what point in development this is supposed to happen for boys but I'm assuming it's around 12 or 13 & he's super advanced? Right?
Please don't burst my bubble by telling me about your son who came out of the womb in a tuxedo, tying his own bow tie & straightening his cummerbund (note: when I originally typed that word, I mangled it horribly, somehow dragging poor Benedict Cumberbatch into the fray).
I'm going to start this blog with a major plug for work. If you're a Facebook friend of mine or follow me on Twitter, you're probably already sick of me sending out work links but this is a really fun project & we want to get it out there in the world.
I haven't talked much about work but not because I don't love it. I really do love it. I get to write & be creative all day every day so there's not much to not love.
Now this project was shot before I came on board but I've been in the wings watching it come to life through the editing, sound, graphics & the still photo shoot to accompany it. It's really awesome & I hope you get some chuckles out of it.
If you do enjoy it, let me know - it would be cool to get some feedback on it. If you really want to support us, like our facebook page or follow us on twitter.
Or don't. Whatever. I don't want to be a pest but we are a very small production company who would like to keep growing & being awesome so I'm going to be plugging this for the next few weeks.
If this is all new to you, let me introduce you to The Hangover Theory, a mash-up of The Hangover & The Big Bang Theory. It's a fun experiment in branded entertainment, which is a direction we are heading in at Sapling.
The first video is a trailer & the second is the first short episode.
There are five more to come then we'll release the final full version of it.
I couldn't embed the video from youtube so I've uploaded it here. Therefore, if you want to share it with your friends & loved ones (no pressure but it would be awesome & I'll repay the favor when you have something to flog), I beg of you to use the following link so we can get more views out of you:
http://youtu.be/cF3xhyeVIiU
Thank you kindly!
Now on to the triumphs of parenthood...
Benny dressed himself today!
Light blue Humpty Dumpty shirt with light blue jeans & flannel shirt to keep warm.
Everything put on, zipped & buttoned by himself.
I couldn't be prouder!
I have no idea at what point in development this is supposed to happen for boys but I'm assuming it's around 12 or 13 & he's super advanced? Right?
Please don't burst my bubble by telling me about your son who came out of the womb in a tuxedo, tying his own bow tie & straightening his cummerbund (note: when I originally typed that word, I mangled it horribly, somehow dragging poor Benedict Cumberbatch into the fray).
When I attempted to help him straighten out the button situation, he made the executive decision to just leave it unbuttoned. I can respect that.
And then when I started snapping pictures, he walked away.
He's turning 4 on the 18th but I'm pretty sure he thinks he's turning 17.
While these pictures are here, may I please ask for your assistance with some decorating concerns?
Those grey $9 IKEA curtains are placeholders until we have inspiration/money for something better.
We are looking for an affordable big rug & are inheriting an awesome funky coffee table.
Yes, we hate the carpet but it's staying until it's so filthy it falls apart because it's so soft for the little guys at this point & we want to replace it with wood, which won't be as kind to a certain stumbling toddler.
So, we need help on paint colors for the walls!
The room has a blue, grey & yellow color palate with plenty of splashes of other accents.
Main problem is the mezzanine up there behind the couch is our dining room & kitchen area so while we don't have to use the same color, it needs to work together.
And anyone have some great curtain suggestions? I may just steal my friend Dana's cute ones while she's asleep.
YOU DIDN'T READ THAT, DANA!
And Evan gave a rose to his daycare lady for Teacher Appreciation Day.
That's all folks!
I am absolutely going to attempt to blog more regularly. And not just start 20 different entries then get distracted & wander away like usual. We shall see ...
23 March 2013
The Second Son
Evan is now right around 18 months old so he's reached the very pleasant stage in life where he is no longer a baby but not yet a toddler (if you're not humming Britney Spears right now, we probably shouldn't be friends). I'm also pretty sure that he has been possessed by Satan so that's no good too.
We are quickly approaching time to wean him completely - the only feeds he has now are at night anyway so I have to stop the feeding to sleep & bringing him in to our bed because I'm toolazy tired to stay awake long enough to feed him & put him back in his bed.
Technically, I'm not feeding him to sleep because it's not enough to put him to sleep anymore so I feed and rock him, then put him down in his bed where he peacefully drifts off to sleep.
Wait, no, that's not quite right.
It's less drifting off, a tad more screaming like a banshee.
Also, a dash of punching the rails of the crib and throwing things at us.
He's such a charmer.
Marcel obviously has to deal with his nap times, which are equally as delightful. He captured today's session in a series of photos that will be no doubt be dragged out every time Evan tries to argue with us as a teenager. The rate at which he already argues with us, regardless of his lack of conversational skills, guarantees we are going to be up shit creek with this one.
With no further ado, I give you Evan's naptime of terror.
We are quickly approaching time to wean him completely - the only feeds he has now are at night anyway so I have to stop the feeding to sleep & bringing him in to our bed because I'm too
Technically, I'm not feeding him to sleep because it's not enough to put him to sleep anymore so I feed and rock him, then put him down in his bed where he peacefully drifts off to sleep.
Wait, no, that's not quite right.
It's less drifting off, a tad more screaming like a banshee.
Also, a dash of punching the rails of the crib and throwing things at us.
He's such a charmer.
Marcel obviously has to deal with his nap times, which are equally as delightful. He captured today's session in a series of photos that will be no doubt be dragged out every time Evan tries to argue with us as a teenager. The rate at which he already argues with us, regardless of his lack of conversational skills, guarantees we are going to be up shit creek with this one.
With no further ado, I give you Evan's naptime of terror.
12 March 2013
Currently
I have started new blog entries about 500 million times now but I either get interrupted or I lose enthusiasm for what I'm writing or I start thinking maybe I'm spending too much time up on my soapbox so I step away.
Turns out it's really hard to get back into once you've gotten away from regular blogging.
Who knew?
Everyone. Everyone knew.
Whatever.
Rather than forcing myself to come up with some original programming for you, I'm ripping other bloggers off (yay for stealing!) & just giving you a glimpse of life at the moment. Without further ado, I'm currently:
Watching pilates DVDs. Not only am I watching them, I'm actually doing them (well, have done them a handful of times)! I find it to be a hard workout but I'm also a wimp so you may think differently. In any case, I also find it to be a really fun workout so I'm happy to do it. I started doing short videos that I could find on Hulu Plus on my TV but they're all too short so I finally broke down & bought an actual set of full-length DVDs. I've also been watching way too much HGTV. Is anyone else addicted to Love It or List It?
Eating pure junk. Seriously, had a stomach bug situation yesterday & today I'm eating like my tummy's made of steel. There is something wrong with this picture. I'll be miserable tonight, I'm sure. And I'm starting Weight Watchers again soon - I don't like seeing the chub creeping back on after I worked so hard.
Planning Ben's 4th birthday! Some days, I can't believe he's that old. Other days, I'm convinced he's a very tiny & adorable teenager. I'm attempting to plan a little party for him & keep it simple & fun & not fussy. I'm not against big, fun, super planned parties but I know me & I'm not ready to jump off that cliff until he's old enough to demand it!
Reading embarrassing things. When I was home sick, I downloaded a book that I knew would have a bit of romance to it but thought it was more intrigue & politics but fluffy enough for a lay-around day. Turns out the author has a whole line of pure romance novels & I downloaded one of them by mistake. I have no complaints. I may do it again ... ON PURPOSE. Please don't judge me.
Inspired by Dorothy Zbornak, Liz Lemon and Kimmy Gibbler.
Excited about the Papal Conclave! I don't know why. I guess I just love pomp, circumstance, ancient traditions, mystery and all the scuttlebutt that comes along with the conclave. The last time this came around, I had a great bet on it with my office at Nat Geo but I have not gotten my act together this time. I need to at least an informal poll on Facebook or something.
And now for some gratuitous shots of my handsome young sons. Ladies, hang on to your ovaries!
Until next time, I bid you good day.
Turns out it's really hard to get back into once you've gotten away from regular blogging.
Who knew?
Everyone. Everyone knew.
Whatever.
Rather than forcing myself to come up with some original programming for you, I'm ripping other bloggers off (yay for stealing!) & just giving you a glimpse of life at the moment. Without further ado, I'm currently:
Watching pilates DVDs. Not only am I watching them, I'm actually doing them (well, have done them a handful of times)! I find it to be a hard workout but I'm also a wimp so you may think differently. In any case, I also find it to be a really fun workout so I'm happy to do it. I started doing short videos that I could find on Hulu Plus on my TV but they're all too short so I finally broke down & bought an actual set of full-length DVDs. I've also been watching way too much HGTV. Is anyone else addicted to Love It or List It?
Eating pure junk. Seriously, had a stomach bug situation yesterday & today I'm eating like my tummy's made of steel. There is something wrong with this picture. I'll be miserable tonight, I'm sure. And I'm starting Weight Watchers again soon - I don't like seeing the chub creeping back on after I worked so hard.
Planning Ben's 4th birthday! Some days, I can't believe he's that old. Other days, I'm convinced he's a very tiny & adorable teenager. I'm attempting to plan a little party for him & keep it simple & fun & not fussy. I'm not against big, fun, super planned parties but I know me & I'm not ready to jump off that cliff until he's old enough to demand it!
Reading embarrassing things. When I was home sick, I downloaded a book that I knew would have a bit of romance to it but thought it was more intrigue & politics but fluffy enough for a lay-around day. Turns out the author has a whole line of pure romance novels & I downloaded one of them by mistake. I have no complaints. I may do it again ... ON PURPOSE. Please don't judge me.
Inspired by Dorothy Zbornak, Liz Lemon and Kimmy Gibbler.
Excited about the Papal Conclave! I don't know why. I guess I just love pomp, circumstance, ancient traditions, mystery and all the scuttlebutt that comes along with the conclave. The last time this came around, I had a great bet on it with my office at Nat Geo but I have not gotten my act together this time. I need to at least an informal poll on Facebook or something.
And now for some gratuitous shots of my handsome young sons. Ladies, hang on to your ovaries!
Until next time, I bid you good day.
25 February 2013
WARNING
I'm itching to blog again.
My brain has hurt too much to dive in for the last few months as I've adjusted to the New World & working & all that jazz.
But be on the lookout because I'm stretching my typing fingers & getting wound up!
To be continued ...
My brain has hurt too much to dive in for the last few months as I've adjusted to the New World & working & all that jazz.
But be on the lookout because I'm stretching my typing fingers & getting wound up!
To be continued ...
30 November 2012
Frosty
It turns out I am still not willing to flash my headlights at another car if they're driving around without their own headlights on because I'm still somewhat convinced that it could be a gang initiation whereupon me flashing my headlights would cause them to shoot me.
Apologies to the dumbass driving along 495 without their lights on - I like to think I'm not the only coward avoiding getting your attention. I hope you didn't shoot any good samaritan that clued you in eventually.
Man, gangs were jerks in the 80s weren't they? But did this actually EVER happen to anyone? Was it just an urban myth? If I forget to turn on my headlights & someone flashes me do I have to kill them?
Anyway, I'm happy. I mean it.
Usually when I make such a sweeping claim of contentment in life, something gosh-awful smashes me & I'm not happy anymore. We're probably all going to get scurvy or narcolepsy now.
But I'm putting it out there regardless of what shit storm may get stirred up. I'm really loving my job (though it's been super slow thanks to the holidays - looking forward to being busier in the future), my kids are the best ever & my husband ain't half bad either.
I also love the holidays & decorating & buying presents & wrapping presents & Christmas music & cold weather & looking at Christmas lights. This time of year is just dandy!
Have I mentioned my wreath? My wreath makes me happy.
LOOK AT IT!
Elsewhere in my life, nothing is really going on. Our goal this weekend is to really dig into our house & get some more pictures up on the wall, some decisions made on paint colors, put the Christmas tree up, all the good stuff.
But hey, I do have a couple of corners that look great to me & I thought I would share them with you:
Apologies to the dumbass driving along 495 without their lights on - I like to think I'm not the only coward avoiding getting your attention. I hope you didn't shoot any good samaritan that clued you in eventually.
Man, gangs were jerks in the 80s weren't they? But did this actually EVER happen to anyone? Was it just an urban myth? If I forget to turn on my headlights & someone flashes me do I have to kill them?
Anyway, I'm happy. I mean it.
Usually when I make such a sweeping claim of contentment in life, something gosh-awful smashes me & I'm not happy anymore. We're probably all going to get scurvy or narcolepsy now.
But I'm putting it out there regardless of what shit storm may get stirred up. I'm really loving my job (though it's been super slow thanks to the holidays - looking forward to being busier in the future), my kids are the best ever & my husband ain't half bad either.
I also love the holidays & decorating & buying presents & wrapping presents & Christmas music & cold weather & looking at Christmas lights. This time of year is just dandy!
Have I mentioned my wreath? My wreath makes me happy.
LOOK AT IT!
Isn't it GLORIOUS??
You need to get one too, don't you?
Go check out Ever Blooming Originals & get one of Colette's amazing creations.
I love my snowman!!
Elsewhere in my life, nothing is really going on. Our goal this weekend is to really dig into our house & get some more pictures up on the wall, some decisions made on paint colors, put the Christmas tree up, all the good stuff.
But hey, I do have a couple of corners that look great to me & I thought I would share them with you:
My bedside table.
Lord love my Aunt Mary - that gorgeous table was hers & it just makes my day every day to look at it.
The little painting on the wall is from Marcel's parents' attic.
The little bowl is from some little awesome home shop we stumbled into in Tasmania (can't remember the town).
The picture is all of us at Disneyland with Mickey & Minnie.
The lamp & lampshade are Target.
And my darling little cockatoo slippers were bought before I went into the hospital to have Evan. They ended up being way too squeaky on the hospital floor & I got dirty looks form the other mothers in our shared room so I retired them from hospital duty. Whatever, they're slippers that look like cockatoos & there is nothing unlovable about that.
And this is the entryway at the top of our stairs.
Yeah, it's busy & cluttered & looks better when it's not smothered in winter coats but I love it.
That gorgeous little cabinet is just from Target (online only for yellow) & I'm trying to find another place I could stick another one of them because it's a little piece of perfection. I'd like the teal next time, please.
The basket is maybe from Marshall's?
The awesome mirror is from Edie's Lab on etsy but I caught a demo model from a home show they had done so I got it half price.
The big honeycomb vase is AWESOME & I actually ended up getting two from West Elm & I'll probably get more in more colors.
The little vase is even more awesome because up close it looks like a slightly crumpled paper bag. So cute! And a gift from my mother in law - love it!
We left most of our books behind when we moved from the Big Country so all that's left is in this cabinet.
So there you go, a tiny little tour of two corners of our house. If we get anything put together this weekend, I shall take more pictures I promise.
Have a happy Friday (or Saturday for those of you on the other side of the planet)(stay cool, by the way, I hear you're getting fried!)!
19 November 2012
The Weight of the World
Went back to Weight Watchers yesterday for my first weigh-in on America's fair shores. America has not been kind to me. Actually, maybe it's been too kind to me.
I've gained 10 pounds since I stopped my meetings in Australia, which was the end of July or beginning of August. Impressive, yes?
This is not good news BUT I will say that I knew I would gain weight, thanks to the stress of the move and the reintroduction to some favorite old haunts and discovering new treats. In fact, I always said that I'd be happy as long as I didn't gain more than 10 pounds & since I managed to be right on 10 pounds I'm kinda okay.
I am a little mad at myself for starting the weigh-in process the week of Thanksgiving - a bit of a clown situation, bro. Ah well, at least it might make me eat a bit less destructively on the big day. Only 2 slices of pie instead of 5 & not just curl up on the couch with the entire dish of stuffing as usual, right?
Hoo boy, I'm in trouble.
So at this point, I am 19 pounds away from my goal weight. I can do this! I quit the gym since there is no hope of me getting there between work & trying to be halfway involved with my homefront, so I've got to find a way to be active without feeling like I'm being active.
Can I hire a personal trainer to wave my arms & legs around for me while I watch HGTV? Can I hire a nutritionist to swat my hand away every time I reach for the tortillas that I planned on using to make a cheese quesadilla? Does anyone else have an addiction to plain old cheese quesadillas?
So while I'm a little disappointed that the extra heft in my gut & tightness in my clothes isn't from my body swelling up with pride at the being the first body to successfully turn quesadillas into muscle, it could be worse.
I'll be in Tennessee for Thanksgiving weekend so I can't go weigh in anyway (no, I will not go weigh in while in Tennessee - how dare you suggest it) so I'll technically have an extra week to undo the damage I do over the holiday.
How long would I have to strap myself to a treadmill to undo a weekend of pie & stuffing? I think my game plan is pretty obvious - only eat my absolute favorites (the aforementioned pie & stuffing) plus veggies & not waste any points on things I like but don't LURVE. Success is going to be delicious enough to make up for all the collateral damage.
Okay, I'm getting sick of talking about my chubby ass.
I just ordered a wreath online. A WREATH. I think my transformation into a true mom is officially complete. We are decorating our damn house for Christmas. We were wimps for Halloween, assuming the new people (us) shouldn't be the first ones to decorate but then NO ONE else on our street did so we were stuck. One house around the corner went all out & we admired them so much & they happened to be one of the very few that came around trick or treating. They were as shocked as we were that no one else decorated - we vowed to ourselves then & there to follow in that family's footsteps & not to worry what the grinches of the neighborhood did or didn't do. We shall decorate.
I have visions of Marcel on the roof Clark Griswold'ing it up while other moms drive their mini-vans from near & far to admire my wreath. It will be glorious, g-l-o-r-i-o-u-s.
Speaking of glorious, Marcel & I went & saw Skyfall yesterday afternoon - it was fantastic. Just getting out without our lovely young dudes was fantastic & enjoying a movie too? Fan-bloody-tastic! There was a lot of buildup about this movie, lots of hype about it being the best Bond ever? Not so much. I've only seen the Daniel Craig 007's & I preferred Casino Royale to be honest but this one was pretty great.
I'm so glad that the Bond movies have kept using opening titles - I didn't even realize I miss credits & fancy graphics at the beginning of movies. Remember them? Good time, good times.
I don't have the energy to give any full review of the movie. If you like other Bond movies, you'll like this one & yes, there are some nice little winks at past 007's & some lovely eye candy in the form of Daniel Craig & his usual gaggle of ladies. I have only two complaints & they are my usual petty rants so here we go:
Why won't anyone give Javier Bardem a nice hairstyle? Lord knows he's a handsome man but the mop on his head was so distracting to me. I know he's the villain, whatever. There have been plenty of good looking bad guys in the world. Why not him?
Secondly & far less importantly, there is some flashlight use that is ridiculous. RIDICULOUS, I tell you. You see this person in the distance & the flashlight beam is all over the place. I ceased to process any more of the plot at that point, not being able to concentrate on any thought beyond "Put that flashlight down. What on earth are you doing with the flashlight? Holy crap, my toddlers could be steadier with a flashlight! Pleeeease stop waving the flashlight!" I assume the filmmakers wanted to build tension because you know someone is bound to see the flashlight but holy guacamole, baboons are more controlled than that.
Okay, rant over. See the movie, you'll like it & if you don't like it, then you'll at least like staring at Daniel Craig or the pretty ladies. And if you don't like them, then you are a robot & I can't suggest any viewing materials for you because I don't know what robots like.
I think I can't eat Sour Patch Kids anymore. I got a bit giddy about going to a movie & brought some with me because there is nothing better than Sour Patch Kids & popcorn. But my teeth still hurt. The sugar pushed me over some edge, now cold & hot are hurting my front left tooth too. Why me, why now? It's just not fair.
Okay, I should go now before I get too hyped up about not being able to get hyped up on Sour Patch Kids & I start waving a flashlight around all willy nilly. That's not good for anybody.
I've gained 10 pounds since I stopped my meetings in Australia, which was the end of July or beginning of August. Impressive, yes?
This is not good news BUT I will say that I knew I would gain weight, thanks to the stress of the move and the reintroduction to some favorite old haunts and discovering new treats. In fact, I always said that I'd be happy as long as I didn't gain more than 10 pounds & since I managed to be right on 10 pounds I'm kinda okay.
I am a little mad at myself for starting the weigh-in process the week of Thanksgiving - a bit of a clown situation, bro. Ah well, at least it might make me eat a bit less destructively on the big day. Only 2 slices of pie instead of 5 & not just curl up on the couch with the entire dish of stuffing as usual, right?
Hoo boy, I'm in trouble.
So at this point, I am 19 pounds away from my goal weight. I can do this! I quit the gym since there is no hope of me getting there between work & trying to be halfway involved with my homefront, so I've got to find a way to be active without feeling like I'm being active.
Can I hire a personal trainer to wave my arms & legs around for me while I watch HGTV? Can I hire a nutritionist to swat my hand away every time I reach for the tortillas that I planned on using to make a cheese quesadilla? Does anyone else have an addiction to plain old cheese quesadillas?
So while I'm a little disappointed that the extra heft in my gut & tightness in my clothes isn't from my body swelling up with pride at the being the first body to successfully turn quesadillas into muscle, it could be worse.
I'll be in Tennessee for Thanksgiving weekend so I can't go weigh in anyway (no, I will not go weigh in while in Tennessee - how dare you suggest it) so I'll technically have an extra week to undo the damage I do over the holiday.
How long would I have to strap myself to a treadmill to undo a weekend of pie & stuffing? I think my game plan is pretty obvious - only eat my absolute favorites (the aforementioned pie & stuffing) plus veggies & not waste any points on things I like but don't LURVE. Success is going to be delicious enough to make up for all the collateral damage.
Okay, I'm getting sick of talking about my chubby ass.
I just ordered a wreath online. A WREATH. I think my transformation into a true mom is officially complete. We are decorating our damn house for Christmas. We were wimps for Halloween, assuming the new people (us) shouldn't be the first ones to decorate but then NO ONE else on our street did so we were stuck. One house around the corner went all out & we admired them so much & they happened to be one of the very few that came around trick or treating. They were as shocked as we were that no one else decorated - we vowed to ourselves then & there to follow in that family's footsteps & not to worry what the grinches of the neighborhood did or didn't do. We shall decorate.
I have visions of Marcel on the roof Clark Griswold'ing it up while other moms drive their mini-vans from near & far to admire my wreath. It will be glorious, g-l-o-r-i-o-u-s.
Speaking of glorious, Marcel & I went & saw Skyfall yesterday afternoon - it was fantastic. Just getting out without our lovely young dudes was fantastic & enjoying a movie too? Fan-bloody-tastic! There was a lot of buildup about this movie, lots of hype about it being the best Bond ever? Not so much. I've only seen the Daniel Craig 007's & I preferred Casino Royale to be honest but this one was pretty great.
I'm so glad that the Bond movies have kept using opening titles - I didn't even realize I miss credits & fancy graphics at the beginning of movies. Remember them? Good time, good times.
I don't have the energy to give any full review of the movie. If you like other Bond movies, you'll like this one & yes, there are some nice little winks at past 007's & some lovely eye candy in the form of Daniel Craig & his usual gaggle of ladies. I have only two complaints & they are my usual petty rants so here we go:
Why won't anyone give Javier Bardem a nice hairstyle? Lord knows he's a handsome man but the mop on his head was so distracting to me. I know he's the villain, whatever. There have been plenty of good looking bad guys in the world. Why not him?
Secondly & far less importantly, there is some flashlight use that is ridiculous. RIDICULOUS, I tell you. You see this person in the distance & the flashlight beam is all over the place. I ceased to process any more of the plot at that point, not being able to concentrate on any thought beyond "Put that flashlight down. What on earth are you doing with the flashlight? Holy crap, my toddlers could be steadier with a flashlight! Pleeeease stop waving the flashlight!" I assume the filmmakers wanted to build tension because you know someone is bound to see the flashlight but holy guacamole, baboons are more controlled than that.
Okay, rant over. See the movie, you'll like it & if you don't like it, then you'll at least like staring at Daniel Craig or the pretty ladies. And if you don't like them, then you are a robot & I can't suggest any viewing materials for you because I don't know what robots like.
I think I can't eat Sour Patch Kids anymore. I got a bit giddy about going to a movie & brought some with me because there is nothing better than Sour Patch Kids & popcorn. But my teeth still hurt. The sugar pushed me over some edge, now cold & hot are hurting my front left tooth too. Why me, why now? It's just not fair.
Okay, I should go now before I get too hyped up about not being able to get hyped up on Sour Patch Kids & I start waving a flashlight around all willy nilly. That's not good for anybody.
17 November 2012
Fighting the Pickle People
Ben watches a lot of his shows on the iPad - we have Netflix account that he knows how to use better than I do so he cruises through all the options on Netflix Kids. He found one really cute show that must be a little bit above his age range because one episode was a little too scary for him. There were some people dressed up as "pickle people" that some kids thought were going to get them. So tonight we had to have a chat with him about how there is no such thing as pickle people & no pickle people were coming to get him. He pronounces it "peekle" so it's pretty darn adorable to hear him talk about them. Obviously must do a better job policing what he watches.
Work has been pretty darn wonderful. I'm really enjoying myself - I think the position suits me really well & I really adore my new coworkers, staff & freelancers alike. I'm so excited to have found such a great position at just the right time! I'm still doing a lot of learning so in the next couple of weeks I'll talk more about the job. I'm not trying to be deliberately cryptic, I just don't want to say that I do "blah" & then realize that actually I'll be doing a bit more "zoinks."
Hey, I looked nice today! Isn't that a stupid thing to say? But I dressed in a way that I would like to dress more often. I spent a few precious minutes trying to get a picture of myself using complicated iPhone angles & mirrors but I was always either making a stupid face or at some bizarre angle, then Evan showed up so I had to give up. We'll just go with this one:
Work has been pretty darn wonderful. I'm really enjoying myself - I think the position suits me really well & I really adore my new coworkers, staff & freelancers alike. I'm so excited to have found such a great position at just the right time! I'm still doing a lot of learning so in the next couple of weeks I'll talk more about the job. I'm not trying to be deliberately cryptic, I just don't want to say that I do "blah" & then realize that actually I'll be doing a bit more "zoinks."
Obviously I will never be a fashion blogger. Or a house blogger because I will never finish decorating this poor house - the time, it just gets away from us.
I will share with you the one corner I have pretty much completed that you might appreciate. It's my desk. Every time you read one of my fascinating little entries, you can picture me at this desk typing my little sausage fingers away, pouring my heart & soul into really crappy phrases & terrible stabs at humor.
Here we go ...
So the lovely little desk & chair were from my Great Aunt Mary, who died a couple of years ago.
She was such a hoot so I'm glad to have so many things from her in our house.
The amazing Venetian vase on the floor is something my grandparents got on their honeymoon (if I have my story straight) & I have loved it for as long as I can possibly remember.
My beautiful grandmother always said I could have it someday & it's the only thing I've ever actually inherited in someone's will.
I don't know if I've ever loved a material possession as much as I love that vase - it's so grand & precious & fragile & so unlike anything I'd ever actually buy myself, it just delights me.
Let's take a closer look at the crap I do buy myself.
That tiger print is another of my favorites!
Bought it in a tacky frame at Value Village in Langley Park back in my college days.
It cost 25 cents & has followed me around the world, been in every conceivable kind of frame.
When I bought this orange frame (from ZGallerie), I tried several different pictures & prints but nothing was wow'ing me.
Then I found my old trusty tiger & all was well.
I totally ripped my friend Nicole off with the peanut.
She had one & I coveted it greatly, then finally found one for myself on etsy (TwoGuysVintage).
If ever there was someone's style to steal, it is Nicole's!
FACT: Every pair of best friends needs a Beaches-esque photo booth photo of themselves!
This is Dana & me at Ocean City, MD when we were 18 or 19 without a care in the world.
One of my most favorite photos ever, ever, ever.
As we eventually decorate our house, you'll see more of the treasures unearthed in the Eisele family attic but we'll start with the shutters.
I stole this little pair to hold the random mementos that don't fit in frames.
I know the concept has been around forever, not trying to claim it as an original but it is genius & adorable & you ought to get some shutters too.
The mug from Anthropologie, the print from Marcel & my brains and the penguin from pattispolkadots (when will etsy let people use spaces in their shop names?).
Oh my word, the hand drawn palm tree from our sponsor child in Papua New Guinea that she titled "Me and my coconut tree." So smitten with our budding artiste.
If you haven't visited Little Things Studio, do yourself a favor & skedaddle on over there!
Love Kate's designs, colors & the quotes she chooses.
This particular one is my current mantra: A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for.
William G. Shedd, I salute you!
DMX, I salute you too!
I know there's a few of these floating around the crafting world but I liked this one in all its delicate glory.
the Tennessee Stitchery can hook you up with one of your very own.
Another awesome bit of wonderful-ness from Aunty Mary!
This metal sign hung from her husband's ancestor's dress shop in New York City back in the days when it was called New Amsterdam.
I know, right?!
So that's what I surround myself when I'm trying to write or just when I'm nosing around your profiles on Facebook or putting things in various online shopping carts & then emptying them because I really don't neeeed that stuff, then filling it all up again. It's what I do, it's who I be.
Have a beautiful Saturday night!
06 November 2012
Did you vote for me?
I am finally staring work tomorrow. Yahoo! I am feeling pretty healthy tonight finally. Yesterday was baaaad, today was just bad but I didn't get to rest because Ben was sick all night last night, Marcel is now sick & Evan was really clingy/grouchy/weird. Did I mention that my poor dad got the bug from us too & has been suffering since last night too?
I am so sleepy & I have to get up quite early while I try to figure out how much time I actually need to get myself out the door on time for this new career thing. When I washed my face tonight, I couldn't figure out why I couldn't get all the mascara off of my face until it dawned on me that it was just the dark circles under my eyes. Oh my.
So what am I doing? Sitting on the damn couch in my American flag pyjama pants, watching CNN. Election night is like my Super Bowl. My boring, confusing, nauseating Super Bowl. Every time they drag James Carville to discuss "Flahrida," I smile. Every time John King starts playing with his fancy map, I ooh & ahh. Wolf Blitzer thrills my soul. I am a weirdo.
Anyway, Marcel still feels puny so he's in bed. Ben slept all day but is back in bed tonight - I doubt he's sleeping anytime soon but he's in bed & Evan is sleeping soundly for a little while longer so I'm celebrating Election Night all by my lonesome.
If you'd like to pretend you're watching with me (& why wouldn't you?), you can keep this picture up on your screen:
I am so sleepy & I have to get up quite early while I try to figure out how much time I actually need to get myself out the door on time for this new career thing. When I washed my face tonight, I couldn't figure out why I couldn't get all the mascara off of my face until it dawned on me that it was just the dark circles under my eyes. Oh my.
So what am I doing? Sitting on the damn couch in my American flag pyjama pants, watching CNN. Election night is like my Super Bowl. My boring, confusing, nauseating Super Bowl. Every time they drag James Carville to discuss "Flahrida," I smile. Every time John King starts playing with his fancy map, I ooh & ahh. Wolf Blitzer thrills my soul. I am a weirdo.
Anyway, Marcel still feels puny so he's in bed. Ben slept all day but is back in bed tonight - I doubt he's sleeping anytime soon but he's in bed & Evan is sleeping soundly for a little while longer so I'm celebrating Election Night all by my lonesome.
If you'd like to pretend you're watching with me (& why wouldn't you?), you can keep this picture up on your screen:
Hush your face, it's not easy to get a candid picture of myself! Please remember this is me post-face-scrubbing after battling gastro & taking care of sickies. This is the face I make every time they start on that overly detailed map that zooms in on every county in the country.
Okay, I really am very sleepy so I'm logging off before I do anything silly like posting the ugly face picture I just texted to Marcel.
05 November 2012
Blech
So, guess where I am & what I did today! Was I at my job, working for the first time in 3+ years?
Of course not.
Cue that record scratching noise ...
I got a lovely bout of gastro. I'm in bed making a very sour face.
Our family has been miraculously healthy the past few months - some sniffles & mild colds but nothing major so we've been incredibly lucky. With the stress & exposure in packing, moving, travelling, settling in & changing climates, we expected health meltdowns - Marcel & I just stupidly made a remark about our kickass immune systems. Why do we get smug? It always comes back to haunt us.
Now, Evan was sick over the weekend. BUT we didn't spot it for what it was because we hit his head in a major way Saturday morning, which sometimes causes little ones to spew. So we spent the weekend closely observing him for signs of a concussion & other such fun.
Then last night I started feeling nauseous but thought it was fairly standard - I keep my stress in my stomach & between packing Ben off to a new daycare on the same day I start a new job, my stress levels have been on a roller-coaster. When I woke up at 5 bloody a.m. to rush to the bathroom, I was thinking maybe my stomach was stressing a little more than my brain.
It wasn't until I was laying flat out on the carpet outside of our downstairs bathroom - the ugly bathroom - that it finally dawned on me that I had seen my youngest little darlin' in the same flat-out position on the floor quite a bit over the last two days. Mother of the Year finally had an "A-ha, he's sick!" moment.
Now luckily little Evan is feeling much better. He got plenty of cuddling & extra care even when we thought he was just suffering a head injury so I guess we could be worse parents, right? Unfortunately, I've got the bug much worse than he did (wimpy baby's got nothing on me!) & haven't been able to keep my sips of fizzy drink down yet. Took a warm bath but it only seemed to make my aching joints angrier. I did get a good nap & am still taking shelter in my bed while Marcel has taken Evan to the zoo & to pick Benny up from his big adventure at the new school.
Just so you understand how truly pathetic I am, I took a picture of my lovely eyes. Well, just one eye. My brain wasn't functioning until about 30 minutes ago so I couldn't get my act together enough to take a picture of myself with both eyes closed? It was a disaster just figuring out one.
Those are broken capillaries, caused by the force of vomiting. DID YOU KNOW THIS COULD HAPPEN? I sure as heck didn't so I yelped out loud when I spied myself in the mirror before heading back to the internet to diagnose something for about the 5th time this weekend. Ah well, it only enhances the beauty of the dark rings below my eye & my darned freckles. And seriously, imagine this times two.
So anyway, I'm not at my awesome new job & I have to say that I am mightily disappointed. I was really honestly so excited about getting started. I had my clothes & things laid out so everything on my end would be smooth sailing. I can never count on the boys to sail smoothly with me so I like to prepare myself as much as possible.
Add to the not working the fact that my parents are up to visit us & now are sightseeing on their own so as to not cross our quarantine line & catch the devil themselves. I hope it's not too late for them! I'll die if they came up to keep us company & end up sick as dogs instead.
Oh! Speaking of dogs, Ben had one of those adorable moments that make me wish I was the kind of mom to send funny stories to Readers Digest. My mom (Grammy) was telling him yesterday that she would have liked to bring their dogs Saffron & Sunny up to our house with them & asked Ben if he would have liked that. He didn't miss a beat & just asked incredulously, "Would they come in a little car?" BWAHAHAHAHA - I can't erase the thought of a tiny car buzzing up the interstate with a fat black pug & a little chihuahua barking away inside. Priceless.
Okay, this blog has exhausted me. So sad. But I'm going to take advantage of the quiet & see if I can sleep a few more minutes so I can be cheery when Ben comes home with tales of excitement from his big day. Please keep your fingers crossed that the bug will skip him & Marcel!
Of course not.
Cue that record scratching noise ...
I got a lovely bout of gastro. I'm in bed making a very sour face.
Our family has been miraculously healthy the past few months - some sniffles & mild colds but nothing major so we've been incredibly lucky. With the stress & exposure in packing, moving, travelling, settling in & changing climates, we expected health meltdowns - Marcel & I just stupidly made a remark about our kickass immune systems. Why do we get smug? It always comes back to haunt us.
Now, Evan was sick over the weekend. BUT we didn't spot it for what it was because we hit his head in a major way Saturday morning, which sometimes causes little ones to spew. So we spent the weekend closely observing him for signs of a concussion & other such fun.
Then last night I started feeling nauseous but thought it was fairly standard - I keep my stress in my stomach & between packing Ben off to a new daycare on the same day I start a new job, my stress levels have been on a roller-coaster. When I woke up at 5 bloody a.m. to rush to the bathroom, I was thinking maybe my stomach was stressing a little more than my brain.
It wasn't until I was laying flat out on the carpet outside of our downstairs bathroom - the ugly bathroom - that it finally dawned on me that I had seen my youngest little darlin' in the same flat-out position on the floor quite a bit over the last two days. Mother of the Year finally had an "A-ha, he's sick!" moment.
Now luckily little Evan is feeling much better. He got plenty of cuddling & extra care even when we thought he was just suffering a head injury so I guess we could be worse parents, right? Unfortunately, I've got the bug much worse than he did (wimpy baby's got nothing on me!) & haven't been able to keep my sips of fizzy drink down yet. Took a warm bath but it only seemed to make my aching joints angrier. I did get a good nap & am still taking shelter in my bed while Marcel has taken Evan to the zoo & to pick Benny up from his big adventure at the new school.
Just so you understand how truly pathetic I am, I took a picture of my lovely eyes. Well, just one eye. My brain wasn't functioning until about 30 minutes ago so I couldn't get my act together enough to take a picture of myself with both eyes closed? It was a disaster just figuring out one.
Those are broken capillaries, caused by the force of vomiting. DID YOU KNOW THIS COULD HAPPEN? I sure as heck didn't so I yelped out loud when I spied myself in the mirror before heading back to the internet to diagnose something for about the 5th time this weekend. Ah well, it only enhances the beauty of the dark rings below my eye & my darned freckles. And seriously, imagine this times two.
So anyway, I'm not at my awesome new job & I have to say that I am mightily disappointed. I was really honestly so excited about getting started. I had my clothes & things laid out so everything on my end would be smooth sailing. I can never count on the boys to sail smoothly with me so I like to prepare myself as much as possible.
Add to the not working the fact that my parents are up to visit us & now are sightseeing on their own so as to not cross our quarantine line & catch the devil themselves. I hope it's not too late for them! I'll die if they came up to keep us company & end up sick as dogs instead.
Oh! Speaking of dogs, Ben had one of those adorable moments that make me wish I was the kind of mom to send funny stories to Readers Digest. My mom (Grammy) was telling him yesterday that she would have liked to bring their dogs Saffron & Sunny up to our house with them & asked Ben if he would have liked that. He didn't miss a beat & just asked incredulously, "Would they come in a little car?" BWAHAHAHAHA - I can't erase the thought of a tiny car buzzing up the interstate with a fat black pug & a little chihuahua barking away inside. Priceless.
Okay, this blog has exhausted me. So sad. But I'm going to take advantage of the quiet & see if I can sleep a few more minutes so I can be cheery when Ben comes home with tales of excitement from his big day. Please keep your fingers crossed that the bug will skip him & Marcel!
02 November 2012
Working Class Ash
So, I have news. Folks, I have gotten a job! Can you believe it - little old me, back in the working world? Crazy. I'll give you more information after I start next week but I am very happy about where I'll be working, who I'll be working with & what I'll be doing so I'm just 100% excited!
Welllll, maybe 99% excited.
The other 1% is pure terror. There's the awful fear that I'm going to show up & my brain, which I assumed will still be capable of logistical and production tasks, will turn out to have shriveled away. If someone asks me about the status of a program, will I shout "Great fires of London!" like Fireman Sam? Will my office small talk be peppered with choice anecdotes like "... & then the BLUE Wiggle FIRED the yellow Wiggle & replaced him with the OLD yellow Wiggle, now they're all retiring anyway ...?" I'm a different person than I used to be. I can't possibly be more boring than I was before but I'm definitely different!
Most importantly, there is the feeling that I think most moms face when they choose (or have) to go back to work - am I going to ruin my kids? Are they going to hate me? Am I being selfish?
AM I A BAD MOM?
I think I've made it quite clear over the years that I'm not the most qualified woman in the world to be a full-time mom - there have been periods of frustration, rage and everyone's favorite, depression. I will never be able to erase the mental picture of myself (brace yourselves for this story) breastfeeding a wailing newborn Evan while I was on the toilet with gosh-awful diarrhea, sobbing because the stomach pains were causing my raw c-section incision to throb to new and unholy levels of agony. On my worst days, I let that humiliating time serve as a reminder that I can survive anything. And yes, I plan to trot that lovely story out as often as needed to remind my new coworkers that I'm not a lady to be doubted. Diarrhea/breastfeeding/surgery pain/crying stories are the way to impress new colleagues, right?
So yes, I have had some rough times as a stay at home mom and any time a jackass refers to being a mother as "the hardest job you'll ever love" with a patronizing smirk, I will be the first to say "Um yeah, it actually is." That jackass probably won't be worthy of my heroic tale of poopin' & boobin' but he or she will get the royal stinkeye.
Have I ever mentioned that I actually LOVE being a mom, by the way? I realize I tend to use this blog as a catharsis for the hard, the miserable and (thankfully) the hilarious but I seriously am so utterly grateful that I was able to be with Benny & Evan as long as I have. They are the coolest kids around & we've had some amazing times together - watching them grow into little boys is the best thing in the world. And now I'm weepy again.
Fear not, they will be in capable hands. Ben is starting back to daycare on Monday - he'll be going full time at an Adventist school just down the street from where Marcel's mom is a Pastor so we're very excited to have gotten him in there. I hope he loves being full time as much as we think he will but if not, we'll be going back down to a few days a week instead.
Marcel will be home with Evan & freelancing a bit with his editing & graphics from his new, awesome home office. I'm actually so excited about the two of them spending more time together because a certain older brother usually prevents Evan from getting much alone time with good old Dada. Marcel is great with him as far as getting him down for naps, etc. so I think it will be a walk in the park for him.
Oh crap! I need helpful advice for one area - breast pumps! Yes, I'm still breastfeeding Evan. We talked about just weaning him now because he's darn well old enough (coming from the woman who nursed Ben until 19 months) & I think he'd be okay. I don't know if it's me being my emotional self who is a hippie when it comes to this area but I'm not really ready to wean him completely. This is going to sound completely backwards to most people but if I could wean his day feeds & keep feeding him at night for a few more weeks, I'd be happy. He's still sleeping with us from about midnight or so, which is SO much easier now that we have a king size bed by the way, but he doesn't drink too terribly much unless he's teething. Can you just wean day feeds like that or will my supply drop? I assume since you can wean night feeds & keep your supply up for just day feeds that it's totally possible to do the ridiculous opposite? I'll start by pumping milk for him to have while I'm gone so it's not a cold turkey situation then wind it down from there. Then when all the shakeup has settled down a bit & he's used to be being away all day, we'll start addressing the co-sleeping & night feeding. He'll probably be a champ but I'm not quite ready to let my last baby go!
And on the pumping note, does anyone have recommendations for good pumps? And because I don't plan on doing it for months & months, has anyone had good or bad experiences with rental places?
On that note, I am going to do a little bit of cleaning. My parents are driving up for a visit - YAY!! So it would be nice if our house looked a bit liveable & less like the tropical storm concentrated on our particular house. I shouldn't make jokes because I know how absolutely devastated New York & New Jersey are at the moment & it's heartbreaking. I've donated to the Red Cross & I hope you have too if you're able.
Have a lovely night & I can't wait to tell you more about my new job next week!
Welllll, maybe 99% excited.
The other 1% is pure terror. There's the awful fear that I'm going to show up & my brain, which I assumed will still be capable of logistical and production tasks, will turn out to have shriveled away. If someone asks me about the status of a program, will I shout "Great fires of London!" like Fireman Sam? Will my office small talk be peppered with choice anecdotes like "... & then the BLUE Wiggle FIRED the yellow Wiggle & replaced him with the OLD yellow Wiggle, now they're all retiring anyway ...?" I'm a different person than I used to be. I can't possibly be more boring than I was before but I'm definitely different!
Most importantly, there is the feeling that I think most moms face when they choose (or have) to go back to work - am I going to ruin my kids? Are they going to hate me? Am I being selfish?
AM I A BAD MOM?
I think I've made it quite clear over the years that I'm not the most qualified woman in the world to be a full-time mom - there have been periods of frustration, rage and everyone's favorite, depression. I will never be able to erase the mental picture of myself (brace yourselves for this story) breastfeeding a wailing newborn Evan while I was on the toilet with gosh-awful diarrhea, sobbing because the stomach pains were causing my raw c-section incision to throb to new and unholy levels of agony. On my worst days, I let that humiliating time serve as a reminder that I can survive anything. And yes, I plan to trot that lovely story out as often as needed to remind my new coworkers that I'm not a lady to be doubted. Diarrhea/breastfeeding/surgery pain/crying stories are the way to impress new colleagues, right?
So yes, I have had some rough times as a stay at home mom and any time a jackass refers to being a mother as "the hardest job you'll ever love" with a patronizing smirk, I will be the first to say "Um yeah, it actually is." That jackass probably won't be worthy of my heroic tale of poopin' & boobin' but he or she will get the royal stinkeye.
Have I ever mentioned that I actually LOVE being a mom, by the way? I realize I tend to use this blog as a catharsis for the hard, the miserable and (thankfully) the hilarious but I seriously am so utterly grateful that I was able to be with Benny & Evan as long as I have. They are the coolest kids around & we've had some amazing times together - watching them grow into little boys is the best thing in the world. And now I'm weepy again.
Fear not, they will be in capable hands. Ben is starting back to daycare on Monday - he'll be going full time at an Adventist school just down the street from where Marcel's mom is a Pastor so we're very excited to have gotten him in there. I hope he loves being full time as much as we think he will but if not, we'll be going back down to a few days a week instead.
Marcel will be home with Evan & freelancing a bit with his editing & graphics from his new, awesome home office. I'm actually so excited about the two of them spending more time together because a certain older brother usually prevents Evan from getting much alone time with good old Dada. Marcel is great with him as far as getting him down for naps, etc. so I think it will be a walk in the park for him.
Oh crap! I need helpful advice for one area - breast pumps! Yes, I'm still breastfeeding Evan. We talked about just weaning him now because he's darn well old enough (coming from the woman who nursed Ben until 19 months) & I think he'd be okay. I don't know if it's me being my emotional self who is a hippie when it comes to this area but I'm not really ready to wean him completely. This is going to sound completely backwards to most people but if I could wean his day feeds & keep feeding him at night for a few more weeks, I'd be happy. He's still sleeping with us from about midnight or so, which is SO much easier now that we have a king size bed by the way, but he doesn't drink too terribly much unless he's teething. Can you just wean day feeds like that or will my supply drop? I assume since you can wean night feeds & keep your supply up for just day feeds that it's totally possible to do the ridiculous opposite? I'll start by pumping milk for him to have while I'm gone so it's not a cold turkey situation then wind it down from there. Then when all the shakeup has settled down a bit & he's used to be being away all day, we'll start addressing the co-sleeping & night feeding. He'll probably be a champ but I'm not quite ready to let my last baby go!
And on the pumping note, does anyone have recommendations for good pumps? And because I don't plan on doing it for months & months, has anyone had good or bad experiences with rental places?
On that note, I am going to do a little bit of cleaning. My parents are driving up for a visit - YAY!! So it would be nice if our house looked a bit liveable & less like the tropical storm concentrated on our particular house. I shouldn't make jokes because I know how absolutely devastated New York & New Jersey are at the moment & it's heartbreaking. I've donated to the Red Cross & I hope you have too if you're able.
Have a lovely night & I can't wait to tell you more about my new job next week!
01 November 2012
From the Other Side
Heavens to Betsy, I have missed you. Just so you know, I haven't changed a bit - I'm chomping away on a miniature LaraBar leftover from Boo at the Zoo Halloween festivities & am earnestly praying that eating that instead of the Twix I was eyeing will help the fact that my newly earned & celebrated smaller size jeans are way too snug now. I keep squeezing myself into them, mind you, putting their stretch capabilities to an unfair test. I joined a gym a couple of weeks ago & have gone once. Took a class, was so sore I actually cried a little when I had to get in & out of my car a few times (squats & lunges are the devil's handiwork!). Haven't been back but I hear it calling my name. And I somehow have to rewire my brain about eating again - it's like all the healthy food I was loving for so long is completely foreign. I literally can't think of what we used to eat all the time! I sense a return to Weight Watchers in my near future & quite honestly, I am happy about that. I miss the energy I had when I was eating well & I miss that awesome feeling of seeing the numbers (& sizes) going down, down, down.
So now that we've discussed the size of my ass, let me tell you that all is well over here. Hurricane or Tropical Storm or Whatever Sandy blew on through, shook up our trees & pelted us with rain but our area escaped with no drama. I am so thankful that we didn't get blown off the map so soon into our new American adventure!
I promise some pictures soon of our house. It's no palace, but it is pretty darn spectacular in my humble opinion. It was built in the 80s & that is very obvious in some areas so there is some work to be done but we're very happy to have a home that suits us so well. The boys have plenty of room to play, Marcel now has his own office & I am loving decorating this place from scratch!
The best part of our house, I have to say, is the gifts we're filling it with from our families in the form of hand-me-downs. I'm currently typing away at a little old desk from great-aunt Mary & we have paintings, knick knacks & furniture from parents, grandparents & attics. Mixing that stuff up with new stuff from IKEA, Target, West Elm & Etsy (we get so many deliveries that our UPS man recognized us on the street) is really making this place a lovely place to be. I promise I will share some of the transformation soon - I just want to get a little more progress made before I start putting out there for you to judge!
It's wonderful to be back in Washington, I do have to say. I am planning on a quick blog rundown about the place soon & I'm sure I'll end up with many entries on the topic. I'll also give you more information about the suburb where we live so you can get a better idea of our life these days.
But right now, my eyelids are getting heavy I should go to bed & get my beauty sleep. Some of us need more than others! Apologies that this little note wasn't very deep or exciting - I'll get back into the swing of things. I honestly feel like I'm finally snapping out of the fog these days. Moving overseas with two tiny ones is traumatic, I can't stress that enough. We have had some rough days that I'd rather forget but aside from a little post-traumatic stress disorder, I think we're going to be okay!
And if you have emailed or sent me a message on Facebook or by carrier pigeon & I haven't replied, I apologize with 110% of my sincere little heart!! I have read your notes - sometimes many times - & they absolutely make my day but then when I go to reply, I just go blank. I think I could just never figure out where to start.
Anyway, if you're in Australia please know that we miss you so much! Enjoy the sunshine for us as we're going into our second straight winter & give your nearest kangaroo a hug for me please.
So now that we've discussed the size of my ass, let me tell you that all is well over here. Hurricane or Tropical Storm or Whatever Sandy blew on through, shook up our trees & pelted us with rain but our area escaped with no drama. I am so thankful that we didn't get blown off the map so soon into our new American adventure!
I promise some pictures soon of our house. It's no palace, but it is pretty darn spectacular in my humble opinion. It was built in the 80s & that is very obvious in some areas so there is some work to be done but we're very happy to have a home that suits us so well. The boys have plenty of room to play, Marcel now has his own office & I am loving decorating this place from scratch!
The best part of our house, I have to say, is the gifts we're filling it with from our families in the form of hand-me-downs. I'm currently typing away at a little old desk from great-aunt Mary & we have paintings, knick knacks & furniture from parents, grandparents & attics. Mixing that stuff up with new stuff from IKEA, Target, West Elm & Etsy (we get so many deliveries that our UPS man recognized us on the street) is really making this place a lovely place to be. I promise I will share some of the transformation soon - I just want to get a little more progress made before I start putting out there for you to judge!
It's wonderful to be back in Washington, I do have to say. I am planning on a quick blog rundown about the place soon & I'm sure I'll end up with many entries on the topic. I'll also give you more information about the suburb where we live so you can get a better idea of our life these days.
But right now, my eyelids are getting heavy I should go to bed & get my beauty sleep. Some of us need more than others! Apologies that this little note wasn't very deep or exciting - I'll get back into the swing of things. I honestly feel like I'm finally snapping out of the fog these days. Moving overseas with two tiny ones is traumatic, I can't stress that enough. We have had some rough days that I'd rather forget but aside from a little post-traumatic stress disorder, I think we're going to be okay!
And if you have emailed or sent me a message on Facebook or by carrier pigeon & I haven't replied, I apologize with 110% of my sincere little heart!! I have read your notes - sometimes many times - & they absolutely make my day but then when I go to reply, I just go blank. I think I could just never figure out where to start.
Anyway, if you're in Australia please know that we miss you so much! Enjoy the sunshine for us as we're going into our second straight winter & give your nearest kangaroo a hug for me please.
24 July 2012
shaking with anitici.......pation
My, how I've missed you guys. As rambling & nonsensical as this blog tends to be, the simple act of writing is so gratifying to me. My rants, raves & lame stabs at humor come from a surprisingly deep place & I swear that I physically feel better if I've spewed my little words. I'm pretty sure I store part of my mind in my fingers & once they've had their typing workout my little brain can relax a tiny bit.
How's that for obnoxious?!
Anyway, I either missed typing or I missed sharing every boring minute of my life with you so I'm back.
And none too soon, I tell you. So much to tell, so much to share, so much inspiration I need from you before I lay my head down on the floor & give up being useful.
For those of you who haven't heard the grand proclamations (seriously, if my mom owned a megaphone you would have literally heard the news straight from her)(by the way, never buy my mother a megaphone), we are moving back to America. That's right. Yes, it is true. Uh-huh, we'll be Yankee Doodle Dandies once again.
You have follow up questions? Of course you do. Unfortunately, I have no answers. No real idea of when, what we'll do, what jobs we'll have (the rumors that Marcel was offered a GC job are not true - he was on the list of possible candidates but it went to someone else in the end, which is absolutely 100% fine with Marcel), where we'll live, etc. are wiiiiide open.
Well, we're moving to DC unless any of you Tennesseans manage to corner Nicole Kidman & convince her to let me be her assistant. How perfect would that be?? Both Nashville/Australia gals with our handsome husbands - she has two lovely girls, I have two goofy boys. The natural partnership writes itself.
So yes, we'll be in DC. More job opportunities for us both there. Our house is on the market here (http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-kariong-111102339 just in case you're looking for a wonderful little home on the Central Coast) & as soon as it sells, we'll be on our way. Oh yeah, we also have to get rid of absolutely everything we own too but hey, nothing hard about that. Nope, no drama.
But seriously folks, I'm not one to let a little stress get to me but the build up to this move is a bit much. I realize that moving from one side of the planet to another is hard & it's a gazillion times harder in the other direction once you've bought a house & belongings & suddenly you have two little hangers-on who depend on you for their every step in life. Therefore, when I wake up with a new zit, a cold sore or a visit from the IBS that I thought was loooong gone, I am not surprised. I am also blaming my current string of bad hair days on stress & will kick you in the shins if you try to convince me otherwise.
Anyway, that's my quick update. I'm watching Evan stir on the baby monitor - that's right, I still haven't gotten him into his own bed as I swore I was going to do. He's basically in his own crib for his nap now but I don't have the strength for the nights yet.
I will try to blog more regularly now that I have new things to report. In the meantime if you know of anyone looking for a motion graphics editor (Avid, FCP & all the necessary programs) or some sort of assistant/coordinator/girl Friday, let us know will ya?
And if you'd like to buy a house or furniture or a car or lots of baby clothes, etc. let us know & we'll cut you a deal (well, not on the house)(& not if you're in America because we're not shipping or bringing it over, sorry).
In the meantime, please pray that the cleaning fairy comes along to keep our house nice & tidy (yes, we've cleared out tons of knick knacks & clutter & we make sure all the kids stuff is either in their rooms or hidden away so we can appeal to everyone) for us. Also please pray that we don't lose our minds before this is all over. That is all. Amen.
How's that for obnoxious?!
Anyway, I either missed typing or I missed sharing every boring minute of my life with you so I'm back.
And none too soon, I tell you. So much to tell, so much to share, so much inspiration I need from you before I lay my head down on the floor & give up being useful.
For those of you who haven't heard the grand proclamations (seriously, if my mom owned a megaphone you would have literally heard the news straight from her)(by the way, never buy my mother a megaphone), we are moving back to America. That's right. Yes, it is true. Uh-huh, we'll be Yankee Doodle Dandies once again.
You have follow up questions? Of course you do. Unfortunately, I have no answers. No real idea of when, what we'll do, what jobs we'll have (the rumors that Marcel was offered a GC job are not true - he was on the list of possible candidates but it went to someone else in the end, which is absolutely 100% fine with Marcel), where we'll live, etc. are wiiiiide open.
Well, we're moving to DC unless any of you Tennesseans manage to corner Nicole Kidman & convince her to let me be her assistant. How perfect would that be?? Both Nashville/Australia gals with our handsome husbands - she has two lovely girls, I have two goofy boys. The natural partnership writes itself.
So yes, we'll be in DC. More job opportunities for us both there. Our house is on the market here (http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-kariong-111102339 just in case you're looking for a wonderful little home on the Central Coast) & as soon as it sells, we'll be on our way. Oh yeah, we also have to get rid of absolutely everything we own too but hey, nothing hard about that. Nope, no drama.
But seriously folks, I'm not one to let a little stress get to me but the build up to this move is a bit much. I realize that moving from one side of the planet to another is hard & it's a gazillion times harder in the other direction once you've bought a house & belongings & suddenly you have two little hangers-on who depend on you for their every step in life. Therefore, when I wake up with a new zit, a cold sore or a visit from the IBS that I thought was loooong gone, I am not surprised. I am also blaming my current string of bad hair days on stress & will kick you in the shins if you try to convince me otherwise.
Anyway, that's my quick update. I'm watching Evan stir on the baby monitor - that's right, I still haven't gotten him into his own bed as I swore I was going to do. He's basically in his own crib for his nap now but I don't have the strength for the nights yet.
I will try to blog more regularly now that I have new things to report. In the meantime if you know of anyone looking for a motion graphics editor (Avid, FCP & all the necessary programs) or some sort of assistant/coordinator/girl Friday, let us know will ya?
And if you'd like to buy a house or furniture or a car or lots of baby clothes, etc. let us know & we'll cut you a deal (well, not on the house)(& not if you're in America because we're not shipping or bringing it over, sorry).
In the meantime, please pray that the cleaning fairy comes along to keep our house nice & tidy (yes, we've cleared out tons of knick knacks & clutter & we make sure all the kids stuff is either in their rooms or hidden away so we can appeal to everyone) for us. Also please pray that we don't lose our minds before this is all over. That is all. Amen.
27 June 2012
Smashin' Fashion
I am not a fashionable person, I am aware of that.
But it's not for lack of dreaming.
I don't want to toot my own horn (much) but since I've been doing well with my Weight Watchers, my eye has been wandering towards some slightly more exciting clothes.
Let's be honest, I'm not looking to break out of my jeans & t-shirt uniform too often but I could always broaden my horizons to a few more fun options.
Would be nice if my budget jumped on board too!
Anyhoo, a few celebrity looks have caught my fancy enough lately that I felt compelled to share with you. Don't ask me why because I don't have an answer for you - I'm just going through a phase.
I have only recently jumped on board the Jennifer Aniston train.
I never had anything actually against her & wasn't sporting a Team Jolie shirt or anything because that shit ain't my business.
I found her style more boring than classic.
Now that I have a few more years under my belt, I truly love that classic look.
I also love that she embraces the jeans & t-shirt uniform - I secretly pretend I look like her when I'm getting dressed. *sigh*
I am not so in love with those wedges with this outfit but I'm probably wrong about that. Also, I completely forgive any fashion sins committed while travelling. No one is at their best when involved with air travel, no matter how hard they try.
Oh yes, she also has inspired MAJOR blazer envy for me.
I see myself owning several new snazzy blazers as soon as I can afford to do so.
Elizabeth Banks is EVERYWHERE this year & I am a fan.
I am also a fan of this crazy-ass dress.
Oddly, my first thought upon seeing it was "That looks like something I would wear."
I'm sure something that exciting & colorful would look simply stunning on a stumpy gal like me.
I have never been a fan of Blake Lively & I have no reason for this.
I have never seen Gossip Girl & I fell asleep during The Town before she came on.
That's not a judgment on The Town because it looked awesome & Marcel said she was good.
My point is ... I completely forgot. But yes, I wasn't a fan.
On the other hand, I am a HUGE fan of this dress.
Like, this may be the greatest dress I have ever seen - it was everything I desire in a dream dress.
I love it, I love it, I love it!!
I'm sure my terrible posture & rump would look a-mah-zing in this.
Until next time, may all your fashion choices be zingers.
**I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THAT MEANS! I JUST TYPED IT WITHOUT THINKING & THEN READ IT BACK, SHOCKED AT THE BIZARRENESS. ZINGERS?
24 June 2012
Shout Out West
Today I have a to-do list that's a mile long so it's natural that I would be inspired to come to my blog instead & just avoid any of that pesky work! Lucky you, right?
I'm having a bit of a blog meltdown these days. Life is a bit nutty & has left me at a loss for words - well, not a total loss but my words have been confused, negative or of the four-letter variety so my radio silence is a good thing, trust me.
So, I'm trying to decide how to handle the blog from here on out. I realize this shouldn't be such an issue as it's just an electronic brain-fart & nothing more profound but I usually enjoy it. But now that Ben is getting older (3 is ridiculously old to me!), it feels a bit like I'm talking behind his back & that's not so nice. Also, I think you know I've had some struggles with his toddlerhood & I really did not like that every blog entry was complaining about someone who is literally one of the most exciting humans that I've ever had the joy to love!
I thought maybe I'd focus on Evan until Ben settled down a bit & keep this as a more baby-centric blog for a while but I quickly realized that we've been there & done that. Do we really need another round of me wondering why my child refuses to nap & how the hell did he end up in our bed, drinking all night after he was sleeping through the night in his own space for a few months?
(Sidenote: I actually honestly have no recollection of what brought him into our bed but there are dark days of sleep training ahead of us so I might blog those for my own sanity)
Anyway, so for now I'm keeping the blog to just special occasions or when the spirit moves me to share some stupidity or if my fingers need a good stretching round of typing.
Which brings me to this entry.
We went on a wonderful, amazing, out of this world vacation recently. Well, most of it was fantastic - part of it was awful & heartbreaking but such is life. I'll fill you in, don't you worry.
Obviously I've been living inside my head a bit too much recently. Let's be honest, living inside your own head for ANY amount of time is dangerous to your health so I'm trying to focus outwards & be present in life but when it comes to this little blog of mine, I'm still taking up residence in ye olde cranium. Can't quite decide how to break down the trip to do it justice so I'm just starting to throw things out there for you - some of my favorite aspects of the trip, in NO PARTICULAR ORDER, usually just happens to be what order the pictures happened to fall.
Soooooo, wrapping up the most painful introduction of all time, I give you ....
Our Western Adventure
JOSHUA TREE
Joshua Tree is literally one of my favorite places on the planet, if not THE favorite - I'm usually one for clutter & hubbub (remind to use that phrase for a future album title) but the desert gets me every time. There is something in the air that makes me ridiculously happy - probably the total lack of humidity so my hair actually lies flight - & I feel totally at peace, as dorky as it sounds.
I don't think I ever told you that we were thisclose to naming Evan "Joshua" instead. Totally were but then I thought my cousin Josh might get a big head about it & that's the last thing the world needs so we went with Evan. Just kidding, I love my cousin Josh & would have been happy to have a son sharing his name but Evan won in the end anyway.
The very very very best part of visiting J. Tree with the family was Ben acquiring a new hobby - he stole one of Ilse's fancy shmancy cameras & decided he is now a photographer. It was awesome. He was awesome. I am currently creating a photo book of his pictures from that evening because some of them are amazing. Some are hilarious but none of them are boring.
I'll never forget the little bit of time we spent there - it is a very special corner of the world!
DISNEYLAND
I know there are plenty of parents who are not fans of Disney & its influence on kids, plus the idea of a day in any theme park is hell on earth. We are not those kind of parents. For the record, we are also a-okay with those ugly clunky plastic toys that last forever & the kids love but look sloppy in your yard. We can still be friends, right?
Anyway, our day at Disney was perfect. PERFECT. I am terrified to ever go again for fear it won't live up to this trip. Ben was a grouch as the day started but after his first ride his smile got bigger & bigger & we had a blast. Lines weren't ridiculous for a weekend in June & I think we all almost got out of it what we wanted - mostly we were just there to watch the kids experience it, which helped.
Anyway, we watched the evening fireworks & just kept going, figuring we'd head out as soon as either boy started melting down but they never did so as the park closed at midnight we came around the corner & stumbled upon some special friends so I think this picture sums the day up quite perfectly:
I will post most Vegas pictures in a future entry because there aren't many. That was my family's leg of the journey & we are not ones to take pictures - not a big deal but not really helpful when I'm trying to blog about things we've done!
The first part of the Vegas portion was a blast! We had a huge condo in the Hilton building attached to Planet Hollywood & we shared it with my parents & brother, sister in law & their kids so we had the whole gang together. Amaaaaazing that we all managed to pull it off.
Unfortunately, the Vegas section of our travels was cut off as my parents had to rush back to Tennessee to be with my grandmother who fell ill the day after they left to come out to see us. She died the next day so I'm very very glad that they chose to go home to be with her but I missed them terribly & spent the next few days trying to ignore my terrible funk, grieving for my wonderful grandmother & feeling very guilty for dragging everyone out to see us & away from her while she was sick.
Luckily Vegas is a good place for distractions & we had fun dragging the boys all over the place to see the hotels & do some shopping & eating lots of yummy food.
I've been to Vegas several times & love that place, even as a gal who doesn't drink, doesn't care for the clubs, burns in the sun & can't afford to gamble much. It's just a carefree city, I guess. But this trip there was one surprise for me - a hotel I hadn't visited before ...
THE COSMOPOLITAN
We didn't stay at The Cosmopolitan (I'll do another blog later about the various places we called home) but we will absolutely try in the future. It is the coolest hotel/casino I have ever seen. I was seriously smitten.
First, they have a bar/lounge that takes up the entire center of the shopping/casino/whatevs area called The Chandelier. IT IS COMPLETELY ENCASED INSIDE A GAZILLION ROPES OF CRYSTALS SO IT LOOKS LIEK A GINORMOUS CHANDELIER!! I abused the Caps Locks so it's clear that I was shouting that at you. Normally I attempt to keep my cool in trendy places & not act like the total yokel that I am but I could not stop gawking at the 3-story chandelier that people were walking around in & hanging out on comfy couches. We tried to get pictures ourselves on the iPhone but it didn't capture it well enough (IT IS GORGEOUS!!). I kept wandering back over to the railing to look out over this place - is it possible to have a crush on a place? Cos I think I'm in love with The Cosmopolitan thanks to this sparkly piece of heaven.
If that weren't enough, while roaming around I spotted this machine:
I was a little surprised because I didn't think cigarette vending machines were still a thing, especially at such a trendy place. Then I spotted the name & looked closer. OH ... MY ... WORD! It was at this point that I physically grabbed Marcel & started shrieking at him in my way too excited voice "Oh my gosh, it's art, look at the tiny little pieces of art. Howmuchisit?Ohmygoodnessit'sonly5dollars.Iwantamillionofthem.Doyouhave5dollars????"
Thus began my obsession with Art-O-Mat.
This was our first acquisition, an adorable little oil painting of a bird! They all have to be the size of a cigarette carton so they fit in the machine & at $5 a pop you are a fool, A FOOL, to not snatch up some pieces for your own art wall. We went back to the two machines we found in the hotel a few times - two were kinda duds as one was earrings (my ears aren't pierced) & one was a friendship bracelet that looked like a demented scrunchie so my one piece of advice is to only choose ones that say oil painting (or whatever you want) not "random" or "surprise."
During my last art shopping spree, which sounds much better than cheap vending machine emptying, an older dude who works for The Cosmopolitan came up & told us a bit of the history of Art-O-Mat & how it's actually a really great way to start your art collection. I don't know who he was but I like to pretend that he's a wacky owner/manager eccentric gazillionaire & if I had found the right combination of words, he would have shown us the secret back areas of the hotel & let us borrow his private solid gold golf cart to tour the property. Alas, either I was wrong or "Oh my gosh, this machine is AWESOME!" wasn't the secret code he required.
Anyway, I wish you would visit the Art-O-Mat website & see where you can find one to visit yourself (Washingtonians, there is a Smithsonian location!). http://www.artomat.org/
Aside from the lounge dripping in crystals & the cheap art souvenirs, this place just had a good vibe. Apparently the restaurants are famous ones & the clubs are world-class, which is right up our alley ... not. On the top floor is a little game area with a pool table, big comfy designer looking chairs & no one scolded us for spinning Benny in them like they were made for commoners like us. If I could transport that little game area with their awesome chairs & funky tables made of giant vintage-looking dominoes I would totally take it.
Kudos to you, The Cosmopolitan! I love you.
I will be back to blog more later, I promise you that but I make no guarantees of when. I think almost all of our trip photos are up on facebook anyway except the handful of wonderful photos that my mother in law took of everyone in Vegas (the Eisele part of the clan was only there for one day) so THANK YOU Debbie for taking so many pictures for those of us doofuses who don't.
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