Hugging the Midline

The Play Room

My stats tell me more people actually do read this blog than just my mom, sisters, and hubby, and I'd like to know more about who's stopping by. To encourage you to say hi, I'm going to kill two birds with one stone and give a buck to the Play Room for every person who comments on my blog between now and Wednesday. (If folks forward this to every person they know and I'm inundated with comments, I of course reserve the right to pull the plug when the kids' college savings are in jeopardy!)

I haven't written much about the Play Room here (although friends and family have heard me go on and on about it), but it's my pet project these days. I'm part of the Fairfield/Vedic City Mom's Group which is raising money to build an indoor play center at the Fairfield Rec Center.

We have lots of great outdoor playgrounds in Fairfield, but when it's rainy or cold outside, there's really no public space for kids to run and play (unless you want to take them to the playland at one of the local fast food restaurants!). An added bonus is that the Play Room will be at the Rec Center, making it easier for moms and dads to sneak in a workout.

So drop by to say hey, and help the Play Room while you're at it. If you're really motivated to give to the Play Room, you can donate online through the link above or through the permanent link on the right side of this page. And if you buy anything using my Amazon or iTunes links or search between now and Wednesday, I'll donate that cash to the Play Room, too. (Can you tell how badly Jack and I want this thing to be built?)

By the way, mucho money was raised last night at Fairfield's annual Rotary auction, and the Play Room is one of the recipients this year. When they release the official tally, I'll update the total on the right.

A Whole Lotta Gratitude

I can't believe I've managed to go a week without posting, but sometimes life intervenes. My sister Jana flew in this weekend from Portland and we all gathered for a couple days at Mia's place in Des Moines; work has been busy; a couple stressful moments have presented themselves here and there; and the weather has been so glorious that our evenings are spent pushing Jack around the neighborhood in his stroller instead of staring at this here goblinbox!

While we've been out and about just livin' our little life, I've filed away so many items in my gratitude stash, some of the everyday variety, some with a more once-in-a-lifetime slant. I thought I'd stop by and share a few:

106. Jana is engaged! Jana and Ian are a wonderful couple, and his proposal was about as unique and thoughtful and romantic as they get. Here's the dorky happy couple in outfits that remind them of where they first met.
     
     

     

107. Jack used his potty for the first time last night! The big engagement did win top billing by a hair, but the potty is still pretty big news around here. Potty Time Elmo has been Jack's favorite DVD lately, and he has become fond of announcing, "Jack woowoo peepee potty! Mommy woowoo peepee potty! Daddy woowoo peepee potty!" It's pretty amusing what passes for stimulating conversation when there's a two-year-old in the house. To prove that I am capable of at least some restraint, I'll skip the pics of this one. 



108. From the most prevalent themes on this blog, it's pretty clear that I adore my life as a mama, and I treasure every moment I get with our little guy. And yet, being a parent is some HARD. WORK. Between ensuring safety at all times, taking walks, supervising baths and potty time, changing diapers, cooking chicken nuggets, reading half a dozen books in a row, playing games, witnessing tantrums, laughing at mispronunciations, enjoying squeezes, etc. etc. etc., it can be so hard to get house projects done, hard to fit in couple time (especially because Jack starts screaming, "Nooooo!!" whenever he sees mom and dad hug or kiss; do other kids do this?), hard to find time to think. Which is why I'm THRILLED that my parents are going to take Jack for more than 24 hours this weekend so Glen and I can get some serious work done during the day and hit the Donovan/Moby/Chrysta Bell concert in the evening. Moby! Here in our little town! If you haven't gotten your tickets yet, you can find them here: http://www.mum.edu/saturday/

Sweeties and Graffitis

101. This lovely bit of parking lot graffiti when I stopped for chai yesterday morning on my way to work
     

     



102. Two "problems" I've gone so far as to lose sleep over in the last week, that both resolved themselves with minimal intervention; will I ever learn not to tie myself in knots over these things?



103. Splashes of yellow all over town as the forsythia and daffodils spring into full bloom



104. Surprisingly perfect guacamole in the Mexican buffet at the gas station, shared with my sweetie during an impromptu lunch date



105. When Jack and I were getting ready for a play group over the weekend, I told him he was going to meet some new friends, and since then he sees all kids as potential new friends. At the park this evening he greeted a group of older girls with "heh-wo fwends", and protested "Jack pway fwends!" when it was time to go. I think each new word or concept he learns could be its own item on my gratitude list, as could each new hug or kiss or laugh; what could be sweeter to a mama?

All Gender Benders, All the Time

I've added a few new Gender Benders and bolded them in the list. A couple BeeGees covers by Feist and Bird & the Bee are especially sweet. Enjoy! :-)

Walking on Sunshine

Grateful after the perfect evening walk:

98. The fresh clean smell after a warm spring rain; happy robins splashing in puddles; bright green post-rain grass and a couple blooms; an upbeat mix on the iPod; still light at 7:45, and feeling warm without a coat



99. The even sweeter smell of a fresh clean toddler's neck under little blonde curls; on mommy's "wap" for a bedtime story and hugs



100. A lucky woman with hundreds of reasons to be grateful; I can't wait for the next 100 to unfold :-)

Ode to My New Red Shoes

Grateful for:

97. Red shoes that showed up magically on my doorstep this morning after just a couple simple little mouse clicks. When Glen came home from lunch I tried them on for him and kept asking, "Aren't you dying?" (Hubby: "That question gets funnier each time you ask it...")
    
    Now that I have kids, most of our money seems to head in their direction; I don't indulge my red shoe obsession as often as I used to, so I'm even more excited by a new pair. And hey, when the view out the office window all day long was gray skies and rain (but no longer INSIDE the office, more gratitude), this bit of color was a nice little antidote.
    
    [P.S. When I woke up this morning I decided I no longer liked my post as originally written last night, so I changed it a smidge, and the first couple comments don't really fit this edited version.]

Ode to the New Roof

Oh dear contractor, oh sweet new porch roof and office ceiling with nary a leak. How do I love you? Let me count the ways...

95. Our contractor friend Phil (ah, the words CONTRACTOR and FRIEND in the same sentence; isn't that poetic?) drove more than an hour from Newton yesterday to re-build our porch roof and fix a couple other spots. A good contractor is like gold; that especially seems to be the case in this town, and we've had a hard time finding someone who does good work AND returns phone calls AND can make time to get us a quote/start work in a timely manner. Meanwhile we had a porch roof looking like it was ready to fall on our heads and a little leak going drip...drip...drip in the office every time it rained, thus sending me into freak-out mode. So thank you thank you thank you to Phil for saving our day.



96. While two guys wielded crow bars and nail guns on our roof all day, Glen and I felt the need to be equally productive. Glen hosed down the deck, raked leaves, and helped the guys haul debris to their truck; while Jack took a nice long nap, I got the kitchen ridiculously clean, scrubbing 108 years of grime from the brick chimney next to the stove, de-cobwebbing every little nook and cranny, and clearing away the piles of newspapers and receipts and school concert programs that manage to gather on the microwave and island. I worked so hard and long on the kitchen that I felt tired afterwards as if I'd spent the day hiking or working in the yard. There's something so satisfying about completing a job like that. Or is that just the Virgo in me? Maybe a so-spankin'-clean-you-could-invite-the-queen-over-to-lick-tea-and-crumpets-off-the-floor kitchen isn't so orgasmic for the rest of y'all, but it works for me.

I'm Exhausted

1AM — I'm jolted awake by Jack crying. I trudge into his room and discover that he needs me to help put a sock back on his cold little toes.

3AM — More crying. Little munchkin gets a lock of hair wound tightly enough around his finger that the circulation to the tip of his finger is getting cut off and it's turning purple (he loves to play with hair — his or mine — while he sucks his thumb). Glen takes care of that one.

5AM — Same thing! — His finger is stuck in his hair AGAIN and turning his little finger purple AGAIN. Mom to the rescue this time. Jack decides it's time to get up for the day. He runs down the hall to hop in bed with us, and we let him watch a recorded episode of Sesame Street while we try to go back to sleep.

5AM to the ridiculously late hour we sleep in — or I should say his Daddy sleeps in. I try to sleep in, as I have today off, but I have a little blonde head sharing my pillow and a little hand playing with my hair.

8:30AM — Jack enthusiastically points out his body parts as I get him dressed: "My elbow! My belly! My butt! My penis!"

8:45AM — I ask Jack to help pick up his toys. He responds with: "No! Jack time out!" and sits down in his little time-out spot in the corner. I'm not even making this up! He knew what the likely consequence of refusing to help Mommy would be, and doled out his own punishment. I've gotta respect that.

9:30AM — I leave Jack at the babysitter's door and make a run for it.

9:31AM— I miss him already.