Random Randomness

I'm in a post-Song of Ice and Fire series funk. I read all five of the books in record time and now I have to wait like everyone else to find out what happens in the next book (books?). I am always kind of lost when I finish reading an especially engrossing book and I'm not sure what to read next. Although this one has an HBO series that started last year which I've heard is awesome and I can't wait to watch. Chris would probably argue that I should take a break and maybe have some conversations with him in the evenings. Maybe it wouldn't hurt too bad...for a few weeks anyways.

The weather has been awesome around here lately. Crisp and sunny.

However, the leaves have not yet let go of their branches. Raking is an exercise in futility because all the leaves we remove blow back to their original places in about 2 hours. I'm hoping it waits a little longer to snow so we can get one more round of leaves out of our yard.

My 32nd birthday is this Friday and it's strangely hitting me harder than 30 did. 30 & 31 are just dipping your toes in the 30's. 32 is solidly implanted in 30 year old territory. It won't bother me for long - I don't let aging do that. The alternative is worse.

I have been on a chocolate covered pretzel habit for the past week. I finally glanced at the package that I had been finishing in one to two sittings and found out it's actually five servings in that little package. Five servings is over 600 calories. I'm not sure it's worth that price. Maybe it will become a once a month treat instead of twice a week.

We went to the Children's Museum a couple weeks ago and it was awesome. What is not so awesome is that it's closed on Monday's all winter because Monday is my day off of work. I sure hope my child likes to play in the snow. I'm going to have to get creative with outings to keep us both from losing our damned minds.

I'm ridiculously excited for this weekend but I'm sure going to miss my baby. We're getting a babysitter Friday night to go see The Hold Steady play downtown. Saturday night my parents are taking me out to dinner and a comedy show while Eliot will be watched by my mother in law. This weekend is highly needed and terribly overdue.

We are officially on hold for any buying or selling of houses until spring. I have made my peace with that fact.

My Typical Day

Saw this on some other blogs, thought I'd try it out:

4:30 AM: Eliot wakes up to nurse. I try to get back to sleep myself. Most days I do, some days I don't. I have early morning insomnia - I have no problem getting to sleep but I'll often find myself awake at 3am for no reason. Waking me up at 4:30 is not cool kid, not cool.

6:15 AM: Eliot wakes up for good. He usually wakes up and starts head butting and kicking everything in sight. Like a kicky rhinoceros. I wake up protecting myself and trying to prevent him from head butting the wall. Contrary to what it sounds like he's usually in a great mood.

6:18 AM: Get up, turn on cartoons long enough to change Eli's diaper (he hates his diaper changed). If Chris is doing this I feed the dog and either start making lunches or breakfasts. And for cartoons? I change the channel immediately if it's "Special Agent Oso," I hate that show. If he sings about three special steps ever again I'll scream.
6:22 AM: Breakfast for all! Eli has been eating more and more of our food. Not quite enough to make an entire breakfast for him, but enough that Chris and I have noticed we're usually starving for the rest of the day.

6:30 AM: On Wednesdays and Fridays Chris and Eli leave to go to my parent's house, and Tuesday Thursday we're still getting ready. Tea is usually made around now. That's my rocket fuel for the day.

6:56 AM: Tuesdays and Thursdays Eli and I take off for daycare. Depending on Eli's mood I'm either singing the entire ride or he's quietly observing the scenery. I know which one I prefer.

7:14 AM: Tues/Thurs - dropoff. I hate dropoff because the little man still screams every time I leave. I'm assured that it's temporary and he stops once I vacate the premises, but it still breaks my heart.

7:30 AM: Arrive at work, fill up my water, check my emails and bank accounts. Get down to work.

7:30 AM - 9AM: Work. 9AM I always have a snack.

9AM - 11:AM: More work. I am an early luncher. I eat at 11 most days. People know me for this, I'm usually the first one at the microwaves, and often I can barely wait until 11. Believe me, I'm watching that clock for my snake eyes!

11AM-11:30AM: Obsessively read blogs on my reader and check out thebump.com if I have any baby questions. Sometimes I go out to lunch. Bun Mi is my current favorite, most days I eat at my desk. AM SO COOL. Sad fact, there was a semester in High School that I ate lunch in the library. None of my friends shared my lunch and I preferred to read anyways. Moving on!

11:30AM - 4PM-ish: Work. Try not to count hours until home.

4:15 PM: Pick up the kid Tues/Thurs. Lately he has not been wanting to leave because there are cars to push around on the deck at daycare. CARS MAMA! I drag him from daycare play screaming, our circle has been closed.

4:30 PM: Arrive home, try and scrounge up enough food for Eli's dinner, pick out tomorrow's outfits and pj's for the evening. Get a little inside or outside playtime in.

5:00 PM: Do not mess with little man's dinnertime. He is like his mama, when he needs to eat, it's time to eat. This is also Daly's favorite portion of the day - food dropped on the floor like it's raining manna from heaven. Sometimes I eat. Sometimes Chris is home, sometimes not! The excitement! The intrigue!

5:30 PM: This is always the time of day I wish Eli stayed up longer. I'd love to head down to the park, but we have to start getting him ready for bed (he usually goes down between 6:30 and 7). Sometimes there's a bath - I think we all love bathtime. Not only is it a blast for all, but he comes out smelling all sweet. Mmmmm....fresh soapy baby head. This is prime playtime with mom and dad.

6:00 PM: Nightime diaper, PJ's, snuggles and books. We usually have to stop ourselves from riling him up because if you tickle him this time of night the belly laughs are so great. We usually fail.

6:30 PM: If you see eye-rubbing bedtime must be started immediately or you pass the point of no return and have crazy baby until 8:30.

7:00 PM: If we haven't eaten Chris and I either start cooking or eat. Depending on the night we walk the dog, try and do dishes, pick up the toys, take showers. I usually crumple onto the couch and wish that I could go to sleep for at least a few minutes. Sometimes I read, I often think about working out but I'm so freaking tired that I count picking up Eli ten million times as my weightlifting and cardio.

9:30 PM: I am in bed by this time most nights. I need my sleep. Chris is usually up for another couple hours - I don't know how he does it. Yes, I get almost 9 hours of sleep a night and it usually doesn't feel like enough.

Seriously - what did I do with my evenings before the kid? We had so much time and we didn't even know it!

Mid-July recap

I just don't know how to NOT post today. I am, however, sick of labelling my post in months but I will sneak it in rightherehe's13monthsok?

This last month has been great! Stressful! Crazy! But super great! Eliot has continued to blind everyone with his cuteness. He loves to play in the water, which is great because we suddenly live in the jungle up here in Minne-snow-ta. 117 heat index today and humidity so thick you could cut it with a knife - I think this is the hottest weather I've ever seen. Wait, there was that insanely hot vacation we took to Florida 2 years ago this June. I actually walked around all day in heat like this - I think that still wins.

 His birthday party was a hit - although it rained the whole day, and he ate his cake like nobody's business. The cake eating prompted a mini-crisis in my head because I work so damn hard trying to fill this kid up with good foods and then we set an entire cake in front of him. Customs are weird. Chris got to open up his gifts, and Eliot threw a bit of a fit towards the beginning so Chris got to open up his gifts while Eliot wasn't even there. Ha! Awkward!

We had planned to stay up for fireworks for the 4th, but Eliot's grandma watched him for the day and he was so excited that he decided to forego napping for the entire day! Which meant he went to bed even earlier than usually and no fireworks for us. But that's ok. Next year he's going to love it.

We're still working on selling our house. We have 2 projects left to finish and we're ready. Early August there should be a for sale sign up in front of this beast. That is just part of the crazy that I'm feeling right now. Changes! They are a-brewing!

Pay it forward

So, I need your help. I know I don't get many comments, but I think there are 4 or 5 people out there who read this thing...I would love to get the help of some people more creative than I am!

A little background - 2011 has been kind of a downer so far. I can't complain too much, nothing horrible or life altering (knock on wood) has occurred, but I've just been down. Between this weather we've been having, the lack of sleep, the dog constantly needing and not getting attention, the cat looking old and maybe on his last leg, the fact that I don't feel like I have enough time to devote to my marriage or myself, the fact that I haven't been working out as much as I need to to keep me sane, work, the baby having separation anxiety, teething, and the ten million colds and one awful weight loss flu that has hit our house it's just been not exactly happy. But I'm not trying to complain here, just dealing with normal every day stresses at our place.

This morning I stopped at a local coffee shop to get a cup of tea. After ordering I looked down and there was a note something to the effect of "A friendly neighbor bought the first $100 in drinks this morning - it's your lucky day!"

Now doesn't that just make you think?! $100. In some ways, it's a somewhat trivial amount, I can spend $100 at Target in no time at all. But it's not trivial...it's a week of groceries, 2 weeks of gas, a new outfit, or a really nice dinner out. Someone gave that up for themselves to give happiness to other people. And he did (the barista said it was a he), my mood is lifted, I feel a little bit better about humanity today, as corny as that may sound, and I'm proud of my neighbors and I want to pay it forward.

But I don't know what to do.

I don't have $100 to give away (did I mention our dishwasher broke? And we just had to buy a new washing machine? Sigh). But I could afford some money, but I'm not even sure what to do. I don't ever go to drive through restaurants, which I think is the typical thing to do - buy the next person's tab. I could shovel the whole sidewalk next time it snows...but I usually don't get home in time to do it before our neighbors do ours. Help me out internet, how do I pass this good feeling on to others??

The strangest things!

So motherhood has made some strange things happen for me....

• I have broken 4 cups, 1 bowl, and 1 coffee mug (filled with the last bit of ice cream in the house - sigh) since bringing Eliot home. We had to go buy more cups, unfortunately the bowl and coffee mug are discontinued. I haven't broken that many dishes since we got them at our wedding 5 years ago. Being one-handed is not my style.
• I am constantly covered in some sort of baby fluid. Mother nature really counts on the cuteness factor to overcome the ick factor of these really gross babies.
• I put the butter in the freezer after making toast and laughed at Chris for putting the butter in the freezer. It was me.
• It seems like all I eat, and all I have time to eat, is toast.
• I must always remember to at least glance in a mirror before leaving the house. I've left with a giant gob of peanut butter on my face (from toast), and a giant smear of charcoal from some wood fired pizza that my lovely friends brought for me. Both times I have had conversations with people while looking like a hot mess.
• I'm nursing. I'm so worried I'm going to forget and walk outside without my shirt completely done up. This is not far out of the realm of possibilities because it feels like I'm constantly feeding him and therefore constantly have my shirt undone.
• The cat started chewing on my shoes since we brought the baby home. Now I also have to remember to put them in the closet. Sadly, my favorite sandals have cat bite marks all over them because I'm so used to just walking in the door and taking off my shoes.

I'm sure I'll get a routine going...for now, on with the strangeness!

Never judge a book by it's cover

Let's get that last post off of the top.

I included a ticker on the sidebar of my blog with my goodreads read book updates. I love to read. I literally (HA!) adore reading. My nightstand always has a pile of books that are either being read or next in line. One of my favorite things to do is to get lost in a book, which if you ask my husband I frequently do! When I'm reading, everything else is gone, I am in the book, and the world could fall down around me and I wouldn't notice. I've had (allegedly) entire conversations...conversations where I was told I respond "uh-huh," "nope," "yep"....that I don't even remember with my husband. If he really wanted to take advantage, he could probably get me to agree to anything. And you wonder where that 1950 Ford came from ;o) When I read a really good book I can get so into it that I may start thinking in the accent of the story, I'll even find myself coming close to talking in that accent, and sometimes my mood is even effected by whatever I'm reading. That wouldn't be such a big deal if I didn't love to read so many sad books. What's a story without a little drama though?!

My earliest impression of books was when my father took me to a library in downtown St Paul. I'm not sure how old I was, but it must have been around kindergarten or first grade because I think I knew how to read. The library was spacious, enormous, and completely glorious! Marble pillars soared above my head (not exactly a huge feat, I was on the small side as a kid), marble floors shone before me. There were shelves three times as high as me, filled with more books than I could ever explore in a lifetime. A bittersweet feeling, that, knowing that there are more stories than you could ever lay your hands on, that you could never have enough time to discover what's inside each one, but at the same time feeling so safe in the fact that you will never be bored, never be done learning. And the children's section! There were stuffed animals to recline on and people telling stories, and shelves and shelves of colorful books at just my height. I was overwhelmed. I couldn't believe that something that beautiful, that special, was there specifically to house books. Those simple, unassuming, rectangular packages. There's something reverential, and rather church-like about libraries. That quiet hush, the shuffling and rustling of the pages. There's something magic in books.

Isn't it funny what everyday things may shape your life as a child?

The eras are ending fast people

A short recap of this week and upcoming events!

I worked, oh how I worked. I've been working 60 hour weeks for the last two weeks. It hurts. Working this much apparently makes me very irritable. That Chris is still talking to me is a miracle. Work doesn't really look like it's going to let up either. It could be a long year. Good thing I have a 2 week vacation to look forward to in October! It's my little carrot on the end of the stick.

I biked into work twice this week! Twice seems to be about my limit, although I'm pretty sure that I biked in 3 times one week last year. Biking in every day is nearly impossible with meetings and rain. When I biked in on Tuesday, I was almost mauled by some wild turkeys. True story. The turkeys were crossing the road (is there a joke in there somewhere?), all the traffic had stopped and they were headed straight towards me. Turkeys are tall and ugly, so I admit I was a little scared they would peck my knees or something (at least I think they peck, I may have seen some fangs, maybe it's more like gnashing). I did some fancy maneuvering on my bike to avoid getting my blood sucked out by the turkeys and traffic was able to move again. One of the coolest things about living in Minneapolis is all the wildlife. Seriously, I live in a fairly large city and if you go to the right spots you can see deer, fox, turkeys, skunks, raccoons, and all kinds of little furry things. I think it's pretty neat that they're somewhat able to coexist.

I started going to yoga again, and I'm going to make it a habit. When I work too much I get overwhelmed and just have to do something for myself. Usually the things that run through my head that I NEED since I'm stressed are shopping, massages, or any sort of organized work out class, like yoga, spinning, or kickboxing. All of those things feel like a treat to me, and if I'm going to work a lot I need to feel like I'm getting something out of it.

It was Chris' birthday Wednesday, happy 29th baby! I love that you finally catch up with me every year, here's to the year before 30! We went out to a local bar and grill to play what's known as BARGO. Like bingo, but with an AR, so it's like pirate bingo. But not really pirate-like at all. Although there may have been a guy there with a wooden leg, I guess I wouldn't know. Chris won a round (seriously, it's kind of a big deal, not many people win) and got $10 off dinner, which in addition to his free dinner since it was his birthday made Chris an incredibly cheap date.

So what are we doing this weekend? Anyone who knows me well knows that I have a wee bit of social anxiety, especially when I'm in a group of more than 2-4 people (and maybe even if you don't know me very well actually, I have no idea how obvious I am. I often worry I come across as rude or snotty, but I'm actually just afraid to open my mouth. Worrying about how I come across then completes the anxiety spiral). We're having a party! With 10 times more than 2-4 people! As you may imagine, this is causing me to worry incessantly about things like:

What if nobody shows up?

What if many people show up?

What if people show up and have absolutely nothing to say to each other and we sit there in a circle of awkward silence?

What will our separate groups of friends think of each other/say to each other/talk about? And related to that, why do we have so many separate groups of friends? This is totally a larger problem that I can analyze to death.

What should I wear?

Where will we sit if it rains?

Why haven't we finished the base board in the dining room (coughChriscough)?


We do this every year though, and it always turns out fine, with me only having slight panic attacks about the lack of pictures on the walls and incessantly checking whether we have enough toilet paper.

I hope to remember to post some pictures!

Last bit of information - one of my favorite restaurants in Uptown, Golooney's, closed. It's the end of an era and I am in mourning. I didn't even know they were going to close so I couldn't go for one last Veggie Verrazano sandwich. They were so freaking good. I'll miss you sandwich.

My pictures are worth what?

I was reading back over my entries and realized that almost every time I included a picture in a post it was fuzzy or taken with my cell phone. I have some friends who are AMAZING photographers. I, however, am not an amazing photographer (this blog illustrates that perfectly).


Illustrates. Pictures. Get it?


Anyways. I can and have taken some decent pictures. I have a decent camera (although a decent camera does not a decent photographer make). Here are some of my favorites. With stories


So this picture I didn't even take. But it's one of my favorite shots right after we got the new camera, and my eyes look so blue! 10 points if you can spot the dog!


Ah, the dock at our cabin...at one of the many many amazingly serene and beautiful mornings on the lake. I don't know the date, the time, or even the year, but I like to think of this when I think of the cabin. That it's always there, waiting for me.



And here we have Chris' car.. He bought it last fall. It's a 1950 Ford Shoebox and it is a miracle that I know that much. It's a beautiful car though and it even runs now. One day I will get to ride in it. Up until now I've got to push it places. It's all fun though!



Daly's first day at the cabin. Oh my god, the cabin. I caught him mid-action when I asked him to come and sit and I took a picture. If you can't tell, Daly LOVES the cabin.



This pretty picture was taken on a walk during fall of 2008 along the Mississippi in St Paul. I think the building is some sort of granary, it has a lot of conveyer belts coming out of a boat landing.

If you haven't had enough of him yet, this is Daly. Young and old. He sticks his tongue out at you. What a handsome boy. Lord help us when we have children.
Chris and I went up to Bluefin Bay on Lake Superior 2 years ago. We were going up there to snowboard but it had been so warm and there was no snow. We were able to go out and take a few walks. This picture is of Lake Superior. I loved the way the ice clinked together, it was such a beautiful, soft, constant clattering.
This picture I absolutely love. I have it hanging up at work. It's Daly to a 'T'. Bonus points for spotting the cat.

This was fun...I'll do it again sometime.

I wish I had my camera!

There was the strangest casheir at Walgreen's this morning. When I got up there she was trying to get me to take an empty Swisher Sweet cigar box because she thought I could make it into a purse. After convincing her that no, I did not want a cigar box purse, and no, I was not crafty enough to do something like that she started ringing me up. This was a lady in her 40's to 50's who you could tell had done her share of smoking and drinking and generally enjoying life too much. She was someone you could see in a bar in the country - bleach blond with the roots growing out and too skinny and too wrinkly for how young she was. The funniest part?

Her nametag.

"Cougar"

Tittilating Tuesday

"Keep Off

Dangerous
Ice Not Safe"

Folks, we have a mixed messages problem here. Don't plow the ice, set up a warming shack and then face the sign the wrong way. Ah, bureacracy, how I love you.

What I found on my walk

I went on a walk with Daly today around Lake Calhoun. On my way I saw one of those advertising cars with http://www.go-girl.com/ plastered all over it. There slogan is "Don't take life sitting down". So curiosity got the best of me, but I figured it's some sort of active girl thing.

Active, pshaw - Boy was I right.

Check it out, girls. You can now stand and pee - and save your pee to dispose of later if you'd like!! Free to Pee!! Ohmygod I just died giggling. I have the sense of humor of a 13 year old boy.