Owen about town...

As I've mentioned previously Owen has had a case of "crabby baby" and hasn't been taking naps. As I type he's in his room fighting off a nap! Yesterday I had enough. The weather was decent and the sun was out so we set out for the library and Target. He is a photo tour of our neck of the woods.

The wildlife! We live across the street from a lake and it's fairly wooded back around the lake. But we don't often see deer right on the road! Look close. The one above is just to the right of the fire hydrant.



In all we saw 7 deer! Now where we live is not rural. At all. We are about 2 miles out of the Minneapolis city limit. Barely a suburb. It's not uncommon for us to see deer but right in the neighborhood is a little odd.
Here is the sidewalk to the library. Very exciting!
Yippee! We have achieved a nap!
There is the library from a distance. There is a nice park back behind it. We didn't go through the park though.
Here is the library up close. It's 2-3 years old. It's a great place.
Please tilt your head to the left to view this one properly. It's a huge mobile thing hanging in the foyer of the library. It's really neat when the light shines in just right.
Now on to Target. I have to mention we almost got run over by someone backing up in the parking lot!
Look what we saw in the dollar section!
Now we are on the way home. A much happier baby than earlier!
There is the mall. Brookdale Mall. We didn't stop there. I'd wanted to go to Barnes and Noble but it was getting to be lunch time. (If the nap this morning doesn't happen maybe we'll go there!)
That's the temp on the bank sign!
We walked through the park by our house on the way home.
Home is in sight!
And here we are! Much happier than before we left!

On our little trip I realized a few things. Lots of people driving cars are not very courteous to pedestrians. Even ones with strollers. I had the walk sign and some woman still turned in front of me. And I was already in the cross walk. One guy was stopped right in the cross walk and there wasn't any way for me to go around him.
Also, without all the accomodations that have been made to sidewalks and buildings for accessibility by people with disabilities moms with strollers wouldn't get getting around as well either! There was just an article in the paper a few weeks ago about this very thing too. How these accomodations have benefited a broad spectrum of people.
And my last realization was more of a confirmation of something I already knew. There are lots of people out and about everyday that are not using their brains! So watch out! It can be a bit scary out there!

Every boy...

needs a baseball cap, right? Here is the one I found for Owen at Baby Gap the other day. I had a hard time getting him to hold still. Or keep the hat on!

The frame on the first one is a Rhonna Farrer one. I bought a couple of the sets on 2P's. And the corner brush on the bottom one is from the Tattoo set by Jason Gaylord. I recently upgraded the RAM in our Mac to 1GB so now my PSE program SMOKES!

The 2P's challenge for today is to blog about beauty products. I have 5 that are daily musts. Oil of Olay moisturizer with SPF 15. Clinique rinse-off foaming cleanser, glossy mascara in jet black, and city base foundation. And then a translucent loose powder, no specfic brand. That's it. Nothing fancy. Just a little something to keep moist and cover the flaws!

I'm waiting for the mailman. George. I'm hoping he brings Sandee's journal today. But I think while I wait we are going to have to walk to the library. It's a nice day. Above freezing AND sunny. And Owen needs a nap but won't take one. So the stroller might be just the ticket.

Ta da!

Here is my circle journal.



Now that it is finished there are things I'd like to go back and change. But I don't have it so I can't! I am mostly uncomfortable with all the white space and the lack of glitter. I think it might need some red glitter. But then again couldn't we all! And I didn't do any of the type on the computer. It's all my own handwriting. Which I haven't done in ages. Once I got the hang of doing type for layouts I stopped writing on my pages. Bu I decided that since this is a journal I should write in it. Which I am now regretting. Or it could be the white space. If you want/need to see the cover it's back a few posts.

And this is why I am such a creative procrastinator. I have an idea in my head and if I can't get it to look exactly the way I want it to I give up. I stop. And that's what I've got to stop doing. Lately I've been trying to create a little something everyday. Most days I am not happy with the way the "little something" turns out and I end up walking away but sometimes it goes okay. And when I can't come up with something to do I get out my All About Me album and work on that. I try to keep in mind that I create because I like to. Because of the way it makes me feel. Kind of like why some people run. I enjoy making things and working with my hands. It's a controlled mess. Sort of. It's my mess and it's in my room so I can just leave it. I've got to get over what other people think. I don't care what they think about the rest of my life. I shouldn't care if my artwork is pleasing to others either!

My doctor's appointment went well. He seems to think it's the onset of a sinus infection. So he gave me a round of antibiotics to see if that clears things up. My headache and my neck pain seem to be causing each other. He thinks if the headache goes away the neck pain will clear up too. At this point I'd take the headache over the neck pain. I can't turn my head to the right most of the time and that's rather bothersome for changing lanes and making right turns. And general everyday functioning too. I told Morgan tonight that the benefit of being a person who works outside of the home is that when you are sick you can stay home and rest. But when you stay home you can't tell the baby to stay in the crib all day so mommy can rest. Or play quietly so mommy can nap. Or stop biting my toes... you get what I mean.

Today is Fat Tuesday. Even though I'm not Catholic, all those years teaching in a Catholic school made an impression, so I usually give something up for Lent. And it's usually sweets. This year will be no different. So right now I'm finishing up my last hot fudge sundae from Culver's. My favorite! I fell off my fitness wagon a couple, okay three, weeks ago and it's been dragging my behind it ever since. So I need to get off the sauce (hot fudge) and pull my bee-hind back up on the wagon. I don't know why all the things that are bad for me have to taste good. And french fries and ice cream certainly fill me up better than lettuce!

Baby class was good today. Owen didn't get into anything he wasn't supposed to and no other babies got hurt by him climbing over them. There is one baby boy who is bigger and older than Owen but he wasn't there today. It turns out the grandma of one of the little girls was my supervising teacher for student teaching. The world is small, isn't it!?

Time for some...

catch up! Here are my Deck of You cards for the last 3 weeks. This card is Week 4, a symbol you love. The claddagh. I did a little work on the picture I took of my t-shit a couple weeks ago and used that.
This card is Week 5. We were to use some kind of ephemera from our week. So I flattened a cap from a bottle of root beer.
And this is Week 6. The theme was Love, Love, Love. I love my boys!

This week is week 7 and the theme is shoes. I love shoes. I need to do some thinking on this one.

After work tonight I went to JoAnn's to use my coupons. I had a 50% for Michael's but I always use them at JoAnn's because I like the store better and I only want to make one trip. I bought a book called Visual Chronicles. It's about keeping art journals. I'm going to try out some collage and this book looked like it has some fun and interesting ideas for that. I also got a new black pigment ink pad, a small canvas, a small display easel and something else but I can't remember what! It's getting late and I'm tired!
Owen was a bit of a baby crab apple today. He woke up from his nap on the wrong side of the crib and got all upset and threw up. This is a rather common occurence. He finally settled down after I got out the vacuum cleaner. He's fascinated by it but he has to be confined while I use it or he chases after the cord the whole time.
I've also still got the headache that made me sick last Monday. It subsides a bit but eventually comes back. So tomorrow I'm going to go to the doctor and see if they can determine what the problem might be. My neck is also very sore on the right side. Which feels better and worse throughout the day. This all makes dealing with a baby crab apple more stressful!
I'm hoping to get a circle journal in the mail tomorrow. I get Sandee's first. Her work is what inspired me to do a little collage stuff. She has a beautiful and interesting style. You can see her journal on her blog.
I will post pictures of my journal soon. I've got to get to bed. Happy Fat Tuesday tomorrow!

Today's adventure...

The Como Park Conservatory

That is my mom in the foreground!

That is actually 4 pictures that I took and then stitched them together. Isn't that cool! I discovered this when I was preparing some things for the design team I applied for. I had a larger project that I couldn't get a good picture of with one photo so I took 4 and put them together. Then I used the photo stitch program that came with our camera. It's super easy to use and works great!
I have another one I did of these huge palm trees. But I can't get it to load the correct direction! Blogger likes to load my photos all the landscape direction and won't do the portrait direction. I don't know why that is. It's very frustrating.

I decided yesterday that my mom and I should take Owen to the conservatory today. It's too cold for the zoo but the conservatory is beautiful year round. So we went! They recently added on a large visitors center and a tropical experience area. Owen loved it. There were tons of plants and people for him to watch and look at.This is a brown tree fern.
Here is Owen watching the waterfall in the Fern Room.
Here is a close up of a huge palm leaf. It was probably 2x4 feet. This is the backside of the leaf. I thought it was beautiful how the light was coming through it.

This is the sunken garden. I have some other lovely photos of this but they are portrait style and won't post correctly.

Here is Owen watching some big fish. He really enjoyed them!

We had a good time. It was nice to get out of the house and be someplace sort of outdoors and in the sunlight. The conservatory has always been one of my favorite places to go. I love to take pictures there. And it's not an expensive place to go either. It's free actually, but they have a suggested donation. I love that too. It's available and accessible to everyone.

A little love...

The red velvet cake kind! Yesterday I made cupcakes. Red velvet ones. I'd like to say I made them from scratch but it was a mix. They still tasted good! For Christmas Morgan gave me a cake decorating set so I tried that out. I was going to make a trip down to my school to visit the girls and drop off some cupcakes but I didn't have enough time after I got the cupcakes made. Sorry girls!

Morgan and Owen gave me flowers for Valentine's Day. The tulips are from Morgan and the rose is from Owen.

And my mom stopped by yesterday evening for a little visit. Here she is with Owen. His first Valentine's Day. My mom brought him a little red puppy that is super soft. He looks a bit like Clifford and a little flashlight. The flashlight has disco sort of lights that flash when you pick it up by the handle. And some little bugs dangling from the end. It also makes some clicking noises. He loved it.

Today I need to get my circle journal finished up. I was supposed to mail it today but the mailman comes at 10am and Owen has not had a nap yet so I was not able to finish and get it in the mail. Owen's change of nap plans has thrown a wrench in the routine of our day. It seems as though I can't get more than 10 minutes to do anything while he's awake! And certainly nothing that requires much concentration because I need to keep 1 eye on him at all times. Right now he's sitting directly behind me in his swing (which won't swing because the batteries are dead) looking at a book. So this will be the end of my post because he won't be happy much longer!

Yesterday I realized...

Owen is the kind of child who would stick something into an outlet to see what happens. This is both good and bad. It's bad for the very obvious danger factor. It's good because it shows how curious and inquisitive he is. He is a very busy baby! The teacher's aides at our class were saying how he just loves to crawl up onto the shelves and how happy he is and that he makes them smile. He was also flirting with the student teacher! Right now he's napping and probably not for much longer because his baby radar will tell him mommy is doing something and he will wake up.

He didn't have a morning nap before our class this morning so he fell asleep on the way home. It's a 2 mile drive! I'm getting smarter everyday though so I had a bottle ready when we got home so I gave it to him and then plopped him into bed. He's been asleep for almost 2 hours!
Yesterday he woke up at 6:30am and was awake for most of the day with the exception of an hour nap that he took around 12:30pm. It took him an hour to finally settle down long enough to take that nap! Then he was going, going, going until 8pm.
He is into everything lately too. Pulling himself up on all the funiture. Crawling under the tables and bed. Pulling things off of shelves. He pulled the cover off of his night light yesterday and it broke. So I took it out of the outlet. Before I could get a cover for the outlet he was on his way back over there to check it out. And stuck his finger straight up to it! While I was in the shower today he was in his exersaucer trying to pull the drawers out of the vanity. Luckily the drawers were up high enough that he couldn't pull them too far out. He gets mad now when I take him away from something he shouldn't be playing with. Throws his head back and arches his back and kicks his feet! Stinker! Everyday brings something new! It will be nice when it's warmer out and we can get outside for walks again.

I was not selected for the design team I submitted work for. But I thought I'd share my submissions with you!The birthday card I sent off to my cousin who lives in Montana. Her birthday is on Saturday. The Valentine's card is for Morgan.
I am almost finished with my circle journal. I have to do my layout in it and then I can get it ready to send off to Canada! I am very excited to get started on this little project. I have never done any collaborative work like this so it should be fun and interesting! I will post the pictures of my journal when I've got it all finished up.

What worse than a crappy day...

A sick day! Before I was a mommy sick days weren't that bad. Except for the sick part of course. But I would stay home and sleep. Then I'd feel better. Well, when you are a mommy being sick doesn't much matter to the baby. He still needs what he needs. So when I woke up this morning with an awful headache and dizziness akin to a hang over I thought I would just push through, that it would pass. So Morgan went off to work and Owen and I did what we do. Breakfast. Playtime. Bottle. During playtime I ran to the bathroom to throw up. Nothing happened. I'm not a good puker. So I went back to playing. Or watching the playing. Then during bottle time I had to put Owen down to run to the bathroom again. This time I was able to throw up. Yay me! The rocking of the rocker did not help the dizziness. So after I threw up I called my mom and asked if she could come over. Luckily she has like a gazillion days of vacation and so even if she stayed for a month she'd still be good. So I finished feeding Owen and told him he needed to be a good napper (he was) threw up 5 more times and then laid down on the couch until my mom arrived. She stayed until around noon. I was feeling better enough to make it the rest of the day and go into work for a few hours too. My stomach still isn't quite right but hopefully tomorrow I will back to 100%.

I've gotten behind on my 2P's challenges so a quick catch up here. Today was who would you trade places with for a month if you could. Answer: No one. Everyone's life has it's highs and lows and in my life I know what they are. I'll stick with what I know! Yesterdays challenge was what is your favorite thing to wear this time of year. Answer: Pajamas. This is not exclusive to this time of year either. I'd wear PJ's all the time if I could get away with it and not get funny looks out in public. I miss that part of college. It seems like the only place where it's acceptable to wear your PJ's out and about. Although I went to college when flannel was very "in". At least in Wisconsin!

Now for a little Valentine's bloggin. Aimeslee had this on her blog and basically if you read it you were tagged. So I said I'd do it. It's a meme ( I don't know what that means... Aimes???) So I copied it from her blog, pasted it here, and put in my own answers!

Now, for that Early Valentine's Day Meme! (You know the drill--give your answers in my comment section or let us know if you do it on your own blog!!)

(1) Celebrate or Not? - Yes. I make Morgan a card. I gets me one and writes a little note in it. Usually a silly one. Our form of romance is more goofy silly instead of mushy passionate!

(2) Most Romantic Gift Received – Mmmmm.... I'm thinking...... from Morgan?? Well.... still thinking.... I think it's romantic when he remembers something that I said I'd like and gets it!

(3) Worst Date — The blind ones! And no, I don't mean with blind men!

(4) If you could tell your significant other what you’d REALLY like for Valentine’s Day, what would you tell him/her? - I don't need to hid anything from Morgan. And what I'd really like would probably involve a lifetime supply of something chocolate!

(5) Complete the sentence: “Love means never having to say _______” - yes to sex when you want to say no LOL (This was Aimeslee's answer... I loved it so I kept it!)

(6) Best Chocolate - I will try them all once!

(7) Dream Valentine’s Menu - All chocolate... all day! (See a theme here????)

(8) Most Romantic Movie - That of course totally depends on how old you are and who you are. But I'm going to go with The Princess Bride. I've loved that movie from the first time I saw it. I was probably 12. It was romantic then and it still is.

(9) If you had a Conversation Heart that said how you were feeling right now, it would say - "nauseous" (No GIRLS, I'm not pregnant!)

(10) Pink or Red? - Pink or red what?? I hate these ambiguous questions!

So who's next???

I have more I'd like to write about but I'm tired. It's 9:20pm and I'm done for the day. Isn't that sad? When I was in college I'd just be finishing up my studying so I could go out with my girlfriends! Ha ha ha! Now 10:30pm is a late night.

I seriously hate...

crappy days. Owen resisted a nap this morning in favor of crying until he threw up a little. LOVE that. (not really) And now I think he's in there working up to doing the same thing. He finally did have a nap this morning but not until after he played and cranked for a couple more hours.
His doctor appointment went well. He's doing fine. 25% for height and 50% for weight and head circumference. He only fussed a tiny bit when he got his shots and I don't think it was the shots but the finger prick and the squeezing to get blood out. They had to do a hemoglobin and lead check. Hemoglobin is fine. I guess they will let us know about the lead. Hopefully that is okay. I try not to let him chew on the windowsills.
So this day has been crappy because I've just had an overall bad attitude. My fitness plan basically went out the window last week when I started to not feel too great. Along with it when my healthy eating plan. Turns out I didn't feel well because of my monthly friend. What my college roommate Steph called Aunt Flow! And all this laziness and bad eating has helped to create a bad attitude. Which I need to get over. And the bad attitude leads me to be cranky when Owen is cranky instead of patient which is what he needs most! Ugh!
I have however, been creatively inspired. My circle journal is almost ready to go. I have to do my layout in it and then I can get it ready to be on it's way! I won't see it again until October. I'm very excited to get this project going. Can't wait to see everyone else's journals.

Oh, and yes, it's still freakin' cold!

A peek at...

my little obsession! I love gnomes. I can't really tell you why. They are little and funny looking (maybe I feel a little familiarity with them!) and just plain cute. My sister gave me this shirt the other day and so I thought I'd post some pics of my collection along with the shirt!

These all hang out in our living room or entry way. I have a few I put outside during the warmer months. When I was at JoAnn's the other day I saw a bunch of them! I resisted though. I think Morgan would have a fit if I came home with more. Someday I'd like to have a little garden just for gnomes. I'd also like to do a little mini album about a gnome on the go and take him around to different places and take pictures. I keep telling Morgan I want to take one down the street to this house on the corner that has a Blessed Virgin Mary statue and take a picture with her. I suppose there are Catholics who would find this appalling but I don't mean it in an irreverent way. And as a Lutheran I don't have a problem with it!
Today we have our baby class. It's a good thing the school isn't too far away. It's snowing and still rather cold. Owen is down for an early nap before we go. Luckily he fell asleep just fine. He was a bit of a fuss bucket yesterday and did not have an afternoon nap. Istead he decided to cry and cry until he threw up. So he and his crib needed a changing. Which just makes him more mad. I guess he did this same thing at bedtime last night (I was at work) and Morgan ended up having to change him out of his PJ's and give him a bath. I think he's teething again. He's not normally so a sour puss. I have some cute photos I took of him yesterday to post later. Now I've got to get myself ready for our class! I can't go in my PJ's!

Still...

bloody cold! 8:45 am and current temp is -18˙. I don't know what the windchill is. I let Ludwig out a bit ago and it was super cold!

Today Owen is 9 months old!! Here he is! I got him to sit still for a very brief moment to take his picture with the iSight camera. We have his 9 month check up appointment on Wednesday. More shots. Not my favorite. I'm als going to try and get him in to have professional pictures done. We've not done this before. I've always set up my own little shoot. But it's too cold to do it in the garage now and the lighting just isn't right anywhere in the house this time of year.

The 2P's challenge for today is: Tell us all something about yourself that not many people know.
Well, that's a bit difficult since my sister and some of my good friends read this but I'll do my best. When I was younger I was a dancer. I loved to dance. And when I grew up I wanted to be a Rockette. Unfortunately, that dream died around about the 6th grade when I stopped growing. With shoes I top out at about 5 feet. I'm just not what the Rockettes are looking for. I think most of those women have legs that are the length of my body!!

Here are a couple more pictures of my little man. Yes, the first one is oriented correctly. He was laying in my lap playing and just looked so cute and funny. He's not still like that for too long and the camera was close by so I snapped this one quickly. I finished up the layouts I was working on for the design team call at 2 Jill's and sent that off yesterday. They announce the new DT next Sunday. 7 days seems like a long time! Especially when you are not patient! I am happy with the work I submitted but I'm not holding my breath about being chosen. But if I never try, I'll never know!

Stay warm!!

It's...

BLOODY COLD HERE!!! The 2P's challenge for today is: How is the weather in your neck of the woods this weekend? What are you doing to keep warm? So there is my answer! BLOODY COLD! To quote my english roommate! Morgan of course went skiing! He keeps talking about how it's "not that cold". It's sickening that he's internal thermostat runs that warm! However, he just got back from the grocery store and admitted that in the freezer section he forgot about all his "issues" and admitted that Garrison Keillor is right. Winter puts it all into perspective! Currently it is noon and the temp is a balmy -14˙. And that is not including the windchill factor. Which I'm sure it double bloody cold. And what do I do to stay warm? Stay in the house! I'm not an idiot! Yesterday I did go to my mom's house just so we could get out of the house. Owen and I went. But I have a remote car starter and Owen has a very warm snuggly suit. So we aren't in the cold for long! Today I might do some shopping but I'm not feeling so great so we'll see.

I read this post by Kelly over at 2P's. She wrote about her battle with post partum depression. A very brave post. It brought back so many emotions from when Owen was first born. I was not diagnosed with PPD. My doctor said it was the "baby blues". But the experiences that Kelly describes were so similar to what I went through. The crying especially. I cried more during the first 3-4 months after Owen being born than I have ever cried in my life. I was getting hardly any sleep, recovering from a C-section, learning to be a stay-at-home mom and trying to nurse. Being a new mom is anything but glamorous. I would send my friends from work e-mails which apparently worried them. I was lucky to have them and my mom close. But the feeling of being the only person to care for this helpless child for hours on end could be so overwhelming.
I loved Owen before he was born and more so once he arrived. But his endless crying jags would put me into crying jags and I would just feel helpless and alone. And a little bit crazy. Those were the feelings that made me feel so afraid. That I was helpless and crazy. I had to care for both of us and I felt like a nut. I am not a young mom. I am not inexperienced with children. Just inexperienced with babies. I had an easy pregnancy and I had done a lot of reading about birth and coming home and all that stuff. I felt prepared. But the reality was that nothing could prepare me for this.
Morgan stayed home for a week after Owen was born. On the Sunday night before he was to go back to work I was nursing Owen (painfully) and had this realization that tomorrow I would be alone. Morgan was worthless to me now. No help. He was leaving me with this baby that I loved but that I wanted to take back to the hospital, even if just for an afternoon, so I could get some sleep! I began to sob. And there was nothing that Morgan could do to change it or make me feel better. I was going to have to be alone with Owen eventually. Fortuantely my mom had the next week off and was able to come over whenever I needed her. But I still felt helpless. Owen was not a good sleeper. He cried a lot. Nursing was excruciating and eventually I stopped. It turns out the first two weeks are the worst but then it gets better. NO ONE told me that either! I was attached to a milk machine until Owen was 4 months old. Then I gave it up. Lots of children are formula fed and they grow up to be normal, happy people.
I still marvel at those months. That they are over. That I made it through. That Owen is not the fussy, crabby, high-maintenance baby I thought he was going to be. I enjoy being a SAHM now. I get a little lonesome for my friends and a little bored sometimes but I wouldn't go back to life before Owen. Unfortunately there are women who don't make it through. Who don't have support or get help or validation for the way they are feeling. You don't come out of the delivery room glowing. I think the women who say they did are lying.
One of my coworkers had a baby a year before I had Owen. She didn't have drugs or a C-section and I remember her saying how good she felt that she accomplished that.
I had 36 hours of labor, a C-section, hemorrhaged, and then had a blood transfusion. They had to put the IV port in 4 times. 4 times! Everyone's experience is different. But we accomplish the same thing. We bring a child into the world. All of our experiences and feelings should be valued. Even the dark ones. Thank you Kelly, for writing about your experience. I feel better about mine now too.

Quirks and some other stuff...

Yesterday I was tagged by my Beautiful Bloggin' Friend Noelia. I am to write about 6 of my idiosyncracies. Yes, I know some of you (Miranda and Maggie) are thinking "What, ONLY six!" I made a list and thought about this a lot yesterday. So here goes.

6 Idiosyncracies of Me

1. I read the dictionary. I love words. I love learning new words and trying to incorporate them into my vocabulary. And no family function is complete in my family unless we have to get the dictionary out for something.
   
2. I count stuff. If I'm walking up the steps I have to count them as I go. Not for any reason just because I can, I guess. It's part of my need for order I guess. I like things orderly and tidy and predictable. I think the counting was worse when I was teaching. I used to count a lot of stuff then! Maybe it was a form of stress management. But I count how many grapes I eat or berries. Stuff like that. I can't just have a handful of something. I want to know how many it is!
3. I hate sock fuzz. I guess this has been going on for a long time. My mom says I used to have a hard time with socks and shoes as a child. I'd get the socks on and then the shoes and then I'd have to wiggle my foot around and take them off again because something wasn't right. I just can't have fuzz in my socks. And neither can my mom!
4. I like my friends quirky. Interesting. A little off center. Unique. Yes, I know, God created us all unique. But some people are just funnier and more interesting than others. I like those people. They make me laugh. And I think I like people who are just a little sarcastic and a tiny bit devious.
5. I love my blog. It's about as close to famous as I will ever be. It's like having my own column in the newspaper. The internet is like 1 GIANT newspaper. And even though my blog is like 1 single lowercase letter in the Sunday edition, it's still all mine. And a few people even read it! My favorite part are the comments. And the other people I've met by reading blogs! (Like Noelia!)
   
6. I don't like my food to touch and I don't like to touch my food. I'm okay with burgers and fries but I am definately a person who has to use utensils to eat. I don't want to handle my food! I would not do well in a place where they use their hands to eat. That's just not for me.

And that's it. There's more on the list I made but these were the ones that were most interesting and shareable! And now it's my turn to tag someone! So I'm going to tag Denise! She is a new bloggin' buddy! I met her through my circle journal group. You can visit her here.

And speaking of the Circle Journal, here is my journal! My word for the year is Fear. I decided on this word because I tend to worry about a lot of stuff and I also let those worries and fears keep me from doing things.
If you've never done a circle journal or seen one it's rather cool. Everyone has a journal and picks a topic. In this case everyone has a word. And then we pass the journals around, round robin like, and we each do a layout in each other's journal about that person's word. So when you get the journal back it's all about your topic. I'm really excited to get started on it!

And the 2P's challenge for today just happens to be about fears! Here it is: Are you afraid of anything? What are your fears?

Yes, lots of stuff. Things my mom calls "what ifs". What would I do if... such and such happened? I'm a planner. I don't like change. I like things predictable and structured. I'm not very spontaneous and if I do something spontaneous it's definately not crazy or weird.
I don't like elevators, heights, rotweilers, or cars with really dark tinted windows. If you've been to the Mall of America, I don't like the glass railings they have in the rotunda. Or the glass elevator. I've always been a bit afraid of the dark. I worry about car accidents. But I'm fascinated by demolition derbys! The thing about fear for me is that if I let my mind wander I worry about way too much stuff. So I try not to let that happen. I try to occupy myself enough so that I don't worry about all the "what ifs". Because the point of life is to live it. Not to worry about what happens when we live it. Or what could happen.
I had a policy in my classroom to not answer questions that began with "What if..." This was very popular after a fire drill! "Mrs. Holle, what if the fire was right outside the door and..." I understand where this is coming from. I do. But I didn't want my students to worry about the fire. I wanted them to be prepared and know what to do if it wasn't a drill. We prepare to live. We make a few plans to be prepared in case of something but we can't plan for every bump in the road. It's not possible. And it's not an enjoyable way to live. Life is a messy deal. Stuff happens everyday that we don't like, don't plan for, and don't know how to handle or understand. But there are lots of wonderful things that happen when we let go of all of those fears and just live it.

Happy Friday! I hope you all have some time for a little livin'!

Happy...

first day of February! It's a cold day here in MN. Currently the temp is -3˙ with a forcasted high of 14˙. It's days like this I'm glad I have a remote start on my car. Owen and I won't be going anywhere today but I do have to go to the mortgage office today.

This time last year I was almost 6 months pregnant. On Monday Owen will be 9 months old! My how time flies. I have not been good the past week about sticking to my fitness plan. But it's a new month and I've printed my calendar for the month so I need to get back on track!

Here's the 2P's challenge for today:

List 5 things you wish to improve upon, in the coming year.

1. My health and fitness. I want to lose this extra fat that is slowing me down and become a better runner.
2. Clutter. This year we are ridding our home of clutter. Morgan and I can both be collectors of stuff. Especially of the paper and book variety! Oh and craft stuff!! I am planning to do a major clean out of my craft room and unload a lot of what isn't being used.
3. My relationship with God.
   
4. My creativity. I need to be less perfectionistic about it and just let it flow. Not all ideas will be good and sometimes it's necessary to do something more than once in order for it to turn out. I tend to want things to be perfect on the first try.
   
5. My work at the mortgage office. I am good at it but I want to develop some of the ideas I have. Luckily I have a boss who is open to all kinds of ideas!
   

Okay. Off to workout! Hope you all have a lovely day and if it's cold where you are bundle up!

Just a quickie...

post for today! I missed yesterday too. So I thought I'd just jot a little bit. O is boycotting nap #3 today but he is playing nicely in the living room. Away from cords!

The 2P's challenge for today is to List your 5 best attributes, in your opinion.

Well, let's see... tooting one's own horn is not my favorite thing to do. So if you disagree about my best attributes... keep it to yourself!

1. I have a good sense of humor. Sometimes a little mean but all for fun. I like to play tricks on people. And it's more fun when I get someone else involved. (Like Maggie or Nikki or Lori!)
2. I have nice hair. The color is a golden strawberry blonde with a blonde streak in the front. It's soft and shiny. It doesn't really do much but it catches the light nicely.
   
3. I am honest. I'm not a good liar. I've gotten better at telling the truth in a kind way. Even though I'd rather be blunt.
   
4. I try to pray everyday. Even for people I don't like. And I try to remember that God's plan is better than what I probably have in mind. Even if I don't agree with it.
   
5. I'm fairly normal and rational. I'm not a criminal or in jail and I don't do stupid stuff too often.

Not a very exciting list is it!? Oh well. I'm just a regular girl living a regular life. Not gettin' on America's Most Wanted or Jay Leno for that, now am I!? That's okay. I don't like Leno anyway!

Here's...

Owen!After a little tweeking I was able to get this one to post the right direction. This is now his new favorite thing to be doing. Standing up! Or pulling himself up. It's only a matter of time before he's walking, isn't it!?
On another note. I forgot to post my fitness progress. I lost another pound last week. So I'm up to 5.2. I've missed my workouts for the last 4 days though. Tomorrow I will get back on my treadmill!

It's Monday...

already!? The weekends seem to go so fast! Yesterday was cold, blustery, and sunny! Today it's warmer, 17˙ currently. But I think the windchill might be really cold. I haven't been out yet. And it's no sunny.

I had my monthly crop on Saturday. That was fun. 9 people total. I spend most of my time chatting so I don't get much work done! I did finish page 2 of my All About Me Album though.

You can't tell from the scan but the stitching is a varigated pink and white rayon thread. I got some smaller needles for my machine so the stitching looks better on paper. Now I'm on to page 3!

I managed to fall down 2 times this weekend. That hardly ever happens to me. I am not very tall and I have big feet so I've got pretty good balance. Well while I was bringing my really heavy scrapping tote thingy into the house I lost my balance and fell into the little garden by our garage. I was mostly stunned as to how it happened and wasn't hurt at all. Then last night I went out to move Morgan's car and slipped on some ice on our driveway and hit my head! That hurt. More than anything I think it scared me. It just happened so quickly. So I spent the rest of the night with ice on my head. It seems to be better today.

Owen has started pulling himself into a standing position on the furniture. I went into his room the other day to get him some clothes and when I cam back into the living room he was standing up at the couch! I knew he could do this. He's been pulling himself up to his knees for a couple weeks not and climbing over everything but it was the first time he'd done it all by himself! I have a cute picture to post but blogger only wants to upload it sideways not the right way. So it will have to wait. And it seems my little man it up from his nap already! For the last three days he's only taken 2 naps a day. He has refused to take a third! I am not ready for this!

A cute story...

My MIL sent me this little story and I thought I'd share it with all of you.

A woman, renewing her driver's license at the County Clerk 's office was asked by the woman recorder to state her occupation. She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself. "What I mean is," explained the recorder, "do you have a job or are you just a......?" "Of course I have a job," snapped the woman. "I'm a Mom." "We don't list 'Mom' as an occupation, 'housewife' covers it," said the recorder emphatically. I forgot all about her story until one day I found myself in the same situation, this time at our own Town Hall.

The Clerk was obviously a career woman, poised, efficient and possessed of a high sounding title like, "Official Interrogator" or "Town Registrar." "What is your occupation?" she probed.
What made me say it? I do not know. The words simply popped out. "I'm a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations." The clerk paused, ball-point pen frozen in midair and looked up as though she had not heard right. I repeated the title slowly emphasizing the most significant words. Then I stared with wonder as my pronouncement was written, in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire. "Might I ask," said the clerk with new interest, "just what you do in your field?" Coolly, without any trace of fluster in my voice, I heard myself reply, "I have a continuing program of research, (what mother doesn't) in the laboratory and in the field, (normally I wo uld have said indoors and out). I'm working for my Masters, (first the Lord and then the whole family) and already have four credits (all daughters). Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities, (any mother care to disagree?) and I often work 14 hours a day, (24 is more like it). But the job is more challenging than most run-of-the-mill careers and the rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money." There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk's voice as she completed the form, stood up and personally ushered me to the door.

As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants -- ages 13, 7, and 3. Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model, (a 6 month old baby) in the child development program, testing out a new vocal pattern. I felt I had scored a beat on bureaucracy! And I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable to mankind than "just another Mom." Motherhood!

What a glorious career! Especially when there's a title on the door.

Does this make grandmothers "Senior Research associates in the field of Child Development and Human Relations" and great grandmothers "Executive Senior Research Associates"? I think so!!! I also think it makes Aunts "Associate Research Assistants".

Being Owen's mother is important to me. In a "this is my job" sort of way. I did not intend to have children. I wasn't going to be "just a mom". I was a career girl. I wanted to make use of my mind. But after I had gone to school and taught and gone to school some more and continued to teach I changed my mind. I don't know why. I don't know what happened that made my mind change. It just did. And I'm so glad it did! The writer of the story is correct. It is a career. You do it for a lifetime. And there are women who are not mothers who still mother. Maggie, Lori, and Nikki are not mothers but they way they teach and the way they care about and for thier students make them Associates of the Child Development and Human Relations field! My sister Miranda is not a mother either. But she is an excellent Associate too. For someone who had not spent much time around babies, she and Owen have taken to each other like best buds.

And I have to say I think I'm still using my mind. My perception of what a teacher is changed a lot over the years that I taught. And the important things I learned along the way I didn't learn in grad school or from a professional development session. I learned them in my own classroom with and from my own students. And they are skills that I use everyday with Owen.