It seemed like a good idea at the time.
Seriously, the Buddha Baby has had a cold for about a month straight.
So much for the whole “breastfed babies are healthier” hooey.
Sigh.
Also: she has two teeth coming in. At five months old!
Constant cold + teething = where’d my sweet baby go?
Answer: follow the trail of snot.
As usual, you knew that when I said the results would be up Friday I meant Monday, right? I mean, we’ve known each other a while now. You know never to believe anything that I say regarding timelines, right? Right? Hello?
Sigh.
You know those six word biographies that all the cool kids are doing? Mine could be: Really good intentions; poor follow through.
Anyway! On to the results. (If you are just catching up, the original post is here.) (Also: where were you when I needed you?)
Life maintenance: It’s nearly unanimous. You all want me to get off my butt and exercise more. Which is a fabulous idea. You come babysit. HA! I kid. I’m going to try for a couple of short walks during the week (likely at lunch) and at least one long walk or hike with the Buddha on my work-from-home day or the weekend. Also, I’ve noticed that my local yoga studio has a neat-o looking class on the weekends which may be worth my $10. (Usually the good classes are, like, Wednesday at 10AM. Who takes those?)
Creative: Photography wins it. Cool. This would be easier if we had a decent digital camera, but I am not one to be thwarted by minor details. I’ll collect all our cameras and figure out what works and what doesn’t.
Writing: I realized after putting up this category that asking people who read my blog whether I should spend more time on said blog or instead work on a project that will likely never see the light of day might introduce a slight, shall we say, ”conflict of interest” into the deliberations. And I was not disappointed as the majority of you think I should make this thing a little less half-hearted. You got it. I’ll do my best.
Entertainment: You think I need to get out more. And you are not wrong. No, you are not wrong.
I’ll try to post semi-regular updates on my pursuit to becoming a buff blogging star and photographic genius with actual, real-life friends. Wish me luck.
PS- I’m still going to get a haircut because, people? Have you seen my hair? Well, no, you haven’t, but trust me. It ain’t doing me any favors, especially since I now have bang bangs coming in.
PPS- And some of the hair looks like it has decided to come back in GRAY which oh, by the way, thanks, hair follicles. Like I didn’t have enough problems right now.
Any last votes? Polling closes tomorrow at…um…whenever I get around to posting!
Several years ago I was chatting with an acquaintance and we were talking about motherhood. She was one of those loud, boisterous women that you can hear from across a crowded room and she had no shame. She also was the mother to two children, a toddler and a baby. I thought she was an absolute hoot.
For some reason she started talking about embarrassing mothering moments. “Once,” she confided, “I was in Wal-mart trying to run some quick errands. The older one was going crazy and the baby was screaming his head off. I couldn’t take it any more so I just whipped up my shirt and started nursing him in the middle of the store while I was shopping. He finished, I finished, and I went to check out. The check out girl kept staring at me and I couldn’t figure out what her problem was. It wasn’t until I went outside and felt a breeze that I realized that my boob was still hanging out.”
Funny, right? At the time I laughed with her but deep down I was thinking, “Jeez, lady, how far gone do you have to be to not notice that?”
No, I haven’t done it. But I now totally, completely, 100% understand how it happens. I have lost all sense of shame about my boobs. I used to be so scared about breastfeeding in my car at the far end of the parking lot while shopping. Now? Pshaw. Whatever. You hungry, kid? Okay, here you go. I’ve nursed in airports, stores, friend’s houses, bowling alleys, restaurants… If I was there, I likely exposed my boob. My boobs are now just another appendage. Having a boob hanging out feels about the same as wearing short sleeves. I just don’t notice.
I used to be embarrassed if one of my co-workers saw me walk into the bathroom with my pump. Now I have to do a little pat down before leaving the bathroom because several times I have almost walked out with my shirt up and bra down. AT WORK.
Those of you without kids or that don’t breastfeed are all, “How could she do that?”
And to them I say, YOU DON’T KNOW. It happens.
I finally figured out how to comment on comments again! (I just decided to start doing that when WordPress changed the system and then I couldn’t figure out how to do it again for lo, I am a moron. But I’ve got it now!)
So look for responses to your comments. I think it’s more fun that way, personally.
I was both puked on and pooped on before 8 o’clock this morning.
I’m awake. Yes indeedy, I’m awake.
The following are things that I gave up while I was pregnant and that I swore I didn’t miss and wouldn’t start again after I was no longer pregnant but I totally have because I am a weak, weak woman:
A second (or third) cup of coffee in the morning
A cocktail in the evening
Spending half-an-hour figuring out what to wear to work
Weighing myself daily
PS: Keep voting! There’s no clear consensus yet and I still can’t decide what to do.
Spring is one of those times of year when I am motivated to get my life together. After hibernating all winter, I am all jazzed up to get going, to organize my life, to revisit hobbies, to become a brilliant and fascinating woman so comfortable in her own skin that everyone in America wants to be her.
Wait, what?
Anyway, I find myself at a bit of a crossroad. I’ve got quite a lot of half-hearted plans and quite a lot of NO TIME right now. I figure that, at best, I can scrape 1/2 hour out of each workday and maybe a couple of hours on the weekend to accomplish some of my goals. I need some help prioritizing. And that’s where you come in.
Below are some of the things I’ve thought about pursuing. I can’t do all of them. Hell, I probably can’t do one of them. But I’m going to try. Pick one thing from each category that you think is worthy of my limited time. I’ll do my darned best to keep up with it and will report back on my success.
Ready? Go.
Life maintenance*:
1) Exercise: hiking, walking (which is totally different from hiking, don’t you know?), yoga, taking some kind of class, etc.
2) Physical appearance: improved skin care, regular haircuts, doing my nails, buying clothes that fit and then washing them, generally making myself look less like a ragamuffin. Stop raising your eyebrows at me like that. This stuff takes time, darn it.
3) Homemaking: actually planning meals as opposed to panicking every night at 6 PM, keeping the house in a relatively sanitary condition, baking yummy things, attempting to keep alive some plants (um, also known as gardening)
Creative:
1) Knitting: I’ve got a bunch of yarn and whatnot because I used to do this all the time and I loved it and was good at it but…yeah. Let it slide.
2) Photography: also something I got pretty good at and then quit. We have a sucky digital camera, but a nice film one PLUS some old cameras that could be cool to play around with all old-school-like. Plus, wouldn’t it be nice to have good pictures of my daughter?
3) Screenprinting: a while ago I got jazzed about designing and printing fun stuff and bought some screens and ink and…yeah. See above for what happened to my other hobbies.
Writing:
1) Work on the novel that I whipped out during Nanowrimo a few years ago that I still love and think about all the time. I truly think it has potential, or I’d just let it go.
2) Work on some personal essays and other short works that have the remote chance of actually being published.
3) Concentrate on turning this blog into something less half-assed and haphazard. ‘Cause I can do better than I do here, I’m sorry to say.
Entertainment:
1) Go out more with friends: more than like, once every six months. Perhaps even try to arrange a standing happy hour get-together once a week, which I used to have with a group of friends and miss tremendously. I no longer live in the same place as those friends, but I have new friends! There’s even a bar in town where it’s okay to take babies. I know, I know, but I swear it’s true. It’s really a brewpub/restaurant kind of place and there’s no smoking or loud music or frat boys.
2) Go to the movies: I love movies. A lot. Few things make me feel as inspired and refreshed and thoughtful as a good movie seen on the big screen. I have no qualms about leaving Alias Father with the baby once a week to go to the movies alone. That’s how much I love movies.
3) Read more: Currently it takes me around 3 months to read a book because I manage only about 15 minutes at a time before bed. This is out of character and is making me feel like an uneducated slacker. My “To Read” list is like 300 books long.
Okay, folks. Weigh in. I need opinions. I EVEN NEED OPINIONS FROM ALL YOU LURKERS THAT I KNOW ARE OUT THERE BECAUSE I CHECK MY STATS, PEOPLE. STOP LURKING AND VOTE! AND I MEAN THAT IN THE NICEST YELLING WAY POSSIBLE!
(Perhaps I should skip all of these in favor of an etiquette class where they teach you not to raise your voice at the nice people who read your blog. Ahem.)
*It tells you something about me that I even have this category, doesn’t it? And that it’s my first one?
6:00 AM
I hear singing from the nursery.
Me: Go back to sleep, baby.
Her: La la la la! I’m awake!
Me: No, no. Too early. Momma needs another half hour.
Her: LA LA LA LA! I’m hungry!
Me: Oh, baby. You always give me until 6:30. Please, just until 6:30.
Her: I’M HUNGRY!!!!!
Me: I’m up!
6:45 AM
Her: *burp* Hey, I’m kind of sleepy. I think I woke up too early.
Me: Oh, no you don’t you little…
Her: *snore*
7:00 AM
Me: Well, at least I have plenty of time to get ready for work. Okay, let’s see. I can wear the pants that are too big or the pants that are too small. Too big or too small? Too big or too small?
7:45 AM
Me: Too big or too small? Too big or too small? Holy crap, look at the time! Too big! Too big!
8:10 AM
Her: I feel so rested after my lovely nap. Let’s play.
Me: No time for playing. We’re going to be late if I’m not on the road in 5 minutes. Gimme that arm. Okay, last few snaps, and we’re off! Let’s go!
Her: *pooooooooop*
Me: ….
Her: *smile*
8:35 AM
Me: Here she is!
Nice Day Care Woman: Hi, sweet baby! Oh, it’s my favorite girl.
Me: Yeah, I’m in kind of a hurry so…
Nice Day Care Woman: I miss her when she isn’t here. She’s just the snuggliest thing.
Me: Yes, she’s very snuggly. I’ve got to…
Nice Day Care Woman: I mean, I love them all. But I just adore these snuggly ones the most.
Me: (keeping one eye on the clock while trying to make polite, good parent conversation) I love how snuggly she is, too. Yes, very snuggly. Okay, I’ll see you…
Nice Day Care Woman: Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you about something…
Me: (mentally designs some kind of drive-through, drop-off drawer for the day care) *sigh* Okay, go ahead.
9:15
Receptionist: Where have you been? And did you know that your pants are falling down?
Me: Bite me.
*I was going to do a full “Day in the Life” but the rest of my day hasn’t been too amusing. What with the work and all.
Oh, people. It is so sunny out there today. If you haven’t ever lived in a cold place, I’m not sure you can fully appreciate the feeling of unbridled joy that comes over everyone once the sun comes out and it’s clearly spring. I am just so pleased that it is warmer. Next thing you know it will be warmish and I will be downright giddy. And then we’ll hit plain ol’ warm and I’ll be over the moon. If we ever get around to hot I may need to divorce my husband and marry the weather guy.
Anyway, my lunchtime walk–which I can start doing again because it is warmer, did I mention that enough?–put me in such a good mood that I wanted to just go all Sound of Music on you and put together a list of things that make me happy. These are my favorite things:
Sunshine (duh)
Sleep (double duh)
That feeling of completion at the end of a really productive day
The way the Buddha Baby scrunches her whole face up when she laughs
Wildflowers
Pine forests
That moment during a long walk when my legs limber up and I feel like my strides are 15 feet long
Snuggling with my dog
Snuggling with my daughter
Snuggling with my husband
Snuggling with my cat when she’s not purring in my face at 3AM
Eating ice cream
Eating chocolate
Eating a really ripe plum
Oh, hell, just eating
Seeing old friends, the kind that you see only every few years, but it feels like only a day has passed
Spending a day at any body of water of any size (ocean, lake, pond, pool, puddle)
Movies that take me completely out of myself for a few hours
Books that keep me up way too late because I need to read just one more chapter
Happy hour
Writing something that I know is really, really good. And then having someone else agree with me
The first sip of coffee every morning
The last kiss from my husband every night
