Feeling Sad

I am fortunate. I have a job that allows me to be flexible and spend several hours a day with my son. He's not at daycare all stinkin' day long, only to come home, eat supper, take a bath, and go to bed. My workday is over around 3:00pm.

But still, I hate being away from my son. HATE IT. My heart breaks a little bit every morning when I leave the house before he's even awake. By the time I pick him up and get home, I'm exhausted from working a full 8-hour day, so I don't feel like he's getting the best attention from me. All too often the TV goes on, just because I need to sit down and put my feet up. (I'm a teacher- on my feet most of the time.) He wants to play and run around, but I simply can't do it. Not immediately after getting home.

I hope this will only be for a little while. I'm a mommy and I belong with my son.

I try to be grateful. This job is truly a blessing for my family. But it also stinks.

Thinking About Verbs

I'm thinking about verbs today.

I'm wondering why some verbs are used the way they are.

For example, the verb "take."

Why do we say, "I'm going to take a nap?" It's not like I am going to physically lift up a nap and remove it from it's current location and proceed to relocate it to another place. The same with "take a bath." Uh-oh, watch out, stand guard over your tub, because someone is going to TAKE A BATH!!!

Now the phrase "take a meal" makes sense to me. Particularly if you are actually, physically, taking a meal to someone who is sick or has just had a baby or something. Also the phrase "take a time out" because you are taking TIME away from another task. That's perfectly OK.

Yes. These are the sorts of things I think about during the day. Particularly while I am taking a dump.

ROFL!!!!

A Blog Post In The Making

Good afternoon!

I am looking forward to when Kiddo wakes up from his nap. We have a very important errand to run in preparation of friends over for dinner this evening.

I have to go to the store and buy beer.

We don't need anything else. We did our weekly grocery shopping the other day. I called Hubby to ask if there was anything we needed for tonight's dinner, he mentioned a few things that we needed but said he would stop at the store on the way home and get them.

Except for one, because they need to go in the fridge and get cold.

That's right. Beer.

So I'm going to walk into the grocery store in the afternoon with a toddler, and all I'm going to buy is beer.

I eagerly anticipate the strange looks I am sure I will be receiving from other Grocery Store Patrons and Grocery Store Employees.

How can I make this even better?

Oh, I'll also buy a lottery ticket.

*giggle*

Adventures in Toddlerhood

Last night at 11 pm, Kiddo came out of his room with a distressed look on his face and a strange white substance all over his hair and clothes.

He urgently cried out, "On the floor! On the floor!"

I went into his room, and very eloquently proclaimed, "Oh, s***." Hubby came in after me. This is what we saw. (If you can hang on to the end, it's VERY sweet! Just under 2 minutes.)

In other news, I have been taking Kiddo to a local attraction called "Butterfly World." The place is incredible. Supposedly one of the largest (if not THE largest) butterfly sanctuaries in the country. It's kinda pricey if you only go once, but I purchased an annual pass. (Once you go twice, it has paid for itself. It's been two weeks and I've gone twice. How's that for a bargain?) Anyhoo. Kiddo likes to go in and chase the butterflies, climb up onto the benches, and run across the bridges and go up and down the steps that lead through the garden. He also loves exploring the bug museum. His favorite part however, is the snack bar at the end where he can get a popsicle. (And Mommy can get an iced coffee!) They also sell butterfly plants and seed packets so people can start their own butterfly gardens. I've purchased several seed packets and I've set up a mini-greenhouse in my laundry room which has a very sunny window. I'm hoping in about 3 months or so, I'll have some nice-sized plants to set out in the garden just as our rainy season begins. (Our area is on water restrictions, so I'd rather wait for our daily rains to help the new plants become established. Otherwise I'm limited to twice a week waterings, and new plants need more than that.)

Here is a photo of Kiddo enjoying the "furniture" at Butterfly World. (This photo was taken in the aviary, where there are several species of hummingbirds that flit around like crazy!)



Isn't he just the cutest thing?

Troubled in mind

Thinking about something which could have significant impacts on my family.

This thing would benefit my family greatly, but could possibly hurt a friendship.

You see, the house we are living in right now we are renting. We have a lease/purchase option, and we are scheduled to buy the house next summer. We have already agreed to a price with the landlord- who happens to be a friend of the family. Thus the problem. We have just found out that our city is offering an incentive for people to buy homes in foreclosure. The house across the street from us, with one more bedroom and is waterfront property, is in foreclosure. The city will give you 40% with the promise to stay in the house 5 years. With the city incentive, that effectively means that the house across the street from us would cost us half of what "our" house will cost us.

If we hadn't been friends with the landlord, there would be no trouble. We would just say we had found a better situation and be done with it.

But we ARE friends with the landlord. He really did us a favor by renting us the house, when he could have sold it for a much higher price last year.

What to do?? Continue renting and then buy the house next year, or break our lease with our friend, buy a house NOW and have a mortgage that will be half of what it would be otherwise??!!

Please pray for clarity of mind and wisdom in decision-making.

Thank you.

New Header

Is anyone having trouble with this page loading now that I've put a photo in the header? Please let me know if it looks all wonky.

The photo is of a hibiscus that I am growing in my backyard. I plan to let it get a little bigger in the pot, and then later this spring I will put it in the ground in the butterfly garden I am planning.

That is all.

Have a heart, Mom!

My Valentine's Day has been pretty lousy. Sick child, hubby out of town, numerous instances of toddler bodily fluids spilling all over the place.

So I won't talk about it. Instead, I'll share a humorous anecdote with you.

Kiddo's new favorite snack is Chex Mix in cheddar cheese flavor. (Since some of my readers are international and I don't know if Chex Mix is in your countries, it is a mixture of a breakfast cereal, pretzels, and crackers.) Kiddo and I were sharing a small bowl of Chex Mix.

He found a pretzel. To his little toddler-eyes, it looked like a heart. And he wanted to share his snack with me.

He handed me a pretzel and said, "Mommy, have a heart!"

Awwww.

Michelle Obama ROCKS!

This morning I was watching a TIVO'd episode of Rachael Ray from last week. One of her guests was the man who has been Michelle Obama's hairstylist since she was 18 years old!! Here is what I love about Michelle.

Rather than waste our country's money on flying this gentleman into Washington DC to do her hair, he is going to be training local hairstylists to do Mrs. Obama's styles. I like that! While I'm sure the cost of flying him back and forth really wouldn't be a great deal for the President, I admire the fact that the Obama family recognizes that using resources wastefully is setting a bad example for the rest of the country. I know there was a big outrage regarding the amount of money spent on the inauguration celebrations, but I am still heartened by this.

I'm not sure I would be so strong if I were Michelle. The same hairstylist since 18?? He did her hair for her wedding. And now to be without him during her term as First Lady?

Mrs. Obama, I salute you.

You can see the video of the segment here.

Everyday Moments

This is just a short little snippet of my little boy playing in our backyard with his bestest friend. This is the corner of my yard which is irresistible to two-year old boys.

There is nothing extraordinary, stupendous, or even highly entertaining about it. It's just the sort of moment that gives a mommy's heart pure joy, but it's also the sort of moment that would most likely fade in my memory. So, unwilling to let a piece of my joy fall by the wayside, I recorded it, that I might forever be able to remember my little boy the way he is today. Happy, silly, giggling, and filled with puppy-dog tails.

I was just playing with our new digital camera (we recently replaced our older Kodak EasyShare, as it was dropped a few times and the lens had gone crooked. Plus, Circuit City is going out of business, so we scored an Olympus FE-370, 8-megapixel point-and-shoot for a VERY good deal. Anyhoo. I was just shooting pictures around the house last night for kicks. Hubby was cooking dinner (chicken alfredo pasta!) and the look of the light on the two pots intrigued me. I am very pleased with how well this camera took the picture!

Aweigh! Week 2

Surprisingly, I've had a successful week. I say "surprisingly" because I've been sick all week and only managed to work out once, but I still managed to lose 1.5 pounds. Yippee!!!! (Probably because I've had a pitiful appetite. Not eating will also do the trick.)

But anyway. There ya go. Yay me!

I Hope It's Not Too Late

I have only recently found out about the new law which is to go into effect on February 10th. It is called H.R. 4040, regarding the mandatory testing of children's items for lead and other chemicals. In theory, it is a great idea, but could potentially be devastating to the many people who make and sell handmade children's items. I don't personally make/sell anything like that, but I certainly enjoy purchasing a nice handmade item. Many people are urging us all to write to our Congressman. I have just done so. Here is a copy of the letter I have written: (the only difference is in the letter to him, I used my real name. And his. lol!)

Mr. Congressman,

Good morning. My name is Guinevere Meadow. I am writing in regards to H.R. 4040. I only recently became aware of this new law, and it may be too late for my opinion to do anything one way or the other, but I wanted to express my unhappiness with this law. While I understand and support the idea that we need higher standards to ensure the safety of children's products, I think this law is extreme and is going to hurt many people. For example, a good friend of mine sews cloth diapers, baby slings, and clothing items which she sells to supplement her family's income. I just placed an order online from another stay-at-home mom for a homemade knitted hat to give to a friend for a baby gift. In a matter of a few days, neither of these two women will be able to continue making and selling children's items. It hurts them, and it hurts people like me, who like to use handmade items when possible, but do not possess the skills necessary to produce my own. If I am going to spend money on something for a child, I would rather see that money go into the hands of another young mother like myself than into the pockets of multinational corporations who outsource work, taking away jobs from Americans, just because they can afford to have their products tested. I would like to see this law changed, to protect people like my friend who produce and sell handmade children's items. Is there way to re-word the law, specifying the number of items a company or person must produce, in order to require the testing? If an item is in MASS production, then yes, I think it should be tested. Not, however, a handmade cloth diaper or baby blanket. While I appreciate the dangers of lead poisoning that has occurred in some products, I really don't think that my child is in danger from a hand-knitted hat and scarf, or a wooden playhouse built by a retired grandfather. Please don't punish ALL makers of children's items for the mistakes of a few. Please trust the American people to make wise choices regarding the purchases they make for their children. I do sincerely hope that something can be done that will BOTH protect our children from truly dangerous products, but will also allow people like my friend to make and sell children's items.

Thank you very much for your time.

Sincerely,

Guinevere Meadow

If you haven't already, try and dig up the e-mail address of your Congressman. They want to hear from us. We are the ones who elect them; how can they know what is important to us if we don't speak up???

Happy Thoughts

After yesterday's rant, (which I have now deleted because it could possibly get me into trouble at work) I thought it was high time I put some happy thoughts up here.

Kiddo is growing and changing so much, I can hardly believe it! A few days ago, he started singing "Jesus Loves Me" without any prompting from us, and it was the sweetest, most beautiful thing I ever heard. He also sings along with his lullabye every evening, and it just melts my heart. He also puts his teddy bear to bed! He has fallen in love with a little teddy bear that was mine when I was a little girl. I named this bear "Radar" after Big Bird's teddy bear on Sesame Street, because I just adored Sesame Street as a little girl. Well, he has taken to this bear and now he calls it "Radar" too. I just put him down for his nap. As I covered him with his blanket, he pulled another blanket on top of "Radar," patted Radar's back, and said, "Night, night, Radar. Sweet dreams!"

We seem to have moved into yet the next stage of bedtime drama. Now that he is in a big-boy bed, he has learned that he has free reign of the house during the night. On more than once occasion, I've woken up hearing a door slam and discovering the living room light on. He'll tiptoe across the house, turn on the light, make his way to our room, see that we're asleep, close our bedroom door, and then go back to his room! There was one time that I didn't hear him, I just woke up in the morning and my room was shut and the living room light on, and he was there, fast asleep in his room. Last night, however, he kept coming into our room before we had gone to sleep. We had to take him back to his room 4 times. For our family, we have chosen not to practice co-sleeping, so we don't want him to come into our bed and fall asleep. As tempting as it was to just scoop him up and let him fall asleep with us, we know that it would only result in our having to break the habit later on. It is sweet that he wants to be with us, though. I keep telling myself it will only be a matter of time before he will be all grown up, and I'll be wondering where he is at night, worrying that he has gotten into trouble with some obnoxious kids. So for now, I'm quite happy to continue returning my devoted little son to his own room at night, assured with the knowledge that my little boy loves me to pieces.