Monday, May 26, 2008

Friday, May 23, 2008

Stuff I Love


*sigh*
My new jeans. I love them so.
These may be the most flattering jeans on earth, or at least a close second to my all time favorite Jelessy jeans (which died a tragic death when they split from one cheek to the other when I squatted down to pick up the little boy).

I picked up these Hudson jeans on sale at Macy's - thank goodness they were on sale, because even at 40% off they were $95. Still, worth every penny. Snug in all the right places without pinching or pushing anything in a direction it ought not to go. Long enough (praise Jesus!) for this 6'0 tall girl, in fact I have to wear heels with them. My legs look about 10' long in these jeans. They've got a bit of stretch, so they're comfortable to wear all day, even if I have to crawl across the floor with the baby. Best of all is the butt pockets. I will not buy any garment meant to cover my butt that doesn't have rear flap pockets - everything else is just horribly unflattering. Not only do these have the flap pockets, but they're pointy! Making me appear to be even slimmer! Genius!

Thursday, May 22, 2008

I Spell Jest Fyne

This one's for you, Ali, though it is also near and dear to my own heart:

Typo Eradication Advancement League (TEAL), and their project, "Typo Hunt Across America".

I plan to sic them on my local pseudo-newspaper.

Via @KodakCB


Edit: Haha, I misspelled "pseudo" in my first post.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Stuff I Love


I had to get a new phone. The former phone was pretty much only good for talking, and even for that limited use it wasn't great. I've gotten to a point with work where clients need to be able to have me respond to emails pretty quickly, even if it's just to confirm that I got it. I also needed something that played nice with my Mac but that wasn't going to cost me $400 and require that I wait until the end of June for the new iPhone (as sweet as that iPhone is, I'm just not digging the touchscreen when it comes to texting and emailing).

The lovely boys at my local AT&T store, who know me well by now based on the frequency of my visits with issues with the last phone, recommended the Blackberry. So far, I'm pretty happy with it. Sure, I wish that when it synched to my Mac it would do it via Bluetooth (nope, need to be connected via USB cable), or that when it imported my address book contacts it retained the pictures that I had associated with most contacts (frustrating, but not a deal-breaker). But overall the coverage is excellent, the battery lasts a good long while, and the keyboard is super easy to use. Best part is, I'm going to play with it for the next three weeks and if I'm not still loving it, I'll return it and wait a couple of weeks for the new iPhone.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Monday, May 12, 2008

Getting My Move On


At long last, we're moving home. It's been almost two years since we left our house in town, and I've missed it for most of that time. We were able to find a tenant for our mountain house, and so early in June, we'll load up the truck and move back down the hill.

It was a hard decision for us as a family, because A loves the mountain house. He loves the solitude and the scenery and the space (both inside and out). But for me, things changed when Valentino was born. I don't want to put him in his carseat for 40 minutes at a time, twice a day, just to drop him at the nanny's. I don't want him to be limited to visits with friends and family to only those times we come down the hill with specific plans. I want to be able to plan days at the park or the pool and be able to come home for a nap, instead of having to plan my day around being gone from home the whole day, because it's too far to go home for a nap and leave again. I also want back that hour of commute time each day, so that I can spend it with my boys.

To say that I'm thrilled about the move would be the understatement of the century. I'm not even stressed about the actual move event (although for me, that part is trivial, I have lots of practice - this will be my 21st move in my 37 years). We have wonderful friends who've offered all manner of help with getting ready and the actual lifting of my furniture.

All of this reminds me is that things usually work out for the best. I was getting miserable in my home in the mountains, and I truly knew that I needed to move back. We were able to make that happen. I'm forever grateful to my husband for knowing just how badly I needed to do this, and helping to make it happen.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Happy Mother's Day

Today is the first time that I celebrate Mother's Day for myself, rather than honoring another mother. As I write, my boy is in his crib, refusing to nap. He's talking to his toys and intermittently yelling, but doesn't seem especially unhappy so I'm letting him ride this one out. He never naps well for me on the weekends.

Okay, now he's asleep. The idle chatter gave way to gasping, shirt-rending screams. I had to take him to my bed and lay down with him. It's odd, he doesn't give me any trouble about going to sleep at night, he's still awake most nights when I put him in his crib, and he drifts off quickly without a fuss. But naps, forget it.

I'm not sure what the purpose of Mother's Day is other than to make sure that our moms get thanked, even if only once a year. I do know lots of moms out there (including my own) who take it pretty seriously, so I get her the card and the little gift. I love finding fun cards for her, but the gift part does feel a little bit like an obligation, and I hate giving gifts under those circumstances. Oh well, suppose I'll suck it up and head over to Home Depot for a gift card (believe me, for my mother, that's almost as good as jewelry).

To all the moms I know, and all the ones I don't, Happy Mother's Day. I hope you all get (at the very least) a big kiss from your kid.

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Balance


He is the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me. Without question, the light of my life. On the rare day that I get to be with him from waking in the morning to rocking to sleep at night, I look back and realize what a fantastic day we've had together.

I have to leave him every weekday and go to work. Some days are shorter than others, but I have to go every weekday. I take him to the nanny's house and I leave him. Sometimes he doesn't even notice that I'm going, already absorbed in a toy or the nanny's little girl or Teletubbies or whatever. When I pick him up in the evenings, he is happy to see me, but he is equally happy when he's playing his "goodbye" game with the nanny.

Sometimes I get so jealous of her, the way he smiles when he sees her. Part of me knows that he loves me, he knows I'm his mother, but the part of me that's a little closer to the surface is wounded. I am really struggling with this lately. I have no choice about working, we simply can't afford our life without my income. Hopefully there will come a day, not too many years down the road, when that will change. But for now, this is our life.

I have it better than most, I know that I do. I only work about 30 hours a week, I have a wonderful woman looking after him when I'm not there, and when we're home in the evenings, his father dotes on him in a way that makes me fall in love with him all over again, and again, and again. But I question myself all the time - am I doing right by him? Am I being patient enough, loving enough, to make up for leaving him? I hope I am. I am striving to find that balance between work and home that nearly everyone goes through, with my own little family's twist on things. Some days are hard, though. Today is one of those days.

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Creepy Girl

Okay, she is freaking me the hell out.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Stuff I Love



New shoes. LOVE.

Get this - they're Crocs. No, really, they are. I swear.