Busy-ness and Return of The Evil Sniffles

This weekend we had two birthday parties to attend, plus Dear Husband's band practice was moved to Saturday to accommodate Super Bowl Sunday. Oh, and all the times were the same. Gah. I worked out a plan so all could happen and we set to our day. At noon, the first call came in, party #1: birthday child is very sick, party will be rescheduled. Call number 2, birthday party #2: family member died, party rescheduled for Sunday. THEN Dear Husband became really ill and canceled going to band practice. Suddenly our super busy Saturday became a relaxed family day. Lil'Bug, not happy about another day of disappointing cancelations, asks to go to Grampa's house.

We did the kid exchange at the grocery store, took care of the week's shopping and picked up Pirates of the Caribean 2&3. Lovely. Except that Dear Husband was really sick, so I had to load and mostly unload/put away groceries (he did carry them from the truck to the front of the house for me). He said I could blog that because once I typed Johnny Depp pirate movies, no one would remember that he put his pregnant wife on grocery detail in the ice and bitter wind. Perhaps. He was really sick and I am not an invalid, just pregnant. He's still really sick. I get to kick back next to a steaming hot radiator with a nice cup of tea and blog while he had to shovel the walks and go to work across town.

Lil'Bug is sick again. Just when we thought she was over it, the same crud came back, complete with the red face rash and evil snots.

I'm posting the photo challenge right now. Then I'll go make butter.

Yoga, Art, and Friends

We did a lot of art this week. I still need to clean up the chaos, but it was well worth the time we spent together, creating.

This week something clicked. Many moms have been blogging about their young tots needing more attention, structure, activity, ect. This last month has been strained here at Chez Podkayne and I just wrote it off as post holiday burn out.

Hmmmm. I was wrong. Lil'Bug was bored. B O R E D. She needed to level up. How do I know this? She picked out Magic Tree House books and wanted me to read them to her. Now, instead of reading time lasting 3 minutes and then exploding in mutual frustration, she begs me to read more and more and more. She asks questions. She imagines her self in the story and makes new story lines. She tries to say the "big" words when we encounter them like sarcophagus. At the museum, she asked more advanced questions too. Board games have finally clicked with her as have computer games.

Another brain spurt indeed. Once I figured this out and engaged her, started strewing "better stuff" (her words), then the tantrums and grumps dissolved.

Then there's yoga. I've never done yoga before but my midwife suggested it as a low impact exercise and stress reducer. So I bought a DVD and started by just watching it. The next day, I followed along for the warm ups and then was pooped. The next day, Dearest Husband bought me a rug because most of it is floor work and my hardwood floors are frigid. I could then do about 25 minutes and then for the rest of the video I repeated the stretches.

My hands, for the first time in a long time, were not vampire cold. I felt warm all over. Circulation improvement indeed. Then I slept better than I have in a long time.

Still, I didn't realize how out of shape I was. My thoughts on exercise have always been away from "meaningless" machine workouts and more toward house work and outdoor play- like Karate Kid- wax on, wax off. Up and down the ladder, up and down the stairs. Go go go. But this yoga stuff is different. 1) It addresses stress and... 2) circulation 3) strength is built from poses not weights.

It feels right.

Also, many of the poses are exactly what the Bradley exercises are. I can barely do them, so it is good I have a foundation and guide to work from.

Then, the update on the play date on Thursday. I think it went well. Her daughter and mine played awesome together. We caught up. She made the tastiest blueberry banana bread. I was not stressed out before like I thought I might be, but a little bit after. Over analyzing everything, worried I'd said the wrong thing, etc. but that passed quickly. All is well.

Friday did not go as smoothly as I'd planned. We were supposed to go snowshoeing at 10am. Fine, I leave for all events like this about an hour early. We suited up, packed out bags and then I told Lil'Bug to find her boots.

Yup. No boots. Left in Daddy's truck the night before with her gloves. It's 30 degrees out and we are not going on an outdoor nature hike without proper raiments and footwear. So we headed out to the suburb where Daddy works and by the time we had acquired the missing gloves and boots, we were too late for the class about 30 minutes away.

Lil'Bug was devastated.

We headed out to the mall and the play place to try and find something closer for her to do. She was still sad and angry but felt better after a huge fruit smoothie. She hung out at the book store for a while too. Somewhere in there my throat became red, itchy, and inflamed and, well, I became nauseous and all that goes with that. We stopped by and visited Grampa before heading home, but by the time we got home I was out and out sick. Good thing we didn't do the winter hike!

Wow. Long post. Whew. Now I feel caught up!

Best Toy Ever....aka the cardboard box

Couple things. I know that it is a universal truth and all but......a cardboard box is the BEST TOY EVER. Lil'Bug's eyes lit up and she went to town, barely stopping to eat dinner. She eventually asked for duct tape and modifications (ie, taped secure with door cut out) AND she asked this of Daddy and not Mama, bah.

She imagined it was a house.

She imagined it was a car.

She went to outer space and visited the moon and Mars.

She packed her lunch. Chicken meat and milk and faerie sugar. The cow is a convienient container for milk, she explained that it stays fresh. LOL.

Then she decided I must be hungry too, so she raided the fridge for apples and pig meat (ham). Future farmer, that one.

She is too funny. She asked me to take her picture so she's always remember her friend box.

Ah, childhood.

The box is completely mangled by play now. Duct tape just will not save the day. I will be sad when it goes out on Monday to the great beyond of trash day.



Best toy ever for Mama? Ya, what came in the box. A 12 cup food processor, with a three cup insert for small stuff. Hello pizza night. Hello homemade butter. Pumpkin Soup puree? IN ONE BATCH! Wouldn't think 4 cups difference would make such a difference but it most assuredly does.

Memes coming out of my ears.......

I've been tagged for three (three times, though) separate memes. No joke. Here they are!

Laura at LifeDreamed and HK at MiniMemoirs:

(1) Link to the person that tagged you.

(2) Post the rules on your blog.

(3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.

(4) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.

(5) Let each random person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their site.

1) I hate going to the dentist but not for normal reasons: the hygenist creeps me out every time by asking me questions about my husband. Like shoe and shirt size. Maybe it's just me, but I think that is weird.
2) I like to eat my amazing raspberry jam on ciabatta rolls- with pastrami. Yes, I know what pastrami is and no, it's not a pregnancy thing. I like fruit with meat.
3) I had purple hair when I married my husband. As soon as it is safe to (as in dyes harm babies in utero) I will again have purple hair. I mean, I teach online now!
4) I once had a nose ring, but I had to let the hole close because of an infection caused by almost frostbite. I still harbor resentment because I was driving home a drunk kid in his car in a blizzard and his stupid car (and the blizzard) had no heat or windows. I did the noble thing and was almost disfigured. Bah. Scar tissue makes it so it can't be redone. Again, bah. Also, exposed piercings in Iowa winters should switch to plastic studs, for those of you tempted.
5) I still own the brass unicorn I got for my 6th birthday. I also still remember the basic script of every fantasy I had of it being a magical item that would whisk me away to be a princess in a safe kingdom.
6) I don't sort spoons and forks. I had custom inserts put into my drawers for the sorting and yet I don't, I just pile them in. If you visit me, you can gaze upon the awesomeness of my organization skills if you need a spoon.... BUT they all match and so do my dishes (each other, that is).

I tag

• The Road Less Traveled
• Welcome to My Brain
• Wheelchair Mama
• Sugar Creek
• Gookins

and.......

Needleroozer: who tagged me for this one.......

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).

2. Open the book to page 123.

3. Find the fifth sentence.

4. Post the next three sentences.

5. Tag five people.

Everything's An Argument with Readings, 4th edition. My Comp II textbook. Not very interesting to read, but I'm grading papers all this week and it was the closest book to me.

Different universities have resolved similar conflicts in different ways. Some have enacted coded to protect their communities from forms of speech that are deemed to be insensitive to the feelings of other groups. Some have refused to impose such restrictions.

From an essay by Derek Bok about hate speech and vandalism at Harvard in 1991.

I tag Life dreamed, Mini Memoirs, MamaB, Wheelchair Mama, and Zamozo.

*Edited to add: Seriously, a meme I missed. Geeze. :)


Here are the rules:
1. You must post the rules before you give your answers.
2. List one fact about yourself beginning with each letter of your middle name. (If you don't have a middle name, use your maiden name).
3. At the end of your blog post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and that they need to read your blog for details).

I've done this one before, but things change, so here goes.

• T: Talkative. I need to work on being a better listener.
• H: Happy. Very happy. Thus far, the whole release thing is working for me in ways beyond what I expected. It takes quite a bit of work to let the angry eyebrows flutter away.
• E: Expecting. Ha. That was easy.
• R: Reader. I love to read. I get intensly wrapped up in a book until I finish it.
• E: Eats everything. I am so hungry all the time now, even after I have eaten.
  
• S: Sore throat. All this week. Does not go well with talkative. Perhaps it will help me be a better listener?
  
• A: Still an APPLE lover. Yum.