Milestones….and yes, we’ve melted

I’m better! Yeah! I was better and eating again as of last Friday (July 3). Hopefully it’ll hold. We had an amazing, relaxing, crazy, fun weekend at the beach. I have pix & if the stars all line up you may even get to see a few before Labor Day. ;-) But you know me, so don’t like bet on it or anything.
Big News! LittleSpeak hit TWO milestones today!
1. Used the potty on purpose today!!! Wahooooooo!!! It’s a step in the right direction. Now to get her to stop taking her damn diaper off all the time.
2. LittleSpeak climbed out of her crib today. I know, we’re so screwed. BigSpeak NEVER did anything like that at all. Shoot, I had her mobile up until close to her 2nd b-day. She was just a mellow, follow the rules kind of kid. (That’s over.) Little Speak , we knew was just a matter of time. We’ll see if falling out has curbed her from it, or if I’ll be making an emergency trip to Ikea soon.
Got to go to bed!! More soon. I promise.

Hot Gift

I know a week or two ago I was complaining about how it’s supposed to almost be summer & we are freezing over here! But this week the temperature has been creeping up and today we were about 95° . Not having AC we’re feeling a bit warm in the Speak household (the kids’ rooms are about 80° at 7:30 this evening). In this case the heat wave does have an upside?; my folks gave us a margarita maker last weekend. It was a late anniversary gift. Coincidently my folks are spending the night here; they’re having their house tented for termites, so we broke out the margarita machine (actually the thing is so freakn’ huge it has it’s own spot permanently on the counter!) No margaritas though, mudslides! Yeah Baby! YUM! Not low carb, but yummy.

Typical Night at Home

DaddySpeak and I are having a typical evening at home.

Girls are asleep upstairs.
TV is on; watching Dirty Jobs.
He’s sitting on the love seat and I’m on the couch, we each like to stretch out and have a blanket (cause we're true romantics). AND...

We each have a laptop going; I’m digi-scrapping, he’s cruising the Internet.

Romantics at heart, that's us!

No, we are not emailing each other!

Do you think they're sinc'd w/goggle maps too?

When we eat LittleSpeak now sits in a booster seat on a regular chair. This seat has an attachable tray but she’s really too big for it to fit on the seat anymore. Tonight at dinner she wanted it and DaddySpeak put it on for her then she got upset because it was too tight. Being upset she asked for her “ba”. I told her no, and asked her if she was a baby. As usual, she smiled hugely and shook her head no. The following conversation ensued:

BigSpeak: LittleSpeak are you going to send your binks to the babies soon?
LittleSpeaks nods and then shakes her head no. She’s understandably a bit torn about the whole concept still.

BigSpeak: The bink fairy is going to come get the binks and bring you a present! (Turns to me) Does the Bink Fairy come after you go to bed?

MommySpeak: Yup.

BigSpeak: Do you know what she looks like?

MommySpeak: No, she won’t come unless everyone’s in bed so we’ve never seen her.

BigSpeak: But she has wings cause she's a fairy.

MommySpeak: That's correct.

BigSpeak: All fairy's have wings. Angels have wings. They have halos too!

MommySpeak: Yes they do.

DaddySpeak: Angels can float you know.

BigSpeak: They can? Like in the water?

MommySpeak: No in the air.

DaddySpeak: Angels can pretty much go anywhere. They can even float through walls.

BigSpeak: Their halos let them float. I hope they don't get lost, what if they get lost?

MommySpeak & DaddySpeak: (in unison) The halo works as a GPS too.
Dude, I can’t make this stuff up.

One if by Land, Two if by Sea! (What if they use email?)

Classic! Looks like it’s going to get taken onto the Bay itself; perfect! Maybe Jeff Probst could deliver it Survivor style (by helicopter) from the boat into Justin Herman Plaza.

Torch Watch 2008

I’m watching/listening to the coverage of the torch relay on the web right now. They’re showing a bus that was stopped by the crowd who believe the torch is located on the bus. I doubt it. There’s no cops anywhere near the bus, so I’m thinking it’s a ploy to try to drive them away from where it really is. It’s actually kind of funny, most of the media can’t find the torch right now. (update: they just located it on Van Ness!) They’ll probably announce the end of the run and then tell everyone the where they ran it. Maybe down in San Jose. LOL.

I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. I totally think that the protesters have the right to protest. I also think that China has major human rights violations, and therefore should not have been considered an appropriate venue for this event, unless they were to make concessions in that regard. In many ways the torch run has become a spectacle, it’s “torch watch” not “flame watch” cause they keep extinguishing the darn thing. And it’s not fair to the athletes or the torch bearers. It’s considered an honor to get to carry the torch, and to be accepted to compete in the games; aren’t the protests are taking that away from those people. I agree that human life is worth so much more than a torch run, But this is the Olympics; we’re all supposed to come together and ignore our political differences, right? When the difference is basic human rights, which, I agree, shouldn’t be ignored, then why the heck were they awarded the games in the first place? I know; Politics. Bah. The IOC can’t follow the directive to stay away from politics, why would you expect that anyone else would try to play along.
At the same time, one could argue that the IOC has done this cause a huge favor. In awarding the games to China, they’ve given this cause the world’s stage. In what other venue could you get this kind of coverage? The attention being given to the human rights issues related to China is unmatched right now. There are so many people who might have become so aware of these issues had it not been for the Olympics being awarded to China in the first place.

In the meantime, we’ll be entertained by watching the media do their dance trying to locate the thing.

Starbucks Closed!!!

Did you know that Starbucks closed tonight for 3 hours????

Every single Starbucks in the Nation was closed.

WTF???? Just Wrong People.

Luckily, I was forward thinking and headed over to my local Barnes & Nobel café.
I’m nothing if not resourceful.

At The Very Least She Could Do Spoken Word

So this afternoon I was playing with the girls in the playroom and they pulled out their musical instruments. I belted out “On Top of Spaghetti”. DD1 stopped what she was doing to listen & requested an encore. After that she says, “Want to hear my song?” Sure!

My poor meatball turned into a guy. He rolled out the window & wouldn’t come
back till the sun laid down.

The airplane dumped into the trash can & wouldn’t come back until the 4th of July.

He turned into the sun and wouldn’t come back until the clouds waited up.

But at the end of the day he turned back into a meatball.

Who knew she was so deep?

I’m signing her up to work coffee houses starting next weekend.

Driving in the car….

We are sitting in DaddySpeak’s new Nissan Altima Hybrid at a stop light and notice that the truck in front of us has cheesy cover on the hitch.

DaddySpeak: I’m gonna git me a hitch on this car just so I can get a cover on it.

MommySpeak: Why don’t you just get the car slamed w/neon lights lining the bottom?

DaddySpeak: Nope, I think a hitch w/a cover would trick this car out.

MommySpeak: Ohh! I know, get some truck nutz on it!

DaddySpeak: You think if they made those for motorcycles you’d only get one ball?

MommySpeak: I am SO blogging this…

Ok, prior to posting this I did not know that biker ballz existed. Now I do. No, DS you still get the standard issue 2, but since there's no picture I'm not positive where they would go on a bike. They come in many colors too; flesh, brass and camo to name a few. Of course they do.

The post in which I float away…..

I live in CA, have you seen us on the national weather map? We are under the big green blob the West. The one indicating heavy rain. It has been raining since last weekend. In California. Usually we don’t get that much water for any length of time. I ordered wellies during the big storms we had a few weeks ago, cause they were cute & I was jealous of the kids with all their cute shoes. My husband & mother laughed at me, cause you know, we get so much rain here.

Suddenly I don’t feel so foolish, or wet.

We were supposed to go back up to Tahoe this weekend, but being the wussies that we are, we bailed. We were supposed to go with some friends this time & they were not impressed that we backed out, but they didn’t just sit in the car with toddlers during a storm. Dude, the thought of 8+ hours in the car w/DD2 who just lurves riding in her car seat and communicates that through screaming at the top of her lungs, (for HOURS) made us rethink the whole deal. As I sit here listening to it get worse and worse, I’m glad we did. So instead of sitting the car listening to the screams & whines of toddlers, I’m sitting here listening to Sesame Street the gurgling of the gutters as they’re overloaded with water.
It’s weird to have an unscheduled weekend for a change. Guess I should take advantage of it and start working on those resolutions related to the house.

Internal Mommy Wars

Here’s where my head is today.

Have you ever noticed how it seems like women work so hard to obtain & move forward in their career only to have children and then start to work their butts off to be able to stay home? And then when/if they are able to stay home with those kids they make excuses about how they had this “career” before kids and act as if staying home with those kids is a lesser job; like they’re slacking or something. (AKA—The Mommy Wars).

We’re told all our lives about how we can achieve anything we want (girl power!). Our mentors have broken down barriers and through glass ceilings so that we can do as much and make as much as our male counterparts. When I write it like that, I almost feel like they (whoever “they” are,) are trying it guilt us into pursuing those careers because they sacrificed so that we could have these wonderful opportunities. Women’s magazines constantly tout how lucky we are: “We can have it all: A career, a family, a fulfilling marriage!” Really? All at the same time? I’m kinda tired just thinking about all of that at the same time. Cause all of those things take a lot of effort. At least if you want them done well they do and honestly at 39, I’m finding that I’m a bit more tired these days. There is very little talk about how many of the celebrities who waited till their late thirties or longer to try and have children are not using their own eggs or more. They certainly don’t talk about how expensive it is for these families who wait to have babies to go through fertility treatments. There’s no discussion about the emotional toll these treatments take on the individuals, much less their relationships. What about those costs? We pursue this career so we can put ourselves on a roller coaster just to get to the real ride.

No, I don’t have any first hand knowledge about these types of things; I’m that girlfriend who gets pregnant by thinking about it. Everyone is good at something, right? I’m good at pregnant, which I wish I could do more since I’m so damn good at it.

My mom’s generation (baby boomers) is the “me” generation. They were the ones who tried to have it all at the same time. they mostly look tired, don't you think? I’d like to think that my generation (I’m part of Gen X) learned from their mistakes, but I’m not really sure.
I’m just spewing crap from my brain (i.e.--thinking out loud) so this probably doesn’t make any sense (I’m trying to work it out in my head as it is). I guess what it means is that I’m having this internal mommy war in my head right now. Why does it feel like it has to be my head (career) or my heart (SAHM) why can’t be both?

The Cat Came Back….

Remember in my last post how I mentioned that sometimes the kitties don’t always get along so well?
Yes, well that’s been going on a bit the last couple nights. Nothing obvious has really seemed to trigger it. The first time it started Mama walked into the family room and Monkey jumped off my lap so she could hiss, spit and growl in her general direction. Mama just looked at her like she was insane (which apparently she may be) and jumped onto Daddy’s lap. Every so often Monkey would walk by them & pull out her Diva act (maybe she‘s protesting the new golden globes format by bringing forth her best cat fight drama? She could win with this performance.) We finally locked her in the bathroom for few hours so she could cool off. I let her out for about an hour when I was the only one up and when I went to bed Mama was already crashed on the foot of our bed. Monkey seemed to fine, acting like nothing had happened, they curled up together were buddies again.

So little scenarios like the one I just described have been going on for the last couple (maybe 3 or 4) nights. It’s never turned into an all out cat fight so we haven’t really thought much of it. If Monkey won’t chill we give her an hour or so in another room (usually a bathroom, easier to clean if she did decide to retaliate,) and it all seems to be resolved. We figured it was just Monkey being her quirky self; maybe she’s hormonal or something. You know cats can get hormonal too, maybe Monkey is being PMS-y (yeah it’s totally a word, I just used it that makes it one).
Whatever is up, one of the cats started leaving a surprise on our bed for the last 3 days. (It started right around the same time.) Yup, one of the cats has started to crap on our bed. I agree it is GA-ROSS! The litter box is being used and is clean, so it’s not about doing their business, it’s about sending us a message. I'm pretty sure whomever is doing it, is trying to convey that they aren't happy. You think? My guess is that it's Monkey because she’s the one who’s been acting all weird, but I don’t know for sure. Each time it's happened we pull the comforter & duvet & wash them seperately in HOT w/soap & oxyclean. I have two duvet sets so the it’s happened to both duvets at this point, but the second time it happened was on a different set of linens that had not yet been defiled. AND the cat who is doing it, is doing it in the same place every day, which is how you know they‘re telling us something. It’s been done on Daddyspeak’s side of the bed, near his pillows, but not on them. I told him one of the cats is PISSED off at him (in every sense of the word I guess) and is giving him the equivalent of the horse’s head in his bed. Cats can be so mafia. So I don’t know, weird things are afoot w/the babies at Casa de Speak. DS is traveling to the Southland (LA, LA, LA) for the next couple days so it’ll be interesting to see if the behavior stops while he’s gone. Thank goodness for short, hot cycles on the washer is all I’m saying.

Catching up and Other "FUN" Stuff

Once again I am lacking in the “stuff to do” department here at work. I shot off an email to my boss reminding her that “who hooo, I’m here! And I’m a little light on stuff to do!” Not that I can’t find anything to do, (like blogging! And shopping!) but I just don’t want her to get upset later when she asks what I’ve been working on and I say, “my scrapbook.” I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure that would not go over hugely.
Like in all Dilbert cartoons she wrote me back as soon as I went to lunch telling me to “come on over”. And she asked one of my co-workers to pass along some of her stuff to me to work on, only the co-worker is confused about how and what to pass off to me. And when I got back from lunch and went to meet with my boss, she was gone, of course. So back to my blogging.

FUN MONDAY
Why Yes, it is Fun Monday. Thank you for asking. Only I’m at work and the topic today involves pictures of pets, which I’m totally excited to write because, “hey I love my pets.” And I love my neighbor’s pets too, but without a cute pix to accompany said post it would be pretty boring. So I will add the pix when I get home and then post everything together. Yes, that does means TWO posts in one day. Contain yourself.

UPDATES
The first part of this weekend kind of sucked. Beside the neighborhood now looking like a war zone from the weather I was sick on Saturday. It was nothing major, just a rotten cold. Daddyspeak got up about an hour after I did on Saturday and I declared I was going to go lay down for a little bit, I was just so worn down. I slept until 2:30 in the afternoon. Guess I needed it, huh? The only reason I woke up right then was because he’d taken DD1 out to run some errands and DD2 woke up from her nap crying/screaming. The bummer was I had all these things (putting away all my Christmas décor) I wanted to get done. Guess what, other than showering at 3, that was about all I got done on Saturday. Wooo! The crazy life I live.

Yesterday I took Daddyspeak on his Christmas gift; we went to an exhibition at The Tech Museum in San Jose, BodyWorlds 2. The idea of this might gross you out, but DS is a biology guy. He wasn’t into human biology so much, but still I figured it was something he’d dig. He said he did, and I have to admit I really did. It was fascinating. I went to a science magnet high school and was in the senior level physiology class (supposed to be the exact same everything as the freshman pre-med physiology class at Stanford) so I got to take apart a cadaver in high school. But this was so much cooler then that. It certainly smelled better. They approached the body in layers and had different layers in different areas (i.e.—there was a room on the nervous system and they had a body with just the skeleton and nerves.) They also had “slices” (cross sections) of people; some were perfect & healthy while others might have cancer or other well known issues with that organ. So you could clearly see what would be considered normal vs. unhealthy. If you ever have the opportunity to see one of these exhibits I highly recommend it. It isn’t gross. It’s mesmerizing. When I walked into the first room it suddenly hit me how much could be gleaned from these bodies. How much could be learned and studied. The education that these people have helped provide is immeasurable.

At the end, they had a small area about how the people came to be used in the exhibit and then how you could sign up if you were interested. DS and I joked about signing up. (“We’re here for your liver.” “Umm, I’m still using it.”) We both agreed we’d rather help by being organ donors. However, if by studying my body they could figure out the whole Fibro thing then I would pony up my body right away for that. But I don’t think you really get to say what science would do with your body so much.

There were two things about the exhibit that bothered me a little; the first was that you could tell that the people whose full bodies were used were typically young and seemed to be in excellent shape. There was no evidence of how they may have died, but it seemed apparent that they had all died well before their time. The second thing that bothered (made me emotional) was that they had a room just on babies and pregnancy. In this room there was a woman who was 5 months pregnant w/the baby in her womb. She was cut and layered so you could see the baby in her womb and how everything fit together. The baby’s foot was sticking up and it was about the size of my thumbnail. They had fetus’ from 1 week to 8 weeks in small tubes (which magnified them so you could see them better, they started out about ½ the size of my pinkie nail and ended up about the size of my thumb nail.) There were also babies who had died at various points in the pregnancy; 14, 20, 32, weeks, etc… I was fascinated with this whole section of the exhibit, but also extremely sad. When viewing the woman who was 5 months pregnant, I couldn’t help but think, “Someone out there is still mourning the loss of these two.” Each of the full body exhibits had a year attached to them. I assume that this meant that the person died that year or the year before. The oldest one I saw was 1996, the newest 2005. The thought that there are families who are still mourning the loss of these individuals was something I couldn’t shake.

However, all that being said, these people died regardless of what was to happen to their bodies after, and I think it speaks volumes of them and their family to allow their bodies to be used for this type of education. It was an amazing exhibit and like I said before, if given the opportunity, I highly recommend you go see it.

Clear Cake People (aka—1000 Marbles)

I got my daily chain mail this morning. I get this kind of stuff all the time, I'm sure you do too. The chain letters that will bring you love, health and long life as long as you "send it on to 10 of your friends in the next 10 minutes or you'll be doomed to email hell." (On a side note; are you really my friend if you're willing to risk dooming me to email hell over a chain mail? Or are you just concerned about your own well being? I digress...) I normally delete them after I read them (fight the madness, stop the spam!). But I got one today that was worth mentioning (link here if you want to read it.) It reminded me of a friend I knew many years ago. And he had a theory about living life that I seem to be having trouble with as of late. The hectic pace I’ve been under this last month has made it hard to “see the forest for the trees” so to speak. So when reading this story I remembered this friend and his lesson and I thought it would be good to share with you.

This friend, “Tim” was Chinese (there’s a reason I’m mentioning this, stick with me here for a minute). He grew up in the Midwest; one of four boys. They owned the town’s Chinese restaurant (of course they did). He used to joke that every town in America is required one Chinese family to run the one Chinese restaurant in each town. I always check when I travel now, and I think he might be right. Although, maybe not Tuna, I’ll have to ask Antique Mommy if Tuna has a Chinese restaurant. Tim’s Grandparents lived in San Francisco. I’m not sure how it all came to be exactly, but by the time I met him he was living in SF with his Grandmother; taking care of her basically. I would venture to guess that they were probably taking care of each other. He never really talked about his Grandmother or the fact that he lived with her. I remember our little group of friends had known each other for quite some time before we became aware of the fact that he drove down to the South Bay for work because he lived up there. And that he lived up there because he lived with his Grandmother in her house. I believe he didn't mention it, because it was just something he did. He didn’t question it or complain about it, he just did it. I found out later that he was the one who came to live with her because he was the most mobile of the four brothers at the time. (Just out of college, no wife/girlfriend or kids to relocate). I think he never complained because in the Chinese culture (as well as many others) the older family members are revered and honored. When Grandma was alone and it became apparent someone needed to be keeping an eye on her to some degree the family figured out who was in the best position to go and then that person went. They didn’t put her in a “home” they moved in with her so she could finish her days in her own home. I know that’s not realistic for everyone, but it says a lot about their family and their commitment to each other. If he resented it I never knew. I don’t think he did and this theory of his is why:

Tim used to say that he thought us we had the whole birthday cake and candle thing backwards. That at the time of your first birthday they should figure out your expected life span and put that many candles on your cake. This means on your first birthday they start with say 75 candles. Every year they take a candle off. By the time you’re getting short of breath you have fewer candles to blow out. Once you’ve “cleared your cake” then everyday is an extra gift and people who fall in that category should get special treatment. He felt that “clear cake people” should get a free ride: free rent, no taxes, free transportation, free meals, free health care, etc…You’ve more than paid your dues to society, now it’s our turn to take care of you. This was told to us during Happy Hour one night and after that we would often toast to the “Clear Cake People”. I think this little story speaks volumes of how he felt about his Grandmother.
In the hustle and bustle of this holiday season, take a few minutes to take a deep breath and relax and think about why you’re rushing about; to have fun right? Don’t forget to have fun. Don't resent that dinner party you're going to because you really should be wrapping. It's really about being with people, and enjoying the time together. And when you say grace or propose a toast on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day make sure to toast the “clear cake people” and enjoy the candles you have left on your cake.

I Enjoy Being a Girl

I was over on “Want Not” (great site for great deals BTW, Mir is my hero and she’s pretty, and not just cause she finds me great deals on stuff) and one of the deal’s she posted had to do with a “globe for girls.” It’s Pink and it comes with a cookbook, because geography alone won’t interest girls.

Ummm, I have a lot to say on this subject. I’ll do my best to keep it sort
of short, but you know how that goes with me so make sure you have something to
drink & get comfortable.

The comments section of her post evolved into an I hate “Bratz” discussion. Which, I am totally down with; I too loathe the Bratz.

I have a general philosophy about most of the things my kids play with;
everything in moderation. My experience is that kids covet what they can’t
have, so you don’t let them have it that’s what they want most. If you let
them have it in small doses then it loses it’s allure & they move on.

I feel that way about most things except Bratz. I think Bratz are awful because their main motivation is dressing cool (aka—slutty) and having attitude.

Dude, I am your mother & I have years of attitude on you (oh, no she dint,
Oh, Yes, she did, snap!)

If you’re going to have an attitude than have at least some smarts to back it up with, in which case you’ll probably figure out that, that kind of attitude isn’t helping you get so far in life. Something to ponder...
Someone commented that while they hated Bratz, but as a kid they played with Barbie so they supposed that made them a hypocrite. Hey, I played with Barbie, and while her clothing choices weren’t making her any girlfriends, at least she was career minded, right? So I went to the Barbie website to mention all the cool jobs Barbie had & found that I stand corrected.

I remember that Barbie was a pilot, a veterinarian, a pediatrician, a teacher, etc… very noble professions. Upon looking at the site I became totally disillusioned. I know there was “US President Barbie” when I was growing up, I know there was, damit!!! But when I went to the website to see if there was “computer programmer” Barbie or “NASA Engineer Barbie” I found that they were all “Fairies”, “Top Models” and “Fashion Fever” dolls….WTF? I guess Barbie is over the career thing now.

She thought she wanted a career, turns out she just wanted a job. Hey someone’s got to heat that dreamhouse.

So then, I clicked over to the “collectors” site thinking I’d find those career minded girls there. I found that they are mostly “Designer inspired” and “Hollywood” themed. There were a few “retro” style ones of which “career girl” from the 60’s is dressed nicely but I believe she’s off to be a receptionist. I’m not dis’in anyone who’s a receptionist, (I’ve been one myself at times) but I was kind of hoping for “financial advisor/CPA Barbie” or “Public Relations Barbie”. Maybe even “Graphic Designer Barbie” or “Venture Capitalist Barbie”. Something!

We hear all this marketing about “girl power” and empowering our girls; “go far in life”, “break down boundaries’ and glass ceilings”, but for all our talk we sure don’t seem to give them much that’s tangible. We PC “Take Your Daughter’s To Work Day” by hybridizing it into “Take your Child to Work Day”; the point was to give girls’ female role models, enlighten them to jobs they may not have been aware of previously and give them a sense of being special for being a girl. Hybridizing it takes that away, but that’s a soapbox for another day. We give them playthings that are only focused on fashion and beauty defining for them that their worth is really in their looks and when we do give them playthings of substance, (yes, I’m bringing it back to the globes, surprisingly this rant does have a point,) we imply that they can learn this stuff (geography) but “make sure you stick the basics girls’ learn to cook so you can keep your man happy.” Yeah, I’m being a bit sarcastic, I know, moi?, but the whole thing frustrates me.

I have two daughters and I want them to know they can do whatever they want education-wise, and therefore career-wise. It is only their mind and imagination that will hold them back, not money and definitely not gender. Both my girls are very big pretend players, especially with dolls. Right now it’s mostly princesses and mommy play, but soon it will be other things and I certainly don’t want the toys they play with to limit them, so maybe you can understand why this gets me a bit riled up. I am all about being a girl, I love the color pink and I love getting all dolled up in a girly sort of way. But being girly and being smart, strong & self-sufficient are not mutually exclusive and it’s time the media started to remember that.

Good Reads and my Weirdness (maybe that makes this Weird Wednesday)

I’m totally having the weirdest day.

I couldn’t turn my mind off last night so I didn’t fall asleep until after 3. Yes, 3 AM. Then DD2 woke up at 5 and WOULD. NOT. GO. BACK. TO. SLEEP. How do they know when to do that to you? I did get some awesome cuddle time with her and she totally would’ve gone back to sleep if I let her sleep ON me in my bed. But I needed to get up soon and knew I’d sleep through the alarm if I tried that one. So awake I was.

Maybe today isn’t really weird, maybe it’s just me. I mean weirder than usual. Save it. I’m just delirious and when I get over that and hit my wall (which I can’t believe I haven’t’ hit already BTW) then I’ll realize it was just the jolt of caffeine and TWO F’ING HOURS of sleep that’s the problem.

I'm having really, really good blog karma today and wanted to share. Cause I lurve you Internet, really I do and that's not the coffee talking. I swear!

Cry-It-Out has a post that will leave you in tears. Mike’s a really good writer (damn I sound like a ‘tard. “He write good.”) Duh, he get’s paid for it for a reason. Usually his posts are funny and sweet and they resonate with me because DD2 is the same age as his Emme. (And she's adorable.) That and Emme was my #2 name for DD2. (Actually name #2 was Emilia, which is Spanish for Emily, but I totally would’ve called her Emme, so I feel all connected with him or something. And now he’s going to realize what a total freak I am and be all concerned I’m stalking his daughter and block my comments….told you I was in a weird mood). Anyway, short story long, his post today is the definition of melancholy. I’m touched enough by it that I’m telling you to go read it. You might want to have a tissue nearby.

AND

I’ve found two new blogs! (Cause I didn't have enough on my plate.) Well, new to me. You, Internet, have been holding out on me. I thought you loved me. I’ve totally wasted like 2 hours here at work reading archives of both of them and I think I pink puffy heart them both. Ahhh, new infatuation love. So while you didn’t tell me Internet, I will not hold out on you:

Petroville
She’s a curly girl like me, so I already feel all bonded with her. Yup, that’s what it’s come to folks, you have the same hair as me & I’m your BFF.

My Husband Calls Me Weird
Nicki just moved into a new house during the Thankgiving rush (hmmm….who does that sound like?) And is in debt (she’s American, duh). She does rude things to her new appliances (I'm not saying I do that, but if I did I probably wouldn't write about it. I'm just saying I understand her.) and when I saw her choice in Threadless shirts, I realized I just met my soul sista! I think I seriously have a girl-crush on her.


Ok, I do actually have some work to do here today folks. Gasp! I know it’s been two weeks now and I’ve had stuff to do every day but one. (Yeah, there was a extra long weekend in there, so what?) The stuff I have to do today, involves the paper trail of those who flaked on the project I’ve been working on. And, so as not to become one of those people I should probably get back to that. Ya think? More later, seriously, cause I have new pictures!

A Lesson in Humility, Along With A Hectic Weekend.

Quick before they notice I’m gone!

So our weekend has been fairly uneventful; thankfully. My back, while sore, is not completely out of wack & carrying DD#2 around hasn’t totally tweaked it out yet. FAC was really fun this week (lots of wine, not whine). The neighborhood recently got 3 new families and the ones closest to us were able to join in. We may have overwhelmed them a bit, but overall I think they’re thrilled that they decided to move here. Best part, they have two girls, ages 4 & 18 months! It's like I put in an order for a family with two girls the exact same ages as mine! There were so many kids (13) this week that DD#1 did play with her, but I’m not sure she really got to know her at all yet. DD#2 totally hit it off w/their #2 R. They’re both about the same size & being youngers are on the “tuff” side. They were so damn cute playing in the dirt together & “making dinner” in the play kitchen. I could’ve died. It was good to see DD#2 finally playing with a girl her age for a change. It seems like everyone has boys her age, which is fine, but I could tell she had a lot of fun w/R.

Saturday we slept in (DD#1 slept till 10 AM! Gawd that kid is awesome sometimes!) and then did some light house cleaning. In the afternoon DD#1 ended up having a playdate w/AD from down the street. It was a pretty good one (no fighting) and at the end we walked her home and I was cracking up at DD#2 as she mimicked everything the big girls were doing. How come I never haf my camera on me when she does the super cute stuff? In the afternoon my dad took us to dinner. The girls were complete angels and my dad could not get over how good they were.

Today we headed to church, and once again DD#2 was being amazing during Mass. It was really crowded so we had to sit in a pew w/other people; something I try to minimize so that I can minimize the potential annoyance of having an 18 month old around. But the baby room was full and so were the pews. It wasn’t a big deal; right behind us there was an 18 month old, 7 month old and 4 month old. DD#2 was interested in them, but not overly, so they were actually a good distraction. They were not the most well behaved kids on earth though. They weren't awful or anything, just not the angel my child was being. DD#2 was being the perfect child, and we’d just gotten past the part of Mass when everyone shakes hands and wishes each other “peace.“ DD#2 loves that part & insists on shaking hands with everyone too. Everyone finds this adorable, of course, so I was feeling pretty smug about how good my kids were by this time and fate decided to put me in my place. We’re standing and DD#2 decides to toss her cup onto the pew. It was a “disposable” cup so the lid immediately popped off dumping the full cup of water all over the pew. We were supposed to sit right about then, of course. I was able to warn the lady next to us right off, but still think it got on the edge of her jacket. It had already splashed all over the side of my skirt so I looked lovely when I got up for communion. I had nothing to wipe it up with, at first I grabbed a onsie of DD#2 from the diaper bag, but I realized I needed something more absorbent...

You guessed it, I cleaned it up w/a diaper.

Guess, making me walk out of church w/a full diaper and a half soaked skirt was God’s little way of reminding me of the humility that I might want to keep in check.

Rockin’ & Rolling

Yup, the House O’Speak was “shaking it up” tonight.

We live relatively close to the epicenter. Lost a mirror off the playroom wall. (Glad the girls weren’t in there; it shattered all over the place.) Close enough that we felt it strongly enough to stop what we were doing. If you’ve lived in “earthquake country” you are probably going, “oh, wow, that was a decent one then.“ For the record, when an earthquake hits in our area most people don’t even stop what they’re doing. You take notice, if it lasts long enough, you may even consider heading for a doorframe, but usually it’s over by then and you’re razzing the newbie from out of state who’s looking a bit green right about now.

People who have never been in an earthquake are usually the ones who are terrified of them. It's typical, you fear what you don‘t know. I am terrified of tornados and hurricanes, so there you go. Don’t get me wrong, earthquakes can be very scary and cause lots of damage. But we are very, very lucky to live in this part of the world. My family likes to say “earthquakes don’t hurt people, buildings hurt people.” My dad is a civil engineer, so designing structures to withstand movement is his job, so I know a little bit about this type of stuff. Because we live in the US where we have building codes and the money to support them; an earthquake that would kill hundreds if not thousands in another country, will break a few dishes here. I’m not trying to be flip about it, that’s the truth. If I really get thinking about it I get really angry. It’s beyond frustrating to me that we have the technology to protect all those people but because of politics and money the structures that are built end up killing people. But off my soapbox for now, that’s material for a different post.
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It was the girls’ first real earthquake. We had gotten them to bed about 15 minutes before it hit, so they weren’t completely out. I knew better than to go running to their rooms; nothing freaks out a kid like realizing their parent doesn't have complete control of the world. I think DD#1 was asleep enough that she would’ve thought it was part of dream, but DD#2 is a pretty light sleeper so she woke up & started crying. DD#1 heard me with her and so suddenly I had lots of questions to answer. I had to explain what an earthquake was and how it’s a little scary because we’re never expecting it when it happens. I was quick to praise her, indicating she did exactly the right thing by staying in bed. Then we talked about what to do if you aren’t in bed (stand in a doorway or get under a table). It was actually good timing for the experience. DD#1 wasn’t scared at all, and told me so. Hopefully, when she feels her next one (yes, she will feel others in her lifetime, don’t stress it I’m not) she won’t be totally freaked out by it cause it won’t be new.

Guess we're just setting the mood for Halloween!

No Presents Parties

I just read this: http://blogs.parentcenter.babycenter.com/momformation/2007/10/24/the-no-gift-birthday-party

I'm curious to hear other people's take on it. We have been invited to some kids parties with this request and we too brought a gift. I believe my choice at the first was art supplies (coloring books & pens or crayons). I too felt weird not bringing anything, but figured the mom was in a similar boat as I in wanting and needing no more toys! I felt art supplies (w/a gift receipt so they could be returned if still too much) was a happy medium. I've also bought character PJs for similar requests; needed clothes that probably cost more then mom wants to pay for a pair of PJs, but not considered "boring clothes" by child because of the character on the PJs.

When reading this post my first thought was that maybe the mom could let the b-day boy keep a few favorites and send the rest to charity? Or maybe get rid of an equal number of existing toys that way. But part of me (the consumer in me who has been told that is mean) feels like that might be a bit heavy for a little kid. I mean life lessons are great, but does his b-day party have to be one too? I'm not sure how I feel about it. I'm totally guilty of both sides.

Next year I'm dodging the bullet as far as the big one is concerned; my plan for DD#1 is a "tea party". I'll let her invite 5-6 girlfriends and we'll go to a local tea room where the girls will receive a tea service catered toward kids, but served on real china & such. My SIL did this for my niece's 5th b-day & it was such a cool party. All the girls dressed up in their princess dresses & they loved the fact that they had real china, the sugar cubes were violets and that lunch/tea consisted of finger sandwiches (PB&J), mini rice crispy treats, a mini sundae & other varied sweets. They also hired "Cinderella" to come to the party and entertain the girls with face painting, an interactive story and such. The girls just about died. Yes, I want this party for me, but I think my older one will appreciate it just as much. DD#2 I'm not sure what I'll do. I'm all about the party; I love to plan a theme & decorate, be creative with my invites and the cake, things like that. But we too have more toys then I care to admit to, so a no presents party would be a nice change. What do you think? Any creative ideas on ways to circumvent the mom's (like me) who feel compelled to bring something anyway?

Did anyone see any pigs flying around today?

OMG! I have actual work to do today! At work! No, I’m not joking.

That’s why I haven’t posted anything yet. I’ve had an hour long (training) meeting, and converted several files for various people here today. Converting the files; not really all that hard, but for some reason it falls into the area of things only I can do for them (now that I think about it, it might be that I’m the only one who has all the software required for such converting; ahh, government work). But that’s ok, things to do. It's not that I don’t thoroughly enjoy getting paid for blogging and updating my scrapbook, but things to do that are actual work related things = job security or at least less job insecurity.

So now I get to go update some web pages. Yes, they do want me to work on something I was actually hired to do! I know, I know, pace myself. Don’t want to burn myself out by doing something that takes longer then 10 minutes. I could be laid out for a week if I try to tackle it all before noon. Might pull a muscle in my eye or something.

So more later today!