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First, I want to say that, although I didn't go back and reply to all the comments on my step-mom, I really appreciate everyone's sentiments and well wishes and thoughts and prayers on the matter! It really touched me that people thanked me for the update, showing that our family are not the only ones thinking about it. So thank you guys so much for caring! The procedure is really fascinating and medical science just amazes me. They don't understand what the stem cells are doing or how they do it, but they just know it works at this point and that's sort of amazing in itself.
( Now, the other things. )
( Now, the other things. )
The day after my last post about the asshaberdashery of the insurance company we were dealing with, we had everything resolved and Chris and I took a trip out to Gallatin Friday afternoon to get the truck he wanted.
After enjoying the benefits of having a truck all weekend, it's a little easier to ignore the fact that we now have three years of debt because of it (unless we pay it off early, which we probably will).
Jonah had his second soccer game on Saturday morning at the ungodly hour of 8:30am. Sure, that doesn't sound like it's that bad, except that it takes an awful long time to get shin guards and tight knee socks on wobbly little legs that don't know the meaning of the word "still". Jonah's natural rising time is at about 8am, exactly when we should be leaving the house to get to the field in time. But we made it in plenty of time, despite waking a bit late and he was even fed and over his "you woke me up" grumpiness by the time we got there. The promise of a donut after the game probably helped.
The only issue was that we did not account for the blustery wind that was blowing at that hour. At least we weren't the only parents that were ill equipped. Chris and I would kick the ball around with Jonah on the side lines when he wasn't in the game to help keep him (and us) warm. But as we were leaving, I noticed the ball was starting to roll down the slope toward the ditch. Wanting to keep it out of the mud, I ran up to kick it up the slope. But when I planted my left foot next to the ball, my ankle rolled downhill and I went down momentarily. I could tell immediately this was not a "walk it off" injury. I've rolled my ankles before, but I've never had anything I'd call a sprain. This is awful!
( Behind a cut because the bruising and swelling is rather gross. )
I've been trying my best to take it easy and follow the RICE rules (Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation), but I'm not so good at the R part and I've probably not used enough I or E because I'm not doing R. But I do keep it wrapped snuggly in an ace bandage all day and I sleep with it elevated. This morning, after prolonged icing last night and taking it easy yesterday, I've noticed that the swelling looks to have gone down by about half. But now, I'm noticing new bruises on the right side of the ankle as well as a slight discoloration throughout all of the swelled parts. Waking in the morning is the worst time. It gets settled in a relaxed position and I have to bend it back closer to a working angle to wrap it. Once it's wrapped, I'm usually okay for the rest of the day, but that transition between positions is excruciating! The rest of my body is starting to feel the strain of compensating for the ankle as well. I've got to take it easier until I'm healed.
One good thing, since I have to take frequent breaks, it actually looks like I'm going to get my reading done for the book discussion on Friday. We're starting Return of the King. Wow, we've been doing this for a really long time. Fellow smialites, is this year 2 or 3 since we started discussing LOTR?
Despite my crippledness, I still managed to help Chris put up the garden shed we had bought and could finally bring home because YAY TRUCK! I didn't do much but hold panels up so he could hammer them together, but it was something. Then I stocked it with all the tools and supplies that have been rusting out in the elements for years as well as a full shelf worth of stuff out of the garage. I want to outfit it with a loft for storing seedling flats and some pegboard and hooks for tools, but for now, everything is out of the way and accessible and tidy.
I also got the last of the clean up done in the gardens on Sunday. After cleaning out the entire garage the weekend before, my missing shears never turned up. So we bought some new ones and we got all the ornamental grasses clipped back just in time for the new growth to start popping up. The guy came to mow the grass yesterday for the first time, so the yard is starting to wake up out of winter funk.
Apart from that, I have a list of things I've vowed to finish before I start any new projects. I'm slowly crossing things off of it, but I've got some tremendous guilt about some of the things I've procrastinated. Nothing to do but just get them done though. The longer I take to finish them, the worse it gets. I've always said my mantra should be better late than never, but damn it, that's not good enough. I feel like I'm screaming "THIS IS WHY I'LL NEVER BE AN ADULT!" at myself. *sigh*
After enjoying the benefits of having a truck all weekend, it's a little easier to ignore the fact that we now have three years of debt because of it (unless we pay it off early, which we probably will).
Jonah had his second soccer game on Saturday morning at the ungodly hour of 8:30am. Sure, that doesn't sound like it's that bad, except that it takes an awful long time to get shin guards and tight knee socks on wobbly little legs that don't know the meaning of the word "still". Jonah's natural rising time is at about 8am, exactly when we should be leaving the house to get to the field in time. But we made it in plenty of time, despite waking a bit late and he was even fed and over his "you woke me up" grumpiness by the time we got there. The promise of a donut after the game probably helped.
The only issue was that we did not account for the blustery wind that was blowing at that hour. At least we weren't the only parents that were ill equipped. Chris and I would kick the ball around with Jonah on the side lines when he wasn't in the game to help keep him (and us) warm. But as we were leaving, I noticed the ball was starting to roll down the slope toward the ditch. Wanting to keep it out of the mud, I ran up to kick it up the slope. But when I planted my left foot next to the ball, my ankle rolled downhill and I went down momentarily. I could tell immediately this was not a "walk it off" injury. I've rolled my ankles before, but I've never had anything I'd call a sprain. This is awful!
( Behind a cut because the bruising and swelling is rather gross. )
I've been trying my best to take it easy and follow the RICE rules (Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation), but I'm not so good at the R part and I've probably not used enough I or E because I'm not doing R. But I do keep it wrapped snuggly in an ace bandage all day and I sleep with it elevated. This morning, after prolonged icing last night and taking it easy yesterday, I've noticed that the swelling looks to have gone down by about half. But now, I'm noticing new bruises on the right side of the ankle as well as a slight discoloration throughout all of the swelled parts. Waking in the morning is the worst time. It gets settled in a relaxed position and I have to bend it back closer to a working angle to wrap it. Once it's wrapped, I'm usually okay for the rest of the day, but that transition between positions is excruciating! The rest of my body is starting to feel the strain of compensating for the ankle as well. I've got to take it easier until I'm healed.
One good thing, since I have to take frequent breaks, it actually looks like I'm going to get my reading done for the book discussion on Friday. We're starting Return of the King. Wow, we've been doing this for a really long time. Fellow smialites, is this year 2 or 3 since we started discussing LOTR?
Despite my crippledness, I still managed to help Chris put up the garden shed we had bought and could finally bring home because YAY TRUCK! I didn't do much but hold panels up so he could hammer them together, but it was something. Then I stocked it with all the tools and supplies that have been rusting out in the elements for years as well as a full shelf worth of stuff out of the garage. I want to outfit it with a loft for storing seedling flats and some pegboard and hooks for tools, but for now, everything is out of the way and accessible and tidy.
I also got the last of the clean up done in the gardens on Sunday. After cleaning out the entire garage the weekend before, my missing shears never turned up. So we bought some new ones and we got all the ornamental grasses clipped back just in time for the new growth to start popping up. The guy came to mow the grass yesterday for the first time, so the yard is starting to wake up out of winter funk.
Apart from that, I have a list of things I've vowed to finish before I start any new projects. I'm slowly crossing things off of it, but I've got some tremendous guilt about some of the things I've procrastinated. Nothing to do but just get them done though. The longer I take to finish them, the worse it gets. I've always said my mantra should be better late than never, but damn it, that's not good enough. I feel like I'm screaming "THIS IS WHY I'LL NEVER BE AN ADULT!" at myself. *sigh*
Actually, I was barefoot, but that's neither here nor there.
I had to keep Jonah home yesterday because he had thrown up at school on Tuesday. I don't know what made him throw up (though I have some theories). He never ran a fever and after making him take it slow with ginger ale and water crackers after I picked him up Tuesday, he was ready for real food again by 4pm that day. Yesterday he was totally back to normal, running around the house and playing just like always. After lunch, he wanted to go outside and even coaxed me out to play with him.
Of course once I got outside, we didn't play but instead we started cleaning up the gardens. By the end of the day, we had cleaned out all of last season's dead growth in three gardens. Jonah had fun pulling up the pepper plants and knocking the dirt off the roots. He kept saying, "I'm doing a really good job. I'm a good helper." Untangling the dead tomato plants from the Tormato supports we had built last year was a little tricky and slowed us down a bit. But we eventually got it all done. Also, tomatillo husks look really neat after a winter in the elements. All that's left of them are the veins and so they look like little lacy paper lanterns. I kept one to put on the shelf of little natural knick-knacks we have in the den.
Speaking of the Tormato supports, they are by far the best method of supporting tomato plants we have used to date and I plan to build another four of them this year! They're kind of pricey to build and look a little funny in the garden (we get a lot of questions about them, since you can see them peaking over the fence) but they freakin' work beautifully and I think they'll hold up for quite a while. I can't find it in any of the gardening email I get now and I'm not going to sift through the stack of catalogs I have to find it, but I noticed one of the companies I regularly order with is selling something very similar to the Tormatoes this year. It's a collapsible version (basically just the coiled pex tubing) that attaches to a stake somehow. I don't remember exactly, but I remember thinking, "Ha! They ripped off the Tormato!"
Anyway, I feel really accomplished and plan to make the most of today out there as well before the rain comes tomorrow. Seems like it's supposed to be a nice weekend too, but I sort of hope to have all my yard work done by then so I can enjoy the cleaned up yard for the weekend. Sounds like Chris might have some projects in mind to try to get done as well. And I suppose if we're going to move the vegetable beds this year, we should probably get those dug and built and prepped. Then there's the deck we should do sooner rather than later because our back steps are falling apart and the sooner we get it done, the more we can enjoy it before it's unbearably hot.
Lots to do and this year I actually care enough to do it. Last year was a total gardening fail year for me because I just didn't care at all and only did the bare minimum. But this year I think I'll put a tad more effort into it, at least in the spring. It's my hope to get it to a point where I don't have to do much after about May except harvest veggies and the occasional weeding and wrangling of raspberries and mint as they get out of control.
Off to get dirty!
I had to keep Jonah home yesterday because he had thrown up at school on Tuesday. I don't know what made him throw up (though I have some theories). He never ran a fever and after making him take it slow with ginger ale and water crackers after I picked him up Tuesday, he was ready for real food again by 4pm that day. Yesterday he was totally back to normal, running around the house and playing just like always. After lunch, he wanted to go outside and even coaxed me out to play with him.
Of course once I got outside, we didn't play but instead we started cleaning up the gardens. By the end of the day, we had cleaned out all of last season's dead growth in three gardens. Jonah had fun pulling up the pepper plants and knocking the dirt off the roots. He kept saying, "I'm doing a really good job. I'm a good helper." Untangling the dead tomato plants from the Tormato supports we had built last year was a little tricky and slowed us down a bit. But we eventually got it all done. Also, tomatillo husks look really neat after a winter in the elements. All that's left of them are the veins and so they look like little lacy paper lanterns. I kept one to put on the shelf of little natural knick-knacks we have in the den.
Speaking of the Tormato supports, they are by far the best method of supporting tomato plants we have used to date and I plan to build another four of them this year! They're kind of pricey to build and look a little funny in the garden (we get a lot of questions about them, since you can see them peaking over the fence) but they freakin' work beautifully and I think they'll hold up for quite a while. I can't find it in any of the gardening email I get now and I'm not going to sift through the stack of catalogs I have to find it, but I noticed one of the companies I regularly order with is selling something very similar to the Tormatoes this year. It's a collapsible version (basically just the coiled pex tubing) that attaches to a stake somehow. I don't remember exactly, but I remember thinking, "Ha! They ripped off the Tormato!"
Anyway, I feel really accomplished and plan to make the most of today out there as well before the rain comes tomorrow. Seems like it's supposed to be a nice weekend too, but I sort of hope to have all my yard work done by then so I can enjoy the cleaned up yard for the weekend. Sounds like Chris might have some projects in mind to try to get done as well. And I suppose if we're going to move the vegetable beds this year, we should probably get those dug and built and prepped. Then there's the deck we should do sooner rather than later because our back steps are falling apart and the sooner we get it done, the more we can enjoy it before it's unbearably hot.
Lots to do and this year I actually care enough to do it. Last year was a total gardening fail year for me because I just didn't care at all and only did the bare minimum. But this year I think I'll put a tad more effort into it, at least in the spring. It's my hope to get it to a point where I don't have to do much after about May except harvest veggies and the occasional weeding and wrangling of raspberries and mint as they get out of control.
Off to get dirty!
The Unbearable Brightness of Jonah.
Feb. 9th, 2011 12:53 pmMonday I had a parent/teacher conference (annual thing). Tuesday, I met with an Educational Consultant from Vanderbilt who had come to evaluate all the kids in the classrooms at his school.
( The Good )
( The Not-So-Good-But-Not-Necessarily-Bad )
So, those are my current parenting joys and challenges. And speaking of the kiddo, it's time to pick him up from school... early... because OMGMOARSNOW! *grumble*
( The Good )
( The Not-So-Good-But-Not-Necessarily-Bad )
So, those are my current parenting joys and challenges. And speaking of the kiddo, it's time to pick him up from school... early... because OMGMOARSNOW! *grumble*
DECLUTTER ALL THE THINGS!!!!
Dec. 23rd, 2010 09:48 amI'm finally chipping away at the stuff I wanted to get done over the weekend. Jonah and I got through his toy box downstairs and quite a bit of his room yesterday. Jonah was somewhat resistant and was onto me as soon as I pulled out two boxes and started throwing stuff in them. He walks up and says, "are those toys to take to Goodwill?" Then starts saying, "no! I want to keep that one." He protested even after I presented the prospect of having new toys by the end of the weekend to replace them or if I said something was broken (and broken might mean has dead batteries). I never should have let him watch Toy Story. Eventually he got sidetracked enough with playing fireman that he left the fate of his toys in my hands.
I still need to go through his closet and all of the non-clothing drawers. We're about to get him a new bed and the changing table where we stored toys isn't going to be there anymore. I'm trying to prepare for not only the new toys he's about to get, but also the rearranging of his room once we get the bed.
I'd love to set up stations in his room like they do at school (i.e. all his Lego in one spot, all his Hot Wheels in one spot, all his dress up/pretend stuff in one spot, etc.). The idea is you play with and store the stuff in one area so theoretically things don't get strewn everywhere. Theoretically. He seemed interested yesterday in wanting a place to hang up his fireman hat and jacket "just like a real fire station" and I know he helps put things away at school. So as long as I have labels and he knows where things go, he might participate in cleaning up with a little prodding.
Anyway, It felt good to get a huge chunk of that done, even if I didn't get some of the other cleaning and errands done I wanted to yesterday. Now I want to do it to the rest of the house! This might just be the beginning of me getting pulled out of my funk. Organizing usually helps. I love to organize! I'm a freak like that. I've designated a journal sized spiral notebook to decluttering/organizing. Jonah and I sat down and made a list of containers and storage he would require for his various categories of toys. His Hot Wheels and Lego have outgrown their containers and his Star Wars figures appear to require their own small box now as well.
Of the happy, apart from feeling really accomplished in Jonah's part of the house:
Jonah and I made dark chocolate peppermint bark yesterday morning. That was a lot of fun and very tasty! Jonah loved smashing the candy canes the best, I think.
I found Giraffie! Jonah's cuddle toy that he sleeps with every night has been missing for a couple of weeks, but I discovered him stuffed under a chair cushion in the living room. He's handled it pretty well, except for one day on the way to school he had a little bit of a breakdown. There weren't big tears, but I could tell he wasn't just whining and was really missing his little friend. I diverted him with the notion that he was only going for a half day and wouldn't have rest time and therefore wouldn't have been taking Giraffie to school anyway. If you could have seen the way this little boy was literally bouncing around when I pulled that little blanket/stuffed animal hybrid out of the chair. He was the very picture of giddiness. I think he hugged him as tightly as he possibly could. It was very sweet.
I installed Swype on my phone and it is FREAKIN' AWESOME! If you have an Android phone and don't already have it, I highly, HIGHLY recommend installing the beta that's available right now! I'm sure it will be even better as I get more comfortable with the keyboard layout (it's slightly different than the one I was used to, in terms of where numbers and punctuation keys are).
In the past two nights, we've seen Robot Chicken Star Wars III and It's A Trap! (Family Guy Return of the Jedi). Both are fantastic! But I think Robot Chicken was a better effort, no matter how much Seth MacFarlane likes to dog on Seth Green in his episodes (which is a funny gag, don't get me wrong, and even better was when all the other voice actors turned it around on him). I could have done without about 2 minutes worth of the nodding scene. I totally realize that going beyond the time limit of the joke was part of the gag. I just find those sort of annoying and lazy, like the 5 minutes of Conway Twitty in the middle of a 20 minute episode or Peter skinning his knee. Thankfully, after sitting through 5 minutes of nodding, the Darth Twitty gag was blessedly short.
And of ultimate happy, I read the new Hyperbole and a Half.
I still need to go through his closet and all of the non-clothing drawers. We're about to get him a new bed and the changing table where we stored toys isn't going to be there anymore. I'm trying to prepare for not only the new toys he's about to get, but also the rearranging of his room once we get the bed.
I'd love to set up stations in his room like they do at school (i.e. all his Lego in one spot, all his Hot Wheels in one spot, all his dress up/pretend stuff in one spot, etc.). The idea is you play with and store the stuff in one area so theoretically things don't get strewn everywhere. Theoretically. He seemed interested yesterday in wanting a place to hang up his fireman hat and jacket "just like a real fire station" and I know he helps put things away at school. So as long as I have labels and he knows where things go, he might participate in cleaning up with a little prodding.
Anyway, It felt good to get a huge chunk of that done, even if I didn't get some of the other cleaning and errands done I wanted to yesterday. Now I want to do it to the rest of the house! This might just be the beginning of me getting pulled out of my funk. Organizing usually helps. I love to organize! I'm a freak like that. I've designated a journal sized spiral notebook to decluttering/organizing. Jonah and I sat down and made a list of containers and storage he would require for his various categories of toys. His Hot Wheels and Lego have outgrown their containers and his Star Wars figures appear to require their own small box now as well.
Of the happy, apart from feeling really accomplished in Jonah's part of the house:
Jonah and I made dark chocolate peppermint bark yesterday morning. That was a lot of fun and very tasty! Jonah loved smashing the candy canes the best, I think.
I found Giraffie! Jonah's cuddle toy that he sleeps with every night has been missing for a couple of weeks, but I discovered him stuffed under a chair cushion in the living room. He's handled it pretty well, except for one day on the way to school he had a little bit of a breakdown. There weren't big tears, but I could tell he wasn't just whining and was really missing his little friend. I diverted him with the notion that he was only going for a half day and wouldn't have rest time and therefore wouldn't have been taking Giraffie to school anyway. If you could have seen the way this little boy was literally bouncing around when I pulled that little blanket/stuffed animal hybrid out of the chair. He was the very picture of giddiness. I think he hugged him as tightly as he possibly could. It was very sweet.
I installed Swype on my phone and it is FREAKIN' AWESOME! If you have an Android phone and don't already have it, I highly, HIGHLY recommend installing the beta that's available right now! I'm sure it will be even better as I get more comfortable with the keyboard layout (it's slightly different than the one I was used to, in terms of where numbers and punctuation keys are).
In the past two nights, we've seen Robot Chicken Star Wars III and It's A Trap! (Family Guy Return of the Jedi). Both are fantastic! But I think Robot Chicken was a better effort, no matter how much Seth MacFarlane likes to dog on Seth Green in his episodes (which is a funny gag, don't get me wrong, and even better was when all the other voice actors turned it around on him). I could have done without about 2 minutes worth of the nodding scene. I totally realize that going beyond the time limit of the joke was part of the gag. I just find those sort of annoying and lazy, like the 5 minutes of Conway Twitty in the middle of a 20 minute episode or Peter skinning his knee. Thankfully, after sitting through 5 minutes of nodding, the Darth Twitty gag was blessedly short.
And of ultimate happy, I read the new Hyperbole and a Half.
8 Days of Happy meme - day 8
Dec. 22nd, 2010 02:09 pmWith the way that yesterday started off, I would have said, "fuck this happiness bullshit!" But the day steadily improved with every passing hour beyond breakfast.
I'm happy that I got most of my grocery shopping done for this week and for Christmas.
I'm happy that every time I came out of another building, it seemed warmer and warmer all day long. If it's the rainy days that bring me 50+ degrees, I might just start enjoying the rain. I'm just going to ignore that forecast for 1-4 inches of snow on Christmas for now.
I'm happy that it was Yule and therefore the days will start getting longer from here on out!
I'm happy that despite our own cloudy skies, I got to see some spectacular pictures of the lunar eclipse from other parts of the world.
I'm happy that it seems the more active I am, the better my back feels. After hauling groceries and spending a lot of time on my feet yesterday, I felt much better. Of course after 8 hours in bed, I was stiff and sore again this morning, but I know the secret now to making that and soreness go away. Stay active! Shouldn't be hard. I've got to-do lists a mile long.
I've had a lot of fun with winter traditions with Jonah this year as well. He doesn't really remember hot cocoa from last year, but he sure does this year! Occasionally, he'll come up to me and say, "burr, I'm cold mommy" pretending to rub his arms with his hands to warm himself he looks at me with a sheepish grin and says, "maybe I could get a drink to warm me up." Which is his manipulative little way of asking for some hot cocoa. I make it in the microwave, but I do the whole unsweetened cocoa powder, sugar, vanilla, pinch of salt thing.
But as a change yesterday and because I love the way the house smells when I make it, made some mulledcider apple juice. I threw some of the really good fresh pressed apple juice we get at Costco into a saucepan on the stove with a tea ball full of dried whole spices (ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice and cardamom). I let that steep on low for a long, long time. Turned it off and we went to run our errands. When we got back and Jonah wanted his hot drink, I warmed it up again and we imbibed. He called it cinnamon juice. I then refilled the pan with just tap water and let it simmer all evening just to make the house smell good. Chris said it smelled like Indian food. I have no idea why. I didn't let Jonah put the fennel seed in that he wanted to add to the tea ball. ;)
Speaking of that, I had fun going through taking spice inventory with Jonah and teaching him about the different spices and what they're good for and letting him smell them and such. We'll make a chef out of him yet!
We've also gotten some really great Christmas cards this year and I feel bad about not getting mine out. Mine are more wintery than Christmas, so I suppose I could still do it. I got the sweetest one from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
witchcat07 and arymetore yesterday. Thanks guys! The day before I got one from yocepha with confetti in it. All very sweet. I love getting mail. I should really remember that and send more out.
I'm happy that I got most of my grocery shopping done for this week and for Christmas.
I'm happy that every time I came out of another building, it seemed warmer and warmer all day long. If it's the rainy days that bring me 50+ degrees, I might just start enjoying the rain. I'm just going to ignore that forecast for 1-4 inches of snow on Christmas for now.
I'm happy that it was Yule and therefore the days will start getting longer from here on out!
I'm happy that despite our own cloudy skies, I got to see some spectacular pictures of the lunar eclipse from other parts of the world.
I'm happy that it seems the more active I am, the better my back feels. After hauling groceries and spending a lot of time on my feet yesterday, I felt much better. Of course after 8 hours in bed, I was stiff and sore again this morning, but I know the secret now to making that and soreness go away. Stay active! Shouldn't be hard. I've got to-do lists a mile long.
I've had a lot of fun with winter traditions with Jonah this year as well. He doesn't really remember hot cocoa from last year, but he sure does this year! Occasionally, he'll come up to me and say, "burr, I'm cold mommy" pretending to rub his arms with his hands to warm himself he looks at me with a sheepish grin and says, "maybe I could get a drink to warm me up." Which is his manipulative little way of asking for some hot cocoa. I make it in the microwave, but I do the whole unsweetened cocoa powder, sugar, vanilla, pinch of salt thing.
But as a change yesterday and because I love the way the house smells when I make it, made some mulled
Speaking of that, I had fun going through taking spice inventory with Jonah and teaching him about the different spices and what they're good for and letting him smell them and such. We'll make a chef out of him yet!
We've also gotten some really great Christmas cards this year and I feel bad about not getting mine out. Mine are more wintery than Christmas, so I suppose I could still do it. I got the sweetest one from
witchcat07 and arymetore yesterday. Thanks guys! The day before I got one from yocepha with confetti in it. All very sweet. I love getting mail. I should really remember that and send more out.8 Days of Happy meme - day 3
Dec. 17th, 2010 08:38 amIt might be best that I waited until morning to write this. I could use some happy this morning. I sleept hardly at all last night and the sleep I did get was on a folded up futon because I got squeezed out of bed by Chris and the cat. So, I'm pretty much an animated corpse today. *grumpy yawn*
Yesterday I awoke to no white stuff outside. Drizzly rain, sure, but none of the forecasted ice and no more snow. YAY! Also, words can not express how happy I was to see not only above freezing temps, but actually low 50s!
I got to hang out in Jonah's class for about an hour. Was really fun to see a glimpse of what he does and how he interacts. A couple of kids got really comfortable with me right away. One little girl (who I think is the tallest kid in the class, seriously, she looks like a 6 year old!) and a little boy, EJ, who I've referenced here before. Blake, the little girl, kept asking me to "watch this" and would do some odd thing only a 4-year-old would think to do. EJ, in the midst of playing, would come running up to me and say, "hold this, don't let anyone get it" and put something in my hand, like a phone they were using as a walkie-talkie. As we were getting ready to leave, Blake came up to me and asked, "could we have a playdate sometime?" Knowing I've got all these Monkey's Treehouse passes to use and that the kids are about to be out for 3 weeks over the holidays, I waited around and mentioned it to her mom and we swapped numbers. We're going to shoot for the week between Christmas and New Year's.
I'm proud of myself on that one for two reasons. One, I have a lot of social anxiety and ordinarily would have just paid Blake lip service and told her to have her mom get in touch with me, knowing the likelihood of her following through would be slim. Two, I can pretty much tell right away I'm not going to have much in common with her mom. But Blake and Jonah seem to enjoy playing together and that's really what it's all about. It's sort of hard to get over that as a parent, though. You want to like your kid's friends' parents because you're going to be stuck hanging out with them while the kids play (at least at this age). But sometimes, you just have to recognize when kids really enjoy playing together and make the best of it.
Also, jerk chicken and black beans and rice for dinner. YUM!
Yesterday I awoke to no white stuff outside. Drizzly rain, sure, but none of the forecasted ice and no more snow. YAY! Also, words can not express how happy I was to see not only above freezing temps, but actually low 50s!
I got to hang out in Jonah's class for about an hour. Was really fun to see a glimpse of what he does and how he interacts. A couple of kids got really comfortable with me right away. One little girl (who I think is the tallest kid in the class, seriously, she looks like a 6 year old!) and a little boy, EJ, who I've referenced here before. Blake, the little girl, kept asking me to "watch this" and would do some odd thing only a 4-year-old would think to do. EJ, in the midst of playing, would come running up to me and say, "hold this, don't let anyone get it" and put something in my hand, like a phone they were using as a walkie-talkie. As we were getting ready to leave, Blake came up to me and asked, "could we have a playdate sometime?" Knowing I've got all these Monkey's Treehouse passes to use and that the kids are about to be out for 3 weeks over the holidays, I waited around and mentioned it to her mom and we swapped numbers. We're going to shoot for the week between Christmas and New Year's.
I'm proud of myself on that one for two reasons. One, I have a lot of social anxiety and ordinarily would have just paid Blake lip service and told her to have her mom get in touch with me, knowing the likelihood of her following through would be slim. Two, I can pretty much tell right away I'm not going to have much in common with her mom. But Blake and Jonah seem to enjoy playing together and that's really what it's all about. It's sort of hard to get over that as a parent, though. You want to like your kid's friends' parents because you're going to be stuck hanging out with them while the kids play (at least at this age). But sometimes, you just have to recognize when kids really enjoy playing together and make the best of it.
Also, jerk chicken and black beans and rice for dinner. YUM!
Momming is:
2 parts Martha Stewart
1 part Judge Judy
4 parts Bozo the Clown
6 parts zen master
I came up with that yesterday afternoon as I was attempting to wash dishes and clean the kitchen with two 3-year-olds running laps around the first floor of the house at top speed giggling and screaming as loud as their little lungs were able. Such it was for the last 15 minutes or so of a playdate/babysitting with the neighbor's daughter, who is about 3 months younger than Jonah. Since they've been out of school on break this week, Maitane (her mom) had the glorious idea to trade off a couple of mornings so the kids could play together and the two of us could have some time to get some things done.
Maya was awesome, as usual. But Jonah really had his spoiled brat hat on, which honestly, I've never seen him wear. I've never, ever seen him get possessive about toys and just be completely uncooperative about sharing and playing with other kids, especially Maya. But on more than one occasion, I had to take him downstairs and have a talk with him and he continued to be bratty for pretty much the rest of the day until he just wore himself out with it and lost some privileges. I had to stay absolutely hard-nosed when he finally decided to straighten up and kept asking to have said privileges reinstated. I stuck with it and made sure he knew I appreciated his conscious and positive change in behavior, but reminded him that I had told him earlier that he could not earn it back. I can not be a softy and go back on my word. That teaches him nothing, except manipulation. He threw a couple of fits because maybe he thought he could butter me up with good behavior and get back what he lost. But I was absolutely done bargaining for the day.
I have a few theories as to why he was acting up. For one, he's usually in school three days each week and I think being stuck with me all day, he's gotten sick of me. Also, he doesn't typically play with other kids one on one this much without having lots of kids or other activities to distract him and keep that impulsive nature moving. Also, also, he has been going through a kind of needy phase where he wants me to entertain him all day. This is not normal for him as he's usually very independent. Part of that phase may include more infant/young toddler type behaviors, like being possessive of his toys and such which he might not have shown before. From what I understand, right around this age, they're sort of confused on whether they're big kids or babies and might flip back and forth between acting like one or the other. He might be compensating for big kid responsibilities that we've recently added (like potty training, dressing himself, taking a shower by himself and being expected to pick his toys to earn an allowance) by dusting off some old infant/young toddler behaviors that we either thought were long gone or he hadn't displayed before. And finally, this might be the first of many manifestations of only child syndrome.
I don't know. I always want to try to figure out why he acts the way he does. Like if I can understand where the behavior is coming from, I might be able to find the antidote to it.
Anyway... all this on a Thursday. Thursdays are supposed to be my bitch. But once I finally sat down to dinner (at 8:15 *sigh*), I felt like the day had completely defeated me. Now today I'm in recovery, but really needing to get a whole list of things done, particularly because the time line for my major projects right now just got shortened by a week (I'll explain later... maybe, if there's time).
Despite the late timing on dinner, it was absolutely fantastic! I made what I might call a kitchen sink veggie lasagna. Had sauteed zucchini, mushrooms and eggplant as well as roasted red peppers, sundried tomatoes and marinated artichoke hearts and I added some goat cheese to the ricotta layer. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if I made my own sauce, but I was short on time (and it was still freakin' late). Totally worth the wait, though. I absolutely devoured it along with a salad and a pint of Chris' Scottish ale. On days like yesterday, I'm thankful for the many taps and the stocked humidor in the house.
2 parts Martha Stewart
1 part Judge Judy
4 parts Bozo the Clown
6 parts zen master
I came up with that yesterday afternoon as I was attempting to wash dishes and clean the kitchen with two 3-year-olds running laps around the first floor of the house at top speed giggling and screaming as loud as their little lungs were able. Such it was for the last 15 minutes or so of a playdate/babysitting with the neighbor's daughter, who is about 3 months younger than Jonah. Since they've been out of school on break this week, Maitane (her mom) had the glorious idea to trade off a couple of mornings so the kids could play together and the two of us could have some time to get some things done.
Maya was awesome, as usual. But Jonah really had his spoiled brat hat on, which honestly, I've never seen him wear. I've never, ever seen him get possessive about toys and just be completely uncooperative about sharing and playing with other kids, especially Maya. But on more than one occasion, I had to take him downstairs and have a talk with him and he continued to be bratty for pretty much the rest of the day until he just wore himself out with it and lost some privileges. I had to stay absolutely hard-nosed when he finally decided to straighten up and kept asking to have said privileges reinstated. I stuck with it and made sure he knew I appreciated his conscious and positive change in behavior, but reminded him that I had told him earlier that he could not earn it back. I can not be a softy and go back on my word. That teaches him nothing, except manipulation. He threw a couple of fits because maybe he thought he could butter me up with good behavior and get back what he lost. But I was absolutely done bargaining for the day.
I have a few theories as to why he was acting up. For one, he's usually in school three days each week and I think being stuck with me all day, he's gotten sick of me. Also, he doesn't typically play with other kids one on one this much without having lots of kids or other activities to distract him and keep that impulsive nature moving. Also, also, he has been going through a kind of needy phase where he wants me to entertain him all day. This is not normal for him as he's usually very independent. Part of that phase may include more infant/young toddler type behaviors, like being possessive of his toys and such which he might not have shown before. From what I understand, right around this age, they're sort of confused on whether they're big kids or babies and might flip back and forth between acting like one or the other. He might be compensating for big kid responsibilities that we've recently added (like potty training, dressing himself, taking a shower by himself and being expected to pick his toys to earn an allowance) by dusting off some old infant/young toddler behaviors that we either thought were long gone or he hadn't displayed before. And finally, this might be the first of many manifestations of only child syndrome.
I don't know. I always want to try to figure out why he acts the way he does. Like if I can understand where the behavior is coming from, I might be able to find the antidote to it.
Anyway... all this on a Thursday. Thursdays are supposed to be my bitch. But once I finally sat down to dinner (at 8:15 *sigh*), I felt like the day had completely defeated me. Now today I'm in recovery, but really needing to get a whole list of things done, particularly because the time line for my major projects right now just got shortened by a week (I'll explain later... maybe, if there's time).
Despite the late timing on dinner, it was absolutely fantastic! I made what I might call a kitchen sink veggie lasagna. Had sauteed zucchini, mushrooms and eggplant as well as roasted red peppers, sundried tomatoes and marinated artichoke hearts and I added some goat cheese to the ricotta layer. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if I made my own sauce, but I was short on time (and it was still freakin' late). Totally worth the wait, though. I absolutely devoured it along with a salad and a pint of Chris' Scottish ale. On days like yesterday, I'm thankful for the many taps and the stocked humidor in the house.
I've gotta keep my eye on this one.
Oct. 12th, 2010 11:20 amI swear I had already posted this! Anyway, in the interest of clearing out the backlog...
I was having a rough day with Jonahyesterday two Friday's ago. He was increasingly defiant and suddenly, after several weeks of cooperating with potty training, had decided that he was going to revert to being a baby and consciously avoid using the potty. I went over the myriad of other things that go along with being a "big boy" versus the limitations of being a baby.
Nope. He's cool with that. Well, some of it.
Seeing the downsides to his choice to go backwards in life as I was trying to get him to help clean up his room, he pondered for a minute.
"No, I wanna be a baby while you're cleaning up [my toys]. Then when you're done, I'll be a big boy again so I can play."
On the outside, I wanna yell, "GO TO TIME OUT!" (But I didn't, I just kept working different angles until I found something to which he'd agree.)
On the inside, I'm saying, "way to try to logic your way out of that one, son." Also, "damn it, this kid is going to keep me on my toes."
His teacher relayed a similar story on Wednesday. He wasn't wanting to get on his mat for nap time and she typically counts down from 5 when she needs them to do something and they're resistant. She said he just stood there and she had gotten to 3, then 2 and she asked him why he wasn't moving. He told her, "I'm waiting for you to get to 1". She said she laughed and remarked to me that the thought processes behind that are pretty advanced. At home we count to 3. Generally at 2, he'll start doing what you're asking him to do (the consequence of reaching 3 is usually time out), but he'll often yell 4 at me as he does.
He knows his boundaries and pushes them right to their limits. It's nerve wracking for his parents and care givers, but he knows exactly what he's doing. It's the same as him going right to the edge of the driveway without placing so much as a toe in the street. That's a physical boundary that he toes quite deliberately (and literally).
By the end of the day we had a small victory and his excitement for the rewards of potty training were renewed. It seems we're back on track for now, but it's only a matter of time before his impulsive nature kicks in and he decides he doesn't care about the rewards anymore. Like I said, always on my toes. I have to constantly come up with new ways to keep him interested.
I was having a rough day with Jonah
Nope. He's cool with that. Well, some of it.
Seeing the downsides to his choice to go backwards in life as I was trying to get him to help clean up his room, he pondered for a minute.
"No, I wanna be a baby while you're cleaning up [my toys]. Then when you're done, I'll be a big boy again so I can play."
On the outside, I wanna yell, "GO TO TIME OUT!" (But I didn't, I just kept working different angles until I found something to which he'd agree.)
On the inside, I'm saying, "way to try to logic your way out of that one, son." Also, "damn it, this kid is going to keep me on my toes."
His teacher relayed a similar story on Wednesday. He wasn't wanting to get on his mat for nap time and she typically counts down from 5 when she needs them to do something and they're resistant. She said he just stood there and she had gotten to 3, then 2 and she asked him why he wasn't moving. He told her, "I'm waiting for you to get to 1". She said she laughed and remarked to me that the thought processes behind that are pretty advanced. At home we count to 3. Generally at 2, he'll start doing what you're asking him to do (the consequence of reaching 3 is usually time out), but he'll often yell 4 at me as he does.
He knows his boundaries and pushes them right to their limits. It's nerve wracking for his parents and care givers, but he knows exactly what he's doing. It's the same as him going right to the edge of the driveway without placing so much as a toe in the street. That's a physical boundary that he toes quite deliberately (and literally).
By the end of the day we had a small victory and his excitement for the rewards of potty training were renewed. It seems we're back on track for now, but it's only a matter of time before his impulsive nature kicks in and he decides he doesn't care about the rewards anymore. Like I said, always on my toes. I have to constantly come up with new ways to keep him interested.
Quick random update.
Sep. 30th, 2010 09:09 pmA lengthy, photo heavy entry on our trip to Asheville is festering in the browser on my laptop, but there's other stuff going on... mostly gardening.
Today, we had to bid farewell to our largest tree. I noticed while I was out in the yard with Jonah on Monday that it was leaning considerably. We've been keeping an eye on it for a couple of seasons; watching it lose large branches & develop holes between the roots & the soil. A guy came out to look at it yesterday morning & suggested we get it cut out as soon as possible. The tree had three leads that met on about a 2 or 3 foot tall trunk. The lead that aimed directly at our neighbours' house had developed a crack all the way through the trunk to the ground. I'm honestly not sure what was still holding it up. Once we accepted his bid, he called up his climber to come out & help him tie it off to one of the other two leads, which were still sturdy & healthy, so it wouldn't fall on our neighbours' house overnight before they could get back out this morning. Now there's a huge hole in the yard & I don't just mean the one in the ground. The whole yard is changed it seems. We're going to go out this weekend & find the biggest maple we can get to replace it.
On the plus side, while they were out here, we had them cut out the burning bush which was way too big of a shrub to be where it was (I had to severely prune it twice each spring), as well as the two holly stumps that WILL NOT DIE! Both of those had been cut out before we bought the house. Both stumps kept sprouting up from the roots. One was in the front garden where I wrestled with its roots every spring & fall as I was planting. I'm very glad to have those all gone! I also just realized that was the last of the landscaping that was done before we got our hands on this place. All prior foundation plantings are now gone. I can now finish putting in the rest of the 8 flats of pansies I started planting last weekend, unobstructed by stupid holly roots.
Also, we just now have the first tomatillos on our plant. Lots of them! Hope they finish before frost.
Other than that:
I'm wrestling with fabric options for my bridesmaid dress (wants vs budget vs fabric snobbery) as I begin putting together my mockup.
Jonah's potty tra ining is still going well with slow but frequent improvement.
We've got one more "free" weekend before we pretty much have stuff every weekend until the end of the year.
We finally have another soccer game this weekend. We missed 2 weeks ago & last weekend was a bye. I'm sure Jonah has missed it.
Jonah's teacher asked me about my jewelry yesterday which sent me scrambling to renew expired listings after handing her a business card. I'm utterly embarrassed by how much I've neglected that stuff. I've got a ton of stuff that needs to be photographed & listed. A ton of stuff that I made almost a year ago & never listed. Yes, it's despicable. My last entry on my jewelry blog was freaking lamp pulls! Maybe I can squeak out an hour or two per week to devote to this. Agggh! Too much stuff, no time!
I'm just not even going to think about writing again until after the new year. Okay, one quick thing: it's important that my romance is just something to get readers emotionally invested in the characters & that it doesn't become the focus of the story. A romance is not a plot! I refuse to even open my document for fear of getting sucked in (or seeing how bad it is after some distance). After talking to some people about it at Dragon*Con, I realize just how many questions are still unanswered. I've only scratched the surface here. Huge project is ENORMOUS! I think my next big question to answer will be "why is there a war & how does that all fit in?" I've got to stop filing these away under "answer eventually" & start picking them off one by one until the blanks are filled.
I suppose I'll stop rambling & relax some tonight. The weather is absolutely gorgeous lately, if not a little chilly for my tastes at night. Having the windows open during the day has been nice, except for today when I was inundated by the smell of two stroke engines. Maybe I'll get the Asheville post fished up tomorrow.
Posted via LjBeetle
Today, we had to bid farewell to our largest tree. I noticed while I was out in the yard with Jonah on Monday that it was leaning considerably. We've been keeping an eye on it for a couple of seasons; watching it lose large branches & develop holes between the roots & the soil. A guy came out to look at it yesterday morning & suggested we get it cut out as soon as possible. The tree had three leads that met on about a 2 or 3 foot tall trunk. The lead that aimed directly at our neighbours' house had developed a crack all the way through the trunk to the ground. I'm honestly not sure what was still holding it up. Once we accepted his bid, he called up his climber to come out & help him tie it off to one of the other two leads, which were still sturdy & healthy, so it wouldn't fall on our neighbours' house overnight before they could get back out this morning. Now there's a huge hole in the yard & I don't just mean the one in the ground. The whole yard is changed it seems. We're going to go out this weekend & find the biggest maple we can get to replace it.
On the plus side, while they were out here, we had them cut out the burning bush which was way too big of a shrub to be where it was (I had to severely prune it twice each spring), as well as the two holly stumps that WILL NOT DIE! Both of those had been cut out before we bought the house. Both stumps kept sprouting up from the roots. One was in the front garden where I wrestled with its roots every spring & fall as I was planting. I'm very glad to have those all gone! I also just realized that was the last of the landscaping that was done before we got our hands on this place. All prior foundation plantings are now gone. I can now finish putting in the rest of the 8 flats of pansies I started planting last weekend, unobstructed by stupid holly roots.
Also, we just now have the first tomatillos on our plant. Lots of them! Hope they finish before frost.
Other than that:
I'm wrestling with fabric options for my bridesmaid dress (wants vs budget vs fabric snobbery) as I begin putting together my mockup.
Jonah's potty tra ining is still going well with slow but frequent improvement.
We've got one more "free" weekend before we pretty much have stuff every weekend until the end of the year.
We finally have another soccer game this weekend. We missed 2 weeks ago & last weekend was a bye. I'm sure Jonah has missed it.
Jonah's teacher asked me about my jewelry yesterday which sent me scrambling to renew expired listings after handing her a business card. I'm utterly embarrassed by how much I've neglected that stuff. I've got a ton of stuff that needs to be photographed & listed. A ton of stuff that I made almost a year ago & never listed. Yes, it's despicable. My last entry on my jewelry blog was freaking lamp pulls! Maybe I can squeak out an hour or two per week to devote to this. Agggh! Too much stuff, no time!
I'm just not even going to think about writing again until after the new year. Okay, one quick thing: it's important that my romance is just something to get readers emotionally invested in the characters & that it doesn't become the focus of the story. A romance is not a plot! I refuse to even open my document for fear of getting sucked in (or seeing how bad it is after some distance). After talking to some people about it at Dragon*Con, I realize just how many questions are still unanswered. I've only scratched the surface here. Huge project is ENORMOUS! I think my next big question to answer will be "why is there a war & how does that all fit in?" I've got to stop filing these away under "answer eventually" & start picking them off one by one until the blanks are filled.
I suppose I'll stop rambling & relax some tonight. The weather is absolutely gorgeous lately, if not a little chilly for my tastes at night. Having the windows open during the day has been nice, except for today when I was inundated by the smell of two stroke engines. Maybe I'll get the Asheville post fished up tomorrow.
Posted via LjBeetle
*Dies of the funny!*
Sep. 16th, 2010 03:38 pmThis is too long for a #ThingsJonahSays hashtag on Twitter, but too hilarious not to document!
( A school day with Jonah... I can only assume. )
( A school day with Jonah... I can only assume. )
A Jonah post.
Aug. 23rd, 2010 11:20 amThere's a lot going on right now, as evidenced by my lack of posting here, I think. I've been active over on my costuming journal, mostly in preparation for Dragon*Con. But other than that, I just can't seem to squeeze out enough time to write up a post. I start and then I don't ever get around to finishing it. So, maybe I'll compartmentalize and the most important stuff will get up here and the rest, well... who knows.
( Lots of stuff going on with Jonah right now, so I'll start there. )
( Lots of stuff going on with Jonah right now, so I'll start there. )
Writer's Block: Memories
Jun. 23rd, 2010 04:21 pm[Error: unknown template qotd]
Giving birth to Jonah. Seriously, that was the single most... well, it was kind of indescribable really. I was completely lucid: no drugs, no epidural, no nothing to alter the experience whatsoever. There was pain, sure, but nothing I couldn't handle and my body gave me a nice healthy dose of natural chemicals and hormones to deal with it. So much so, the aftermath was a complete state of euphoria unlike any I have ever felt. The nurse at my side afterward even said something about the blissful look on my face. I seriously felt between worlds in those few monumental minutes, when he and I ceased to be one entity and became two. No, I don't think I'll ever top it, until perhaps my death. That is, unless something drastic changes my mind about having another child. And even then, who's to say another childbirth experience will be quite the same?
Giving birth to Jonah. Seriously, that was the single most... well, it was kind of indescribable really. I was completely lucid: no drugs, no epidural, no nothing to alter the experience whatsoever. There was pain, sure, but nothing I couldn't handle and my body gave me a nice healthy dose of natural chemicals and hormones to deal with it. So much so, the aftermath was a complete state of euphoria unlike any I have ever felt. The nurse at my side afterward even said something about the blissful look on my face. I seriously felt between worlds in those few monumental minutes, when he and I ceased to be one entity and became two. No, I don't think I'll ever top it, until perhaps my death. That is, unless something drastic changes my mind about having another child. And even then, who's to say another childbirth experience will be quite the same?
Parent-teacher conference FTW!
Apr. 27th, 2010 11:55 amI was dreading this. Last year's was just kind of disheartening. But then again, last year's class was all around disheartening. He was in a class of all girls and accused of being overly rambunctious in that he'd snatch toys and run around without regard to whom he might knock over in his path. Yeah, uhm, HE WAS 2!
This year's class has been polar opposites on all counts. His teachers are laid back and have boys of their own. His class is all boys, so they're all kind of on the same level. And best of all, his teachers consider him to be in line with the rest of the kids as far as social development goes. I was so utterly relieved to hear that not only do they not have trouble understanding him but they consider him to have a fantastic vocabulary.
The only areas they said he'll need to work on over the summer to be ready for the next class is to stay the course with the potty training and transitioning from one activity to the next (he has a tendency to resist when he's not ready to switch to the next thing). They said showing him what he's about to do helps a lot. Like when they want him to go to the potty, they show him the Skittles he'll get as a reward for going and then he's willing to go. It's all in that realm of getting involved in play and not wanting to stop to do what he needs to do.
One area in which he's even a little ahead is that he can look through a book on his own and kind of knows the gist of the story from the pictures. Seriously, reading to your kids on a regular basis pays off! The most brutal punishment I've ever thrown down was taking away his bedtime story. You should have seen and heard the sobs and tears that night. He even tried to throw a guilt trip at me with "you making me sad!" between sobs and wiping away tears followed by "don't be angry, be happy." I made sure he knew I loved him, even if I was angry, but he went to bed without a story that night and it totally devastated him. He cried for like 20 minutes that night. We have not had a storyless night before or since, unless he was already passed out somewhere and I didn't want to wake him for one.
Anyway, I'm very happy with the report I just got. Giddy even. The week thus far had been pretty blah between the weather and the lull afterbranflake left yesterday afternoon. Now I'm ready to bound up the stairs and start working on a bolero mockup. *digs through emails for measurements*
This year's class has been polar opposites on all counts. His teachers are laid back and have boys of their own. His class is all boys, so they're all kind of on the same level. And best of all, his teachers consider him to be in line with the rest of the kids as far as social development goes. I was so utterly relieved to hear that not only do they not have trouble understanding him but they consider him to have a fantastic vocabulary.
The only areas they said he'll need to work on over the summer to be ready for the next class is to stay the course with the potty training and transitioning from one activity to the next (he has a tendency to resist when he's not ready to switch to the next thing). They said showing him what he's about to do helps a lot. Like when they want him to go to the potty, they show him the Skittles he'll get as a reward for going and then he's willing to go. It's all in that realm of getting involved in play and not wanting to stop to do what he needs to do.
One area in which he's even a little ahead is that he can look through a book on his own and kind of knows the gist of the story from the pictures. Seriously, reading to your kids on a regular basis pays off! The most brutal punishment I've ever thrown down was taking away his bedtime story. You should have seen and heard the sobs and tears that night. He even tried to throw a guilt trip at me with "you making me sad!" between sobs and wiping away tears followed by "don't be angry, be happy." I made sure he knew I loved him, even if I was angry, but he went to bed without a story that night and it totally devastated him. He cried for like 20 minutes that night. We have not had a storyless night before or since, unless he was already passed out somewhere and I didn't want to wake him for one.
Anyway, I'm very happy with the report I just got. Giddy even. The week thus far had been pretty blah between the weather and the lull after
branflake left yesterday afternoon. Now I'm ready to bound up the stairs and start working on a bolero mockup. *digs through emails for measurements*
Good news, everyone!
Apr. 6th, 2010 09:50 pmJonah peed in the potty tonight! Three times! And he kept a pair of underwear dry from the time Chris got done with his first potty time shortly after he got home from work to the time he went to bed tonight. HOORAY!
I've got a long, (though shorthanded) entry in the works to recap my very busy week last week. The week that I thought was going to beat me into submission at around Wednesday, but I owned it. I freakin' OWNED IT!
Anyway, today, as Nikki of Moms who drink and swear or more specifically, Nikki's Blithering Blog* would say, Thursday is my bitch!
*I can not thankcleopatramwi enough for sharing those nuggets of unorthodox joy
Wednesday dragged me down into a pit and attempted to drown me, much like last Wednesday, actually, but more emotional. But Thursday? No, Thursday is MY BITCH!
( Let me show you it. )
Anyway, today, as Nikki of Moms who drink and swear or more specifically, Nikki's Blithering Blog* would say, Thursday is my bitch!
*I can not thank
cleopatramwi enough for sharing those nuggets of unorthodox joyWednesday dragged me down into a pit and attempted to drown me, much like last Wednesday, actually, but more emotional. But Thursday? No, Thursday is MY BITCH!
( Let me show you it. )
As snagged from saraphina_marie's journal:
It sounds dirty and that makes me giggle. Kind of like a Shakespearean version of adding "in bed" to a cookie fortune.
I had this whole "woe is me, our kitty was lost on the Ides of March" post written. But the ol' el-jay magic seems to work even if you don't click "post". I left the entry in progress up to run to the grocery for the things I had forgotten earlier. While I was gone, Chris called to tell me Mogwai had returned. I had just put a sign up at the front of the neighborhood less than an hour prior. He had been missing since I let him out yesterday morning. We were quite worried, since he's usually within earshot. I was concerned, now that we've finished the fence and filled in Sunflower's hole, that he couldn't get back into the yard anymore. I think I'll keep him inside for a while.
In other news, Jonah and I had a fun "not school" day today. He's on spring break, and on the days he'd normally go to school, I'm trying to do fun stuff with him. We met Chris at Gabby's Burgers and Fries (mmm, sweet potato fries) for lunch and then we went just around the corner to the Adventure Science Center. The last time we went, Jonah was probably less than 2 and coming down with a bug, so he didn't get much out of it. He had a lot more fun this time! We might consider a membership there later on. Seems like a great place to spend a few hours on days when the weather is not zoo compatible. After that, we went by Sonic to get a milkshake to split (should have remembered that Bobbie's Dairy Dip is open again). Fun day. Nice distraction from worrying about the cat. We're making pizza for dinner and Jonah will probably get the last bowl of ice cream (since he missed out last night).
I'll probably have more insomnia tonight. It's not missing cat induced, I'm sure, but I've barely slept for the past three nights even though I'm exhausted. Kind of sick of this cycle, actually. I'd like to get reliable sleep. I don't have an infant anymore. I should be able to sleep, damn it! Going to bed earlier only seems to exacerbate the problem. So, I might try staying up late tonight... and writing. If I'm going to be awake, I might as well be productive, right. Plus, I'm pretty sure part of what kept me awake last night was plot bunnies anyway. I put in over 1500 words yesterday, despite my best efforts to get distracted. Just couldn't' focus on anything yesterday for some reason.
saraphina_marie's journal:
It sounds dirty and that makes me giggle. Kind of like a Shakespearean version of adding "in bed" to a cookie fortune.
I had this whole "woe is me, our kitty was lost on the Ides of March" post written. But the ol' el-jay magic seems to work even if you don't click "post". I left the entry in progress up to run to the grocery for the things I had forgotten earlier. While I was gone, Chris called to tell me Mogwai had returned. I had just put a sign up at the front of the neighborhood less than an hour prior. He had been missing since I let him out yesterday morning. We were quite worried, since he's usually within earshot. I was concerned, now that we've finished the fence and filled in Sunflower's hole, that he couldn't get back into the yard anymore. I think I'll keep him inside for a while.
In other news, Jonah and I had a fun "not school" day today. He's on spring break, and on the days he'd normally go to school, I'm trying to do fun stuff with him. We met Chris at Gabby's Burgers and Fries (mmm, sweet potato fries) for lunch and then we went just around the corner to the Adventure Science Center. The last time we went, Jonah was probably less than 2 and coming down with a bug, so he didn't get much out of it. He had a lot more fun this time! We might consider a membership there later on. Seems like a great place to spend a few hours on days when the weather is not zoo compatible. After that, we went by Sonic to get a milkshake to split (should have remembered that Bobbie's Dairy Dip is open again). Fun day. Nice distraction from worrying about the cat. We're making pizza for dinner and Jonah will probably get the last bowl of ice cream (since he missed out last night).
I'll probably have more insomnia tonight. It's not missing cat induced, I'm sure, but I've barely slept for the past three nights even though I'm exhausted. Kind of sick of this cycle, actually. I'd like to get reliable sleep. I don't have an infant anymore. I should be able to sleep, damn it! Going to bed earlier only seems to exacerbate the problem. So, I might try staying up late tonight... and writing. If I'm going to be awake, I might as well be productive, right. Plus, I'm pretty sure part of what kept me awake last night was plot bunnies anyway. I put in over 1500 words yesterday, despite my best efforts to get distracted. Just couldn't' focus on anything yesterday for some reason.
I meant to post this yesterday, but I got a little busy with... stuff and live-tweeting the Olympic Opening Ceremonies (until Chris told me to stop, but then I started again when he passed out on the couch). More on that later. For now...
( Wherein I attempt to find a silver lining, because gold is kind of garish. )
( Wherein I attempt to find a silver lining, because gold is kind of garish. )
