One glass of wine down.

I have to admit that I couldn't help but smile (ok shriek) when I heard the news about the lastest GOP senator to take a doozy. Because, for the most part, there is nothing that rubs me worse than a hypocrite. OK, enough poo poo smearing. I just couldn't resist. But really, I should put my money (or at least my time) where my mouth is and actually work to support the people that I believe in. Unfortunately, finding those people is no small feat.

TGI Three Day weekend

I am really grateful for the upcoming weekend and the time to spend with Dave and Mizz. It has been a whirlwind around here for the last three weeks and I for one and ready to slow down. In the last two days I attended 17 hours of early childhood and parent education seminars, so I am now officially considered an expert on all things little kids do and all the things that parents should and shouldn't do. Why is it then, that Mizz spit on me this afternoon? And what possessed him to pee in a cup in his room yesterday after his bath? You'll have to attend one of my trainings to find out the reasons for this and many of his other lunatic behaviors. Seriously though, I have to say that educating myself has been amazingly helpful in allowing me to relax and enjoy him in all his toddler glory. He is so wonderfully silly and sweet and so much his own person that I am continually in awe at the process of it all. That's not to say that my head sometimes doesn't hurt from his sheer volume and repetition. Light is ON! Light is Off! But at the risk of sounding like the broken record that is all parents, he is changing so fast and learning so much it's hard to believe it.

Tagged! I'm it.

And, in typical fashion, late. Given that I almost never respond to these types of things, this tag will most likely end with me, but I will go ahead and give answers to not be a total Scrooge. And thank you, of course, to Marketing Mommy for thinking of me.

First, the Rules:

1) Post these rules before you give your facts

2) List 8 random facts about yourself

3) At the end of your post, choose (tag) people and list their names, linking to them

4) Leave a comment on their blog, letting them know they’ve been tagged

And now… my facts:

1) Driving a bus gets in your blood. I still dream of piloting those 12 tons of steel and sometimes can romanticize it enough that bus driving seems like a good job choice.

2) But if I could do any job in the world, I would invest in some camera equipment, enroll in some more classes and unleash my lens unto the world.

3) I was so overwhelmed at my first Madonna concert, that I cried at the sheer excitement of seeing her after loving her for so many years. The only thing that stood in the way of me not returning the second night was my not as thrilled husband. I may one day forgive him.

4) My first job out of college and my current one both involve the management of poop.

5) I am a seriously competitive Ms. Pac Man player.

6) If I could live anywhere in the world, it would be right here in Portland. I certainly wouldn't pass up a second house in Hawaii though.

7) If I could hop on a plane this instant, with a tag a long nanny, I'd be in Paris in about 12 hours.

8) I have a serious knack for pairing flavors together and cooking in general without a recipe. This might stem from the fact that I am categorically unable to follow recipes or instructions without inadvertently changing them around.

I am one of the tall people now

I have been brooding over the low gas mileage that the Hyundai got until Dave realized that we had been looking at numbers for a 6 cylinder, 4 WD model and not our cute, pragmatic 4 cylinder, front wheel drive jobby. According to some website we get 22 mpg city and 27 mpg highway. So I can have my cake now and not feel too guilty. I enjoyed driving it around yesterday although it is going to take awhile to get used to it. With an almost equivalent engine to the Corolla but much more weight, it ain't the peppy little beast I am familiar with. But the tall factor, the quiet engine, and all the added safety features make me feel really good.

Mama's got a new ride

Check me, I mean, it out, my new Hyundai Tucson:




Dave and I must win either the best or stupidest parents award for walking into a car dealership with a two year old and sick mama in tow. Unbelievably, we managed to leave six hours later with a new vehicle. Mizz turned out to be amazingly well behaved and had a field day with the balloons, huge camping tent display, and his much beloved sticker book (easily the best ten dollars I have ever spent). And I, with a headache, fever, and sore throat, simply tried to maintain and not spread too many germs. My main task was plying Mizz with Snapple and keeping him otherwise occupied while Dave haggled with Vlad (a 200 pound, seemingly 17 year old car salesman) whose main job appeared to be making up numbers and then going to talk to his managers to get the real story. Dave's tenacity which can be somewhat vexing at times in our conversations, was a real asset with these guys who would magically adjust prices and rates in a serious attempt to hide the fact that they wanted us to PAY MORE MONEY. We held our ground well and in the end came out with a pretty, sweet deal on a well rated car. It was hard to say goodbye to my 12 year old Corolla and I feel like I am cheating on someone by not buying another Toyota but for now money talks and Hyundai's prices and warranties can't be beat.

Hello Blogosphere!

Wow, how's that for a presumptuous title? I suppose the entire blogosphere does not read my blog, at least not on a daily basis anyway, but I felt the need for such a bombastic title because it has been awhile. Well, a week anyway, but in the blog world and in my particular life a lot can happen in one week.

I was not hospitalized for my shin splints in case you are wondering. Although, I did sabotage myself and ran on them before they were completely healed, setting me back another week or so.

But, I have been buried under the strain though of having to be too many places at once. Three jobs will do that to you, in case you were wondering. Although aside from missing Mizz and feeling moderately guilty about not spending enough time with him, I have also been grappling with two job offers and all the angst that comes with having to make a decision. I am really sick of the angst (and all the Mommy war baggage that comes with it) and therefore wasn't exactly chomping at the bit to write about it.

After thinking about job possibilities and the ideal existence for, um two years now, I am trying to come to the conclusion that I simply need to accept that there is no real ideal existence during this time. That is, at least in my particular situation, I feel hugely compromised no matter which job I pick. I need all the right variables to make it all seem okay including a salary that allows me to feel comfortable with day care options, a schedule and commute time that doesn't have me frantic to get there and then get back in time to pick up the Mizz. Sigh.

So that's what I'll be doing this weekend. Considering my options.

Other things that have caught my attention this week:

People will sit in horrendously long lines (with their car idling no less) for a cup of free Dutch Bros. coffee. Yikes! I rather have my 20 minutes than a two buck cup of coffee.

My car is apparetly feeling neglected and is lashing out at me. First it was the flashers and now it has decided that it no longer wants to illuminate the dashboard. Which is actually pretty important at night. Fortunately I got out of class early enough so that I could still see the vital information most of the time. What I didn't know was that I apparently had no working brake lights. So the possibility of purchasing another vehicle is back on the table depending on what Dave's mechanical probing finds. At the very least, it looks like me and the Mizz we be crusing round town in a rental for awhile.

The awareness that most of my friends with second babys are really tired. I was secretly hoping that the need to sleep had been diminished after the whole first go round but apparently not.

Curses! Foiled!

After months of contemplation about getting back into exercising (I am slightly embarassed to write that, although not really because I am nowhere near the worst case scenario), I finally get back into a workable, enjoyable running routine, only to be sabotaged by shin splints. I feel like I am in high school all over again, since that is the only other time that I have experienced this affliction. It brings back memories of ice in dixie cups and schmoozing with the big bad football players. What's different is this time I am old enough to actually care that they get better and worried that it might actually take some time. So while my first inclination (driven by my high school memory) was to run through them, my more cautious, older self and some strong warnings from Dave have me grounded with ice and advil until they feel better.

Wait a minute!

How did a part time mama like myself end up with three jobs? Yep, that's right in addition to my daycare gig and two classes a week, I just agreed to do some temp work for my old place of business. Yikes! While I am excited at the chance to sit in the office and meet with clients, I am less than thrilled about the time away from Mizz and slightly apprehensive about entering a place that I fled not that long ago. There are some major differences though in my role, schedule, and pay that significantly mitigate many of the difficult factors that drove me out last time. We'll see how it goes this time around.

Big Kid Bed!

Mizz more or less slept through last night in his big kid bed. He is really pleased with the new set up and dives into it the minute he enters his room. I was worried that it might be a somewhat difficult transition because well, not much has been easy per se, and also, we didn't really have any time to discuss the matter. At the same time though, I think my worry meter has reached its capacity and I have come to accept that most transitions will be fine or at least stages that pass.

Other heartwarming news: Mizz greets me each day after school with "I missed you!" and he wowed his teachers with an impressive pattern design while playing with the ladder blocks. Yes, he is both sweet, sweet, sweet, and really smart.

Look Out Techno Freaks

I just received a palm pilot in the mail (a gift from Janet, who somehow ended up with duplicates). In any case, I am now going to be one step ahead of the game, or at least I will be able to hopefully, do away with my highly sophisticated, but questionably efficient post it note system. It's got a color screen so I am set. Alas, it doesn't have wireless or phone capabilities. Sigh, IPhone, sigh. I suppose I will be able to juggle the two devices without two much difficulty.

Swede Envy

I braved the massive crowds at IKEA this morning for a looksie at all their wholesome, affordable goods and I wasn't dissapointed. In terms of beating the crowds, it helps tremendously to have a rooster in the house (see previous post). We were there right when they opened with only a handful of the Portland Metro area. As much as I talk and dream about Ikea, I have not been to a store in over ten yearws so this was really exciting to say the least. We beelined it to the kid area so Mizz could do some running around. He had a blast in one of their awesomely fun egg shaped chairs that has a closing hood so he could play some mad peekaboo. From there we wandered our way through Mr Ikea's bedrooms and kitchen areas; I was contemplating all the stylish, organizational systems, Mizz was looking at lights and Cheezits. When all was said and done, I walked away with one medium stainless steel bowl (for cherries of course), a bath mat, a RED! pillow for Mizz, expansion train track, and a pack of ten washclothes for a grand total of 30 bucks. Not too bad, huh? To round the morning's semi conspicuous consumption out, Mizz and I shared two hot dogs and a cinnamon bun for lunch for two bucks. Of the course, the Ikea seed has been planted and tonight I will dream about a 79 dollar bookcase and that cute little toddler bed motif. And that's really how the stores get you. They plant all kinds of little ideas in your head, that percolate, and then before you know it, you are matter of factly stating to your husband "You know, what we really NEED is..."

Tired Mizz

I don't know what to do with myself. It is 7:00 AM and Mizz is still asleep. This is the only the third time in his life that he has done this and one of them involved a time change (yes, I am counting). It seems that when you keep a toddler up until 9:30 two days in a row, the need for sleep overpowers the urge to be a rooster. Not that Mizz hasn't tired and both days he has woken up crying at 4:15 (today was an especially valiant effort), but it seems that the simple statement, "It's nighttime" and the simple question "what's next?", is all Mizz needs after some comforting to fall asleep.

Before you haul me off for child abuse, let me reassure that the late nights were well worth it. On Monday we went over to a friend's house for a quiet birthday celebration. Mizz attempted to upend her garden and did succeed in taking down a screen door much to his terror. Yesterday we drove to Corvallis to visit C, K, A and Baby A. Mizz has a serious toddler crush on big A and talks about her all the time. So all of his dreams were realized when he got a whole afternoon of hanging out with her. To top it off, he was thrilled to check out her new tunnel system. Imagine a hamster cage but larger, with shrieking toddlers instead. Hilarious. When inside became too confining/loud we adjourned to the backyard where they played with the best toddler toy of all time: water! It pours and splashes and makes a slide really slippery. Christie and I marveled over the fact that we have two amazing toddlers. I also marveled over the fact that she is doing it with a baby in tow and completing her PhD. Impressive.

It's now 7:25 and Twinkle, Twinkle has started. I must go get the Pea.

Weekend Recap

For all you sports fanz:

My weekend began as usual with my class (the dreaded orientation class, in which they are forced to listen to me talk for almost the entire hour and half, the poor souls). But when I got home, it wasn't the usual chore, play with legos, chore, play with trains, chore. You see, we had arranged for a babysitter to come over, after it dawned on me that, "Hey why I am paying someone money to take care of my sleeping child, when they could in fact take care of my spitting, climbing, screeching one while Dave and I do something a little quieter?" So off we went. We left with no plan although I was fairly sure I didn't want to do anything. I just wanted to be with Dave, like in the old days. So with that in mind, we headed downtown, where we found some outdoor tables, had a pint, and simply watched the world go by, talking about important. Which was nice because way too many of our discussions as of late have felt important which means that they are stressful by definition. And so after a couple of hours we took our relaxed selves home and then headed out a local kid friendly brew pub (Go Portland!) to meet up with some friends. It was a good day.

Today's itinerary was back to the chore and play version until this afternoon when the Mizz got to hang out with his lone male friend. It was really cool to see that Mizz is not alone in all his apparently testerone driven antics. They shot hoops and fought over the goldfish crackers that Mizz kept stealing.

R U kidding me?

While grocery shopping, I recently said "are you kidding me?!?" about something. These words came back to haunt me at the check out as a guy of questionable cognitive functioning decided upon the completion of his transaction that he needed hotdogs. Four packs of them. And the good kind, not the Fred Meyer kind. Oh, and buns! He needed buns. So, while the cashier was troubleshooting this turn of events, Mizz began repeating what he had earlier..."Are you kidding me?". And since he is a toddler, he likes to repeat himself, frequently and loudly.

The Importance of Partnership

Dave saved me from myself today and gently pushed me to stick to my running goals. I have finally figured that running in the morning works best for all concerned. One major perk is that I haven't spent all day thinking of it and coming up with excuses to put it off. So, at 630 it was just me and my ipod and it was wonderful aside from a few moments of my knees yelling at me. It's my job to gently motivate Dave tomorrow.