Today is Stellina's 3rd birthday!! I went to the toy store today with BieberBear (who came out of the experience with a new toy helicopter, the lucky dog) and we got Stellina a card, Cloudette, and That's not my... coloring book! which I kind of want for myself. So she will get her presents on Thursday when I take her to camp and then I get to hang out with Space Monkey. I guess I am invited to her birthday party on Sunday but it is in Alexandria and it will have many 3-year-olds, so as much as I love Stellina I do not want to add to the chaos. I am thinking about it.
it is also Cleo's birthday (that's a link to Cleo's mom's blog which she hasn't updated in a while, because um... parenting is really hard work) and it is weird to me that I remember being so excited for Cleo's birth and I have seen lots of pictures of her and I still have never met her, but since Stellina is the exact same age, I actually remember the day of Stellina's birth long before I ever knew Stellina.
We had some squash plants but then I weeded around them and it turns out that the weeds were giving them shade and holding water in the soil, so now the squash plants are dead. RIP Squash plants. I do not think that this year we will have a water pipe burst to rescue the squashes, but ... who really knows. I am not super great at keeping plants alive. Over the span of my life, I have about a 75% success rate at keeping plants alive. I'm sorry, squash. Requiescat in pace.
18 July 2011
15 July 2011
Recipe for a delicious snack
Here is a recipe for the snack I made after I was done eating my ditalini pasta with homemade pesto!
Recipe for plum-peach-vanilla yogurt:
Step 1: take out the vanilla yogurt from the fridge that you bought a while ago but you've been too bored by to eat. Pour some of this into a bowl!
Step 2: take out the plum-peach jam that your mommy made from the cupboard and packed in your suitcase the last time you went home, pry open the jar. Spoon a generous amount of this delicion into the yogurt bowl.
Step 3: MIX INGREDIENTS
Step 4: ENJOY
Pairs well with toast coated with a moderately thick layer of plum-peach jam. Also pairs decently with a glass of water and various vitamins and supplements.
Recipe for plum-peach-vanilla yogurt:
Step 1: take out the vanilla yogurt from the fridge that you bought a while ago but you've been too bored by to eat. Pour some of this into a bowl!
Step 2: take out the plum-peach jam that your mommy made from the cupboard and packed in your suitcase the last time you went home, pry open the jar. Spoon a generous amount of this delicion into the yogurt bowl.
Step 3: MIX INGREDIENTS
Step 4: ENJOY
Pairs well with toast coated with a moderately thick layer of plum-peach jam. Also pairs decently with a glass of water and various vitamins and supplements.
03 July 2011
As I surrender unto sleep
Thanks, Eric Whitacre, for the song stuck in my head this morning.
Yesterday I finished a four-day, three-night marathon with BiebzBear. His parents went on vacation, and his other babysitter had him one day, and grandma had him part of another day, but goodness. it is much different to not have a 5pm end-time in sight and instead know that you have three more days. Highly effective birth control. he only woke up once during the night on each of the first two nights, and then slept 11 hours the third night, which was preeeetty excellent.
Then I went straight from there to Stellina and Space Monkey's house! They are great. Space Monkey is huge already, but really he is still pretty tiny. Neither of them had napped, and Stellina had already gotten a bath by the time I got there, so both of them were super exhausted and ready for bed. Of course, bedtime still took an hour and a half, but that's not so bad. Stellina fell asleep either before I left her room, or just after, because when I checked the video monitor, she hadn't moved from the same position she was in when we were singing "Baa Baa, Black Sheep." Space Monkey was up for a little while longer, and we had some good sleep-on-the-shoulder time after he was done with his last bottle. He's just so warm and wiggly and perfect and if you grab his toes and smile at him he breaks into this ginormous grin and spits bubbles. Also as a side note, I really do love the Miracle Blanket. Space Monkey can kick out of the feet bucket but man it makes him calm.
I had a long conversation on Thursday with Stellina and Space Monkey's mama about how we don't know how to have normal, grown-up, intellectual conversations with people anymore. I can think critically about infant and child development, especially now that I am reading all the books, but it is getting harder for me to wrap my brain around certain things now, like explaining how all the things in that Alanis Morissette song aren't actually ironic, and also that race is not a real thing but is just a social construction. There is only so much room in brains! And mine is getting filled up with feeding times, nap coercion, and poop. So that's kind of what's happening with this blog. Sorry.
Remember that Stellina is blognamed Stellina because at 14 months when I met her she loved to walk around the kitchen in counter-clockwise circles? She will be 3 years in 2 weeks and when we went out in the backyard yesterday the first thing she started doing was walking big counter-clockwise circles. Also she can dress herself and speak in whole sentences and peel her own bananas, even though the way she says banana is more like the French word for pineapple (ananas), and I blinked and wonder when that all happened.
Yesterday I finished a four-day, three-night marathon with BiebzBear. His parents went on vacation, and his other babysitter had him one day, and grandma had him part of another day, but goodness. it is much different to not have a 5pm end-time in sight and instead know that you have three more days. Highly effective birth control. he only woke up once during the night on each of the first two nights, and then slept 11 hours the third night, which was preeeetty excellent.
Then I went straight from there to Stellina and Space Monkey's house! They are great. Space Monkey is huge already, but really he is still pretty tiny. Neither of them had napped, and Stellina had already gotten a bath by the time I got there, so both of them were super exhausted and ready for bed. Of course, bedtime still took an hour and a half, but that's not so bad. Stellina fell asleep either before I left her room, or just after, because when I checked the video monitor, she hadn't moved from the same position she was in when we were singing "Baa Baa, Black Sheep." Space Monkey was up for a little while longer, and we had some good sleep-on-the-shoulder time after he was done with his last bottle. He's just so warm and wiggly and perfect and if you grab his toes and smile at him he breaks into this ginormous grin and spits bubbles. Also as a side note, I really do love the Miracle Blanket. Space Monkey can kick out of the feet bucket but man it makes him calm.
I had a long conversation on Thursday with Stellina and Space Monkey's mama about how we don't know how to have normal, grown-up, intellectual conversations with people anymore. I can think critically about infant and child development, especially now that I am reading all the books, but it is getting harder for me to wrap my brain around certain things now, like explaining how all the things in that Alanis Morissette song aren't actually ironic, and also that race is not a real thing but is just a social construction. There is only so much room in brains! And mine is getting filled up with feeding times, nap coercion, and poop. So that's kind of what's happening with this blog. Sorry.
Remember that Stellina is blognamed Stellina because at 14 months when I met her she loved to walk around the kitchen in counter-clockwise circles? She will be 3 years in 2 weeks and when we went out in the backyard yesterday the first thing she started doing was walking big counter-clockwise circles. Also she can dress herself and speak in whole sentences and peel her own bananas, even though the way she says banana is more like the French word for pineapple (ananas), and I blinked and wonder when that all happened.
18 June 2011
What to Expect
I've been reading a lot of toddler books lately, which has been really helpful in understanding how my various kids operate. I don't think I mentioned it, but around the time of my last blog post (I'm delinquent, I know), I looked at BiebzBear and told him "You're not eating any more baby food when I'm here," and he hasn't. It makes things a little more difficult, of course, because damn, those pouches are super convenient when he gets hungry and we're out. Also, it's basically his only source of vegetables and fruits. So, that's a thing we're working on together. We've been trying lots of new things when we go out, which is great. Last week we had a ham-and-scallion scone, and also a peach smoothie, and a little bit of turkey sammich.
The sleep thing is more of an issue than ever. He's been taking bottles of just water to go down for the past month or so, but getting him to go to sleep is almost impossible some days. Even if he is 150% exhausted (like he was on Wednesday, when we went to the Postal Museum, and then took the metro back, and then I got him out of the stroller and he walked the mile from the metro station home), if he knows his mom is home, he stands there in the middle of the crib crying and throwing out his blanket and screaming and falling asleep standing up and then crying more. For hours. And yet, on Tuesdays, when his mom isn't home, he lies down in the crib, and falls asleep within ten minutes. This past week on the screaming days, I gave up after an hour each day, dragged him to sit with me in the rocking chair to look at books, and he was asleep in three minutes. And I have to stay there with him until he falls asleep, because that's what his parents want, even though he screams whether I'm in the room or not.
So:
Crib not comfortable enough?
Hears his mom, who seems to pick the best time for her to noisily prepare her lunch in the kitchen right when I am putting him down, and knows if he cries long enough she'll come in?
Should have been sleep trained and doesn't know how to comfort himself?
Running around is too exciting and now he thinks he doesn't need to nap anymore?
Going down for a nap just a little too late and missing the "window of opportunity?"
All of the above?
Despite the massive battles that are naptime, Bear has become a complete angel all other times, especially when he is well-rested after a nap (SURPRISE). We've been eating outside at Peregrine once a week for a while, which has been great for getting him to try new foods. The other day when we were leaving Safeway, I unbuckled his stroller belt and asked if he wanted to walk home. and he trotted along calmly next to me and held my hand when he felt like it, and of course when we crossed the street, and didn't run in traffic and didn't dawdle all that much at all.
A couple weeks ago when we were getting ready to go out to the playground, I told him that I couldn't carry him up the stairs to go out the front door, because I had to carry the stroller and the stroller is very heavy. So, I would take the stroller up the stairs and then come back and help him walk. I got to the top of the stairs and Bear was halfway up behind me, and since then he's been doing the stairs himself, both up and down. Then the other day, we were leaving for a walk at the same time his mom was leaving for errands, and she said "We've been working on not carrying him up the stairs." and I said, "Oh. Huh. He's been doing the stairs for weeks." and then of course he refused to walk up them because he KNEW since he mom was there she'd carry him, which she eventually did.
I read this book recently called the No Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers, which by the way is a huge bunch of bullshit, I feel, but the author mentioned that scientists say that most babies have the ability to put themselves to sleep by six months of age. She then said that since the majority of parents put their children to sleep up until the school years, it is perfectly normal and okay. She also said that kids all learn to walk and talk at different ages, so it's normal for kids to learn to put themselves to sleep at different ages. Two things with which I have major problems:
1) Most kids learn to walk around one year, give or take a few months. Most kids have a certain number of words and speaking skills by around their second birthday. Pediatricians use these milestones as indicators of healthy growth and development. So saying that a 5 year old in kindergarten that doesn't know how to put herself to sleep is just "falling in the normal spectrum of development, just like walking and talking" is not the same.
2) It's absolute nonsense to compare sleeping to walking and talking, if you're also saying that it's normal for parents to be putting their child to sleep long after pediatricians agree the child has the ability to put itself to sleep. Once a baby can walk, do the parents prevent him from walking? Once a toddler has the ability to talk, do the parents tell her she is not allowed to talk? It's not likely. So, once a child has the ability to put itself to sleep, why not let it?! I find it terribly frustrating.
Citations forthcoming. I let Bear's mom borrow the book and I have to get it back from her so I can return it to the library. Some of the stuff is really interesting, like the idea of making a bedtime chart, or a bedtime story with your child as the main character ("First Susie brushes her teeth! Then she gets her jammies on. Then she reads a story with Daddy, and then she gets in bed, closes her eyes, and goes to sleep until morning."), but not necessarily applicable to the younger toddler. But, a whole lot of her logic is complete garbage.
Anyway, this is all just a fancy way of saying I think that kids should be given the treatment that corresponds with their age, treatment that includes respecting autonomy, and also having certain expectations about actions (cleaning up toys, feeding self, walking instead of carrying). Having Bear an average of 4 times a week now and working really hard on those things has really helped him be better behaved and happier, and I'm much less frustrated, too. Easy for me to do all these things, I get to go home at the end of a day to a house filled with sharp table corners, gate-free stairs, and under-sink cabinets that are full of chemicals and have no locks on the doors.
The sleep thing is more of an issue than ever. He's been taking bottles of just water to go down for the past month or so, but getting him to go to sleep is almost impossible some days. Even if he is 150% exhausted (like he was on Wednesday, when we went to the Postal Museum, and then took the metro back, and then I got him out of the stroller and he walked the mile from the metro station home), if he knows his mom is home, he stands there in the middle of the crib crying and throwing out his blanket and screaming and falling asleep standing up and then crying more. For hours. And yet, on Tuesdays, when his mom isn't home, he lies down in the crib, and falls asleep within ten minutes. This past week on the screaming days, I gave up after an hour each day, dragged him to sit with me in the rocking chair to look at books, and he was asleep in three minutes. And I have to stay there with him until he falls asleep, because that's what his parents want, even though he screams whether I'm in the room or not.
So:
Crib not comfortable enough?
Hears his mom, who seems to pick the best time for her to noisily prepare her lunch in the kitchen right when I am putting him down, and knows if he cries long enough she'll come in?
Should have been sleep trained and doesn't know how to comfort himself?
Running around is too exciting and now he thinks he doesn't need to nap anymore?
Going down for a nap just a little too late and missing the "window of opportunity?"
All of the above?
Despite the massive battles that are naptime, Bear has become a complete angel all other times, especially when he is well-rested after a nap (SURPRISE). We've been eating outside at Peregrine once a week for a while, which has been great for getting him to try new foods. The other day when we were leaving Safeway, I unbuckled his stroller belt and asked if he wanted to walk home. and he trotted along calmly next to me and held my hand when he felt like it, and of course when we crossed the street, and didn't run in traffic and didn't dawdle all that much at all.
A couple weeks ago when we were getting ready to go out to the playground, I told him that I couldn't carry him up the stairs to go out the front door, because I had to carry the stroller and the stroller is very heavy. So, I would take the stroller up the stairs and then come back and help him walk. I got to the top of the stairs and Bear was halfway up behind me, and since then he's been doing the stairs himself, both up and down. Then the other day, we were leaving for a walk at the same time his mom was leaving for errands, and she said "We've been working on not carrying him up the stairs." and I said, "Oh. Huh. He's been doing the stairs for weeks." and then of course he refused to walk up them because he KNEW since he mom was there she'd carry him, which she eventually did.
I read this book recently called the No Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers, which by the way is a huge bunch of bullshit, I feel, but the author mentioned that scientists say that most babies have the ability to put themselves to sleep by six months of age. She then said that since the majority of parents put their children to sleep up until the school years, it is perfectly normal and okay. She also said that kids all learn to walk and talk at different ages, so it's normal for kids to learn to put themselves to sleep at different ages. Two things with which I have major problems:
1) Most kids learn to walk around one year, give or take a few months. Most kids have a certain number of words and speaking skills by around their second birthday. Pediatricians use these milestones as indicators of healthy growth and development. So saying that a 5 year old in kindergarten that doesn't know how to put herself to sleep is just "falling in the normal spectrum of development, just like walking and talking" is not the same.
2) It's absolute nonsense to compare sleeping to walking and talking, if you're also saying that it's normal for parents to be putting their child to sleep long after pediatricians agree the child has the ability to put itself to sleep. Once a baby can walk, do the parents prevent him from walking? Once a toddler has the ability to talk, do the parents tell her she is not allowed to talk? It's not likely. So, once a child has the ability to put itself to sleep, why not let it?! I find it terribly frustrating.
Citations forthcoming. I let Bear's mom borrow the book and I have to get it back from her so I can return it to the library. Some of the stuff is really interesting, like the idea of making a bedtime chart, or a bedtime story with your child as the main character ("First Susie brushes her teeth! Then she gets her jammies on. Then she reads a story with Daddy, and then she gets in bed, closes her eyes, and goes to sleep until morning."), but not necessarily applicable to the younger toddler. But, a whole lot of her logic is complete garbage.
Anyway, this is all just a fancy way of saying I think that kids should be given the treatment that corresponds with their age, treatment that includes respecting autonomy, and also having certain expectations about actions (cleaning up toys, feeding self, walking instead of carrying). Having Bear an average of 4 times a week now and working really hard on those things has really helped him be better behaved and happier, and I'm much less frustrated, too. Easy for me to do all these things, I get to go home at the end of a day to a house filled with sharp table corners, gate-free stairs, and under-sink cabinets that are full of chemicals and have no locks on the doors.
11 May 2011
a treatise on toddler sleep and helicopter parenting
It is May! Today I ate a banana. I learned that it is sad to ruin your fancy $4 delicious latte by accidentally dumping way too much sugar in it. I find the smell of carrot juice borderline revolting.
Okay, that's out of the way.
Tonight is my last night with Dave Jr, which is sad, but also great, because I am so tired of traipsing all the way across town for an hour for what usually ends up being $50 and then traipsing all the way back for an hour. Instead I am going to have Biebzbear all day Wednesdays from now on, in addition to all day Mondays and Tuesdays, and every other Sunday night, and the occasional date night. So really I am making more money and not going insane.
I am coming to understand Bear's parents, and therefore Bear, a little better. So, Bear still takes a bottle to go down for sleeping times, and is not putting himself to sleep. So, I have been giving him his bottle in the glider, and then putting him in his crib awake but drowsy, and then rubbing his back 'til he falls asleep for at least 5 months, and lately he's started actively trying to keep himself awake by wiggling his feet, even if his eyes are slamming shut like nobody's business. It took him until 9:30pm to go to sleep last Tuesday evening, so I kind of casually asked Bear's mom if they have a plan to teach him how to sleep on his own. She agreed that they need to do something differently, because he has been giving them trouble, too, both for naps and night time.
Sunday night they told me, "so we're not really spending much time rocking him after he finishes his bottle..." and then explained that they are giving him not 8oz that I have been giving him, but 16oz of whole milk, while in the glider, and then burping him, then standing up and rocking him in their arms until he falls asleep, then putting him in his crib, at which point he wakes up a little, so they rub his back until he falls back asleep. Yes, they are burping an 18-month-old. I understand that burping is totally a bonding thing, sure! go ahead, burp your baby as long as you want! but I genuinely believe that this is the parents not wanting their baby to grow up, and so unconsciously pretending that he isn't. He's not a baby anymore, he's a toddler. yes, he still wears a diaper, and he's not talking yet, but the dude is almost three feet tall, and is already 30+ pounds.
I don't want to tell his parents that they're doing anything wrong, because, well, they're not. they should raise Bear however they see fit, and if that means giving him a bottle and rubbing his back until he falls asleep on the night of his senior prom, go ahead (ohhh I'm a bitch). I'm worried that they don't realize that he doesn't need these things, like bottles and baby food, and that they don't realize that everyone's lives would be happier without those things. I'm not going to be the one to sleep train him, that is not my place or my job, and it's going to have to be his parents doing it anyway.
But I have started doing things that will hopefully make it easier when his parents are ready. Instead of giving him 8oz of whole milk to go down for his nap, I cut 2oz of whole milk with 6oz of water, which he has been drinking 3oz of (probably because he thinks it's disgusting) and then going to sleep just fine. My goal is to get him eventually to straight water in a bottle, then move to a sippy cup. We've been doing a routine of the same four books before every naptime, and I've been working on telling him "It's time to go to sleep now," which I know he understands.
People keep telling me "oh you're going to be the best mom ever because you know so much." Yes, I read parenting blogs and books and all that, and when it comes to things like sleep training, I will understand generally how to do it and when to do it and why to do it better than someone who has had no experience with babies ever. But I am afraid of putting FutureSpawn into a little box of "you have to be sleep trained by x month" and "you will not receive bottles after y week because this is what I read in a book and also my experience with z baby" and I don't think that's right either. Since I have never been an amateur parent (I joke that I am a professional parent), I think it is probably very difficult to find the perfect balance of advice vs trial and error. So, FutureSpawn, I'm sorry, but I'll try my best.
Okay, that's out of the way.
Tonight is my last night with Dave Jr, which is sad, but also great, because I am so tired of traipsing all the way across town for an hour for what usually ends up being $50 and then traipsing all the way back for an hour. Instead I am going to have Biebzbear all day Wednesdays from now on, in addition to all day Mondays and Tuesdays, and every other Sunday night, and the occasional date night. So really I am making more money and not going insane.
I am coming to understand Bear's parents, and therefore Bear, a little better. So, Bear still takes a bottle to go down for sleeping times, and is not putting himself to sleep. So, I have been giving him his bottle in the glider, and then putting him in his crib awake but drowsy, and then rubbing his back 'til he falls asleep for at least 5 months, and lately he's started actively trying to keep himself awake by wiggling his feet, even if his eyes are slamming shut like nobody's business. It took him until 9:30pm to go to sleep last Tuesday evening, so I kind of casually asked Bear's mom if they have a plan to teach him how to sleep on his own. She agreed that they need to do something differently, because he has been giving them trouble, too, both for naps and night time.
Sunday night they told me, "so we're not really spending much time rocking him after he finishes his bottle..." and then explained that they are giving him not 8oz that I have been giving him, but 16oz of whole milk, while in the glider, and then burping him, then standing up and rocking him in their arms until he falls asleep, then putting him in his crib, at which point he wakes up a little, so they rub his back until he falls back asleep. Yes, they are burping an 18-month-old. I understand that burping is totally a bonding thing, sure! go ahead, burp your baby as long as you want! but I genuinely believe that this is the parents not wanting their baby to grow up, and so unconsciously pretending that he isn't. He's not a baby anymore, he's a toddler. yes, he still wears a diaper, and he's not talking yet, but the dude is almost three feet tall, and is already 30+ pounds.
I don't want to tell his parents that they're doing anything wrong, because, well, they're not. they should raise Bear however they see fit, and if that means giving him a bottle and rubbing his back until he falls asleep on the night of his senior prom, go ahead (ohhh I'm a bitch). I'm worried that they don't realize that he doesn't need these things, like bottles and baby food, and that they don't realize that everyone's lives would be happier without those things. I'm not going to be the one to sleep train him, that is not my place or my job, and it's going to have to be his parents doing it anyway.
But I have started doing things that will hopefully make it easier when his parents are ready. Instead of giving him 8oz of whole milk to go down for his nap, I cut 2oz of whole milk with 6oz of water, which he has been drinking 3oz of (probably because he thinks it's disgusting) and then going to sleep just fine. My goal is to get him eventually to straight water in a bottle, then move to a sippy cup. We've been doing a routine of the same four books before every naptime, and I've been working on telling him "It's time to go to sleep now," which I know he understands.
People keep telling me "oh you're going to be the best mom ever because you know so much." Yes, I read parenting blogs and books and all that, and when it comes to things like sleep training, I will understand generally how to do it and when to do it and why to do it better than someone who has had no experience with babies ever. But I am afraid of putting FutureSpawn into a little box of "you have to be sleep trained by x month" and "you will not receive bottles after y week because this is what I read in a book and also my experience with z baby" and I don't think that's right either. Since I have never been an amateur parent (I joke that I am a professional parent), I think it is probably very difficult to find the perfect balance of advice vs trial and error. So, FutureSpawn, I'm sorry, but I'll try my best.
25 April 2011
Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!
So, seeing as how Lent is over, it's time to analyze how LP'oh11 went! The goal was to exercise at least a little bit every day, but since Lent doesn't include Sundays, that really means 6 days a week. If you count walking at least half a mile, which I think is legitimate, I probably averaged about 5 days a week, so that's pretty good!
I'm not going to lie, HealthMonth is probably the only reason I really did much of anything this month. It's amazing how motivated I am to do something just to get points that don't mean anything at all. It also helps me understand the appeal of 4square, I think. when I questioned its purpose one night about 11 months ago, someone told me "BUT YOU GET POINTS!" which I thought was dumb at the time, but now all I want is points points and fruits fruits.
Giant thunderstorm last night. The kind that sets off car alarms and pours down an Oregon week's worth of rain in 15 minutes.
Speaking of Oregon, in 3 weeks (so soon!) I am going there for 9 days. I am really getting excited even though it is going to be so chaotic - I don't really have anyone to take care of my cats, since last time I went home and left them in the care of my roommates, I came back a week later and they had no water, too much food, and their litterbox hadn't been cleaned the whole time I was gone. so I guess I might try to board them but that will be so expensive, on top of the $900 I am paying off on my credit card for the plane tickets.
For some reason I am really excited to go to Astoria this time. I am usually not at all excited because I don't really know anyone there anymore, but all I want to do is go see Peter Iredale and walk around in the rain and pick up earthworms and maybe even sneak out to Camp Kiwanilong and just kind of stare longingly at the locked gate. I was watching over Capital R's shoulder the other day while he was watching a YouTube about where is Chunk from the Goonies now (he's an entertainment lawyer because he couldn't act anymore once he grew up and got hot) and they of course showed clips of the Goonies and I got whiny looking at all the fog and trees.
Today is hot and muggy and started off miserably, but BiebzBear and I went to Peregrine and got a yummy brioche roll to share and a delicious latte for not sharing. Then we went to the park which I was dreading because in recent times Bear has been known to throw himself bodily into the mud, of which there is plenty, post-thunderstorm. But he did such a good job! This time all he wanted to do was go up and down the stairs on the play structure and play with the cars that some other kids brought, and he was fantastic at sharing and gave the cars back when I said it was time to go. Also he is starting to talk! He says "Haaww" when I am complaining about how hot it is, and I think he is determining when to say "more" versus when to say "again" and I swear I've heard him say "all done" and "blue" and "thank you." He does say "again" when he wants to read a book, I think for him it kind of means "please do this right now!" as well as "please do this one more time right now!" Anyway him talking is going to start making my life easier, I think.
I had the three horsechildren of the apocalypse for several hours on Friday, and while Captain Bananio napped, Zannah and Prince Phillip watched Sleeping Beauty so for a little bit it was just like old times. Captain Bananio, while the same age as Stellina, is much less comprehensible, but his clearest complete sentence is "HE PUNCHED ME" which I think says something about being the youngest of three.
I've just finished re-reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, but haven't yet re-started Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, so I am currently nursing a sore spot in my heart over the events on the astronomy tower.
I'm not going to lie, HealthMonth is probably the only reason I really did much of anything this month. It's amazing how motivated I am to do something just to get points that don't mean anything at all. It also helps me understand the appeal of 4square, I think. when I questioned its purpose one night about 11 months ago, someone told me "BUT YOU GET POINTS!" which I thought was dumb at the time, but now all I want is points points and fruits fruits.
Giant thunderstorm last night. The kind that sets off car alarms and pours down an Oregon week's worth of rain in 15 minutes.
Speaking of Oregon, in 3 weeks (so soon!) I am going there for 9 days. I am really getting excited even though it is going to be so chaotic - I don't really have anyone to take care of my cats, since last time I went home and left them in the care of my roommates, I came back a week later and they had no water, too much food, and their litterbox hadn't been cleaned the whole time I was gone. so I guess I might try to board them but that will be so expensive, on top of the $900 I am paying off on my credit card for the plane tickets.
For some reason I am really excited to go to Astoria this time. I am usually not at all excited because I don't really know anyone there anymore, but all I want to do is go see Peter Iredale and walk around in the rain and pick up earthworms and maybe even sneak out to Camp Kiwanilong and just kind of stare longingly at the locked gate. I was watching over Capital R's shoulder the other day while he was watching a YouTube about where is Chunk from the Goonies now (he's an entertainment lawyer because he couldn't act anymore once he grew up and got hot) and they of course showed clips of the Goonies and I got whiny looking at all the fog and trees.
Today is hot and muggy and started off miserably, but BiebzBear and I went to Peregrine and got a yummy brioche roll to share and a delicious latte for not sharing. Then we went to the park which I was dreading because in recent times Bear has been known to throw himself bodily into the mud, of which there is plenty, post-thunderstorm. But he did such a good job! This time all he wanted to do was go up and down the stairs on the play structure and play with the cars that some other kids brought, and he was fantastic at sharing and gave the cars back when I said it was time to go. Also he is starting to talk! He says "Haaww" when I am complaining about how hot it is, and I think he is determining when to say "more" versus when to say "again" and I swear I've heard him say "all done" and "blue" and "thank you." He does say "again" when he wants to read a book, I think for him it kind of means "please do this right now!" as well as "please do this one more time right now!" Anyway him talking is going to start making my life easier, I think.
I had the three horsechildren of the apocalypse for several hours on Friday, and while Captain Bananio napped, Zannah and Prince Phillip watched Sleeping Beauty so for a little bit it was just like old times. Captain Bananio, while the same age as Stellina, is much less comprehensible, but his clearest complete sentence is "HE PUNCHED ME" which I think says something about being the youngest of three.
I've just finished re-reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, but haven't yet re-started Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, so I am currently nursing a sore spot in my heart over the events on the astronomy tower.
21 April 2011
Schnappi schnappi schnapp.
I've introduced BiebzBear to Schnappi, which we have been watching 4+ times a day. he has been so whiny lately to go outside but because he likes to throw himself off of stairs and other tall things, trips outside are still kind of stressful for me, so I try to manage them accordingly.
The gym is kicking me soundly in the butt. Three weeks ago I went to a zumba class for the first time, and while I almost died in the first five minutes (seriously I looked at the clock and assumed 30 minutes had passed, but it had been FIVE minutes), I loved the teacher and was psyched to come back the following week. But then there was a substitute teacher! who sucked and I don't like his style at all, and he said that the regular teacher would be back but then she hasn't been back, the sub was there yesterday. boo. Anyway also my gym offers 15-minute ab classes every 45 minutes during peak hours, and on Tuesday I was all, "oh I'll do that it's only 15 minutes it can't be so bad." but then it was actually really really REALLY difficult. I still haven't been able to get my abs to relax, but at least they weren't in pain for the first 18 hours or so. But I got it in my head that even though I was still feeling the burn from Tuesday evening's ab class, I'd go to zumba at noon on Wednesday. The class taught by the sub is maybe a third of the workout that the regular teacher provides, so, I figured I would be fine.
I have never ever been able to say "I hurt in places I didn't even know I had" until now. My obliques light on fire every time I move any part of my body. What I can clearly identify as my teres major and lats are all "um don't do that" when I think about lifting my arms. I could barely sleep at all last night, because every time I would get stiff and have to move, which was more often than normal, the fire pain woke me up. it did not occur to me to take advil until this morning, somehow. so, I guess I learned my lesson about underestimating my gym and overestimating how much my body can do.
Last night I was craving Mongolian grill more than almost anything in the world, and so I went to the new place on my street. It was fine but it was $12 and NOT unlimited and didn't have water chestnuts.
omg I just sneezed and I think I've blown away the analgesic effects completely because everything is on fire again
The gym is kicking me soundly in the butt. Three weeks ago I went to a zumba class for the first time, and while I almost died in the first five minutes (seriously I looked at the clock and assumed 30 minutes had passed, but it had been FIVE minutes), I loved the teacher and was psyched to come back the following week. But then there was a substitute teacher! who sucked and I don't like his style at all, and he said that the regular teacher would be back but then she hasn't been back, the sub was there yesterday. boo. Anyway also my gym offers 15-minute ab classes every 45 minutes during peak hours, and on Tuesday I was all, "oh I'll do that it's only 15 minutes it can't be so bad." but then it was actually really really REALLY difficult. I still haven't been able to get my abs to relax, but at least they weren't in pain for the first 18 hours or so. But I got it in my head that even though I was still feeling the burn from Tuesday evening's ab class, I'd go to zumba at noon on Wednesday. The class taught by the sub is maybe a third of the workout that the regular teacher provides, so, I figured I would be fine.
I have never ever been able to say "I hurt in places I didn't even know I had" until now. My obliques light on fire every time I move any part of my body. What I can clearly identify as my teres major and lats are all "um don't do that" when I think about lifting my arms. I could barely sleep at all last night, because every time I would get stiff and have to move, which was more often than normal, the fire pain woke me up. it did not occur to me to take advil until this morning, somehow. so, I guess I learned my lesson about underestimating my gym and overestimating how much my body can do.
Last night I was craving Mongolian grill more than almost anything in the world, and so I went to the new place on my street. It was fine but it was $12 and NOT unlimited and didn't have water chestnuts.
omg I just sneezed and I think I've blown away the analgesic effects completely because everything is on fire again
05 April 2011
Tuesday?? more like boooo-day
I guess some days are just tired days. Yesterday was 86 and sunny, and then it thunderstormed all night and has been miserable today, and I have absolutely no energy or happy.
Yesterday Bear had a pediatrician appointment for his appx-18-month checkup, and even though he got vaccinated he was not tired, and then today it took me almost an hour to get him down for his nap. I had just been telling BiebzBear's dad on Sunday that it has been a few months since I've had trouble putting Bear down.
I met up with Stellina and Space Monkey and their mom at the park yesterday so I could help with dinner, bath, and bed while their dad is in trial and working late. It really was a team effort. Chocolate milk went everywhere during dinner, toys did not pick themselves up, hardcover books were waved around far too close to Space Monkey's head. I am now completely convinced that I put Stellina in the wrong pull-up for bedtime, even though her mom put out the correct kind for overnight. It was all just kind of a blur of trying to get Stellina to bed without having a screaming fit while tiny Monkey was having a screaming fit. For some reason I have been second-guessing my pull-up selection since I left their house.
After my hour and a half at the gym last night, I went home and was out before 11:30, and didn't wake up to my beeping alarm until 8:37, which is exactly 8 minutes before I need to leave to get to Bear's house on time. I have been trying to wake up ever since and it has not been successful. Unfortunately it is too rainy to take the Bear outside to get coffee and donuts.
I will have to think of something.
Yesterday Bear had a pediatrician appointment for his appx-18-month checkup, and even though he got vaccinated he was not tired, and then today it took me almost an hour to get him down for his nap. I had just been telling BiebzBear's dad on Sunday that it has been a few months since I've had trouble putting Bear down.
I met up with Stellina and Space Monkey and their mom at the park yesterday so I could help with dinner, bath, and bed while their dad is in trial and working late. It really was a team effort. Chocolate milk went everywhere during dinner, toys did not pick themselves up, hardcover books were waved around far too close to Space Monkey's head. I am now completely convinced that I put Stellina in the wrong pull-up for bedtime, even though her mom put out the correct kind for overnight. It was all just kind of a blur of trying to get Stellina to bed without having a screaming fit while tiny Monkey was having a screaming fit. For some reason I have been second-guessing my pull-up selection since I left their house.
After my hour and a half at the gym last night, I went home and was out before 11:30, and didn't wake up to my beeping alarm until 8:37, which is exactly 8 minutes before I need to leave to get to Bear's house on time. I have been trying to wake up ever since and it has not been successful. Unfortunately it is too rainy to take the Bear outside to get coffee and donuts.
I will have to think of something.
01 April 2011
Yebben Ate Nine
April! I joined a gym yesterday, that is a new thing! And then I promptly left my ID there. Cat bath karma, curse you!
Then I was almost 30 minutes late to Bee's house this morning, about which I feel terrible. Traffic sucks. Bee and I made Play-doh cupcakes, which left me craving real cupcakes all day.
In the cupcake vein, on Wednesday Dave Jr got to have a bit of cupcake for dessert, and then when he was finished he promptly asked for more pineapple, which he had been eating before his cupcake. I suggested that he have more "mac-cheese" as well, which he accepted. He's a good boy.
I am somehow getting more attached to the Baby Biebz, which I suppose is not surprising, considering I spend the vast majority of my time with him every month, and he seems to be growing less and less annoying. I really do spend a lot of time with him, three times as much time as my next closest family. Though Stellina's dad is starting a 6-week trial next Monday, so I will also be spending a bunch of time with them! I am super excited.
I ran into Stellina and Space Monkey and their mom today on my way home, and they all seem to be doing well. the tiny peanut is still very tiny, and Stellina is getting closer and closer to being completely potty-trained (when did she turn into a little girl!!? also, I am surprised at how proud I am of her for potty-training), and loves loves loves school.
Tomorrow morning I have the 3 horsechildren of the apocalypse, starting at 8:30am, gahhh. I haven't seen them since Christmas, so it will be fun to see them again, but I'm sure also stressful. Zannah has a soccer game so we'll all get to traipse over there. Speaking of growing up, she turns NINE in August. Prince Phillip will be six next month. SIX! and he doesn't even pronounce it "yix" anymore! Though I do sometimes, just for fun. I grew accustomed to his strange language and some words I particularly enjoyed. Yuper, obviously, I say that a lot, instead of super. Bootiwool (beautiful) is another good one. And yix and yebben instead of six and seven are good ones too.
I could write an entire post just on how funny it is to hear kids count when they are first learning their numbers. Big likes to count "one two six!" and for a while Stellina thought that fourteen was the biggest number there was, so whenever she wanted as much as possible of something (ie grapes, crackers) she asked for fourteen.
Last night I had a dream that the baby lions and the baby gorillas had escaped from the zoo and were running around near the freeway by the airport. I thought it was dumb of the zoo to put a tree near the fence that had branches hanging over, so that the gorillas could just climb out on a limb and drop onto the other side of the fence. I think the baby lions dug under the fence? They were running around like maniacs, and one ran me over. It was not as traumatizing as I expected.
Then I was almost 30 minutes late to Bee's house this morning, about which I feel terrible. Traffic sucks. Bee and I made Play-doh cupcakes, which left me craving real cupcakes all day.
In the cupcake vein, on Wednesday Dave Jr got to have a bit of cupcake for dessert, and then when he was finished he promptly asked for more pineapple, which he had been eating before his cupcake. I suggested that he have more "mac-cheese" as well, which he accepted. He's a good boy.
I am somehow getting more attached to the Baby Biebz, which I suppose is not surprising, considering I spend the vast majority of my time with him every month, and he seems to be growing less and less annoying. I really do spend a lot of time with him, three times as much time as my next closest family. Though Stellina's dad is starting a 6-week trial next Monday, so I will also be spending a bunch of time with them! I am super excited.
I ran into Stellina and Space Monkey and their mom today on my way home, and they all seem to be doing well. the tiny peanut is still very tiny, and Stellina is getting closer and closer to being completely potty-trained (when did she turn into a little girl!!? also, I am surprised at how proud I am of her for potty-training), and loves loves loves school.
Tomorrow morning I have the 3 horsechildren of the apocalypse, starting at 8:30am, gahhh. I haven't seen them since Christmas, so it will be fun to see them again, but I'm sure also stressful. Zannah has a soccer game so we'll all get to traipse over there. Speaking of growing up, she turns NINE in August. Prince Phillip will be six next month. SIX! and he doesn't even pronounce it "yix" anymore! Though I do sometimes, just for fun. I grew accustomed to his strange language and some words I particularly enjoyed. Yuper, obviously, I say that a lot, instead of super. Bootiwool (beautiful) is another good one. And yix and yebben instead of six and seven are good ones too.
I could write an entire post just on how funny it is to hear kids count when they are first learning their numbers. Big likes to count "one two six!" and for a while Stellina thought that fourteen was the biggest number there was, so whenever she wanted as much as possible of something (ie grapes, crackers) she asked for fourteen.
Last night I had a dream that the baby lions and the baby gorillas had escaped from the zoo and were running around near the freeway by the airport. I thought it was dumb of the zoo to put a tree near the fence that had branches hanging over, so that the gorillas could just climb out on a limb and drop onto the other side of the fence. I think the baby lions dug under the fence? They were running around like maniacs, and one ran me over. It was not as traumatizing as I expected.
31 March 2011
Payback
In anticipation of the cats receiving their first spring dose of flea medicine tomorrow, the little buggers got baths today. It went as well as could be expected. First I couldn't find the tub stopper, so I had to crouch down near the faucet with Zoe curled up in my lap, which was probably what I was going to be doing anyway.
Zoe was very sad but did pretty well, I managed to get all her sides all the way wet, and then a bit of kitten shampoo on and rinsed off. Rhett, however.... Rhett. Since these guys have avoided a bath since probably February of 2009 (seeing as how cats don't actually really need water baths so much), I had forgotten that Rhett makes the saddest noise on the planet while he is getting bathed. He actually managed to sound like a child crying. A very very sad child with claws. Needless to say, he got his back slightly moistened, his feet run under the faucet, his tail wiped down, and then a good toweldry. I ended up with scratches on my shoulder and my collarbone, so ... not so bad!
Here is where karma kicked in. Because I was covered in cat hair, and hadn't showered yet, it was my turn! but as soon as I switched the converter from tub to shower, the hot water was GONE. gone! So I took a quick shower that was transitioning from lukewarm to ice even quicker, and then got out to find two cats staring up at me in a mixture of hatred and fear. I'm pretty convinced that they had something to do with the hot water's disappearance.
I stuck all the towels in the wash and sat down to finish Monday's episode of the Daily Show. Who should come sit on my lap but a very damp Zoe! So now I have a wet cat on a wet lap.
At least she doesn't hate me!
Zoe was very sad but did pretty well, I managed to get all her sides all the way wet, and then a bit of kitten shampoo on and rinsed off. Rhett, however.... Rhett. Since these guys have avoided a bath since probably February of 2009 (seeing as how cats don't actually really need water baths so much), I had forgotten that Rhett makes the saddest noise on the planet while he is getting bathed. He actually managed to sound like a child crying. A very very sad child with claws. Needless to say, he got his back slightly moistened, his feet run under the faucet, his tail wiped down, and then a good toweldry. I ended up with scratches on my shoulder and my collarbone, so ... not so bad!
Here is where karma kicked in. Because I was covered in cat hair, and hadn't showered yet, it was my turn! but as soon as I switched the converter from tub to shower, the hot water was GONE. gone! So I took a quick shower that was transitioning from lukewarm to ice even quicker, and then got out to find two cats staring up at me in a mixture of hatred and fear. I'm pretty convinced that they had something to do with the hot water's disappearance.
I stuck all the towels in the wash and sat down to finish Monday's episode of the Daily Show. Who should come sit on my lap but a very damp Zoe! So now I have a wet cat on a wet lap.
At least she doesn't hate me!
29 March 2011
The Writing on the Wall
The other day I gave a $40 donation to Planned Parenthood! did you??
LP'oh11 is not going terribly well lately. It went from nice spring to super cold again, and snowed a bit over the weekend, and supposed to snow again tomorrow. It is difficult to do much of anything. I! Hate! Cold!
Bear is getting faster at learning stuff. He is identifying pictures in books and stuff (Where's the banana?? where's the dog!), so that is good. he makes this funny "huh??" sound when you ask him something, as though he were an old man hard of hearing. But last week BAM six new teeth, so he looks a little less like an old man, at least.
I am reading all the Harry Potters over again, which is actually pretty great because it means I get to go to the library! The library is great. I went to the Northeast branch for the first time yesterday, and it seemed nice, I guess! I just got my book on hold, put another book on hold, and did my checking out, so I didn't really look around. I wanted to go home. It was cold and I wanted to read my book!
I was thinking about taking Biebzbear to the library, as it is very near his house, but he is SO loud, with the screaming and the noises, and the way he asks to read a book again, which sounds remarkably like the word "again," but with out the first syllable, and it's screamed at the top of his lungs. So, I think we'll wait on the library. I'm pretty sick of the same books over and over, though, so I might just bring him books from the library.
LIBRARY! YAY!
I want to see the cherry blossoms but I hate the tourists. They suck suck suck. I am devising a plan to go at dawn one of the days soon, but it is So Cold, and that is So Early, but I Really Hate The Tourists, so we will see what party wins the cherry blossom fight. First round will be Seeing Cherry Blossoms vs. Not Seeing Cherry Blossoms. If the former wins, then it will be a battle of Hatred of Cold and Early vs. Hatred of Tourists. aaaaaand... FIGHT!
LP'oh11 is not going terribly well lately. It went from nice spring to super cold again, and snowed a bit over the weekend, and supposed to snow again tomorrow. It is difficult to do much of anything. I! Hate! Cold!
Bear is getting faster at learning stuff. He is identifying pictures in books and stuff (Where's the banana?? where's the dog!), so that is good. he makes this funny "huh??" sound when you ask him something, as though he were an old man hard of hearing. But last week BAM six new teeth, so he looks a little less like an old man, at least.
I am reading all the Harry Potters over again, which is actually pretty great because it means I get to go to the library! The library is great. I went to the Northeast branch for the first time yesterday, and it seemed nice, I guess! I just got my book on hold, put another book on hold, and did my checking out, so I didn't really look around. I wanted to go home. It was cold and I wanted to read my book!
I was thinking about taking Biebzbear to the library, as it is very near his house, but he is SO loud, with the screaming and the noises, and the way he asks to read a book again, which sounds remarkably like the word "again," but with out the first syllable, and it's screamed at the top of his lungs. So, I think we'll wait on the library. I'm pretty sick of the same books over and over, though, so I might just bring him books from the library.
LIBRARY! YAY!
I want to see the cherry blossoms but I hate the tourists. They suck suck suck. I am devising a plan to go at dawn one of the days soon, but it is So Cold, and that is So Early, but I Really Hate The Tourists, so we will see what party wins the cherry blossom fight. First round will be Seeing Cherry Blossoms vs. Not Seeing Cherry Blossoms. If the former wins, then it will be a battle of Hatred of Cold and Early vs. Hatred of Tourists. aaaaaand... FIGHT!
26 March 2011
Psalm 23
There was a spring thunderstorm the other day! A thunderstorm! yay! A thunderstorm that started right as I was putting DaveyBug Jr down for bed! Not so great!
Right around Christmas there was one evening when he wouldn't sleep, so I sang him a song, and then he started asking for a song every time, and since I don't know all that many songs, or at least complete ones, it tends to be the same ones every week. And, since all the music I've constructively sung in the past 5 months has been church-related, they tend to be church songs. He's started asking for Amazing Grace by name. Which is cute. I also wonder if I'm crossing an invisible line drawn by his Buddhist(-ish?) parents? Should I not be singing about Jesus?
On Thursday while Tiny was napping, Big and I were having a delightful round of Ring Around the Rosie, and after a few particularly good spins we were both on our backs on the floor giggling. I have always been very easy to dizzify, so I was definitely dizzy. and apparently so was Big, because he stared up at the ceiling and said quietly, "Mooooving..." which was hilarious.
When I lived in my various apartments (all in the same building) in Northwest DC, I always kind of assumed that all living spaces have cockroaches, and they will always be in your kitchen and/or bathroom at night, no matter how clean you keep your house. I did a pretty good job of keeping a clean apartment, and stopping the sink at night, and all the other things that you do, and there were not many of the nasty things, but they were definitely there.
But now I live on the East side of town, and mostly work on the East side, and NONE of my houses that I work in have cockroaches! Doesn't matter if it is a clean house or messyish house or a basement apartment, I have seen no cockroaches! However, all the houses/apartments I work in over in Northwest have them. A few of my houses in Southeast have had trouble with mice, though. I've never seen mice at Bear's house, though, and that may have something to do with his two cats, who may only have a combined total of 7 legs, but are very fierce.
I am well aware that this is not the way that household pests work. I'm sure that cockroaches are not restricted to the northwest quadrant of the city, and that mice are not restricted to Southeast, and that not all houses in Northeast have an opossum that occasionally hangs around on the transom of their back door. These are merely my observations.
Right around Christmas there was one evening when he wouldn't sleep, so I sang him a song, and then he started asking for a song every time, and since I don't know all that many songs, or at least complete ones, it tends to be the same ones every week. And, since all the music I've constructively sung in the past 5 months has been church-related, they tend to be church songs. He's started asking for Amazing Grace by name. Which is cute. I also wonder if I'm crossing an invisible line drawn by his Buddhist(-ish?) parents? Should I not be singing about Jesus?
On Thursday while Tiny was napping, Big and I were having a delightful round of Ring Around the Rosie, and after a few particularly good spins we were both on our backs on the floor giggling. I have always been very easy to dizzify, so I was definitely dizzy. and apparently so was Big, because he stared up at the ceiling and said quietly, "Mooooving..." which was hilarious.
When I lived in my various apartments (all in the same building) in Northwest DC, I always kind of assumed that all living spaces have cockroaches, and they will always be in your kitchen and/or bathroom at night, no matter how clean you keep your house. I did a pretty good job of keeping a clean apartment, and stopping the sink at night, and all the other things that you do, and there were not many of the nasty things, but they were definitely there.
But now I live on the East side of town, and mostly work on the East side, and NONE of my houses that I work in have cockroaches! Doesn't matter if it is a clean house or messyish house or a basement apartment, I have seen no cockroaches! However, all the houses/apartments I work in over in Northwest have them. A few of my houses in Southeast have had trouble with mice, though. I've never seen mice at Bear's house, though, and that may have something to do with his two cats, who may only have a combined total of 7 legs, but are very fierce.
I am well aware that this is not the way that household pests work. I'm sure that cockroaches are not restricted to the northwest quadrant of the city, and that mice are not restricted to Southeast, and that not all houses in Northeast have an opossum that occasionally hangs around on the transom of their back door. These are merely my observations.
22 March 2011
Nolite te bastardes carborundorum*
It is spring! My handsome man cat is allowed outside now, with adult supervision. Today and yesterday he spent a bunch of time fiercely hunting stalks of grass and then triumphantly devoured his prey. He then helped me select some excellent pieces to harvest and bring inside for his sister, and creepily watched her while she nommed them all gone.
Yesterday I made these tasty puffs! They are very dense and there is quite a bit of shortening in them, but they are super yummy. I fully intend to mess with the recipe to make them lighter and less full-of-shortening.
My phone is acting stupid again, though a few weeks ago I finally updated my OS, in hopes that would resolve all of its freezing issues. It is even worse now. And of course because I am not the account holder at AT&T, I am not authorized to do anything on the phone with them. NOTHING. but having the account holder call will do no good, because how is he supposed to know what's wrong with my phone? Stupid stupid.
Here is a photo of the baby lions at the zoo.
*"Don't let the bastards grind you down," from Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale
Yesterday I made these tasty puffs! They are very dense and there is quite a bit of shortening in them, but they are super yummy. I fully intend to mess with the recipe to make them lighter and less full-of-shortening.
My phone is acting stupid again, though a few weeks ago I finally updated my OS, in hopes that would resolve all of its freezing issues. It is even worse now. And of course because I am not the account holder at AT&T, I am not authorized to do anything on the phone with them. NOTHING. but having the account holder call will do no good, because how is he supposed to know what's wrong with my phone? Stupid stupid.
Here is a photo of the baby lions at the zoo.
*"Don't let the bastards grind you down," from Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale
14 March 2011
100% Apple Juice
it is a good thing that Space Monkey was born last week, because this week is super super busy already. Well, ok part of the reason it is so busy is because Space Monkey was born. I get leave Biebz's house to meet Space Monkey in about an hour, right before he goes to his first doctor appointment, and I will hang out in the house while Stellina naps, so that she knows that no, we're not done with naps now just because there's a new baby. My goodness, multiple children. Then tomorrow after I hang out with Bear in the morning, I will pick Stellina up from school and get her lunched and napped, so that again she knows that there is still naptime in her life, and then I will go back to the BieberBear's house for the afternoon.
Then! I have Davey Bug, Jr. on Tuesday evening AND Wednesday evening, and the Bear from 9 to 5 on Wednesday, and though I don't have Big & Tiny on Thursday, I do have a different family for which I am subbing for the afternoon. Friday I don't know yet! Man though it is like I have a real full-time job. except it's not real, and not full-time.
LP'oh11 is going well, so far. I guess there is a thing with Lent where you get Sundays off ? so I am choosing one day a week to take off. Last week it was Friday, this week it looks like I will take Tuesday off, because a three-family day is exercise enough. but that means I have to today, even though I don't want to because my allergies(/sickness? I'm hoping I didn't pick up Big's nasty cold) are making me MISERABLE. I would like to replace the front half of my head, please. Anyway there has been lots of ballet and bicycle so far. Saturday I was going to go to my very first hip-hop class, but instead I got my exercise for that day by running around the house at 6am furiously looking for my keys, and then tearing south on my bicycle to get to Stellina's house so they could leave for the hospital. I'm glad I hurried! He arrived 20 minutes after they got to the hospital.
Yesterday I napped too long (booo) so I didn't get to do as much as I would have liked at home, but I did scrub my pots and pans, and do dishes, and finish my laundry, finally. Still did not vacuum or sweep or mop. I have grand plans for that, though. Grand plans which I am dreading.
I am so, so tired, but I am doing the things and being alive. Bear and I went to get donuts today and walked past BLOOMED DAFFODILS. and it looks like the beginning of peak bloom for the cherry blossoms is only 15 days from now, which is so soon. Winter was so, so long and I'm suddenly afraid I'm going to blink and miss spring.
Then! I have Davey Bug, Jr. on Tuesday evening AND Wednesday evening, and the Bear from 9 to 5 on Wednesday, and though I don't have Big & Tiny on Thursday, I do have a different family for which I am subbing for the afternoon. Friday I don't know yet! Man though it is like I have a real full-time job. except it's not real, and not full-time.
LP'oh11 is going well, so far. I guess there is a thing with Lent where you get Sundays off ? so I am choosing one day a week to take off. Last week it was Friday, this week it looks like I will take Tuesday off, because a three-family day is exercise enough. but that means I have to today, even though I don't want to because my allergies(/sickness? I'm hoping I didn't pick up Big's nasty cold) are making me MISERABLE. I would like to replace the front half of my head, please. Anyway there has been lots of ballet and bicycle so far. Saturday I was going to go to my very first hip-hop class, but instead I got my exercise for that day by running around the house at 6am furiously looking for my keys, and then tearing south on my bicycle to get to Stellina's house so they could leave for the hospital. I'm glad I hurried! He arrived 20 minutes after they got to the hospital.
Yesterday I napped too long (booo) so I didn't get to do as much as I would have liked at home, but I did scrub my pots and pans, and do dishes, and finish my laundry, finally. Still did not vacuum or sweep or mop. I have grand plans for that, though. Grand plans which I am dreading.
I am so, so tired, but I am doing the things and being alive. Bear and I went to get donuts today and walked past BLOOMED DAFFODILS. and it looks like the beginning of peak bloom for the cherry blossoms is only 15 days from now, which is so soon. Winter was so, so long and I'm suddenly afraid I'm going to blink and miss spring.
12 March 2011
mazel tov!!!!!!!
A Space Monkey! he was 6lbs, 14oz at 8:07 am on today, March 12, 2011. I have not met him! Soon I meet him, in the next week. Stellina and I hung out all morning, from about 7am to 4pm (she napped from 1:30 onwards). it was great.
TODAY IS FANTASTIC. It is a great day to be born.
More on this matter when I am sober!!!
TODAY IS FANTASTIC. It is a great day to be born.
More on this matter when I am sober!!!
10 March 2011
All I Do Is Win
Snoop has been running this rap game since he was 20 years old. Man, I am 2 years late, I better get my act together.
if you aren't familiar, and I'm very hopeful that you aren't, this is maybe the worst/best song ever. I am going through yet another of my terrible music phases. One cannot listen to New Pornographers, David Bowie, Old 97s, Fruit Bats, and Guided by Voices always. Well, maybe one can, but I cannot.
The story behind this fantastic/terrible song is that it was the pump-up song for my mock trial babies this year! I went to a round of regionals this year to root for my babies. It was weird, I guess, I thought I was going to be able to be more involved in the program this year, but I didn't end up with enough time or energy. SURPRISE. so, this was the third year of the AU program competing in regionals (when I showed up at AU there was practically no program [AU students are notoriously flaky], my junior year was the first time I captained a team at a regional), and one of the AU teams placed! That means they're going to the opening round of national championship qualifiers. I am so proud of my little mock trialers, most of whom started from scratch last year. They are fully informed that they are to name the AU invitational tournament after me, the program's unofficial founder and first official captain.
It has been raining all day, which is great, even though today has been a cranky one. curse you, barometric pressure changes! Because of the advent of allergy season, I've increased my daily intake of various pills now to a grand total of 13. Apparently Costco sells a giant bottle of knock-off Zyrtec for $dirtcheap.99? Stuff saved my life when Capital R and I went to West Virginia and I had relatively miserable sinus issues - it's cool to mix allergy meds with too much champagne, right?? Anyway I'm beginning to wonder if I'm over-supplemental-ing, is that a thing?
Soon I have to make a decision about what to do when the lease on my house is up. Which is in 2 months and 22 days. which is 1,992 hours, or just over 7 million seconds. I'm dreading everything about that.
if you aren't familiar, and I'm very hopeful that you aren't, this is maybe the worst/best song ever. I am going through yet another of my terrible music phases. One cannot listen to New Pornographers, David Bowie, Old 97s, Fruit Bats, and Guided by Voices always. Well, maybe one can, but I cannot.
The story behind this fantastic/terrible song is that it was the pump-up song for my mock trial babies this year! I went to a round of regionals this year to root for my babies. It was weird, I guess, I thought I was going to be able to be more involved in the program this year, but I didn't end up with enough time or energy. SURPRISE. so, this was the third year of the AU program competing in regionals (when I showed up at AU there was practically no program [AU students are notoriously flaky], my junior year was the first time I captained a team at a regional), and one of the AU teams placed! That means they're going to the opening round of national championship qualifiers. I am so proud of my little mock trialers, most of whom started from scratch last year. They are fully informed that they are to name the AU invitational tournament after me, the program's unofficial founder and first official captain.
It has been raining all day, which is great, even though today has been a cranky one. curse you, barometric pressure changes! Because of the advent of allergy season, I've increased my daily intake of various pills now to a grand total of 13. Apparently Costco sells a giant bottle of knock-off Zyrtec for $dirtcheap.99? Stuff saved my life when Capital R and I went to West Virginia and I had relatively miserable sinus issues - it's cool to mix allergy meds with too much champagne, right?? Anyway I'm beginning to wonder if I'm over-supplemental-ing, is that a thing?
Soon I have to make a decision about what to do when the lease on my house is up. Which is in 2 months and 22 days. which is 1,992 hours, or just over 7 million seconds. I'm dreading everything about that.
08 March 2011
Whatever the Mess You Are
Yesterday I did not get quite as many things done from my list as I would have liked! This is what I accomplished :
+ put shoes away! this only took me three days! wooo
+ check Mint.com, which is still suffering from lack of communication with Bank of America, which is making me very very sad. A week without my Mint.com account is leaving me with frantic energy that is generally targeted toward obsessive budgeting and financial planning, and presently seems to be channeling toward making to-do lists every second possible. Not a bad thing, but it's making the lists seem to never end.
+ make awesome playlists for quiet focus time and energy focus time. This included buying too much/never enough trashy pop music on iTunes yesterday, and also rediscovering how much really awesome classical music I have.
+ look up dance class schedules for LP'oh11. it turns out there is also ballet at my neighborhood studio on Saturday and Sunday!
+ catch up on Teen Mom 2 and 9ine. I am currently obsessed with teen pregnancy and parenting. I could not possibly begin to explain why. TM2 has this trainwreck aspect with some of the moms, but some of the storiesare seem so incredibly genuine that I often find myself being really moved by the end of the episode. Also, trashy TV! So great.
+ Buy plane tickets to home for May. This is one of the reasons I wish that Mint would resume communication with Bank of America, so I can figure out how that $877.60 is going to affect my monthly budgets. Booooo. Yay for a trip home!
So now I have to rearrange the to-do list and probably start a new one, because this crazy budgeting energy needs to go somewhere.
Yesterday I stopped at 7Eleven on the way back from the bank and left with three Cadbury creme eggs! SPRING.
+ put shoes away! this only took me three days! wooo
+ check Mint.com, which is still suffering from lack of communication with Bank of America, which is making me very very sad. A week without my Mint.com account is leaving me with frantic energy that is generally targeted toward obsessive budgeting and financial planning, and presently seems to be channeling toward making to-do lists every second possible. Not a bad thing, but it's making the lists seem to never end.
+ make awesome playlists for quiet focus time and energy focus time. This included buying too much/never enough trashy pop music on iTunes yesterday, and also rediscovering how much really awesome classical music I have.
+ look up dance class schedules for LP'oh11. it turns out there is also ballet at my neighborhood studio on Saturday and Sunday!
+ catch up on Teen Mom 2 and 9ine. I am currently obsessed with teen pregnancy and parenting. I could not possibly begin to explain why. TM2 has this trainwreck aspect with some of the moms, but some of the stories
+ Buy plane tickets to home for May. This is one of the reasons I wish that Mint would resume communication with Bank of America, so I can figure out how that $877.60 is going to affect my monthly budgets. Booooo. Yay for a trip home!
So now I have to rearrange the to-do list and probably start a new one, because this crazy budgeting energy needs to go somewhere.
Yesterday I stopped at 7Eleven on the way back from the bank and left with three Cadbury creme eggs! SPRING.
07 March 2011
Flamingos in Siberia
Here is a really excellent story about flamingos in Siberia: locals mystified.
One time Baby Biebz and I were sitting in the kitchen playing with Tupperware, and I was bored, so I got out my phone and opened my music player, and played that stupid terrible fantastic Train song, Hey Soul Sister, which, as I suspected might happen, Biebz loooved. Yes I have that song on my phone, it just happens to be a really great song to wake up to in the morning. Shut up. Anyway, I did the same thing the next time we did Tupperware time, because it's hilarious to see Biebzbear dancing.
So now, every time the little dude sees my phone, he starts dancing, which I figure is a cue that he wants to hear that stupid song. And then when I play it, he immediately runs to the kitchen and brings me Tupperware. Have I classically conditioned him!? I think when he wakes up from his nap this afternoon, I will try playing a different song on the phone, and see if he does the Tupperware thing. I have some pretty excellent Neko Case on my phone, it's just not as conducive to adorable babydancing as the stupid excellent Train song.
Speaking of my phone and Baby Bieber Bear, I took some pretty excellent photographs last night of him chowing down on delicious black beans from the tasty Salvadoran place at Eastern Market. They're pretty much the only grown-up food he will eat, besides muffins. Anyway, he was funny with food all over his face. Alas, I believe in internet-anonymity for children who are not mine, and honestly if I had children I would believe in internet-anonymity for them as well, so I will not post these excellent photographs! SUCKS TO BE YOU, INTERNET.
Yesterday I didn't do any of the things that I said I would do except take my vitamins! I did that. I did not put shoes away or make my bed, because I got distracted by the internet and went to bed an hour early, which was pretty great. Today I will try harder! because today is a different day than yesterday.
I have a combination of Lou Reed's "Satellite of Love" and Jamie Foxx's "Blame It feat. T-Pain" stuck in my head. The former because of a friend's G-Chat status, the latter because I am in the process of downloading trashy pop music for motivation. I do not think these two would make a very good mash-up.
No Space Monkey yet! soon, soon, a Space Monkey will come.
One time Baby Biebz and I were sitting in the kitchen playing with Tupperware, and I was bored, so I got out my phone and opened my music player, and played that stupid terrible fantastic Train song, Hey Soul Sister, which, as I suspected might happen, Biebz loooved. Yes I have that song on my phone, it just happens to be a really great song to wake up to in the morning. Shut up. Anyway, I did the same thing the next time we did Tupperware time, because it's hilarious to see Biebzbear dancing.
So now, every time the little dude sees my phone, he starts dancing, which I figure is a cue that he wants to hear that stupid song. And then when I play it, he immediately runs to the kitchen and brings me Tupperware. Have I classically conditioned him!? I think when he wakes up from his nap this afternoon, I will try playing a different song on the phone, and see if he does the Tupperware thing. I have some pretty excellent Neko Case on my phone, it's just not as conducive to adorable babydancing as the stupid excellent Train song.
Speaking of my phone and Baby Bieber Bear, I took some pretty excellent photographs last night of him chowing down on delicious black beans from the tasty Salvadoran place at Eastern Market. They're pretty much the only grown-up food he will eat, besides muffins. Anyway, he was funny with food all over his face. Alas, I believe in internet-anonymity for children who are not mine, and honestly if I had children I would believe in internet-anonymity for them as well, so I will not post these excellent photographs! SUCKS TO BE YOU, INTERNET.
Yesterday I didn't do any of the things that I said I would do except take my vitamins! I did that. I did not put shoes away or make my bed, because I got distracted by the internet and went to bed an hour early, which was pretty great. Today I will try harder! because today is a different day than yesterday.
I have a combination of Lou Reed's "Satellite of Love" and Jamie Foxx's "Blame It feat. T-Pain" stuck in my head. The former because of a friend's G-Chat status, the latter because I am in the process of downloading trashy pop music for motivation. I do not think these two would make a very good mash-up.
No Space Monkey yet! soon, soon, a Space Monkey will come.
06 March 2011
How Can It Be
I have a terrible terrible Methodist hymn stuck in my head. Today church went on forever, I guess Methodists aren't used to communion so it takes a really long time?? anyway it got to be like 11:50 and the pastor was like "You know what? Go in peace to love and serve the Lord" (which I almost just spelled "swerve") and we skipped the last page of the bulletin.
It's the little things, you know?
the King's Speech was excellent, I am very glad that Mr. Firth got his little golden statue for his role.
outside is storming and windy and police sirens, and on my iTunes is a sweet track from the King's Speech soundtrack that I got for free from Fandango for buying my advance movie tickets through them? I spent only $9 on two movie tickets instead of $24.50 AND got a free dramatized arrangement of the second movement of Beethoven's seventh?? I am a fan of this situation. Also, it feels like a trap, somehow.
The extended forecast on Accuweather.com shows me that the weather for the beginning of Lenten Project Oh-Eleven looks good! Right now I am going to put the shoes away into my closet and take my vitamins and make my bed, and those will be my small projects for today.
It's the little things, you know?
the King's Speech was excellent, I am very glad that Mr. Firth got his little golden statue for his role.
outside is storming and windy and police sirens, and on my iTunes is a sweet track from the King's Speech soundtrack that I got for free from Fandango for buying my advance movie tickets through them? I spent only $9 on two movie tickets instead of $24.50 AND got a free dramatized arrangement of the second movement of Beethoven's seventh?? I am a fan of this situation. Also, it feels like a trap, somehow.
The extended forecast on Accuweather.com shows me that the weather for the beginning of Lenten Project Oh-Eleven looks good! Right now I am going to put the shoes away into my closet and take my vitamins and make my bed, and those will be my small projects for today.
04 March 2011
Come By Here
February sucked. March is doing okay, I guess. For a few days I was completely insane, crying at the drop of a hat and wanting to break things. Then I had a tiny mini-vacation day where I got to eat sushi, and frozen yogurt with mochi, and a nummy pastry, and I got my nails did, and I have been mostly better since then. Also, it turns out that getting manicures is awkward, and considering I messed mine up in 4 places within fifteen minutes, I don't believe I am built for it. This is fine. It was pretty effective in getting my hands to stop shaking post-doctor appointment.
Imminent Space Monkey is still Imminent, getting more and more so every day. Stellina went through a week where she was terrified of baby brudder and didn't want to see her mom, but now she is back to checking brudder's room every night before bed to make sure everything is in order. Due date isn't until the 18th, but I guess babby could come anytime between now and then. New Babbies! They are so great.
BiebzBear is either growing out of his annoying-as-hell stage, or I am getting more tolerant, and I think it is both. I have been reading lots of parenting books which I think is helping with my ability to understand why he does the annoying shit that he does, and/or to change things so he doesn't do them. I spend most of my time with him, now, usually 20-25 hours a week.
I seem to have picked up a church gig now at a small Methodist congregation in Arlington. It is fine. They pay me decently for minimum-impact work, though they have a 10:30am Sunday service - 9:30 call time is so early! Hymns and simple anthems are fine but I desperately miss singing in Latin and I miss singing early music and I miss singing anything challenging. The choir members are mostly older folks, with two other paid youngsters like me, and everyone is really friendly and nice. But Methodists are weird, and also this church is in the middle of nowhere. If I could find a Catholic or Episcopal church that was easier to get to and wanted to pay me to sing for them in a slightly more professional choir, I would miss my friendly little Methodists, but I would be less bored. In rehearsal yesterday we started working on a simple Thomas Tallis piece, which made me miss early music in a way I never thought I would.
Speaking of church, I am planning to do a Lent project. I seem to do okay when I have projects to accomplish, with little steps and an end-date, and not so well when I have a giant amorphous "do this until you are done with it" assignment. So I am going to try to exercise every day from Ash Wednesday to Easter, I guess with Sundays off?, in some manner or another. I am hoping it will help with my general lethargy and low energy/motivation levels, since it really couldn't get much worse. However, because I believe that running is for chumps, I am tasked with coming up with better ideas for exercise. I am thinking lots of dance classes and bicycle (impending warmer weather = a huge plus for bicycle), and maybe I'll find a yoga class even though I do not like yoga, or do a trial membership at a gym or something. Also, I hate running not only because it sucks and it's for chumps only, but also I can never get my iPod headphones to stay in my ears just while I'm walking, let alone running. What is the solution to this! Are there excellent running headphones out there that anyone knows? Also are there good exercise ideas?
Anyway, Lenten Project Oh-Eleven. I don't know if it will work and maybe it won't, but I will try. I am bored and I can never get anything done. I feel like I am always trying to play catch-up with myself. I can never make any positive progress because my room is never clean, and I can never clean my room because I have too many things to do, and I can't do those things because I am at work or sleeping.
When I first started watching Stellina I used to marvel at how Stellina's mom kept her house so impeccably clean with a such little kid. It didn't take long for me to realize that her secret, I guess, is that she never lets herself get behind in the stuff she has to do. StellinaMom keeps their days so regimented that everything always gets done when it needs to get done: laundry, dishes, wiping down all non-porous surfaces, putting away toys. Stellina's up at 6:30 or 7, lunch is at 12, nap is from 1 to 3, dinner is at 6:30, bathtime at 7:15, in bed at 8. Scheduling gets harder, of course, now that Stellina is the Queen of Stalling. Stall-ina, haha, get it. She also refuses to use toothpaste, what's up with that!? She and I discussed why, and she said, "Because it's too blue." A likely story.
Back to always playing catch-up. Every task I ever have always seems just a tiny bit out of hand. Too much laundry, too many shoes to put away, too much floor to sweep. It's so much easier to get in the bed and stay there for three hours, until it's time to find food and then get back in bed for the nighttime sleeping. I almost wish for a fresh start but I think that would require moving, and not only does moving REALLY suck, it never quite seems to be a fresh start, because I'm always running out of packing/moving time, so I put everything in boxes as quickly as possible. Then on the other side I'm just unpacking boxes of crap that I don't know what to do with, and then I still have the same piles of crap that I had in my old residence. I think what I need is two days where I can mega-dose with speed, I mean... caffeine? and do all my cleaning that I could ever possibly need to do, and everything else I've been avoiding, and then a mini-vacation, and then I can manage to have a mini-fresh start and be happy. And I can do my best to channel StellinaMom and never get behind in small, daily tasks.
Why does my happiness depend on how clean my living space is?!
Imminent Space Monkey is still Imminent, getting more and more so every day. Stellina went through a week where she was terrified of baby brudder and didn't want to see her mom, but now she is back to checking brudder's room every night before bed to make sure everything is in order. Due date isn't until the 18th, but I guess babby could come anytime between now and then. New Babbies! They are so great.
BiebzBear is either growing out of his annoying-as-hell stage, or I am getting more tolerant, and I think it is both. I have been reading lots of parenting books which I think is helping with my ability to understand why he does the annoying shit that he does, and/or to change things so he doesn't do them. I spend most of my time with him, now, usually 20-25 hours a week.
I seem to have picked up a church gig now at a small Methodist congregation in Arlington. It is fine. They pay me decently for minimum-impact work, though they have a 10:30am Sunday service - 9:30 call time is so early! Hymns and simple anthems are fine but I desperately miss singing in Latin and I miss singing early music and I miss singing anything challenging. The choir members are mostly older folks, with two other paid youngsters like me, and everyone is really friendly and nice. But Methodists are weird, and also this church is in the middle of nowhere. If I could find a Catholic or Episcopal church that was easier to get to and wanted to pay me to sing for them in a slightly more professional choir, I would miss my friendly little Methodists, but I would be less bored. In rehearsal yesterday we started working on a simple Thomas Tallis piece, which made me miss early music in a way I never thought I would.
Speaking of church, I am planning to do a Lent project. I seem to do okay when I have projects to accomplish, with little steps and an end-date, and not so well when I have a giant amorphous "do this until you are done with it" assignment. So I am going to try to exercise every day from Ash Wednesday to Easter, I guess with Sundays off?, in some manner or another. I am hoping it will help with my general lethargy and low energy/motivation levels, since it really couldn't get much worse. However, because I believe that running is for chumps, I am tasked with coming up with better ideas for exercise. I am thinking lots of dance classes and bicycle (impending warmer weather = a huge plus for bicycle), and maybe I'll find a yoga class even though I do not like yoga, or do a trial membership at a gym or something. Also, I hate running not only because it sucks and it's for chumps only, but also I can never get my iPod headphones to stay in my ears just while I'm walking, let alone running. What is the solution to this! Are there excellent running headphones out there that anyone knows? Also are there good exercise ideas?
Anyway, Lenten Project Oh-Eleven. I don't know if it will work and maybe it won't, but I will try. I am bored and I can never get anything done. I feel like I am always trying to play catch-up with myself. I can never make any positive progress because my room is never clean, and I can never clean my room because I have too many things to do, and I can't do those things because I am at work or sleeping.
When I first started watching Stellina I used to marvel at how Stellina's mom kept her house so impeccably clean with a such little kid. It didn't take long for me to realize that her secret, I guess, is that she never lets herself get behind in the stuff she has to do. StellinaMom keeps their days so regimented that everything always gets done when it needs to get done: laundry, dishes, wiping down all non-porous surfaces, putting away toys. Stellina's up at 6:30 or 7, lunch is at 12, nap is from 1 to 3, dinner is at 6:30, bathtime at 7:15, in bed at 8. Scheduling gets harder, of course, now that Stellina is the Queen of Stalling. Stall-ina, haha, get it. She also refuses to use toothpaste, what's up with that!? She and I discussed why, and she said, "Because it's too blue." A likely story.
Back to always playing catch-up. Every task I ever have always seems just a tiny bit out of hand. Too much laundry, too many shoes to put away, too much floor to sweep. It's so much easier to get in the bed and stay there for three hours, until it's time to find food and then get back in bed for the nighttime sleeping. I almost wish for a fresh start but I think that would require moving, and not only does moving REALLY suck, it never quite seems to be a fresh start, because I'm always running out of packing/moving time, so I put everything in boxes as quickly as possible. Then on the other side I'm just unpacking boxes of crap that I don't know what to do with, and then I still have the same piles of crap that I had in my old residence. I think what I need is two days where I can mega-dose with speed, I mean... caffeine? and do all my cleaning that I could ever possibly need to do, and everything else I've been avoiding, and then a mini-vacation, and then I can manage to have a mini-fresh start and be happy. And I can do my best to channel StellinaMom and never get behind in small, daily tasks.
Why does my happiness depend on how clean my living space is?!
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