Feed me.

So what do you use? I am thinking of subscribing to Blog*lines, but don't know much about it. I am still all old-school; clicking down the links on the right. Seems like it would be smarter to subscribe to a service that compiles everyone's feeds.

Smarten me up - what do you know? Do you prefer web-based or client-based aggregators?

BTW, I run on Windows XP. Because I use my work laptop. (Yes, they sent it with me on my mat. leave. Awesome for me. Weirdly congenial on their part.)

So - I am studying for my last exam that will earn me a degree that I started years ago. Related to these exams (which I passed, btw). Next Friday. I couldn't be less prepared. Only a nut-job tries to finish a degree with a 6 month old attached to her breast. And here I am blogging.

I am going to bed now. And I am getting up early to study, swear to god.

Amusing

For the bedroom.

Holiday Photos

If you would like to view my holiday photos, leave me a comment here and I will email you a link. Do make sure that I have your email address.

Found Her

Getting There

I am working on getting a photo site set up for me to show off my holiday photos.

In the mean time, think on this:

Waitress: My SIL is having triplets. I can't wait. It will be so cool. She will be bed ridden for the last couple of months, but still, it's exciting.

Just curious; does your inner voice add "Yeah, if she's really lucky" to any of that? Mine does.

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In other news, I am about to get a start on the laundry. Hopefully, I will find my kitty under one of the piles.... she's been missing for several days now....

P.P.S. It is 39.7 degrees C out there. That's past tropical, my friends.

Home

We are here. Craziness ensues. Both vehicles are in the shop getting needed (and likely expensive) repairs, laundry threatens to topple over and kill me at every turn, BB has decided that naps are for losers, and there is no food in our house.

What am I doing? Eating leftover Chinese take-out and catching up on blogs. Good times. They should drum me out of the Mommy Union.

Oh well. It's hot out. BB can get by wearing only diapers, right?

Upcoming: Pictures and thoughts from our holiday.

P.S. If you had a post remarkably similar to this one come across your feed from the Babyloss Directory, well, blame it on sleep deprivation. I'm a Duh.

See you in 12 Days

We are leaving tomorrow on holiday. We are visiting one of our country's beautiful National Parks. I might have some pictures when we get back.

I wish I had more time for a decent post, but packing the RV for the first time is a huge undertaking. And laundry. If we are to leave any time tomorrow, I have to get back to work.

Be well for the next 12 days. I will be thinking of you.

Plans?

I love that I have gotten back to a point where I can think and plan for the future. Take next summer, for example. What if we did a Great Canadian Road Trip? That might be fun.

Of course, this is the stuff of daydreams. We will probably not make any concrete plans until next spring. But it is great to imagine what a person would need to pack when RVing with a 18 month old.

I no longer just imagine what it would have been like, I get to imagine what it will be like. That makes me one of the most blessed people on the face of this earth.

So, let's say you were going to cross this great country of ours, heading east on the No. 1 and maybe returning west through northern USA. What would you want to see?

Off the Mini Mommy Ledge

Thank you for talking me down, people. And making me laugh. Of course he is fine - he's better than that. Part of my trouble here is mental: he kept reaching milestones ahead of schedule in the early days, so I sort of have it in my head that he is a highly advanced child. Which he of course is. ;) But his tummy muscles don't know that.

Interestingly, after I wrote this post, he starting rolling over like gangbusters. He's done it half a dozen times since then. Like he is saying "See Mommy? No big deal."

He did that in the womb, too. Every time I would convince myself that he had stopped moving, he would start doing the Cha Cha Cha. I thanked him a lot during those days.

All of this is really great for me. But I am (only slightly) concerned about this constant reassurance that he is providing. What if it turns into the dysfunctional cycle of co-dependency that I share with my own mother? I do want him to be like me in other ways, but it would be great if he didn't require the mother-related therapy that I do. Or maybe I should just start a savings account right now. How many 6 month olds have a piggy bank in their rooms labeled "Future Therapy Bills"?

Mini Mommy Freak Out

Would someone please tell me that it is normal for BB to choose laying there rather than all that strenuous rolling over? It's not like he can't; he's done it several times. He just doesn't want to.

But he's nearly 6 months old. Everyone asks about it. Some 4 monthers roll.

In other news, he is nearly 20 lbs heavy and almost 2.5' tall. Huge, people, huge.

He is the proud owner of 2 front teeth.

But he doesn't sit up on his own either. And he gags on his rice cereal and mashed bananas.

Okay, deep breath. All is good. Normal. Healthy.... right??? right???

Nobody Told Me

In an effort to make prayer a more regular part of my life, I try to remember to pray when I am nursing. But instead, I often find myself trying to think of the perfect name for our next child.

Another pregnancy? Who made that decision without telling me?

Things are better

Sometimes all it takes is a couple of days. I am feeling better about my garden. Sure, it's destroyed. But, on careful inspection, it appears to still be alive. We are definitely in next-year territory. But that's just gardening in Canada.

Sad and Angry

Its all gone. Well, not gone. Destroyed.

You are looking at is what used to be a 4' tall rhubarb plant. Hail. Bloody Toonie-sized hail.

My garden is destroyed. Shredded. If I am really, really lucky, the perennials and shrubs will survive with some careful pruning. No, I won't get any blooms or anything this year. But I hope they won't die.

My car will probably be written off. And we will have to buy a new one - while I am on mat. leave. A great time to spend thousands and thousands of dollars.

But this loss is what makes me want to cry my eyes out. Once something is dead, it's always dead. Which is why I am more upset about my hydrangea than my car.

Worse things have happened. To me and to you, my friends. But my garden was a source of happiness to me. To have it so instantly destroyed really, really hurts.