Herding Cats

Holidays and Politics

2011-12-26T15:29:00.003-06:00

Seriously, if you could see me right now, you'd think I had aged about 15 years since the last time I blogged (which was like, two months ago, I know.)

So work is far busier than I ever would have anticipated but that is easily explained if you understand the political climate in Iowa. We host the first-in-the-nation electoral event which apparently gives insight into which candidate might end up on the ballot come November. All this action means that reporters from Davenport to Council Bluffs (and everywhere in between) are busy tracking the candidates as they visit every Pizza Ranch and coffee shop in Iowa. In a word, it's exhausting.

With the caucus on Jan. 3, I can safely say we're in the home stretch. At least I think we are. This means that if you haven't seen me since July, you might again sometime mid-January. Yeah!

In the midst of all of this, we celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary (Happy day, honey!), Thanksgiving and three Christmas celebrations. Thank God Christmas is over - it was a multi-tasking nightmare. Between getting everything decorated, shopping, wrapping and figuring out where we were supposed to be and when, well, not sure how I made it through. But I did. I'm blogging now to prove it.

That's that. Other than what you read above, I've got nothin' else to write about. Well, I do but I can only do so much at one time people. Geez.

So, if I don't see you anytime soon, Happy New Year and happy caucusing (if that's your thing.) I'll see you in January!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2011-10-19T00:13:00.003-05:00

Ok, let's cut to the chase - I've been kind of busy. It's this whole Patch thing. It's totally been keeping me from getting my blog on. I'm sorry. Let me put it to you this way, when you spend all day on social media, the last thing you want to do it play around on it after work. Not that there is an after work...more about that later.

So anyway, I got a job back in July and boy, is it a lot of work. But you know what? Despite the massive time suck that it is, I love it! Every stinkin' minute of the day. I love it. I know, I know, it's a job but I really love what I do. I'm filled with a sense of purpose. Not that I didn't have it before when I stayed home with the kids but now, things are different. Can't really put that into words. Maybe you should just check out the site and see.

I'm not going to make any promises with this blog. I said it before that my updates would be sporadic. I suppose that's a promise in itself. I will however, try to make it back more often. I miss it, really. "Herding Cats" was my outlet when I didn't have one. Here's a promise - I won't abandon the blog if you won't abandon me. Deal?

"Can I Put That on My Christmas List?"

2011-10-18T23:42:00.005-05:00

I'm just going to go ahead and launch into this like I've been blogging consistently for the last couple months. Please pay no mind to the elephant in the room.

Anyway, so I have three kids, all 5 and under, and you can only imagine the amount of crap they have and the amount of crap they continue to ask for. I'm a generous person but if I gave into every whim, well, we'd be broke. Flat ass broke.

That said, about a year ago I started telling the kids about Christmas lists. I told them that when Santa comes, he needs to know what they want and the only way to do that is to keep a list. I did this not because I wanted them to actually write down all their wants. No, I just wanted to get them to stop asking for stuff. Well, if that didn't set off a firestorm, I don't know what did. Now, every single day, I hear, "Can I put that on my Christmas list?" No joke. Like at LEAST 30 times a day (that's 10 times per kid, if you can't figure that out.) So when they see something on TV, they want to put it on their Christmas list. A toy at the store? Put it on the Christmas list. Something the neighbor kids have? Put it on the Christmas list. Every little thing gets put on their effin Christmas lists.

My husband and I thought it was funny at first. The first few times they said it, we looked at each other and smiled like, "Yeah, we pulled one over on them." It was funny. And kind of cute. But the thousandth time? Well, I'm over it. It's not cute or funny anymore. It's just annoying.

Call me a scrooge. Whatever. This is the kind of thing that happens when you try to teach you kids the right thing to do. Typical me.

Know what? I have a Christmas list too. Want to know what's on it? Peace and quiet, an end to the commercialism of Christmas and someone else to manage the kids' Christmas list. Merry Christmas to me.

What's Up?

2011-07-19T21:26:00.004-05:00

Normally, this would be the part of the post where I apologize for my lapse in blogging, complain that I've been really busy, blame it on my kids, etc. etc. Well, half of that's true.

See, I've been experiencing a few - how shall I say it? - life changes in the last couple weeks. In fact, much of what I've been going through has been so chaotic and crazy that I'm surprised I'm still holding fast to my sanity. The biggest life change? I got a job. A full-time gig. My dream job. I'm not even overstating that. It truly is my dream job.

A little background on me...I used to be a reporter. I was fortunate to work for a couple large newspapers and loved just about every minute of it. But, if you've been paying attention, the newspaper industry is taking on water. That ship is going down fast. It's sad, really. Old newspaper people like me miss the days when the thrill of the job was the pursuit of news. Now many of us are dealing with lay-offs, mandatory furloughs and pay cuts across the board. I've watched the paper that I grew up with fall apart. It's not at all what I remember, from my childhood or from the days as an employee.

It shouldn't come as a surprise then that I let the idea of my dream job go. If the newspaper industry was in the can, so was my ideal job. At least that's what I thought until April. An old friend contacted me about a job doing community journalism. "It's hyperlocal," he said. "It's all online," he said. I did my research, I asked a lot of questions, and talked to a lot of people and almost overnight, I started to recreate the idea of my dream job. This was it.

So I'm no longer a stay-at-home mom. I'm now a working mom, working as a local editor for Waukee Patch. Our official launch is August 2 and I'm chugging away trying to make that launch as successful as possible. I will still blog whenever possible because to some degree, I'm still herding cats. They're just bigger cats. And there's more of them.

My 100th Blog Post

2011-07-06T10:37:00.011-05:00

I've been in absentia for the last few weeks and if you only new why, you'd understand. It's nothing personal.

So as to not bore you with all the details, I've decided to make a little list. I'm going to call it, "Life in 14 days." Here is a snippet of the chaos that has taken place here in the last couple weeks.

Got a job.

Quit a job.

Got a nanny.

Celebrated a 5^th birthday.

Daughter’s best friend moved.

Husband out-of-town.

Lost a nanny.

Started search for new nanny.

Found temporary nanny.

Wrote a few stories.

Edited a few stories.

Two haircuts.

One massage.

11 loads of laundry.

6 loads of dishes.

Worked all weekend at part-time job.

Hosted a BBQ.

Two fireworks displays.

Started swim lessons.

Two dance classes.

Wrote a few stories.

Preschool teachers were dismissed.

Started search for new preschool.

Husband out-of-town.

Worked last day at part-time job.

20 year class reunion.

Flight to NYC for new job training.

R.I.P. Macbook

2011-05-27T15:32:00.002-05:00

There's nothing more devastating than losing a loved one and last Thursday I buried one of my closest friends - my black Macbook. She was only five years old. Cause of death? Total hard drive failure.

Blackie and I had some great times together. There was no one else on this planet who knew me as well as she did. She'd sit quietly as I'd upload vacation photos and videos of the kids and never whine when they numbered in the hundreds, she knew all my passwords and she never complained when I bought something online because she knew my checking account balance and the balance on my credit cards. We were - to say the least - tight.

You can imagine my shock when, after doing a little editing on a client project, she just quit working. I waited for her to buck up but then she just kept thinking. That little circle on the screen just kept spinning so I turned her off fully expecting that she'd come back to me. She never did. The diagnosis from the Apple Genius was hard to swallow. I mean, how do you accept the death of something so close to you?

Well, I have a new hard drive, still to be named. We're getting along fine but I have to admit, I miss Blackie. She held a lot of my memories, things I've found I can't get back. Honestly, I've shed a few tears. She was truly irreplaceable.

RIP, girl. We'll always have back-up.

No, I'm Not.

2011-05-10T12:41:00.002-05:00

So a few weeks ago I renewed my efforts to lose weight and jumped back on the diet and exercise wagon. And dammit, I've already fallen off. It wasn't just one day - that sort of indiscretion I can easily overcome. No, it was a lot of days and sometimes a couple in a row. I seriously have the worst willpower ever.

Anyway, at dinner on Monday night as I'm leaning over Sissy to set her plate down, she says, pointing at my stomach, "Mom that's a big belly! Is there a baby in there?" Oh. God. The shame. Seriously. There's nothing worse than being called fat by your own daughter. I'd just assume have a perfect stranger ask me when I was due than suffer the torment of a 4 year-old. So back on the wagon I go. If you see me reaching for something fattening and delicious, feel free to hold me back. My inner skinny will thank you.

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T21:41:00.003-05:00

It's the end of a long day but I didn't want to go to bed tonight without giving a shout out to all of the moms in my life. It really is one of the toughest jobs you can ever have and I have been blessed to have been doing it since 2006.

So to all my mom friends and family, Happy Mother's Day! Hope your day was a good one!

The Perfect Joke for 3-Year-Olds

2011-05-05T14:28:00.001-05:00

A Great Read: "Two Kisses for Maddy"

2011-05-04T14:42:00.005-05:00

Just a month or so after the twins were born, when I was still in the throes of post-partum yuck, a friend of mine sent a link to a story in the Star Tribune. It was an absolute tear-jerker of a story and my friend thought it would be something I might want to read. I thought nothing of it, after all, what the hell else was I going to do between feedings and diaper changes? The story was about this guy, a Minnesota native, who lost his wife just 27 short hours after the birth of their first child, a daughter they named Madeline. Maddy was born less than three weeks after my twins and he - that guy, Matt - was raising her on his own.

Anyway, turns out Matt had a blog and he was using it to cope with the day-to-day struggles of taking care of a newborn while grieving the loss of his first and only love, Liz. Needless to say, Matt's story stayed with me and I checked his blog religiously, sometimes a couple times a day. I loved that our babies were hitting milestones at right about the same time and that he, like I was, found comfort in those same milestones that everything might really be alright.

Well, Matt wrote a book about his journey and it's nothing short of an amazing read. I devoured it in a just a few days. Now, I don't know Matt personally, but reading his story felt like we had been longtime pals. I guess I had just followed him for so long that it was like he was an old friend and I am so proud of what he's accomplished.

Pick up a copy of "Two Kisses for Maddy" (bring the tissues) or check out Matt's blog. It's life-changing.

Whatever.

2011-04-29T12:38:00.006-05:00

Did you hear about this story? A recent J.Crew ad shows a mom laughing and presumably enjoying painting her son's toenails. Yes, her SON! Blaspheme! Well, as you can imagine, people were up-in-arms over this nonsense saying that the real-life mom featured in the ad was turning her preschool age son gay, even transgendered because she was giving the boy a pink pedi. My first reaction: what the eff? I mean, really? "Experts" were weighing in saying that she was confusing her son (the boy also featured in the ad) and blurring the gender lines by painting his toenails which, apparently, is a total female thing to do.

Personally, as if you couldn't tell, I think all the hubbub is a load of hooey. Those little painted fingernails you see in the photo up top actually belong to my son, Ham. Coincidentally, the outfit he's wearing is none other than Buzz Lightyear. Do I care that he accessorized with a purple mani? Not a bit. My husband? Maybe, but it's certainly not something he's going to start him in counseling for. Ham has two sisters and he gets this kind of thing all the time. He plays dress up (in dresses, no less), likes to wear fancy, plastic princess shoes and says his favorite color is pink (though blue is a close second.) Who cares? We live in a predominantly female household. He's bound to be influenced by the sheer amount of estrogen here. Do I think he's going to be gay or transgendered because of it? No. If he is gay, we, as his parents, will support him. That's a no brainer for me.

I think 'issues' like this (and I quote 'issues' because to me, it's hardly one) deflect from what's really important and that is parenting at its core. This real-life mom was not standing on a street corner teaching her son the drug trade (though I suspect some people might think that was a way of strengthening the mother-son bond). No, this was a genuine moment of happiness and a sign of trust between parent and child. This kind of image should be admired for what it is - a snapshot of the kind of healthy, happy relationships we should all be so lucky to have with our children.

They Like to Move It, Move It

2011-04-21T09:53:00.003-05:00

It was a bit chilly to play outside today, so with no playdate in sight, I decided to introduce the kids to the movie, "Madagascar." Now all I've heard for the last hour is, "I like to move it, move it." What the hell was I thinking?

Oh. My. Dog.

2011-04-18T16:50:00.003-05:00

Holy crap. I'm a dog owner. Yeah, seriously, a dog owner! Can you believe it? In terms of all the work that goes along with dog ownership, I suppose you could say she owns me. For those of you who aren't perfect strangers, you must be thinking I'm nuts. And you're totally right but when I saw that face, how could I say no? So now I have a dog. Her name is Lucy.

How did I come to this life-altering decision? It was pretty simple. My sister-in-law posted a picture on Facebook asking if anyone wanted a puppy. Her friend's dog had puppies and they needed good homes. I won't lie, my dear husband and I had discussed it before but my final answer was always, "no." I honestly just couldn't handle another baby in this house. And now I have one.

It's going well so far, I think. I know zilch about dogs. Thankfully my husband has had one before so he's trying to teach me the ropes. I never thought I'd say this but I kind of like her. Shhh! Don't tell the kids. They think we got her for them.

Well, hello...Fatty.

2011-03-23T14:35:00.003-05:00

Have you ever had one of those moments when you either see a picture of yourself or glimpse your reflection in a mirror and say, "Jesus. When did I get so fat?" Yeah, that was me a couple weeks ago. I won't lie - I've let myself go. After losing more than 20 pounds last year, I got lazy. I thought that sneaking a piece of banana walnut bread for breakfast or getting a Happy Meal with the kids wasn't going to do any damage. Oh, has it ever! I stepped on the scale last Saturday and practically threw up my daily vitamin. I was FAT! So, here I am, back on the weight loss train.

Honestly, I have all the tools. I know what to do and I can do it if I apply myself. But God, sometimes it's just so much more pleasurable to indulge in food than to not. I mean, when I've had a crappy day with the kids, nothing looks better than a M&M Concrete Mixer from Culver's. Seriously. Have you had one? I don't even want to know the calorie count. It's just that good. And it's so much easier if I have to work to just grab something fast from the food court. I mean, how bad could a taco burger and potato oles be for a person?

I know, "Jody, you're kidding yourself." I get that, thus the reason for jumping back on the wagon. One difference this time is that I have a few friends in the same boat so we're kind of doing this together. God bless 'em.

I will most certainly update my progress thought probably not on a weekly basis. That's just too hard. I am hoping to lose approx. 15 pounds. As of this morning, I'm down four. It's a start.

So wish me luck and if you see me reaching for the sweets, just grab my wrist and say, "No!" Please. I need all the help I can get.

The Artist Known as 'Moo'

2011-03-19T11:39:00.004-05:00

This is a terrible picture but I was trying to fit a lot into a little space. Anyway, this is Moo's artwork. To the untrained eye, this might appear as just a bunch of little scribbles and to some degree, they are. But to me, the mom, this is a huge deal. See, Moo just turned 3 a couple weeks ago and the pictures you see above are the first recognizable drawings she has done - ever.

This is going to sound so overstated, but these drawings support a theory I have - that some of the biggest changes in a child come about at age 3. I came to this idea when Sissy turned 3. It was like a she went from baby to child overnight. Her speech became clearer, her vocabulary vast and everything about her just, I don't know, matured. I'm not even kidding when I say it was almost overnight. It was like one day she was 2 and we were struggling to understand what she was saying, dealing with her frustrations as she was trying to express herself and then the next day, when she turned 3, we were chatting it up with someone completely different. It was totally surreal and something I chalked up to a fluke...until now.

So here we are with Moo. Just two weeks after her third birthday she's telling stories about real subjects and places, expressing emotions and using the right words to do so. She's drawing pictures and describing who they are ("That one is me and Sissy. She's the big girl."), and I'm right back to thinking that 3 is the magic age.

Yeah, I might be a little bit crazy but there is something to this. While it may not be as pronounced in Ham, it has happened to him too. I just don't know what to say. Either way, I'm impressed and awed at how they're growing up. My little babies are little people now and to me that really is surreal.

1,2,3...Happy Birthday!

2011-03-04T21:35:00.007-06:00

Three years ago tonight, I was on my way to the hospital, 34 weeks pregnant, to check out an annoying little ache in my side. I was just sure it was nothing. My nothing turned out to be two very big somethings, born in the early morning hours of March 5, 2008.

That's them in the pictures. Moo and Ham, as we like to call them, will celebrate the big 0-3 tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited for us and for them. I won't lie, nor have I ever on this blog, that getting the two of them to this point has not been an easy thing. It completely changed what we thought was normal and well, magnified everything by the power of two. I often tell people that when you're raising twins, you just don't stop to think about it. If you do, you go a little crazy. That's what makes a milestone like a third birthday all that much sweeter. We've had our moments and often the stress of caring for three kids has shown on our weary faces. But as we approach the big day, I see the fog starting to clear. I see them becoming the little people I had always hoped they would be.

I'm excited. I know the plans we have for Moo and Ham and I can't wait to see how everything plays out. I love these little monkeys, more than life itself and I wish them the happiest birthday ever. Now, let's party!

Yes, I Love Technology

2011-02-25T09:52:00.004-06:00

I never used to be such a geek when it came to technology. Yes, I liked having a fast computer, a mobile phone I could call and text on and a reliable PDA. These were three things I couldn't live without. Then, a couple years ago, I got an iPod Touch and my world turned upside-down. Until then, I was content to have two devices - my cell phone and a PDA - completely separate from one another. Getting the iPod Touch was such a tease. It could do all these cool things my PDA couldn't. It's sibling - the iPhone - could make calls and send texts, take pictures and video. My God, what was I thinking? How could I have been so defiant? The iPhone was the answer to all my problems! Well, yes, but it wasn't available on Verizon...until this February, right before my birthday.

So, on my 38th birthday, I became the owner of a new iPhone 4 and you know what? It was totally worth the wait. I take back all the things I said about never wanting one device. This tiny piece of technology is like a dream come true. Now that I have everything in one place, why would I ever need anything else?

I swear I'm not a spokesperson for Apple or even Verizon. I'm just a really happy customer. Because honestly, when you find a good thing, you stick with it, right? I think we're going to have a long happy life together, just me and my iPhone.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

2011-01-27T09:49:00.004-06:00

How do you teach a child respect? Respect for their parents, friends, teachers, caregivers or even toys? That's something I'm struggling with right now. I think we've done a good job with Sissy but then again, she's always been a pretty easy kid. Teaching her to value and take care of relationships and her things hasn't been hard. It's her brother and sister I have some concerns about.

I get it. They're only 2 but I'm certain that we started early with Sissy and we did something right there. Why doesn't it seem to stick with the twins? Ham is getting better. He knows to pick up his toys when he's done playing with them. He says, "please, thank you and I'm sorry" when it's appropriate. Moo is a challenge. When told to pick up, she hesitates and gets distracted. She does say all the appropriate "please" and "thank yous" when they're called for and when she realizes she's done something wrong or hurtful she says she's sorry. This is all well and good until she turns around and picks up a plastic action figure and hurls it at her brother's head. What do you do then?

This is a task I'm working on, with them and with myself. I probably need to let a lot of this go but the mom in me says it's necessary to teach them this at home. It's what makes them good students and friends, ya know? *Sigh* sometimes life's lessons are the hardest ones to teach.

It Can't Be. But It Is.

2011-01-23T14:12:00.003-06:00

So I had a revelation last week that made me stop what I was doing and sit down - Sissy is going to kindergarten. I'm sure you're thinking, "Whoopee. Big deal." Well, it is because honestly, I hardly saw it coming. I mean, the 2011-2012 school year is like a year away, right? Not exactly. There's this thing called Kindergarten Roundup and it's like now. For some people, it was last week. Ours, thankfully, is toward the end of March so I still have time to come to grips with the fact that I will be the parent of a kindergartener.

I'm not dumb. I knew this was coming but having to deal with the emotion of it was a bit unexpected. I think when you have kids you practically count the days, the weeks, the years until they grow up, get older, become more independent. Sometimes just the stress of caring for them makes you wish it would go faster. What happens though, is that they actually do grow up and it goes by a heckuva lot faster than you think.

I'm not sad about Sissy growing up. I'm thrilled for her to go to school. I just know she's going to love being a big girl and making friends. She loves new experiences and new friends and well, learning. I know next year will be huge for her. But this milestone is all about sentiment for me. It means my baby isn't a baby anymore. I dug out an old photo album last week while the kids were napping. As I flipped through the pictures, I got misty. There were so many moments I found myself trying to relive. I felt, if only for a few minutes, that I might have missed something.

I think life goes by too fast and when I'm sitting in that meeting, discussing my daughter's first day of school, this is going to hit me hard. But like I'm sure Sissy will do on that first day of school, I will smile and look forward to all the great things kindergarten has to offer.

That's a Good Idea

2011-01-10T19:26:00.008-06:00

Revelation time: I am super organized. Some call it anal, others obsessive-compulsive but it's neither of those things, really. It's more like a sport to me. See, I have a problem working in chaos and with three kids, that's a pretty common occurrence around our house. If things aren't where they're supposed to be then neither am I. Know what I mean?

Anyway, my friends give me a lot of crap about this but it is what it is. The thing is, I'm kind of good at it and now that I have a family, I'm constantly looking for new ways to make our lives a little easier.

One of the biggest problems we have around here right now is all the toys. There are just so many of them! It's just a constant pileup of stuff so I decided first to give Sissy's Barbie colony a little help. That picture above was an ideal solution. I bought an inexpensive over-the-door shoe holder with clear pockets, enough for each Barbie. This way Sissy doesn't have to rummage through a bin of dolls and accessories to find what she wants. It was the perfect solution to the problem.

Side note: Moo is pretty much potty-trained. Honestly, little sister is so stubborn and independent that she did it all by herself. On Friday, she decided she wanted to go to the bathroom on the potty and she did. All weekend. Despite a couple accidents, she's been in big girl panties the last four days. Guess the best way to get my kids to do something is to turn your back and just let them do it themselves.

Resolutions, Schmezolutions

2011-01-06T10:08:00.004-06:00

I dislike making New Year's resolutions. I mean, I'm totally down with resolving to make changes in my life but just because it's a new year, well, that doesn't exactly motivate me to make big changes. I think at one point in the last five years, I actually resolved to not make any more resolutions. Until then, I did it religiously. I used to keep a file of them all on my Palm Pilot. I have seven years of lists to prove it. I even checked off the items as they were resolved. Obsess much? Totally.

The thing about resolutions is that it's just lip service. Just because you put it down on paper or in electronic format, does not mean you will do it. Example: losing weight. Everyone resolves to lose weight. I swear, I don't know a single person who hasn't said, "I really need to lose weight this year." Christmas is a time of year to overindulge. Of course you're going to resolve to lose the bloat of a couple dozen frosted sugar cookies. Just once I want to hear someone say, "You know what? I think I'd really like to hold onto the five pounds I gained at Christmas. It suits me."

Anyway, bottom line is I'm not making resolutions this year or at least not in the traditional sense. Yeah, I want to lose weight, be kinder on the road and curb my swearing (ear muffs, kids!) but I'm not going to write it down. If those things are resolved, bonus. I think that's the best resolution I won't make.

I Shall Call Her, "Mini Me."

2011-01-02T13:58:00.004-06:00

See that cute little girl in the picture above? That's me. No clue how old but I would guess judging by the amount of hair and the still pudgy arms and hands that I was about 2 years old.

Now, look at that cute little girl in the picture below. That's my Moo. Do you see a resemblance?

I can't even begin to tell you how many people comment on how much Moo looks like me. I know it. I see it - in more ways than just appearances. She's like my little mimic. She's stubborn and hard-headed. She's a "just so" kind of girl. She likes things to be a certain way, just like me. She doesn't like to be told what to do. She likes to do things for herself. She's fiercely independent but she is also such a mommy - she likes to take care of others. I'm just certain that when she grows up, we'll butt heads being that we are so much alike but I think that will also lend itself to a better understanding of each other.

I have three children and of them all, Moo is the only one who looks like me. Even her twin brother is often mistaken for a cousin or friend. But there is no confusing who her mom is. When we're out and about, it's clear she's all mine.

I think it's funny how this worked out. God gave me three beautiful, funny, little beings. In Moo, he gave me a little something extra. I can't wait to see what she does with her life, where she'll go. I hope she finds this "connection" as special as I do.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-02T13:40:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year, blog readers! Hope you all had a safe celebration. We were fairly low-key this year. I've never been much of a fan of hitting the town on New Year's. Just too many damn amateurs. Still, the husband and I always do a little something to celebrate another important milestone - our engagement. On New Year's Eve 2003, at the stroke of midnight, he proposed. And I said, "yes." Actually, I said, "of course!" which he claims wasn't a "yes," but we clearly followed through, whatever it was I said.

That night seven years ago, as we were just settling into our new loft in downtown Indianapolis, Tim pulled out all the stops on a big prime rib dinner complete with wine and flourless chocolate torte (it was divine!) For some reason, I got caught up in watching "Zanadu" on TV and when I wasn't even paying attention, he managed to get down on one knee to pose the big question. It was all together perfect!

So, while it wasn't exactly our wedding day, it's still a night I hold pretty close to my heart. This is why - no matter what we do on New Year's Eve - we always have something extra special to celebrate.

Binge and Purge

2010-12-25T22:17:00.004-06:00

I'm going to subtitle this post, "A Bulimic Christmas." No, it has nothing to do with food. I'm talking about all the damn toys. When you have three kids, it's like a frickin' Toys 'R Us store at your house once Christmas is over. When you break it down and think of all the people - besides yourself - who buy your children toys, well, it makes you want to purge...your house, that is.

Let me just say right now, we have what I would call an assload of toys at our house. I mean, we had a lot before but it's positively sickening now. Grandma, grandpas, aunts, uncles and cousins spoiled the kids this year. And, of course, all this toy action has my kids positively whipped into a frenzy. They fight and argue and swear their brother or sister took the toy that was given to them (even if it wasn't.) It makes me want to send them back to school a week early.

So, with all of this "season of giving" nonsense, I decided that the kids could afford to give, give, give and give some more. That's why I am purging all the old toys and things they don't need, to make room for the new. Yes, I'm aware it will give them something more to whine about but hey, it is the season of giving and I am feeling quite generous.

Goodwill...here I come!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T22:13:00.002-06:00

The presents are unwrapped, much food has been consumed and the children are finally asleep. Just wanted to wish all of my blog-readin' peeps a very Merry Christmas! Hope your day was filled with as much joy and love as ours was.

Yes, I Really Have Had this Conversation

2010-12-08T14:59:00.001-06:00

'Tis the Season...

2010-12-08T13:53:00.006-06:00

To be cranky. As we near the end of the year, here are 2010...ok, just 10, reasons why I'm cranky:

1) Our dryer broke.
2) My kids want a kitten. Scratch that. They want four kittens.
3) It's bitterly cold.
4) I work at the mall.
5) I haven't had time to put the Christmas tree up.
6) I'm hosting Christmas at our house this year.
7) I'm on a diet.
8) I have gifts to wrap. Many gifts to wrap.
9) I need a pedicure. Bad.
10) I am sleep-deprived.

So as not to sound like a total Debbie Downer, here are three reasons why I am not cranky (all the time):

1) I get to spend time with friends and family during the holidays.
2) I have extra cash because I'm working.
3) I'm done with all my Christmas shopping.

Dear friends, if this isn't explanation enough as to why you've hardly heard a peep from me, I don't know what is. It's not you, it's me. I hope you all understand.

Best of luck on your Christmas shopping, friends. If you want to come see me, you know where the mall is.

Still No Love for the Fat Man

2010-11-23T12:52:00.002-06:00

Last night we decided it was high time to visit Santa as the kiddos were itching to unfurl their enormous Christmas wish lists. We've been lucky the past three years to get the same Santa but this year not.so.much. How dare they switch Santas on me! Good thing the kids didn't notice.

Longtime readers might recall Moo's inability to friend the jolly one last year. I had high hopes for her but this year was much of the same. The picture above is from Christmas 2009. This year I couldn't even get a picture close to this. She stood about 20 feet away from the entrance just watching her brother and sister regale the man in red with stories of why they deserved all the contents of a Toys 'R Us store under the tree. No coloring book or lollipop bribe would convince her that this dude was legit. That's my Moo.

All told, I would call last night's visit a success. There were no tears, the kids neither kicked or screamed and we managed to get a couple cute pix of Sissy and Ham in Santa's chair. Mission accomplished. Maybe I can take that straight jacket off my Christmas list this year. Now THAT would make my Christmas merry.

Even Super-Moms Get Fat

2010-11-22T13:25:00.004-06:00

I will not apologize at all for what I'm about to write. Sure, I'm ashamed but right now there's very little I can do about it. Anyway, I'm fat. Yes, fat. Remember back in January when I started that whole weight loss challenge? Well, all told I lost about 21 pounds during the actual challenge itself. My weight loss goal had been 12 pounds but with the help of a faulty gall bladder and the recovery of the surgery, I actually lost 9 more pounds than expected. To be honest, while I was down to lose a little girth, I didn't like the way I looked post-challenge. I'm a curvy girl, always have been, and such a dramatic weight loss left me looking a bit -oh, I don't know - deflated. It wasn't pretty, people. Not a bit.

So here's the thing, I've gained a little weight back. Ok, a lot of weight back. As of this morning, I'm up 11 pounds (~cringe~). Now, I wanted to gain a little back, maybe just 5 pounds or so, but certainly not double that and then some. Yeah, I feel gross, even blobbish. My pants don't fit right and I hate that jiggle in the middle. Even my 4 year-old asked why my belly stuck out so much. Oh, the shame.

I think I can put the blame of a couple things. Aside from my schedule being slightly out of control, I believe both Starbucks and Halloween are to blame. Starbucks, as much as I love thee, had their treat receipt promotion this summer/fall and I admittedly took full advantage - a coffee in the morning and a Java Chip in the afternoon. It wasn't every day but even every other saw me adding an additional 400 calories to my daily intake. Ouch! And Halloween? Do I even have to explain that? Let's just say my kids did a hella lot of trick-or-treating and my husband and I benefited greatly from the spoils.

So what do I do now? With Thanksgiving coming up as well as Christmas, I have to do something. Thank God the Starbucks promotion ended in October or I would be SOL for sure. I've tossed out the rest of the Halloween candy and I'm going to start getting on track for a full scale fat attack come December 1. I do not want to start the new year with a muffin top. Seriously.

Wish me luck peeps. I'm going to need it. Rest assured I'll let you know my progress when it happens. I have to be accountable to someone, right?

That's My Bag

2010-11-15T13:19:00.002-06:00

Faithful readers, you might remember a little post from back in July...the one where I droned on about my sweet little obsession with a certain handbag company? Yeah. Guess what? I'm one of them now. At least for the holidays, I'm officially an employee of Coach. Couldn't you just die?! Well, maybe not you but in my head, it's like total handbag nerdvana. I am tickled pink.

Let me be straight, it's been almost five years since I've officially worked for "the man." Once I had kids, I became a freelancer so all of my work was done at home or on the go. I haven't received a regular paycheck since well, a long time ago. The thing about this endeavor is, it has nothing to do with the money (though it's kind of nice to have a little extra cash of my own.) I did this because I really love the brand and everything about it. Just ask my friends. I know the names of the bags past, present and next month. I can spot a fake from 20 paces. I wear Coach bags like other girls wear a pair of jeans. I love it THAT much.

God, I know all this seems a little fickle to some people but I will admit, I'm loving it. I get to get out and talk to other adults. I get to work for a company that respects its employees and encourages them to find ownership in what they do and what they sell. And honestly, I'm really good at it. That's enough to make me want to work every available shift I can.

So, not to sound like Salesperson Sally but if you're in the market for a hot new handbag, in the immortal words of Mae West, "Why don't you come up sometime 'n see me?" I'll be the one in uniform.

Love and Marriage

2010-11-05T19:14:00.002-05:00

Six years ago last Saturday, I married the greatest guy on the planet. He really is. Sure, our courtship was not an easy one. It was rife with the typical insecurities and issues I think every good relationship has to go through to come out on top. We were in our late 20s and I think we just assumed we were already where we were supposed to be in life. Our relationship was just the icing on the cake. Eventually, we realized that ours was more than just a friendship, more than just a flash-in-the-pan and well, we decided to get hitched. Today, almost 10 years after we first met, look at where we are...a handful of jobs, a few moves, a couple houses, and three kids strong. And as cliche as it may sound, I love him more today, for many, many reasons, than I did the day we said, "I do."

Here's the thing about marriage - it's not easy. I was never under the assumption that everything would be wine and roses but for awhile, I think I fell under the category of women who thought that love would carry us through everything. Don't get me wrong, we love each other very much, but a marriage takes work. We've been through some really difficult things as a couple that have undoubtedly made us stronger. You take the good with the bad, you learn to let things go, you roll with the punches (not literally. I do not condone physical abuse.) The best part is that at the end of the day, all that work comes with reward and that's a lifetime with someone who loves you unconditionally.

Happy belated anniversary, T. I love you like a fat kid loves cake.

One Uppers

2010-10-26T12:26:00.003-05:00

Lately the kids have engaged in a little competition I will call, "one upping." Whenever there is a commercial on TV for a toy, a game, Disneyland, whatever it is, the kids all start shouting, "I have that!" It becomes a race to see who can say it the fastest and an argument always ensues when someone thinks that yes, they "had" it before anyone else (even if they don't "have" it at all).

This morning as we were watching the "Today" show, a commercial came on for Activia. Apparently it regulates your colon. I've never purchased said product but apparently my kids have because a fight worthy of the UFC commenced between Moo and Ham that ended in screaming and tears. I never knew "I have that!" would have anything to do with bad digestion. I have been schooled.

What I Wouldn't Do

2010-10-06T20:25:00.004-05:00

It wasn't that long ago that I swore I would never have children. I don't know if it was my own dysfunctional relationship with my mother or just the fact that I had never really been fond of other people's kids but I just could not find it in me to say I wanted a family of my own. Granted, I worked all the time back then and was totally on board with sacrificing personal time for my career.

I often remark that if I had had the ability back then to look ahead 10 years and see myself, I would have never believed what I saw - a married woman, three kids, a house in the suburbs. Blasphemy! It just wasn't in my life plan then. But that was then...this is now.

For me, what's most unbelievable are the lengths I will go for my children. That whole cliche saying that life changes dramatically when you become a parent is far more believable when you're standing where I am. The biggest change for me is how far I am willing to go for them. Before kids - I could barely haul my ass out of bed on a Saturday before 10 a.m. but now, I'm up before the sun to get my kids dressed, fed and off to preschool, dance or a playdate (or whatever I have scheduled for them that day.) I often forgo sleep, a shower, breakfast or well, anything else that means I am taking care of myself to tend to them. I spend more money on their clothes, their favorite foods, their activities, the occasional lunch out etc. to make them happy. Rarely anymore will you find me splurging on something for myself unless there's a special occasion to do so.

The reason I mention all this is because lately questions have been raised about how far we are willing to go to get a "spot" for our children in a particular school, activity, or program. Many of us willingly stand in lines - sometimes overnight, endure years long waiting lists and rejections when we're not picked just to get our children where we want them to be. My oldest is 4 years old and already I've stood in lines for preschool registration, dance classes and swimming lessons. I've certainly heard my share of criticism about this but do I care? No. If I didn't want this for my kids, I wouldn't do it. I carefully plan out what I want for them, the things I want them to do and participate in and enjoy as they grow up. I don't just do this willy nilly or against my will.

I guess the bottom line, and I think most parents agree, as crazy as the competition for things get these days, we are always going to be willing to go great lengths for our kids. It's a very personal, passionate topic for many people. Me included. So please, don't bother telling me what to do until you're standing in my shoes.

Little Boys

2010-10-04T21:16:00.007-05:00

Just look at that face. God blessed me with two beautiful, smart, funny little girls and then there's my little boy. I love that kid but he's almost solely responsible for every gray hair on my head. My first child was the easiest kid on the planet. Her disposition was just sweet in every way, she slept through the night and just constantly entertained us with her cute little antics. She could do no wrong in our eyes and we were mindlessly wooed into thinking that this must be what all kids are like, right? Wrong. Boys are a whole other breed.

Just to clarify, Ham is a sweet little man but he's also 2 years-old and well, that whole "terrible twos" thing is happening in our house in full force. Few of our days begin without a tantrum. No matter the happy, chipper voices we use ("Yeah! Ham slept in his big boy bed!" or "That's a great
shirt you picked out!"), there is always a fight, a whine, or a screaming, crying meltdown. It happens when you don't carry the toys he wants from his room to the living room. It happens when he doesn't get the cereal he wants. It happens when you ask him to put on a jacket, a dry diaper or even a long sleeved shirt when he'd rather wear short sleeves. I think at one time I estimated at least two hours of his day was spent screaming, crying or a combination of the two.

Speaking of screaming, his pitch is intense. It's downright painful and can go on for several minutes at a time. I think last Friday night was the worst we've seen. Ham was inconsolable. Two hours after he started, he finally collapsed into bed. By then, we too were positively exhausted.

I keep reminding myself that this phase will eventually come to an end. I've heard that boys can be the hardest during their early years and easy as pie later on. Girls, just the opposite. How do we get through this? Well, it's not easy and we are always reminding each other to stay calm, carry on and never give in to the tantrums. What makes it all tolerable is that underneath that whirling cyclone of turmoil is a sweet, considerate, loving little boy. He reminds me of that when we're snuggled up together and reading a book, when he does something kind for his sisters or when he says, "please," "thank you," "sorry" or laughs that great belly laugh of his. Deep down, he's a mama's boy. You just have to peel back the layers to find him.

The Big, Bad, Big Kid Bed: A Cautionary Tale

2010-09-27T14:09:00.005-05:00

Once upon a time there were 2 year-old twins named Moo and Ham. They were always very active and a bit of a handful at times, but could always be counted on to nap for at least an hour or two each day and go to bed promptly at 7 p.m. each night. This was until last Saturday. See, up until then, Moo and Ham slept peacefully in cribs. But mom - knowing and hardly believing that her babies were almost 3, felt that it was time for the twins to graduate from the crib to a proper bed fit for a big kid.

The transition started smoothly enough as the twins helped choose both their mattresses and bedding (Moo chose flowers, Ham chose Superman). We woke up Saturday excited for the delivery of the new mattresses and the breakdown of their cribs. Once the new beds were together, it was pretty apparent that the twins were not going down (to bed) without a fight. You would have thought the mattresses grew teeth and threatened to consume them. Throughout the weekend and still through the week, mom and dad were awakened every couple of hours to the sounds of screaming, crying, frightened, disoriented kids. There were multiple trips back and forth to their bedrooms as we fought to place them back into their beds at night. During the day, naps were abandoned and replaced with playtime between cranky, fighting toddlers. Today, 10 days later, we're all exhausted.

Moral of the story: there is an end in sight, or so I've been told. At least that's what I tell myself every time I lead an unhappy big kid back to his/her Big, Bad, Big Kid Bed.

The End

Back to School, Part 2

2010-09-15T22:58:00.004-05:00

Sure, it looks like a sad little version of "American Gothic" but it's the best picture I could get of the twins on their first day back to school. Their age coupled with the fact that they were really excited to go to school made it difficult to get anyone to sit still, let alone smile.

This is actually the second year Moo and Ham have gone to preschool. Last year was more for "mom time." This year, it's all about "them time." Having three kids at home means that they always have a built-in playmate. This is good and bad. Good because they always have a buddy. Bad because they always have the same buddy. Sadly, Moo and Sissy are often the tightest and they really don't let Ham in on the action. Thank goodness he's great at independent play. Poor guy. The nice part about preschool is that it gives him time not only with his twin sister but also with other little boys. On the first day back, I watched the two of them walk around taking every bit of it in and telling each other to "come here!" or "look at this!" It was kind of cool for me. Some days, there aren't enough sweet moments like those at home. Can't wait to see how the rest of their year goes.

Back to School, Part 1

2010-09-15T22:47:00.002-05:00

What a crazy couple of weeks! I haven't posted because, well, we have been in the throes of back-to-school chaos. No, we haven't had any of those mile long school supply lists (thank God!) but we have had three little monkeys who were oh-so-excited to get back to pre-K which meant a while bunch of bouncing off the walls.

The first little monkey, Sissy, started back just after Labor Day. As has been tradition, we took a few pictures on the front porch of our big girl on her first day back. Oh my! What a difference a year makes. Below is a picture taken at the same time last year. I can't believe how much our baby girl changed. It was pretty unbelievable. Even her attitude toward school has changed. Last year we had this timid little person who would often hide behind mom's legs as we were walking into the classroom and today we have this uber confident big girl who can't wait to get out of the car in the morning. Really. It's unbelievable. To me, anyway.

I'm so proud of Sissy and am already starting to wonder what the first day of kindergarten is going to be like for both of us. Emotional? Probably. How could you not get a little weepy especially when you realize that your little baby isn't so little anymore?

They Really Do Grow Up That Fast

2010-09-02T10:31:00.000-05:00

So while looking for pictures to accompany the back to school posts, I started flipping through my photo libraries and frankly, it made me a little sad. I mean, I'm always wishing the kids were a little older so they would be easier to manage, be better communicators and have the chance to do the things they see "big" kids doing. I think every parent has moments like those but it made me realize that time has literally flown by.

I went back to pictures of when the twins were just babies. I remember when they came home and our biggest worries were that each one was fed and changed on a schedule. We were sleep deprived and utterly exhausted and it seemed then that they would never "grow up." Now here they are, almost 3 years-old, and I find myself asking where the time has gone.

At times, I wish I could just squish them back into the little balls of baby that they were a couple years ago and then I think, "Not a chance," because everything we've done and all the things we've been through, helped mold them into the little people they are right now. And that, my friends is how I know I must be doing something right.

The Five Stages of Potty-Training

2010-08-26T14:18:00.013-05:00

The other day as I was helping Moo into a Pull-Up, I started thinking about how potty-training is a lot like dealing with grief. Crazy, right? (FYI - I can't be held accountable for the random thoughts that transpire when I'm alone with my kids. Just sayin'.) Anyway, I remembered the semester I took a Death & Dying class in college and how, at the time, I thought Elizabeth Kubler Ross's "five stages of grief" could apply to any life-changing event. Back then, the idea was probably just a deep thought but now, having gone through potty-training with one child and now a second, I totally buy it. Step-by-step, here's how I picture this playing out...

1.Denial - "Oh, you're ready for the potty? Um, ok. Are you sure? You're only 2 years old! How did you grow up so fast?"

2. Anger - "We've been sitting on that potty 12 times a day for the last month!? How could you have had an accident?"

3. Bargaining - "Ok, ok. Mommy will give you a M&M if you just go pee pee on the potty. Alright? You can have two if you go poopy."

4. Depression - "I swear, no one understands what I'm going through. Everyone else's child is using the potty and I'm still cleaning pee off the floor. Why can't I do this?"

5. Acceptance - "Ok, I can totally do this. I mean, you're not going to Prom in a Pull-Up. I can do this. I can do this," and ultimately, "Hoorah! You went pee pee on the potty! Mommy is so proud of you! You're such a big kid. I knew you could do it."

And that's my PSA for the day. Stay tuned as I try and apply the same principles to getting your child to sleep through the night and weaning off the Binky.

Update: Woody's hat has been found. Apparently it fell off on a wild ride in the minivan. Boy and toy and hat have been reunited.

Wanted: Woody's Hat

2010-08-24T22:43:00.005-05:00

See Woody? He's not wearing a hat. That's unusual, especially in our house. Ham is obsessed with Woody...and Buzz for that matter. He owns the two action figures and rarely goes to bed without them. It's gotten to be such commonplace in our house to hear, "WoodyBuzz, BuzzWoody," just as soon as we get Ham out of his crib in the morning. The boys from Toy Story are always in full effect.

Here's the issue, Ham is very particular about Woody's hat. If it's not on his tiny plastic head, it's usually somewhere close by. Problem is while I was away, Woody's hat disappeared. Now every morning and at every nap time I hear, "Woody's hat! Woody's hat!" I've looked and it's nowhere to be found. What's a mom to do? So far I've managed to distract him with Lightning McQueen but eventually the boy will start to catch on to my Pixar distractions. All I know is that a cowboy is nothing without his hat and my son knows it too. Oh, the tribulations of being a toddler.

Day 8, 9 & 10 - This is the End

2010-08-23T08:49:00.004-05:00

(Please note that I started this the morning after the Fair ended. Due to all the laundry and general nonsense I missed at home, it's dated. My apologies.)

It's Monday morning, my first day back to the usual grind, and I'm thrilled. There comes a point during every Fair where - while I feel a great sense of accomplishment - I grow weary. I don't think it's whiny at all to say that I've been out of the full-timers loop for so long now that it takes some effort to get up in the morning and go. Heck yeah, I'm still busy and running around after my kids but I don't have to have a lot of focus for that. Work - like REAL work - takes a bit more thought. By the end of a work day at the Fair, my brain is tired.

But anyway, I worked hard this year or at least I felt like it was hard work. Seems most days we were busy from start to finish. I like that kind of a day because when you're about to check out at 5 p.m., you feel like you actually earned a paycheck. That said, I've already committed to another year and hope that next year is a lot like this one. Save for a few little glitches here and there, I think my 10 day foray into the working world was a success.

Funny thing, I mentioned earlier about how I love to eat at the Fair and I always have an agenda when it comes to what I must eat. I also budget for a few pounds gained. This year my budget was around 3 pounds. Happy to report it was only about a half pound gained. Shocking. I have no idea how that happened but I will not question it.

So that concludes my Fair coverage for the 2010. Hope everyone who attended had a good time. For those who did not, maybe we'll see you next year.

Day 7 - In Defense of the Fair

2010-08-21T15:36:00.005-05:00

If you're from Iowa, live in Iowa or maybe just spent a little time in Iowa, you end up doing a lot of apologizing. It's so stupid to even have to say that but it happens. I was born here, I've spent a majority of my life here and I will probably die here. Yes, I might winter elsewhere when I retire but the point is, Iowa is the place I call home.

So, it should come as no surprise to anyone that I get really defensive when people make comments about where I'm from. Sure, some of it is stereotypically funny ("Just stick around. The weather will change here in a second.") but some of it is blatantly rude. I often wonder what compels people to poke fun like that particularly if they live here. Are they just that bitter or angry about living here and if so, why don't they just move?

I feel the same way about the Iowa State Fair. One night when I was at dinner with friends, I overheard someone at the next table say - with some serious conviction, "Ugh! I fucking HATE the Fair!" Really? You HATE the Fair? It's an event, not a person and what has the Fair done to cause such hatred and disgust? It's silly, isn't it? I generally find that people who say they hate the Fair have either never actually been to it or have been and just haven't done it right.

The Iowa State Fair is the single largest event in the state and is a celebration of our accomplishments in agriculture and industry, among other things. We are a state built on agriculture. It's as much a part of who we are as say the entertainment industry is to the state of California. And while not everyone here has a connection to it, it is one of the hallmarks of the Iowa State Fair. Because behind all the corn dogs, concerts, rides and games, there's a whole network of people showing animals, competing in contests and displaying the fruits (and vegetables) of their sometimes year-long labor. Now that's worth celebrating.

Honestly, if you don't like it, you don't have to go. It's just that simple. No one that I'm aware of will force a ticket into your hand and send you down the Grand Concourse. Fine with me. It will mean more corn dogs for the rest of us.

Day 6 - Hump Day

2010-08-19T12:14:00.003-05:00

So yesterday, my sixth day at the Fair, was Hump Day. Yes, it was Wednesday but it also marked the proverbial hump in my stay at the Fair. It's the time when I usually start to tire of fried food, large crowds and a lack of sleep. It's when I start to realize that my house is a pit, my laundry isn't done and my refrigerator is empty because I haven't had time to grocery shop. It's also the time when I start to feel guilty about leaving my kids behind each morning. I don't really feel sorry for myself. I'm not whining. This is just fact. The tide shifts almost immediately when, the next day, I realize that I only have three days left before I go back to my everyday life and start the countdown until next year's Iowa State Fair.

All complaining aside, I relish the 10 days I get to work here. It really is my vacation and I enjoy almost every minute of it. Few stay-at-home moms get a chance like this. It's an opportunity to revisit who you were when a career was your top priority. Who wouldn't want that? If nothing else, it's a gentle reminder that, "Yeah, you still got it," despite what your kids might think.

Today, I have no suggestions on food or rides or attractions to visit but rather a time you should visit. One of the best parts of my day is when I arrive early to the Fair. While there is still the hustle and bustle of activity, it's eerily quiet. The sun is just beginning to shine and people are just starting to get around. I love that. It's a strange dichotomy of peace and chaos. I highly suggest you try it.

Day 5 - Random Reflections on the Fair

2010-08-18T14:04:00.003-05:00

As I type this, it's actually my sixth day at the Fair but I'm only blogging about day five. Someone asked me yesterday why I was a day behind. Two reasons, really: 1) I don't start until the first Friday of the Fair so while the Fair has gone on for seven days, I've only been here for six, and 2) I can't blog about something that hasn't happened yet. So there.

Anyway, yesterday was totally random. First of all, it rained. All day. Rainy days at the Fair are good and bad. Good because you can usually usually do the Fair with very little company - the crowds just don't gather in a downpour. Bad because, well, the crowds just don't gather in a downpour. Anyway, it rained which cast a literal cloud over many of the days events. Bummer. It did not, however, deter Leslie Hall and the LYs from taking the Susan Knapp stage. It was really coming down but she still had a good size crowd. It was my first official live Leslie Hall performance. Definitely want to do it again.

In other Fair music news, last night I went to the Pat Benatar/REO Speedwagon concert on the Grandstand. This wasn't the first time I had seen REO in concert. My first time was on the same stage back in 2002 when I reviewed the show for the Des Moines Register. I liked the show then but this time they seemed, I don't know, different. Maybe older, more road weary. Don't get me wrong, the music is still good but time has not been kind to these men. Overall, good stuff but just a little surreal.

Did you know that the Iowa State Fair hosted a "Wheel of Fortune" winner this week? Yep. This guy from California won a trip to the Iowa State Fair. The first day or two, he was a fish out of water, but I think by the end, he had warmed to the Fair. Kind of cool to watch.

Oh, one last thing...I have one more addition to the Fair to-do list. For $5, you can take a camel or pony ride. Rides are given near the petting zoo at the end of Grand Ave. Good stuff.

Day 4 - The List

2010-08-17T17:40:00.003-05:00

Oh my, there is so much to do at the Fair. I know this as both a fairgoer and an employee but it really didn't hit home until we started bringing the kids. In past years, my husband and I could just drive out here, grab a beer and a corn dog, gawk at the 'big' animals, do a little people-watching and call it good. Now, the demand to be entertainers and tour guides is crucial, especially to our 4 year-old. For that reason, I've compiled a list of Fair favorites - things to do with the kids while you're at the Fair. Keep in mind this list is skewed to the younger set. You can branch out with older kids but these would be the things you'd probably find us doing on a typical day at the Fair. Hope you enjoy it!

The Butterfly House (there's admission for this but it's totally worth it!)
Little Hands on the Farm (kids get to "buy" a snack at the end and they get a free hat!)
Animal Learning Center (lots of baby animals and there's A/C for a break from the heat)
The Giant Slide (this could keep us busy for an hour).
Spin Art at the Pavilion
Pella Plaza - Home to the fountains. Bring a change of clothes and a towel because the kids will want to get wet.
The Fun Forest and Fun Forest Stage - There is a great playground here that costs nothing and the stage has free entertainment all day that's suitable for the kids.
Rainbow Play Systems - They have a full set up on the south side of the Varied Industries Building. It's free and the kids have a blast trying out all the equipment.
The Midway - There are rides for small kids and some great games too.
The Chicken Coop - Just north of the Animal Learning Center, the Chicken Coop has kid-friendly food like the Octodog (a hot dog cut to look like an Octopus) and PB&J in the form of farm animals.
Fair Squares - These are new this year at the Fair. For $2 you can get a good sized rice krispy bar on a stick. Yum!
My Pillow Pet - This might seem so silly to put on the list but it's a must stop for us this year. Pillow Pets are apparently a hot item among the young 'uns and this year they came to the Fair. They are for sale on the north side of the Varied Industries. The bonus to buying them here is that they are only available online so you won't pay shipping. There's a discount if you buy two.

That's all I have for now. There are so many more things we will do at the Fair this year. I will add some things here and there so stay tuned. Otherwise, get a jump start on this list and tell mne what you think.

Days 2 & 3 - Proofing, Pickles & Hip Hop

2010-08-16T09:32:00.005-05:00

I've been remiss in keeping up to date on the Fair blogging, but holy butter cow! I've been really busy. Of course, the Fair is a job so the work part is expected but I don't think I had prepared myself for the transition. To go from reading a Dr. Seuss book (the content is tongue-twisting) to writing and editing again takes some prep that clearly I had not done. But I'm back on the wagon. It's smooth sailing from here on out. I swear.

I have to say I may have found a new favorite fair food - fried pickle spears. Oh. My. God. I could eat them three times a day. It's $5 for a small order at the Veggie Table and they are to die for. I love them almost as much as the etouffee at Thibideaux's. For real.

One of the perks of the job is that after work ends, I am already on the grounds and like to partake of all the fun the Fair has to offer. Last night, I took in a concert with my YUM friends. We saw a show they dubbed "The Legends of Hip Hop." Yeah. It was Tone Loc (Funky Cold Medina) and Vanilla Ice (Ice, Ice Baby). Not sure they qualify as legends but whatever. The concert was on the free stage and it was the largest crowd ever for a free concert. No kidding. We were crammed in like sardines. It was hot, crowded and not exactly a great show but you get what you pay for, right? I can now add both to the list of "have seen." Awesome.

Lastly, if you've followed my blogging in past years, you'll remember that I do a list of great kid things to do at the Fair. I've compiled this year's list and will post it tomorrow. There are a few old favorites and a couple new additions. Check back tomorrow. I promise, it will be a good time.

Iowa State Fair Q & A

2010-08-13T23:17:00.003-05:00

I'm the first to admit it - I have a head full of useless information which can often come in handy when working somewhere like the Iowa State Fair. Seeing as I work in the marketing office, I tend to get asked a lot of questions. I may not know all the answers but I have lots of friends in close proximity who do.

So here's your chance...ask me anything. In the comments section below, post a question and I will answer it for you. Want to know when the best time is to come to the Fair? Where's the best place to park? When is the Fair queen crowned? Who had the longest beard? Whatever the question, I will find the answer. Go ahead, ask away. I can take it.

Day 1 - Shame on a Stick

2010-08-13T22:52:00.003-05:00

Today was my first day back to the Fair. Yeah! Damn. I'm tired. I forgot what it's like to work outside the home and still take care of the kids, the house, the grocery-shopping, etc. It's late and I'm beat but I promised to blog so here it goes...

One of the things I love about the Fair is the food. I don't partake in the greasiest fare (i.e turkey legs, grinders, really anything fried.) I do love a good corn dog and I will crave the shrimp and chicken-on-a-stick from Thibodeaux's Cajun Cookin' stand long after the Fair has left town but that's about it. A true hallmark of the ISF and any fair, for that matter, is food on a stick. This year there are more than 50 of them and today we got a glimpse at quite a few. A photojournalist stopped into the office and mentioned he wanted to shoot each and every food-on-a-stick we had. Far be it for us marketing folks to turn down an opportunity like this one. We gave him a list, helped set up his subjects and well, dispose of the goods. I had the chance to try a few things I wouldn't normally have - cheesecake, chocolate-covered banana, smore, hard-boiled egg, tiramisu, Twinkie log, etc. all on a stick. It was a feeding frenzy and I loved every second of it. Sure, I have some massive regret. I don't even want to know my caloric intake today but this kind of thing only happens a couple weeks every year. I'm not complaining.

Otherwise, today was a busy day filled with real work. It's great to be back. I miss this part of being an adult.

Head Wound or Headband?

2010-08-12T09:08:00.006-05:00

See that baby? She's cute, right? What makes her cute? Is it those chubby little legs? That toothless grin? The headband? Ugh. The headband.

Well before I ever had a daughter, I disliked headbands on babies. I know. People LOVE them. I'm probably stirring up a whole pot of flaming comments but honestly, I don't care. I never understood why someone would do that to an infant, especially the ones without hair. What exactly are you holding back with that headband? Honestly. It's not like you're trying to keep the sweat out of your baby's eyes. It just looks silly.

I remember thinking my reasoning had been justified when I read an article in the pediatrician's office that said headbands were especially unsafe for infants under 12 months. The unnecessary pressure on a child's developing skull , the risk of accidental strangulation, etc. were listed as reasons not to use them. All this time I just thought they looked ridiculous. Huh. Who knew?

Anyway, I bring this up after overhearing an exchange between a new mom and a cashier at the grocery store. The baby, nestled snug in her pink carseat, was wearing a headband made of a white gauzy material with a large knot pushed off to the side. The cashier noticed the tiny feet and asked how old the baby was. "Three weeks," the new mom said as she moved the cart and car seat into full view. Upon seeing the head wrap, the cashier said, "Oh, what happened to her head?"

The moral of the story is unless you want your pretty little princess confused with a victim of a head injury, I would suggest leaving the headband in the vanity. At least until she has hair.

One Hot A-Fair

2010-08-11T09:39:00.003-05:00

If you've been a longtime follower, you'll know that it's this time every year that I take a "vacation" from my stay-at-home duties and go to work at the Iowa State Fair. I say "vacation" because while it's work, it's a complete 180 from what I do at home everyday. No, I don't make funnel cakes or work the Midway. I work in the air-conditioned bliss of the marketing office writing and editing the many news releases generated by the Fair and its activities. I love it which is why I keep going back. It's the best 10 days of my whole year.

As it's become something of a tradition, I will also be blogging about some of the goings on at the Fair. Seeing as I'm sort of entrenched for 10 days, I usually have the skinny on some of the fun things to do at the Fair. I'm also quite the fan of the food and always excited to get my fill.

The Fair starts tomorrow and runs through August 22. Stay tuned for my updates. I can't wait to tell you all about it.

Shit My Kids Ruined

2010-08-04T11:02:00.004-05:00

I used to be proud of the fact that my kids weren't the destructive types. We never had broken toys, marred walls or general damage to our house or belongings. I never understood those kids, or their parents for that matter, when I encountered them. Why in the world would you let a toddler loose with a Crayola marker? How ever did your preschooler get that razor to shave your dog? Tsk tsk. That would never happen in my house. But you know what? Karma is a bitch, people. The tables have turned. My kids are now one of them.

If you read the post below, you'll know what I'm talking about. That's just one incident and it's not an isolated one. A few months ago, Sissy caused considerable damage to our Geothermal system. Since the twins started walking - no, running - there have been other incidents too, on a smaller scale. We have torn books, broken toys, dented walls, etc. They jump all over the furniture, use drawers and countertops to climb to higher places and throw sand and rocks at each other outside. It's exhausting and expensive.

It's gotten to be such a regular occurrence these days that timeout doesn't even seem to work. According to an article in Parenting Magazine I'm just supposed to throw out the broken items and not replace them. Yeah, that'll teach 'em. They'll just move on to something else. The latest casualty in their path of destruction is the handle on the door to our garage. We've jimmied it a couple times so that we can actually open the door but as of this morning, it's officially broken.

I will never get used to this. I'm inherently anal. This sort of thing gets me right where it hurts. I did feel a bit better when I found this website. I'm not the only one, thank God. It's really nice to have company in this field of debris.

Runts in the Litter

2010-07-30T10:54:00.008-05:00

Ok, I wasn't going to write about this because honestly, I just couldn't see the humor in any of it when it happened. All I saw was chaos. I'm still not sold that it's blogworthy but here goes...

So yesterday was a pretty good day until after naptime. We had a playdate in the morning, the kids ate lunch without arguing and all went down for a nap without issue. When they woke up yesterday afternoon, they had a snack and we all went downstairs to play. When I say 'downstairs,' I mean our unfinished basement. It's essentially a playroom or rather a toy depository. For the most part, it's kid proofed with gates preventing them from getting into off-limit areas like the furnace room or storage area...or so I thought.

The badness began about 20 minutes after I left them alone to play. I was in the kitchen when Sissy came upstairs. "Mom, I pooped in my pants and Moo is trapped downstairs." What? Where do you even start with that? After a cursory reminder that big girls do not poop in their pants just because they are too busy to hit the loo, I chose to start by getting Sissy cleaned up (there was no screaming downstairs so I went the bath route first.) After getting Sis into the bath, I ran to the basement where - oh. my. God. - the scene was all chaos and destruction. The twins had somehow gotten into the storage area where we also keep the cat food bowl and litter box. Moo was strapped into her old booster seat (no clue who did that.) She had poop - Sissy's poop, presumably as neither twin had a dirty diaper and it was, well, the same consistency - on her legs, arms, in her hair and face. Ham was playing in cat litter, which had been strewn all over the storage room, like it was a day at the beach. Both he and his sister were covered in wet cat litter and he had a handful of cat food in his mouth.

I'm pretty sure that's when I cracked. I was done. That was my rock bottom. I could just call it a day, right? Yeah. Not so much. There was still much clean up to be done so I unhooked Moo from the seat, stripped both kids down and tossed them in the tub as well. I left the clean up for later.

The moral to this story is never take your eyes off of them, especially if it's quiet. I had mistakenly thought they were just playing nice together. I have no idea how the twins got into their sister's poop. I have no idea how they got into the storage area (the baby gate was still latched) all I know is that this will never happen again. God help me if it does.

Put Me in Coach

2010-07-28T09:20:00.003-05:00

A few posts back, I wrote about my addiction to Starbucks. But honestly, I need to come clean. I have another more expensive, even-harder-habit-to-break - Coach bags. They are they very leather-scented air I breathe. It's really hard to explain this obsession to someone who isn't familiar with the brand. I got my first Coach bag (a Coach Station Bag) in high school. It was the most I had ever spent on a handbag but I loved it and it went everywhere I did.

I couldn't really indulge much through college and even early in my career. A serious lack of funds prevented that from happening but I found creative ways to support my habit. When I graduated from college, I bought myself a new Coach bag. When I got a promotion or a raise, I bought a new Coach bag. I certainly wasn't keeping up with the seasons but I was still keeping up appearances. I just never fell out of love with the Coach bag.

I know it sounds crazy. It's a material object but honestly, it makes me happy. When I have a Coach bag on my arm, I walk a little taller, feel a little peppier, and have a bounce in my step. I can look back over the last 20 years and remember certain bags I carried at certain times. I can remember the bags I got as gifts, who gave them to me and why. Certain bags mark some of the milestones in my life, too like the bag I was carrying when I went to Paris for the first time as an adult (the Coach Soho Pebbled Backpack), when I left Des Moines behind for a job in Indianapolis (the Coach Leather Ergo Hobo), when I got married (the Coach Leather Buckle Flap) and the night I gave birth to my first child (a Coach Multifunction/Baby Bag). I remember handbags like some women remember what clothing they were wearing or what shoes they bought. Coach is just well, my bag.

Coach bags mean a little bit more to me these days not only because of their functionality (they have to be big and hold lots of stuff!) but because even if I'm not well dressed or put together (blame the kids!), I still feel pretty great carrying one. Take the bag I'm carrying now - that's the Julia you see in the picture at the top of this post. Isn't she cute? With a shine like that, any girl would look good.

Stubborn

2010-07-27T16:46:00.002-05:00

I will be the first to admit that Sissy was just about the easiest baby ever. She rarely cried, slept through the night, ate well, etc. I couldn't have asked for a better firstborn. Then, I had Moo. Oh. Boy.

Moo is a sweet little girl - and it pains me to admit this - but she is stubborn as hell. I bet if you asked my dad, he'd say, "Like mother, like daughter." I know I'm stubborn and I know where it came from. I grew up in a family of hard-headed individuals. My dad is a great example. He's particular and set in his ways and he brought all his children up to be strong individuals who could, under any circumstance, take care of themselves.

That's my Moo. I've known this since the day she was born as she was feisty from the get-go, screaming and carrying on in the operating room before her little brother arrived just minutes later. She crawled first, walked first, talked first. She was always the first one awake and the last one to sleep at night. When she wants something, you know it. When she's unhappy, you know that too. Now that we're working on potty-training, well, you get the idea. Girlfriend wants to do it all on her own and honestly, I'm having to do very little. She took an interest a few weeks ago, knew to go to the bathroom, pull off her pants and well, go. Still, the very idea that we would somehow sidetrack her progress with a diaper (God forbid!) just sends her into a tailspin.

But my little bull has a sweet side too. She says, "please" and "thank you" without being prompted, she apologizes when she gets a timeout or hurts a friend or sibling and she loves her twin brother. Who else would stop to help when his shoe falls off or when he's upset? Moo is always there.

So, I guess there is a soft-side to her stubbornness. I'm sure we'll really get the brunt of it as she grows up. In the meantime, I'll just try and enjoy the sweetness.

Save Yo Gabba Gabba!

2010-07-23T14:50:00.003-05:00

I can remember thinking what a crazy trip it was watching Yo Gabba Gabba for the first time. Sissy was probably only 18 months old and had little interest in TV but when that distinctive YGG opening music came on, she was all. over. it. Seriously. The music brought her to her feet every time. It was a tried and true in our house.

When Moo and Ham came along, it wasn't long before they were also indoctrinated into the YGG Fan Club. We have 40 episodes DVR'd and the kids ask for them by name. It's that important to them.

That noted, I was really sad to hear that Yo Gabba Gabba might not be returning to Nickelodeon. We haven't seen a new episode in three months and there's no word on whether we will get a glimpse at the rest of season three at all. Word on the street says that there isn't even a fourth season in production. Sad, sad faces all around.

So, loyal followers, I ask for your help. Please sign this petition if you love DJ Lance and the rest of the Yo Gabba Gabba gang as much as we do. To lose this great piece of children's programming would be devastating. Thanks, in advance, for your help.

A Minute of Your Time, Kind Reader?

2010-07-20T13:52:00.004-05:00

As usual, I'm curious about my blog traffic. I know I have a loyal band of readers - many who have probably forgotten about me due to my recent absence - but I know there are many, many others who check it out too. Who are you? Please vote in that sadly simplistic looking poll at the left of this post. Your contribution is most appreciated.

The Myth of Happiness

2010-07-20T08:37:00.009-05:00

There are few arguments more polarizing than ones related to parenting or child-rearing. How many times have you you heard about moms being chastized for breastfeeding in public or even NOT breastfeeding at all? It's an ugly thing. As parents, we all do the best we can with what resources we have and how we parent seems to be all the rage when the media is looking for cover stories. Seems the battle is never won. It's enough sometimes to make you want to throw up your hands in defeat.

That said, I was surprised, if not somewhat shocked that New York Magazine featured this story in their July 4 issue. "I Love My Children. I Hate My Life.," harsh headline, huh? Maybe, but this story isn't just a bitchfest of weary parents. It's one of the first stories I can recall reading that highlights the difficulty of being a parent. It's brutally honest and raw and it's all backed up by data that finds that maybe, just maybe, having children isn't necessarily the direct path to happiness.

I'll admit it. I shed a few tears reading this story. As the mom of three, I feel this way a lot. I often feel overwhelmed, overscheduled and underappreciated. This article, to some degree, explains this. Not that I have to give the disclaimer but I do love my children with every ounce of my being but everything I do for them means less of me for me. I hardly recognize myself anymore. Suffice to say I am not the same person I was before I had children. Today, I am just mom.

I chose to be a parent and yes, I knew it would be work. This doesn't mean I don't find happiness in parenting. There are infinite joys in being a parent and I am familiar with those as well. But as one mom in the story is quoted as saying, "“It’s the drudgery that’s so hard. There are just So. Many. Chores."

Me and Joe

2010-07-19T14:03:00.004-05:00

It's no surprise that I'm in love with Starbucks. I've said it before. We've been hot and heavy for a few years now. It's a relationship I will never quit. I know lots of folks who think our coupling borders on obsessive, expensive and downright frivolous but I don't care. You don't mess with a good thing.

My point here is that being a stay-at-home mom, well, you let a lot of luxuries go. No more do I get a massage, buy nice clothes or schedule pedis with any regularity. Now, it's all about the kids. Dear hubby and I forgo date nights and vacations simply because there isn't the plethora of disposable income we had when we were just two. That's a fact of life. So my daily fill of Starbucks, that is my luxury. It's just about the only thing I do for myself and I like everything about it, simple as it may be. It's always ready when I want it and it's always consistent.

So, Starbucks, if you're reading this, I would gladly be your spokesmom. I'm a gold card member and I have my own insulated cup. It's a match made in heaven.

Health and Happiness

2010-07-18T22:13:00.002-05:00

When someone asks, "How have you been?," what do you say? I tend to use a blanket response like, "Good, thank you. And you?" So lame. Only after a health issue do you start to get more descriptive.

That said, I'm thrilled to report that I feel 100 percent better after having surgery in May. I wish I would have had my gall bladder removed sooner. I had no idea what a nuisance it was and now that I don't have it, I have something that points to the cause of some of those little mystery issues. It's really unbelievable.

Today I can say that I'm back to normal. It's a new normal. A good normal. I am watching what I eat, exercising again and I feel like like a million bucks. Thank you for asking.

The Big 0-4

2010-07-18T21:50:00.005-05:00

In all the busy of the last two months, we celebrated a huge milestone at our house - Sissy turned 4. It's totally surreal for me to think that my firstborn is 4 years old. Really? Really?! I mean, yeah, I was there. I gave birth to that sweet little girl but it's a tough one to get my head around. At this time next year, she will be on her way to kindergarten. How is that even possible?

To celebrate the big day, we had a couple parties - one for her GFFs (with a princess theme, natch!) and another for family. Both spoiled our little girl but she was so happy. Really made it special for her parents too.

Happy birthday, Sissy! What a crazy, wonderful ride!

Gettin' Busy

2010-07-18T21:49:00.000-05:00

Um, get your mind out of the gutter. The title of this blog isn't meant to conjure up your dirtiest thoughts. So, as the last post established, we've been hella busy at our house. No joke. I'd love to go into detail about all that's up but I won't. I promised to give you the skinny on some of the latest happenings so here goes:

Sissy made it through her first year of "real" preschool. We had our ups and downs but all-in-all she did great and is very much looking forward to next year. So am I, actually. For 2.5 hours, two days a week, I will have alone time as Sissy, Moo and Ham will all be in class. It will be bliss.
Sissy also completed her first year of dance and it was just about the most emotional, adorable thing I've ever seen watching her perform in her first recital. She was a star that day and all the family turned out to support her. With flowers in hand, she smiled one of the biggest smiles I've seen on that face. It was priceless.
Daddy took a leave of absence for nine days in June to go fishing in Canada. What a whirlwind week that was! He was unreachable for an entire week which was a lesson in patience for the kids. At one point toward the end of the week, Sissy tried comforting her little sister by saying, "Moo, we don't have a daddy." Whatever happened to absence making the heart grow fonder is beyond me.
Lastly, I taught vacation bible school again this year. And here you all thought I was a heathen. I taught the 3 year-olds again this year and roped a friend in as well. I had so much fun that I'd consider doing it again next year. How is that for dedication?

That's all I have for now. Or at least those are some of the bullet points. Read on for a couple milestone posts that I just couldn't ignore.

Bad Blogger! Bad!

2010-07-18T21:27:00.005-05:00

Seriously? It's been two months since I last posted. That's just unacceptable behavior. It's like me peeing on the rug. I'm putting myself in a timeout, pronto. I've been very, very bad.

Apologizing...I do this a lot. You could even look back at previous posts and see where I swore I would never do it again. But honestly, the speed of life right now is off the hook. I can hardly keep up. And geez, I have two months worth of stuff to write about. Do I double back or just start anew? I don't know. I'll do a little bit of both. How does that sound?

So, for like the 50th time, I'm shouting from the rooftop, "I'm back!" Now, on with the show.

Guess Who's Back?

2010-05-15T13:36:00.002-05:00

It's me, it's me!! And boy, am I galled, er, I mean, GLAD to see you! It's been a rough couple of weeks my friends, but here I am, blogging once again, sans gall bladder. Yeah! The first question I've been getting asked is, "How are you feeling?" The answer? "Better than before." I seriously had no idea what to expect post-surgery but I feel like a million bucks. Apparently my gall bladder was in pretty bad shape and had been wrecking havoc for some time though I didn't know that was the cause. I started to notice a difference almost immediately and it's been smooth sailing ever since. I suspect it hasn't really worked for a couple years now. Essentially, it was just taking up space.

So, I guess you could say I am one with my body once again. Well, sort of. While I was under the knife, I also had an umbilical hernia repaired. That seems to be the toughest to recover from. No heavy lifting for at least three weeks which means no lifting the kids. How does a stay-at-home mom handle that? She gets a nanny. Thankfully we found a very capable caregiver who seems to be doing well with our crazy band of misfits and I am getting help where it's needed and required.

All this positivity does come with its pitfalls. I'm a pretty hands-on parent and not being able to hold, lift or carry my kids has been a little tough...for all of us. There are just some times when mom is the only option, you know? It's easy to find someone to carry your groceries but it's not as easy to find a substitute when your little boy just wants you to pick him up.

That's the update. I can't put into words how thankful I am to have come out of this with just a few scars and a prescription for rest. I won't say I'm the best patient in the world but I understand now what it means to take it easy. Best decision I've ever made.

One Gall Bladder Removal Away...

2010-04-26T13:28:00.003-05:00

A couple weeks ago I told you all about the issues I'd had with my gall bladder, broken down old organ that she is. I met with a surgeon and I'm scheduled to be on the table next week. This is good news.

The bad news here is what's been up in the meantime. That little side warning from the surgeon - "You might want to just watch what you eat in the next couple weeks," - was actually gospel. He wasn't lying. At all. Let me just preface all this by saying I LOVE food. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! And growing up in Iowa, well, I'm all meat and potatoes. In the interest of the weight loss challenge, I had pretty much given up my potatoes but the meat was still a must. Not anymore. Even the sight of red meat makes me cringe. I want to eat it but it, like just about everything else right now, makes post mealtimes slightly excruciating. Stomach cramps galore. I swear. I watched someone eat a prime rib the other night and had I been a bit more adventurous, I might have taken a dive across the table for a bite. I knew better. I knew what things would be like later that night.

So what's that leave on the menu for a girl like me? Very little. "Lean and green," the surgeon said so I'm indulging in a ton of vegetables, fruit and a lot of starches and carbs. Boring, at best. I can't really handle seasoning and even dessert is mostly out. How very sad.

I guess the bright side to all of this is the weight loss. Because my options are so limited, I'm down a lot. As of this morning, I was officially four pounds under goal. My success is really all for naught as while I will get to do the weigh-in, I won't be able to attend the celebratory dancing to watch those lucky few who did not make goal. I'll be at home learning to live life sans gall bladder. What a great way to spend a weekend.

I'm Skinny!

2010-04-16T21:08:00.006-05:00

Well, maybe not entirely. I'm certainly no Giselle but as of yesterday, I met my weight loss goal. The YUM weight loss challenge goal, that is. In mid-January, I set my sights on losing 12 pounds. As of yesterday, I'm down the 12 and added 2.4 pounds for good measure for a total of 14.4 pounds.

Official weigh-in isn't until May 1 so I still have a little time but eating all those mostly bland, mostly safe meals (working to not tick off my unruly gall bladder), I'm still losing. That probably won't hurt a bit.

Ultimately, I would love to lose another eight pounds. That would put me at a comfortable weight for me. I won't push it. If it happens, it happens. That said, I'm thrilled with results so far. It really does feel good to not be carrying around all that excess weight. I'm still not bikini bound this summer but I can't wait to toe the waters.

Direct From Facebook

2010-04-16T20:57:00.004-05:00

In case you've missed my Facebook status updates lately, here are just a few of things the kids have said recently:

Sissy: "Mom! Moo 'blessed you' on my blankie!" (she sneezed.)
Moo: "Knock, knock!" Sissy: "Who's there?" Moo: "I am!" Sissy: I am, too! You're really funny, Moo!"
Me: "Hammy, what are you holding? Is that a crocodile?" Sissy: "It's not a crocodile, mom. It's a cayman." Me: "What's the difference?" Sissy: "The difference is it's not a crocodile.

Eh, You Don't Need It

2010-04-14T14:53:00.003-05:00

Yeah, it's been a couple weeks since my last post but it's for good reason. I really wanted to post about what a great Easter egg hunt we had and how we celebrated Tim's birthday (both those things have happened since I last wrote) but something else has taken precedence over all of this. I had a gall bladder attack.

The word attack is not at all an exaggeration. It rebelled. It attacked. It was a full on assault. Sadly, it happened on Easter Sunday and it ruined what should have been a great Easter dinner. Apparently our great Easter breakfast is what set it off. No one told me my gall bladder didn't like bacon and eggs. Anyway, I spent most of the day with stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting and teeth-chattering chills. I thought it was stomach bug but a trip to the ER the next day found some unruly gall stones as the culprit. They sent me home with some mood-altering drugs and an appointment with a surgeon.

Today my surgeon issued an eviction notice for that nasty gall bladder. He's outta here as of May 3. I suppose we'll all be a little bit happier after that.

Regarding the weight loss challenge - I haven't given up. I did have a couple bags of IV fluid that caused a near five pound weight gain but as of today, I'm holding at six tenths of a pound away from goal. By a stroke of planning genius, I will be making the weigh-in, gall bladder and all. I'm no quitter and I refuse to wear a belly shirt. Isn't that enough?

Please. Shut. Up.

2010-03-30T22:24:00.004-05:00

Listen, I'm not one to put another mom down, I mean, we're all doing the best we can, right? Well, all that reason flew out the window when I saw Giselle Bundchen (Brady) on the cover of Vogue this month. She just had a baby in December, surely she's still tugging at the bottom of her shirts to cover her baby belly. Not even. Just eight weeks post partum, she was back to the supermodelness you see above. What gives? Skinny bitch.

That picture above is her with baby Benjamin. Cute as it is, I think I threw up a little. Her stomach is positively concave and not a stretch mark in sight. Bitter much? Sure I am. Two years after my last pregnancy I am still fighting Mother Nature's curse upon my stomach and thighs. Hell, I won't even step out in a tankini. It's that bad.

I want to be happy for Giselle and her uber hot husband Tom Brady but I just can't. I mean, how does one come to grips with such sick perfection? Better yet, how does one attain such perfection? I honestly want to know. Well, there's that and, "How the hell do you walk in a pair of Manolos in just your bra and panties?" It's one of life's little mysteries.

Week 10 weigh-in: Down almost 12 pounds (holding at two tenths of a pound away from goal)

Frazzled!

2010-03-23T20:15:00.004-05:00

Frazzled. What a great word to describe the last couple weeks. I can't put my finger on one thing that's made it this way. It's been a little bit of everything. Illness, spring break, an ever growing to-do list, the usual grind, etc. It's all made me frazzled.

Before you go and assume I'm just being whiny, hear me out. I'm still standing so I must have done something right to come out on the other side of all of this. Right? Yeah, so it's all been a little psycho in West D'town but I'm starting to see the slivers of light at the end of the tunnel. Hoorah!

Let's choose a positive from all this chaos, shall we? Ok, so last week I had the pleasure of having some time off, so to speak. We have a great babysitter who offered to watch the kids here at home during break so I could get some things done around the house. I think the kids were a little bigger, a little more overwhelming than the last time she was here but she did great. The kids loved having her here and I did manage to take a small chunk out of my to-do list.

Oh, and the weight loss challenge? Well, as you can see from the numbers below, I'm a single pound away from my goal weight. With another five weeks until our actual weigh-in, I'm golden. I just bought a pair of jeans a size smaller than normal. Yeah, me! I'm so excited, I could dive face first into a vat of chocolate pudding. But I won't. That would be bad. Real, real bad.

Week 9 weigh-in: Down 11 pounds. One pound to go!

What a Long, Strange Week It's Been

2010-03-13T13:25:00.004-06:00

I. Am. Exhausted. I'm being whiny, I know, but seriously. If you had the week I've had you'd be cranky too.

We started off on the right foot after a weekend full of birthday fun for the twins. We had a big party at The Playground and a second party for family at a local pizza joint. Everything went remarkably well, if you ask me. The kids had fun. No one was injured. All-in-all, it was a successful birthday weekend.

The problems started late Sunday night. Sissy started saying her throat hurt and she wouldn't eat anything but ice cream (typical!) By Monday morning, she seemed fine. After school was a different story. At pick up, she looked pale and her eyes were just...sad. Her teacher said she even bowed out of time in the gym. That's so not like her. We skipped school on Tuesday and she was back to her chipper self by Wednesday.

The problem with staying home is that it means the kids are all over each other. This is not a good thing. I have to referee fights over toys, make sure they don't push or hit one another and rescue objects that may come dangerously close to being destroyed. On Wednesday, I failed.

We have what we call a playroom in our unfinished basement. It's really just a place we throw all the toys we can't seem to find space for upstairs. I don't like to just let them roam down there if I don't have too. Too much can go wrong. That said, we were all downstairs, I came up to use the bathroom and five minutes later, Sissy comes upstairs too. "Mom, my pants are wet," she says. Assuming it was an accident, I sent her to the bathroom. "No, it's not an accident," she said. I look down and her jeans are wet from the knees down. "How did that happen?" I said. "From that black pipe." Oh. My. God. I bolted down the steps to find a huge puddle of water surrounding our geothermal unit. Turns out, Sissy jumped on a pipe that goes directly from the unit that pulls water up from the wells to the main geothermal unit. As the heat kicked on, water started gushing from the broken pipe and I frantically called my husband. After turning off all the valves within reach, the water stopped but we had a small wading pool in the basement.

So, today is Saturday and the job is not fully finished. We have another service appt. on Monday then hopefully, we'll be back in action. But between all the chaos of the break, the clean-up, the service appts. and essentially losing what play space we have in our basement, I developed a headache 3 days old. All I can say is, bring on the weekend.

Week 8 weigh-in: Down 9 pounds. 3 pounds to go. (Still!)

It's 2 for Two

2010-03-03T13:35:00.003-06:00

Friday is a big day at our house as our twins - Moo and Ham - turn 2. I look back at pictures and can't believe we've managed to keep them out of harm's way this long. Seriously, having multiples is one thing but keeping them fed, clothed and in one piece is another.

I went back and checked out some of the pictures my dear husband managed to take on that fateful morning when they arrived five weeks early and with very little notice. My first thought: they were so tiny. At 5 pounds 1 ounce (Moo) and 5 pounds 14 ounces (Ham), they were just a fraction of what I expected. I remember a baby in the nursery born a day later that was bigger than the twins' weights combined. After thanking God that wasn't my baby (can your imagine that delivery?), I sat down and started wondering how in the world I would be able to care for two babies with any success. While I would never say it's been an easy process, I would say there is a sense of pride about the job I've done so far. No one, except for maybe a fellow mom of multiples, could really understand what this is like. It's an adventure like few others a person could have.

So, we have a couple parties planned this weekend to mark this momentous occasion - one for friends and another for family. After all, there are two of them. Might as well have twice the fun, right?

Week 7 weigh-in: Down 9 pounds. 3 pounds to go.

Everyone Has Them

2010-02-23T20:53:00.003-06:00

Sissy is getting to the age where she questions everything. She even has an MO when doing it. She scrunches up her face and says, "What's that mean?" or "What's that do?" and my answer doesn't usually suffice so a second or third question will follow.

The other day while she was getting ready for dance class she took notice of her nipples. There's nothing outstanding about them. They're just well, nipples, but Sissy thought this new thing warranted a round of questions.

Sissy (looking down): "Mom, what are these?"
Me: "Those are called nipples."
Sissy: "What's that mean?"
Me: "They're a part of your body like your fingers or your toes."
Sissy: "Huh? What's that mean?"
Me: "They're a part of you. Everyone has them. Mommy has them. Daddy has them. Ham and Moo have them too."
Sissy: "Everyone?"
Me: "Everyone."
Sissy: "What's that mean?"

Week 6 weigh-in: Down 7 pounds. 5 pounds to go.

Intro to Theater 101

2010-02-22T13:36:00.006-06:00

Anyone who knows me well knows about my past life as a theater critic. If I ever gave you a bad review, you would probably say it was an ill-fated venture but I loved it. Every minute of it. I wasn't trained to do it. It was just something I fell into. But in my opinion, being a critic of anything whether it's theater, music or food, is one of the toughest positions to be in at a newspaper. No matter the review, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. It's an often thankless job rewarded only by the opportunity to experience the live theater - good and bad.

That said, I couldn't wait to take Sissy to her first show and on Saturday, I got my wish. The Civic Center of Greater Des Moines now has a family series and I immediately bought season tickets when I first heard about it. The first production was "A Year with Frog and Toad" and in adhering to proper theater etiquette, we dressed for the occasion. Sissy wore a "fancy" dress and I wore heels which, in my opinion, is me dressed up. There were activities for the kids in the lobby but Sissy was anxious to find her seat and see what this whole theater thing was all about.

The critique? Well, I don't really do that anymore but I would say she liked it even though it was difficult to explain why Frog and Toad were grown men and not actual amphibians ("They're just pretending to be a frog and toad, honey.") By the end of the hour, she seemed to warm to the concept. I don't know for sure if this will make her a fan of the arts but I guess I can dream. It certainly won't stop me from trying to make it a part of her life and the lives of my other two children. You just never know where something like that will take you.

Super Sissy!

2010-02-17T20:41:00.004-06:00

We were on our way home from school yesterday when I started a conversation I have just about every day with my 3 year-old. It's usually pretty benign but something Sissy said made me laugh so hard, I almost had to stop the car. It went a little something like this:

Mom: "So Sissy, what did you do at school today?"
Sissy: "I played with Play Doh, read a story, we had snack and I played dress up with Sarah (her BFF)."
Mom: "Really? What did you dress up as?"
Sissy: "I was a superhero!"
Mom: "That sounds like fun. What did Sarah dress up as?"
Sissy: "She was my sidekick."

Wherever do they hear such things?

Week 5 weigh-in: Down 6 pounds. 6 pounds to go.

A Wreck of a Birthday Cake

2010-02-09T10:04:00.003-06:00

If you don't know the web phenomenon that is Cake Wrecks then the picture above will look like a huge f*ck up. This was the birthday cake ordered by my husband, Tim. He knows how much I love this site so he ordered the cake that started it all. It was hands down one of the best birthday cakes I've ever received. Props to my dear husband for thinking of it. There are few people in this world who know how funny this would be to me. For the record, it was a really good cake too, despite the odd color scheme and hilarious inscription.

For the record, I had a great birthday. I went out to dinner on Friday night with the hubby and Saturday night with the girls. Really, couldn't have had more fun. Not sure if 38 will top it but I guess I'll be down to try.

That said, I did give myself an out this weekend to abandon the diet. After all, someone had to eat all that cake! So the number you see below is a bit skewed. I imagine I'll be back to my last weigh-in weight by the end of the week. That's what happen when you indulge.

Week 4 weigh-in: Down 4 pounds. 8 pounds to go.

Battles and Birthdays

2010-02-02T09:39:00.002-06:00

I probably complain about this far more than I should but being a mother of multiples is so much harder than I had ever imagined. It has nothing to do with volume i.e. the number of meals or snacks I make, laundry I do or diapers I change, no. It's about managing the flock.

Things were so much easier when the babies were small. In fact, despite a serious lack of sleep, it was probably the easiest time I had with the kids. If I just followed the schedule - which I'm really good at, I was golden. Need a bottle every three hours? Check. Diaper change? Check. Naptime for two? Check. But the twins are growing up and I struggle every day just to keep up with them and their ever-changing moods and personalities. Ham is the most difficult. He has perfected the art of the tantrum and he has them at least four times a day. They're marked by loud piercing screams, flopping on the ground and/or bouts of kicking. What sets him off is a mystery most of the time. Could be his diaper is on wrong or he wanted that toy car at the very bottom of the toy bin. One never knows.

Admittedly, I'm far more patient than I ever used to be. I suppose four years ago, I would have just thrown in the towel but these days, I try and give him a minute to recoup and rejoin the flock. It doesn't always end well. Usually I just end up having to pick him up kicking and screaming and go on our way. In a word, it's exhausting.

I'm not asking for sympathy, mind you. I've come to understand that this is just how things work right now. Eventually, he will grow out of this stage and be a better communicator but for now, this is how we roll.

Now onto better news...I have a birthday coming up. On Saturday, I turn 37. It's really hard for me to get my head around that number because I don't feel 37. On some days, I don't even think I look 37. I am officially on my way to 40. I guess what keeps me thinking I'm so young is my husband, my kids and my friends. No one seems to think I'm "over the hill" yet, so that's good. Whatever. I'm ok with it. Maybe that's why everyone else is too.

Week 3 weigh-in: Down 6 pounds. 6 pounds to go.

Lost Love and Lost Weight

2010-01-29T09:31:00.002-06:00

You're looking at one of the great loves of my life - Starbucks' Java Chip Frappuccino. Our love affair began shortly after the twins were born two years ago. I had deprived myself of caffeine when I was pregnant and just days after Moo and Ham arrived, I discovered the Java Chip. At one point, I was partaking in a venti cup of goodness just about every day.

Our relationship certanly had its pitfalls. The calorie count for this bad boy - with whip cream - is 600 calories. Even without, it's still 490. Ouch! I lay the blame firmly on Starbucks for all the weight I gained post partum.

Anyway, I had my last Java Chip in October 2009 while on vacation in Mexico. This picture was taken at a Starbucks in Cabo San Lucas. Even in a foreign country, the drink found me. How sad.

Carrying around far too many pounds due to my Java Chip obsession convinced me I should change my ways. Since my need for caffeine was still prevalent, I switched to iced coffee. Now, if I want anything from Starbucks, that's what I get. And at a paltry 120 calories, that's goodness I can deal with.

What's the point of all this? Well, I realized this morning as I stepped on the scale that I weigh almost 20 pounds less than I did when we took that vacation to Mexico. I also realized that as soon as I let go of my "great love" for the JC, I also started dropping pounds. Sure, with the YUM challenge, I've changed my eating habits and added exercise to the mix but I found it telling that something as simple as letting go of an old favorite could mean taking a huge step toward a new me. Who knew?

I'm. So. Over. Winter.

2010-01-26T10:17:00.003-06:00

As I sit here typing this, I just want to cry. Out my kitchen window, all I see is snow. An arseload of snow. I'm not sure how much we got but we were hit yesterday - yet again - by a blizzard of epic proportions. I heard on the radio that we're in the throes of the worst winter since 1886. All of this snow makes me sad and depressed and frustrated and at times, anxious and snippy. I can't imagine the people that know me want to even be around me about right now. It's that bad.

What compounds these awful feelings is the fact that the weather forces us - and by us I mean the kids and me - to be stuck inside. I couldn't even brave a trip to the play area or the Y if I wanted to. It makes for antsy kids and an even antsier mom. I know I've already complained about this in a previous blog post but I'm just fed up. Seriously, can spring be that far off?

In more positive news, this lock-in weather has allowed me the time to plan the twins' 2nd birthday party. I'm about a month ahead of schedule on this one. Last year, it was a last ditch effort. I hadn't anticipated how busy we would be after Christmas and the time just got away from me. Not 2010, my friends. I'm all over it.

I hope you're all doing your best to stay warm. I suppose we'll see you again when we dig out from the winter of '09-'10.

Week 2 weigh-in: Down 4 pounds. 8 pounds to go. (Yeah!)

Ice Storms and Owies

2010-01-22T10:09:00.004-06:00

It's been a banner week in Central Iowa. On Tuesday, it started to rain. A lot. Then it froze and for a couple days, most of Des Moines looked like a skating rink. And that means no school. This is a huge source of frustration for me because when Des Moines Public Schools are canceled so is the kids' preschool and that's one more day alone, stuck at home, with three very rowdy kids. And let's face it, one can only color, play with Play-Doh, cars and Barbies so much before one gets bored.

Well, when you cage three animals together for three solid days, something bad is bound to happen. And it did. On Wednesday, Ham was the first victim. After being chased by his older sister who clearly knows better, he tripped and fell. I quickly scooped him up, comforted him and let him cry on my shoulder. When he lifted his head again, there was blood - a lot of blood - all over my shirt. From the collar to the middle of my short sleeve. Don't know if it was his mouth or his nose but by the time I realized he was bleeding it had stopped. Glad my t-shirt could stop the flow.

On Thursday, Moo was the unfortunate victim. We have a plastic slide in our basement. As Sissy and Ham played basketball nearby, I watched as Moo took several turns on the slide. On about the fifth turn, she slid down and began to scream. I picked her up - gave her the shoulder - and she quickly quieted down. As we went to sit down, I sat her on my lap and saw something that made me gasp out loud - there was an inch long sliver of wood sticking out of the top of her hand. It was approx. half an inch under the skin. I have no idea how it got there but I pulled it out, cleaned her hand up and bandaged it and she was back to new.

Later that afternoon, Sissy got in trouble for pushing Ham off the couch. He was trying to sit next to her and she wasn't having it so she pushed him off with her foot, right onto the coffee table. Screaming and a subsequent timeout ensued. Thankfully there was no bump to ice.

Moral to this blog: ice and three kids under four do not mix. You're just gonna have to trust me on this one. Let's hope spring gets here soon.

"Beer!"

2010-01-20T08:39:00.004-06:00

I have this old Oktoberfest shirt from five years ago that I like to wear when I just need to be in comfy clothes. It's not exactly high fashion which is why I only wear it around the house or when I know I'll be wearing a coat over it.

Anyway, the shirt has the Oktoberfest logo on it punctuated by this little asterik and a cartoon beer stein filled with beer. Ham loves this shirt. Whenever I wear it, he points out the asterik ("flower!") and the stein ("cup!"). Recently, I made the mistake of being a smart ass and saying, "beer" when he pointed to the stein. Now, whenever we play the point-to-the-picture-and-repeat game he says, "Beer!" His dad is so proud.

Week 1 weigh-in: Down 1.5 pounds. 10.5 pounds to go.

Whatcha Say?

2010-01-13T13:14:00.002-06:00

Here's yet another episode of "Kids say the darndest things" featuring, my kids.

* Ham's vocabulary seems to grow by a couple words every day. We have this book that has pictures of easily recognizable things like a car, shoes, a bear, etc. He knows them all by sight. There's one page that has a train on it. When you ask him what it is he doesn't say, "train," he says, "All aboard!"

* Sissy is a singer. She sings everything. I happen to like Lady Gaga and the Black Eyed Peas, both of which I have in rotation in the van. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that Sissy knows all the words to "Paparazzi," "Poker Face," and "Boom Boom Pow." Not sure any of those songs contain preschool-approved lyrics.

* Moo's the quiet one. She only talks when she wants something. Or when she's fighting over a toy. She also likes to imitate everything her big sister does. Like singing. In the car on the way home from school the other day, I hear Sissy belting out "Poker Face," while Moo is in the back clapping and mouthing, "P-p-p-poker face." She found this hilarious.

Friends, Fat and Losing It

2010-01-12T15:44:00.006-06:00

I belong to this group of moms. We call ourselves the YUMs or Young Urban Moms. It's one of the best things to ever happen to me as a mom. I've gotten to know some of the coolest women on the planet and made some of the best friends. Not a day goes by when I don't talk/text/e-mail/see at least one of these girls. They're my cornerstone in this crazy life.

I shouldn't have been surprised when a couple of them suggested pulling together to get fit in 2010. To be honest, weight loss was the last thing on my mind thus you don't see it anywhere on my resolutions list. I've been there, done that so to speak and my success rate, especially since the twins arrived, has been nil.

But this time will be different. I have a kind of motivation that is, well, truly motivating. I've set my goal and must reach it by May 1 or I will be forced to do something positively frightening - dance the night away in tight jeans and a belly shirt. In public. No. Not kidding.

As an added bonus, I will be tracking my weight loss here on my blog. My goal is 12 pounds. Posting my progress here is motivation in itself because I know people will raise hell if they think they'll be subjected to me in all my muffin top glory. No one wants that. Seriously.

Wish me luck! The countdown is on...

Always a Working Mom

2010-01-12T14:35:00.002-06:00

I haven't spoken/written much about it until now but I just recently interviewed for a job. It was a full-time gig I unfortunately didn't get. Now, this might seem a little out-of-left field but let me explain...

I've been a stay-at-home mom for almost four years now. After being laid off from a job in public relations just three weeks after returning from maternity leave, it seemed like God's way of saying, "stay home with your daughter." I had never intended to stay home with Sissy. It's not that I hadn't wanted to but my former self was so career-driven that it seemed like I was destined to be a working mom. In four years, I've managed to stay in the loop with freelance opportunities and - obviously - the hectic day-to-day chaos that is herding cats. I've never regretted the time I've had with my children and I wouldn't change the course of events.

I've never been certain when would be the right time for me to go back to work. I've always imagined that it would be when the kids started kindergarten though I've also maintained that it would take the right job to lure me away. I thought I'd found it - the right job - which is why I even entertained the idea or going back to work. Seriously, if someone asked me to write down everything I wanted in a position, this one fit the bill.

But, as you now know, I didn't get it. The process was long but totally worth it. I got to know some really amazing people and hope that maybe one day something will open up for me there. From what I know, it came down to me and one other candidate. That can't be a bad thing.

I guess my point to spilling all of this now is that I've really been thinking about the whole stay-at-home mom vs. working mom argument. It's one of those arguments for the ages and truthfully, there is no winning side. It really comes down to personal choice and what you think is best for you and for your family.

So while I'm not getting a regular salary or even a 401k in my current position, it does not mean that I'm not a working mom. Oh, I work but I get paid in hugs and kisses.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-12T14:09:00.004-06:00

Don't think that I haven't noticed that we're almost two weeks into the new year. I have. Just been a little busy. Now that that's out of the way, I'm moving on to what I've resolved to do differently in 2010.

* Blog more often. Like on a regular basis. I know I say that every year but this year I mean it. I have a lot of stuff upstairs. It needs to get out.
* Let little things go. I am anal. I know it. If you know me, you know it. I resolve to not let the little things like a sink full of dishes get me all riled up. It's not worth it.
* Be more of a kid. My kids are at the age where they like to play all the time. Sure, I spend my fair share of time driving Hot Wheels across the floor but I resolve to do so much more of that.
* Save more. Spend less. I've been pretty good at saving money by clipping coupons and such but I know I can be better. This year I'm going to focus on being the best penny pincher I can be.
* Reduce, reuse, recycle. We, as a family, made huge progress in this area in 2009. I think this year we're going to get even better. I swear.

That's all I have for now. I'm sure I'll think of at least five other things I should resolve to do/not to do but this will have suffice. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Put a Fork in Me

2009-12-26T19:25:00.002-06:00

I am done. In fact, I'm so done with Christmas that I've already taken down every decoration, holiday card and trace of the Christmas spirit that graced my house. I've put away all the toys, games and clothing my kids received this year and I'm about to pitch the rest of that 15 pound ham that's sitting in my fridge. I've purged every hint of this Christmas like it never even happened.

Some might call me a Scrooge but Christmas just isn't my favorite holiday. Seems likes the stress of entertaining, sending holiday cards, buying, wrapping and giving the right gifts just really gets to me. I do love seeing the joy in my childrens' faces when they open up their gifts on Christmas but the fights that ensue when one won't share their favorite toy just kills that. I really hope next year is different.

So this Christmas has passed, thank goodness. I'm really happy that we won't see the next one for another 364 days. That should give me some time to get into the Christmas spirit. I promise next year will be different. I promise. Goodness knows I don't want any coal in my stocking.

Note to Self

2009-12-17T16:03:00.003-06:00

A few things I've learned recently...

If you hear your baby boy say something that sounds like, "Uh oh, I pooped!" on the monitor during naptime, you should probably go upstairs to check it out.

Children are the serial killers of holiday treats. Whether it's Cupid, the Easter Bunny, Gingerbread Man or Frosty the Snowman, they will eat the extremities leaving only a torso behind. Said torso will not be enough to identify the victim. I've watched enough CSI that I really should know this.

Children don't understand subtlety. Just the other day Sissy called a guy wearing a Fedora, "a cowboy," as in, "Hi cowboy! I like your hat."

No Apologies

2009-12-15T09:29:00.002-06:00

A good friend brought it to my attention that I tend to apologize a lot here when I don't get around to blogging. Honestly, I do that because I feel bad. I feel like I let people down when I don't get the chance to regale them with the latest goings on in our crazy little lives. She - this sage old friend of mine - told me, "You know that no one would bat an eye if you didn't do it, right? You do have three kids, Jody. People get that." I mean, sure, she's right, but my delusions of grandeur tell me that my thousands of followers would be disappointed if I didn't.

So let's call this an early New Year's resolution. I resolve to not apologize when I don't get the chance to blog and you - my loyal throng of blog readers - promise not to give me crap as a result. Deal?

When I Grow Up

2009-12-14T21:57:00.001-06:00

Everyone asks their child this question at one time or another. Here's how it went down with our preschooler...

Mom: "Sissy, what are you going to be when you grow up?"
Sissy: "Four."

Well, at least she's honest.

The Jolly Old Fat Man Sits Alone

2009-12-14T21:45:00.002-06:00

It's the Christmas season and I had hoped that maybe, just maybe, I might actually get all three kids to have their picture taken on Santa's lap. Last year, the twins did fine and let Santa hold them for a few snaps. Sissy sat near him. Almost a county away by all estimates. Sadly, the photographer never showed up to work that day and we didn't have a camera to take our own pictures of the occasion. I got a couple shots on my cell but they were less than stellar. So needless to say, I was motivated to get at least one good one this year.

The kids weren't exactly embracing my vision. Sissy was cool with Santa. She crawled right up next to him on the chair and told him what she wanted (a pink racecar) and stuck around long enough for him to read her a story. Ham joined them on the chair but Moo, well, she was another story all together. The picture above shows just how close she was willing to get.

Bottom line: I got a couple photos but nothing I would print and frame. Still, it's an excellent memory I can't wait to tell the kids about.

The Queen of Adjectives

2009-12-01T10:20:00.002-06:00

One thing I've noticed about our preschooler Sissy is that her vocabulary is crazy big. She's using new words at almost every turn. It's funny when she learns something new because she will use it all.the.time. For instance, she loves the word "beautiful." "Mom, it's a beautiful, bright, sunny day!" or, "Mom, that's a beautiful (insert noun here)." It's all over the place but not always used in the right way. The other day we were at a stoplight about to get onto the interstate when, after the light turned green, someone in a large SUV came zooming up beside us and quickly cut us off (a totally illegal move, I might add.) My first inclination was to curse said driver but before I could get a word out, Sissy says, with just a hint of sarcasm, "Beautiful move, dude." I guess the word nice just wouldn't suffice.

'Bout Time

2009-12-01T10:08:00.004-06:00

Holy lazy blogger, Batman! It's been like what, three weeks since I last blogged? I am a lazy bugger. But you can fit a lot into three weeks. I did. Or seriously, just blame it on the kids. Between preschool and dance class and daycare and playdates, well, I don't get a lot of free time. Seems we also became the house of many ills as we were hit by strep, croup, ear infections and yucky cold crap aplenty. Its water under the bridge now. We're well on our way to Christmas, baby!

Speaking of Christmas, do you buy into all that Black Friday nonsense? I do not. I blame it on the many years of having to cover the chaos for the newspaper. Seems I always drew the short straw on that one meaning I had to crawl out of bed with the masses to talk to people about why they chose to subject themselves to such mass hysteria. I hated every minute of it. If only sarcasm had been allowed in news stories, you would have felt my pain. I'm happy to report I did not go shopping the day after Thanksgiving and I'm actually finished with all my Christmas shopping. That's right. Done. Finished. Not another present to buy. Yeah, me!

I promise you it won't be three weeks before I blog again. Seriously. This is one of the few outlets I have that connects me to the outside world. You'd think someone would have called or texted their concern that they hadn't heard from me. What's that all about, people? You call yourselves loyalists. Whatever. Maybe I should consider investing in one of those Life Alert necklaces. At least if I'm lonely, someone will answer my call.

Love Bites

2009-11-09T13:33:00.003-06:00

Poor Ham. That perfectly oval mark on his chubby little cheek is his first official love bite. From a girl. I picked him up from preschool today only to find that he had gotten into a bit of a lover's quarrel with a set of female twins in his class. Apparently the three of them - Ham and the twins - were playing in the classroom's playhouse when one of the girls decided Ham was so so cute she could just eat him up. Literally. The mark on his face is what was left behind.

If you ask Dad, he's kind of proud of his little man. He believes Ham was simply trying to live out that age old male fantasy of picking up twins. Right. At 20 months, he's a real Hugh Hefner.

Facebook is for Preschoolers

2009-11-07T08:20:00.009-06:00

One of the best things about having a 3 year-old is that at this age, they're like little comedians. They haven't yet developed the filter we all - well, most of us - end up with, so everything that comes out of their mouth is brutally honest and yet totally innocent. That's what makes it so funny.

Most of the time these little gems end up as my status updates on Facebook. Here's a quick rundown of some of Sissy's best one-liners

"Watching 'Supernanny' and Sissy tells me that Jo Frost "talks funny. What's in her mouth mom? Apparently a British accent is a speech impediment to a preschooler."
"Sissy just told me she was going to rescue B.B. King from the evil monster. I had no idea she was such a fan of the Blues."
"Mom, do my toes twinkle?"
"Mom, we don't eat shoes but if we did they would taste like pizza."
"Tonight as we're watching a You Tube video of X Factor singer Danyl Johnson, Sissy says, "Someday I'm going to sing and dance too and you and all the girls are going to watch me on the 'puter." Honestly, I wouldn't put it past her.

Red Means Stop. Green Means Go.

2009-11-05T21:37:00.004-06:00

And yellow means caution, according to our 3 year-old. I'm not exactly sure where she learned all of this. I mean, we talked about it once or twice in the car, most likely on the ride to school but I never anticipated she'd pick up on it so quickly.

But with education comes repetition and with Sissy she repeats the Golden Rules of the Road all the time. She has become the worst back seat driver. We can be 500 yards from the light and she'll see it's red and demand that I stop. Right. There. Oh, the accidents we would cause!

I can only hope she remembers this when she turns 16 and we unleash her amateur driving skills on the rest of the world. Suckers.

This is What Halloween Looked Like

2009-11-05T20:18:00.006-06:00

It was a crazy Halloween at our house this year. Seems we had something going on at every turn. Not that I'm complaining. I LOVE Halloween! It's my favorite holiday, even surpassing Christmas. Yes, I love me some Halloween.

So anyway, those are my little trick-or-treaters in the photo above. To talk about them in costume sounds like the beginning of a joke - "A cheerleader, a fireman and a cat walk into a bar..." I expected Sissy to fully embrace the holiday but the twins, well, they were a surprise. They quickly picked up on the idea of holding out their little plastic pumpkins and getting candy in return. That took all of about 5 minutes.

Really, it was a great celebration. We did Night Eyes at the Zoo, a couple parties, an event at Tim's workplace and even Beggar's Night. All told, this was a great introduction to my favorite time of the year. I hope the kids learn to love it as much as I do.

That's What She Said

2009-11-02T13:41:00.002-06:00

We're coming home from preschool today when a dance party breaks out in the back seat of the van. Both Sissy and Moo are rocking out to the soothing sounds of Yo Gabba Gabba's "Music is Awesome" when I take a moment to comment that Sissy is quite the "twinkle toes." She looks at me, smiles and continues to get her groove on, arms and legs flailing in her seat.

As we pull into th driveway she gets this serious look on her face and asks, "Mom, do my toes twinkle?"

Yes, my dear, they do. They really do.

Register Reporter Marries Source

2009-10-30T15:01:00.002-05:00

One Saturday night almost nine years ago, I met a guy who called himself, "The Summer of Tim." He was fresh off a nasty breakup and decided to start anew. Get out of the house. Meet people. Start his own website. You know, that sort of thing.

Along comes this reporter looking for a local angle for a story she's working on about people who used the Internet to get over a broken heart. And there was "The Summer of Tim." Turns out he was the perfect source. Gave great quotes, was open to the idea of his story being put out there for everyone to read, and was overall just a really nice guy. Little did I know, he had actually grown up just blocks away from where I had. We went to the same elementary and high schools. He knew my best guy friend. How is it we never met?

Long story short (if I still had an editor, he/she would thank me), five years ago today, I married him. And it was the very best breach of journalistic ethics ever.

Happy fifth anniversary to "The Summer of Tim." Looking forward to writing the next chapter in our story.

Note: If you want to read the story that ran in 2001, please click here.

Oh, Mexico!

2009-10-29T19:10:00.001-05:00

My better half and I took a vacation last week...to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. It was the fourth time we'd been there and this trip was a celebration of sorts - tomorrow we celebrate five years of wedded bliss. Keep in mind we hadn't been on a proper vacation since the twins arrived and setting it up was - how shall I say it? - complicated, but in the end it all worked out.

Now, before I go on and on about how great everything was, I have to admit, this wasn't a perfect trip. As often as we have been to Cabo, never before have we ever experienced bad weather. When I say bad weather I'm not talking about a little thunderstorm. We're talking hurricane and this time, we got a taste of what that might be like.

We arrived the Saturday before last and it was less than 24 hours before we started hearing about Hurricane Rick. Apparently Cabo was in the immediate path of only its second hurricane ever. Lucky us. We followed Rick closely, watching as it slowly weakened to a tropical storm but not before they closed off the ports and the airport in Cabo. By Tuesday, our resort was practically deserted as we hung out in the hotel bar sipping margaritas and waiting for the big rains to come. Wednesday morning we woke to perfect weather and Rick was long gone. Vacation saved.

So, yeah, overall it turned out to be a wonderful break from the flock and Tim and I got some much needed time together. Of course we missed the kids and were happy to be home but it's not everyday you get the chance to experience a potential hurricane, right? Most excitement we've had in a long time.

New Blog, Same Old Blogger

2009-10-29T18:03:00.000-05:00

I'm a sage old blogger with a brand new blog. Yeah, it's me. I used to author "Notes from Me - A Mom of 3" but due to some unforeseen crazy folk, well, I decided to put it to bed, so to speak. But it's all good. I'm back with a brand new bag and I'm excited. Like, "super really excited" as my preschooler would say.

You're probably wondering about the name - "Herding Cats." Really, that's what my life has come to these days. With three kids under the age of 4, I do a lot of herding. Herding from the car to school, herding the kids into the store, herding to bed, herding to dinner, etc. etc. And no matter how organized or anal I might be, it's always a small slice of chaos just like herding cats.

I hope you enjoy the new read. That really unprofessional banner above will meet its demise just as soon as I find a suitable replacement. Until then, you know how this works. Read it. Enjoy it. Comment on it if you must. I'm anxious to get started.