Oct 19, 2018 | Sesame, Uncategorized |
The day has finally come.
It’s time for Annabelle to get her own home and move on out. She’s mooched off us long enough.
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| “Ya talkin’ ’bout me?” |
Christopher found plans and bought the wood for her new abode. It sat in our living room for several weeks due to weather. I felt like we had moved into the lumber department at Home Depot.
I won’t lie- I had serious doubts about his ability to build something with any kind of structural integrity. It’s not that I didn’t have any faith in him, but I really didn’t have faith in him.
Color me surprised when it started to come together.
Then tragedy hit. The floor fell apart when we moved it onto the cement blocks. I tried to be helpful by removing the bent nails and reassembling the floor using the screw gun. I had never used a screw gun before and probably won’t use one again. I couldn’t get the screws further in than halfway. I was not strong enough. All those exercises I’ve been doing have been in vain!
After many days of cutting, nailing, painting and MUCH MUCH sweating the house is nearly complete. I still need to retouch some paint on the inside and decorate a little more, but for a starter home it’s darling.
I had visions of decorating with fabric and pompom garlands but I let Annabelle have a say in decor. She chose a safety theme. That was nowhere near my top 15 ideas but it’s her house. It looks a little sparse so I’m going to look for a little table and chairs at thrift shops. Maybe I’ll fill a plastic firefighter helmet with water and fill in with flowers as a centerpiece.
Yesterday we pretended it was a Dunkin Donuts. Annabelle loves their “hashfries” (hashbrowns) so I made some out of felt.
I’m glad her new home isn’t too far away. I just hope she’ll be a good neighbor.
Oct 9, 2018 | Currently, Uncategorized |
I drove by my nail salon this morning and saw a blue Nissan Rogue out in front. I thought to myself, “I don’t know why my car is there.” It wasn’t. I was in my car. The heat has officially fried my brain.
Trying: a new exercise class. I’d heard about barre classes a few years ago but never lived near a place that had it. I happened upon a studio down the street from AB’s school that has a class from 12-12:45. That gives me 15 minutes to drive 6 minutes down the road and be at school in time for pick up. I really had no excuse not to go. My experience can be summed up in the following picture.
A kind lady showed me which room the class was in and what supplies I needed. She said I could use 1 or 2lb weights, it was up to me. I almost picked the 2lb because I didn’t want people to think I was a wimp plus there’s no need to show off all my skilz right away. I decided to go with the 1lb since it was my first class. Pride would indeed have gone before the fall because 10 minutes later I could barely lift those tiny weights. My arms were burning. My thighs were cramping. My abs were shaking like never before. It didn’t help that every other lady in the class was slim and trim and my reflection made me feel like a polar bear next to them. But I pressed on and even went back the next week. I’ve heard through the grapevine that it takes weeks of exercise to notice any significant change in the body. Personally, I think change needs to happen overnight to keep up morale but life can be so unfair.
Listening to: the Dr. Death podcast. I have a wide range of podcasts in my rotation but they were all put aside while I listened to Dr. Death. It’s the true story on an incompetent surgeon whose patients were paralyzed or even died after he operated on them. A few doctors tried to stop him but the hospital system didn’t remove him before he caused significant damage. I listened to it for two days straight. I got so sucked in and formed many theories. I need you all to listen so we can discuss.
Watching: Making It. Making It is a crafting competition. Each week they have two challenges to create and everyone is so so good. I LOVE IT. It makes my crafts look like they were made by a toddler, but I was still inspired to get out my glue gue and redecorate the playroom.
Bob Herzog. Bob is a newscaster based in Cinncinati. Every morning he makes little videos while he puts on his tv makeup, and on weekends he records himself telling stories from the week or life in general. He is so funny and don’t we need a little more funny in this world? Sometimes you need someone to tell a story about how they lost their keys under the floorboard of their car for weeks to make yourself feel like you’re not alone in ridiculous things happening.
Reading: I’ll Love You Forever to AB. People get very worked up about that story. They say it’s creepy that the mother is rocking her boy when he’s a teenager and even when he’s grown. Here’s what I have to say to that- that book is basically my autobiography. Don’t think I won’t want to rock Annabelle when she’s older. I fully intend to follow her to college and set up camp outside her dorm room. Not that I’ll let her leave me for college, of course. She’ll live in her bedroom across the hall from me forever.
Going: to the splash pad. It’s not often we slather on the sunscreen in October.
Oct 4, 2018 | Uncategorized |
We’ve been having some busy times these last few days.
Oma came to visit for several days and we spent the weekend in Atlanta. I decided that going up to Atlanta is too much of a hassle. At a minimum, it’s three hours away but once you factor in bathroom breaks and traffic it feels like six hours. Not to mention a child who generally does well in the car but gets antsy after a few hours and asks for gas station snacks.
We went up specifically to visit with Christopher’s great-grandmother. We had breakfast with her on Saturday then went to an indoor play place for a few hours. Annabelle was happy to take on the job of playing while we all watched. Somebody had to do it and she took one for the team.
In the afternoon we went to the children’s museum. Daniel Tiger was there in all his glory and Annabelle could not have been more thrilled. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree when she saw him. A few weeks ago she told me that Pete the Cat was just a person in a costume, but she didn’t say that with Daniel so I hope she really thought it was him.
Then she got to sit in his trolley and her entire life was made.
While Oma and Christopher had a disagreement about Donald Trump, AB and I set up a little picnic at the Dunkin Donuts table. We’d rather take about selfies than talk about what The Hair is up to.
Sunday we had another breakfast with Great Grandma then went to the aquarium. I love aquariums. I dreamed of being a dolphin trainer and really regretted giving up on that dream when we were watching the dolphin show. Shout out to Lisa Frank and her multicolored animals for kicking off my love of sea creatures. I passed down that love to my offspring. She could not get enough and told me that dolphins are friendly after all. (PS. She is so cute and I tell her so 48 times a day. ”Thanks, Mama. You too. Can I have another snack?”)
If you’re feeling a little big for your britches, go stand by the shark tank. They’ll put you in your place pretty quickly.
Sep 28, 2018 | Uncategorized |
“Mom, I know you don’t like frogs but do you know what they think about?”
When she saw leaves falling off the trees- ”The trees are sneezing!”
Me: “What did you say?”
AB: “I forget. My thoughts were scooped out of my brain.”
Me: “There will be consequences for that.”
AB: “I’m ok with that.”
We were getting a pedicure with Oma and Annabelle asked what color I was going to get. I said I wanted French nails. When she picked her color she said, “I’m going to get a British green.”
Last week we sent a Paperless Post email to Annabelle’s BFF Kezia. She picked the card, the envelope and the font. I’m not a big fan of AB playing with my computer because she always clicks on the wrong things and gets fingerprints all over the screen, but I let her have free reign during this project and she loved it.
She and Kezi started preschool on the same day and Annabelle wanted to ask her a hard-hitting question.
From Annabelle
To Kezia
I love you.
I hope you like school. Mom said that you take naps at your school.
How long are they?
Goodbye.
Kezi sent back this reply.
It’s kind of in the middle…not too long, not too short.
I love you. How are you doing? Let’s have a playdate.
Love,
Kezia
Paperless Post has hundreds of options for creating pretty emails, especially invitations for all the parties (book club! political viewing party! happy hour!) in your life. Unfortunately, I don’t throw many parties these days, but Annabelle has been asking to have a playdate with her church friends so we’ll use the site to make email invitations. After that, I’ll have a girls night to reward myself for having a large playdate. It’s a win-win.
Contains my own opinions of Paperless Post. I was compensated with product for this review.
Sep 18, 2018 | Uncategorized, What's going on |
Back in our childless days, we spent several weekends driving to Nashville for concerts and events. It was a carefree, laidback time.
This weekend we met Pete the Cat.
How the times have changed.
Where before we clapped for Josh Turner, we now count down the days until we can meet a blue cat in the multi-purpose room of the local library. I really talked up how fun it would be to meet him because I didn’t want to get there and have AB be too scared to say hello. The last time we met characters at the library I had to be the one to hold their hands to show her they were nice. The day before the meet and greet, Annabelle told me, “You know, Mom. It will only be a person that’s dressed up like a Pete.” Why is the magic of childhood already fleeting? I thought for sure she’d think he was the real deal.
Sesame wanted to bring little Pete the stuffed animal to meet big Pete. We were making labels the other day (we were very bored) and she wanted one that said Max for Pete to wear as a collar. Maybe Pete has a double identity that I don’t know about. She got a blue guitar painted on her face and would have left a happy camper had that been the only activity.
Look at the joy on her face! She forgot what she said about him not being real when she saw him. She went right up and hugged him like an old friend.
Big Pete liked Little Pete aka Max and flashed his signature two thumbs up. “Mama, I think he thought that my Pete was groovy. Don’t you think so? Pete likes groovy things. Big Pete, not little Pete. Little Pete is only a pretend stuffed animal. I don’t know what he likes since he’s not real. What does he like? Do you know? I think he likes his new shoes. Does he like new shoes?”
I spent some time in that afternoon painting Annabelle’s new playhouse. Shortly I’ll be able to do a big reveal but I want to document now that it is a labor of true love to build a playhouse in this burning furnace of a place. It’s been never-ending heat for almost seven straight months now. I am over it. I’m ready for cooler weather and by that I mean I’ll take anything below 70*. I just want it to be below 96* at 6:30pm! I’ve asked around when it will get cooler and the general consensus is “maybe November.” NOVEMBER. I saw an ad for deodorant specially formulated for Georgia heat and immediately ordered some. I don’t know if it’s really different from any other deodorant but the ad reeled me in, hook line and sinker. I will do anything.
We walked to the mailbox today and Annabelle brought the stepstool so she could reach the mail. Not 12 feet into our lengthy walk, she asked me to carry the stool because “It’s so hot. It’s one inch hotter than Africa out today.” Inches, degrees. Potatoes, poetatoes.
Out of the mouth of babes.
Sep 14, 2018 | Uncategorized, What's going on |
I saw these questions floating around instagram and since I’ve been floundering for blogging material, I decided to answer them here.
I grew up… in the same bedroom, in the same house, on the same street, in the same state, attending the same church, from the day I was born until the day I got married.
Someone who has influenced me… my grandma. I lived next to her for 21 years and saw her almost every day. I hate being so far away from her now. I don’t know if I didn’t realize it when I was younger or if she’s always been like this, but she is so so funny. We laugh so hard every time we’re together we usually end up crying. I think that’s why she’s lived to be 91; they say laughter makes you live longer. When mom had the twins, Grandma took months off from her weekly card club so she could help out. She would do our grocery shopping and take one of us big kids with her every week. We’d do the shopping then stop at McDonalds for lunch. We’d always get Grandpa an apple pie while we were there because she adored him and knew he loved the pies. She taught me how to play rummy and told me that it’s important to always have a deck of cards handy. Just last week I was out with a friend and I pulled a deck of cards out of my purse when she mentioned teaching me a card game.
A thing that changed my world view… This isn’t change so much as an adjustment. I’ve always been anti abortion but it wasn’t until I was pregnant that I started to understand why some women might feel it’s their only option. I was SO SO sick the entire time and the only way for me to have physically felt better would have been for the baby to no longer be there. I wouldn’t have gotten an abortion to feel better, but those 272 days (but who’s counting) gave me more sympathy for others. For the record, if you’re thinking of having an abortion because you don’t think you can care for the baby, please give it to me. I will take all the babies I don’t have to carry inside me.
I am strangely good at… catching flies with my hand. I used to swat at them with towels, clothes, anything that had a good snap to it. I’ve learned the best way to catch them is approach them slowly then capture them in your fingers. They see the towel coming and they’re outta there. A hand catches them off guard. It’s not an exaggeration to say I’ve caught about 10 flies with my hand this summer. I’ve also been known to pet bees. I have so many talents.
A defining moment in my life was when… It took me a while to come up with an answer for this one. Seeing Josh Groban was one of the greatest moments of my life but it wasn’t defining. The best I could come up with was when I first felt bonded to Annabelle. I liked her when she was born and would have said I loved her, but it wasn’t any different than how I loved the children I babysat. I always felt like she was someone else’s child who was left at my house and the mother never came back. When she was about 6 weeks old I was singing You are My Sunshine and she smiled at me. It was the first time she reacted like that to something I did and it sealed the deal on our relationship. We’ve been mutual fans of each other ever since.
Recent discovery I can’t stop talking about when… Walmart grocery pickup. They always give me a bottle of cold water like I’ve been the one doing all the hard work. All I have to do is order online, show up, and have the groceries put in my car. It’s magical.
Something I’m struggling with right now is… my weight. I’ve been exercising and eating all the right foods without one bit of improvement. I weigh the same now as I did the day I had Annabelle. I lost all my pregnancy weight by my 6 week appointment but here we are. I am so self conscious about it. I generally keep things light and breezy around here but sometimes the heavy topics (lolz) come up.
My magical reset button is… a walk on the beach or a good nap. Unfortunately we don’t live near the beach and my sweet child doesn’t provide many opportunities for naps.
In 3 months, ask me about… how my diet/exercise routine is going. Bring klondike bars in case it hasn’t been going well.
