Washingtonium

The Grey Bird of Insanity

2012-01-23T23:23:00.001-05:00

On Gretchen Rubin's happinesss blog she talks about the "bluebird of happiness" and the "pigeon of discontent." Let me introduce you to the bird who lives at our house. I like to call him the grey bird of insanity. Unlike Rubin's birds who are imaginary - or really metaphors - this guy is real. He is insane because he sits in one of the holly trees at the front of our door and pecks at the screen door and the front windows ALL.DAY.LONG. Seriously. You think I must be joking or exaggerating, but because we've had so many viruses lately, we've had lots of time in the living room watching tv, giving us ample time to observe the bird's habits. The bird hurls itself at the window and the door at least forty times a day. Usually about four times in a row, followed by a break of 10 minutes. (The viruses also gave me the opportunity to catch the insanity on film - although not my best images.)

There must be something wrong with the bird because you'd think by now it would have figured out that it isn't going to get in and that whatever it is doing is producing nothing. And figured it out "by now" is very generous, even for a bird brain. It has been doing this for months. I remember in October that the bird was pecking at the window and I said to Punkin, "Awww, the bird is knocking! He wants to come in and be part of our family!" So for four months now, Punkin says when the bird starts it knocking routine: "Bird. Knocking! Make some noise!" Wes also pointed out that the bird clearly wants to come in, but it might be to peck our brains out rather than joining our family. Given the bird's aggressive focus, Wes might be right.

I think I found its nest recently and Wes says he'll move it to try and get the bird to leave. It seems kind of mean in the middle of winter though. Could a bird survive having its nest moved (or destroyed)? Or would it only rebuild with vengeance?

Finally, I know this bird isn't human, but if it were, I'm pretty sure it would be diagnosed with OCD.

So Behind

2012-01-21T22:46:00.000-05:00

I'm feeling so behind in every aspect of my life! Not to mention blogging. The good news is that my mom had bypass surgery this week and seemed to tolerate it ok. She's still in the hospital, but the doctors and nurses tell us she's looking good. I'm going to be going out to help with some of the convalesence soon and I can't wait! The day when she had surgery was like torture - I so wanted to be there! But it all turned out ok. My dad and sister have been real champions through this whole ordeal.

Punkin has really been a force lately. She's begun a nudity campaign that begins in the morning and ends with her bedtime. She never likes to keep clothes on. For instance, when Wes went to get her this morning, she was only wearing one sock! She also refused to take a nap yesterday or today. I told her that she was making me crazy and then she later announced at Target, "Momma's crazy!" It was good times. You know, the kind of good times that make you really proud to be a mom. At naptime today, she took off her pants and then climbed out of her crib, landing with a thump on the floor. Punkin immediately demanded "blue ice" (maybe she's had too many of these incidents at day care?). So, we're going to have to see about a toddler bed. It's hard to believe enough time has passed that we need a more grown-up bed, but it seems that we have come to it.

We also spent some time at the library today. I was looking for something fun and light to distract my attention. A friend recommended "Divergent" but it wasn't available. Anyone else have ideas? I'm especially looking for something that does not deal with parent mortality issues.

Latest Kid's Book

2012-01-11T21:22:00.001-05:00

I have found the cutest new book that Punkin and I have been reading. We got it last week and every night now she asks for me to read "Bunny Bunny." The book title is really "Betty Bunny Loves Chocolate Cake" by Michael Kaplan and it is about a little bunny discovering that she loves chocolate cake and how she learns to be patient to get the treat. It is a cute story and has some funny lines for the adults. Betty Bunny has three siblings and their interaction is very realistic and amusing.

When Betty Bunny announces that she loves chocolate cake so much that she is going to marry it, her siblings all chime in with comments and her older brother Bill concluding: "Whatever. But you're going to have really weird-looking kids."

The story is very light and clever and it has a funny twist at the end. I would highly recommend it for any age of kids that like picture books. I'm pretty sure my niece and nephew who are both about to turn four would enjoy it, but not sure about their older siblings. I found this recommendation via Indiebound, which is a great source for good reading ideas that aren't on the NYT Bestseller list.

Chugging Along

2012-01-09T21:21:00.000-05:00

That holiday silence was a little longer than I intended.

The view from my chair for days. Note the magnetic letters that keep my cold remedies company.

Wes and I both got sick right after Christmas and were literally in bed for about 4 days. We had to cancel our New Year's Eve plans and we almost felt like we were foraging for food because we were too sick to go to the grocery store or really plan meals. We survived on delivery and carry-out. And canned soup.

Punkin, for whatever reason, never really seemed to get sick. Or possibly, she was mildly sick at Christmas. (She was kind of grouchy over the trip!) So, this is what our house looked like after a couple of days where the two year old ran free and the adults couldn't move.

At the beginning of last weekend, we were both starting to feel kind of normal again and we realized that we had created a huge deficit for ourselves in housework....and laundry. So we spent another weekend recovering. But it always feel so good to just do normal things after being really sick. I finally took the Christmas decorations down this weekend and that definitely gave me a boost. There's so much space again!!

Punkin: the update

2011-12-20T21:44:00.000-05:00

Let me just say that Punkin has been in time-out four times today. Since I got home from work at 6 p.m. (Twice for throwing things, once for not coming when Daddy asked, once for not coming when Mommy asked.) And, I think at least one time this morning. We've hit the terrible twos like nothing else.

So here's a few developments in the last week (or two):

She is eating bananas at a rate that I'm pretty sure equals some monkeys. As in, she requested and then ate 3 bananas one night after 6 p.m. We asked one of our babysitters (a very cute nursing student) if she could get potassium overload and apparently such a thing is possible, but not very common. It takes more than 3 bananas a day.

Sometimes when we ask whether she needs/wants to go in time-out, she responds "Yes." So we allow her to put herself in time-out. Hey, if she doesn't know when she needs to go, then who does?

She has started saying, "Don't you tell me no." I thought this was from day care until tonight, when these very words dropped from Wes's mouth.

She also responds to any question now with "Ummmmm" and then either "Yes" or "No." As in, "Punkin, do you want to watch Thomas the Tank Engine?" and her response is, "Ummmmm, Yes!" Alternatively, "Punkins, do you want some dinner?" and her response is, "Ummmmm, No!"

Link Love

2011-12-20T21:33:00.000-05:00

I'm going to post some stuff about Punkin, but first I wanted to share some stuff that has truly brought me joy in the last couple of days.

First of all, the joke-off on Weekend Update with the old anchors was hilarious and also so fun. I don't actually know these people, but they kind of feel like family. (just fyi, this video = not family friendly)

Then I saw this video below on Becky Higgins' blog, which I also enjoyed and it led me to this blog entry at work, which made me laugh so hard that I cried. At work. This is a high standard to meet, if you know what I do. Because I deal with human frailties, so there's a lot of opportunity to cry.

Weekend Round-Up

2011-12-19T23:13:00.000-05:00

The only pic I have from the weekend is a bad one from my phone, but here is Last Train Home

Whew! What a weekend. It was so "tough" that I fell down a little on my resolution to blog every day of December. Sorry about that.

On Friday, I met a bunch of Hill friends at Morton's for dinner. I'm still trying to figure out why anyone under the age of 50 goes to Morton's because it kind of stinks. They give you a piece of meat that could feed a small village and they smother it with some disgusting kind of fat and charge you $50 for it, but they don't give you any sides with it. (You have to pay extra for mashed potatoes or veggies.) I actually got the salmon, but Morton's cannot resist putting some rich sauce with any protein, so even that felt heavy. There are so many good places to eat here, I'm hard pressed to go to a chain, but oh well. Horrible, expensive food notwithstanding, it was really fun to see my friends. I guess if it costs me $100 every year or so to have dinner with them, then I can handle it! Really though, I hope we choose somewhere that is not a steakhouse next time. I'd even go to Ray's the Steaks, if that would help matters.

On Saturday, I went to Christmas Tea with my friends June and Liz. It was *awesome*! We went to the Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner and the food was great, the tea was fantastic, and the company was excellent. The most amazing part of it all was that June overcame amazing odds to be there with us. I would detail what those were, but I'm told that the reasons are all "inner circle." So just think of what might prevent you from going to Christmas Tea - in my case, it would be a hangnail - and magnify it by a factor of 10. You can be impressed.

That night, Wes and I decided to go see one of our favorite bands, Last Train Home, play their Christmas show at a local music club. We spent a lot of Saturday afternoon lining up a sitter, but luckily we got one. The show started at 9 and we were home by 1, a little worse for the wear. But Last Train Home was great! The lead singer, Eric Brace, just got nominated for a Grammy! So check them out!

Finally, we went to a final Christmas party on Sunday afternoon. We barely made it there. Wes and I were hurting after the late night out and Punkin threw an absolute fit. Absolute. Fit. over the cute shirt that I wanted her to wear to the party. It was just a long sleeved t-shirt with a little gingerbread house on it. But she had a full on meltdown involving these phrases: "Don't do it Mommy!!" "Take it off!" "No gingerbread!!" "Take it off!" Wes and I actually laughed some during the meltdown because it was so crazy, but it was also really, really painful to the ears. Punkin had to sit in Daddy's lap for like 15 minutes after it all, shuddering her way to calmness. We debated just calling it off then, but I felt like we had already endured so much, we should go. On the way there, our preferred freeway was literally completely shut down for repairs. Another almost call-off. But we endured. And we made it! For the last hour of the party! It was pretty fun, but we were not in the mood for socializing at that point. Fortunately, there were no more tantrums, we all got food and we went home and pretty much all went to bed at the same time. Some of us may have stayed up a little later to watch the recorded SNL Christmas episode (Weekend Update was so good!), but everyone was asleep by 10:30 at the latest.

All in all, a successful weekend. We blew off some of the parties we had been invited to and now (post tantrum) it feels like the right call. Also, Wes and I learned that we are not that young any more, but we still had fun!

Dear....the last couple of weeks

2011-12-15T23:37:00.000-05:00

Dear Michelle Obama-

You are extremely pretty and your family picture is amazing. But this time your eyebrow waxer went too far. You've got to reign those people in! You are starting to get a little Mary Tyler Moore after the plastic surgery. And once you go there, you can't go back!

Sincerely,
A concerned citizen

Dear Newt Gingrich:

You only wish you looked like Jemaine Clement. Even when you were young.

Signed,
Flight of the Conchords Fan

Dear Punkin: An Open Letter

2011-12-14T23:24:00.000-05:00

Mid-jump!

Dear Punkin:

You are two right now and so amazing to us. We tend to think that you are a small genius, but really, we are just enormously proud of you.

Some things you are doing right now that I love:

You think any written word spells out your name. When you see anything in writing, you say, "Punkin! P-N-K-I-N" (except you use your actual name). I love the egocentric view that makes you think that all writing is about you. Also, I can't believe that you can almost spell your name, but somehow you always forget about the first vowel.

You say "thank you" and "you welcome" all the time. That's right, "you welcome" not "you're welcome." You thank us for really funny things like brushing your teeth, stealing food off your plate, or cleaning your face. You also sometimes thank us and welcome yourself before we can say "you're welcome." When it's something REALLY good like chocolate milk, we get thanked several times.

You talk to yourself a lot. There's a lot of self talk going on and it is so cute. As in "good job, Punkin!" and "Punkin, be careful!" or "Punkin get up?" Sometimes I feel like you are giving a continuous news report about yourself.

You love books. Of course, this is one of my favorite things to share with you and I really love to read to you every night. I can't believe how quickly you pick up on things and phrases. One of my favorite things is to hear you "reading" to yourself. It is usually an amalgamation of books we read and songs we sing and it is so sweet to hear it coming from you. Right now, you love "Little Black, a Pony" and there is a part where Little Black gets stuck in a tree and the little boy in the story goes back to help him. You always point to the boy and say, "Boy? Fix him?" and then later on you point to the boy and say "Boy...fix Little Black." So a boy fixing things often is central to your individualized story telling. I love it!

You are also really funny and clever. The other night you were rough-housing with your dad and you clambered up to the chair grabbed a book and when he came over to you to engage you again, you told him "No, Daddy! I reading!" It was so funny! Also one of the first times I've heard you attempt to conjugate a verb with "I"!

I love this time so much because my hugs are still magic elixir to you. Even when you've had a pretty tough bump, you'll cry and come over to me to ask for a hug. When I give you one, it immediately stops the tears and brings out a smile. I love it! I feel like a mom superhero!

One example of Punkin trying to imitate Mommy

Lately when I take a picture of you, I get down to your level. You have developed this habit of squatting down just like I do. So now, every picture I take of you when you are standing, you almost always are bending down. I try to tell you to stand up, but you just laugh at me. This usually results in lots of hugs and tickles, but not as many pictures. That's ok. Whenever I see a picture of you bending at your knees, I will remember exactly what you are doing.

Finally, the last thing that will really remind me of this time is the "Who's a ...." questions. It started out with "Who tooted?" which were always about you, but which you have quickly learned to blame anyone else in the room. Now it's things like "Who's funny?," "Who's cute?," or Who's a mess?" Your response is inevitably "Daddy" to any of these questions. Sometimes we make up really funny questions (to us) because we know you'll answer "Daddy" to any of them. Including "Who's the smartest person alive?" and "Who's a chunker?" Always Daddy.

Punkin, we're so glad that you are here with us. It makes every day sweeter.

The World According to Punkin

2011-12-13T23:04:00.000-05:00

The mind of a two year old is a very interesting place and I feel like sometimes I just get a glimpse of what is going on beneath. For the past few weeks, we've primarily been singing two songs: "Frosty the Snowman" and "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer." Punkin has quite a few of the lyrics down, but not full mastery.

Lately, we've also been reading "Little Black, a Pony," which according to my mom, was my favorite book under the age of 3. It was written by Walter Farley, who also wrote Black Beauty. "Little Black" starts out with this sentence: "When I was little, I had a pony. I called him Little Black."

Punkin will often volunteer words in stories that she knows as we go along and I'm always surprised at what she has remembered. Tonight, she conflated "Rudolph" and "Little Black" in a funny way. I was reading the beginning of "Little Black" and I started: "When I was little, I had a pony. I called him..." and Punkin finished the sentence "names." That's right, Punkin thinks that the boy in the story called his pony names. She probably would also add that he was not allowed to participate in reindeer games. That really cracked me up.

Focused Elsewhere

2011-12-12T22:32:00.000-05:00

I had a long list of cheery and Christmas-y things to write about tonight, but my mind is blank and I'm completely distracted by what is going on in Utah. My mom is pretty sick. It feels bad just to write that sentence, even though it is true. It's hard to be away and just hear updates through the phone, but I don't want to go only to Utah only to absolve my anxiety. I want to go when I can help her and my dad.

But I keep thinking about how I physically feel better when Punkin is near me and I can hold her. I actually think moms benefit from being physically close to their children. I guess I want to think that my mere presence will be helpful to my mom. It couldn't hurt her, right? Unfortunately, I have practical concerns: I just started a new job and there is going to be a limit to how much time I can spend away, so I want to maximize the time that I will get. My husband thinks I am overreacting. There just doesn't feel like there is a right answer.

Sometimes being an adult really stinks.

Visiting Santa

2011-12-11T23:56:00.000-05:00

I've wanted to take Punkin to see Santa this year, but decided that if she saw him and freaked out that I wouldn't force her to sit on his lap for the purposes of satisfying my desire to get a picture. So, I wasn't pushing the issue. This morning, we were hanging out and I asked Punkin if she wanted to go to the park and she said "No" and then I asked her if she wanted to go on a walk with Rodney and she said "No." So, I thought, hey, what the heck, and asked her if she wanted to go see Santa. She responded "Yeah." I asked her a couple of times and she kept saying "Yes," so I decided to run with it.

We changed (because everyone was still in pjs) and in short order left the house. I left so quickly that I made a rookie mom mistake and didn't bring snacks. What?!?!? The first thing you learn is to never leave the house without diapers or snacks. Maybe I was just being brave.

We got to the mall and the line was somewhat daunting. Still, we had made it this far, so I didn't want to turn back. I thought there was a chance that we would stand in line for an hour and then Punkin would refuse to sit on Santa's lap. That would be bad. We got in line and, fates would have it, a friend of mine was ahead of us in line with his little girl. I caught up with my friend for a while and then Punkin decided she needed a cookie from Starbucks (which we passed in the line). My friend and the nice people behind us held our place while we went and got a snack from Starbucks. Then we ran into another friend with her two kids. This turned out to be a great social opportunity for me! My friend did it right though. She and her husband took turns standing in line while the other parent took the kids and got food or took them to stores they were interested in. Clearly, they had done this before!

Punkin did fine for the most part. She was bored, but I couldn't really blame her. So was I.

Boredom

More boredom

Finally, something to play on - the ropes!

When we finally, got to the front, I was so glad that my friend was ahead of us because Punkin watched his little girl get on Santa's lap and very earnestly tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas. When it was her turn, Punkin took Santa's hand and willingly sat on his lap. She wouldn't respond to his questions or smile, but overall, I think it was a victory! I got a good picture and then passed by the commercial photos, which were terrible! I was so happy that I had brought my own camera!!

Punkin and I returned home and both took afternoon naps! Overall, a good investment of a couple of hours this morning.

Holiday Fashion Risk

2011-12-11T08:23:00.000-05:00

Last night was my company's Christmas party and, I have to say, it was the best work Christmas party I've ever been to. I'm really accustomed to the office Christmas party that occurs...well, in the office for austerity measure reasons. I've also been to more than my share of rented hotel conference room space. It's all nice, but once I had been to one of them, it felt like I had been to them all.

My new company, however, threw its Christmas party at the Air & Space Museum by Dulles Airport. This museum houses the Blackbird and the Space Shuttle, among lots and lots of other really amazing aircraft. They had three different bands and tons of food. I told Wes that it was like going to a really nice prom. So I had been forewarned that people really dressed up for this event. (I've always worn pretty much what I wear to the office for the holiday conference room party.) But one of my friends at my new job disclosed that she had booked an appointment for an updo for the party and I heard other people talking about the fancy dresses they were buying. After reviewing my wardrobe, I determined that I couldn't make anything I had really work. (Not a lot of necessity for bling in a two year old mom's clothes.) I found a really, really sparkly jacket that kicked things up a notch and could convert other clothes into something more dressy. But it was really very sparkly, like so sparkly that I thought that if I was misjudging the dress code, I would potentially be the source of a lot of attention. It didn't help that when I tried it on for Wes, he said that he liked it because it kind of looked like I was wearing chain mail. (Personally, I thought it looked more like the human disco ball.)

This reminded me of a pair of gold pants my mom got for us when we were young teenagers and my sister Andrea was brave enough to wear to school in a high mark of holiday spirit that she almost immediately regretted. The gold pants were definitely very festive (think MC Hammer-like), but after about an hour, people started making special trips to come see her pants. She said everyone at school was talking about it and by the end of the day, all she wanted to do was change her clothes.

Well, I was concerned that it could be a gold pants day for me, but I decided to wear the sparkly jacket anyway....and it was totally fine. I was actually right in the middle of the pack on bling and definitely not the most sparkly there. I actually had fun wearing it. So, it was a holiday fashion risk that paid off. Here's a picture from Wes's phone from last night so you can see for yourself. We're in front of the Blackbird.

Being a Mom at Christmas

2011-12-09T23:15:00.000-05:00

My parents and all the grandkids last year

I saw a quote recently that said there are four stages in life:
1) You believe in Santa Claus
2) You don't believe in Santa Claus
3) You are Santa Claus
4) You look like Santa Claus

This year I'm entering the third stage of life - somewhat late for my age group, but I can feel the baton passing nonetheless. It's definitely a fun stage, but it is also kind of exhausting. When I was a kid, it felt like the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas felt like it was endless! Now I feel like I barely get through Thanksgiving before it's time to haul all the Christmas stuff out and then something like three days pass and I'm supposed to get all the gifts, wrap them, make the house look cute, go out to parties, send out cards, make neighbor gifts and then box everything back up in the attic for next year. I don't do so well on such a tight deadline.

I'm exaggerating, of course. As I get older though, I recognize the sincere and often thankless effort my mom put in to Christmas to make it magical for us growing up. My mom was always one to come up with some really time-consuming Christmas craft or project to give herself for the week between Thanksgiving and December 1. One year, it was baking 24 little gingerbread cookies for all the girls in my brownie troop (something like 30 kids) to use in a countdown calendar. Even recently, she made quilted countdown calendars for my sisters and me...and of course, all of my cousins. (Although I just now spotted the countdown calendar trend in her life.) When I was in high school, she personally baked gingerbread houses for me and all my friends to decorate after a dance. This was back before Trader Joe's offered a kit for these things. (Although she probably would have eschewed the kit and remarked that it wasn't as good as homemade!)

My mom made sure that on Christmas morning my sisters and I all had equal numbers of gifts displayed beautifully for us in the living room, so that our initial voyage down the hall was always bursting with excitement. She included neighbors in our Christmas Eve celebrations that we loved. She made me and my sisters matching Christmas nightgowns. She played Christmas music all the time on records. Back when people used records. I think we wore a couple of them out: Johnny Mathis in his crazy looking ski sweater, Ray Coniff, Mitch Miller. She put little light-up Christmas trees in our rooms so that we would have something special by our beds. I remember she would rock us to sleep in the living room with the Christmas tree lights on and all the other lights off and we loved it because the lights would reflect in her glasses. Isn't funny how some of those little things stand out in memory?

I hope I can make Christmas have as fun for Punkin. I'm definitely trying, but it is a challenge! I've got to be more organized further in advance next year. My husband can be a little grinch-y, so sometimes it takes a lot of spirit to get the ball rolling. The bad thing is that Christmas is always when performance reviews are going on at work, so I need to be extra focused there too! But I've got to do better at meeting the standard of Santa. My mom laid out the roadmap. I just need to follow the compass. But I might use that Trader Joe's kit instead of baking myself! ;)

Love You Forever

2011-12-08T23:16:00.000-05:00

The last couple of days have been a challenge. Some unexpected medical news in the family came and I find myself feeling rather vulnerable to life's whims and caprices, even though I knew those risks and events come to everyone. The good news is that while there will be a "new normal" in my family, everyone is relatively healthy and in full capacity, even though the landscape has changed. With this context, I've been thinking a lot about the book "Love You Forever," although I have kind of a love/hate relationship with it. If you don't know, it's a children's book about a new mom who sings this song "I'll love you forever" to her newborn son. It follows the mom and son through life until the mom's death at the end of the book. (Why do they end a children's book with a death? So hard to know.) It's so cute, but also a little creepy. Like why does the mom drive across town to stalk her adult son? But the end with the mom who is old and sick always, always gets me.

My sister - damn her - gave me the book when Punkin was born and I would read it to Punkin and then always choke up at the end. It literally took 18 months before I could read it the whole way through without tears. Then Punkin became obsessed with it, I read it about 200 times in a row, and got over the tears. Reading something 200 times in a row will do that to you. Now Punkin can recite the "Love You Forever" poem easily. Sometimes it is really cute, but never when I can get it on camera. [So I have video of Punkin sayng the "Love You Forever" poem, but I can't get it to upload. Sorry. Instead here is a random shot of Punkin, Rodney & Wes. Still cute, although not as topical.]

Also, besides bad medical news, just to make yesterday a really banner day, I dented my car on one of those concrete warning pole things on the way in to the parking garage. It is the worst of all worlds because I felt like an idiot AND it is going to be really expensive. Some days I am cursed.

Christmas via the Daily Show

2011-12-07T23:40:00.001-05:00

It's been a rough day for me, so I'm a little low on writing inspiration. I don't want to give up on the December Daily though. I thought this Daily Show piece was interesting, funny, and thought provoking.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Just for the record, why is it so bad to change a name to something that is more inclusive? I don't really see why that is offensive, even if it might not reflect your actual religious values.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2011-12-06T21:11:00.000-05:00

Yay! I got the tree up and Punkin had an awesome time making a glorious mess out of all of the ornaments. Most of them I didn't really care about, but I showed her some of the ornaments I've had forever and she seemed to really take it all in. Some of the ornaments she is particularly fond of are the angels that Wes's mom has given me over the Christmases. She looks for the angels every morning and then points them out to Wes or me. It is very cute.

I also found (found, as in "bought") some Sesame Street ornaments and put those on the tree and she loves looking for them. I've never moved them once since we hung them together, but she still has some difficulty locating Zoe every day. That kind of cracks me up.

So this year was the first year in forever that I've considered getting a real tree. Ultimately, I put up my little fake one because it was easy and I figured that it was more friendly to a toddler's curious touches than a real tree would be. Wes and I had this hilarious conversation about whether it was environmentally destructive to buy a real tree. Hilarious in the sense that neither of us knew what we were talking about, but that didn't stop us from trying to act like we did. We came to the self-serving conclusion that the fake tree that we had was the most environmentally responsible thing to do. (Note: It was also the easiest.) The real tree is so alluring though with its piney smell and nostalgia. I wonder if we'll be able to resist next year? I think my true impediment is our inability to keep green things alive. It doesn't usually matter, but with respect to the Christmas tree, it can be the difference between a house and ashes.

Also, here's a bonus picture with Punkin at my friend's party. She was very interested in the Fisher Price nativity set. She picked up Baby Jesus and I told her who he was. She responded, I swear, "Baby cheeses" just like Gloria on Modern Family. I had to bite my cheeks hard on that one!

All You Need is Etsy

2011-12-05T23:00:00.001-05:00

I'm being lazy tonight because it is taking forever to upload my pictures, so I thought I'd talk about one of my latest online craze: Etsy. Etsy is on my mind because my neighbor had such cute Sesame Street table decorations at her party yesterday. They were made out of old coffee cans, but were really well done. I asked her if she made them herself and she responded, "Please! I ordered them on Etsy!" I was talking to another mom at the party and she was asking me if I was on Pinterest yet and I told her no. She said that the idea on Pinterest is that you have to make the things yourself. This mom was telling me that she didn't know why anyone would use Pinterest when there is Etsy. I totally agree!

Here are some of my recent favorites:

Wouldn't this garland be so cute on a staircase?

I think both of these prints would be pretty for winter.

Wes would kill me if I bought any more towels, but these might just make their way here.

I love this little felt nativity family. It would be so fun for a toddler!

I love these groupings of frames. I know my sister Andrea would go nuts for this!

This pillow cracks me up. It reminds me of my sister Aimee. Hmmm, I pulled her name for our Christmas exchange this year! (I say "pull" like we actually pull the names. There are only three of us, so we just switch off on who we give to every year.)

These little trees are so festive! I'm considering them for the mantle, but I can just hear my mom telling me that I could easily make them myself. This is probably true, I could make these myself, but really, would I? As the Beatles said, There's nothing you can do that can't be done. Which is why there is etsy! For those of us who don't want to do what can be done.

Happy Shopping!

Birthday spirit

2011-12-04T23:28:00.000-05:00

This afternoon we went to our neighbor's two year old birthday party and we had a great time. Punkin and K were born about six weeks apart and I remember at the time that six weeks seemed like an eternity. It was the difference between a lump of flesh and something that smiled at me. Now, six weeks goes by in the blink of an eye and is really the same age.

These days, Punkin and our neighbor, K, go to the same school and have played together a lot. Punkin tends to be a little enamored of K's older brother, but today was all about K. Her parents had a moon bounce, balloons, and a ball crawl! Awesome! I defy anyone to go to my neighbor's party and not feel a little happier at the end. :) My neighbor Jen (K's mom) is a great mix of energy, realism, and humor. I like being around her. She reminds me of my sisters.

Afterward, we decorated our tree, which was pretty fun and got us a little more holiday spirit. (More about that probably tomorrow.) Hope you all had a good end to your weekend.

Trying to Catch the Spirit

2011-12-03T22:25:00.000-05:00

I often feel like the beginning of December catches me by surprise and the intensity of the season descends earlier than it feels like it should. For one thing, it has been really warm here, so it still feels like fall and not at all like winter or Christmas. The calendar and the weather do not seem to communicate!

This weekend was the first round of parties, which I have to say, did not make me feel that Christmas-y yet. Tonight, I forced Wes to take Punkin down to the Potomac with my friend June, her son and her two nieces for the holiday boat light parade. I thought the idea was really cool: people light up their boats and then float them from DC to Alexandria. The downside is that it is a lot like any other parade: you stand around for a long time waiting for something to happen, and when it does finally happen, it is good, but the waiting before and after make you wonder if what you witnessed was worth it. Old Town Alexandria was packed! I sometimes like being out with the crowds because I feel like I'm in the know about the super cool things. It's a little tougher wrestling a two year old near the water! Thank goodness for June's sweet nieces who played with and watched Punkin. She loved having the attention of older kids.

When the boats finally started, it was really pretty, but we were all worn out by that point. The other dynamic is that we were actually physically quite distant from the boats, so it was a lot of squinting in the dark to see what the fuss was about. We had fun, but I was happy to be home. I have to say overall, I'd give it a "meh." I feel disappointed though because I thought we'd all be feeling festive now. Instead, we're just ready for bed!

I'm hoping the spirit finds me soon. Only 22 days left!

Snowmen for Christmas

2011-12-02T23:34:00.000-05:00

I'm pretty sure that one of the things I'll always remember about this Christmas season is Punkin's obsession with "Frosty the Snowman." I will for sure remember it because I have already sung the song about 200 times and it is only December 2. I have gone from not being able to remember whether the verse beginning "Frosty the Snowman was a fairytale they say" comes before or after "Frosty the Snowman was alive as he could be" to almost being able to sing it backwards.

I'm not sure how we came upon the Frosty song. I think I tried it in desperation one day when I was really, really tired of singing "Elmo's song" and was searching for something to which I knew at least some of the lyrics. Well, it caught on and now Punkin wants us to sing it every day (and wants to go to sleep with it every night).

I've downloaded at least six versions to my ipod, but Punkin's absolute favorite version is the sing-along version by Mitch Miller. This is a sentimental favorite for me because I grew up with this record at the holidays. Hearing the old songs really brings back memories of my sisters and me at Christmas. Or, at least it has brought back those memories until I started having to listen to the song like 20 times a day. Now, I'm a lot more in tune with the accordian accompaniment and how there is a large male chorus but they all seem to be singing in unison. Who came up with this musical plan? I'm sure if you listen to this version, you will agree with me. Wes keeps asking me why we have the "polka" version of Frosty.

When I was out last weekend, I saw a shirt that had a snowman face on it and I decided it would be cute for Punkin to wear during December. I brought it home and showed it to her and she immediately started tugging the shirt she was wearing off and asking "On? On?" She had to put the shirt on right away. It was really cute. That's one of the best things about a two year old. They don't pretend to like something - you know right away whether you've got a winner on your hands!

Punkin has also really loved the Buehner book "Snowmen at Christmas." We all have really enjoyed finding the hidden pictures on each page and Punkin has proved surprisingly adept at spotting them.

The good news is that I think we've learned something from all this Frosty repetition: we're going to follow Frosty's advice this year and run and have some fun before it all melts away. Hope you do the same!

December Daily

2011-12-01T23:58:00.001-05:00

I told my sister that for Christmas I would blog every day in December. Ha! I don't know if I really can, but I thought I would give it the old college try. I've been inspired by Ali Edwards who does a whole scrapbook based on all the fun things/happenings in her family every December. I will never get there, but I thought the blog could be a much easier surrogate.

But first things first....Thanksgiving. We were very thankful not to travel, although we definitely missed our families. As is our tradition when we stay home, we were thankful to go out to a delicious dinner. We learned from our experience last year and we booked a brunch-ish time to get Thanksgiving - 11:30 a.m. It worked like a dream!

The day started even earlier when Punkin and I went on a neighborhood turkey trot with my friend Liz and her son Evan. It all started off very well and was really fun, until Punkin got sick of riding in the stroller and the cold, which was pretty much at the end of mile 1. Then she started refusing to wear her gloves and screaming whenever the sun was in her eyes, which was, of course, quite a lot. It was a trying 20 minutes, but we powered through it and actually finished.

After we got home from the Turkey Trot, it was basically time to eat Thanksgiving dinner. Punkin looked very cute this year. We ate at Liberty Tavern in Arlington and it was fantastic!

They had a buffet with everything one could ever want from Thanksgiving. Punkin pretty much only ate chocolate chip pumpkin muffins, but hey, she was quiet and she wasn't making vomiting noises (a la 2010), so we were happy. I think she was exhausted from the morning's scream fest.

We went back home, put Punkin and ourselves down for naps and relaxed. It was heavenly. We awoke from our torpor mid-afternoon and decided to go out on a walk. It was really nice outside!

Finally, my friend June invited us over to her house for dessert. She had made pumpkin, pecan, and apple pies and they were all delicious and really impressive. June is kind of martha-stewart like. For example, her pumpkin pie had little leaf cutouts on the edge of the crust that were really cute and delicious. I would totally hate her for being so perfect if I didn't love her so much. And love her pies. They were awesome.

Friday we went to a Caps hockey game with our neighbors that was really fun. It would have been less fun if I had realized that it was the second to last game Boudreau would coach. (He was fired earlier this week, bummer.) Saturday we went over to our other neighbors' house because they had just purchased a small bouncy house. Punkin is the same age as their daughter, so it is nice to let the kids play while we hang out. The girls are pretty cute, in my book!

My neighbor Jen is very organized and super energetic, so not only had she created this play world in her backyard, she had shopped early on Friday for the black Friday sales AND put up her Christmas tree by the time we got there Saturday afternoon. It was really amazing. Punkin totally loved the Christmas tree and walked carefully around it, fingering all the ornaments. Or, at least, fingering the Sesame Street ornaments that had been strategically placed at two year old level. (I took some pictures but blogger is being oddly stubborn about uploading them.) I'm excited to put up our tree now! I also purchased a couple of little Sesame Street ornaments for us. I think Christmas is going to be a lot more fun this year!

The converse is that I'm having some throwbacks from last year (where we were sick every December weekend AND Christmas). Punkin is currently in bed (of course, it's midnight), but she had about a 101 fever before going to sleep. I have a feeling it could be a long night. I hope she doesn't get sick!!!

Inspired

2011-11-14T22:40:00.001-05:00

I was inspired by my sisters' recent cute posts to write a quick post. I meant to post this weeks ago, but I wanted to share some of Punkin's Halloween pictures. I learned - or re-learned - a valuable lesson during Halloween. It's one that many parents have expressed to me and honestly one that I pretty much knew before becoming a parent, but its truth is one that I sometimes forget about. It is: don't make things more complicated than they need to be. (Einstein said it better: Everything should be made as simple as possible.) One corollary to this particular lesson is: it all begins and ends at Target. This only applies in my world, not Einstein's.

So for Halloween, I got completely swept up into how adorable toddler costumes could be and decided that I wanted to make Punkin's costume extra special because next year I was convinced that she would exercise her opinions more forcefully and would pick something I wasn't crazy about. After considering several options (including some at the outrageously priced Wishcraft), I found a cute homemade Dorothy costume on Etsy and ordered it. The woman making it asked for Punkin's measurements, which I gave her (although did not pay as much attention as I should have). I was very excited because I found ruby slippers at Target and I found a stuffed Toto and basket on Ebay. Punkin's costume arrived the day before her birthday party and I was really excited to try it on her. It turned out, however, that there was something really amiss on the measurements. The top part fit her fine, but the skirt was way too short. I mean, really, way too short. I thought that I could compensate by putting bloomers on her, so I tried that. But the bloomers only made the Dorothy costume look like a french maid outfit. Really, that kind of french maid. And it is just wrong to put a french maid costume on a two year old. So wrong. (Unfortunately - or fortunately - I did not photograph just how bad the costume was, so you'll have to use your imagination.)

So the night before Punkin's party, I had to go to the store for some last minute things and I stopped by Target to peruse their costumes. Luckily, I plucked the very last 2T Dorothy costume from the rack and took it home. It fit perfectly...and you know what, it was very cute. Even as cute as the Etsy costume would have been had it been the right size. So, from now on, I've got to remember that it really doesn't need to be that complicated. The Target costume will work out fine and the truth is that Punkin could not have cared less. Here she is in the costume:

Also, for all my searching for Toto, he looks like either: a) a giant rat or b) a big piece of lint. The shoes were totally worth it (again, it all ends with Target).

Punkin was an enthusiastic trick or treater. Wes and I both went with her because we thought we'd be gone about 20 minutes after we went to 3 houses. But Punkin was really affected by all the kids out on the street and got very high spirited, running down the sidewalk between houses. It was so cute! So all four of us - Rodney came too - ended up being out for a while. It was a lot more fun than we had anticipated to see her excitement at being part of the action. Our neighbors were all so nice and seemed really excited to see her dressed up. It was really lots of fun. We ended up settling at one of our friends' houses down the street. We left our porch light on and three jack o'lanterns fully lit....and no one there to give out the candy. Oops!

Also, we had this giant bag of chocolate candy that we were going to give out and we had just started when we left to trick or treat. Don't worry, it isn't going to waste! The bag is now about half its original size. If you're keeping track, the hierarchy of candy in our house goes: Peanut Butter Cups & Kit Kats (tied for first), then Twix, then Milky Ways. We're down to Nestle Crunch, M&Ms, and Mounds. The Mounds seriously never get eaten here. I've got to donate the rest of this stuff!

How to Tie a Scarf

2011-11-11T22:33:00.001-05:00

I saw this super cute and well done video on Design Mom. It's also pretty informative!

I want to try a couple of these myself.

Two Years!

2011-11-07T23:27:00.000-05:00

We have an official two year old! I know that all parents remark about this, but it is really surprising how quickly and how slowly the time simultaneously goes. The days seem long, but the weeks start slipping by with faster and faster frequency.

I feel like I say this at every stage, but I think Punkin is at a super adorable stage right now. She is talking a lot and is sweet, lovable, and funny. She loves to put her hood on her coat on her head no matter the weather. When we were walking in to day care the other day, she motioned to her hood and said, "On?" Even though it was totally sunny and even kind of warm out, I put her hood on and then she looked at me and said "Better." It was so cute. Tonight when we were coming in, she wanted her hood on between the car and the front door (about 20 feet). She smiled when I put her hood on and I told her she was adorable. She responded, "Thank you mommy." (It really sounded like "thack ooo mommy," but that only made it cuter in my world.)

Wes's mom with our dear neighbor, Shirley

In a fit of energy and enthusiasm, we decided to have a party to celebrate making it to two years. Once we had made the mental commitment to the party, the guest list kept growing, so we ended up having quite a few kids and adults. It was fun. We got to see lots of friends that we haven't been able to see in a long while and Wes's parents also came up for the party. We really appreciated everyone coming!

I had this idea that I could make my own ball crawl with an inflatable pool and ball crawl balls (purchased off Amazon). The pool was a huge hit. I remember Wes asking me how many kids I thought it could fit at one time and I told him 10-13. (I think the picture above was the most kids that fit in there.) So there was no way 10-13 kids could fit in there. Still, I think the kids had fun.

This is about the amount of snow we got.

We were also going to spend more time blowing bubbles, but Punkin's party ended up being on the one day in October that Virginia has had snow in something like 30 years. So we had to do all the bubbles inside, which limited things a little. But it turned out ok anyway. (Our super nice neighbors saved our bacon on this one and brought over towels to cover the floor so that the kids didn't slip too much on the bubble juice and wood floor.)

Wes roasted a pork shoulder for 10 hours the day before and even though I thought we had way too much food, every last morsel of his pork was gone. He was proud! Maybe it will even earn him a green egg!!!

Happy Two Years, Punkin!

Book Love

2011-10-18T22:41:00.000-04:00

I just read my favorite book of the year...so far. I loved it so much that when I inexplicably awoke at 6 a.m. on Saturday morning, I started reading it and couldn't go back to sleep until the other members of my household woke up and demanded breakfast. If you know me at all, you know I can go back to sleep in the morning, particularly Saturday mornings, very easily. So this is high praise for a book.

Unbroken follows the story of Louis Zamperini during World War II. Zamperini had an improbable life from being a social outcast as a kid to running in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Then he became a bombadier on the B24 after WWII broke out. One of the planes he was on crashed into the Pacific and he and two other crew members survived in the open Pacific for 47 days. They were then captured by the Japanese and Louis survived more than two years in really degrading and horrific conditions. I don't think it is going to be too much of a spoiler to tell you that he survived - and, in fact, he is still alive! (Don't you love Google sometimes? I "confirmed" this fact yesterday.)

The book was written by Laura Hillenbrand, who wrote Seabiscuit, another book I really loved. (This sentence is just in case you can't read the subtext of that picture I just inserted above.) I think I liked Unbroken even better than Seabiscuit because it really captured the human spirit and zest for living that Louie Zamperini and his crewmate, Phil (Allen Phillips) had. Despite the extraordinarily trying conditions that they endured, they found ways to nourish their spirits and retain their identities. I found the book very uplifting, but authentic and accessible. The book also made me re-examine some of my personal conclusions I had come to about WWII and America's actions. I had internally condemned the use of the atomic bomb, partly because the end of the war appeared inevitable with the 60+ years of perspective. I felt like the book conveyed just how uncertain everything seemed at the time and the U.S. didn't know if its other options in the war would be successful.

I also feel like I won't be able to watch Shark Week again with the same detached interest. I'll just let that teaser lure all you shark fans in.

I'm not a big fan of war books, but this one really held my interest and was a very fast read. I think honestly I would recommend it to anyone. Do yourself a favor and pick it up!

Brain Development

2011-10-17T23:07:00.000-04:00

Where does the time go? I thought it had only been about a week since my last post and suddenly, it's three weeks later.

Anyway, we've been out enjoying the lovely fall weather. Punkin is changing so much now! She can communicate more than ever before and I'm definitely relishing the larger glimpse into what is going on in her head. One of the things that I'm seeing is a developing sense of humor. I can almost see the the neurons connecting and feeling their way into what is seen as "funny."

Last week we went on a hike in the Shenandoah's about an hour and a half away from us. We were hoping that Punkin would sleep on the ride down because otherwise she was going with no nap for the day. Of course, she was much too excited to sleep and she chattered all the way down. At one point, Wes turned to her and said, "Punkin, 1-2-3...fall asleep!" (We use 1-2-3 to get her to focus on things that we are serious about her doing. Counting for whatever reason connotes seriousness.) She immediately got that Wes was joking about commanding her to fall asleep and she giggled.

An hour later when we were on the trail, I heard her say "1-2-3....fa sleep!" to Wes while she was in the backpack. The joke had totally stuck with her! So then we, of course, repeated it about 30 more times, much to everyone's delight. Well, mostly everyone. (Mostly everyone being Punkin.)

Two nights later I was putting her to bed and she was being a little monkey and didn't want to settle down. Generally, I'll sit with her in her room as long as she lies down in her crib. If she stands up, then I'll tell her I'm going to leave until she lies down. It's pretty effective. So, anyway, she was standing up and jumping around even after I turned the light off. I told her to lie down and then I started to get serious about leaving the room if she didn't lie down. So I started counting: "1-2-3" and she finished "Fa Sleep!" It was so funny and so dead-on that I had a really hard time not laughing. One of my friends told me once that parenthood is a lot of biting your cheeks really hard and I'm starting to truly understand what she meant.

"Wives" Books

2011-09-28T22:52:00.000-04:00

I've had a rash of reading books with "Wives" in the title. If reading two books in a row with Wives in the title qualifies as a rash.

Anyway, I read both "Paris Wife" and "The American Wife" and both were pretty good, although quite different. Both are fictionalized versions of historical figures. I always like historical fiction because I'm entertained and I usually feel like I learn something in the process too. It's a win-win. So here are my most recent two reads.

Paris Wife by Paula McLain is the story of Ernest Hemingway's first wife - the wife who was with him for his early career and for the publication of his first successful book. There are a lot of famous literary characters who waltz through the pages and it was fun to see them from a first person perspective. This book made me feel like I wanted to sit in a cafe on the sidewalk, drink wine, and smoke a cigarette, while discussing the meaning of life. I have to say, however, that at the end, I really did not care for Hemingway personally at all. He seemed like a jerk. I mean, he was a brilliant jerk, but a jerk nonetheless. He would have been terrible as a husband! Terrible! Still I would recommend the book, just for the mood and sense of the time that it conveyed.

When I picked up The American Wife at the library, I confess I had no idea what it was about. I checked it out mostly because it had a pretty cover and Curtis Sittenfeld had written it. I had read "Prep" (Sittenfeld's first book)and found it mostly entertaining. So it turns out that American Wife is a fictionalized version of Laura Bush's life. I would have never checked out the book had I realized this in advance. I'm glad that I didn't know because I really enjoyed the story and found myself much more interested in Laura Bush as a person. I thought Sittenfeld did a good job of relaying the actual and subtle conflicts of the lifetime relationship between Laura and George Bush and how their own personal situation developed. Sometimes looking back at things, it seems like outcomes are foreordained and everyone knows about it well in advance. I thought this book really gave a perspective on a woman who married a guy not knowing what would ultimately happen to him and there was considerable doubt that he would be successful (much less rise to the level of President). I was also completed intrigued by the idea that Laura Bush smoked! Apparently, this is something of a well-kept secret...or not, honestly, I hadn't paid that much attention to news items about the First Later. A few days after reading this book, I learned that an acquaintance of mine had worked at the White House in the W. Bush era and I asked her whether the smoking rumor was true. She got a funny little smile and then said she could neither confirm nor deny this. Ha! So interesting! I love learning about the complexities of people. (I say this like I'm going to go out and be BFFs with Laura Bush or something.) I also read an interview that Curtis Sittenfeld gave about the research she performed in writing the book - Sittenfeld is a self-avowed liberal - and she said she read both Laura Bush's and Hillary Clinton's memoirs and that she enjoyed both far more than she expected. I don't think they will go to the top of my reading list, but I'm pretty sure I will read them some day now.

If you are looking for an Americana piece or even a modern day love story, I think you'll like American Wife. The major downside of the book is that it is so long - like 500+ pages and there are some places where I had to force myself onward, but mostly I found it rewarding.

P.S. This post is for my sister, so she'll have something new to read in blogland.

Shutterfly Love

2011-09-07T22:12:00.000-04:00

I've blogged before about how much I love Shutterfly and they continue to impress! They have recently added some photo book templates that are so cute I want to order them all plain, without even adding pictures! Here's one of my favorites created by Ali Edwards (this pic is from her blog):

You can get to the book on Shutterfly through this link. I hope! If the link doesn't work for you, look in the custom path books - this one is called "Top 10" and it is gorgeous. Now I've just got to figure out what pictures to use.

Things that Really Are Awesome

2011-09-07T22:02:00.001-04:00

I don't know if you've ever read the blog 1000 Awesome Things, but it is a real lift to read. It sounds cheesy, but somehow the author always comes up with little things that are really awesome in daily life.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to buy the 2012 calendar. Awesome!

Punkin's laptop

2011-09-05T23:16:00.000-04:00

We got Punkin a new leapfrog laptop to try and distract her from her incessant desire to play on our laptops. And also to give her a laptop to look at when we are working. It has been surprisingly effective. She says all the words that her laptop says and I think it is so cute. I love how serious and focused she gets.

I have to say that her baby "pretend" laptop might have more RAM than my first computer.

Retail Therapy

2011-09-01T22:55:00.002-04:00

I saw this necklace at J. Crew via Making It Lovely. Tempting for fall. If only I hadn't engaged in so much retail therapy already.

Abeesta!

2011-08-30T08:15:00.002-04:00

Punkin is saying new words every day it seems. I can usually figure out what she is saying, but sometimes they escape me. For example, when she first started saying "airplane" it sounds like "ehh PAY!" Which I misinterpreted to be "happy" until my husband put it all together. (She pointed to a picture of an owl's shadow - long and plane like - in a book and said "eh pay" and he finally realized she was talking about airplaces.)

Lately, she's been saying this completely puzzling thing when she wants something. It sounds like "abeesta" to me. I've tried to review anything that it could be: "a piece of"? Some version of "please"? Bees? None of those seem right. In the interim, however, abeesta (perhaps more properly spelled as "abiesta") has become a family word. It means both hello and good-bye, can be used to celebrate, or as a swear word. Whenever someone says it to you, though, you have to say it back. Like "nameste." Feel free to incorporate into your daily life.

Or use it when you come to our house. We'll know what you are talking about.

Abeesta!

Barn Tag Sales

2011-08-29T22:22:00.001-04:00

I am not the best deal hunter in the world, so I've never really gotten into yard or estate sales. (I get irritable when I drive around for a long time and don't find anything that I'm interested in. I'm told that I don't yet know how to look for the right opportunity, but I feel like I've given it the old college try.) But I also love to find a good deal and I like pieces that are unique. I think I may have found the perfect answer: Barn tag sales! There are these tag sales around here where people have already gone through the trouble of combing through yard and estate sales and pulled the best stuff. Even better, people more talented and dedicated than me have then remade the items into something really cute. All for very reasonable prices!

Punkin and I made our way to a barn tag sale last weekend (i.e. the weekend before Irene). Note to self: Do not ever again take nearly two year old on solo trip to place with nice, cute breakable things. Harrowing experience, even with as many crackers as I could stuff in my purse and juice for distractions.

I saw lots of cute things, although nothing that I was really looking for. What was I looking for? Well, good question. Probably a buffet for our dining room and a bureau for our bedroom that can also function as a tv holder, but I was open. So, I didn't see any of that, but I saw tons of cute things that I would have bought for Punkin if we had any extra space at all. Including, a very cute dresser/armoire:

I also loved, loved, loved this zebra table and I honestly had regrets two days later about not just snapping it up and finding a place for it. Maybe next time.

So reasonably priced too! ($99 for everything.) Way cheaper (and probably better made even though I'm not the one to ask) than PB Kids.
If I had boys, I would be tempted by these:

I think maybe I need to take a trip to Pennsylvania (where this seller is located) to see her everyday store. If you are curious, here's her website: Beans & Buttons

The tag sales are only open every three weeks, so I'll have to wait until mid-September to return. If you are in the DC area, here's the link to the tag sale site: Chartreuse & Co.

I see that Chartreuse offers holiday decorating classes. That would be fun to go to! I bet they have really cool stuff. Even if ultimately not practical. (The sales are about an hour drive from me, so it isn't something I can do all the time.)

Like so many things, visiting the tag sale made me miss my sisters. They would have loved it!

Five Years: An indulgent look back

2011-08-21T18:09:00.000-04:00

Wes and I just celebrated our five year anniversary. It really doesn't seem like it could have been that long already, but it's true! It really feels more like three years (only a small discount on the actual number). As I was thinking about it, I realized how much things had changed.

First of all, our flower girl and two ring bearers looked like this when we got married:

Oh, so tiny! Now they look like this:

You can't really tell how much taller they all have become, but they are so much bigger! (I don't have any of them together because they live so far apart, we all haven't been together since the wedding.)

When I was looking through the wedding pictures, I realized these two guys were just infants:

Now they look like this:

And, of course, we have three arrivals since the wedding, including Punkin, for six grandchildren:

This definitely makes it seem like life has changed a lot since 2006! I've found that having the kids around has helped me appreciate and measure life. Once I reached a certain, although kind of undefinable, age, it just seemed like I was "adult" and then time kind of stopped. Having kids around definitely makes me realize that time is passing and that if I want to experience things, there's no time like the present.

Anyway, back to nostalgia about the wedding. Looking at the pictures made me remember a lot about planning the wedding and lots of fun details, like the favors we gave and how the tables looked.

So many of our family and friends traveled to the wedding to support us. We were so touched and really loved having everyone there. Just looking through the photos of our friends there makes me so happy! I practically want to get married again!! These are just a few.

Jeff, Mary & Tim. Mary & Tim used to live at the Eastern Shore, but moved to New Mexico last year. We have missed them so much! I remember when Mary came with Tim to the wedding, we were all very interested because she was a somewhat new girlfriend. She was so great all weekend - happy, kind, and laid back. She's become a very dear friend!

Katy, Cory & baby Josie. Katy and Cory have two more kids now. All three look like models with big blue eyes and gorgeous hair.

This one really pulls my heartstrings. Coleman and Clinton. Coleman passed away unexpectedly in 2009, leaving his wife and two small children. He was such a great addition to our wedding. I can't believe he came!

In retrospect, being able to look back at the pictures is one of the best things about having a wedding. I was really not sure before my wedding whether the expense and trouble of the wedding would be worth it, but it is seriously one of the best memories of my life. Totally worth it!

I look forward to the next five year mark!

8.11.11 or 30, 40, 50

2011-08-11T08:38:00.001-04:00

Another birthday! Yikes, the years really start to go a lot faster. I'm not embarassed about my age, but because I recently ateended a mandatory security class at work where they freaked me out about how people can steal your identity based on online information, I'm not going to reveal the actual year. But it is a year when I can feel myself starting to contemplate where I go from here. Because the number is definitely not going down.

So I was in the grocery store the other day and I was idly looking at the magazines and one of them was one of those "Look Good at Any Age" covers with three actresses representing the 30s, 40s, and 50s. (No representation from the 20s needed - they all look good then, right?) The 50 year old was Julianne Moore, who honestly looks really good for 50. But if you have been following her career for 30 years like I may or may not have...say, from when she was on the soap opera "As The World Turns," you will know that she definitely does not look as good as she used to. And I'm sure she gets regular laser treatment, botox, and probably massages. Then I realized, with some panic, that if that is right, then my personal window for looking my best is probably even shorter than 10 years. (I won't be 50 in ten years, you personal identity stalkers.) Which means that I think I've arrived at the last good looking ten year window. In my life!

I expressed this concern to my husband and now all he can tell me whenever he sees me is that these are the last ten good years we'll have. Ha ha ha! He is a jokester.

Still though, I'm feeling the need for some self-improvement. It might have been the magazine cover or it might be the fact that my 74 year old neighbor and I both went on hikes on our respective vacations and she: a) did not develop debilitating altitude sickness on said hike and b) went two miles longer with higher elevation than I did. It is time to get with the program!! Once I figure out what the program is, I'll let you know.

In the meantime, I'm going to celebrate today. When my friend Janene died nearly ten years ago, I promised myself that I would celebrate and cherish each subsequent birthday for the privilege that it is. Even if it is also a simultaneous kick in the pants. So have a slice of cake or a raise of the glass for me today! You can celebrate too, I'm good with that.

Dear Anthropologie: You are so confounding

2011-08-10T21:49:00.001-04:00

The Anthropologie ads are so darn cute. It makes me feel like the real world is whimsical and beautiful with everyone eating at Parisian cafes and discussing the importance of art. Unfortunately, when I go to to the Anthropologie store, I feel like that whimsical and beautiful world is only for the really thin people. But it is still so fun to browse.

I love this. I want to buy it for someone! Is anyone traveling somewhere good, so I'll have an excuse?

I love all of these shoes. All of them. Especially because they are flats. I want to buy them all and wear a different pair to work every day. I wear black suits pretty much everyday, so these would go with everything!

They always have clever displays of books. I saw this book when I was in Utah and was so tempted to buy it for Punkin. Anne of Green Gables is one of my very favorites! But then I remembered that I would have to carry it home (and my suitcase was already bulging). Anthropologie apparently sells a whole collection. I'm going to have to consider starting a small collection for Punkin. Wouldn't the books be cute in a little girl's room?

Do you have a favorite at Anthropologie right now?

I think I'm back

2011-08-10T21:34:00.000-04:00

I feel like I'm still internally debating about whether blogging is a good idea for me, but in the process, I came up with a few posts. So perhaps I still have things to say!

The Hardest Day

2011-02-02T07:15:00.012-05:00

Last January

I'm coming up on the one year anniversary of what I like to call "The Hardest Day of My Life" - I like to say this in a very dramatic fashion. Although, I'm not totally joking. The day I returned to work from maternity leave was like ripping my heart out of my body while simultaneously trying to look professional and not cry. I think I mostly accomplished that (well, not the not crying part, but everything else). I'm so glad that was last year and not this year!

This January (doing the actions to Frere Jacques - with food on her hands, naturally)

Growing up, I seriously never imagined I would be a working mom. I thought that I would stay home and take care of my kids. So why did I go to law school and then move to one of the most expensive metro areas in the country? Good question, eh? Still a head scratcher that. Well, life didn't exactly turn out like I had thought and I didn't get married at 25 like I had anticipated and there were lots of other bends in my road. But I found other things (like law school) and had some really fabulous experiences, and it turned out I was actually pretty good at being a lawyer. I don't regret that things turned out the way they did, you know in a Maya-Angelou-wouldn't-take-nothing-for-my-journey-now kind of way. Although I should point out that my journey was actually a lot smoother than Maya Angelou's. Anyway, by the time I had a baby, I was really on a completely different plane than the one I had envisioned for myself a long time ago. So, one of the things that I had to do last year was mourn my stay-at-home dream a little and put it behind me. I've mostly done it. Although sometimes I still have stay at home fantasies. Maybe kind of like how stay at home moms fantasize about having days off too?

I've definitely learned a lot in the last year, including that my kid is ok being cared for people other than me. In fact, she may learn something from it. Things she couldn't get from me. I've learned that just about everything I do as a parent is a trade-off with benefits and detriments. She goes to day care and hangs out with a diverse group of kids and teachers from lots of different cultures and experiences things that I never did and I'm really glad about that. She paints at least once a week and goes to puppet and music shows all the time. I'm sad that it also includes lots of hours away from me, but I also see her thriving in the environment.

One of the most important things I've learned is to respect other mom's (and parents' choices) about their kids and families. I know not all of my friends respected my decision to return to work and privately (or less than privately) passed judgment on that. Honestly, some of that hurt a little. But I also realized that people were judging our decisions on less than the full picture and they didn't know everything about the situation. It's hard to be a parent and there usually isn't a perfect solution to real life situations. There has to be compromises. You can only do the best with what you have and try to give your kid the best foundation you can. I think most parents try and do that...we certainly are trying. And hopefully it will all turn out ok. Maybe not perfect, but good enough. So I'm trying now to give people a break when I can. There are enough judge-y mcjudgersons out there, right?

Good Communication ... and other January events

2011-02-01T22:07:00.000-05:00

Last week, I brought home a play phone for Punkin after a Target run. She was so hilarious with it. She grabbed it and immediately walked around the house with it held to her ear, babbling to it for about 20 minutes. I don't know who she needed to talk to, but she had a lot to say.

Wes and I were so amused, we almost forgot to feed her dinner. (No joke.) I took a funny video of it, but blogger is refusing to post it! Ugh! Here's a blurry photo of it though. Not quite the same.

Also, please don't tell me that she needs a haircut. I know she does. Wes thinks her hair is adorable and won't let me cut it.

After a couple of months of thinking Punkin must be the pickiest eater in the world, we've discovered a few things she likes. The first clue was when she gobbled up Wes's beef stew - and made quite a mess of herself. It turns out that she doesn't like bland baby food. She prefers some spice! It turns out that she also looovves Indian food, which means she will fit in here just fine.

The other development about Punkin is that she is obsessed - seriously OBSESSED - with reading. The first thing she wants to do in the morning is read a book and then she gets mad when we take her downstairs to eat breakfast. She does the same thing at day care, she walks in and goes straight for the books. She'll be happy to have someone read her a book, any time, any where. The result of this is that I constantly have phrases like this running through my head:

"Frank was a monster who wanted to dance. 'I know I could boogie if they gave me a chance.' So he put on his hat and his shoes made in France and opened a jar and put ants in his pants."

"One lonely spider wished to play. Two beetles gasped and ran away."

"And even though they tried their best, it hadn't worked, they were depressed."

Those were totally from memory right now and I just scratched the surface. I'm lucky I haven't added some of these colorful phrases to the briefs I've been writing! (Ha! Wouldn't that be a surprise for some judge!!)

Finally, we got some snow this year. It didn't stop us from talking walks though. We bundled up Punkin in her super warm snow suit from Grandma and put her in the backpack. She loved it.

2010: A Retrospective

2011-01-18T23:10:00.002-05:00

I was reading articles in the blogosphere about new year's and one of them had a project where they asked readers to label the year in one word. I approached Wes with this question for 2010 and his response was: exhausting. Maybe I shouldn't have asked him in the middle of the illness onslaught, eh? I thought of other words: transformation, growth, and hard. 2010 was definitely a challenging year for us in a lot of ways. We've become a lot more this year, but like most growth, it comes with a little pain. Anyway, enough complaining! I thought you might like to see my "best" list for 2010.

Best Book Series:

Hunger Games

My sister gave me this book and told me that I would like it. She then described the plot as a post-modern, post apolcalypse story about a competition for youth that the authoritarian government mandates. I almost handed the book back to her because I thought there was absolutely no way I would like it. She said it was an easy read. So I trusted her and I'm so glad I did! It was great! I flew through the first book and ordered the second and third books within the week. I passed it along to a friend who has similar taste to me in books and also gave her a little synopsis. She was similarly doubtful, but I told her to trust me, she would like it. Two days later she called me to see if I would lend her the other two books. The first book in the series was the best, but if you start it, you will feel compelled to finish all three. They are great beach reads, if you find yourself lucky enough to be at the beach or pool with time on your hands, take all three.

Best Book:

Cutting for Stone

I just loved this book. I have just enough scientific background to make me dangerous (I got my Bachelor's in Biology, but don't remember that much), so the medical information in this book was interesting to me without overkill. The book follows twin boys born of unlikely parents in a medical community in Ethiopia through their coming of age and adult careers. It is a book of redemption, love, and courage. The characters were so real and loveable, even in their faults, that I still find myself thinking of them. At the end of the book, I missed some of them like they were friends.
Best TV show:

Modern Family

Technically, this show started in 2009, but I didn't see it until 2010. I feel like Modern Family got me through the first tough weeks when I started back to work because it made me look forward to Wednesday nights. The characters are so funny and the writing is very fresh. If you haven't watched it, you are missing out!

Best New Discovery:
Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me!

My new discovery is not that this show exists, but the fact that you can subscribe to it for FREE!! on itunes. It is my favorite NPR show and I used to plan my Saturday errands around its airing. Now I can listen to it at my convenience.

If you haven't heard the show, it's a humorous "news quiz" held every week. It is witty, but also, if you listen to it, you can pretty much fudge through any conversation about current events for a week with the snippet of facts you glean from the show. I love it when I am entertained and learn something at the same time! Definitely worth a listen on itunes.

New Music Group:

Mumford & Sons

Thank you XM Radio for finding me great new artists! Mumford & Sons is a British export group that is a combination of folk, rock, blues, and some other stuff. Listen to "Little Lion Man." It won a Grammy. Or maybe another music award. At any rate, it's good.

If you're curious, Wes would say that Ray LaMontagne is his best musical discovery of 2010. A US artist, Ray LaMontagne may be most famous for his cover of "You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me" but he has lots of great songs on his new album God Willing and the Creek Don't Rise.

Best Artistic Realization:

I need a new camera lens

Technically, this realization occurred the first week of 2011, but it had been dawning much of 2010. I got a new camera to take pictures of Punkin and even took a camera class with my sister (online) to draw out my skills. I felt like I understood the principles, but I just couldn't attain the pictures I wanted. I took another class where the teacher told me that my lens was just too slow to do what I was aiming for. It is so great to know it wasn't totally me!!!

Holiday Wrap Up

2011-01-17T13:05:00.000-05:00

All 6 grandkids and the grandparents

I think everyone may be sick of Christmas pictures, but I thought I would post a couple. This year, we went out to Utah for the week before Christmas and the holiday. It was fun to be there before Christmas, but it really put a time crimp in the shopping (as in barely any shopping was accomplished). It was so fun to see Punkin with all of her little cousins. They were all very sweet with her!

One of the best things we did was ski at Alta. I was coming down with a cold, but decided to hit the slopes anyway and I'm so glad I did. It had snowed 13 inches the day before and the conditions were amazing. I always love skiing with Wes because he gets so excited about how many lifts you can take away from the parking lot. (It's much different from skiing near where we live.) Aimee and Micha came with us and it worked perfectly because Aimee and I skiied about the same pace - I'm a solid intermediate and don't want to be anything more - and Micha and Wes could bomb down steep runs. It also worked out for Micha because when Micha crashed and lost a ski, Aimee and I came down after him and could pick his ski out for him. Hiking in powder is like swimming in quicksand! I thought I had pictures, but it turns out I don't. So just imagine really pretty snow pictures here. :)

Punkin and I got really sick on Christmas Eve day. It was kind of terrible - we had to cancel a family picture and a bunch of fun things that we had planned. My family was really nice about it all, but it was hard to be the person who gummed up the works. Poor Punkin had a fever and really couldn't have cared less about Christmas in general. Still it was fun to see all the little kids tear into their presents. We had a house full of all Santa believers, but I think this may be the last year for that. (OK, I tried to add more Punkin pics, but blogger is being really stubborn, so enjoy these below.)

Little Miss O in her Christmas finery

Andrea's boys tear open a package

Andrea and her youngest

This is why I love Micha. You can kind of see how red my nose is here from the cold.

The Sistahs

This is the second year that I've been pretty sick at someone else's house for Christmas. It's not fun and it lead me to start wondering how long we can carry on the traveling Christmas show. Wes and I have traveled every Christmas for over ten years and since we got married, we've been trading off going to each other's parents. Before we had Punkin, it wasn't that big of a deal. But now, it feels like our only tradition is to be at the airport or in the car together. After that, we are just part of someone else's show. Since the holiday, I feel like I've asked every person who has family living away how they handle Christmas. It's hard because nothing really feels right. We can stay home and do our own thing, but then Punkin misses out on seeing the cousins and the grandparents don't get to see her. We can continue to trade off years, but it is exhausting, the logistics are complicated, and we don't have our own traditions. Traveling also had the side effect that Wes and I kind of dread Christmas. But maybe this is more of a grown up thing - maybe no matter what it is complicated and exhausting? I used to love the holiday, but now at Thanksgiving I often wish I could fast forward to January. I want to get some of that fun back. I'm just not sure how. Any ideas?

Tough Sledding

2011-01-17T12:24:00.000-05:00

It's been a really long time since I posted and that is because this is literally the first weekend since I last posted that some family member has not had a terrible virus. Punkin has had five viruses (three cold/flu and two stomach) and then Wes and I have alternated on the viruses we get from her. Luckily, we both haven't caught the same virus at the same time, so one of us has always been able to take care of her while the other one took care of themselves. I also had to face my greatest fear in parenting - vomiting. Punkin has now had two stomach viruses and I got one of them. My sister assured me that when the stomach virus appeared, I wouldn't be so grossed out by the vomiting, but just worried about Punkin. And like so many things, she was right.

Anyway, we are really appreciating our relative health this weekend!

One of my favorite things: Shutterfly!

2010-12-15T00:00:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year when I look forward to getting the mail every day to see the cards coming in. I especially LOVE the cards with pictures!

Planning our card has been one of the bright spots in the holiday for me the last few years. I just checked to be sure, but I've used Shutterfly every year since 2004 for my holiday cards! Every year, they have new designs that have always won me over. Last year, they introduced photo cards with space for your own text inside. I'm a holiday letter writer, so this product was a fabulous development for me. It meant that I didn't have to stuff my holiday letter into 100+ cards! You can check out their huge inventory here. I personally had a hard time selecting between these three.

Shutterfly also has great photo books. I've shopped around quite a bit on these and I think Shutterfly has the best quality for the money. (If you really care, you can check out my previous post on the subject.) Additionally, Shutterfly has features in its programs that provide a lot of flexibility that I haven't found in other products. For example, you can save a lot of pictures (waaaayyy more than you will ever need) to each individual project. This can be really useful when you start developing layouts and decide that you need different pictures than you originally wanted to use. (This happens to me a lot. I don't plan, but instead like to "feel" my layouts!) In my experience, other programs are much more limited in the pictures I can upload to each project and it really limits my ability to design the product I like. I've also recently discovered that the books have the flexibility to include layouts from other sources (like digital scrapbooks), which is awesome. Honestly, though, the Shutterfly layouts have been all that I have ever needed. They've worked with designers like Becky Higgins to create standard layouts for most needs. The photo books are easy peasy! As a last word on this great product, once I've made my photo book, I can send it through Shutterfly to anyone I want and they can view it or even buy it. My sister and I went to NYC last year and I made a book of the trip. I sent it to her via Shutterfly and she opened it, edited it a little and then made her own copy. I mean, seriously, that is true genius.

This year, my sisters and I collaborated on a shutterfly calendar to give my parents (hey mom and dad, I really hope you aren't reading this). (Don't worry, they never read my blog.) The designs they have are so cute! I'm really tempted to do one just for Wes and me. A friend of mine at work made a calendar through Shutterfly with travel photos and it looks like a professional calendar! The shutterfly calendar program also allows you to customize the dates with birthdays and anniversaries. Love it! Their designs range from traditional seasonal to modern and funky. Pretty much, they have everything you need.

This year, I'm going to make more of the every day cards Shutterfly offers. I love the holiday cards, but for the same price as a regular greeting card, I can create individual photo cards for birthdays and other holidays. Now that we have Punkin, I know the grandparents would love this! (Maybe her aunts would too?)

Well, for now, I've got the card pretty much ready to go. Just waiting on a few new addresses. I'm looking forward to seeing all of your cards!

*Disclosure: Shutterfly offered 50 free cards for mentioning them. One more reason to love them! I would tell you where to go so you could get 50 free cards too, but the promotion has already closed.

Happy Thanksgiving, and why you shouldn't take a 1 year old to a restaurant

2010-11-29T23:38:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend. We had a lovely weekend full of being thankful for lots of things, including the opportunity to avoid all the traffic traveling! (After years of traveling to other places for Thanksgiving meals, we are always grateful to avoid the major traveling pack on the Wednesday before and Sat/Sun after. Not that we don't love to see our families!)

Wes, Punkin & I went to one of our favorite restaurants for Thanksgiving dinner. Wes and I were really excited about it because we haven't been out to eat at a nice place in, say, oh about a year. For some reason, we were brave enough to think that it would work out well if only we timed it right. So we booked dinner in between her morning and afternoon naps. Punkin did pretty well to start out with and she looked super stylish in her Thanksgiving threads.

Something happens to you as a parent where you kind of forget how loud your kid is. This definitely happened to me - I guess I've become used to the volume she generates. But I was quickly reminded of it when she started yelling and making noises in the very quiet, plush atmosphere near a childless couple that were enjoying their drinks prior to our arrival. Nothing makes your kid seem louder than being near a really adult couple. Punkin toughed it out for the first course, but by the second course, Wes and I were eating in shifts. One of us would take her for a walk around the lobby while the other inhaled really good food. We didn't have a lot of opportunity to relax and enjoy the meal. We brought Punkin back for a little bit and then she did this trick where she gags herself with her hand (it's something she does kind of frequently and we tell her to stop and she just laughs at us). She doesn't actually gag, but she does produce a quite loud vomiting noise. This noise was particularly pronounced on Thursday and I immediately felt every eyeball on the room on us. That was the end of the dining room for Punkin!

We went over to my friend Stacey's house later that night for desserts and Punkin was thrilled to find other little kids there, who were happy to have someone else to yell with. And we were so thrilled to have parents who were happy to have the kids wear each other out.

This is one holiday where we really had the sense how much life has changed!

Punkin's Celebrations

2010-11-21T11:19:00.000-05:00

We had a little party for Punkin around her birthday with a few friends and neighbors. We kept it pretty simple - just a bbq for the grown ups and kids. One of my friends wisely told me that whatever we did for the first birthday, it was really more about us. So we decided to keep it low key (mostly by making the party really small) and that was really nice.

My favorite part of the party was the cupcake topper I got with Punkin's face in a party hat. I'm sure you could make them yourself on Photoshop, but I bought mine on Etsy. (Love that place!)

I made Punkin her cake and was very curious to see whether she would be a cake smasher. She was a little timid at first, but once she got a taste of the icing, she was very interested! The neighbor kids were happy to help her out with the cake.

On Punkin's actual birthday, I took the day off work and we went for a hike in the Shenandoahs.

It was a particularly beautiful day and the leaves were at peak color.

Wes selected a great trail that is very popular because it has several waterfalls. On a weekend, the trail would be packed, but during the week it was lovely with only a few people. I think Punkin was born at one of the most beautiful times of the year and I kind of envy her birthdate! It was the perfect way to spend the day with her. She loves being outside and was happy all day, even without a nap.

One Year!

2010-11-20T22:58:00.001-05:00

I know I've been a slacker lately, but don't worry, I'll catch you up on everything. First of all, Punkin turned one! What an amazing year it has been watching this little creature grow. We feel so lucky to have her in our lives and we feel more that way every day.

Here's a little montage I put together of all of our fun this year. It's not as good as the one my awesome sister made for us, but it will give you the idea. No country music jokes, please.

Are you happy, Annie? :)

Fall Fun

2010-10-04T22:31:00.000-04:00

Just when I thought Wes's ears would bleed if I said the words "pumpkin patch" out loud again, he suggested that we take some time this weekend to visit a pumpkin farm. Hooray! Wes spent time carefully selecting a farm that actually grew pumpkins and also allowed dogs. He found a gorgeous farm in Delaplane and we drove out Saturday afternoon.

It was a beautiful fall day with bright blue skies, perfect temperatures, and that nice gold autumn light. The farm was located in Virginia just where the mountains begin, so it was very scenic. The farm had a little chicken coop and a pasture with goats. Punkin was extremely interested in the chickens: she stuck her hands in the cage and could have watched them forever. We tried to show her the goats, but she couldn't have cared less. There was a nice little girl who lived at the farm and she went in the chicken coop and picked up a chicken so that Punkin could touch it. I thought Punkin might be a little hesitant, but instead she went straight for the hen's comb! Luckily, the hen was very docile and didn't really care about her comb being touched. I had such a good time just watching Punkin with the hens. (So surprising the things that become fascinating with children!)

We walked around the fields forever debating the relative merits of the pumpkins that we saw. I couldn't decide if I wanted a tall skinny pumpkin or a short fat one, or maybe both? The farm also sold beautiful red colored pumpkins that turned out to be for cooking. I bought a cooking pumpkin just because it was pretty, but maybe I'll try making some pie. (Wes would really be in favor of the pumpkin exercise if it involved pie at the end!)

As I walked around the pumpkin patch, taking pictures of my little girl who I had dressed carefully in her pumpkin picking outfit (she pulled out the bow and mysteriously lost it before we even got to the farm), I looked up and saw every other mother within sight doing the exact same thing. It made me chuckle to myself. Also, every mother was tailed dutifully by a dad who was juggling pumpkins, pulling a wagon, or holding a purse. I want to feel that I'm very individual and not one to go with the crowds, but I think it turns out that I'm not. I'm just like everyone else! Or maybe there is something really bonding about motherhood that makes us all do the same crazy things. Whatever, it's fun!

The End of An Era: No More ATWT

2010-09-20T07:45:00.000-04:00

I heard on the news last week that the soap opera As The World Turns was airing its last episode. It has been years and years since I've watched it, but I was sad to hear it was going off the air.

ATWT had a long legacy in my family. My grandmother watched it, probably from its inception. My mom started viewing it regularly after my grandma died because it made her feel closer to her mom. My sisters and I were brought up on the soap, particularly in the summers. When we were teens and tweens, it was one of our favorite summer vacation activities - we would always watch it at 11 a.m. In the 80's it was particularly good because that is when Meg Ryan, Marisa Tomei, and Julianne Moore were part of the cast.

I haven't watched it in ages. I don't think I've seen an episode since college (not even during maternity leave!). But it still makes me feel sad that it isn't around for me to watch if I need to feel that little bit of intergenerational female bonding. On a practical note, I mentioned the cancellation of the show to my sister and she said she saw it recently and she didn't know who any of the characters were and couldn't follow the stories, so no wonder it didn't make it. I guess we'll have to rely on Modern Family instead!

Weekend Round-Up

2010-09-19T22:13:00.000-04:00

I'm feeling the all too familiar pang of wrapping up a nice weekend and looking at a long workweek ahead. The fall weekends around here are gorgeous and must be savored, in my view.

Earlier this week, I decided that I had to organize myself to get some exercise and socialization in, so I rejoined my women's soccer team and decided to play the game on Saturday. The last time I played was in April 2009, so this was a big adjustment physically for me. I also had other adjustments to make - now I also have to arrange for a babysitter for Punkin because Wes had a tennis match at the same time. It was a little stressful, but it all worked out. Our next door neighbors agreed to watch Punkin, so off I went. My soccer game was fun, but I could not believe how tired and out of shape I was! I'm still hobbling a little today, so I need to get some better conditioning going. The excellent news was that Punkin slept from the minute I put her down at my neighbors until I returned home - almost 3 hours!! Good timing on her part!

Saturday night our friends Tim and Mary and their dog Balmore came out to visit. Tim and Mary have lived on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay and have been one of our favorite places to visit since Wes and I have been married. Mary always cooks some amazing meal and we get to hang out with them in a gorgeous place. The sad news is that Tim and Mary are moving to Santa Fe in the next couple of months, so they came out to see us before they left. Tim and Wes had a lively debate about politics and Mary and I caught up on all the good books we've read, tv shows worth watching, and life in general. We talked for so long over dinner that they ended up staying over last night. It is so rare to have friends like them - where time spent together passes so happily and so quickly!

We took this picture this morning. (They wanted to know whether this event would be blog worthy and I assured them that it would be.) I just want to say for the record that I didn't know ahead of time that we would take a picture, so this is not my favorite picture of me, but I love Tim and Mary so much, I'm posting it anyway. I spent the rest of the day being bummed out that they were leaving and inventing arguments about why it is a bad idea for them to move.

Wes, Punkin, Rodney, and I took a walk this evening and when we returned, we found that one of our good friends had left this on our back porch. Patrick found a bike trailer at a garage sale for $25!!!! What a steal! He knew we were looking for one, so he snagged this one for us. Patrick rocks! I lifted the trailer up for a minute and was surprised by how heavy it is along. Thank goodness Wes is the one who is going to be pulling it!

This is unrelated to the rest of the post, but I just had to mention it. Punkin is doing the funniest and cutest thing now - she'll squint up her eyes when she smiles. Sometimes it is kind of a fake smile, sometimes it means she is really happy, and sometimes she just does it so that we do it back to her. I like it - it reminds me of my family where all of our eyes disappear when we smile. (I'm afraid she does seem to have that trait of mine!) I am just loving her at this age. Although I usually think whatever she is going through is my favorite only for it to be supplanted by whatever thing she does next. So far this has worked out very well. :)

Summer: A Retrospective

2010-09-12T22:37:00.000-04:00

It's been a while, but don't worry, I'll catch you up on everything.

Let's see, I had my birthday celebration in NYC with my two favorite people. (Also, I went to a blogging conference in NYC which was LAME!!! Biggest waste of money ever!)

Punkin got her first subway ride and practiced crawling in Central Park.

We went to the beach with Wes's family. Punkin liked the pool, but not the actual beach. (Too noisy and she refused to put her foot on the sand.)

Then Punkin and I went to Las Vegas. I had a business meeting and Punkin got to see her Utah grandparents and cousins. Win-win! Although 9 hours in flight with a 10 month old by oneself is not the easiest feat on the planet, but honestly, totally worth it to see all my family.

Stay tuned. I've been thinking of a blog post to tell everyone about my summer reading obsession.

The 3 H's

2010-07-23T08:33:00.000-04:00

We're into the time of year I think I most dislike in the east (and/or south). It is when the forecast consists of these three words: hazy, hot, and humid. We've had seriously three full weeks of this now and my patience is running thin. This morning, I seriously thought about driving my car directly to National Airport and jumping on a plane to the mountain west for some good ol' dry air. The weather is more than any human should be expected to bear.

Wes claims that Utah is "too dry" but give me that any day over this humidity! I'm really missing the mountains!

Born Under the Sign of Cancer

2010-07-22T22:06:00.000-04:00

Aimee with Punkin in May

It's my baby sister's birthday today. I still think of her as my baby sister, even though she's 32 today. It used to be that when my next younger sister turned an age, I would always think, "Wait, she can't be that age, that's how old I am." Now it happens when my youngest sister (six years younger!) has a birthday. (Well, almost. I actually don't really feel like I am 32. I just I wish that I were.)

Aimee has been a spark of life in our family since her arrival. I am continually grateful for her friendship as an adult. She has really been a support since Punkin arrived and I can always count on her to listen and help me laugh at a situation. When we were kids, sometimes it seemed like the difference in six years was like the difference in a generation. Happily, time compresses a little as an adult and now, it almost seems like we are nearly the same age. We're also going through some of the same life stages at the same time and it is really fabulous to have a sister to share the journey with.

So, happy happy birthday, Aims! I hope it was a good one!

The Great Baby Carnac

2010-07-22T21:41:00.000-04:00

Punkin has started doing the funniest thing. Whenever we give her a toy or she finds something she likes, she'll take it in both hands and put it on her forehead. It kind of looks like the "Carnac" bit Johnny Carson used to do years ago when he'd put an envelope to his forehead and foretell the answer.

Take a look:

It's like she's trying to read the future of the toy. I wonder what goes on in her mind sometimes. She also likes to do put the tv remote on top of her head, which is a little heavier than most of her toys and has led to a couple of red marks on her forehead. (I try to hide that from her, but she is remarkably proficient at finding and grabbing it.)

In other bathing news, check out how adorable her towel is. (Our neighbors - also dog lovers - gave it to us. One of my favorite baby gifts ever.)

Thanks, Grandma!

2010-07-18T13:05:00.000-04:00

My mom made Punkin a cute new dress that we just got in the mail. I had to try it on her right away. Of course, I think Punkin looks adorable in everything, but I love putting her in something handmade! I just need to find the right barrette now.

Summer Fun

2010-07-11T23:27:00.000-04:00

Oh dear! So much to catch up on! A quote from the Princess Bride keeps running through my head that would be apt: "Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up."

So, here's the download on the last month or so.

We hosted a kickball tournament in our neighborhood and it was a lot of fun. Wes did all the work and his parents came up and did yeoman's work to pull off the event. We think people liked the tournament even though it was literally 100 degrees and super humid. (The headbands were our goofy way of designating teams.)

Punkin is 8 months old! How quickly the time is flying!! She is a little more mobile these days, but mostly gets where she wants to go by rolling there. Her favorite things in the entire world are the tv remote and the ice make on the refrigerator. Why she loves these things is still baffling to us.

We returned to a cabin in the Shenandoahs for a few days before the 4th of July and it was amazing. We were blessed again by cooler weather and even more friends than in years past. It was our first time "camping" with Punkin and she did great, even if her sleep was a little altered by it. She seemed to really love being outside and even started to really like her carrying pack, once she got a little used to it.

The raspberries near our cabin were going nuts and we all enjoyed several bowls of gorgeous wild berries. Incidentally, we think this may have attracted the big black bear that we saw crossing the clearing near our cabin...but don't worry, Rodney literally chased the bear away. That dog is crazy.

After the cabin, we joined our friends Katy and Cory for a few days at Smith Mountain Lake in the middle of Virginia. It was my first time going there and it was really nice.

Katy and Cory used to live in DC until about 4 years ago, when they deserted us for San Diego. Since then, they've had two kids and are expecting a third in November, so a lot has happened since they left. We used to play soccer together and hang out as couples when they lived here, but times have definitely changed for us all! It was a lot of fun to hang out with them for a few days and catch up on everything. Their two kids are completely adorable and they were really sweet with Punkin.

The next few weeks should be a little quieter, so I'm hoping to have more time to post.

Corporette

2010-06-15T09:53:00.000-04:00

I may be late to the game, but I just discovered the Corporette blog last week. It's basically a blog about work appropriate shopping. I love it! They uncover some pretty good deals and occasionally have a discussion about something very light. One topic was whether a summer intern should take her Berkin bag to the office. (My view - NO!) Very entertaining. You should check it out.

Do Yourself a Favor

2010-06-14T08:15:00.000-04:00

And do not be suckered in by the "spa like" extras offered by this razor. I was and I thought it would be great to have gel pads on the razor. I was wrong!! I have not cut my own legs this much since I was in junior high and learning how to shave my legs. I don't know what it is about this razor that invites so many cuts, but it has nicked me a bunch. I thought maybe I was just having a klutzy couple of days, but I'm now nursing my fifth such injury. I'm going back to the old, standard, non-injury prone Venus. Plus, it's cheaper!

The Beautiful Game

2010-06-13T23:33:00.000-04:00

I don't know if you are watching the World Cup at all, but I love a little peak into other countries and their crazy sports fans. I like soccer pretty well, but the spectacle of the World Cup is so much more fascinating to me. This year is especially interesting because the tournament is being held in South Africa, and it was a real stretch for the country to get to a point where it cost host something like this. Even if you aren't a soccer fan, it is worth tuning into a little of the tournament just to see what is going on. I think it accesses the rest of the world in a way that nothing else does. ...Not even the Olympics.

If you haven't seen this Nike Ad for the World Cup, you are missing out. It's almost like a little movie.

Finally, if you hate soccer, you'll enjoy this Simpson's clip. Aaaah, the Simpson's! How are they always so clever?

Tough Week

2010-06-13T23:27:00.000-04:00

The end of last week was rough. Punkin got a cold that turned into the croup and so she was really cranky. On top of that, it turned out that she was teething. So it was a double whammy. The real challenge is that all the infant Tylenol and Motrin have been taken off the shelves because of a manufacturing recall. This means that more people than normal are buying the generic brands, so that's all gone too. I drove to 4 separate stores and couldn't find any baby NSAIDs! Eventually, I found some on Amazon and got free and expedited shipping, so I ordered it. (LOVE Amazon!)

Anyway, Punkin is now the proud owner of two bottom teeth. They are pretty cute, even if we had to endure some pain to get there.

Game Change

2010-06-10T07:12:00.000-04:00

I just finished the book Game Change and I highly recommend it. It was like election coverage but written by People magazine. It was so fascinating to see behind the curtain a little! It has all of these stories about the candidates that we watched for two years, their personal foibles, their triumphs, mistakes, and the turns of history that we all rode.

I actually know one guy who was mentioned in the book (he currently works for the member of Congress that I used to work for) and it turns out he was interviewed for the little piece of information he gives. One of my friends who works on the Hill said the authors really went to pains to make it accurate. The authors cover both the Republican and Democrat candidates with equal candor.

I think no matter your political leanings, if you were interested in 2008 election, you will like the book. It reads as quickly as The Help did for me, but it has the added bonus of making me feel like I actually learned something.

7 months!

2010-06-09T07:02:00.000-04:00

Punkin is a little over 7 months old now and getting cuter by the minute. She still shows no interest in rolling to move or crawling, but seems to want to catapult herself right to walking. She's babbling a lot now and seems to like to say "dadada" the most. I keep promoting "mamama" but so far it isn't really working.

She's tall and heavy, as my arms can attest, but it's been great for sleeping. She still smiles readily and she loves to meet new people. We, of course, think she's the most amazing thing we've ever seen.

Habanero Peppers and Mondays Always Make Me Cry

2010-06-08T22:04:00.000-04:00

We had a super yummy dinner last night - grilled halibut with peach and pepper salsa. The salsa has a habanero pepper in it and after I cut it up, I accidentally touched my eye. The drama that ensued could have been in a sitcom - my eye turned red and wouldn't stop watering, I freaked out and took my contacts out (thus infecting them with the pepper that re-visited me the morning after!) and then accidentally touched my other eye! I had these huge mascara streaks down my face and it felt like it took hours for my eyes to feel normal again. It was horrible. But the salsa was great. I would highly recommend it, even with my mishap.

Here's the recipe.

For the fish
2 T fresh lemon juice
2 T olive oil
1 t paprika
2 garlic cloves minced

Combine in a large shallow glass baking dish. Add halibut (meat side down) and let stand 15 minutes. Remove fish from marinade, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, and grill.

Salsa:

2.5 c coarsely chopped peeled yellow peaches
1 1/3 c chopped red bell pepper (about 1)
1/2 c thinly sliced green onions
1/2 c chopped fresh arugula
1/3 c fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
2 T chopped fresh oregano
1/4 t salt
1 habanero pepper
1 garlic clove, minced

Recipe from June 2010 Cooking Light

Memorial Trip to Utah

2010-06-08T21:38:00.001-04:00

I've been back a week now from my trip to visit my family. I booked my trip only a few weeks after I went back to work from maternity leave and I focused on the trip like a golden shiny reward waiting for me if only I could keep myself employed. It's hard to believe enough time has passed that the trip has come and gone!

It was great to see all my nephews and my niece. They are so cute!

The cousins with my parents

Punkin really enjoyed seeing everyone again and she seemed to have a great time with her cousins. On the last day we were there, all of the cousins (other than Punkin) were sitting at the kids' table at my parents' house. My oldest nephew asked the assembled group, "Who here likes Punkin?" and all the kids enthusiastically raised their hands. It was really cute and funny.

I also had the treat of hanging out with my fabulous sisters, something I can never really get enough of. When I come into town, they drop everything else to spend time with me, which I really appreciate. I also really appreciate their kind husbands who pick up the slack with childcare and endure long evenings at my parents' house so that we can be together.

We also had the added bonus of seeing my aunt and cousins so they could meet Punkin. It was really fun to catch up and hear what was going on with them. I learned, however, that it is a lot harder to participate in the grown up conversation when I have a 7 month old who wants to go to bed.

My sister Andrea introduced Punkin to the joys of the jumper. She found it in the basement and we hooked it up in a doorway. Punkin took to it right away witha joy that I have not seen for previous physical activities. She looked like a chubby legged ballet dancer. It cracked me up to no end.

I had a video of it, but am having problems getting it to post. I'll try and make it work.

An Offering to the Flight Gods

2010-06-08T21:12:00.000-04:00

I flew with Punkin last week to and from Utah for a visit. The way there was terrible! We flew in the afternoon and the flight was completely full, so I had to hold my giant baby the whole way there. She was sleepy and wanted desperately to sleep, but just couldn't get comfortable in our little seat. So instead, she continued these cranky crying spells that made everyone around me (and me) completely miserable. I kept trying to get up and walk with her, but we kept encountering turbulence so the flight attendants would shoo me back to my seat. At the end of the flight, I thought that everyone better enjoy seeing Punkin because that might be the last time I flew with her.

The way home, however, was a different story. We flew in the morning and the flight was full again. I watched as people filed on and kept thinking that my luck would be one of them would take the middle seat between me and the other kind lady in my row. There were a couple exceptionally large individuals that passed by me and somehow went to the row behind me. And then, miracle beyond miracles, the seat next to me was not taken! Punkin fell asleep before take off and I laid her in the seat next to me where she slept peacefully for over an hour. It was like flight heaven.

Next time, I might have to break down and get Punkin her own seat. Technically, I don't have to buy one until she is 24 months, but for the right seat price, it would be worth the investment.

Breaking Free

2010-05-24T07:18:00.001-04:00

Punkin was a swaddled baby from the beginning. It was the best thing - she would settle down immediately when swaddled and learned to sleep like a champ. About a month ago though, she was big enough that we couldn't contain her any longer in the blankets. We still tried to swaddle her, but she seemed to relish busting through our best efforts.

So we adjusted and now just put her down with a blanket covering her. The funny thing is that she's gone from sleeping like a straight jacket patient to sleeping like a starfish. Her arms and legs are about as far away from her body as she can get them. I find her sleeping position to be so funny and oddly touching. I keep sneaking in to watch her sleep and then just smiling to myself. (I'll get over this, right? Otherwise, it's sort of creepy.)

Girls' Weekend

2010-05-23T23:02:00.000-04:00

Wes and Rodney went off on Friday for a week long adventure in the Boundary Waters. Last year, the bean sized Punkin and I went too, but this year a backpacking canoeing trip with a 7 month old just isn't going to happen. So Punkin and I got a girls weekend at home filled with the kinds of things that we just don't do when Wes and Rodney are here.

For starters, we didn't watch any hockey playoff games, even though they were on. This event would seriously never happen when the boys are here. And I like hockey and everything, but a few nights off never hut anyone. Instead, I caught up on all my tv shows on the tivo and it was fabulous! I love sweeps and the season finales were pretty good. Community in particular was very interesting. (Jeff and Annie? I would have never thought it, but I suddenly want to see what will happen in the fall.)

Next, I went to the mall at 5 p.m. on Saturday. Also fabulous! Normally, I would get a lot of grief for taking a trip during prime socializing time, but yesterday it was easy. Although I went to Tysons and was harshly reminded why it is that no one wants to go to the mall on the weekend. I did get lots of errands accomplished that had been weighing on me. I pushed Punkin to the brink to do it, but it was worth it in the end.

I also watched some girly Netflix movies. I was telling my sister about the movies and we were both commenting that our husbands will protest that they are willing to watch these movies with us, but yet somehow when the husbands are around, the movies just never get played. Anyway, I watched "Bright Star" last night about John Keats and Fannie Braune. It was a gorgeous movie that I would watch again with the sound off just to see the beautiful costumes, sets, and dancing again. (I would watch it with the sound on too, but the visuals alone would be completely mesmerizing.) I highly recommend this as a rental, particularly if you like the Jane Austen BBC type films. Today, I keep thinking about wandering around the house wearing an empire waist gown and leaning pensively out of windows, as it seems all nineteenth century English women did. (Actually, I know that isn't true because I also watched this PBS reality show where they made people be the equivalent of nineteenth century servants and most of those people did a lot of work.)

Today, I've been watching "Julie and Julia" on and off while I fold laundry. The little bit I've seen of this film has done two things to me: 1) made me hungry and 2) made me want to blog. So here I am blogging again! :) I also just had some salsa at 10:30. Perhaps this isn't the best show to watch before bedtime. I'm just lucky that I didn't make myself a chocolate cream pie!

Finally, I watched "Away We Go" with Maya Rudolph and Jon Krasinski. It is a very cute, funny, sweet film about expectant parents. I might like it more than most because I can relate a lot to the story line, but I think it would be universally appealing. There is a really hilarious scene with Maggie Ghyllenhal (or however you spell her name). I won't give it away, but if you are a parent who has come across someone who is evangelical about their parenting lifestyle (and who hasn't?), you will really appreciate it. This movies is also a really good rental.

Punkin and I were also very social meeting friends for breakfast and lunch. Punkin also had a little time with her grandparents next door, Cliff and Shirley, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

Tonight, however, it feels a little weird without Wes here. I know he got to Minnesota safely, so I'm glad and I'm sure he's having a great time, but I'll be glad to see him when he gets back. That's the best thing about the little breaks, I think. I get some time to do things, but am doubly glad to see Wes when we're together again.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Rodney's Adventures

2010-05-08T07:15:00.001-04:00

This last week, I had to be on a call at 6:30 a.m. because I was talking to someone in Malaysia. I had no idea how much ahead Malaysia was on time (12 hours!) until I had to organize a conference call with someone there. We tussled for days over which of us would have to be awake very early in the morning, while the other person got the easier evening duty. Finally, I had to cave and sign up for the 6:30 a.m. call.

I took the call at home and I thought I would make things simpler by letting Rodney out so that he couldn't make any noise while I was on the call. Little did I know that there is very interesting wildlife in our backyard at that time of day. I was sitting and participating on the call while looking idly out my back door, when I realized that I hadn't seen Rodney for about 10 minutes. I tried to find the mute button on my phone so that I could whistle for him without interrupting things, but could not find it. Finally, in a panic, I wrote a note to Wes (blissfully sleeping unaware upstairs) that Rodney was gone and I needed him to go look for the dog. I ran upstairs, shook him awake, handed him the note - all while successfully participating in my call, I might add. Wes got up and dressed in seconds flat and ran out the door, whistling for Rodney. As I thought, he had left our yard and Wes couldn't find him. Wes went to scour the neighborhood and I continued working. A few minutes later, Rodney showed up at the back door looking extremely pleased with himself. Wes followed about five minutes later.

So my lessons for this week are: 1) do not schedule early a.m. call for self as cannot be trusted with logic that early in the morning; 2) it appears that, surprisingly, waking Wes with a note may be very effective as compared to previous attempts to wake him through more traditional means; and 3) must locate mute button on phone before scheduling any future calls.

Guess Where We Were Last Week?

2010-05-07T23:37:00.000-04:00

Times Square! Yes, that's right, during the most recent bombing attempt. We tried to cross Times Square to find a restaurant and couldn't quite get there because everything was closed off. At the time, we thought they were shooting a movie or something.

The next day, Wes and his friends did the Five Borough Bike Ride while Punkin and I kicked around town. I had planned on spending a little more time in the Village and Soho, but due to some miscommunication on when I needed to pick up all the cyclists, we ended up hanging around Wall Street for a couple of hours. It was fun to be in the big city though.

I've never had so many people approach me there as I did when Punkin was with me. Everyone wanted to come and say hi and then when she would smile would start entertaining her. It was really funny to see the affect she had on everyone. People are so nice to babies. It has really strengthened my faith in humanity.

Six Months!

2010-05-07T23:17:00.000-04:00

Last week, Punkin turned six months old! Time has really started slipping by. At her sixth month appointment, she was 18.5 lbs and 26.5 inches long. (As one person commented: she's a "healthy" girl.) She's sitting up by herself and can roll over back to front, although she pretty much hates to do that. She's very social and loves to meet new people. She smiles really big at clicking noises, snapping, and whistling. She loves to squeal and explore the soprano in her vocalizations. Overall, she's a very happy baby and really a complete joy.

Don't worry, we've been warned repeatedly not to get over confident by this and think that any future children will be as easy.

Dear Mr. Robin:

2010-04-28T22:46:00.000-04:00

We think you are cute and we sure do like you and your robin buddies, but we have to give you an official warning: our deck umbrella is not your home. We thought it was funny when you started building a nest there in March. Still, we politely moved the branches and leaves you brought and we thought you would get the message. You seemed to understand for a while and you found housing elsewhere. But weeks later, you are back, bringing branches and leaves every day. We've tried to deter you again by moving the beginnings of the nest, but you are more and more persistent. Not only that, but you try to prevent us from coming near the umbrella by flinging yourself against the glass window to the deck. This pains you more than us, we fear, and it doesn't intimidate us in the way that you would hope.

We think you must be trying to attract a really great mate by building her a super cush nest and, you know, it's something we can appreciate. Who hasn't tried to get a bird out of their league from time to time? We like your moxie, we do. But really, we just can't have little baby birds above where we eat during the spring and summer. So please, find a place in any of our surrounding trees or bushes. That's where birds belong. We'll even put out some birdseed for you and your gal pal. Should you find one who will live where you can afford to be.

Sincerely,

The Washingtoniums

Belated Felicitations

2010-04-25T22:13:00.000-04:00

My sister Andrea's birthday was three weeks ago and I've been thinking about this post forever. Despite it being late, I decided I would post it anyway because I've been mulling it over so long.

My traditional post on birthdays is to list out all the little reasons why I love someone, how they make me laugh, make things better and just in general how they are totally great. The problem with this is that, while I still think they are super great, that list doesn't dramatically change from year to year (I mean, the people are consistently great for the same reasons), so I feel like I end up writing the same thing every year. And somehow that same post, while actually authentically felt, appears to be less than sincere just because of the repetition.

So, this year, I thought I would write about some of the things I have learned from my sister. This is by no means a complete list, but some of the ones that stick out in my head.

1- How to Flirt. It's true. You would think that I would have taught her more about this than she taught me because I'm almost three years older, but she was the one who forged ahead on this one. I was a super shy and geeky eighth grader and Andrea was a vivacious and gregarious fifth grader. She really went boy crazy first. Boys would call our house to talk to her when no one was calling to talk to me. Then, when boys finally started calling for me, she would often take the call first and offer them little tidbits about me. (She told one boy that my favorite food was chili and tamales. At the time, this was actually true.) Andrea was always very social with lots of friends. She really taught me a lot about how to be friends with a lot of people. It just seemed to have the biggest effect with boys.

2- How to sleep. Andrea has always been a champion sleeper. (Even as a baby, just ask my mom.) She goes to sleep pretty easily and can sleep through a lot. She also used to do really funny things in her sleep and was the closest that any of us got to sleepwalking. I, on the other hand, was (and still am) a terrible sleeper. I went through this insomnia phase in sixth grade and one of my coping mechanisms was to get into bed with Andrea while she was asleep. For whatever reason, it helped me get to sleep. She never seemed that bothered by it, even though it was basically two kids in a twin bed. That sounds like no way to sleep to me now!

3- How to clean. Andrea was by far the most organized and motivated housekeeper of really anyone in my family. I think I might be the worst. When we shared a room, she would often divide the room in half because she could not take my disorganization on her side. Sometimes, she would just clean up my side. I always really liked that. Today she's still a very good housekeeper - her house always looks amazing. I wish this had rubbed off on me more.

4- How to receive a gift. Andrea is one of the best gift receivers I have ever met. It's an underrated skill if you ask me. It is hard to give a gift when the person you are giving to tries to avoid the gift or brushes it off. When I give Andrea something, she is so appreciative and gracious. I often feel like I have given her the thing she secretly wanted most in the world. It's not an act though - she actually is very good at appreciating the efforts others make for her. It serves her well too - I think it just multiplies the presents she gets!

5- How to be a good mom. Andrea is one of the kindest and most thoughtful moms I know. She will push her own boundaries to give her kids good experiences. She's dressed up as a mascot a few times and visited her son's class just for fun. She had a hard time pushing herself to jump around and carwheel in a character costume, but she did it just to give her son a great experience at school. The first time I ever saw her with her son, I could see a change in her. She was calmer, gentler, and more centered. I've tried to emulate her spirit on this in the last sixth months. And as with so many things, it is harder than it looks.

So, there you have it. Another year for my fabulous little sister. I hope this one is wonderful!

Easter Finery

2010-04-05T07:02:00.002-04:00

Punkin had recovered enough for us to go to our annual Easter dinner at our friend Stacey and Mark's house. It was so fun this year to get her dressed up in a cute Easter dress. I'm just glad that she felt well enough that we could go!

Stacey had prepared her tradition 6 course Italian meal, including her famous pizzagiana, lamb, and antipasto. We were stuffed! Our little group of folks of 5 couples who get together for Easter has grown by four children - and counting - now. This was our fifth Easter celebrating together. We feel so fortunate to have such welcoming and wonderful friends nearby. It really makes living away from family much easier.

The Illness Hazing Begins

2010-04-04T21:53:00.001-04:00

I think it is safe to say that we've officially survived our first childhood illness here. Punkin came down with croup late on Monday night. 2 a.m. to be exact. She awoke with that horrible hacking cough and then would upset herself because she didn't know what was going on, so then she would cry until she hyperventilated. I wasn't scared - I knew what croup was like and I knew what to do (she was already sleeping with the humidifier), but I was really frustrated by the lack of communication avenues I had to convey this to the baby. In the end, I held her in the rocker/recliner so that if she cried, I could comfort her right away. (I'm pretty sure I slept a little that night - I don't think I was awake all night.) Luckily, Wes's parents live close enough that they could drive and be here in a day to help us out. It was really so amazingly helpful to have them here, have them look after Punkin, and also get tons of help on lots of our house projects. We wish we had a bigger house so they could have their own wing and be here more often!

Punkin was out of daycare almost all last week because she was so sick, but she seems to be on the mend. And yes, if you want to know, leaving her with someone else when she was sick - even with my husband and then my excellent and extremely conscientious inlaws - was just about as difficult as the day I left her at all. But we all have survived and perhaps we have even learned some lessons from all of this. I'm so grateful to Wes's parents for making the trip up here and being willing to stay with Punkin. It was such a relief to be able to leave her with someone who I knew would care for her as carefully and lovingly as I would have.

Clothes of Many Colors

2010-03-29T22:39:00.000-04:00

Every few weeks at day care they will feature a color and one day ask us to bring the babies wearing that color. It is pretty cute to see all the kids dressed up. Of course, I have to take a picture of Punkin wearing all of her different clothes.

Here's red:

Blue:

Green (St. Paddy's Day):

And yellow.

Yellow was the hardest and I could only find an outfit that someone had given me for 12 months. Surprisingly, it really wasn't that big on Punkin at all!

But I think all the colors look good on her!

Surprises

2010-03-15T22:46:00.000-04:00

Look what I walked in to find the other day.

Doesn't the picture just say it all? I can only imagine what this little girl will get us to do next.

It's Been That Kind of Day

2010-03-14T23:59:00.000-04:00

This morning I woke up and was getting some things done before we were set to meet some friends for brunch. I was feeding Punkin and watching the news at about 8:30 when I noticed that the news was listing the time as 9:30. Suddently, with a sinking feeling, I realized that it was daylight savings and I had completely forgotten! It is the worst to lose an hour like that. We met our friends, but we were horribly late and it felt like we never caught up today. I feel like I'm totally off on time and Punkin, because she can't read clocks, is still sticking by her original schedule, which is on Eastern Standard time. It looks like it might be a tough week ahead...

But, in a completely unrelated bright note, I saw this sketch on SNL and laughed out loud. If you've been following the news last week, you'll enjoy it.

My New Reason to Love Wednesday Nights

2010-03-10T23:14:00.000-05:00

I've been watching Modern Family since my hairdresser in Utah told me about it when I was there in January. It is one of the best new sitcoms and truly the reason I feel like I can make it to mid-week sometimes. The characters are so funny and the writers create authentic and clever storylines. This week's episode was particularly good: it featured a story about a husband getting back in touch with a high school girlfriend via Facebook.

If you are looking for a good show, check it out on Wednesday nights on ABC.

Four months

2010-03-03T22:32:00.000-05:00

Punkin is four months old! She just had her check up and weighed 15.1 lbs and is now 26.5 inches long. That puts her at 85% for weight and 97% for height. I asked 85% and 97% of what, but apparently there is no real answer for that. My sister said it is 85% and 97% of random kids in Oklahoma. But I digress....

Punkin's 4 month feats include:

Rolling over front to back
Batting at toys
Cooing and babbling
Batting her eyes
Laughing
Bearing weight on her legs (she seems like she wants to stand)
Twisting all of her relatives around her little finger

Her favorite toy is her mobile. She can watch that thing for hours. Well, really 15 minutes at a stretch. I know this because it has a timer and if she makes it through a 15 minute segment, then she's about done.

In the last month, she has really become a lot of fun and is so interactive! Every month seems to go by more quickly.

S-N-O-M-G!! Or, a small reprieve from work. Or, did I miss when we moved to Alaska?

2010-02-10T18:35:00.001-05:00

So we're on our second big snow storm and third cancelled day of work around here. Personally, I think it's great. I love to work from home and take care of Punkin, all while lounging in my pjs. I could do it every day of my life. Wes gets a little more antsy hanging around, but when that happens, he just goes outside to shovel snow.

Here's Rodney on Friday afternoon, when the snow began.

Here he is on Saturday morning after a bunch of snow.

Here's Rodney Saturday night:

Here's Wes this morning with our second storm:

They are reporting that this is the snowiest winter on record for the DC area. We've had more snow than Buffalo, NY this year! Crazy. We just don't have enough plows to go around for this kind of weather. I'm from Utah, but this would be a lot even for the Rockies!

P.S. I have no idea why the formatting is doing this. I keep trying to fix it, but blogger won't respond to my commands. Sorry if you hate the center formatting!

Who Are You Rooting For?

2010-02-07T16:18:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure I care who wins the Superbowl tonight. I like Peyton Manning and think he is funny, but I think I have to go with the Saints because they've never even gone to the Superbowl before. Plus, I worked with Drew Brees's mom once on a case. She was opposing counsel and, actually, kind of crazy, but still. Also, it seems like it would mean a lot to New Orleans. So, I guess I'm cheering for the Saints.

What are you doing for the Superbowl tonight?

Target Shopping

2010-02-07T08:30:00.001-05:00

I saw the cutest dress at Target and was really tempted to buy it. The problem for me is that it isn't exactly nursing friendly, so I deferred. But I keep going back to look at it. It is so spring-y and fun. It's only $40 and for the price, it is really well made, with a full lining. It would be a cute date dress!

It's the Little Things

2010-02-06T17:15:00.000-05:00

Well, I made it through the first week of work. Really, I got off lightly because I only had to go to the office two days when Friday became a snow day. Even those two days were pretty exhausting, but I feel some sense of accomplishment that we just made it through.

There were high notes, even through a couple of long days. Everyone was very nice at work and it was a little like a reunion. My parents sent me flowers, which really cheered me up. Also, a neighbor claimed that she had made too much food for herself and her husband and sent over dinner for us on my first day back. The kind way she offered the food and the sense that someone was watching out for me nearly brought me to tears again, but in a good way. We ate the food for two nights and I don't know when I've ever been so grateful for something. It made me realize how critical those offers of dinner can be to someone in a time of need. Once I have myself in a slightly more efficient place, I'm going to try and offer dinner more frequently to people. It is restorative to the soul and the body!

What Not to Wear

2010-01-31T15:32:00.002-05:00

I've spent plenty of time the last few months watching tv while nursing or holding an almost sleeping baby, so I've had plenty of time to bone up on my favorite shows and sample new ones. My friends and sisters are really in to What Not to Wear, so I gave it a good go this time. But I just can't get into it.

An episode that I watched recently is the prototypical reason why I really can't watch it. Clinton and Stacey picked a woman for a clothes makeover and the woman was very overweight and disproportionately so below her waist. When they reviewed the video tape with the woman, Clinton and Stacey kept pointing out how she was wearing baggy clothes and things that were too large for her. They kept asking her why she was wearing things like that over and over. The woman kept answering that she felt more comfortable in those type of clothes, but the obvious reason was that she was trying to camoflauge a figure flaw. Clinton and Stacey wouldn't let up until this woman cried. It was bad. All I could think is, who cares if she wants to wear baggy tops if it makes her feel better? And, by the way, Stacey, your grey streak in your hair is ugly!

I mean, I'm all for people improving themselves and looking better, but I think maybe this show goes too far. I saw another episode where they were berating this woman for wearing child-like clothes, even though the woman worked in a pediatric ward. 10 minutes in, I thought they should just leave the woman alone because she clearly wanted to wear child-like clothes. Instead, Clinton and Stacey did super corny things like make her tell herself that she looked beautiful and forcing high heels on her.

I dislike What Not to Wear for the same reason I dislike Biggest Loser and many other self-improvement reality shows. It makes it seem like people are only ok if they fall into narrow societal guidelines of what is acceptable. I actually like it when people feel comfortable being outside the norm - it makes things interesting. It would be so boring if everyone felt like they all had to look a certain way.

Chris Rock recently produced the movie "Good Hair" where he looked at the efforts women go through to get their hair looking good. In an interview, he said that the surprising thing for him is how much women put into making their hair look all the same as other women. He pointed out in the interview that white women especially all get their hair dyed nearly the same color blonde, but that he thought the real hair color was more interesting. I thought this perspective was really interesting (especially because I fall victim to it too).

So, I suppose I'm saying - cast off your judgmental Clinton and Stacey and wear whatever you want. Be who you are and if you want to express that through your clothing, fine by me. I'll watch a reality show about that.

New Tunes

2010-01-26T17:09:00.002-05:00

Corinne Bailey Rae finally released an album to follow up her excellent 2006 debut. She took time off after the sudden death of her husband, but luckily she came back.

I heard one song today and thought it was really good. I think I'm going to have to download this from itunes. You can read more and listen to a track here.

Wrapped in Love

2010-01-25T22:41:00.003-05:00

I'm getting Punkin's things ready for day care. Part of what I need to bring are blankets for her to nap in. Luckily, I have plenty of blankets to choose from.

When my mom found out that I was expecting Punkin, she went crazy on making her flannel blankets and beautiful quilts. My sister and my neighbor also made Punkin really beautiful and cozy blankets. My mom said that she wanted Punkin to feel wrapped in love, even long distance. I thought about that this week as I was preparing her things with her special handmade blankets and it gave me a lot of comfort. She'll be wrapped in love no matter where she is.

Adjustments

2010-01-20T17:20:00.002-05:00

Today I took Punkin to see her new day care center and to meet the women who will be caring for her during the day. Punkin did great - she smiled at everyone and was happy to be there. I did not fare as well. I started crying nearly five minutes into the meeting and could barely get myself together by the time I left. This is not in any way because I am concerned about the center or the people who are employed there, it's just that we've spent every day together for the last year or so and this is hard. Far harder than I thought it might be. And Punkin's day care is in my building at work, so I'll get to see her during the day. Imagine if she were somewhere else!!

Our meeting only lasted an hour and then we came home. After I composed myself and Punkin had a nap, we ventured out again and ran into a neighbor who asked how things were going and what Punkin was going to do while I was at work. Tears again. I tried not to cry, but I couldn't. I'm sure my neighbor thinks I'm a complete basket case and, honestly, I feel like I am a little bit. My neighbor was definitely sorry he asked!

I know this is all normal and also a sign that appropriate baby bonding has occurred, but it really stinks. My husband is no help - I just don't think he understands. Maybe this is truly just a female thing. I don't know. At any rate, I'm worried I'm going to spend the next two weeks in tears and spoil the time I have left. Hopefully the anticipation of working will be worse than actually doing it.

So if you see me and I can't talk to you, it's not you, it's that I can't talk to anyone right now. I'm really happy that I invested in waterproof mascara and sunglasses. I just wish I could wear sunglasses all day in the office.

Punkin's First Look at Utah

2010-01-19T18:05:00.009-05:00

Last week, Punkin and I took advantage of my waning maternity leave to visit family in Utah. For at least three weeks before, all I could think about was how stressed I was to take an infant on a plane by myself. The two days before, I could barely do anything but obsess and perseverate on how the plane ride would go. Fortunately, Punkin was an absolute angel on the flight and she slept 90% of the time. It was great!

It was wonderful to see family and especially to have Punkin meet her Aunt Andrea, the aunt she had yet to meet.

She also got to meet all of her Utah cousins and she seemed to especially love that. It was really cute to watch them interact with her. The cousins who can talk are very interested in her.

My parents spent the first two weeks of Punkin's life with her, but both of them said that they would not have recognized Punkin in a baby line-up because she has changed so much. They were really excited to see how interactive she became in 9 weeks.

Just as when we visited Tennessee, Punkin's head rarely hit a bed - she was almost always in someone's arms. I think everyone understands that there is an advantage to being the first grandchild, but I think there is also an advantage to being the end (or close to the end). Punkin is the sixth grandbaby in my family. It seems like everyone has a renewed sense of how fast the small baby stage goes and everyone is also aware that this may be the last chance for a long while to hold a small baby. At any rate, Punkin was universally adored again. It's too bad that babies don't really understand how much love they get at the beginning of life. I mean, they have nothing to compare it to.

I was also very renewed by visiting my family. I've felt like on the whole, Punkin has been a super easy baby and that I've been pleasantly surprised at the relative ease of motherhood thus far, but I think I had been using up more internal reserves than I realized. My sisters and parents were so kind and generous to me and I came home feeling kind of "topped off" in the love department. It is so nice to have such a supportive family, even if they are 3000 miles away!

I wish we could have stayed longer, but it was so great to be able to go at all. Hopefully we'll be back again soon!!

2009 Rewind: The Circle of Life

2010-01-05T22:35:00.007-05:00

I've been thinking a lot about the past year the last few days. Sometimes at the end of the year, it feels like life might be the sum of vacations taken, jobs held, and children maintained. 2009 was definitely different for me than most year. It was profound in many respects, the most obvious being the birth of my daughter. Wes and I got to experience the creation of life first hand and it was a completely fascinating process.

In an unusual turn, it was also a year where we experienced part of the end of life. Three of our friends died this year unexpectedly young, with two leaving small children and families behind. Our friend Ray died in January from stomach cancer, our friend Hans died in May from complications during a routine medical procedure, and our friend Greg died in October from a heart attack. It's always hard to lose friends, but losing them at a time when we were so focused on the beginning of life gave me some unique perspectives. I really found myself thinking about the meaning of life differently and I feel like I have a deeper appreciation for the fleeting joys and trials of daily life. We'll miss Ray, Hans, and Greg. It's still strange not to see them at events and it is heartbreaking to see their families grow up without them.

Because of all these profound changes, I also got to see a great deal of kindness. People were so enormously kind to us while I was pregnant and then so welcoming to Punkin once she came. Strangers in the grocery store told me they were excited for me and neighbors we had never met became friends with us because of the baby. And our friends were phenomenal, some traveling far just to see me while I was pregnant, bringing us meals and sending us the nicest gifts. Our families have been extremely supportive and generous with us from helping us decorate our house to sending us tons of homemade quilts and blankets to visiting with us after Punkin was born. People are still so sweet with her - it is kind of amazing to me. I think babies can bring out the best in people. Even though life has become far more complicated and, as predicted, I am not getting as much sleep as I used to, life is also richer and more vibrant than it was before.

I was also very grateful for a husband who kept us looking forward to adventures big and small. Whether he was leading us through the Boundary Waters or helping us navigate nearby waters, we always had fun and I almost always returned home with a clearer head than when I left. He claims that we are going to do a century bike race this year. I have my doubts, but am not going to rule it out.

With all this in mind, I'm beginning this new year gratefully, thoughtfully, and hopefully. I hope I can keep in mind the perspective I gained during the last year and really remember how much kindness matters. But I also hope that I keep a little of an edge and don't totally devolve into cheesy mommy-ness. Is that possible? Stay tuned.

Holiday Round-Up

2010-01-04T22:44:00.009-05:00

I'm definitely behind the times on posting this, but oh well. I actually became ill over Christmas and spent most of last week recovering, so I'm just now getting up to speed on some things. I started getting sick on Christmas Even and things progressed until I had a full blown infection last Monday that was pretty miserable. (It is the only time I've ever called Wes at work and asked him to come home immediately because I felt terrible.) I'm so grateful for penicillin! 48 hours after I started antibiotics, I felt like a completely different person (i.e. someone who does not feel like they will or want to imminently die). Anyway, feeling rotten pretty much governed my holidays this year, but I think everyone else had a pretty good one.

We traveled to Tennessee to see Wes's family for Christmas. Punkin got tons of attention from her grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins, which she completely enjoyed.

On the way home, we stopped and saw a couple of Wes's high school friends.

I love these girls, they are so funny and they kind of remind me of me and my sisters. They told us about this youtube video and now all Wes and I do is call "sa-curity" on each other when we ask each other for favors. Isn't it funny how one little phrase can end up reminding you of a whole trip? I think I will always associate Christmas 2009 and Bon Qui Qui.

I Love the Winter Weather

2009-12-22T22:29:00.009-05:00

We finally got some real snow here last weekend with a Nor'easter. It dumped 18 inches on us! Like the good East coast person I am, I braved the grocery store the day before the storm (and it was truly like visiting purgatory), so all we had to do on Saturday was sit inside and watch the flakes. Well, Wes shoveled. A lot, actually.

Our neighbors two doors down had a neighborhood Christmas party that night, so we trekked down, ate wonderful food, and listened to our neighbors gush about Punkin. (And how can that be bad?) Our 4 year old next door neighbor was very enthralled with Punkin and kept coming over to her and claiming that Punkin was smiling at her or communicating with her. It was very cute.

We walked back through a snowfall silent street. Our Christmas lights looked really cool in all the snow. I'm so glad that my dad put them up when he was here in October. They would have never made it up otherwise! (I'm putting this picture up so he can see them.)

On Sunday, everyone dug out and our neighborhood had an impromptu bonfire down in the cul-de-sac at the end of the street. We went down and had such a great time. Everyone was outside enjoying the fire, sharing beverages and hamburgers and the kids were running around playing in the snowdrifts and sledding. Then the news came down the wire that school was cancelled the next day and everyone - even the adults - cheered. It is things like this that make me really love our neighborhood - it is very festive and fun!

Don't worry, Punkin was totally wrapped up for the event and basically spent her time snoozing by the fire.

Fans are Amazing

2009-12-21T23:16:00.002-05:00

I'm going to write a longer post about the snowstorm and everything, but first enjoy this little video where Punkin makes a sound other than crying. She loves to look at the fan that is in my bedroom, even when it isn't moving. I don't know why babies are so fascinated by things on the ceiling, but it sure is funny.

In case you were wondering

2009-12-18T10:41:00.003-05:00

I just mailed out my Christmas cards the other day, so most of you should be getting them soon. As I was putting them together, I discovered a typo in the card, but it was too late to correct it. That typo has driven me crazy - I keep thinking about it and even had a dream about it. It has bothered me almost to the point where I didn't send them out. Then I thought I was probably getting too wound up about something dumb. Wes claims that most people won't know (although I know all of you will look for it now). Just so you know - it wasn't that I didn't notice, I was just too slow to fix it!

So aggravating! I love getting Christmas cards, but sending them out almost puts me over the edge.

Fun New Christmas Song

2009-12-16T22:31:00.001-05:00

I love this new song from Sting's latest album. It's not a traditional Christmas song, but has enough traditional feeling to make it feel appropriate.

Things I Have Learned Recently

2009-12-13T23:08:00.004-05:00

My new job does not leave me a lot of time to type with both hands, so I have to make the most of the time I do get. I'm hoping to have a few more substantive posts in soon, but in the meantime, here are some of my takeaways from the last couple of weeks:

The cuter/more expensive the baby outfit, the faster it gets milk or poop on it.

The real baby smell = milk

There is such a thing as a cookie hangover

Babies are huge nap inducers

Anything can be made into a song when necessary

Going off the grid is great

Giveaways

2009-12-02T00:15:00.001-05:00

Tis the season of fun blog giveaways. I almost forgot about it, but then saw DesignMom's giveaways this week. If you know of any others, please let me know! I love to win free stuff!!

Thanksgiving Round-Up

2009-12-01T21:43:00.006-05:00

I'm late on getting to talk about Thanksgiving, but as I have discovered, it takes about 4 times longer to do anything than I anticipate with an infant. But 4 times as fun, so I suppose it all equals out. I hope you all had a nice holiday. Wes, Punkin, and I went to my friend Stacey's house. (Stacey of the Easter feast fame.) Stacey put on her usual amazing spread and had 5 courses: butternut squash soup, antipasta, homemade mushroom ravioli, turkey with all the fixings, and dessert (2 kinds of pie and 4 kinds of cookies). It was truly impressive and extremely delicious. Punkin was a perfect angel and slept the whole seven hours we were there, except for about an hour when she woke up, ate, and then went back to sleep. I've decided that she must love white noise. And her car seat.

The funniest thing that happened was when Stacey held Punkin for a minute during the time she was awake. Stacey has a 2 1/2 year old daughter and when her daughter saw Punkin in her arms, she got really concerned and insisted that Stacey hold her instead. When Stacey complied and passed Punkin on to her husband, her daughter got down and then insisted that her dad hold her!

Mark & Punkin:

Ava gets her way:

Punkin has started to smile a little bit and we think it is nothing short of amazing. I don't know why when my kid starts doing something completely normal, I think it is miraculous and can be transfixed by it for hours. Those parental genes are strong!

This is a little washed out, but you get the idea.

Here's a little video of Punkin enjoying her mobile. She was enjoying it a little more before I got the camera out. I can't figure out how she could already be camera shy, but she must have some sense.

The Miseducation of Infants

2009-11-23T18:50:00.002-05:00

I was using the very cute mobile that some clients got me for Punkin today. It has little animals that spin above her and there are four music selections: Mozart, Bach, Nature, and Pond. I have to note that I'm not sure why Nature and Pond are in separate categories because it seems fairly clear that a pond would be in nature, but whatever.

I selected the "Mozart" button today for the music and a plinky version of a Mozart tune came on, followed by Claire de Lune - the most famous Debussy tune ever. I found this very funny because one would think that if the mobile company is going to allow customers to select music based on composer, there would be at least some adherence to this organization and Debussy would not be in the Mozart category. I mean, Debussy's music is so different from Mozart's! (Different style, different era, different countries...I could go on.) I think the Mozart and Bach tracks are just names the toy company put on the buttons to make parents feel like the toy is really smart. And I don't think there's any real concern that the infant is going to mistake Mozart for Debussy as an adult. I can see, however, a parent hearing Claire de Lune somewhere else and saying, "Mmmmm, Mozart!"

So don't rely on your toy company to help you discern classical music. It's all the same to them!

Adventures in Daytime TV

2009-11-22T07:50:00.003-05:00

When I work, my day has a built in structure once I get myself to the office. Now, my days are very unstructured except for the recurring task of feeding the baby every 2-3 hours (4 if I'm lucky). What this has meant is that I end up watching daytime tv every 3 hours or so and now I can tell time by what program is on tv. Kathy Lee & Hoda or Martha Stewart show mean it is 10 a.m. Bonnie Hunt is on at noon, Ellen at 2, and Oprah at 4. I think my favorite is Bonnie Hunt because she is so funny. I also really enjoy Ellen though - her monologue at the beginning of her show is always very clever and pretty funny.

I didn't think I was that affected by the tv I was watching until I found myself buying "O" magazine this month just because Ellen was on the cover with Oprah. Ellen had run this bit on her show about making an unusual New Year's resolution instead of the same tired old ones everyone always makes. So last year, she decided to campaign for a spot on the Oprah cover. At the time, only Oprah had ever appeared on the cover, so Ellen was going for new ground. Although I never really saw Ellen's campaign, I have since viewed several montages about Ellen's efforts and the summary of them was very funny. (Perhaps funnier than living through them in real time.) Anyway, Oprah finally relented and put Ellen on the cover of this month's magazine. Since then, Ellen has been flacking the heck out of this magazine.

So I bought the magazine. But I have to say that it is pretty good. Ellen is interviewed and contributed a little essay where she is both poignant and amusing. She talked a little bit about how her career seemed at a standstill after she came out and how difficult that was. I really respect her for taking a personal risk and being open and honest about the person she was even if it meant losing the success she had. I'm also glad that her coming out has seemed to increase general public tolerance for the gay and lesbian community.

It is weird to have really informed opinions about daytime television personalities. I feel like maybe I've transformed into a completely different person.

Commentary on Sarah Palin's Book

2009-11-19T15:47:00.003-05:00

I happened to see this on the Colbert report last night and I thought it was hilarious. And spot on.

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

The Word - Grand Old Pity Party

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

U.S. Speedskating