My life has been taken over by...Mommyhood

So...my life continues to be a consistent quest for all things baby-related. I never thought that I would be reduced to striving for one more gummy grin, or the 4-part song that I've performed to achieve the little 3-month-old giggles!

One thing that I already have is the WUBBANUB pacifiers. They are Genius--a stuffed animal sewn to a Soothie Pacifier. Ella has the pink pony ones...we call them "Yum Yum pony" (because I hate the term "paci" or "binky" we use "Yum Yum"). CoolBabyKid is having a contest to win them now...you should check out the site!

New Baby Stuff!

So...in my quest to become a better (ok, at least a passable) mother, I've discovered at TON of websites dedicated to babies and baby care. Seriously, you should see my bookmarks...it's not pretty! But one of my favorites is: http://www.coolbabykid.com. Her blog always gives the coolest, cutest baby things. Most recently, she's added Hotsy Totsy Designs' baby shoes...too cute! You can even enter to win a free pair! And as a new obsessed mom, you know you'll want your baby in the cutest, newest stuff!

A Closet Claustrophobist

Feeling trapped. Move on, Move on, Move on. He's too needy. Loves me more than I love him.

My latest hobby: Thinking up dedications when I finally am published.

Here's one more:
For you. You know who you are. You inspired me. We made beautiful words together.

Sequel Season

It's my favorite time of year. Summer Movie Season. Who's a geek? That's right me--but I hide it well. This summer sounds like absolute heaven--Spiderman 3, PotC 3, Transformers, Bourne 3, Ratatouille. I don't try to be high-minded and snobbish about big summer popcorn flicks--I love them. Some of them are better than others--like the first Pirates being better than the second. I even have to admit that I didn't love Superman Returns. Liked, not loved.

I'm not looking forward to Shrek the 3rd. I hate that green blob. If you ask me, that's two Shreks too many for my taste. I did see Spidey 3 last night. It was good. I love how geeky Peter Parker is in the movies. I worried they were going to make him all hero-ey in the movies, but they really kept the heart. It didn't get great reviews, but I really liked it.

I'm looking forward to HP5 too. I LOVE the books. I've only liked HP3 and 4 movies though. I like 'em dark--and the first two were nauseatingly sweet.

So I let my geek out for a quick breath with this post. Back into the basement, you!

April Showers...Not many May Flowers

I can remember exactly when I ceased to be popular in high school. It was November 9, 1995. The night my dad went over to see my boyfriend. With his Bible in hand. But, before I tell you about that cozy conference, I should tell you why my dad went over there in the first place.

When you're in high school, you don't think of very good cover stories. In fact, they suck. But somehow, you still think they're good enough to fool your parents. The same people who tried the same trick 20 years before. My boyfriend and I got to go to a fair board meeting together, something that almost never happened--I got to go somewhere alone with him. So we went parking after the meeting--nothing terrible, just making out, right? For 2 hours. We didn't return home until 11 p.m. Now obviously, our parents were frantic. This was a stupid plan. But, to get out of trouble, we said the meeting ran late. Very Late. Two hours late. Since cell phones weren't readily available at the time, we couldn't phone home.

The story worked. For about 4 weeks, until the next meeting rolled around. The truth came out when my mother phoned the director to tell him she didn't want the meeting to end that late again. The meeting ended at 8:30 before and Mrs. Beery, is that an OK time? Oops.

So back to the conference. Did I mention there was a Bible involved? My dad sat down with my boyfriend and his mom for over an hour to explain his thoughts on our behavior and then prayed with them. The bad part? I didn't even know my dad was going over there. The next day? Suffice to say that I no longer had a boyfriend and no one from my high school was going to go near me because of my "preacher" dad.
My dad's not a minister. Just a concerned father.

I never dated anyone from my high school again.

Moral of the story? Try a better cover story than a late meeting. Well, either that, or hide the family Bible.

Performing the Heimlich on life.

After this very long and stressful weekend ended, my body shut down on Sunday. I'm not talking exhausted--I'm talking so tired you could hallucinate with a side of unbelievable strep throat. I've never actually had my throat close, but with the size of my tonsils right now--I'm pretty sure you could bowl with them. And as no good deed goes unpunished--I have to get back on the horse today. I literally can't swallow. Which means no eating.
I've missed eating.
I can't swallow because of the pain--something I've taken for granted for apparently my entire life. Which leads me to wonder what else I've been blissfully unaware of in my pain-free life. Let's see what I've learned in the last year:
1. The plantar fascia on the bottom of your foot is a very important muscle. You won't ever miss it until you tear it in half. Then it won't ever heal until you have surgery. And by surgery they mean no driving or walking for four weeks.
2. The deltoid muscle in your shoulder is also important. Tear that and you won't be moving your head, arm or back for a while.
3. Physical therapy is a really long process. I always thought it sounded fun. I was wrong.
4. Apparently, eyebrows don't grow back very fast. Don't ask. I had four for a while. Nothing a black sharpie can't fix.

So, I'll be waiting for my throat to open up again. I picture Lucy in her cardboard box with the sign saying The Throat is In. 5 cents.

Oh, one more thing, RIP Captain America--you stood for truth, justice and the american way. Your wholesome-ness will be missed.

The end of a rather short era

Well, it's official. I am no longer the head of pagination and all things ridiculous at the paper. The editor is retiring--officially on April 1. There goes the neighborhood, so to speak. They want me to stay on to write and continue to paginate--"they" being the despots in charge, but frankly, I'm not sure how much more I could take of the shrew who answers the phone anyway. So, I may write--but my tenure as pagination head--like my self-entitlement--ends on the 30th of March. It's on to bigger and more challenging things--if by more challenging, you mean sitting and watching LOST marathons.

3/11/07--I've edited the rest of the post because I was angry and said some things that could possibly get me in trouble. So, until I don't care anymore about the job--I'll keep my nastiness to myself. Here comes that LOST marathon!

Snow is magical...and I'm feeling murderous.

and this is a total cliche, but it really does cover the ugliness of life and make everything beautiful. Sunshine sparkling on snow makes a dreary day seem crystal-glazed and somehow better. Now onto the more cynical side of the moon.
Working at a newspaper is what I do. (besides the whole teaching dance thing). This fulfills the nosy and insistent girl who lives in my head. However, it also attracts other nosy and insistent people. Meet Sherryl. Sherryl might be killed by me if she is not careful. She is the receptionist and let me spell it out for you--RECEPTIONIST means answer the goddamn phones. Not sit and look over my shoulder as I paginate and editorialize. As I'm perfecting page 3--she is opinionating (not a word, I know) that maybe the year-end review jump shouldn't go there. You're treading on dangerous ground sweetie--you don't even know Quark. I may be the only one ever to be convicted of murder by Mac or by Sharpie. Choose your weapon wisely...