Here I am!

Were you wondering if I'd left?

Well, I did.

I'm over here now.

It's a different place, because I'm in a different place with blogging and life-sharing, but mostly in a different place with time and writing. I have two kids now, y'all. And I write all day to help put food in their sweet and loud little mouths. So sitting down in front of a blank slate to figure out how to document this crazy life-- what to say, how to say it, how to be honest, how to not be too honest-- became a chore. I had to give myself a format (you'll see when you get there). And I had to find a new home for it that I could easily tap into from my iphone.

I have loved writing this blog and I appreciate every reader and commenter. The transition into parenthood is a weird thing, and it has been a lovely journey to document here. But I can't keep up with it in the same way anymore, and this blog sitting here unattended feels burdensome. The meat of this story-- "the sweet and clumsy life of a new mama"-- has been told, and it's time for a new one. It's still sweet, still clumsy, but so different. For one, I don't have even have two minutes to myself in this big life, let alone the time to compose long, thoughtful posts about it.

So, head on over to the mailroom if you're so inclined, and I hope we'll see more of each other there.

xo,
mama

What the Pediatrician Said:

Do you want me to hold her so you can put your shirt on right-side-out?

Hot Baby in the Summertime

Poor little Gopher is home today with a fever.

Poor little mama has nothing to say except "Poor Little Gopher."

I am working from home this afternoon, otherwise known as Livin' the Dream.

Also, I am hungry. For the past few weeks, I've been trying to follow the rules of the No S Diet, which is both difficult and easy-- and so ridiculously straightfoward it makes cheating difficult to rationalize. Finally, a worthy adversary to my superhero rationalizing powers. Dammit.

Just returned from a truly lovely weekend at a cabin in the mountains with Mr. and Mrs. Littlebrother and their sweet little Izzy. Could have used, like, 5 extra days. We had pool access, a gorgeous view, a raccoon visitor that both terrified and delighted Birdy, plenty of food and drink, and nothing to do but be together. Much needed, much appreciated, much much much. I/ we are lucky.

Ah, the being lucky. Something I am so acutely aware of lately, as I respond in my puny human-logic way to the big and non-specific brewing change I've been feeling the last few months-- this low thundery thing in the distance.*

What I have is lovely. NOW is so good. I've worked hard for this-- to be able to do the things we do and have the this lifestyle-- this non-extravagant thing, this vanilla-with-just-a-few-sprinkles life. This security and safety (relative to the salad days). This alignment with "how it's supposed to be/ look/ work." I envisioned this. I have this (mostly) under control. The bumps in the road are few and mild these days, just daily non-drama in our happily predictable little world.

So, naturally, it's time to turn the canoe toward the falls, right?


*totally not pregnant, btw.

Now I've really done it.

I need to be better about recording things in this space. Gopher is a chubby, flappy, screechy 8 months already and I have very few words about her here-- I reported on Birdy's every move, remember? There will be more time soon, I hope. I've done something big-ish but still quiet and gray for the moment. Something that is freaking me out. That is my quietly freaking out at work face up there, in case you were wondering. Stay tuned.

(here are my sweethearts, by the way, being sweet):

Reminder: change contact lenses

Today, I drove past the driveway sign for Catholic Charities.

For a moment, I thought it said "Catholic Critters."

Just imagine.

Penmanship

I just signed the customary "Happy Birthday from the department" card for our CEO.

I wrote "Have a lovely birthday."

Despite all efforts to fix it, it still looks like:

"Have a lonely birthday."


****

Confirmed: Bird is Southern.

We were having a conversation the other day and when I was joking around about how stinky Gopher's diaper was, she said,

"Oh, LOWER."

as in,

"Oh, LORD."

But with the Southern bonus syllable.

****

We visited our picture-perfect Indiana college town for our 8th (!! ) anniversary, leaving the sister babies with my folks.

The weather, it was perfect. The sleeping in, it was heavenly. The husband, he is my favorite. The town, it loved us back.

And just as we suspected, Mike still works the door at the Vid. And remembered us by name after TEN years, which I'd like to attribute to his insane steel-trap memory and not our (ahem) frequent flyer status at the townie bars. In any case, that guy is a freaking legend and seems to have acquired more walkie-talkies as the years have progressed.

****
You know when you re-hear a band you love but had kind of forgotten about and you air-drum on your steering wheel and kick yourself for not listening to that album every waking minute since you got it two years ago or whatever?

That's how I'm feelin' about the Features these days.

Got to tip on the tightrope

That's us, tippin' on the tightrope, always.
It is crazy here. As Bird recently declared, "This house is nothing but babies and crazy people."

Well said.

Work is nuts, A's work is nuts, kids are nuts, social calendar is nuts, weather/ heat is nuts, dogs are nuts, family is nuts:
IT'S A DAD-GUMMED PARTY MIX, Y'ALL.

And on Friday, we all (except Gopher) woke up with some kind of awful stomach ick which passed-- violently-- in about 24 hours and our tiny one-man bathroom saw A LOT of action.

In the past few weeks, I've been on two bizarre work-related road trips, one in which I saw a sign by the side of the road that said "Twenty Kinds of Cheese" and I actually got to stop, and another in which I drug my friend T. along and visited the most delicious-smelling Mennonite grocery in all of West Tennessee, plus saw buzzards, plus saw a goat standing on top of another goat (!), plus drove a Grand Marquis all over the countryside, plus visited a very creepy home/ museum or two, plus plus plus. This project, it wears me out in a good way, and it beats the hell out of writing healthcare marketing copy day in and day out behind a desk, so I'll take it.

Also watched the LOST finale, and I have one thing to say: pbbbbbbffffttt. Way to waste a few years of my life, LOST. It was as if the writers showed up for the final exam but hadn't really been doing the reading all semester, which is something I wake up in a cold sweat over, still, 12 years post-college. So in essence, the finale of LOST was my recurring nightmare.

Plus, it was lame.

There is more, but I am tired, and A. is at Bonnaroo doing some supercool work opportunity fun creative project stuff, and I'm supposed to be doing actual work-work (sewing machine marketing, anyone?) that I promised to do for Monday since I had to leave the office early on Friday on account of a guts-puke-out. Because I'm dedicated like that.


I'll leave you with our latest favorite dance party:
Me: What do you think those guys are?
Bird: Mirrors with coats on. (duh).