Weather, wading, an apology, and big changes in the mix

This is what is going on in New Mexico.

We FINALLY have semi-decent weather. It was coolish on Saturday, and a little rainy - it's never rainy here, we are in the world's biggest Draught - well, obviously that's an exageration what with the Middle East, and Arizona, and all, but still - and today it was warmer. 70s-ish. Pleasant!

That's just what you wanted. A weather report.

And - I feel guilty that I hurt someone's feelings with my old rant about how ugly I think the mountains are in Albuquerque. It was awhile back; at the time I thought it was funny. Even just there I had to refrain myself from putting "mountains" in quotes. Just like that. "mountains". Okay, okay. It's a perfectly good city. And the mountains, though bare, are someone's hometown mountains, and I should of kept my trying-to-be funny opinions to myself. There. I'm sorry about that.

Oh, and - I am starting work. It's official. June 1st. The Crib Ceiling is no more.

I mean, the blog and what not - carries on. Of course. It's just - I'm switching more. Blending more towards the working-mom thing rather than the full-time stay at home. I am Trepidatious. Cap intended. When I think of the job, well...that sounds pretty great. (It was my calling all along. Or perhaps I should wait until I actually start to say such a thing. But really, it was.)

Will I miss the long lazy days of hanging out with kids? Actually, I never had those days. These so far have been the hardest working days of my life. Will I miss the struggling to entertain them and be with them and do the laundry or pay the bills at the same time? No. (Oh, and also, cook dinner on time and get the groceries and don't forget the nap schedule!)(Things are busy at home all day with kids, I am telling you.) That part was really hard. Is it just going to be harder if I work? Probably.

I used to think of staying at home - which, by the way, you never do (thank Gawd) - as swimming. You are really in the midst of it if you do this full time. You have dove in, and you're flowing down the rapids. I used to think of the working moms - and come on, lash out at me if you will - as a little bit of waders. They'd wander in for awhile, then call over the sitter, hand the kids off, and head back to shore. Get dressed, put on decent shoes, and walk downstream, calling out to the sitter and the kids once in awhile as they bob along. Next to me. Then at the next put-in (that is the right term, all you kayakers out there, right?) we'd all gather for a calm moment, and they'd wade back in.

I don't know. It's probably a bad analogy. THERE IS NO JUDGEMENT THERE. I LIKE YOUR DRY SHOES. I KNOW SOME OF YOU WOULD RATHER BE ALL WET AND BOBBING DOWNSTREAM WITH ME. Sorry for yelling. I just really don't want to offend anyone with that analogy. Should I just take it out? But it's just so how I've always felt about this....deal....

Anyway - now I am going to see just how bad an analogy it is. Maybe I will feel even more like I am barely keeping my head above water if I throw work into the mix.

The truth is, this SAHM-thing couldn't last forever for us. This is a good opportunity for me. I'm a little worried it's a little early for the youngest one. But it's only supposed to be part-time. (From (non-supportive but seemingly well-intended) realtor-friend back home: You can't do this job part-time. Dang! Where's the support?!!)

And now I am going to be a wader. Well, a little more of a wader. A part-time swimmer, part-time walker. Probably a wader.

We'll see.

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A true Crib Ceiling story

So I was talking to this good friend of mine and she told me this story.

First, some background. In the midst of a highly successful career as a securities attorney (yes, I have no idea what that means), she got married. Then gets pregnant. Gets a nanny.

Moves for her husband's career. (One of those *other* things the feminists forgot to mention. Whoops! Sometimes you have to move for HIS career!) Moves again. Has a second baby. This time, decides to stay at home for awhile.

In general, doing well with it all. (As much as can be expected. Securities law, whatever that is, is probably easier.)

Then one day, (here's the story part), in the midst of one of those - b a d - days of taking care of two babies under two - the screaming, the crying - and that's just you - the poopy diapers, the exhaustion, the tears - she thinks she's had it and logs on to Monster.com. (When she had time for that during a bad two-under-two day, I don't know...)

Finds this amazing, perfect job opportunity, in her new city. At a corporation (read: less stressful than a law firm), wants her exact securities experience and background. Wow!

She doesn't actually want a full-time job at this point. Just - part-time. Part time would be perfect. Time to care for the babies, some time for this career that she loved. Figures, Well, if I get the offer, maybe they'll really love me and let me work part-time.

She gets the offer. She makes the pitch. (This had to be tricky, but she's good at that kind of thing. Me, I'd be saying, "Yeah, well, last week, I really wanted a full-time job. But THIS week, it turns out I only want a part-time job. Huh! Go figure!") But she does essentially say, So...how do you feel about part-time?

Sadly, they say no.

So they go to the next person on the list. She also happens to be a woman, happens to have great securities law experience, happens to have a very young baby.

She does the same thing. After getting the offer, she says, Can I work part-time?

They again say, No.

A week or two later, not, apparently, able to find anyone else as qualified as either of the first two candidates, the hiring person (also a woman, per chance) gets back to my pal.

I have an idea, she says. Why don't you two super-qualified women job-share?

And that's what they did.

I love this story for so many reasons. First, it's exactly what's happening right now. All these women with these amazing skill-sets and experiences - and - reasonably - wanting to use them while not wanting to be gone so long from their small ones.

And the employers - still in the old mindset. All or nothing. Family life, bah! Kids, whatever! Babies, so?

And then - maybe the wave of the future. The best candidates happened to be the ones who were also asking for a more balanced schedule.

And in the end - the end - it was in the BEST INTEREST OF THE COMPANY to work out a more flexible plan.

I hope it works out well for all of them. Also, I hope it's possibly a harbinger for many career fields in the future. More family-friendly, more women-aware, more flexible, more balanced. Well, we can always hope.

(And when I get another update from my friend, I suspect I'll report. Thanks for the blog material, Youknowwhoyouare! : )

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Look what I do for you

Okay, you asked for it.

Here is the first of the many, many pictures I have taken for you, my Interneter Friends.

First, in January (oh, it goes back longer than that, my picture taking for you), I went on a big organization kick.

I read the book "Organizing from the Inside Out" by Julie Morgenstern and I highly recommend it.

She said to start with something you use everyday, and not the hardest problem in the house. That way, right away you feel like you're making progress.

This wasn't the first thing I did. The first thing I did was our bathroom cupboard. Gawd did it need it. And now it's great! But I have no "Before" pic. (I was in such a rush to FIX IT.) (And I have no After pic. But I will someday!)

So here, instead, is my second project: My bulletin board by our phone.

First the Before:



And now the After:



Isn't it great? Don't I look together and all organized? Are those my knees showing in the picture? So really the board is lying on the ground for its picture debut? Because I also forgot to do a Before picture but still had all the crap, so just laid it back on top of the board in pretty much the exact order it had been in before to take it for you? But really, why are my knees in the picture? Answer key: yes, yes, um yes, yes, yes, and I have no idea.

I can even say that this Organization already helped us. Because in an act of other disorganization, I ran off the other day without leaving a new babysitter my cell number, and she found it on this handy-dandy-organized-without-much-crap-bulletin board! Thank you Julie! (And everything was fine. I think the question was: can they have cheese?)

(And for the record, Yes, those flyers from the Summer of 2005 really were still on my bulletin board until January. And would still be there now if it weren't for this Organizational Kick.)

Technorati tags: Julie Morgenstern, Organization from the Inside Out, Organization

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Kids these days

You’re know you’re really old when….those young kid whipper snappers can deal with the new technology so much better than you.

I was trying to store my babysitter’s cell phone number in my own. After entering the number, I tried to put in her name. I got as far as the M (the first letter) when I got frustrated; my phone does one of those things where it guesses what you want next, and so it puts in Mu or Mo or Mi or whatever it thinks is right…man, it was so much easier when you just typed in WHAT YOU WANTED. Instead you have to accept or reject it’s idiotic choices….(am I sounding old yet?) and so I just accepted Mu and said, Oh forget it, I’ll just fix it later.

And she says, taking the phone from me, Here let me. And in one five second blur of her speeding fingers, she hands the phone back, her seven-letter name entered and saved perfectly.

Um, thanks, I say . . . feeling like I lived this moment years ago, only I was the whipper snapper and the technology was like, the VCR...

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Thursday Thirteen

Thursday Thirteen Things from my youth Krisco 1. As a kid I did synchronized swimming for awhile 2. Really 3. Loved it 4. It's harder than it looks 5. Next Olympics, don't laugh so hard 6. Eventually I switched to summer-league competitive swimming 7. Thought I was pretty good until I got to high school and met the year-round swimmers 8. Those girls kicked my ASS 9. By junior high, swimming carved the perfect male physique into boys: broad shoulders, narrow waist, long muscles 10. By college, swimming carved neither a male nor female physique into girls/women: beefy shoulders 11. I was glad I wasn't good enough to get those 12. It's still good exercise but I rarely manage to go 13. Man, it's cold getting in that pool in the morning Links to other Thursday Thirteens! (Add yours below!)

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She's a thinker, that one

I have one more cute little story about Little Big Girl from her birthday party.(Well, probably tons, but one more to add now...:)

The day before the party, I said, Honey, let's go through your new clothes (Grandmama sent her several new outfits for her birthday) and pick a pretty dress you can wear to your party.

LBG: No, I already picked what I want to wear to my party! (Opens drawer where I keep dresses)(Okay, that's lame but I am way too lazy to hang up teeny tiny dresses.)(And besides, this way she can get at them herself.)(Which helps when she changes clothes three times a day.)

She pushes some of the other dresses aside, points down in there, and says, That one! (The one she's wearing in the pictures.) I want to wear my rose dress for my birthday! (It has a little cloth rose on the front.)

Yes, it's from last summer. Yes, it's a little short. Yes, she still loves it. She wore it on a trip to the mountains we took last summer. Every day. Despite the cool mountain breezes, playing on swings, whatever. She LOVES that dress.

And any kid who at age 3 (technically) can think ahead to the fact she needs some clothes for a party and to actually have them picked out before I even bring it up....she can darn well wear that old thing if that's what she wants to do.

I thought it was cute.

(And amazing. I did not think about what to wear to a party at age three. Or four. Or even sometimes recently right until the minute before.)

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What's For Dinner Wednesday

Alright. You know the routine.

I can't muster any more enthusiasm. I have no groceries! I am sick of cooking! I am tired Baby won't eat ANYTHING! I am sick of making the fish too dry! I am tired of begging Little Big Girl to JUST SIT DOWN AND EAT. I am O.V.E.R. dinner.

Please, just be honest. What are you REALLY having for dinner?

(Maybe next week I will find my enthusiasm.)

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Why We Have a Therapy Fund, Reason No. 101

I have been very diligent with my three-year olds lunch at preschool.

I make it every day she goes, I save enough time to make it, I be sure to buy the necessary ingredients at the grocery.

I say this like it's a big deal, when clearly it's just part of the Mom job. But for me, let's just say it's not my pre-kid MO.

And I do EXACTLY as the teacher asked at the beginning of the year: two items, and something to drink.

So, typically, Little Big Girl gets a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a second item, and a juice box.

Recently, while flipping through some old papers to throw out, I saw the official What To Put In Your Preschooler's Lunch Box from the preschool. It's spring, I got these papers in the fall, I hadn't seen this before. Here's what it said: Two items. An entree and - here's the kicker - A DESSERT.

Let's be really clear. My little girl gets CHEESE for her second item.

(Sometimes she gets as sliced apple. On a really lucky day, a Clementine.)

After I read this, I asked Little Big Girl what the other kids have for their second item. "A fruit roll-up." she says, without hesitation or thinking about it. "Lanie gets a marshmellow."

Oh, yikes. Forget the college fund. I'm starting the Therapy Pool.

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Party Photos!!

WOO HOO. We have achieved photo. Crib Ceiling has photos! It is a new day indeed.

And to start - some highlights from the birthday party, which seemed to be a success. Little Big Girl had a lot of fun, which was the main thing.

First, the bouncy. A pic with LBG looking at the camera, and NOT ONE OTHER OF HER FRIENDS:



And, just because wouldn't you know, a picture with almost ALL her friends looking at the camera, but not her:



And, finally, the wonder that was the Arial cake. The scientists at the party couldn't get over the fact that the surface of the jello looked so much like the surface of ocean water. There was some debate as to how this was achieved. I, of course, have no idea, but it did look pretty cool:



And, finally, LBG kept insisting this was her 5th birthday. She did already celebrate her 4th in California with her cousins, and then the actual day of her birthday came last week and of course there was some celebrating - a gift at breakfast, etc - and she was pretty sure that by now, THIS party had to be for the next birthday. She's five! I think, by the end, we had her convinced that this really was, indeed, still her 4th.

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Things I don't understand

1. Why the Locate Beeper Noise on my walk-around phone doesn’t ring if the ringer on the phone itself is turned off. Let me spell out the scenario: Turn the phone ringer off to allow napping babies to nap; forget ringer is off; use phone and leave it in a random place. (On diaper changing table? Under kid’s books on couch? In bin of dolls in toy room? Near preschooler’s closet? In the dang fridge for gawd’s sake? No idea.) Push Locate button thinking, this will solve my lost phone problem! Wait for ring. Wait for ring. Damn! Ringer turned off! No way to find phone!

THIS is a functionality flaw.

2. How papers on my desk can pile so high, so quickly.

3. Why I’m on every freaking spam email list in creation. Why would I care that Donna Summer is touring this summer? How on earth did *I* get put on that spam mail list? And yet, with over 1000 unread emails, I can’t just delete them all. Here and there, now and again, once in awhile, is an email from someone I actually know. Like the below. It’s Dante’s 9th ring. (Actually, his 0th).

4. Why it was so *dang * cool to be included this week in the email string of a group of old work buddies. Sure, sure, commenting on a psychotic ex-boss’s posted resume online. It was so……great. It was so like….old times.

5. Why I’m still up before Little Big Girl’s big 4 year old party.

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Party Prepping

Little Big Girl turned 4!

And we are planning the All-Arial Birthday. Including the cake. (Although not the *exact* cake above, just the Arial parts from the cake above, magically transformed into some other version of an Arial cake by a girlfriend of mine.)(Oh goodness no, not by me.)

We will even have a castle jumpy-thing (don't ask me, but all Princesses - even Arial the Little Mermaid - have a castle. Come on! Eric the densest boyfriend of all time lives in a castle! Duh!!)

Little Big Girl doesn't know about the castle jumpy-thing yet, so that part will be fun.

And we're having some of her friends from her school - the first birthday with HER OWN friends, not just the kids of our friends - and the little kids in the neighborhood she's friends with - and I'm pretty excited about it.

Hopefully I won't be up until midnight tonight making kiddie sandwiches. But, let's get real. I will.

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Thursday Thirteen Reading Material

Thursday Thirteen Things I read regularly by Krisco 1. The New Yorker 2. The New York Times (online or sometimes "real") 3. Parents (Gawd. Only because it shows up. And I like the cute-things-kids-say part. And I got suckered into a multi-year subscription by new-parent guilt and angsting...And the rest I read and say, Why am I not a parent who can read this without irony?) 4. Email 5. My blog comments! : ) 6. Albuquerque Journal (But only because I have to; it being the only major-ish city around here. Plus it has more comics than the really-local paper) 7. The Really Local Paper. (The Los Alamos Monitor)(But does once every two weeks count as often?)(Is this why I never know what's going on around town?) 8. House For Sale flyers. All towns, all locations. I stop on vacation to pick them up. 9. Ditto the HOMES magazines, with all the for-sale listings. Have a collection from around the world. Okay, just one country (ours) and only a couple states, but still. (Like this, only - you know - wrong country.) 10. Blogs, of course. If you are reading this, then, likely, yours. (Am I suckup or what? Actually, yes and no. I do love to check out who checks out Crib Ceiling.) But dooce for sure. Also Mom Writes, Froggiemom, Long Division, ms. sizzle says, Diary of the Nello, Actual Unretouched Photo, City Mama, Daughter of Opinion, Suburban Turmoil, Thrusher, Finslippy, Greek Tragedy (I can't help myself), Chaotic Home, The Sassy Lime (most linked on the side). Now I feel bad that I even started this because, well, you know. There are too many to list. I'm reading, baby. (Guaranteed by writing this I've missed one really obvious one that I read so regularly I forgot to even list it.) 11. Surely, that is enough. 12. I guess you can count the kiddo's reading I do: Ladybug magazine, various and sundry kids books involving moons and bunnies and jumping cows. 13.The Week. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! (Add yours below!)

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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My mirror

So I'm standing with Baby out in our front yard.

It's a beautiful New Mexico spring day. Maybe 70 ish, a slight breeze, very sunny. I had just brought the groceries in but wanted to hang out in the sun for a minute, before starting the long slog that is naptime preparation. Little Big Girl had disappeared into the house to find her games. Baby loves to be outside, so she was psyched to hang outside with me.

I look at her - I'm on the walk to the front door, she's standing on the little stoop in front of the door - and she suddenly crosses her arms tight across her chest.

Are you okay? I say.
And she grins at me.

What are you doing? I ask.
And she points at me.

Do you want me to help you with something?
I'm thinking, did she hurt herself? Does her stomach hurt? Why is she doing that?

She just shakes her head, and when I ask her again what she's doing, she points at me.

And I look down at myself.

And my arms are folded tight against my chest. My usual pose.

I just bust out laughing, and she grinned even bigger.

Then we played a little mime game, where I put my hands behind my back, and she did too. And I put my hands in my pockets and she tried to too (she didn't have pockets), and I held my hands crossed in front of me, and she did too. Grinning the whole time.

And then I noticed a bazillion dandelions in our front yard that I swear were not there when we went to the grocery store. So now we have our plan for the afternoon.

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What's For Dinner Wednesday

In our voyueristic contribution to the world wide web, what we really want to know is, what are YOU having for dinner?

Sure, some people actually make a dinner themselves. The rest of us - well, we're really making do, aren't we.

I just went to the grocery store and I *still* don't know what we're having for dinner tonight. But now we have options - the ever-exciting speghetti (as in, Speghetti. Again.) Or....I believe there was a package of refrigerated ravioli in my cart.

With any luck, we'll add some frozen peas. (To which even I say...bleh....)

And now - fess up! Cuz I really want to know.

**Our handy list of rules:**

Put what you think is for dinnerr in the comments
Or, put in Tuesday's
Or, put Wednesday's in on Thursday
Play all week long! This post doesn't go away!

And if you have a recipe, well, you're a mile ahead of me. Just let us know and we'll come to your site to check it out! (And may I say here, I am duly impressed.)

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Crazy busy trip but hoho long travel day makes me delirious

Happy belated Easter everybody! (For those who partake.)

First - Can I just complain - once again - about how remote remote areas of New Mexico are? Sheesh. Should it really take twelve hours to make a two hour plane flight? I think not.

(That's right. No direct flights! Lay overs! Multiple getting-ons and getting-off planes! And waiting around! And then...driving for TWO HOURS to get back to remote plateau science town from nearest airport that supports jets!)

Again, may I say....sheesh.

Secondly - despite the travel, over all we had a great trip. The cousins have so much fun playing together. And I - because I am crazy - and stimulus-deprived - kept insisting we take the kids on outings. My sister kept saying: But they love just playing together! They have fun here at the house!

And I kept saying: But that's all we get to DO in Los Alamos. That's all we CAN do. We need to go OUT!

So we went to a local zoo, a Chuck E. Cheeses, an Easter egg hunt, plus the regular family-gatherings for the holidays. Yea! Stimuli!

No wonder Little Big Girl did not want to go home. (And Baby was SURE she spotted her aunt in the airport - here in New Mexico. "Ahi! Ahi!" (her derivation of her sister's derivation of their aunt's name, which is in reality nothing like either "Sashi" or "Ahi". Hm. What can I say. I have imaginative kids.: )

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Brief Lovely Easter Trip Update

We made it to Socal - the girls and I - okay. Turns out to be a long trip between two-hour drives to the airport, double flights, layovers. But phew, we're here.

Spousal arrived today so - great chance to rob our house! Just TRY to find something valuable! And good luck with that! (Unless it's artwork by a 3-year old that she herself tapes up all over the house; it is our most valuable thing.)

So far the girls - my sister and I - got to go shopping ALL BY OURSELVES. Woohoo! That was easy and fun. Apparently since I've last been to a mall, I've moved out of The Gap and straight into J. Jill (or at least, their sales section). Couldn't take the music, the tight, low clothes or even the cramped dressing rooms in the former. Dug the tunes, the pleasant helpful sales ladies, the larger dressing rooms, and all the clothes at the latter. You'd think I'd be disconcerted to realize such a thing; in fact, it didn't bother me in the least. Thank goodness there is a J. Jill! The Gap was so depressing. (My favorite in my twenties...)

Also we had a birthday party for one of my nephews and "Mr. Science" came and showed the kids a few tricks - melted a styrofoam head with acetone - watch your nailpolish remover around your wig stands ladies, that was scary! : ) - and sucked an egg in and out of a beaker using a vacuum.

And now - I have to find some resolution to this little ear problem I have. I can't hear a dang thing out of it, and I know from experience that's just the prelude to nauseau and imbalance if I don't get a move on...thank you small ear canals and excess wax buildup! And too much phone talkage!

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A good emotional deed for the day oppty

Out of sheer and unadulterated guilt I am finally doing something I said I would do weeks ago. Okay, bordering on two months.

My girlfriend called and wanted additional good wishes sent to her girlfriend, and I faltered.

But here it is. This is a website about her good friend - an amazing and vibrant woman, mother of two young kids, coming down suddenly with - a brain tumor. Yikes.

I only know her as an acquaintance from years ago, but she's one of those people whose energy you don't forget.

Anyway, if you have any spare good feelings to share, please send some her way. (Northern California-ish; I don't really know more than that.)

And here's a website her friends and family have put up to update friends and family and others. She is making progress. And thanks for your extra good thoughts.

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What's For Dinner Wednesday?

Is it Wednesday, *again*???!

Guess what - I am making NOTHIN. We (the girls and I anyway) are winging off to SoCal for Easter with family. Woo hoo!!! So I think we're pretty much eating MckyDs in some airport somewhere. Gack. Oh well! At least I'm not cooking! And I'm sure my family feels the same!

But as for YOU - fess up, 'cause we LOVE to know.

What's For Dinner Wednesday??!

Our handy list of rules:

Put what you're having in the comments
Anything counts, even what you had on Tuesday
IF you're so inclined, put up a recipe on your site
Of course, if you're having vending machine food, just share the brand. :)

And as always - thanks for playing!!

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Double Super Dang

Have you ever been invited to an event that you were really excited about, and glad you got invited to, and looked forward to going to, and still, you forgot to go?

Oh my goodness.

What with the short-notice family in town (which I was glad about; and personally, love the short-notice visits! anything to get more friends and family visiting here) and touring them to Santa Fe, and getting heinously poor service at an already-late lunch...by the time we got home, I totally forgot there was a baby shower I was looking forward to that afternoon.

Dang dang double dang.

And how do you ever apologize for that one? "Sorry. I am um.....spacey? I really WANTED to go?" Oh, I'm so embarrassed.

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I swear the pic of this would be *great*

Today I realized - I need more pictures. I need way, way more pictures.

And here's the ironic thing - I take pictures! ALL the time! For you people! Pictures I think will be funny on the blog. Pictures that explain what I'm talking about. Pictures that just - *deserve* to see the light of day.

And do they? No. Why? Because the thought of figuring out how to plug the digital camera into the computer and what on earth else to do next - I don't know. Can you say "tomorrow" for six months? Well, I can. Apparently.

(I even take pictures with my *phone* for you all. How they would ever possibly get from there to here, or from there to anywhere, I have absolutely no idea. Surely there is a way. At this point the phone is full - full of pictures of bad cars in New Mexico, cute kids, random art projects, my old great hair-do, my organized bathroom - comeon, you want to see these, right? But how, oh how?)

Here's the rest of the Monday update: Some cousins** called last week and wanted to visit for the weekend. Woohoo! People I know! From far away! Here in Smalltown! Yea! And so they came, and we had a great time.

(**Being of good Irish Catholic stock, these are second cousins. Or maybe further. It's the ones you love that matter most, regardless of distance, right?)

Gave them a tour of the town, laughed about the odd defects of this house (no storage! here's an extra weird room! it's become storage! it used to be the living room! what the hell!), ate good Mexican food, took them to Santa Fe, let them witness a few childish meltdowns - actually from the children - and some darn good kid behaviour as well - mostly from the children - and of course, since a good user shares her addiction, watched some Sex and the City with them.

Ah. A good weekend was had by all.

In another six months - or so - I swear you can see a picture of it.

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Scenes from my actual life

I *really* needed to get the girls out of the house the other day, so we went here:



If you think it's not a great place for kids, you might be right.

There's this:



And this:



But also news.

The proprietor, Ed Grothius, has a NINE PAGE SPREAD in Esquire, THIS MONTH. No way. Way!

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Thrusday 13 Unoriginal Favorite Shows

Thursday Thirteen Favorite Shows, all time, so far (completely not original) (not in any particular order) of Krisco's 1. SATC 2. Seinfeld 3. The News Hour 4. The Apprentice 5. Homefront 6. The Little Einsteins 7. Cheers 8. And....I am plum out Links to other Thursday Thirteens! (Add yours below, baby!)

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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What's For Dinner Wednesday

What's for dinner Wednesday?

Ah, we love our internetter voyeurism, so fess up.

WFDW Rules:

Put what you're having
Anything counts, even what you had on Tuesday
Recipes on your site, IF you're so inclined.

Thanks for playing!!

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Stuck on stuck

We moved here *for reals.* It was supposed to be where we would "be."

But it is sosmall.

Sosmall I can't stand it, sometimes. Sosmall I ache for a decent Thai place, sometimes. (Oh wait, we have one. Okay - one OPEN on Saturday night.)

Sosmall I just want somewhere else to G O besides the grocery or Starbucks, sometimes. Sosmall I think, well the hiking is great. But I really don't even LIKE hiking that much. (I can now admit that to myself despite being raised in a Hiking State.)

And starting a real estate career - it takes a year to get started. A couple just to get it underway.

Am I afraid I won't be here in two years?

Am I afraid I will?

What if we move and there won't be a mentor, someone to take me under their wing, in the new place.

What if we don't move, and her shop here is full next year.

What if - the reality - we have no intention of moving and like most scientists here, Spousal loves his job and it would take a shitfit, some crying, and a helluva lot more than that - I mean, do I really want to interrupt HIS career just because I would really prefer a more urban environment, and I'm not even working? - to get him to even think about it in a serious manner.

So then I should do it.

And then there's Baby. Little, little sweet Baby. Baby who loves me and needs me and crys if I leave for a minute during the day. (I blame it on the rough delivery. No one wants a change of scenery that fast.) Baby who seems to change every day, and I would miss every other day or so.

Okay, so then I wait a year. And take my chances on the full-house thing.

Also - and this is random - but have you noticed the working-mom club v. the not-working-mom club? Well, I think there is a little club division. I don't mean from the judgemental side. From the pragmatic side. You can get together with the stay at homes . . . oh, anyold time. The workers - you gotta plan it. Weekends. Some afternoons. Playdates are hard. Dropbys or last minute calls are out.

Maybe I'm a little scared to move to that other club. I would miss my mommy-side friends. I know, you say you'll see them, but - it would be hard. So it's leaving my little life here, too.

Plus, you really have to have your act together. Kids to preschool on time; remembering appointments; don't forget phone calls. Maybe I'm not organized enough to be a working mom.

Could I even do it? Can you be a worker bee and still have mommy brain? (Which I do.) (Obviously.)

I don't know the answer to any of these questions and right now I am not even sure how to address them.

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More procrastination in seven points and two tv shows

1 - Tick tick tick....the clock is running down and I still have no idea which way I am going to go on the starting-work-this-summer thing. (Buzzer: signing up Baby for the day care. Also - summer will actually start at some point...I should decide before then.)

2 - A girlfriend took pity on me and brought over her Sex and the City DVD set. So now I get the "full" picture - if you know what I mean. (Didn't I sound like Samantha there?)

3 - Man, Big was kind of a lot cuter in the first season. He aged. Maybe it was the cigs. He must have smoked in real life.

4 - I hope Carrie didn't / doesn't. Er, SJ Parker...She's got kids, man. No cigs!

5 - This game was probably over years ago - but did everybody already pick who they're like on the show? And does everyone think they're the Carrie? And in reality, do they think they might be a mix of Carrie and Charlotte, but some of their close friends and family - make that family - would just think they're the Miranda?

But no one in their family has actually seen the show (thankfully)?

Oh wait. That's just me.

6 - (And here's a news flash: that's (one reason) why I left the law. I so did not want to be the Miranda. Oh, and - working in business - takes some of that edge off. (I didn't say ALL.) You can't be that way in business, successfully. That's why the lawyers on The Apprentice all suck. All that frou-frou stuff the B school kids did - small groups, projects, grades based on group participation - that we poo-pooed in law school. Yeah. Surprisingly helpful in the real world. This is why they have tasks on the Donald show. I just can't imagine a normal lawyer - one who's never worked in business as a businessperson - will ever win that show.)

7 - (Did you like how I sequed from Sex and the City to The Apprentice? Yeah. If you only watch two shows, they totally relate.)

8 - If you've never seen SATC - which until last month or so would be me - here's a superbrief rundown. Pick who you are:

a. Samantha - super sexual. Not that interested in a real relationship. Gets around, so to speak.
b. Charlotte - the true romantic. Wants real love, marriage, kids and is not ashamed to say so. A little naive.
c. Miranda - hardened and cynical. Wants love but doesn't believe it could happen for her. A little angry. Blunt.
d. Carrie - the glue that holds it all together, the reasonable one. Believes in love but not too naive. Also not real angry or cynical. Also, smoother than her other friends. More the observor and the voice of reason.

See? We're all the Carrie, aren't we?

(And did I get the descriptions right? Do you see the ladies differently?)


(technorati tags: SATC, Sex and the City, The Apprentice, lawyers

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29 Things Redux

1. We have found a cleaning lady.

2. She is glorious, wonderful, amazing, and reasonably priced. She works hard, takes initative, and notices the small things. Without being asked, she swept the fireplace, the ceiling and the vent, changed the linens, and washed the duvet covers.

3. And... broke the washing machine.

4. I don't care! Do you see that? I DON"T CARE.

5. I can't afford it if she does it every week, but hey, maybe she will also be a tiny bit teachable as to at what point the machine breaks down from overstuffing and high-volume water usage.

6. She also, um...completely shrank quite a few of Little Big Girl's new (used) summer clothes. Including the incredibly-tacky-but-I-knew-she-would-love-it Disney Princess dress with the gathered waist and the big ol' picture of the Princesses on the front.

7. I'm hoping to either a) find another one. But it looked like it had been in storage for awhile, even though "new with tags." Would ebay ever have a replica? or b) hide it on a permanent basis and hope against hope that LBG won't remember it. That is futile. so c) take the fall so that LBG doesn't take it out on the new cleaning lady as in: Hey! You shrunk my new dress! Why did you shrink my Princess dress? Because - we love the new cleaning lady.

8. Yes, it looks like I'm complaining but I'm not. She is Great. I just didn't want you to think she was super-human, which is what I thought when she left the house before I found a) the broken washing machine full of sopping wet, non-agitated or spun clothing and b) teeny, tiny cotton clothes that used to be average-size in the dryer, which was set to "scorch."

9. Eh, forget it. None of that matters. She rules.

10. She's the wife we never had around here. I'm glad someone's picking up the slack.

(11. If you're new here, or even not really too new because I haven't actually done a 29 Things in awhile....it's never 29 Things. I just....okay, I used to think it was funny to call it that. Now it's just my thing but I can feel that at some point, I'm going to think it's funny again.)

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