Handmade holiday

I signed up for Jett Superior's fantastic internet ornament exchange this year, and I'm so glad I did. My ornament arrived yesterday courtesy of @angi33 and I love it:


The ornament is from Designs by Wesley and the technique was inspired by an old Japanese decorative process called Mokume Gane. (I'm suddenly kind of nervous about the way-less-fancy ornament that I sent out in the exchange!)

The only downside to my ornament is that I can't put it on our tree this year. With an almost-toddler in the house and an actual toddler visiting us the week after Christmas, I decided to decorate our tree only with non-breakable ornaments this year. I was worried it would look skimpy or lame, but once I got my decorations out I realized I actually have dozens of really nice non-glass things.


My favorites are the ornaments that were handmade by someone, so I thought it would be nice to show off some of the best ones. The first one is a beaded spiral that my sister made. I can't quite articulate exactly what it is that makes me love this ornament -- maybe the beads, which we used to make bracelets as children -- but it's one of my favorites of our entire selection.


She also made this one, a cute owl picture decoupaged onto a CD. It's a bit big, but worth the space on the tree.


A friend brought this ornament from Nepal, where it was handmade from what appears to be gum wrappers in a sustainable co-op set up to allow women to earn a living wage from selling their work. I think it's really beautiful.


My mom made bundles of these beaded icicles when I was a kid and used to sell them at craft fairs. I have four or five on my tree that I inherited from my grandmother.


The bibliophile made the next two from plain papier mache ornament balls. She used yellow as the base because it's my favorite color. I like them both, but the second one, with the little bits of tissue paper, is my favorite of the two.



Norahs1213 made paper cranes for our annual Thanksmas ornament exchange one year. It's such a simple but lovely idea.


Teacher Incognito painted snowman faces on plastic ornaments for another year's exchange.


Evilducky knitted "stockings" from a baby bootie pattern one year, though my favorite ornament-like items she's made have to be this year's adorable owlies.



Just for kicks, I'll include some that I made. These all came from the sets I made for the ornament exchange, except for the reindeer. The first one was based on a Chinese paper lantern pattern that I got from a girl at work. I had MB replicate the pattern in AutoCAD and shrink it down to miniature, then printed the patterns on Christmas-appropriate scrapbooking paper, cut out oodles and oodles of tiny pieces, and glued them together. It was a lot of work, but these are probably my favorite of all the ornaments I've ever made.


I think I made these the first year we did an ornament exchange at Thanksmas. They're from a kit, but I really liked the results.


This little spool / pipe cleaner reindeer was from a kit my mom bought when I was in middle school. I vaguely remember wrapping the thread around the spool, and I'm sure it was a bit tedious, but the end result is pretty darn cute.


I made this type of ornament for Thanksmas this year. Another kit, but it's exactly what I wanted. I love these not because I have a thing for sequins, but because my mom made a set of these for her tree when she and my dad first got married and they couldn't afford fancy store-bought ornaments, and they were always among my favorites of all the things on our family Christmas tree.


Do you have a favorite ornament, handmade or otherwise?

Kindness

I'm still (really) worried about how my impending job cut will affect our financial situation, but I have two happy updates since the bummer post I wrote the other night. First, BoMB brought back my laptop, patched up with a replacement screen, so I'm writing this from my very own slightly busted but beloved computer. Secondly -- and I'm still a little gobsmacked by this one -- Nico may get to continue his swimming lessons in the Spring after all. Ever since we started our second seven-week round of lessons, the assistant director of the aquatics program has made a special effort to say hi to Nico each time we see her. For a few weeks, I thought we must've met her somewhere else since she knew his name and it was driving me crazy that I couldn't place her. Finally I decided she just knew his name because he was the only boy in the class.

At the second-to-last lesson, a week ago yesterday, she asked us if we were coming back for another session. I told her that I was planning to take the January / February session off because it's so cold out, but that I'd like to bring him back in March. I explained that our coming back would depend on me finding another job, though. Last night she approached us before the class started and handed me the aquatic director's business card, then told me that the director wants me to fill out a financial assistance form and send it directly to her attention. Even though this particular YMCA usually only offers minimal financial assistance for programs to people who have memberships, she will be happy to make an exception and offer us direct program assistance. Apparently they're very pleased with how Nico is progressing in his lessons and they really want to see him continue to learn and grow.

Just writing about this makes me feel a little verklempt and choked up, I have to be honest. I didn't even know they were aware of my little boy, other than noticing him in the hallway and saying hi, and it turns out that they're as proud of his progress in the pool as I am. And as if to prove that their faith in him was not misplaced, Nico had his best lesson yet, spending the entire half-hour kicking his legs and paddling enthusiastically with his arms and showing more confidence in the water than ever before. I wish I had a photo of him in his little swimming trunks to share with you, but you'll just have to imagine it...it's really stinking cute.

Santa baby

Flush

I'm in a funk today and hoping if I write down the things that are bumming me out, they'll stop bothering me so much.

1. I found out the week of Thanksgiving that my job will be cut to half-time starting in January. We can't afford for me to only work part-time, so I am looking for a new job. I hate job hunting.

2. I may have lined up a second part-time job, but even if they pay me the highest possible wage they quoted me, I'll still be out $250 a month.

3. Because of this, I won't be able to sign Nico up for another session of swimming lessons. I'll have to stop going to the gym in January. I'm really hoping we can avoid going into debt just to pay our basic bills.

4. I'm pissed off at the shift in priorities that led to my job being cut.

5. I'm pissed off that after years of work and years of education, I'm back to scraping to make ends meet.

6. I feel bad about the commitments and holiday plans I made before finding out about my job. It's too late to back out of most of them without feeling like an asshole, but I have terrible guilt about spending the money.

7. My laptop is still out of commission and is holding most of my photos and all of my documents hostage. Obviously a new computer is completely out of the question.

Grateful

1. tiny colorful beads

2. Christmas decorations

3. animal cookies

4. nice soap

5. a great day with my kid

Room & Hoard

I am a packrat. I think it stems from a handful of factors. First (and probably most) of all, I was raised by a packrat. My mom is a crafter and thrift store shopper, a reader and a puzzle-worker. We never had a lot of extra money, so it was often prudent to hang onto stuff that we might need someday, because it seemed ridiculous to throw something out and then later buy a replacement. My parents' house isn't dirty, but it's definitely brimming with stuff. Then, because I worked at a craft store for almost two years, I have a closet full of craft supplies bought on clearance and with my employee discount. Our CD and DVD collections were similarly bolstered by my years working at the music store. I'm a little bit over the edge, probably, when it comes to trying to keep things out of the landfill. Mostly I can get by thanks to recycling and freecycling, but sometimes I still get stuck with stuff that I don't want but no one else seems to want either. I should just throw it out, right? But it's so hard. I've spent years chipping away at our contribution to the waste stream. And sometimes I watch Hoarders when they've got someone on who doesn't want to throw stuff out because someone else might be able to use it, and...it's kind of uncomfortable.

Two moves ago, back in 2004, we relocated from the little bitty one-bedroom apartment we had shared for two years to an 1100-square-foot two-bedroom place about a mile away. I wanted to crack down (on myself...MB is almost blameless when it comes to clutter. Almost.) and weed out stuff before we moved, but we didn't have time. By the time our new place was ready, we had two days to get packed and moved, while we were both working and I was still in school full time. So we threw stuff in boxes and laundry baskets and garbage bags and just took everything over to the new apartment. I'd clear stuff out as I unpacked, I told myself. But let's be serious. First there was work and school, then there was work and planning a wedding, and we actually never got around to unpacking everything. And while we were not unpacking, not purging, we were getting more stuff. Like a carnival goldfish in a 20-gallon aquarium, we grew to fill our new environment.

By the time we moved out three years later, that apartment was packed full of stuff. Good stuff, junk stuff, middling stuff. As I boxed it up, I was stunned at just how much we had accumulated. We didn't even have much money, so I really don't know how we had so! much! stuff! to move. I culled as I packed that time, having learned my lesson the time before. I gave away several boxes of stuff on freecycle, took an entire SUV-load plus a whole pickup-load of stuff to Goodwill, and threw out / recycled more stuff. It was really, really satisfying, and against my expectations, I don't think that I miss or regret any of it. But after all that work, we still have tons of stuff. For a few years I just kind of ignored it, but now that we have Nico, it's time for a change.

Our house has three bedrooms, a just-big-enough living room, and a small enclosed side porch that the previous owners converted to an office. We were very good with Nico's room, and it's entirely his. We aren't storing any of our crap in there, just his toys and his clothes and space for him to grow. But all the bedrooms are upstairs and it occurred to me a while ago that it would be nice to have some dedicated space for Nico on the main floor as well. Since we have laptops and no desk, we really don't need an office, so it was a natural choice for a playroom. Unfortunately for me, it's been our catch-all room since we moved in, so it's been a process. I've been very slowly trimming down and moving things out, but I keep getting stuck with stuff I don't want to throw out but can't figure out what else to do with. Some of it I could recycle, but it would cost a substantial amount to ship it off to an appropriate facility. Some of it truthfully no one needs but I just hate to throw stuff away. I don't like to admit it, but really, I kind of get where some of the hoarders are coming from. Not the really, really out there ones, not the one with 35 creepy pet birds, but the ones who just kind of let it get out of hand. I think sometimes it just happens.

But I am committed this time. I'm really excited about getting the office cleared out and cleaned and set up for Nico. I'm motivated to condense and thin my book collection so that by the time we have a second child, all my books can be on two bookcases in the living room and however many shelves I can cram into my own bedroom, instead of spilling over into every other room in the house. I want to give MB the clutter-free house that he wants and needs to function at his best. And I'd really like to have less stuff to dust, pick up, and think about. It's a little early for New Year's resolutions, but I think I'm ready to declare 2011 the year of the Great Decluttering. I kind of can't wait to get started.

Sad baby is sad

After a week's grace period during which I thought he might've dodged it, Nico came down with MB's cold. At first it was just a slightly wet-sounding cough, but since it wasn't slowing him down at all I hoped he'd shake it off and be fine. But on Thursday night, the snot arrived. And poor Nico, he couldn't or wouldn't sleep. So for most of the night, I tried feeding him, singing, rocking, and just when he'd start to seem ready to sleep, he'd wake up and start screaming again. He didn't have a fever and his nose wasn't totally blocked, but I figure he was probably uncomfortable and annoyed. He finally, finally went down at 3 AM, and I can tell you without equivocation that I am officially too goddamn old to function on 3 hours of sleep. When morning arrived, I seriously contemplated skipping work even though all of my sick days were applied to my maternity leave against my specific (written) wishes. Luckily (or unluckily), I remembered that I had a program scheduled at 10 that no one else would be around to cover, so I dragged my zombiefied ass in around 9:30.

Even though he looked pretty pitiful upon waking, Nico seemed chipper enough by the time I dropped him off at my parents' house, so I guessed he felt a little bit better than I did. And if not, I supposed his six sharp little teeth would come in handy when he got a hankering for brains.

Sick baby is sad

I keep getting surprised all over again that it's December, now. We had to start wearing winter coats for the first time this week, and I keep going, WTF, winter coats? and then remembering that yes, moron, it is almost Christmas. How did this happen?

Fin.

'Twas the last night of NaBlo
And all through the land
Bloggers were sighing
And feeling just grand

Thirty posts over
Oh, what a relief
Finally we're able
To get a good night's sleep

No more waking up panicked
No more sweating in bed
Worried we forgot to hit publish
Feeling scrambled in the head

No more memes, no more surveys
No more deadlines to remember
How many of us won't post
A single thing in December?

But all can look back
With pride and with cheer
And maybe, just maybe
We'll be back next year

Gobble gobble

We had a pretty great Thanksgiving this year. We had dinner with my mom's extended family on actual Thanksgiving at my aunt and uncle's new ridonkulously huge house. Nico spent about an hour after dinner crawling around the first floor with my dad following close behind. Their dining room is about twice the size of ours, and there were two living rooms (two!) and a giant foyer besides that. Grandpa also let him practice climbing the stairs. I forgot to get a nice posed shot of him in the adorable outfit my mom gave him for the holiday, so we snapped one at home when he was a little bit punchy and not too keen on sitting still.


On Saturday we headed to MB's hometown for dinner with his family. We ate at MB's grandparents' house, and after some time to acclimate, Nico drove his toy school bus all through the small living room and dining room among the feet of family members. I snapped quite a few photos of him looking entirely too much like a toddler. After dinner, MB's cousin and her boyfriend invited a friend over to play bluegrass banjo for the family. He was really good and Nico seemed enthralled by his first encounter with live music.



Nico made out like a bandit with his grandparents, MB's parents. He scored a rattle, a chew toy, a cloth crinkle book, a teddy bear, a stuffed Donald Duck, a farm board book (which was a huge hit), a huge electronic alphabet / spelling board, and a ride on / walk behind car with a bunch of knobs and whatsits that make noise. He'll have to grow into the ABC board, but he loves the toddler car. As soon as MB's dad got it out of the box, Nico started pushing it around the floor and making his car-driving noise (halfway between a raspberry and a grown-up vroom vroom sound). He hasn't quite figured out the riding-on or the walking-behind, but he's definitely worked out the noisemaking parts. And needless to say, I'm no longer worried that my restraint will result in Nico not getting very many toys for Christmas.

Rotten? Me? Surely you jest.

Wordless Weekend #8

Wordless Weekend #7

New 100 Things

(updated 12/5/13)

1. I'm sneaking up on 30 and feeling okay about it. The thirties have been pretty good so far. I'm closer to 35 now than 30, but it's okay.

2. I'm married to a great guy. You can call him MB.

3. We have one child, a boy born January 2010. You can call him Nico. Our second boy was born February 2013. You can call him Elliott.

4. We have a flop-eared black Lab / Chow mix dog named Indiana Bones. You can call him Indy. Or Scones. Or Snoopicon.

5. We live in a house with really terrible wallpaper.

6. I love to read.

7. I used to write fiction.

8. I'm not too fond of math.

9. I have a BS in geology and a BA in English with a creative writing emphasis.

10. I like to paint my toenails silver.

11. I have really ugly feet.

12. I don't own any dresses.

13. Or makeup.

14. Or even a brush.

15. I love yoga and I'm still proud of the fact that I could stand on one leg and pull the other foot up behind my head when I was 41 weeks pregnant.

16. I do have photographic proof of this feat.

17. I'm not really into shoes.

18. Or fancy jewelry.

19. Or vampires.

20. I do like dinosaurs, though.

21. And owls.

22. I love stars, both the shape and the kind in the sky.

23. My favorite thing to drink is milk.

24. I don't drink alcohol because it puts me to sleep.

25. If I could only eat one kind of ice cream for the rest of my life, it would be the vanilla bean from the ice cream place where I worked in high school.

26. I like to swim laps and will totally put a lap pool in my mansion if I ever win the lottery.

27. I love to fall asleep to the sound of a thunderstorm.

28. I have an overactive imagination.

29. Despite this, I like to watch paranormal reality shows before I go to bed and then I'm all creeped out and scared to take a shower.

30. My official favorite color has been yellow for as long as I can remember.

31. Don't tell yellow, but I kind of like green better now.

32. I'm adopted.

33. I have one kick-ass younger sister, also adopted.

34. I was diagnosed with ADHD at age 12 and took medication for it until I conceived Nico.

35. I have had glasses since fourth grade.

36. I never played sports.

37. Or took dance. Or gymnastics.

38. I did take years of piano lessons.

39. I also took Taekwondo lessons for seven years.

40. I earned my 2nd degree black belt, but please don't ask me to break any boards.

41. I always wanted to be a paleontologist.

42. When I was halfway through college I changed my mind and decided to be an environmental geologist instead.

43. I'm neither, but I'm pretty happy anyway.

44. I love camping and hiking and canoeing.

45. Not big on birdwatching, I'll admit.

46. Or birds in general. I think it's the erratic flight paths and the gross scritchy bird feet.

47. I have a skull collection. That's not creepy at all, is it?

48. I really like taking photographs.

49. I'm not very artistic, but I'm rather crafty.

50. I'm always late. I apologize, truly.

51. I talk too much.

52. I think pancakes are the perfect meal for any time of day.

53. I like my eggs scrambled.

54. I have a serious weakness for chai tea lattes and cheesecake.

55. I'm not a very good cook.

56. I love to bake.

57. I'm kind of a naturally messy person, but I also have a deep and overdeveloped organizational streak. It's complicated.

58. 13 has always been my favorite number.

59. I was born on Friday the 13th.

60. MB was born on Saturday the 13th.

61. Nico missed being born on Wednesday the 13th by two days. Two days! If only I'd signed up for that induction...

62. I didn't get my driver's license until I was 18 and halfway through my freshman year of college.

63. I didn't get my first car until two years later, at the end of my junior year.

64. I love road trips.

65. I've been to 39 states, not including one that we drove into by accident before turning around and one where I was only in the airport.

66. I've been to Canada twice, but only visited Ontario.

67. I went to England once.

68. I have a really good memory for nerdy facts.

69. I'm also great with movie quotes.

70. I was never good at remembering things from math class.

71. I'm pretty kumbaya and accepting of all creatures, with a few exceptions. Like ticks.

72. And cave crickets.

73. And giant squid.

74. I've never had a broken bone.

75. But now I'm terrified that I've jinxed myself.

76. I don't eat anything made from pigs. I'm back on the bacon wagon. I have no regrets.

77. I'm not a vegetarian.

78. It's a long story.

79. It's not related to the fact that I grew up in a family that's very non-adventurous when it comes to food.

80. I didn't eat tacos or Chinese food until high school.

81. I've still never eaten Brussels sprouts. Or artichokes.

82. I'm not really into sports, and the only pro sport I'll watch is American football.

83. I have naturally curly hair.

84. It was the bane of my existence for years and years.

85. We've mostly made our peace now, though I wear it in a bun every day. I got my hair chopped almost as short as a pixie cut in March 2012. I don't think I'm ever going back.

86. I never had to get braces.

87. I still have my wisdom teeth, and I'm kind of scared to get them taken out.

88. I love hoodies.

89. I wear jeans almost every day.

90. I don't like to sleep with socks on my feet.

91. I do like pajama pants.

92. Sometimes I miss having a cat that sleeps on the bed, even though the cat we had was kind of an asshole.

93. I have an English degree, but I still have problems with who / whom.

94. I've got lie / lay figured out, though.

95. I'm a really good speller, though I never won a spelling bee.

96. I'm a nerdy liberal, but I don't listen to NPR.

97. I wear three earrings in each ear, but I never change them.

98. I have blue eyes.

99. I'm right handed.

100. I really do want world peace.

Happy Turkey Day

There are many things to be thankful for today, though our internet service provider isn't high on our list since our wireless has been down since we got up this morning. I took lots of pretty food photos this morning while I baked, but I can't upload them through my phone so instead how about a list of things that rocked about today?

>> MB got up when Nico and I did and made pancakes.

>> We gave Nico a small pancake to eat and he was hilariously enthusiastic.

>> Nico napped with MB long enough for me to bake pumpkin bread and assemble three sweet potato casseroles.

>> An old friend stopped by to meet the baby and see the house.

>> We went to Thanksgiving dinner with my mom's side of the family and everything I ate was delicious.

>> Nico was well-behaved and charming, and looked adorable in the new outfit my mom gave him for the holiday.

>> I had fun chatting with my cousins.

>> I got to see Danger for the second time this week.

>> I had room for two slices of my aunt's pumpkin pie, which is my favorite pumpkin pie in the whole world.

>> And now I'm home with my boys, full of warm fuzzy holiday feelings. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope you had a wonderful day!

Thanksgiving is thanks-living

I saw a church sign on the way home from Nico's story hour this week that said "Thanksgiving is thanks-living." I'm not a religious person, but I did like the sign a lot since I do try to live my life in a grateful way.

And so, in celebration of tomorrow, the day of giving thanks for the good things, I am thankful for:

A man who is equal parts husband, partner, and best friend

A beautiful little boy who fills my days with light

A family that loves and supports us and has become our son's village

A flop-eared dog who shows us how to love more perfectly

Friends who are more like a second family

Books that open new worlds.

This weird place called the internet, where I have found myself and found true friends.


Happy Thanksgiving (or happy Thursday, Canadians), everybody!

Five animals I'd hate to meet in a dark alley
(or anywhere, really)

Giant squid


Hippo


Albatross


Elephant Seal


Cow

Mary Poppins I ain't

My friend bibliophile81 gave me some things for our yard sale back in October, including a really cute green purse. Since the purse I was carrying had a bum zipper, I asked if she'd mind if I just kept the purse. She said she didn't, so I started using it and never went back. A few weeks ago I mentioned to her that I really like the purse, especially since I can put a board book and Nico's sippy cup in there along with my stuff. She looked surprised and remarked that I must not have much in there, which reminded me of a fun old meme, the What's In Your Bag meme.



A:  iPhone in really beat-up case

B:  packet of tissues I stole from the diaper bag

C:  little pocket mirror

D:  wallet, obviously

E:  a pen made from recycled materials and a nice Zebra pen that actually belongs to MB

F:  microfiber glasses wipe thingie

G:  buckeye for luck

H:  I found this little box when my mom and aunt cleaned out my great-aunt's house to sell it a few years ago. I don't know what it was made for, but it's the perfect size to hold all the gift cards and frequent shopper cards that won't fit in my wallet.

I:  I got this notebook for writing down book titles, quotes, etc. I don't use it as much now that I have an iPhone.


If you want to play along, post a photo of the contents of your bag / purse. I'm going to attempt to put a Mr. Linky in this post so you can leave me a breadcrumb trail back to your posts.

Wordless Weekend #6

Wordless Weekend 5.2

Wordless Weekend #5

Phoning it in

I try not to do too many cop-out posts during NaBloPoMo, but I got a grand total of four hours of sleep last night and I'm pretty brain-fried at this point.

And so, have you read the newest Hyperbole and a Half? I laughed so hard that I had tears rolling down my face.



And now it's 10 PM and I can hear the siren song of my bed. I'll try to be more interesting next time, I promise.

New 100 Things, part 3

(Part two is here.)

51. I talk too much.

52. I think pancakes are the perfect meal for any time of day.

53. I like my eggs scrambled.

54. I have a serious weakness for chai tea lattes and cheesecake.

55. I'm not a very good cook.

56. I love to bake.

57. I'm kind of a naturally messy person, but I also have a deep and overdeveloped organizational streak. It's complicated.

58. 13 has always been my favorite number.

59. I was born on Friday the 13th.

60. MB was born on Saturday the 13th.

61. Nico missed being born on Wednesday the 13th by two days. Two days! If only I'd signed up for that induction...

62. I didn't get my driver's license until I was 18 and halfway through my freshman year of college.

63. I didn't get my first car until two years later, at the end of my junior year.

64. I love road trips.

65. I've been to 39 states, not including one that we drove into by accident before turning around and one where I was only in the airport.

66. I've been to Canada twice, but only visited Ontario.

67. I went to England once.

68. I have a really good memory for nerdy facts.

69. I'm also great with movie quotes.

70. I was never good at remembering things from math class.

71. I'm pretty kumbaya and accepting of all creatures, with a few exceptions. Like ticks.

72. And cave crickets.

73. And giant squid.

74. I've never had a broken bone.

75. But now I'm terrified that I've jinxed myself.

A Cat Story

When I was a kid, my mom had a cat named Smokey. We got Smokey as a kitten when my parents found him behind a bush in the front yard. (This would become a common theme for our family, and in fact when Smokey showed up we already had a dog that had followed us home from church). I'm sure he was intended to be the family cat, but I was a rambunctious five-year-old willing to try anything that my not-always-mature father suggested. After I put the cat in the toy box, I think he pretty much made up his mind about me. We would eventually develop a relationship based on mutual respect of personal space, but it took years.

He was always sweet to my mom, though. From the beginning, if she lifted him to her shoulder, he would "kiss" her neck. Smokey was an indoor / outdoor cat, which actually led to his name. He was gray on top with white feet, face, and belly, but he was named because he used to go hang out by the fire with the little old man who lived in the big old house down the street and come home smelling smoky. He also liked to sneak into the attic and emerge hours later with dust all over. But his independent streak eventually led to trouble. On Christmas Eve, my mom was making tuna noodle casserole - as demanded by family tradition - and Smokey wouldn't stay out of the kitchen. She finally got sick of him putting his nose in the food and tossed him outside to roam the neighborhood until she was finished. I was so little that I'm not sure if my memory of that day is a true one, or just something I made up because it makes sense. I think I remember looking out the kitchen window and seeing him squeeze under the back gate into the driveway. I do know that this is true, though:  Smokey never came back.

We waited and watched, but Smokey never returned. Almost a year later, a woman who lived at the other end of our block across the street approached my mom about adopting one of her cats. She knew that Mom had lost her cat and was hoping to find homes for some of the strays she'd taken in as housecats over the years. Mom walked down to see if any of the cats felt like a good fit. When she got there, she spotted a big gray and white male cat who reminded her a lot of Smokey. When she approached him, he allowed her to pick him up. And then he kissed her neck. The handsome tomcat was Smokey. Mom brought him back home and he lived with us for another five years or so. Even after she had him fixed, he continued his wandering ways, but remained true to Mom for the rest of his life. I used to wonder what he'd tell us about his missing year if only he could talk.

Quote, Unquote

I'm revisiting an old meme that I really liked. I used all my very favorite movies last time, so I had to dig kinda deep to get ten this time around. Hopefully they aren't impossible.

The rules:

* Pick 10 (or so) of your favorite movies.
* Find, remember, or look up a quote from each movie.
* Post them here for everyone to guess.
* Strike it out (I'm going to turn them green instead) when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
* NO googling or cheating by doing an online search. Cheaters never prosper.
* Commenters should share the fun and only guess one movie.

1. I swear on my dead relatives - and even on the ones who are not feeling too good - I am your man forever!

Jason knew this line from The Count of Monte Cristo. He's a count, not a saint.


2. If you were waiting for the opportune moment, that was it.

My homie Kerri Anne spotted this quote from Pirates of the Caribbean:  the Curse of the Black Pearl. She loves weddings! Drinks all around!


3. You ask a serious question, I'll give you a serious answer: Happy enough. I don't expect much. I don't get much, I don't give much. I generally enjoy whatever comes along. That's my answer for you, summed up for your feminine consideration. I'm happy enough.

Laura Danger knew this quote came from the excellent movie Waitress. She can't have coffee. It's on the bad food list. What kind of doctor are you?


4. Uh... trudging. You know, trudging? To trudge: the slow, weary, depressing yet determined walk of a man who has nothing left in life except the impulse to simply soldier on.


5. Went away? "I dwell in darkness without you" and it went away?

Nicholas recognized this line from Willow. He is the greatest swordsman who has ever lived!


6. Ah! But that is because I am a miserable, grumpy elitist - and that works for me!


7. You know, there's a million fine-looking women in the world, dude. But they don't all bring you lasagna at work.

Amanda knew that this quote comes from Clerks. She's not even supposed to be here today!


8. Under no circumstances do I want you to leave that couch... unless it's to get me $9000, and then you bring it here to me, okay?

SS pegged this as a line from the superb Empire Records. But SS, you love Gwar!


9. I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said, "I drank what?"

Norahs1213 remembered this quote from Real Genius. She only runs when chased.


10. Oh I don't know. If I had survived an old lady ass-kicking I would want to brag about it.

Bibliomama recognized this line from My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Give her a word, any word, and she will tell you how that word comes from Greek.


And...go!

Hey, big spender

If you've watched What Not to Wear more than a handful of times, you've probably seen one of the episodes featuring the dreaded bargain shopper. You know the one, the girl who makes it through the ambush, accepts the $5000 and the trip to New York, and then can't bring herself to buy $400 jackets and $200 jeans. Stacey and Clinton roll their eyes and throw up their hands and tell her, "It shouldn't matter! It's not your money!" but the poor client is still standing there wringing her hands because she just can't get past the price tags. I guarantee that if I were ever to be chosen for that show, I would do the exact same thing. I don't care whose money it is, I would get the vapors if I spent that kind of money on one item. I got invited to a fashion party the other day -- like a Tupperware party but for clothes -- and I decided to check out the merchandise online before I sent my RSVP. Good thing, too, because it's for a line of $34 tube tops and $60 T-shirts. I'm still trying to get my eyebrows to come back down to their normal position.

I buy all my clothes on sale. Other than maternity clothes, I can't think of the last time I bought something that wasn't from a secondhand shop or a clearance rack, and even the maternity clothes were bought on sale or at a second-run retailer like TJ Maxx. I have a closet full of decent clothes that I bought for a song. Unfortunately, hardly any of them fit. I've been laboring under the delusion that eventually this baby weight will fall off by itself and making it through by alternating the two pairs of jeans I have that fit. I was hesitant to buy another pair since I really do hope to be a smaller size in a few months and especially because I'm sort of between sizes right now. The 16s I'm wearing are baggy in the butt and the 14s that I can technically fit into are still pretty unflattering in the muffin-top region. I finally had to break down and admit that I needed another pair of jeans last week when Nico put his finger through one of the artfully-distressed spots on my favorite pair, removing the precisely arranged white threads that separated my thigh skin from the light of day. It's a really small spot, but I still feel weird about wearing pants with an actual hole in them to work, so I knew it was time to sack up and buy some jeans.

I decided to go to Old Navy because I had a 30% off coupon and because my recently-mutilated favorite pair of jeans is from there (though I got them at a secondhand shop for $5). I've been fretting, too, over the hoodie I've been wearing to work, battling a sneaking suspicion that at my age I really should have a slightly more professional-looking sweater to wear, so while I was at the store, I tried on one of their cute basic cardigans. I bought the jeans, bought the sweater, and then immediately was consumed by angst. So much! I spent so much! Even with the coupon, my clothes plus three pairs of socks for Nico's Christmas stocking cost 45 dollars. FORTY FIVE DOLLARS. Man, I could've bought NINE PAIRS of jeans at Goodwill for that! I'm sure right now most of you are laughing in your ass-flattering Seven jeans, thinking that I'm a nutbar. And I accept that you're probably correct. (I mean, come on. OLD NAVY. It's not like I'm buying couture, here.) I found out last night that I'm not alone, though. I vented some of my angst by posting on Twitter how weird it felt to buy non-clearance clothes for myself, and it turns out that I have some soul sisters. (Holla, ladies!)

So, I may be a little bit insane for freaking out over $29 mall brand jeans, but I have found peace. I know now that I'm not the only one who gets itchy when the clothes aren't on sale. I know that I'm not the only one who justifies it by trying to average out the full-price clothes against the closet full of dirt-cheap stuff. I know I'm not the only person with the potential to drive Stacey and Clinton stark raving mad. Blessings be upon the bargain hunters. So say we all.

Wordless Weekend #4

Wordless Weekend #3

On the brink

I never want to wish away Nico's new skills and healthy growing, but oh man, you guys...it's going so fast. Cliché ahoy, I know, but there it is. I find myself wishing that it took two years for kids to get to where they usually are at about one year of age, because as much fun as I have with each new stage, I am not quite prepared for my baby to turn into a toddler. He's on his way, though, and it's undeniable. I realize now that this is why people keep having babies. They're addictive, but their time as tinies is so fleeting.


Nico will be ten months old on Monday and suddenly in just the past two weeks has gone from his first word (Hi) to having five words:  Hi, Dog, Mama, Da (Dad), Bye. His hair is really filling in, especially in the back, and he's starting to get curls. He has almost outgrown the once-giant socks my mom bought for him when he was brand new and none of the tiny newborn socks fit his huge feet. He finger-feeds himself Cheerios and rice puffs like it's no big thing, and if MB leans down and makes smacking sounds, Nico will feed the puffs to him. None of this is revolutionary, I know, but it's the first time that a little person that I helped to make has ever fed himself Cheerios or waved to someone and cheerily said, "Ba!"


Yesterday he was crawling around on the floor pushing his Little People school bus and making engine noises. Two nights before that, he was sitting in the corner of his bedroom with a board book, turning the pages and babbling happily as if he was reading. My heart felt like it was going to pop out of my chest and fly away, it really did. He loves his board books, but he's extremely rough on them and will chew bits off if I don't keep an eye on him. I found a Little People barn in perfect condition at Goodwill for only $2 and ordered a replacement set of animals online. He didn't seem all that impressed by it the first week, but now he plays with it all the time, taking the animals out and putting them back in and tipping the whole barn over.


All he wants to do is go and do and be big, and I'm constantly catching at his ankle, begging him to wait, to be careful, to slow down. He's becoming a big boy, faster than I can keep up. He's still my baby, though, and I tell myself he will be for a while longer. I feel it when he curls up on my lap to nurse to sleep, when he naps on my chest in the mornings, when I go to comfort him in his crib at night and he stands with his arms around my neck as I bend over the rail, impossibly small in his pajamas and socks. I drink in all the baby moments I can, even while I celebrate his bigness.

New 100 Things, part 2

(Part one is here.)

26. I like to swim laps and will totally put a lap pool in my mansion if I ever win the lottery.

27. I love to fall asleep to the sound of a thunderstorm.

28. I have an overactive imagination.

29. Despite this, I like to watch paranormal reality shows before I go to bed and then I'm all creeped out and scared to take a shower.

30. My official favorite color has been yellow for as long as I can remember.

31. Don't tell yellow, but I kind of like green better now.

32. I'm adopted.

33. I have one kick-ass younger sister, also adopted.

34. I was diagnosed with ADHD at age 12 and took medication for it until I conceived Nico.

35. I have had glasses since fourth grade.

36. I never played sports.

37. Or took dance. Or gymnastics.

38. I did take years of piano lessons.

39. I also took Taekwondo lessons for seven years.

40. I earned my 2nd degree black belt, but please don't ask me to break any boards.

41. I always wanted to be a paleontologist.

42. When I was halfway through college I changed my mind and decided to be an environmental geologist instead.

43. I'm neither, but I'm pretty happy anyway.

44. I love camping and hiking and canoeing.

45. Not big on birdwatching, I'll admit.

46. Or birds in general. I think it's the erratic flight paths and the gross scritchy bird feet.

47. I have a skull collection. That's not creepy at all, is it?

48. I really like taking photographs.

49. I'm not very artistic, but I'm rather crafty.

50. I'm always late. I apologize, truly.

Green Books Campaign: The Coke Machine

This review is part of the Green Books campaign. Today 200 bloggers take a stand to support books printed in an eco-friendly manner by simultaneously publishing reviews of 200 books printed on recycled or FSC-certified paper. By turning a spotlight on books printed using eco-friendly paper, we hope to raise the awareness of book buyers and encourage everyone to take the environment into consideration when purchasing books.

The campaign is organized for the second time by Eco-Libris, a green company working to make reading more sustainable. We invite you to join the discussion on "green" books and support books printed in an eco-friendly manner! A full list of participating blogs and links to their reviews is available on the Eco-Libris website.


For the second year in a row, I was invited to participate in the Green Books Campaign, which has been expanded this year to include 200 bloggers posting reviews of 200 books printed in environmentally-responsible ways. (You can read last year's post here.) I chose and received a copy of The Coke Machine:  the dirty truth behind the world's favorite soft drink, written by Michael Blanding. My book is printed on FSC certified paper.

The Coke Machine delves into the history of the Coca-Cola company, beginning with the birth of the company and examining its meteoric rise to become one of the dominant companies in the US and the world in a relatively short span of time. It also explores some pretty dark allegations, including:

>> Coke exploited school systems' need for money in order to tie schools into exclusive contracts and introduce Coke products into the daily lives of even the youngest US children.

>> Coca-Cola at best ignored and at worst incited violence against union organizers at bottling plants in South America, especially in Colombia, as recently as 2004.

>> Coke inflicted severe ecological and environmental damage upon several regions in India through the actions of its bottling plants.

I wish I could say that these accusations were shocking, but unfortunately the stories are all too common. It seems inevitable that large multinational corporations are going to have quite a few skeletons in the closet, especially when they do business in Third World countries with lax worker protection and nonexistent or easily-ignored environmental regulations. I'm not qualified to comment on the larger issues at stake when capitalism and a global economy intersect with very poor people in very poor or unstable nations. I am not naive enough to think that it's unusual for large US companies to outsource work to these countries in order to keep expenses low and profits high. I realize that the American consumer benefits from this practice in the form of lower prices on products that are produced by low-paid labor forces. I find it deeply sad, though, that a company able to spend upwards of 2 million dollars on a 30-second Super Bowl ad stands accused of putting profits so far ahead of people.

The book is a little grim, but it's also quite interesting. I love to read about the early stories of common brands, and Coke certainly has a colorful history. The biggest surprise for me was that the majority of organizing on college campuses against "Killer Coke" was done during my years as an undergraduate. I was heavily involved in environmental activism at my school during the years of the heaviest battling against Coke, and yet I never heard a word about it. It's kind of fascinating to realize that while our environmental group was wrapped up in lobbying to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, there were other students just like us in other parts of the country equally wrapped up in lobbying against Coca-Cola and who knows how many other diverse and worthy causes.

I won't say that the book convinced me to give up Coke - and I believe Michael Blanding himself admits in his author's blurb that he drinks a Coke every now and then - but it definitely made me devote some thought to the complicated politics and morals of consumer products. If you enjoy books like Elizabeth Royte's Bottlemania and Garbage Land, you might also like The Coke Machine.

In an effort to keep my bookshelves manageable and to engage in a little bit of recycling, I would like to give away my copy of The Coke Machine. If you're interested, please leave a comment on this post by midnight CST on Tuesday, November 30 and include a valid email address. On December 1 I'll use random.org to select a winner. Residents of the US and Canada only, please!


Disclosure:  I received a free copy of this book to review as part of the Green Books Campaign. The opinions in this review are my own.

This is a cross-post from my book blog.

London Calling

I got my first job a few weeks after I turned 16, a job I'd end up keeping until my sophomore year in college. I didn't have any bills and since I didn't have a car, I didn't have to buy gas. My parents paid me an allowance for doing chores at home, and my mom also gave me lunch money every week but told me that I could pack my lunch if I wanted and keep the cash. I spent a year eating those orange crackers with peanut butter for lunch every day, but I almost never went without some cash in my pocket. Between my allowance and my lunch money, I didn't cash a paycheck from April until Christmas. Once the holidays were past, I went back to depositing most of my checks in the bank. I didn't make much in a week, but by the time I was a senior in high school I had just over $2000 in my account. I planned to buy a car with my savings, since this was 1998 and you could still buy a semi-decent used car for 2000 bucks back then. My mom and I even looked at a few cars at a slightly skeevy used car lot next to the grocery store one Saturday, but nothing ever came of it.

Then a trio of teachers announced that they were putting together a nine-day trip to London for juniors and seniors to begin just after graduation. They organized it with an all-inclusive tour company, and the price tag? Just under two thousand dollars. I really, really wanted to go, but my parents wouldn't pay for it. Mom told me I could use my savings to pay for it if I wanted, but of course then I wouldn't have any money for a car. I already knew that I'd be living on campus when college started since my scholarship included room and board and therefore wouldn't really need a car to get to class. We'd also already agreed that I was going to take at least the first semester if not the first year off work so I could focus on my schoolwork. I'd been so attached to the idea of getting my car for so long that it was hard to let it go, but eventually I decided to go on the trip.

It was an incredible experience and one that probably deserves a few blog posts of its own. Needless to say, I never regretted my decision to spend the money on the trip instead of a car. I didn't have a lot of money for souvenirs, so I bought a lot of postcards and small trinkets. The postcards went into a scrapbook and the trinkets were lost or tucked away over time, but there's one thing that I have carefully kept for over ten years. I bought a silver Celtic ring from a street vendor in Bath for £7 that I still wear nearly every day. It's not the highest-quality piece, and there's a place where the pattern was mushed when the ring was joined into a circle, but I love it. I wore a ring on every finger back then, mostly cheap Gothy bits that I found at the mall, and I think I put a few of them away to keep after a few years in college, but I've always worn his one. It doesn't even make me think of the trip to London every day, but it's fun to look back on its origins every now and then.

Retreat

We spent the weekend at a cabin on the river with nine of our closest friends. We usually camp in the Fall, but this was the earliest weekend we could go and so it was (wisely) suggested that we skip the tents this year. For about the same price as a mediocre motel, we stayed in a renovated and expanded 1800s log cabin with a huge deck, a hot tub, and a killer view. I hope everyone is lucky enough to have friends who are more like family, because it's awesome. Most of us have been friends since high school, though we met J-Dog in college and I've known the bibliophile since Kindergarten. We played games, ate way too much food, talked, hung out in the hot tub, and went on a very nice hike. Everyone doted on Nico, who was on his best and most charming behavior all weekend. The weather was pretty much perfect, too. The only downside is that after looking forward to the trip for months, it went by in a flash. If I ever win the lottery, I'm booking a swanky house for an entire week and paying everyone to take a week off and hang out.

Cabin! (photo by Norahs1213)
our room, Nico & playpen for scale
hanging out on the deck

sunrise over the river
fog on the water
a perfect day

going for a hike

Nico in the baby backpack (He loved it!)

Wordless Weekend #2

Wordless Weekend #1

We played the first thing that came to our heads

We took Nico to visit out-of-town friends the weekend before Halloween and about an hour into our 1 ½ hour drive, he started to get fussy. I have this thing I do with babies and pets where I make up dialogue for them, so I said on Nico's behalf, "This is boring! I'm bored! I want a travel Etch-a-Sketch! I want travel Battleship! I want a DVD player like all those kids on the car commercials have!" MB replied, "Too bad. Those kids have jobs." I was about to retort that they didn't when I realized that actually, they do. They're paid to be in those commercials. And thus, we devised our comeback to all future shouts from our offspring about wanting such-and-such that they saw on TV. Sorry, kids! Outfoxed!

Then, after I sang "The Ants Go Marching" four times back-to-back because it was the only thing that kept Nico from crying, MB hooked up his iPhone to the car stereo and we belted out a duet of Tenacious D's "Tribute." I'm not sure the baby was impressed, but we had a good time. Hopefully Nico won't need a similar serenade this afternoon when he and I drive solo to meet up with a bunch of friends for a weekend away at a swank cabin on the river. MB has to teach Saturday morning and won't be meeting us until tomorrow afternoon, and there's only so many times I can tell the story of the greatest song in the world.

New 100 Things, part 1

I realized a few months ago that my three-year-old 100 Things list is really outdated. In the process of attempting to update it, I realized I don't even like it all that much anymore, so I decided to write a new one for NaBlo2010. Here are the first 25 items from my New 100 Things:

1. I'm sneaking up on 30 and feeling okay about it.

2. I'm married to a great guy. You can call him MB.

3. We have one child, a boy born January 2010. You can call him Nico.

4. We have a flop-eared black Lab / Chow mix dog named Indiana Bones. You can call him Indy. Or Scones. Or Snoopicon.

5. We live in a house with really terrible wallpaper.

6. I love to read.

7. I used to write fiction.

8. I'm not too fond of math.

9. I have a BS in geology and a BA in English with a creative writing emphasis.

10. I like to paint my toenails silver.

11. I have really ugly feet.

12. I don't own any dresses.

13. Or makeup.

14. Or even a brush.

15. I love yoga and I'm still proud of the fact that I could stand on one leg and pull the other foot up behind my head when I was 41 weeks pregnant.

16. I do have photographic proof of this feat.

17. I'm not really into shoes.

18. Or fancy jewelry.

19. Or vampires.

20. I do like dinosaurs, though.

21. And owls.

22. I love stars, both the shape and the kind in the sky.

23. My favorite thing to drink is milk.

24. I don't drink alcohol because it puts me to sleep.

25. If I could only eat one kind of ice cream for the rest of my life, it would be the vanilla bean from the ice cream place where I worked in high school.

Give a little bit

I love buying small gifts for people. If I'm out and about and I see something inexpensive that's just perfect for someone I know, chances are good that I'll buy it. The little gifts are usually kind of odd things, too, like tiles printed to look like wine labels or charms with these hilariously bad illustrations printed on them. Every time my sister goes away for a semester or a summer, I send her at least one package stuffed with fruit snacks and her favorite kinds of candy. I made her a mix CD of 90s hits and sent it to her while she was away at archaeological field school and she loved it. Friends with kids might get a cute baby outfit, kid-friendly measuring spoons, Sesame Street coloring books, or alligator rainboots from Goodwill. If I read a book and think a friend will love it, I might buy a copy with a really good bookstore coupon and send it along. Sometimes I buy my mom a nice bar of chocolate and stop by to visit her at work. Recently, I got a taste of my own medicine when someone bought a small but thoughtful gift for Nico. We had a playdate with a mom from our nursing group and her daughter, and a couple of days later they left a Halloween treat bag on our front porch containing a box of apple cinnamon Cheerios, some rice puffs, and a cute pair of skeleton socks. Knowing how that treat bag made my day, I definitely won't be giving up my small-gifting ways anytime soon.

I'm also a huge fan of sending real mail. Care packages are my favorite thing to send, but I have to limit myself so I don't blow our budget on postage. Even in the age of e-cards and facebook wishes, I try to take the time to send birthday cards and postcards and occasionally just-because cards. With my husband's entire family living in another state, sending out baby pictures has become an important addition to the mailing-out routine. Having a baby in the internet age is nice, in that we can upload Nico's pictures to photo-sharing sites and then give the links to family. Even so, nothing beats actual printed photographs, and I've known since Nico was born that we'd probably be sending out a photo card for Christmas this year. Needless to say, when I read about the opportunity to earn 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly, I jumped at the chance. The hardest part was narrowing it down to just a few Christmas cards that I like. You can see my favorites and find out how to win 50 cards for yourself over at my review blog.

41 weeks

Dear Nico,

You are 41 weeks and 2 days old and have now been with me on the outside for as long as I carried you on the inside. Child, you are a joy. You're a spitfire and aren't afraid to let me know when you have a strong opinion about something, but your fits of temper tend to blow over pretty quickly. Most of the time you are an extremely happy baby. You started waving a few weeks back and now you wave all the time. When we leave the house in the morning, you wave goodbye to the dog and keep waving all the way through the backyard to the car. When I lift you onto my hip and carry you out of your bedroom, you wave goodbye to your stuff. When I hand you over to your granny in the morning before work, you flap your arm goodbye before I even turn to leave, and when I pick you up in the evening, you wave goodbye to the house and all inside. You'll also wave hello, though usually not right on time. People will say hi and wave to you and you'll stare at them for a little while, big-eyed. Then, usually after they turn away, your arm gives a cheery flap-flap-flap. You'll sometimes wave by carefully curling and uncurling your little hand, but usually it's a whole-arm flap.

You still take all your naps on my lap, and I know that by now you should probably be taking those in your crib. Even though I have things I could be doing during your naps, I find that I don't have much interest in changing things up. As you get more and more active, I know that you'll have less and less patience for cuddling. And taking time to slow down and just be with you is a good thing in the midst of a hectic life. The other day, we were up in your room and you were a little fussy. You wanted to be on my lap but you weren't hungry, so I decided to see if you wanted a nap. I kicked back in the rocking chair with you lying on my chest and you fell asleep for a short while, maybe fifteen minutes. You usually wake up either fussy and hungry or squirming to be put down, but this time it was different.

You pushed up onto your hands and knees on my chest and lifted your head. It's hard to explain what happened next without sounding cheesy or overwrought, but I want to try. You stayed there for several long minutes, your eyes wide and bright, your mouth open in a small smile, and you stared into my face. You didn't squirm, didn't fuss, just gazed at me with the most open, pleasant expression. I felt as though I was being seen, truly seen, for perhaps the first time, as though you looked at me and really knew me. As it was happening, I wished there was some way to record the moment because I knew it would probably never be repeated. After a few minutes the spell was broken. You wanted to be set down to play and I was left feeling like you'd handed me a simple but precious gift. A second gift, really, because you are a great and wonderful gift, too. I couldn't be more grateful for you.

Love,
Mama