What am I going to do with 8 silver champagne coupes? Aside from sitting pretty in the hutch, I don’t have a clue…and yet for $20, I couldn’t leave them at the store. They were crying out for a good home. Fancy drink vessels need homes too.
Creative Weeding
We live on a great street. We have lots of neighbors with kids and we are friends with a good 80% of our street. Like sit on the patio and have a cocktail, come by for dinner, can you watch my kids for an hour, here’s my spare key kind of friends. It’s awesome.
Friday night, Melissa came by with several bottles of wine (if she ever leaves the wine business, there will be tears). We cracked a bottle and sat on the patio while dinner cooked. I told her about our neighbor to the West kids “borrowing” neighbor to the East’s scooter. In their defense, the scooter was in the front yard. Now, we’re talking all kids involved are 3 years old and younger. Nothing malicious, but there was confusion about where it had gone and why there was a new toy in the garage.
I joked to Melissa that she was safe since she wouldn’t have any toys in her front yard. She thoughtfully sipped her wine before responding: “Do you think if I tied Smarties to the weeds in my grass, they would steal those?”.
I’m pretty sure we woke up the sticky fingered toddlers laughing.
What Type of Mom are You?
Stephanie just wrote a great post on Many Hats of a Mom about what kind of mom she is. The post has a link to an Oprah quiz where it asks a series of questions to see what kind of mom you are; The Funseeking Mom, The Alpha Mom, The Helicopter Mom or the Free Range Mom.
After taking the quiz, I’m overwhelmingly The Helicopter Mom. Which, to be honest, sounds way worse than the explanation:
The Helicopter Mom: Helicopter Mom is hovering just out sight, keeping an eye on her kids and yours. She is fully supplied with a first aid kit, a GPS and a complete computer printout of the week’s homework for all her kids. She could teach a master class in calendar-keeping, managing the family schedule like an orchestra conductor. Don’t forget to refuel, Helicopter Mom!
Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. A few months ago I was concerned Baylor was in the wrong group for swim lessons because she wasn’t being challenged enough…and then some sane part of my brain reminded me that SHE’S TWO YEARS OLD and I calmed down. Now she’s in a great class so that’s helpful too.
Also, I think it’s important to note that it’s Sunday night while I’m writing this. Dinner is done and the kitchen is clean. Lunches are made and the coffee is ready to hit “go”. Baylor’s registration for the 2012 school year is complete with checks paper clipped to them and is in the bag with the class snack for tomorrow.
Yeah, that test is way off base….really, I would just like a nicer title. Like “really organized mom”. Or “calendar conductor” or something else cool. Help me out!
Happy Closet, Happy Momma
It’s Scottsdale Mom’s Blog time again! Check out this week’s post about getting your closet gorgeous, Oprah style.
Also, while you’re at SMB, check out registration for the next Mom’s Night Out on January 26th. The cost is $5 and it gets you:
:: a glass of wine ::
:: delicious snacks ::
:: a swag bag ::
:: raffle entry & chance to win spectacular giveaways ::
:: optional viewing of a movie (title TBD) beginning at 8:30PM ::
Seriously?! That’s a ridiculous amount of stuff for 5 bucks! Sign up on the website today!!
Zyrtec Anonymous
I have been taking the allergy medicine Zyrtec for literally 8 months. When stuff is blooming or blowing around or just plain growing, I get a dizzy headache from it. And let me tell you what fun it is to take care of a two-year old who thinks being dizzy is super fun…
I am not one for medication so I decided I would try an experiment. If I stopped taking it, would I get a headache? Nope! I felt great! I sound like a schizophrenic who decides they feel so good with their meds, they don’t need them any more…any way that was about 3 days ago. Two days ago I was running with Bay to the park and got a crazy itching attack. My arms and back itched like mad! I figured it was something in the air because it seemed to dissipate when I got home.
Then yesterday, my sister Ali noticed I had drawn blood on my shoulder I had itched it so hard. I was like the crazy crackhead from the Chappell Show. I don’t remembering itching that bad since right after Baylor was born and I had a reaction to some medication – in the video of her in the hospital, I can be seen the background scratching all over and asking PW to repeatedly scratch my feet since I couldn’t quite get to them.
I honestly thought I somehow developed an allergy to our laundry detergent. I changed shirts, slapped on anti itch cream and tried to ignore the incessant need to scratch…and then gave up and popped a Zyrtec convinced something in the air was bugging me. And predictably, the itching stopped. I decided it was time to Google “Zyrtec itchy arms” and I kid you not, like 20+ forums popped up all with people complaining of Zyrtec itching withdrawal. Apparently the company doesn’t list this as a side effect (convenient) however tons of people agree that after taking the medicine for a long time, it makes you itch like mad while you’re coming down off the stuff.
So apparently instead of detox poncho, I’m going to have to get the oven mitt version so I don’t scar myself…
Probably
There are a few words whose meaning is a little lost on Bay. One of these words is probably. Much like Joey on Friends could never figure out how to use air quotes, Bay uses probably all the time, but rarely the right way. It makes for some pretty funny conversations.
As I walked into B’s room one morning long before the sun was up, this is the chat we had:
“Morning munchkin – you’re up a little early”
“Hi Mommy. I probably awake.”
“Yeah, I got that one kiddo.”
“I probably can’t sleep any more.”
“Ok ok, I give, let’s get some breakfast.”
“I probably want some eggs, please.”
Such a crack up – even at such an ugly hour!
New Year’s with Old Friends
We spent new year’s eve with one of my best friends, Beth (Marengo) Meyers and her always hysterical hubby Grant. They hosted a fantastic get together at their house where we ate, drank and played games until the wee hours of the night.
Beth slaved all day (or many days I’m sure) to create a tablescape that was second to none – not only were the appetizers delicious, they were beautifully presented. Shrimp salad in martini glasses, pulled pork sliders with slaw and a pickle on top with little toothpicks, beef crudities, antipasta platter, dips, chips, homemade pizzels, cheese cake bites and the list goes on and on! It was delicious too. She comes by it naturally, but it does seem a little unfair that she has that much talent 😉
Around 10, we started Celebrity. A game my step siblings introduced us to a few years ago and we’ve been obsessed ever since. PW and I have taught many a group of friends how to play, only to pass on the obsession and fierce competition. We played boys verses girls and of course, the girls wiped the floor with the boys – despite rampant attempts to cheat on the guys side. Next came catch phrase and with a few doosies like “storm is brewing” and “au revoir” the girls were again triumphant. The new catch phrase came from Grant as he repeatedly declared the games “bullshit”.
PW and I enjoyed a lovely munchkin free night in B&G’s cozy casita and awoke to fresh baked cinnamon rolls, coffee, eggs and tasty leftovers from the night before. PW’s mom Marilyn, brought Bay over and she joined us for some breakfast and then it was home for everyone to catch a nap. Which is one of the standard favorite parts of a weekend for me.
We spent the afternoon packing up Christmas and enjoying the EIGHTY DEGREES outside by opening all the doors. The breeze was blowing and there was a tangible feeling of 2011 leaving and 2012 blowing into its place. We had some the saddest moments of my life loosing Mame and Travis T. Dog, but we had some really wonderful times too. Here’s to hoping that the breeze is warm and there is smooth sailing for 2012!
The Goon Room 2011
WordPress put out a Year In Review for The Goon Room. It’s so fun to see all the stats and memories from the past year! Thank you for reading TGR and I hope to keep you entertained for another year. Just 8 posts to go until I hit 300 – yikes!
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 16,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 6 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
2012 Resolutions
I have never been much of a resolution maker – I’m just not patient enough to wait until the new year. If I’m going to make a change, it’s now or never!
Last year I decided I needed to get serious about volunteering and also about our garden. I failed miserable on the volunteering – Travis T. Dog was just not up for visits to the nursing home and when we lost him in March, that was it for Pets On Wheels. I am however, a Room Mom and on a few fundraising committees at B’s school – a little too self-serving to be considered serious volunteering, but it’s a start.
I did do much much better with the gardening. I managed to keep our tomato plants alive all summer. That is not a small feat in the Arizona heat – not to mention this past one was the third hottest in history. I may have looked like a freak with a double layer of shade screen AND an umbrella, but damn if those tomatoes aren’t producing a second round of fruit right now! The lettuce table is on round two now and there is only minimal frost damage on our plants (so far….) so I think I’m winning on this end.
I’ve still got some more work to do – I am a bonified killer of rose bushes. I think I’m up to 5 now. Which is embarrassing. I’ve got a theory about their untimely deaths and I think the solution lies in 1. a new tree and 2. a super cool sail shade that will stretch from the wall to the roof of the garage. Details to follow…
2012 brings a new round of resolutions: first, to be more spontaneous. I like a schedule and I despise unpredictability. I also don’t like being bored so we plan a lot of things to do and places to go. But because of that, we’re rarely available to meander down the street and play with our neighbors. Or go for a walk with our friend and her baby. I decided I need to do more in less time and let some things fall off / get re-prioritized. If we end up having frozen pizza for dinner instead of a home cooked meal because we decided the park was just too fun to leave, then that’s ok. I don’t think Bay will be traumatized too badly and if she is, well then she’ll have more to talk about in therapy.
Which leads me to my next resolution: cook more, less often. I tend to make way too much of any meal because PW and I like having leftovers for lunches. But I am going to make even a little more than usual so that I can throw a tupperware into the freezer. That way we get a home cooked dinner, but without the extra time to make it.
Simple resolutions? Maybe. But they will hopefully have a lasting impact that will mean happy and even more fulfilling moments with our family. Happy 2012!!
Little Foodie
For some freak reason, the munchkin is totally into some fun, new foods. I really don’t care what the reason is, but I like it!
Baked beans? Not such a far stretch – she loves beans and they are sweet so this makes sense. But I just think it’s so fun.
Cantaloupe – again, not a big deal, but I love that we have a new fruit.
Chili, even with a little kick – she started with eating the beans out of my bowl and now she’s asking for a bowl of her own.
Quiche – she loves eggs so I don’t know why I didn’t think of making her quiche…but we enjoyed family breakfast together this weekend and we all ate the same thing. This is actually a bigger deal than it sounds.
The Goon Room 