Thursday, January 29, 2009

Word Association with a 2-year-old

Scene: Last night at dinner. Ellie is playing with her juice cup.

Ellie: Mama, roll a cup.
Me: Yes, Ellie, you're rolling your juice cup on your tray.
Ellie: Rock and roll!
Me: (eyes wide and laughing) Where did she hear that?
Harry: Maybe from WPLR?
Ellie: Rock-a-bye, rock-a-bye, baby!*
Harry and I: (dumbfounded) That's good, Ellie, that's good.


*We honestly couldn't tell which song she was referring to... Rock-a-bye, Baby the lullaby, Rockabye by Ani DiFranco, or Lullaby by Shawn Mullins.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Somebody sucker-punched me in the back

Well, that's what it feels like.

A few years ago, Harry got me a shiatsu massaging chair for Christmas. I had tested one out in Linens 'n Things a few months before and fell in love with it. He remembered and picked one up for me. How very thoughtful.

I set it up on our desk chair, and it fit perfectly. I excitedly fumbled around with the remote control, trying to find the perfect setting. With that set, I slumped in my chair and enjoyed the little swirling armatures of pleasure. After 15 minutes, it automatically shut off.

Hey! I'm not done!

So I set it again, and 15 minutes later, it shut off.

Hey! I'm still not done!

So I set it again. 15 minutes later, and I was feeling pretty damn good.

6 hours later and I was crying in pain. It felt like my entire back was covered in bruises.

Suddenly, I hated the shiatsu massaging chair. Hated it with the intensity of a thousand suns. Bad chair. You suck.

So it got packed away in hopes of selling it at a tag sale or something (the box had been demolished while trying to open it, so there was no way to return it).

A few years later, we're moving out of the Bat Cave, and whoa! A shiatsu massaging chair! I forgot all about this thing. I remember not liking it for some reason, but that reason is escaping me right now. I wonder if everyone at work would like to use it. I remember all of us toying with the idea of hiring a professional massager to come in once a week on our break. This is even better because it's FREE.

So I brought the chair into work, and everyone Ooohed and Aaaahed about it. A few people tried it out, and they liked it. Cool.

Yesterday afternoon, I decided to give the chair a second chance. So I plugged it in, set it, and slumped. After 15 minutes, all the kinks weren't out, so I reset for one more round. At the end of that 15 minutes, I was good to go. I was feeling pretty good.

By 9pm last night, my back started to feel sore. It was sensitive to the touch. Oh, crap. NOW I remember why I hate that chair. Shit.

Last night's sleep was painful and unfullfilling. Every time I moved, the pain woke me up. This morning I stood under a hot shower for 20 minutes trying to relieve some of that pain. It only helped a little.

I was afraid to look at my back. I thought for sure there were going to be big, ugly bruises blossoming under my tattoos. When I finally risked a peek, I saw there was nothing. Maybe I have internal bruising? There's such a thing, right?

That chair is evil. E-VIL.

Monday, January 26, 2009

100 Things

Put the ones you've done in bold.


1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Sunday, January 25, 2009

The Ubatuba Project 2009

Before:

Shiny gray formica with a chrome trim. Oooooh. And a ginormous porcelain-enamel-over-cast-iron sink (which I must admit I already miss). Oh, and a piece of plywood added to the end of the long countertop for when we put the dishwasher in. Classy.








After Harry ripped the countertops, the sink, and that gorgeous piece of plywood out (notice that lovely shade of pink where the backsplash was; you know you're jealous):




Finally, the finished product (minus the new red curtains I'm putting up; my mom is sewing them for me):









The guys that installed the countertops were professional and efficient. They were only here for a half hour or so. I couldn't be more happy with the outcome. My little galley kitchen actually feels bigger, and it's made me fall in love with my new home even more.

Yay for Ubatuba!

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Since I've been back

I did miss Harry and Ellie while I was gone this weekend, but I was having so much fun with the girls, I hardly noticed. Once I got on the train back home, that's a different story.

Ellie seemed to do fine with me gone. There were no crying jags or temper tantrums because I wasn't there. I know that should probably upset me, but it actually has the opposite effect on me. She's still in that stage of out-of-sight-out-of-mind when it comes to me being gone, and I'll take it. That's mostly because she carries on every single morning I have to leave Teri's, and it breaks my heart. Once I'm out the door, though, she's fine.

Harry, on the other hand, really, really missed me. He had a hard time sleeping, and he wanted to talk on the phone for quite a while every time I checked in. That's extremely unlike him (and me for that matter). It was nice to see his face when he picked me up from the train station.

Since I've been home, I've noticed a new calm wash over me. I'm WAY more relaxed and patient, two things I've really needed to work on. I haven't been my normal screaming banshee self, pulling my hair out at every turn and rolling my eyes pretty much constantly. I'm able to enjoy it when Ellie drenches me with water while taking her bath and licking my face like a dog cuz she thinks it's funny. When those things happened last week, I had to take a deep breath and count to 10 so I wouldn't lash out at her. This week, I laugh along with her. That's good stuff.

I've been enjoying every minute I have with my little family. I'm happy to wake up to Harry making coffee. I get sincere pleasure out of moseying on into Ellie's room while she's still asleep and watching her slowly wake up (OK, I've always enjoyed that). I've been making simple meals so we can spend a little more time playing and reading after dinner.

And I've been taking it easy at work, too. Things have been, ahem, stressful, to put it lightly, as of late. Getting back into the swing of things and not letting all the things that are going wrong affect me has been easy since I got back. I'm hoping that will last. I was in a meeting on Tuesday, and I couldn't believe how calm I felt. Please, please, please let this last.

In the end, the aftermath of the wonderful trip is proving just as wonderful. What an awesome added bonus.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

A tattooed mommy kinda weekend



I had a wonderful girls-only weekend. I ended up getting into Richmond late (like an hour and a half late), and my train back was packed to the brim, but it was all worth it.

I grabbed my first train to New York Penn station from Bridgeport on Friday at 8am without a hitch. When I arrived at Penn station, my train down to Richmond was on time. About half an hour before it was supposed to arrive, it's status changed to "delayed". And it stayed that way for over an hour. Finally, around noon, it was ready to board. I got on as fast as I could, and a few minutes later, we were off.

We made up some time on the way to DC, but we managed to lose that edge when we got stuck behind a freight train. Lovely. All in all, I got in after 6:30pm instead of 5:09pm. Yuck. Amtrak kinda sucks.

I was the last person coming in, so everyone was there waiting for me at the train station: Cristina, Jess, Annita, Sara, and Helena. We all piled into Cristina's Volvo wagon (with Annita, the trunk elf, squished into the way back), stopped to pick up some lager for fondue and a bottle of vino, then straight to Casa Del Bueno.

We chatted non-stop, drank wine, ate cheese and crackers, chopped stuff up for fondue, gorged ourselves on said fondue, chatted some more, then finally headed upstairs to get some shut-eye for the evening. Sara and I shared a room, and we ended up chatting for another hour before we called it a night. Poor Sara had been up for over 41 hours. Holy God.

I woke up first (before 7am... what the hell?), showered and dressed and put on my makeup, and made my way downstairs to read for a bit before everyone else woke up. Helena wandered downstairs about half an hour later, and we attempted to work the coffee maker (no luck), eat some fruit for breakfast, and talk. Annita woke up next, followed by Cristina, Jess, and Sara. After everyone showered and dressed, we hit the local Starbucks for some coffee, went back to Cristina's for a bit, then went out to a diner for brunch. It was delicious, and we all had a wonderful time eating, talking, and goofing around.

These ended up being the only pictures I took the entire weekend because I'm lame like that. Here's all of us goofing around at the diner:






After brunch, we made our way to the tattoo shop where Jess and I got inked, and Jess and Sara got their noses pierced. I came pretty close to getting my nose pierced, too, but I chickened out at the last minute after hearing the complete spiel about after care. My kid touches my face way too much to chance getting a nasty infection from her doing so. No thanks. Both Jess and Sara looked fab, and I must admit I'm a little envious they went through with it. I'm also kinda glad I didn't do it because it ends up Harry doesn't really like nose piercing. I had no idea.

After the body mutilations, we went shopping for a bit, which is always fun when you're with a group of girls. After shopping, we went back to Cristina's for a snack and watch some Chris Farley SNL skits. Yeah, that's how we roll.

We went to Joe's Inn for dinner (and waited for a table for over an hour), and gorged ourselves on some of the most delicious eats ever. The portions were ginormous, and my Rockfish, which I had never had before, was the best white fish I've ever eaten. I liked the place so much, I bought a t-shirt to remember it.

We then went back to Cristina's, had some alcohol, and talked ourselves into an oblivion. I pretty much lost my voice, and I finally crashed around 2:30am.

Naturally, I was up around 6:30am. My train left around 8:30am, so Cristina and I jumped into her car, made a quick stop at Dunkin' Donuts, and then I said my farewell. My train left on time, but unfortunately, 2 other trains that were supposed to be heading for Boston as well never made it through. They decided to pile all those people that were supposed to be on those trains onto ours. By the time we hit Penn Station, we were packed like sardines. We made it to Bridgeport in record time though, so I only ended up being 20 minutes late.

I couldn't get home fast enough to Ellie; I'll admit it. I missed her. I missed Harry. But I'll also admit that it was a wonderful experience finally meeting and getting together with these fabulous women. I'm so glad I did it. I can't thank them enough for this fantastic weekend. I love you all.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

My first weekend away

Tomorrow is a milestone for me. It will mark the first night I will spend away from my daugther since she was born. It will mark my first time traveling alone since I met Harry. It will mark the day I finally get to meet some of my closest friends face to face.

I thought I would be completely freaking out right now. An entire weekend away from my little girl and my husband? Less than a year ago, it was unimaginable. The girls had tried to talk me into coming out to Vegas with them, but I couldn't even entertain the idea when they first brought it up. I remember just flat out telling Cristina, "I can't be away from Ellie overnight. I just can't."

And now, here I am, hopping on a train heading south tomorrow morning, EXCITED to be going. Not because I'm leaving Ellie and Harry behind. No, never that. I'm excited because I haven't had a girls' only vacation-type-thing since my last trip to L.A. back in 2001. 8 years! Holy crap. How have I survived?

Here's my chance to have tons of fun with some of the most amazing women I know. It's also a chance to get away from the stress I've been feeling concerning work; this trip couldn't have come at a better time.

I think I'm gonna be OK. I'm leaving tomorrow morning, and I'll be back late Sunday afternoon. Harry's going to be with Ellie, so no worries there. I plan on drinking copious amounts of alcohol, laughing myself silly, and possibly getting a new tattoo to mark the occasion. Yay!

To Cristina, Jess, Annita, Sara, and Helena... I'll see you soon! It makes me so happy to be able to say that.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

She called me "Mom"

And I'm not saying that in an "awww, she called me Mom!" kinda way.

My little girl, at the ripe old age of 2, has completely forgone calling me Mommy in favor of Mom. We never even GOT to Mommy. I've always been Mama. No matter how often I'd refer to myself as Mommy, she insisted on Mama. It sounded cute anyway, so I wholeheartedly accepted it.

Then last week, out of the blue, she started calling me Mom. She'd be walking down the hall, looking for me, yelling, "Mom! Mom! Are you there?" At first, I thought she was trying to be cute, most likely mimicking Stacy, Teri's daughter.

Now she's using it all the time. I'm not ready for this! Mom or Ma is supposed to be used by surly teenagers, accompanied by eye rolling and a head tilt. What's the deal?

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Uba-tubaaaaaaaa! Uba-tuba (sung to the tune of Wooly Bully)

That's right, I'm finally getting my new countertops! They'll look very similar to this (colorwise, not shape; I have two straight counters):



Our cabinet color is close to the one pictured above, as well, and our floors are black and white squares. It's going to look SO good. Add in all my red accents and the Bavarian Creme wall color, and it's going to be absolutely fabulous.

It should be completed by the 23rd of this month. I'll post pics of the finished product!

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Me and My Shadow

I was warned.

Many of my mom friends told me in advance that once you become a mom, you lose all your privacy. ALL your privacy. That even includes taking a pee.

Yes, I'm no longer allowed to go, well, ANYWHERE without Ellie, apparently. The girl will just not stand for it.

For the past week, I've had to either sneak away or race to the bathroom, although she sometimes still catches up to me at the door, where I have to pick her up and deposit her on the sofa with her father. And all the while, she's wailing in my ear, all because I won't let her come into the bathroom with me.

I'm a private person. I need to pee alone. And I need the 2 freakin' minutes to myself.

OK, truth be told, I have let her come into the bathroom with me when it's just the two of us at the house. It's good for her to see how you pee pee on the potty, so I'll let her tag along. It's when Harry's home that I just can't do it. Yes, I know he's seen me naked. Yes, I know he's seen me give birth. I just can't pee in front of the man. Give me a break!

Today was especially bad. Every time I had to use the bathroom, she flipped. When I took a shower, she flipped. When I had to pay a few bills in the next room, she flipped. When we went to the store and I turned the corner before her and Harry did, she flipped. I could hear her screaming, "Mama! Mama!" at the top of her lungs. At one point, we were walking down a narrow aisle, and Harry blocked her view of me. You'd think I'd fallen off the face of the earth or something. She started frantically looking for me, and I was no more than 4 feet away from her.

I really hope this is a short phase. I love my little girl to pieces, but it's no fun being shadowed by Mini-Me.
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