3 Square

A Night At The Circus

2011-02-11T22:46:00.000-05:00

It seems to be an essential part of childhood....going to the circus. Tonight was Laura's first time going and I think she lucked out with a great experience. There were trick dogs, cats, birds, lions, and of course elephants. There were acrobats and gymnasts, along with magicians and clowns. The whole show was very well done, and she had a wonderful time. Mommy thought she was going to lose it at one point over the absolute stupidity of the people who showed up 20 minutes late and stood in front of Laura for a good 5 minutes trying to figure out seating arrangements. But aside from that it was a wonderful night and Laura was grinning ear to ear when we left. I believe the words "totally awesome" were uttered as we walked out (or should I say speed-walked out, because I am truly my father's daughter and would do just about anything to escape that awful crowd of people leaving).

I wasn't able to get many good pictures because it was so dark, but I do have a few of Laura before the fun started!

Laura waiting for the show to start. The kids were allowed to go down and check on the ring, which we did. Susie the elephant came out and did a trick or two, and then did some "art" with her foot. It was really cool!

Waiting so patiently in line for her popcorn.

Happy now that she had her snack!

My only photo of the circus in action.

Gone Fishin'

2011-01-31T17:17:00.006-05:00

Poor Laura has strep throat for the third time since September! After a busy weekend with Daddy and Grandma, her fever came back late last night, and she didn't get much sleep, so she stayed home from school today. She accompanied Mommy to work for a few hours, and then did a little bit of fishing, from the somewhat relative warmth of the garage. Look, she only needed snow boots, a jacket, and a scarf! Temperatures in the mid-40's yielded no fish, although she did manage to hook a can of Pepsi, which she generously gave to me.

In other news, yesterday was the 2nd anniversary of me acquiring my Volkswagen Tiguan, and I wanted to report that at 34,768 miles, she's still doing beautifully. I love my little VW and I don't know why more people don't have them. I finally got her a new Jack ball for her antennae (thanks Mom!) This cute soccer Jack was mailed all the way from California and despite what appears to be a smile, he's not particularly enjoying the cold weather. Don't worry little guy, soon you'll be sweating to death in the humidity and begging for winter again.

Check out my post from when I first got the Tiguan if you want to see a picture of how bad the old Jack ball looked.

Laura and I had a pretty hectic January, so here's to hoping that February will be a bit more mellow and maybe give us some more time for "fishing".

January Updates

2011-01-20T19:27:00.012-05:00

Surprised to see me, aren't you? I know, I know, it's been forever since I've posted. I feel terrible about that, but as is the case for most people, life keeps getting in the way. I can't even begin to talk about everything that's happened since I stopped posting regularly, and I simply can't post all the pictures I've taken since the summer. I'll share a few January pictures, and hope that I'll get back into a more regular posting routine.

Laura enjoying our second snow of the winter...a bit out of the ordinary for our part of NC!

Moxie in the snow...crazy how much she loves it

As for me, I have red hair again.

Laura was recognized by the county school board as a "Shining Star" for having the kids that came to her birthday party bring books instead of presents, and then donating the books to her Kindergarten class. She was called up to the front of the meeting to receive her award...she was a little bit shy but did a great job!Laura and I after she got her award...I think she was done with smiling for pictures by this pointThe shirt I made for Laura for her 100th day of school

The back of the shirt

That's all for now...wish me luck as I attempt to wrestle my life into order and get back to blogging and running, two of my favorite things that have fallen by the wayside the last few months. Oh, and yes, my background and blog name are totally different now....not sure if either of the changes will be permanent, but we'll see. The background got lost by mistake (I accidentally deleted it and can't figure out how to get it back) and the old blog name needed revamping, and 3 Square was the best my non-creative brain could come up with. It kind of applies, yet makes no sense at the same time, which is why I like it so much. For now.

Learn, Teach, and Heal

2010-11-19T19:46:00.003-05:00

The marketing guru at my job had a great idea a few months ago...to make a video that was fun, silly, and explains what exactly it is that we do at Southern Regional AHEC (since trying to explain it is kind of tricky). A lot of hard work from a lot of very creative people went into this video, from changing the words of "YMCA", to writing a script, arranging the filming, editing, the list goes on and on! I think the end result is a professional-looking, funny video. But I'll let my readers be the judge. Here it is, in all it's glory. I'm curious how many times you think you see me....I'm in it a lot more than I expected. I'm pretty sure I'll win an Oscar for my main part.

Kindergartner

2010-07-15T20:20:00.006-04:00

I don't have time to write much today, but I wanted to share pictures from Laura's first day of Kindergarten! Laura goes to a year-round school and today was the big day. It truly is hard to believe she's old enough for Kindergarten. Our picture taking was a bit rushed this morning, and the sun was pretty bright, but we got a few relatively normal looking pictures. By this point she was desperate to get rid of me. Her "smile" says it all!

Along the same lines, I heard this song for the first time a few days ago and it really touched me. When I walked away from Laura's class this morning, I choked up a little bit, but I didn't cry. But when this song came on my iPod as I drove away from the school...yep, I totally cried.

Job #14

2010-05-10T19:28:00.003-04:00

So last you heard I was working part-time at a bank, right? Well, try to keep up, because that's out already. I loved working there, but really needed a full-time job, and when my friend Angela recommended I check out an open position at a local health education center, I jumped on it. Since I seem to have the best luck when it comes to finding jobs, I was quickly called in for an interview and got the job!

I started today, and won't go into too much detail since there's problems with confidentiality and the fact that I don't really even understand what I'm doing (yet). The gist of it is that there are several grant-funded health programs being run by this non-profit organization, and I am the assistant to the program heads. I'll work on two very different grant programs, and possibly a third one in the near future. It may sound glamorous, but in actuality it's a very entry-level job, full of making copies and other such enthralling things. The pay is a mere pittance, but I'm excited to think that after 14 years of working, and 13 other different jobs, I may have finally embarked on an actual career.

The Fly, Redux

2010-04-20T13:12:00.003-04:00

Pity the poor fly that I killed today, the one that signals the end of winter and the return of my eternal torment. I killed him with such vengeance that his corpse has not been located. A splatter on my door indicates he is dead, but I fear in my desire to send him from this world to the next, I was overly enthusiastic.

A Quilt For Jared

2010-04-03T09:38:00.009-04:00

Have I talked about Jared before here? I'm sure I have. He's a great guy; funny, smart, a true friend, and I have so many great memories of him from high school and beyond. He's been there for me in all of the big moments of my life, and the not-so-good and trivial moments too. Laura absolutely adores him. I always think about him when I listen to "The Longest Time" or do a 4 lane sweep while driving. One of my favorite things to do when I visit California is to meet him at Vincenzo's for some pizza.

He's one of my very best friends, and in honor of his 30th birthday (which I'm embarrassed to report was back in March), I made him a quilt. He finally picked it up from the post office today, so now I can post pictures and share it with everyone! As shocking as it may be, I'm fairly certain this is the very first quilt of this size that I've ever completed. I've done a few smaller ones, and I've completed a few quilt tops, but this one has actual quilting and binding and everything. I was inspired by this quilt for the pattern, and it was definitely a challenge trying to pick "manly" fabrics. I fear I may have allowed some of my girly preferences show through, so hopefully he won't be too embarrassed to use it.

For those who are interested, I'll mention that I machine sewed the binding, with help from this tutorial and it turned out wonderfully! It was very easy and so much quicker. I don't know if I'll ever hand-stitch a binding again. Sorry, any future quilt recipients. You're going to be subjected to my laziness.

Note: It's hard to take pictures of a quilt when you have no one to hold it for youTurns out laying it down is much easierI didn't do the quilting, but it turned out nicelyThe label I made-I'm pretty proud of itLabel sewn onto the quiltAll folded up and ready to go to CA!

Pink IS Her Favorite Color

2010-03-18T09:45:00.004-04:00

I think everyone who knows Laura knows how much she loves pink-a lot of her clothes are pink, as is the paint color in her bedroom and bathroom. Her car seat, her jacket, her sheets-all pink. If she had her way, our car would be pink too. I just never thought she'd take her love of pink so far and get pink eye!

Her eye actually doesn't look too bad, and she says it doesn't itch too much, but the moment I saw her this morning, I knew. A quick trip to the doctor this morning confirmed it. The moment I saw her eye, all sorts of thoughts raced through my head. I thought about the fact that I'd have to skip work today, which is never good when you're a brand new employee and have a big "final exam" on Friday that you were supposed to prepare for all day today. I wondered if I'd even be able to go to work tomorrow to take the test, and had visions of me bringing her with me to do it. I speculated on when she could go back to school, how she got the pink eye in the first place, and if she had given it to anyone else. I wondered to myself: if I did have to skip work, why did I still wake up at 6:15 and get entirely ready before she woke up and I noticed her eye?

But all of those concerns and worries were a blip on the radar compared to what popped into my head quicker than you can say pink eye: eye drops! It was like a neon sign flashing, all morning: EYE DROPS! EYE DROPS! EYE DROPS! When you have a child like Laura, you're not being dramatic at all when you want to roll around on a bed of nails rather than administer eye drops (to both eyes) three times a day for the next SEVEN days! And just as I expected, despite my nonchalance, when the moment came, the tears and begging and screaming and thrashing was truly a sight to behold. Not to mention that the bottle of drops the doctor prescribed is so tiny that it seems to have exactly 42 drops in it, so the first drop this morning was basically wasted. It may have touched her eyelashes, but I can't be sure. Even if it did get in, her eye being so full of tears just washed it right back out. I'll be surprised if it ever clears up, at this rate.

And just for the record, my favorite color is not pink. So hopefully I'll be spared the same fate!

She Works Hard For The Money

2010-03-09T20:26:00.004-05:00

Finally, a legitimate excuse for being so tired: I've gone back to work. Does this mean I need to update the "about me" on my blog to a total of 13 jobs? And does this also mean I can no longer count goofing off as my main pastime? Sadly, I suppose so.

I was lucky enough to get a part-time job at a bank well-known here on the east coast (for now I've decided not to name them, in case they are feeling shy and don't want to be discussed here). I know the economy still really stinks, so it was a pleasant surprise to be hired rather quickly once I finally got up the nerve to start looking for work again. Laura will be starting Kindergarten in July, and the Army Man is frequently busy with all things Army-related, namely being deployed and being gone all the time when he isn't deployed. Moxie doesn't seem to have any interest in me beyond food, the occasional run, and door-opening abilities. My Etsy shop is slowing down (my own doing) and I found myself actually being bored during the day (horrors!) So essentially, the time had come.

My first two weeks are full of training goodness, and I have to work full time both of those weeks. That is a big downside, because I have to tell you: I'm two days in, and I'm exhausted. Getting up early is not my thing, and today, to make things even worse, I ran after work. So yes, I really am tired. For real. The only thing making me stay up past 9pm tonight is the fact that LOST is on. And even LOST, beckoning to me with it's confusing plot, might not be enough to tempt me tonight. (Don't worry LOST, I won't actually go to bed early. I'm just being dramatic to get sympathy for how tired I am!)

I don't have too much to report now, other than to say my co-workers are all very nice and helpful, and the work seems like it will be interesting and challenging. I thought for sure they eased new people in nice and slow, but nope! Next week I have to start helping people. Real people, with real money. So in about 4 more days, I have to learn how to work an entirely new computer system, all of the rules and regulations regarding money and banking, how to quickly and accurately count money, how to work a drive-thru with three lanes and those tube thingees that left the west coast about 20 years ago, and how to deal with customers irate over their money (so far there has been one daily). Easy, right? Come back next week to find out if I'm still employed!

PS. Did you like the pun in my title? I am SO proud of myself for coming up with that!

Bubble Dress

2010-02-28T13:21:00.006-05:00

The bubble dress is completed! As I said in my first post about the dress, I have a really hard time using patterns, and this time was no exception. The directions are well-written and the pictures are great, but that still wasn't enough to help poor clueless me. I was so stuck at the end on how to sew the bodice and skirt together in a manner that looked halfway decent, that I ended up having to trek up to our city's quilt store to get some advice. I happened to arrive right when a clothing construction class was finishing, and the instructor took a few minutes to talk with me. That's how nice they are there; she gave me one-on-one attention and some invaluable advice (for free) and seemed happy to do it!

The funny part was that the moment the instructor and I began looking at the pattern together and discussing it, the light bulb went off and I knew exactly what I was supposed to do. The trip wasn't wasted though-I got some great fabric, and an ego boost from everyone who admired the dress. Even better, the instructor told me she has used Oliver + S patterns in the past, and while they make some adorable clothes, the patterns are sometimes lacking in really detailing all the steps to take. So that made me feel better too.

The dress is a lot shorter on Laura than I expected (it is a size 5) so if I make it again, which hopefully I will, I'm going to try to make it longer. It doesn't "bubble" as much as Laura would like, but most people who have made the dress say the same thing. I might try a little bit less elastic next time to make it poof a bit more. As usual, my pictures stink and really don't do justice to the cute fabric (the blue is a tad darker in real life). I think it looks really cute on Laura!

Laura being forced to try it onStarting to enjoy herself more once I allowed her to curtsyThe buttons which also look cuter in real life

The Scream Heard 'Round The World

2010-02-23T19:06:00.003-05:00

What's that? You just heard hysterical screaming? Yeah, that was Laura. See, she had a splinter-a tiny little thing-in her palm, and after several days, it still hadn't worked itself out, and I knew I had to get it out. A nice bath first to soften up her skin, and we were ready to roll. Except that Laura wasn't. I have never met such a strong 5 year old in my life. I COULD NOT unclench her hand. She was screaming and crying, begging me to stop. Not fun. Finally I had to send her to her room so that both of us could calm down. She sat in there, crying that she wished she was six so she could be older and brave.

Eventually she reemerged and we tried again. No dice. I simply couldn't pin her and get it out at the same time. I have to say that splinter-removal is definitely a time when I miss the Army Man. I hate having to do the actual removal and he always handles that, plus the two of us combined are usually strong enough to hold her down. Remember, this is the girl who at nine months old had to have the biggest male nurse in the ER hold her down so the doctor could check her ears. She is strong, she is stubborn, and she is huge wimp. Not a good combination.

Finally my motherly instinct kicked in and I figured out the answer, the answer which is usually the answer to everything with Laura: the TV. We set up camp in front of the TV and she was calm enough to let me poke around for a minute and eventually get it out (or so I hope-I honestly can't tell if I got it or not). Afterward she was proud of herself and her extreme bravery and has been reliving her 'victory' ever since. And after all that, I'll now be dying at age 88 instead of 91.

Updates

2010-02-19T11:02:00.010-05:00

There's not much new here at our house. Our snow melted almost as quickly as it came, but sadly it didn't take the cold weather with it. Laura and I are desperate for some warmer weather! I'm already planning what clothes I want to make Laura for spring, and I've purchased a few patterns. Unfortunately for me, I'm such a visual person that I have a VERY hard time with patterns-no matter how many diagrams there are, it's still not enough. I bought this pattern from oliver + s (I'll make it without the scalloped sides) and I hope it will be just as cute as the pictures, despite my ineptitude with patterns. Stay tuned to see the finished product soon--I hope! I've also been trying to learn how to use my sewing machine to quilt, with terrible results. It would be so much faster and cheaper if I could figure out how to do it and quilt my own quilts, but I'm quickly accepting that it's just not meant to be.

But enough crafty talk, how about some pictures of Laura? I know that's the main draw here! I have a few from Valentine's Day so you can see just how much she enjoyed the holiday.

Heart shaped toast for breakfast (Mommy's idea)With her new dog that Daddy sent (with a little help from Mommy). She named it Cassie.Heart shaped sandwich for lunch (Laura's idea) We also had to use her heart shaped plate.

Fun In The Snow

2010-02-13T09:52:00.010-05:00

It was A LOT of fun.

Oh, THOSE Eyes

2010-02-08T17:26:00.004-05:00

Driving home today, Laura was looking at a library book when she came across something so shocking that her poor 5 year old brain just couldn’t take it: someone had written in the book. Being the stickler for the rules that she is, Laura was appalled. APPALLED! She demanded that I turn around and read what had been written (perhaps in an attempt to track down the perp and dole out some justice). I informed her that sadly, I was driving, and could not turn around to look. In her most exasperated tone, she said, “Well, turn on your back eyes then!”

I’m afraid I had to decline.

This Run Takes The Cake

2010-02-07T11:27:00.003-05:00

I've never used the same post before for both of my blogs, but what I wrote on my running blog today was worth sharing-or at least I think so. Here it is:

So today will go down in history as my closest call yet while running. It's a beautiful, clear day and after all of our rain it was great to go out. I had Laura in the jogging stroller and Moxie on my right, going against traffic as usual. I was still doing my warm up walk and was walking up a small hill near our house when I heard a loud noise behind me. I looked back to see two cars flying up behind me, driving next to each other! I guess they were racing each other or something. The one coming up behind me was an SUV and the driver slammed on his brakes and was able to stop in time (obviously).

I had a few choice words for him, although being the sweet innocent thing I am, I don't think any of them were curse words. He just sat there laughing at me which was just infuriating! I did my run and wouldn't you know it, ran past the house he was parked at. I memorized his license plate and when I got home called the non-emergency sheriff's number to report it. The bad part is that the operator transferred me to 911 (huh?) and I had to give a full report including all of my info. I requested that my information not be revealed should this person be found, but the operator didn't inspire much confidence that that will happen.

So now, in payment for reporting the fact that I almost got squished today, I get the unsettling feeling of wondering if crazy people are about to find out that I narced on them and get my address. What a great run!

The Tiguan At Age 1

2010-02-06T22:15:00.007-05:00

About a week ago I realized that I’ve had my Tiguan for a year now. My higher math skills helped me determine that I’ve put about 17,000 miles on it in that year. I don’t know if that’s a lot or not compared to what other people drive, but I do know how I arrived at that amount:

1 trip to Pennsylvania
1 trip to Disney World
1 drive in the worst rain of my life (Florida, on the way to Disney)
19 million errands (give or take a few thousand)
1 worst parking lot traffic jam ever (after fireworks on the 4th of July)
4 times riding with out of state visitors
1 middle of the night ER trip
6 convoys
2 times being barfed in (both by Moxie)
78 billion food crumbs spilled
1 worst drive ever (dropping off the Army Man for his deployment)
2 trips to Charleston
4 (if that) car washes
15 or so trips to Raleigh for shopping, doctor visits, and wishing I lived there
0 flat tires
0 break downs
0 problems

One year in, and still the best car I've ever had.

Friday Night Sewing

2010-02-05T23:18:00.005-05:00

I've been feeling very crafty lately, and just wanted to share two things that I worked on tonight. The first is a baby quilt that I cut out a while back, and finally got all sewn together tonight. I think it looks so much better in person, because photographing quilts at night in a badly lit room just doesn't work out so well. It's made with some of my favorite Amy Butler fabrics, and I hope to get it quilted and listed in my shop soon. Unfortunately for me, I don't know anyone about to have a baby girl, so no one I know can benefit from it. The moral here is that my friends and/or relatives need to get cracking and provide me with a baby girl to sew for. The next thing I made tonight is a little Valentine's themed bag for Laura. I bought her a cute little stuffed dog for Valentine's Day, which had the added appeal of coming in a cute little gift bag. Sadly for me, the cashier at Target was so clueless and kept ringing up the dog and the gift bag separately, and would not be convinced otherwise that there was no way in the world the gift bag cost $5.99 by itself. She was very perplexed as to why the dog cost less ($4.99) but just did not get it that the set was $5.99 or the dog by itself was $4.99. The worker at the customer service desk was equally as confused, and I'm sure they both had a good laugh about the crazy lady ranting about the gift bag. They both were stunned by the high price, and didn't blame me at all for opting not to purchase the gift bag.

So the point of the story is that I came home from Target with probably a year chopped off my life due to aggravation, and with a stuffed dog that was no longer quite as Valentine-y without the festive bag. Not to be deterred, I whipped up a little drawstring bag similar to some I had made as Christmas gifts for the moms and sisters in my life. This version is littler but just as cute, and I know Laura will love it, since she loves anything that is even remotely like a purse, bag, or other carrying item. I have another quilt that's in progress, but it's not ready for it's close up yet. Hopefully I'll be back to share it in a few weeks.

The Caulking Wizard

2010-02-01T20:56:00.007-05:00

It's not every day that I can be convinced to buy something "As Seen On TV". But for quite a while I've wanted this nifty little caulking kit I once saw advertised. I'm sure you know the one-it comes with a little blue thingee (the technical term) that allows you to flawlessly finish any edge. They make it look so easy! I asked the Army Man to buy it for me for our 5th wedding anniversary back in 2008, and he never did, so when I saw it today at Walgreen's, I snatched it right up!

I knew exactly what I wanted to use it on, too. The caulk that connects our kitchen counter to our back splash has looked pathetic since we bought the house. It's only gotten worse and worse, and just a few days ago I decided I just couldn't take it anymore. So how fortuitous to see my little kit! It was like a sign that it was time to fix the caulk. I felt a little embarrassed bringing it up to the register, and of course the cashier had to remark skeptically, "I wonder if this actually works".

I started right when I got home from the store, and immediately hit a snag. Trying to remove the existing caulk was like chipping stone. It took forever and made a huge mess. And for whatever reason, chunks of caulk laying around really gross me out. I was so grossed out, in fact, that I dragged our giant shop vac all the way inside to clean up the debris rather than have to touch it myself. Applying the caulk was a disaster too. I practically giving myself carpal tunnel syndrome in the process. Probably not a good idea to use caulk that has been sitting in our freezing garage on the coldest weekend all season! It was so hard to squeeze that stuff out and I now have sore wrists and blisters on both thumbs.

After all that work, the caulking wizard thingee wasn't that impressive. I think I'll lay part of the blame on the weird angle of our kitchen counter-none of the edges on the thingee matched up, so either I would scrape off too much caulk, or too little. The edge I eventually settled on made it look really nice, but also smeared a lot of caulk on the back splash. Once it was all on, I spent close to a half hour and a ton of paper towels trying to make it look good, and I'm not totally sure if I succeeded. I guess I really don't care right now. It looks nice enough, and I sure feel great having accomplished a minor household fix all by myself!

Lost Teeth And Snow--Oh My!

2010-01-30T12:56:00.013-05:00

I'm afraid if you're on my email list (and pretty much every one of my readers is!) all of this will be old news to you. But I'm kind of at a loss for what to blog about, and it's been over a week so I felt like I needed to put something up!

The first thing to report is that Laura lost her first tooth yesterday at school. It had only been loose since Sunday and I really didn't think she would loose it so fast! It happened during playtime in the gym, right before I arrived to pick her up. The teacher said Laura thought she broke off a different tooth and got pretty upset. There was more blood involved than I recall experiencing as a child, and added to Laura's generally dramatic nature, you probably won't be too surprised to hear that when I arrived she was coming out of the bathroom, being attended to by her teacher and the director of the school, both of whom were desperately trying to calm her down.

Once she saw me she became even more upset and it took a while to get her to settle down. I think all the attention wasn't helping either...I can tell when my daughter is actually starting to calm down but is continuing to ham it up for the attention. Sigh. Such is the life of a Mommy to a drama queen. In the end, the suggestion that we email Daddy with her big news was enough to calm her down, and she showed off her new gap to all of her classmates. We took a few pictures at home, something that proved to be much more difficult that I expected.At night Laura wasn't too sure about how she felt about the tooth fairy coming. She had lots of questions-the most important being would the tooth fairy wake her up when she lifted up her pillow. Luckily we had just had a dental appointment the day before and Laura was given a litle plastic tooth, so we used that to house the tooth. Even better news is that after raiding Laura's piggy bank, the tooth fairy was able to deliver the goods in the form of a $2 bill. The tooth fairy also left a teeny tiny little note thanking Laura for her tooth. The tooth fairy thought this was quite a bit of inspired theatrics, and sure enough, Laura loved it.

So not only did Laura wake up to money this morning, but snow too! We have about an inch of snow, but it's very icy and not that great for playing in. Surprisingly it continued to snow for several hours this morning, and the governor of the state has declared a state of emergency-apparently there is about 15 inches in the mountains! We are lucky to not have much snow, but the ice has made the roads pretty yucky, so we are staying home today. Still, I wish I could have seen all the snow plows out on the main roads-definitely not something we ever see here in our part of North Carolina!

Laura attempting a snow angel

Moxie thought licking the snow was the best idea everChecking out what the front yard had to offerMoxie blowing in the windOutside for a second round of fun. It was much colder!

Not Forgotten

2010-01-20T09:46:00.006-05:00

I think one of the biggest fears about death is being forgotten. That all your hard work in life will vanish the moment you’re gone. I just wanted to say today that Grandpap; you’re not forgotten. I didn’t know you all that well, and didn’t see you that often, but I’ve thought about you a lot over the last year. I’ve thought about how interesting life is, how many different amazing things and completely mundane things can happen to a person, and how they all shape who you are. And then you go on to affect the people around you-your spouse, your children, your friends, even strangers.

I don’t know too much about what you were like as a father, but I know what my own father is like, and what a big part of my life he is. He molded me as a child and contributed to what I'm like as a parent, and I know he got a lot of that from you. It’s amazing and wonderful to me that a grandfather who lived across the country from me my entire life had a part in molding my own child. Not to mention that she has your chin.

You are definitely not forgotten.

Sewing News

2010-01-12T00:07:00.004-05:00

Fair warning: this is another craft-related post, so if that's not your bag (baby), turn away now. I wanted to report that almost exactly 24 hours later, the entire quilt top of the Midwest Modern quilt is sewn together and ready to be quilted. Probably not by me though, since I'm not quite that experienced yet.

And the reason for all of the craftiness as of late? Behold:Yes, that's a new sewing machine, and the sewing enthusiasts out there probably won't bat an eye when I say that it cost $700. The rest of you however, are rolling your eyes or gasping in horror (possibly both at once). I'll defend myself by saying that I had birthday and Christmas money, it's a business expense, and I could have spent a lot more. A LOT MORE. There are some crazy expensive sewing machines out there. I also want to point out that my Kenmore that I used to use cost about $150 and I was on my third one.

My $700 bought me 534 stitches which works out to only $1.31 per stitch. Quite a bargain if you ask me. Maybe not such a bargain though since I'll probably only ever use about 3 of those stitches. Still, I can't get over the fact that there is a little computer that helps select your stitch, that it sews some of the nicest, neatest little stitches I have ever seen, and how quiet it is compared to my old one. I've gotten so much sewing done in the last few days. I finally finished up the backing to this quilt, which I started in January 2005, if I remember correctly. It's been shipped off to be quilted. The Midwest Modern quilt was started in December 2008 and is now done and ready to be quilted. See below for the picture which you'll think is the same picture from yesterday, but isn't.So I'm not sure if I have my new machine to thank for all of my current motivation and project finishing, but I suppose I'll give it some of the credit. Next up: about 50 other half done projects and many, many new ones.

Midwest Modern, The Quilt

2010-01-11T00:01:00.004-05:00

Remember the fabric I got for my birthday in 2008? Well it's mostly turned into a quilt! Can you believe it that in just a little over a year I actually got most of it done? Me neither! It turns out that when you actually sit down and sew for more than 5 minutes at a time, you can get some real work done. A good chunk of the work was actually done in the last week, so I'm hoping if I keep up this pace I may get several old projects finished this year, and maybe even a few new ones!

I don't know if you can tell in this picture, but it's not completely sewn together yet-it's all in big sections ready to be finished tomorrow when it's not midnight and I'm not so tired. But most of the work is done and I'm so happy, because this was the weirdest quilt I've ever worked on. I will never, ever use this pattern again! There wasn't really one piece that was similar to any of the others, which made cutting the fabric nearly impossible, and keeping track of everything was a disaster. Most of it was strewn all over my couch for the last few months, so being able to sit on the couch again is an accomplishment in itself.I really have no idea what I'll do with this quilt once it's done. When I started it, I envisioned it as a more grown up quilt for Laura's bed. Now I'm not so sure. It definitely doesn't say "Laura" to me. Any suggestions?

Sew Laura, Sew!

2010-01-07T22:17:00.007-05:00

Laura and I celebrated Christmas this year in California, with our families. It was a wonderful trip, one that I should probably write about, but at a later date. Right now I wanted to share pictures of Laura with one of her new toys.
One day, well before her birthday, Laura and I were at Joann's where she spotted a sewing machine "just for little girls!" It was small, partly pink, and extremely cheap looking, and she just had to have it. It cost a mere $24 and I could have bought it for her right then and there, but she told me that she was going to put it on her birthday list. I was all for that plan, thinking that delayed gratification was something good for her to learn about. I went back later, under cover of darkness, and snatched it right up. I hid it in the garage and completely forgot about it. Seriously. In fact I so totally forgot about it that a few weeks after her birthday, when Laura saw a bag in the garage and asked me what was in it, I had to open the bag to find out (and then quickly snap the bag closed while squeaking out "nothing!" to my very curious daughter).

In the end, the sewing machine was under the tree as a gift from Santa. Laura opened it and was thrilled and told me later that it was just what she always wanted. We finally took it out of the box a few days ago, put in the necessary batteries, and fired it up. She has to use her hand to work the pedal since her legs aren't long enough, and it is loud and I'm fairly certain it will break any day now, but she loves it. Loves it. And I love seeing how happy she is, and that she, the wild and crazy child who jumped three feet in the air today over the mention of a juice box, can sit calmly and sew. She has big plans for a blanket for her babies, but right now is content to just sew in a straight line on the fabric that Santa also provided. Her complete and utter satisfaction with her new toy, along with the shock and surprise of getting just what she wanted was pretty much the best part of my Christmas this year. How DID Santa know to get it for her?

This is my favorite picture. Look how serious she is!

New Year Fashionista

2010-01-01T15:27:00.004-05:00

You all know that I really don't care how Laura dresses herself, as long as she's seasonally appropriate, but I have to admit that I did a double take this morning when she walked in to show off her outfit. She chose her legwarmers, dress shoes, and running socks, along with a dress, necklace, and headband. Her smile told me that she was just so proud of herself, so I told her that she looked beautiful. After accepting my compliments, she pranced off to check herself out in my full length mirror.

I heard a gasp and a "whoa!" and I cringed, thinking that she was about to come to the realization that she looked ridiculous. Instead, I heard these words: "I really DO look beautiful!!"
The picture doesn't really do the outfit justice, but I'm sure you can tell from her pose just how beautiful and confident she felt.

One Year Later

2009-12-31T13:58:00.003-05:00

About a year ago, the Army Man and I (okay, mostly me) decided it was time to add a dog to our family. Through the power of the internet, I located a shelter that had the most adorable little Australian Shepherd puppy I had ever seen. Rocket was his name, and I knew I had to have him, because I only like Australian Shepherds, and I only like boy dogs. Off we went, driving almost an hour and getting horribly lost, all in search of this dog we had never even met. We arrived at the shelter, met Rocket, and were immediately horrified. Adorable, yes, but he was also jumpy, crazy, hyper, biting....mostly, a puppy. All that, combined with the fact that he was about to be fostered at another house, led us to change our minds and look for another dog. I mentioned to the worker a cute orange dog I had seen on their website, and she scurried back to get her. Out came a skinny, silly looking dog that they were calling Foxy. She sniffed us, licked us, let Laura pet her. She came home with us the next day.

Moxie changed everything I thought I knew about having a dog. Having a dog as a child and having a dog as an adult are two completely different things. My childhood dogs were wonderful, and hold such special memories for me. They were fantastic playmates, they were all so nice to us kids, and they would always let me hug them and cry on them. But the experience of having a dog as an adult is so much better. Is that silly? Maybe, but I really don't care. Moxie has enriched my life so much, and I'm so grateful to have her in it. She's my running companion, she's here in the house keeping me company during the day, she's here at night and keeps me from getting too lonely when the Army Man is gone. She is so cute, so fluffy, and SO entertaining. She never judges me when I eat late at night, as long as I share a bit with her. She sleeps right at my feet under the computer, and will follow me from room to room. She causes her fair share of trouble, and seems to enjoy ignoring me when I call her. She is far too obsessed with squirrels for her own good. The way she greets me after a separation of any length is truly flattering. Love from a dog is a wonderful thing to have in your life.So, Moxie celebrated her "birthday" on December 28th. I decided that she is 3. I hope I'll continue to be loved and harassed by her for many more years.

How To Make A Stocking In 43 Minutes

2009-12-14T18:54:00.021-05:00

In the Army Man's family, the stocking is one of the most important parts of Christmas morning. It's the first thing opened (such a foreign concept to this girl who always opened hers last!) and it is always stuffed full of goodies. Since the Army Man won't be with us for Christmas this year, I realized that his stocking would have to be shipped to him. But that's a risky endeavor, and I just couldn't stomach the thought of mailing his precious childhood stocking halfway around the world. I mean look at it:
That thing is simply irreplaceable. The Army Man loves his stocking and I would never forgive myself if something happened to it. So one day, less than an hour before picking Laura up from school, I decided to make him one. Yes, I know I could have just bought one at Target for $5. I even saw those stockings with my own eyes when I went there to buy gifts to put in the stocking I made. But I had this ugly Christmas fabric laying around and no other use for it. Plus, like women who cook for people as a sign of their love, I craft for people. So making a stocking for the Army Man is the Claire equivalent of grilling a delicious steak and mailing it to him. Which really wouldn't be a good idea. Hence, the stocking!

Making this stocking was quick and easy. The only thing that slowed me down was me taking pictures of my progress, because right when I started, I decided to write a stocking "tutorial" in case any of my readers are inspired to do make one. If you're an experienced sewer, please hide your eyes from my silly instructions. If you're a novice sewer, please feel free to be wowed by my excellent sewing skillz.

To start out, I simply folded my fabric in half, right (patterned) sides together. I had a yard of fabric on hand and that was plenty to also make a lining for the stocking. I used the stocking I already had as a template, but you could certainly just cut one free hand. Place the stocking on the fabric, and cut around it.Do this twice; once for the outside, once for the lining. Since your fabric was folded in half, you'll end up with 4 cut outs of the stocking. Next measure the approximate length of the top of the stocking, double it, and add about two inches. Use this measurement to cut a length of fabric that is 2 1/4 inches wide and as long as you came up with through your higher math. In my case, mine was about 19 inches long (8.5 plus 8.5 plus 2). If you're interested in making a loop to hang the stocking with, cut another strip of fabric that is 3 inches wide and about 16 inches long.Now take these strips to your ironing board and iron them in half with the wrong (non-patterned) side facing in. Open them back up and fold the sides in to meet that center fold. Refer to picture below. Do this for both strips.
See what I mean? Now, look at your loop fabric. Chances are you'll probably need to cut a few inches off of the length. I think 16 inches ended up being too long, but I can't remember what I cut it down to. Fold it in half and see if you like how long it is. If not, cut off a bit. Don't worry how much, just eyeball it. For JUST the strip for the loop, fold down the end just a bit, and iron it. Clip the corners. Do this on both ends. For the hanging loop, fold the strip in half lengthwise and sew along the open edge to close it. Then fold the strip in half to form the loop, and sew the end. This is going to be a pretty thick bit of fabric to sew through, so make sure you have the correct needle on your machine. Your finished loop should look like this, only better, because my pictures are terrible:Now it's time to sew the stocking. This is so easy, and so fast. With the right sides together, sew a 1/4 inch seam all the way around the stocking, leaving the top open. Back-stitch at both ends. Do this for both the outer part and lining. So you have both sections done. Turn them both right side out and iron the seams to your liking. Then turn one back inside out, and shove it inside the other stocking. Mess with it until it's good enough. You should be seeing the patterned side on both the inside and the outside.

Now it's time to do the trim around the top. Take the trim piece and place it so that it's folded in half and encasing the raw edge of the top of the stocking. Pin it in place.You should have plenty of extra trim. Since you only want it to overlap a little bit, cut one end off diagonally and fold and iron the other end like we did for the loop fabric. Overlap the two ends nicely, and pin in place.Now sew along the entire trim, about 1/4 inch from the edge. If you feel so inclined, you can even use coordinating thread.
Next position the loop to your liking and sew it in place on the inside of the lining.
Lastly, take an awful picture because you just realized you're late to pick you daughter up from school. Fill the stocking with goodies and mail it off to your husband, praying that it gets there in time. But be smart enough to not mention what you actually put in the stocking, just in case he reads your blog.Now that my tutorial is posted, I'm not sure how much use it will actually be to anyone. I realize now I didn't take the right pictures...I took so many pointless ones and totally skipped some crucial steps. But I've always wanted to give writing a tutorial a try, and I have to admit it was fun to attempt to share my idea. I also want to say that looking at that final pictures makes me realize that looks nothing like a stocking but rather a misshapen boot or something. Luckily for me my recipient was a man, and the Army Man at that. There's no way he'll notice what it looks like. He likely won't even realize that I made it.

Bad Hair Day

2009-12-09T18:30:00.009-05:00

We have issues with our hair in my family. Whether you're born into the family, marry in, or are adopted (I'm talking to you, Moxie), our hair is crazy. My hair is ridiculously thick and wavy-but not curly, because that would be cute and much easier to go with. I'm one of those people who gets her hair thinned intentionally, and still probably has more hair than most normal people. The Army Man's hair is thick and poufy. Laura's hair isn't thick yet, but it is wavy once it passes her chin, has a cowlick in the front, and it generally looks like I NEVER wash or comb it. Moxie, as I'm sure you can all tell, has her own set of issues. Namely that she has incredible amounts of fur.

May 2009

I know you can all tell that for yourselves based on pictures I've shared in the past. But there are depths to her fur that can't be gleaned from photographs alone. I'm sure you'll take my word for it when I say that girl has serious fur. She hasn't had her fur cut in a while, and her mane is coming back with a vengeance. It really cracks me up, because what other dog do you know that looks like that? She really is in a class by herself. I prefer Moxie with longer fur, but the Army Man doesn't (hence the shaving debacle of the summer). Since he's not here right now, there's nothing he can do about it, and my dog will continue to look like a lion for as long as I desire.

One problem about letting her fur grow that I didn't forsee: her fur starting to mat. Mostly behind her ears, since that has such a high concentration of fur. Even more curious (and cuter) is that her fur back there is wavy. She really is a member of the family! Petting her today revealed a gigantic mat that I couldn't let go unchecked. I decided it was time for me to perform some minor surgery and cut that sucker out. Of course I unwisely decided to do this a) while wearing black pants b) while Moxie was still wound up from playing and c) while Laura was in possession of a squeaky toy. Getting Moxie to lay still was the most challenging thing I've done all week, and I was so worried she was going to squirm right as the scissors were poised above her ear, and next thing I knew I was going to have a one-eared dog. In the end she finally calmed down, the mat was cut out, and Moxie's right ear felt considerably lighter. The thing that cracks me, and the whole reason I had to share this, is that despite the giant amount of fur I cut out:

You still can't tell!! She looks EXACTLY the same.

She really does have a lot of fur. I think January will find Moxie at the groomer getting a shave and a hair cut. I think she looks so goofy with short fur, but the upside is that it's always fun having people stopping to ask me if she's a fox.

Turning 30 Is Easy

2009-12-08T19:16:00.014-05:00

Turning 30 is easy to do when….

Your very first birthday wish comes in the morning from your daughter, still blinking the sleep from her eyes.

You receive beautiful flowers from your parents….…and your deployed husbandYou have (several) friends treat you to dinner You receive so many thoughtful cards and giftsYou have a delicious and extremely professional looking cake to eatYour sister sets up a blog for the sole purpose of having tons of people wish you a happy birthday
You have friends come from far away to celebrate with youYou have friends willing to get a little goofy with you You get a little goofy yourself…

I've been 30 years old for six days now. So far, so good. No additional wisdom yet, so this post ends here.

One Is One-derful

2009-11-29T22:19:00.010-05:00

Several things have been said to me over the last few days on the subject of only children that I finally gave in to writing a post about it. I’ve thought about writing about this subject before and I’ve always backed away because even though I love sharing about the minutiae of my life, I am always reluctant to speak too freely about certain personal subjects. But this subject is very important to me, so I feel compelled to talk about it.

Growing up, I never questioned that I would be the mother to several children. I never really felt I had any special skills or gifts. What I was good at was mothering. I received compliments all the time from grownups (one of the best things a kid like me could have ever asked for!) about how caring I was, how I would be such a good mom when I grew up. I am the oldest of four. My youngest sibling is almost 14 years younger than me, so I got some definite hands-on experience when it comes to babies, diapers, temper tantrums, and being barfed on. I’m bossy, organized, neat, and a control-freak. Perfect mom material! The Army Man is the second of five boys. Large families run in the family, so to speak. I really did come to believe that my purpose here on earth was to raise several well-adjusted children, each of whom went on to be productive members of society.

And then I had Laura. This has nothing to do with her; it has everything to do with me.

I realized almost instantaneously that being a mother was harder than I could have ever predicted. I wanted to fall in humble worship at the feet of my mother, my grandmothers, and the Army Man’s mother. I knew, probably when Laura was just a few days old, that my desire for 3 or 4 kids (was I mad?) had fallen to just two. But still I knew that I HAD to have two children. You don’t just have one kid. It’s just not done. Those kids are spoiled, bratty, and unfit for society, right? And mothers who can only handle one child aren’t really mothers. And I wanted to be a real mother-as opposed to the kind of fake mothers that give birth to a child and raise that child, but never get full “mother” status since they have only one child.

I don’t want to go into all the details about why or when I finally started to think that not having any more children was a good idea. We certainly thought about having another (because it was the right thing to do), and tried for a while. Nothing came of it, and it became known between the Army Man and I that we were done. Our families were quietly supportive, although I always knew that another child was hoped for on our behalves by many loving people. The decision was a personal one between the Army Man and I, and it is one that has proven to be the best thing for our family. I suppose if anyone is to blame, it’s me, but I also feel that it is me who has suffered the most at the hands of this decision. I wrestled for a very long time with deep feelings of failure and guilt over not fulfilling what I believed to be my destiny. If I couldn’t do the one thing I thought I was here to do, then what am I here for? What good am I to the world? Why is having a child so much harder for me than other women? Are they truly better moms, better women than me? Sometimes I feel like I still don’t know the answers to those questions.

Having an only child is an interesting life. I feel like I am constantly expecting more of Laura, because I know that there are plenty of people who already have opinions about her because of her lack of siblings. When she had temper tantrums as a 2 year old, the day care workers told me it was because she didn’t have siblings. I'd say it was because she was 2, and has inherited my temper. And if she had had a sibling at that point, I’m sure the sibling would have been an infant and would not have been teaching Laura any of the things that siblings are magically supposed to teach you. We occasionally get questions from strangers and acquaintances. They all want to know when we’re having another baby. When I say that we’re not, the looks and comments are surprising and sometimes hurtful. Think of what you’re doing to Laura, they tell me. I want to know what exactly I’m doing to her, other than loving her and raising her the best I can. I’ve often been told that I HAVE to have another child. Why, because some stranger tells me to? That’s a great reason if I’ve ever heard one.

It saddens me that so many people feel so negatively towards only children. Do they not realize that those mean things they're saying are being said about my daughter, my sweet little girl? And sometimes within earshot of her? Why is it acceptable to repeat negative stereotypes about a certain class of people? When will comments about only children be considered just as rude and un-PC as comments about people’s race or religion? Would the mother of three find it okay if I started spouting off about how the youngest kid in a family is just a spoiled brat who has everything handed to them? I think not. So forgive me for my attitude when people start bashing only children-that's my daughter you're talking about, and I won't stand for it.

Even more interesting to me, which I think most people don't stop to ponder: it's not Laura who requested to be an only child. My family planning is not up to my 5 year old, so why should she be punished for it? If people want to tell me about what a horrible parent I am, and how I'm so cruel to my daughter, that's one thing. I'm an adult and I can take it. But it's not fair and not acceptable to tell me things that are wrong with Laura since she's an only child. It has nothing to do with her. And if she does grow up to be a spoiled brat who can't share, it will be because I raised her that way, not simply because she has no siblings. The most current research shows over and over again that most only children are very similar to the first-born child in families with multiple children. Speaking as a first-born child, I say that's just fine with me.

When strangers fawn over Laura, talking about how cute and sweet and well-mannered she is, the inevitable question always is-do I have other children? Once I answer no, some become appalled and demand that I MUST have another. And I wonder; does Laura suddenly seem less cute and less sweet and less well-mannered now that they know I don’t have 2 other kids at home?

Someone recently told me that Laura wouldn’t be able to be empathetic if she didn’t have siblings. You mean my daughter who cries when I hurt myself? My daughter who worries about her friends if they have a bad day at school? My sweet little girl who spent one entire day last week giving pep talks to the trouble-maker in her class? And the whole stereotype of only children not being able to share and play nicely with other children? That theory has been dashed to the ground over and over again by Laura. A recent playtime with some of her friends gave me this gem, straight from her mouth: “Why don’t we all share the doll house so everyone gets to play?” That stopped the squabbling of her guests (who are older than her, and siblings to boot!)

Having siblings is wonderful. I have some and they’re all lovely. Sometimes I’m so ridiculously sad that Laura doesn’t have that in her life, but siblings are no guarantee of happiness. Siblings are no guarantee of anything. Siblings are not the be all, end all, in a child’s life. I refuse to have another child simply to give Laura a sibling. I would only have another child if that is what the Army Man and I decided was right for us, the ones who would be raising and caring for that child.

And to reference the title of my post, there are so many wonderful things about having an only child. I don’t want to start listing them all here, because I might make people with multiple kids jealous! Suffice it to say, we are a happy family, and Laura is a happy and well-adjusted little girl. Isn’t that all any parent wants for their child?

(And of course I have to add the caveat that this isn’t to say that I might not have another baby someday. Who knows? I’m only 29 and thus far my life has been the exact opposite of how I planned it. But whether I end up the mother of one child, or ten, I will always say that only children are wonderful.)

Modern Women Of Sewing

2009-11-19T23:14:00.005-05:00

Oh, how I wished closer to New York and could attend this Modern Women Of Sewing event. I suppose I am somewhat modern, and I do sew after all. Those three presenters? Well, they're awesome and hip and downright famous in the modern sewing world. And they'll be speaking, for free, at a library! Even though I can't attend, I'm pretty tickled to see that these busy women are participating in such a great event. I wonder how likely it is that they will come to North Carolina next.

Ring Of Fire

2009-11-10T16:36:00.006-05:00

It's been a while since Laura has serenaded the blogosphere. Luckily for each of you, I caught her on video last night singing along with one of her favorite songs. I'm not very good at filming her all stealth-like, and she figured out pretty quickly what I was doing. So be sure to imagine her belting it out much more enthusiastically than she is here, since she felt "shy" once I started filming. Without further ado, Laura chaneling Johnny Cash.

Beautiful North Carolina

2009-11-06T12:29:00.006-05:00

It's been almost 5 years that I've lived here in North Carolina. Falling in love with North Carolina isn't hard. It's beautiful. The Army Man and I often talk about how much we love it here. It's been a wonderful place to start our lives as a family. It feels like home. That's not to say that we don't miss California. Because of course we do. We miss our families, first and foremost. We want to live close to them and see them on every holiday and birthday. We want Laura to know them better than just through phone calls and the occasional visit. Sometimes I want that life so badly that it brings me to tears.

But one thing I've learned is that the quickest way to an unhappy life is to focus on the negatives. When I start complaining about how much I miss California and our families, it makes it a lot harder to love living in North Carolina. And that's not fair, because it's wonderful here. Nature in North Carolina is fantastic: the seasons change and we even get leaves falling to the ground, along with the occasional snow day. The "liberal Californian" in me can't help but chuckle when the marquee at the Shell station reminds me to pray daily. The Army Man and I have had the opportunity to buy a home, something that probably never would have happened back in the land of half-million dollar starter homes. And like California, we have it all-the beach and mountains. We're close to so many things and since we've lived here we've had the chance to visit Florida, South Carolina, Washington DC, Pennsylvania and New York. We've even talked about retiring in North Carolina. It's been a wonderful 5 years here, and I look forward to at least a few more, if the Army is willing.

The local lake just about two miles from our home.

Halloween 2009

2009-10-31T21:14:00.014-04:00

You know what's a really bad idea? Taking your daughter to Joann's to just "look" at Halloween costume patterns. Because you're not leaving without a pattern and a promise, A PROMISE, to make your daughter a Snow White costume. That's what happened to me this summer. I've never made Laura a costume before, but luckily I was smart and started working on it a long time ago, took my time, and made it perfectly.

Okay, so obviously that is a lie. Yes, I bought the pattern and made the promise back in June, but I didn't start working on the costume until the 20th. Of October. It was really, really hard and I don't ever want to do that again. But somehow I managed it. The inside of the costume looks absolutely horrendous, but I really don't care. Laura seemed to really like it, and I thought she looked adorable. She makes a good Snow White. I really wish she could wear it again next year, but I don't think it will fit, and I get the feeling that I'll be making another promise this coming June.

Laura posing with our pumpkinsWith a better smile this timeMoxie didn't want to be left out, so she her picture taken while looking extra cuteWith Daddy at the local "Trunk-Or-Treat"Mommy and Laura getting excited about candy

Reenacting the hot dog photo from last year

We had a great time tonight and are now the proud owners of way too much candy. Also, for those who care, my hair is not black like the picture might have you believe.

My First Kidlife Crisis

2009-10-24T20:02:00.021-04:00

kidlife crisis n (2009): a period of emotional turmoil that occurs when a parent realizes that his or her once tiny baby is no longer so tiny, and has reached a previously unimaginable age. The parent views this marching of time as unacceptable. Longing for the child's younger days, the parent may spend hours browsing old photographs, watching home movies, and sighing over babies.*

So, I've experienced my first kidlife crisis. It started back in September, when the preparations for Laura's birthday began. I really couldn't believe she was about to be five. Five is old. Five is a big kid, not a baby. Five is the age that other kids are, but not my little girl, no sir. She's a baby and will be staying that way. Not that I think she's an infant, or treat her as such, but when I see a lady out and about with a baby in an infant carrier, sometimes I find myself thinking, "Isn't that nice that we both have babies." Then I realize that my baby is actually off at pre-K and she weighs 35 pounds and just that morning had a discussion with me about our dog's uterus (note: oh yes, we really did have that conversation!) Not such a baby anymore, I suppose.

I imagine I'll have similar crises as she gets older. The Army Man and I always joke about what trouble she's going to be as a teenager, and I don't doubt it. But I truly can't even imagine what that will be like. No more than I could have imagined her as a 5 year old when she was brand new. It's simply unfathomable. I look at her and try to picture her going to elementary school, calling friends on the phone, driving, dating, going to college, getting married, having her own children. But all I see is a little baby, screaming and crying for one reason or another. Or a tiny little girl, laughing that deep, crazy belly laugh that only little kids can manage. It's like "Father Of The Bride", only a million times more so.

And so, as I sat there one night, experiencing my kidlife crisis, I looked through old pictures of Laura and I wrote this piece (or whatever you want to call it). I'm not sure how much sense it makes, but it felt wonderful to write, and I think I'll share it. Be warned: since this post is written by a Mommy about her child, it's going to be a long one.

I’m the brand new mother to a tiny little baby. She’s bald and thin, and she cries all the time. All she ever wants to do is nurse, and she never spits up. Her poop is disgusting and no diaper can hold it in. She must be carried horizontally to the changing table, like an offering, to avoid leakage. She never wants to sleep. Her bouncy seat is what I put her in at 3am to get her back to sleep, to keep her quiet so she doesn’t wake up her grandparents whom we’re living with. Her Daddy is back in Georgia finishing his Army training. He made it in time to see her be born, but had to leave when she was three days old. I’m a disappointed mother. This experience is nothing like what I had imagined: there’s no nursery that I lovingly decorated ahead of time. My husband wasn’t home to run out and buy me ice cream when I was pregnant. I don’t even live in my own house. I’m moving in just a few weeks, across the country, away from my family and friends. I’m sad and scared, but would never tell anyone. I’m a confused mother. I didn’t feel the instant love for my daughter that I thought I should. I don’t feel like a natural. I’m in pain, trying to recover from a childbirth experience that was more traumatic than I ever could have imagined. I feel completely unprepared to be responsible for this tiny, beautiful little girl. I feel young and old all at once. I never knew I could love someone so much.
I’m the exhausted mother of a tiny little girl. She’s one and never sleeps. Eating is a disaster. She’s always choking on her food, and she doesn’t want to use the sippy cup. She’s been walking for almost 3 months now. She hates shoes and always wants to be barefoot. She’s still bald, but she’s gorgeous. Pale white skin and beautiful blue eyes. A tiny little thing, occasionally mistaken for a doll. She is the center of attention everywhere she goes. She waves to strangers and people can’t seem to resist stopping to talk to her. She’s starting to talk, saying “dog” as her very first word. I never knew I could love someone so much.
I’m the exasperated mother of a tiny toddler. She’s two and she’s into everything. She loves to dance. She goes to daycare and is the favorite of her teacher. She gives up the ‘pa-pa’ (pacifier) in exchange for a doodle pad. She gets her tonsils and adenoids removed and can suddenly eat without choking. She’s insanely energetic and always trying to give me a heart attack with her antics-jumping off the couch, playing by the stairs, running away in stores. She starts to grow a little bigger. She learns to use the potty and never has a single nighttime accident. Daytime is an entirely different story. She favors her Daddy yet always calls for me at night. Her smile is so charming and silly, and her pout is just delightful. I never knew I could love someone so much.
I’m the desperate mother of a little minion of the devil. She’s three and has stopped napping. She’s still not sleeping through the night. She’s making me realize the terrible two’s are nothing. She misses her Daddy who’s gone for six months. She cries and screams and whines and makes me contemplate locking myself in my bedroom. She’s getting smarter every day. She knows her last name, she’s dressing herself. She loves princesses. She knows how to use the digital camera and always wants to take pictures. She plays pretend games with me. She tells me hysterical, clever things like, “We have a situation” which make up for all of the grief she gives me. I never knew I could love someone so much.I’m the hopeful mother of a not-so-tiny little girl. She’s four and she’s staring to behave. She’s growing like crazy. She talks all the time. I’m continually amazed by the things that she says. She wants to learn about the human body. She’s sensitive and caring. She loves going to preschool and is friends with all the boys. She loves to sing. She dresses herself and favors her pink tutu and blue boots. She has an imaginary friend named “Little Bug” who is constantly causing trouble. He has to be spanked frequently. She loves playing outside. I never knew I could love someone so much.
I’m the mother of the most beautiful, smartest, funniest five year old girl. She is dramatic. She is outgoing. She is sweet. Something about her personality is magnetic. Her teachers love her. The kids in her class always want to play with her. If we go to a store, the clerks want to give her things (candy seems to be the most popular offering). She prides herself on following the “rules” and loves to discuss other people who don’t. She is very concerned about safety. She’s bossy but not in a forceful way (most of the time). She’s stubborn and wants to get her way, yet continually surprises me with her generous nature. She hates to lose any game we play. She’s extremely sensitive and empathetic, and will cry if someone else is in pain. She hates shots but loves the doctor. Her scream is eardrum piercing. Suddenly she’s interested in babies and loves to hold their hands and help them walk around. I’m shocked that my rough and tumble girl holds their hands so gently and sweetly. She never stops talking. She loves to spell words and will approach me and say in one long drawn out breath, “How to you spell ‘I love you so much and you are my best friend and I want to play with you’?” and expect me to sit there and dictate the entire sentence to her. The excuse “That’s how God made me” is heard frequently from her. She loves drawing and does a better job at it than her mother. She tells me she loves me and it's the best feeling in the world.

I never could have imagined what having a child would be like, but it’s fantastic. Loving someone so much is easy when she’s Laura.

*A million kudos and thanks to my friend Angela for coming up with this oh-so-clever name. I think it's a stroke of genius. I do however, give myself credit for writing the definition.

October 8th

2009-10-08T13:05:00.012-04:00

I'm really having a hard time believing that Laura is 5 today. When did this happen and where did my tiny baby go? I'd like to write more on the subject, but today is so busy, and tomorrow we're going out of town for a while, so hopefully I'll be able to post a belated birthday post when we get back.

October 8, 2004October 8, 2005October 8, 2006October 8, 2007October 8, 2008
October 8, 2009

A Beautiful Wedding

2009-10-05T17:37:00.011-04:00

We spent the weekend in Charleston again, this time to celebrate the wedding of my cousin Shirley. The wedding was so much fun! Shirley looked breathtaking and the ceremony was so sweet and heartfelt, filled with plenty of laughter (my favorite type of ceremony!) It was held at a beautiful house by the water, and the food was delicious. I got to see some relatives that I haven't seen for quite a while, which was awesome. Laura got to play with all of her cousins, and the Army Man even went so far as to dance with me. Must have been something in the drinks….

As usual I did a terrible job of taking pictures. I never remembered to get a picture of the three of us together. In fact, I don’t have any good pictures of us! I can vouch for us though-Laura was adorable, the Army Man looked great and my dress was very cute (at least I thought so). Enjoy the few pictures I did take!

Laura and Daddy before the ceremonyLaura and Mommy before the ceremony

Shirley dancing with her father

Sam and Fisher not understanding what all the fuss is about

Eden and Estelle, proving that our family produces the most adorable kids

Laura and Campbell at the brunch after the wedding

Serging Ahead

2009-09-28T18:48:00.007-04:00

Want to see something that’s intimidating to even a somewhat experienced seamstress?
That’s right, a serger. I’m terrified of it. Or correction, I was. Until I saved up my pennies, bought a relatively cheap one (don’t want to make my cheapo sewing machine from Sears jealous) and decided that there is absolutely no reason to be afraid of a machine. If even it does have two needles, four spools of thread, 2 knives to cut the fabric (and possibly your finger), 2 owner’s manuals and 2 instructional DVDs, and a host of other weird accessories.

A serger is a type of sewing machine, I suppose. It doesn’t sew just a straight stitch; you still need a traditional sewing machine for that. This is the machine that makes clothes look really professional. If you’re wearing a shirt right now-and I hope you are because I prefer my readers not be topless-then you can check out the hem of your shirt and see what I mean. All that stitching, that looks all complicated and fancy-it’s what’s keeping the fabric from unraveling when it’s washed. And now, that’s a look I can achieve on my dresses. It probably won’t be quite as nice as some manufactured clothes (I’ve heard some sergers have up to 10 different threads going at a time!!) but I made a test dress while using it, and I’m really pleased with the results.

Look at that stitching!

It also goes ridiculously fast, and so far it’s definitely cut down on my sewing time. Although having to go back and forth between my two machines is something I’m still getting used to, and I don’t quite have it all down to an exact science yet. I'm sure if I videotaped my sewing process and sped it up, it would be quite entertaining. Here's to hoping that soon I'll be churning out dresses like crazy!

The Revenge Of The Fly

2009-09-23T18:17:00.008-04:00

This California girl is well-versed in the agony and frustration of ants. Those obnoxious little buggers that seem to find whatever food you leave out and descend upon it. Those little devils that have no issue breaking into your garage, your pantry, even your bedroom-just ask my brother Kurt about the time he went to put on his pajamas as a kid only to discover them COVERED with ants (we were puzzled as to why the pajamas appeared to be moving). They are everywhere. They are unstoppable. They are….nothing, NOTHING, compared to flies.

A simple line of ants, so simple to spray with some ant spray and kill. What I wouldn’t give for that pest problem! Here, not only do we have horrible fire ants outside, but the inside of our houses are constantly being overrun by flies. I’m starting to suspect there is a tiny little fly door in one of my windows (I imagine it like a tiny doggie door, only made out of netting that can easily been flown through). It is ridiculous how many flies I have to deal with on a daily basis! Days that involve outside playtime are the worst. I might as well stand at the door and just usher them in and get it over with:

"Please, come in! I can offer you some leftover crackers that Laura left in a bowl by the couch, and I’m sure there are plenty of crumbs on the carpet. Don’t forget to stop by Moxie’s bowl for a quick drink and browse the kitchen counter for tasty morsels that I may have overlooked! It’s also a delightful day for buzzing around my head as I cook, so be sure not to miss that opportunity."

Sometimes they appear out of nowhere, when the door hasn’t been opened for hours. They always seem to locate the nearest human and incessantly buzz them. When they’re invading, eating inside my house is like eating at outside at a picnic. You can’t leave anything edible out, because you know the fly is landing on it and doing a little dance just to spite you, just to show you the power it holds over you. Ants thinking of attacking your food? No big deal, just move the food to another spot. Flies bent on sampling your pot roast? Well, you better shovel it down because the flies will land on it, even as you eat it. The rest of the dinner, still hot in the pan on the stove? Transfer it straight to the fridge, food safety be damned! That’s the only way to keep it safe, unless one gets into the fridge (yes, that has happened to me).

It’s amazing how much your life can start to revolve around flies. It’s not uncommon for the Army Man and I to stand in the kitchen chatting while one of us holds the fly swatter. We've started complimenting each other on particularly gory or spectacular kills. The best is the mid-air swat. Yep, we've both managed to snatch a fly’s life during flight. It’s awesome. Laura’s method is to trap the fly between the window and the blinds, and smush. There is usually sound involved, followed by the victory shouts of my bloodthirsty daughter. I always discourage this, but I won’t deny having resorted to it myself. Moxie tries to help, chasing them and snapping at them. That form of entertainment is the one redeeming fly trait.

I’ve had flies rise from the dead and fly out of the trash can once I open it to deposit another of their deceased brethren. I’ve had a few fly relationships last days or more…a few days after a madly buzzing fly zips around the kitchen, I’ve found it limping along in my bedroom or laying pathetically on the stairs. I feel no sympathy as I kill it-only disgust wondering where it was all those days and if it was walking on me as I slept.

Today’s tally stands at nine killed, an undetermined number still at large. I can't wait for the winter.

Charleston Trip

2009-09-16T09:46:00.013-04:00

It's not often that the Army Man informs me that we are taking a weekend trip anywhere, so when he does, I say "yes please!" without even worrying about where we're heading. He chose a great spot to go last weekend-Charleston, South Carolina. He went a few weeks back on some training and had a great time, and he wanted to go back again with the whole family (except Moxie. Sorry, dog). It was a short trip, just Friday-Sunday, and although I was momentarily afraid for our safety when I saw our hotel, it was a fantastic trip!

If you live in California, surely you know of the Roxford exit off of the 5? Well that should give you an idea of what the area our hotel was in was like. Charleston is a beautiful town, so we were quite shocked when our directions directed us to a rather shabby looking hotel in an even shabbier part of town. Inside the hotel and was nice and clean, and with the Army Man there to protect the family, I knew we would be fine. But I learned my lesson about booking hotels online!

Friday we walked around in the beautiful downtown area and ate dinner right by the water. Saturday we hit up the aquarium and the beach. The aquarium was nice but small, and the four penguins that call the aquarium home were the saddest looking bunch I've ever seen. They made me much too sad to enjoy them, even though Laura kept reminding me how much I like penguins (in case I forgot). Right next to the aquarium was a small Ft. Sumter museum with the tattered remains of the giant American flag that once lived at Ft. Sumter. A replica hung on the wall-it was gigantic!

After that, we went to the beach which was so much fun. It was ridiculously crowded, but the water was very warm and the weather was great. We all went pretty far into the water and I was loving it until a wave knocked me over and swept away my sunglasses. The Army Man and I searched in vain for them-the most perfect sunglasses I've ever owned. Later, I rested on the sand while Laura and the Army Man went far, far into the water to see just how tense Mommy could get. At one point they were out farther than anyone else! But of course Laura loved it and the Army Man was pleased that his plan to torture me worked. That evening we visited all too briefly with my cousin Shirley and her daughter Eden. Eden just turned 2 and is so stinkin' cute! Laura was too glued to the TV to pay much attention to Eden, and it was weird for me seeing that Laura really is a big kid now-she looked so much older and bigger than Eden.

Sunday was a lazy day for us and we never did make it to Ft. Sumter. I guess we'll have to save that for the next trip! Now, what you've all been waiting for: the pictures. I have a ton of Laura from the beach, and couldn't decide which ones were the best, so I posted a lot. Enjoy!

Laura and Daddy, enjoying dinner by the water Me at dinner, getting the obligatory photo take to prove I was thereThe USS YorktownThe source of my near panic attackLooking at Ft. SumterLaura being cute

The Gospel Truth

2009-09-12T22:01:00.004-04:00

According to Laura, after she stumbled over the words in a song:

I am not a professional singer because I'm not that good, but I am a professional draw-er.

PS. We are currently delighting in all that Charleston, SC has to offer our family. Since we love history, shopping, the beach, and cool architecture, it turns out it has quite a bit to offer. I'll post pictures soon after we return home, provided I don't die of a panic attack when we have to drive over yet another of the highest and longest bridges I have ever seen. My water and heights phobias have never been better, thanks for asking!

You See What I'm Dealing With

2009-09-08T17:43:00.002-04:00

Poor Laura, dealt a boring mother who doesn't ever seem to want to play, and when she does play, doesn't do it right. Laura is even forced, on occasion, to entertain herself or clean her own room. To make up for these injustices, is Laura given a pool? A pony? A cell phone? Even a TV in her room? No. None of these requests have yet to be granted.

When Laura's mother has the audacity to ask for a few quiet minutes to get ready to go out to dinner, how does Laura respond? With complaints, harassment of her mother, and the sporadic karate chop, naturally. When her mother, who can't take it a moment longer, tells her to go find something to do or else be forced to clean the kitchen floor, how does Laura respond?

"That sounds like fun!"

Vogue!

2009-09-01T19:24:00.008-04:00

Poor Laura. She's been forced to be my model these last few months as I've attempted to take cute pictures of my creations to put on my Etsy site. It's really been tough on her-you know how much she hates the spotlight. And how much she detests getting her picture taken. Oh wait, that's me I'm thinking about! In reality, Laura has absolutely loved getting to model my clothes for me, except for the times I interrupt her during an important task (usually coloring). I usually get a few cute pictures that I can't post on Etsy but seem too good to waste, so I thought I'd post a few of them here. The first two are of my latest shirts.

All of these poses are her own doing, naturally.

I love her faux surprise in this one.Oh so sweet. Yeah right.

I'm sure I'll be back soon with more, seeing as I don't think Laura will EVER tire of getting her picture taken.

Laura's Sewing Creation

2009-08-31T20:34:00.008-04:00

Today I was working on a new appliqued shirt, and Laura wanted to help. When she was younger, she was easily bought off with a piece of fabric and a needle; she would "sew" in that manner for a good 30 minutes. Recently we progressed to actual thread in the needle, and she would just pull it in and out of the fabric. Today however, she would not be placated with any of those options. She wanted to sew something onto fabric, preferably the shirt I was working on. I was able to convince her to sew with a piece of fabric of her own, so I cut out a little flower from one of my scraps, gave her the threaded needle, and told her to have fun.

She came to me a few times needing me to re-thread the needle (can't wait for her to be able to do that on her own!) but other than that I didn't hear anything from her for about 20 minutes. When she came back, this is what she had created.

(Click picture to enlarge)

I have to admit, I was pretty amazed. I didn't think it would occur to her how to sew the flower on. She did a great job, and even wrote everyone's name (in marker) on the fabric. I promised her I would share her handiwork on my blog, and I'm proud to do so. Pretty good for a 4 year old, right?

Our Empty Nest

2009-08-26T17:54:00.012-04:00

I've been meaning to write a post about this forever, but naturally life got in the way and I'm just now going through all of our pictures that tell the story. This summer our front porch played a big part in the start of a new family, and we were honored to get watch it all unfold in front of our eyes.

One day in June, a robin showed up on my front porch and made a HUGE mess while making the poorest excuse for a nest I have ever seen. It was badly constructed-basically a few pieces of long grass laid in a line, and was an embarrassment to robins everywhere. I was in a bad mood that day and the messy porch made me madder. I pulled down all the twigs she had gathered and made short work of her "nest". I know, I know. It was a horrible thing to do. Well, this robin was a girl after my own heart, because not only was she not dissuaded from building her nest, but she decided to prove herself to me and built the cutest little nest I have ever seen. It was quite incredible watching her bring all of her materials and stomp on them to make them into a nest. When she was finished, it was as if she had bought it in a store, it looked so perfect.

Laura was thrilled with this development, and I couldn't very well go and remove such a nice nest, so we figured we were about to watch nature at work. And we were. From what we (and by we, I mean the Army Man who was the only one brave enough to climb onto the porch railings to look) could see, she laid 4 eggs. One day in July, the Army Man called me on my cell phone to give me the exciting news...the babies were here! Three of the eggs hatched and two babies lived. It was simply incredible watching the bird's development first-hand. Our kitchen window looks out onto the porch, and basically any time we went into the kitchen, we would look out onto the porch to see what the babies were up to. They were noisy and always wanting to eat. The problem was that the second the mom saw us through the window, she would fly off. We all tried to be cautious, but we were constantly scaring her off.
As they got bigger, they got bolder. They started checking things out, to Laura's great delight.One of them in particular was always giving me a heart attack, acting like he was going to fall out of the nest, or attempt flying on his own.
Then one day it happened. Almost 7 weeks after the nest was built, I just so happened to be pulling into the driveway after dropping Laura off at day camp when I saw a huge commotion. There were several large robins flying underneath the porch ceiling, and at first I thought they were attacking the babies. I jumped out of the car and ran over, just in time to see something tiny fall from the nest into the flowers below. The babies were leaving home! I shouted for the Army Man who happened to be home, and he ran outside. Our neighbor probably thought we were crazy-I'm pretty sure I was jumping up and down-but I didn't care. I couldn't quite tell if they were pushed out of the nest, or if they left willingly, but they both made it safely into the cushion of my zinnias below.

They flew off almost instantly, and one of them flew to our neighbor's yard, so the Army Man was able to get a picture of the baby before he flew off forever.
Laura took it really hard that they were gone, and that they had had the nerve to fly away when she wasn't there. We all (the Army Man included!) felt sad that the nest was suddenly empty, and that the babies weren't there for us to watch and discuss. It's been over a month and today I caught myself glancing up to the nest to see what the babies were up to. The nest is still there, empty. We decided to leave it in case the mother wants to use it again next year. I hope she will.

Second 1st Day Of School

2009-08-25T11:02:00.006-04:00

Today was Laura's first day of pre-Kindergarten. She had a first day of pre-Kindergarten back in July, at a different (year round) school, but it became apparent rather quickly that the original school was not the right place for her. I feel lucky that she had gotten in to both places, and that both places were free due to state funding. And while I'm all for her getting to learn through play, I do feel a small amount of letter writing and number work is perfectly acceptable for an almost 5 year old. At the first school, they played outside and watched movies. Laura complained that they didn't even do any art, much less "spelling" which is one of her favorite things to do right now. I won't go in to all the details, but suffice it to say, I withdrew Laura from that school a few weeks ago, and we're trying it again at this new school.

So today still had the excitement (and rushing around) that happens on the first day of school, although I could tell Laura wasn't nervous at all. She truly amazes me with how outgoing and confident she is. I hope those are traits that she will always keep, as they seemed to have served her well so far. Plus it makes it really easy on Mommy that she was excited to get to school and sat down at the table and started playing right away. I had to force her to give me a kiss as I was leaving, since she was in the process of checking out the class pet-a guinea pig named Blackie. When I picked her up, she told me that she had been having so much fun that she forgot about going home. So far, she loves her class and her teachers, and they did art on the very first day.

Just Another Day In My Life

2009-08-19T16:36:00.004-04:00

Today has been an odd day. A lady at the vet accused me of giving her dog a "weird" look (which I probably did, because it was one of the ugliest dogs I've ever seen) and I was menaced by teenagers driving a golf cart while on my way home from errands. Loose dogs once again chased me on my run, and I didn't even have Moxie with me. The person in front of me in line at the ATM took so long (canceling transaction after transaction) and started yelling at the ATM. Laura freaked out (I mean FREAKED OUT) over the fact that I have a bathroom "stuck" to my bedroom and she doesn't. Later she gave birth to a puppy that died (and then came back to life).

Sometimes my life is just plain weird.

Fall Dresses

2009-08-13T20:35:00.003-04:00

Once again here I am, offering up my excuses for being too busy to blog. I have been legitimately busy with my Etsy business, which is awesome but leaves little time for anything else. In between filling orders, I made two new dress for my Fall 2009 line. I love saying that I have a "line" of dresses! I'm hoping to add a few more, although not for the next few days since I have a large order to finish up. For those who don't check my Etsy site regularly, here are pictures of my latest dresses. If you've already seen them, sorry! Hopefully you won't mind looking at the pictures again.
Laura is modeling the Halloween dress, which is so cute (in my humble opinion). She's wearing a size 2T which worked out perfectly as a top. The other dress has a tree print, and I have more fabric from the same line that I'll be using for my next dress. On top of that, I'm going to finally work on the jumper pattern that I've been fiddling around with forever. Hopefully I'll be posting pictures soon of Laura in a cute jumper!

The Master Of Surprise

2009-08-07T17:42:00.004-04:00

Please enjoy this short view of life at our house.

The cast: Laura, bug killer and master of stealth and surprise, one average fly, and me, the long-suffering mother.

The scene: The kitchen of our house

Mommy is preparing the healthy and nutritious Friday night meal (aka pizza). Laura is generally harassing her mother until she spots an errant fly.

Laura: Bug, come here! Come here bug! BUG!! I want to kill you, so come here! NOW!

Fly: Bzzzz

Laura: Bug, why won't you come here? I want to kill you! Hold still!

Fly: Bzzzz

Mommy: Laura, do you really think the fly will hold still so you can kill it? And don't I always tell you that bugs don't speak English?

Laura: Okay bug, I don't want to kill you. You can fly on the blinds! (whispers) Mommy, I am trying to trick that bug so I can kill it.

She begins walking around casually and then tries to sneak up on the fly, so she can kill it. With the Popsicle stick she is holding. The fly escapes, naturally.

Laura, much like Shatner in The Wrath of Khan: BUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGG!

Mommy: I need a drink.

And scene.

The Army Man Ages

2009-07-30T09:08:00.010-04:00

The Army Man celebrated his birthday last week, to little fanfare. He was busy with work and didn't leave until pretty late, so Laura and I met him at one of his favorite little places for a quick dinner and some ice cream. I guess this is what happens on birthdays as an adult-life goes on. I prefer everyone to stop what they're doing and celebrate my birthday, but the Army Man is much more mature than me and realizes that's not what usually happens. I think all in all his birthday was pretty good-I know he enjoyed all of his presents, and he loved his dinner. What he's not loving is getting older.

That's right, you can all laugh at him, I'll wait. I laughed plenty too, believe me. Those of you who don't know us personally might not realize that I'm actually older than the Army Man, by about 2.5 years. Yes, shocking I know. I don't think my poor mother will ever recover from that shock. But alas, there's nothing to be done about it now. So as I find myself approaching 30, my dear husband turned a whopping 27 years old and has suddenly decided that he's old.

Turns out everyone he knows in the Army marks age 27 as the year their bodies started breaking down. The Army Man claims he felt a pain in his knee on his birthday, so obviously this urban legend is 100% true. He's started groaning when he stands up. He gets tired easily. Naps are more common. He gets mad at kids for walking on his lawn. He turns the TV up louder than he used to. So maybe he is getting old! But the older he feels, the younger I feel, so Army Man: feel free to keep this up.

And now I have to embarrass him with a few pictures. It's hard to find ones of just the Army Man-most of them seem to have Laura in them.

Before the Bataan Death March in 2004

One of my favorite picture of Laura with her DaddySummer 2007On a jump in 2005

One of my favorite pictures of the Army Man

A silly picture from this month

I could keep going but I suppose I'd better stop there. I spent a lot of time going through my pictures this morning, trying to find the perfect ones to post, and it was actually a very nice trip down memory lane for me. The Army Man and I have known each other for over 11 years and are coming up on our 6th wedding anniversary. All of the pictures I looked at reminded me just how lucky I am to be married to such a funny, smart, sweet (and younger) guy!

Moxie The Goofball

2009-07-27T17:06:00.006-04:00

At night before we go to bed, Moxie usually turns in for the night, exhausted from a full day of chasing birds, eating treats, and being harassed by Laura. It amuses me so much that a dog who is so full of energy during the day can be so exhausted by 8:30pm. This whole summer she has chosen the entryway as her place to rest and I've found her in a number of interesting positions. These pictures are from a few days ago. I was sitting at my desk and looked over and saw her laying down like this...And she stayed that way for quite a while, through many pictures and much laughing on my part. Eventually I called her name and she rolled over a bit, and laid like this for a while, which basically made my day...She looks like a fox posing as a rabbit. Dogs putting their front paws like that just kills me, and the ears completed the overall look for me. I laughed and laughed, and I think I offended her because she got up, moved over about a foot, and sat there looking at me like this...I'm not sure what message she was trying to send me, but I shaped up immediately and stopped laughing at her.

A Visit From Nana

2009-07-23T13:29:00.009-04:00

I'm just now getting my act together to post some pictures from our wonderful visit with my mom. She comes every July, all the way from California to visit her favorite granddaughter (and only granddaughter, but don't tell Laura that!) We all had a wonderful time while she was here, and ate way too much food. Moxie especially enjoyed Nana's visit since she got lots of long walks out of the deal. In fact, she pouted for about 2 days after my mom left-and I'm not making that up. So not only did I have Laura coming down from the high of being spoiled by Nana, but I had a sad dog too. Not to mention the Army Man and I were sad that our babysitter, I mean visitor, had left. I really hate that first day after a visitor departs-the house seems so quiet and empty.

We didn't take too many pictures (I guess we were having too much fun!) but I do have some pictures from our trip up to Raleigh to meet up with her parents. And of course, we have lots of wonderful memories too!

Laura with her great-grandparents

Laura, Nana, Great Grandpap, Great Nana, and Mommy

4 generations of women, and Laura continuing her tradition of making a weird face in this photo

Laura and Moxie showing off their "hug" for Nana

I hope to be back soon with several posts covering our empty (bird) nest, Laura starting pre-K, the Army Man growing old, and some new crafts I've done.

Money And The 4 Year Old

2009-07-15T15:52:00.006-04:00

Laura had her first foray into the world of retail today. She’s been diligently saving up money in her piggy bank, and she finally had enough that I decided to take it off to the bank. To lessen the blow of all of her cash being taken away to be saved for that mythical thing called “college”, I told her she could keep $2 to spend how she saw fit. It just so happened that we were heading to Target after the bank, and the dollar spot at the front of the store was just calling her name. Usually I just pass by that little section, but today it was just what we needed for a little girl with $2 to spend. Here is Laura with her choices.I had to document her choices, because I'm sure someday I'll wonder what it was that she picked when she was allowed to spend her money all by herself. I also have to point out that as a baby, those sort of weird, squishy toys freaked her out to no end. I was pretty shocked that she chose one, but she’s been playing with it all afternoon, so I guess she’s over her fears. Talk about being grown up! Her other choice was alphabet stickers, which I was very pleased she selected. Maybe our attempts at teaching her to read are paying off! I think in reality, she was attracted by the pretty colors and the stickiness factor. Oh well.

Laura got to pay for her order by herself (the sweet cashier welcomed her to Target and treated her like a real customer), and luckily Mommy was there to provide the necessary 14 cents to cover the tax. She was so proud of herself, and was absolutely thrilled with the fact that she got change. AND A RECEIPT! The entire car ride home consisted of her singing a song about her change (a penny) and her receipt. She can’t wait for Daddy to come home so she can show him the receipt. I guess in her mind this makes her grown up? Perhaps the receipt is what really makes her feel like she paid for it herself? I don’t know what the attraction is, but I hope I did some good today in teaching her about money. She’s always been a bit of a saver (don’t know where she got that from) and I really want to encourage that. I’ve been toying with the thought of starting her on an allowance, even though she seems pretty young. If I do, I’m hoping it will get me two things: a daughter who is responsible with money, and a cleaner house.

Laura with her change and RECEIPT!

I HATE Hackers

2009-07-10T23:03:00.005-04:00

I'm not sure if all of you will be able to see it, but on some browsers, my cute brown background is gone, and now this garbage is showing up:

Click Here To View The Crap

This is so frustrating for me. Not only is there something showing up that I didn't put on my blog, but when I tried to report it to Blogger, their help site takes me around and around in circles, never letting me report it. Argh! On top of all this, my Hotmail email account that I've had since 2003 was hacked a few weeks ago, sending spam to all my dear family and friends. I had to delete all my contacts so they weren't spammed again, which wasn't that big of a deal since I have gmail now. The big deal was that I had to delete all of my old emails-I couldn't stomach the thought of these weirdos in my email, reading things written between me and my family and friends.

And worst of all-all of the sweet emails that the Army Man had sent me over the years, gone. Emails about silly, mundane things, yes, but still, they were our modern form of spousal correspondence. Discussions about what to have for dinner, what movie to watch, or how annoying our jobs were, are all gone. I kept a few from before Laura's birth when he was in Georgia and we were frantically trying to arrange for him to get to California in time for her birth (he made it, but more on that another time). Everything else, (68 pages worth) I deleted. I was, and still am, furious that someone accessed my personal information. It's like someone broke into my house and read all my love letters and old cards. To have it happen twice in such a short time is doubly upsetting.

I suppose I'm lucky that it wasn't my bank account, but honestly, I would have almost preferred that. Inconvenient, yes, but send me some new bank cards, refund the charges, and I'm good to go. Instead, I lost almost 4 years of emails and now have an ugly blog background that doesn't even make any sense. I think I'll go read my new Entertainment Weekly about Harry Potter and try to calm down.

Update: Here's an article with a few details about what happened. Apparently ImageShack, which hosts the images for my blog (whatever that means) was hacked by this Anti-sec movement to try to make their point with their manifesto. I think it's interesting how quickly the internet caught wind of this-people are talking about it like mad on all sorts of websites.

No Time To Blog!

2009-07-05T13:14:00.021-04:00

This has been a busy summer-so busy that I haven't had time to post much. But I have plenty of excuses! Such as, you ask? Well, let me fill you in!

Laura had a month's worth of this, although we missed several times

I did some of this

Moxie did this while I was painting

Then the Army Man did this for the whole deck and fence

We've been keeping our eyes on this new addition to our porch

Then Moxie had her first one of these at home, and wasn't happy about it
We've done this a bunch of times, to my stomach's great joy

Moxie has hung out by the A/C a lot

I've manged to make a new dress
And something else newThen yesterday we had some visitors!

They took a picture of us in our 4th of July outfits (the Army Man's was the best)

We met up with friends for fireworks
The Army Man and I enjoyed ourselves

Other things that occured lately but were not photographed were a visit from my cousin Lisa and her two children (so much fun!), a broken upstairs air conditioner (not fun at all), professional painters painting the stairs and master bedroom, and two seperate visits from my Aunt and her two girls (also great fun). Now things are calming down a bit-all we have coming up is a week long visit from my Mom (hooray!), pre-K starting on July 15th (more on that later), and Jury Duty for me on July 16th. No big deal, right?

Conversation At Snack Time

2009-06-30T22:59:00.004-04:00

Me: Laura, stop eating the salt off those pretzels and then putting them back in the bowl.

Laure: But Mommy, the salt is so tasty. I want to eat them this way. First I eat the salt, then I eat the rest of the pretzel.

Me: But if you just ate it all at once, you'd have the salt ON the pretzel and it would taste fine. When you eat the salt first, you're left with a bland pretzel that doesn't taste very good.

Laura: But I don't want to eat it that way. The salt is yummy.

Me: But that doesn't make any sense.

Laura: Mommy, I don't know how I got this way. It just happened.

There's No One Here By That Name

2009-06-24T17:15:00.002-04:00

My daughter is only 4 years old, yet as of the last week or so, I’ve suddenly become just “Mom”. Being called Mommy is out the window, and it’s driving me crazy. I had kind of been banking on being Mommy my entire life, and while it had occurred to me that I probably would be Mom someday, I imagined it in terms of a faceless teenage girl saying “Mooooom!” with as many “o’s” as humanly possible. I don’t know where Laura picked it up, but she can tell it’s driving me crazy, so she keeps doing it. It makes her seem much too old, and coupled with her new hair cut, I feel like I suddenly flashed forward to the having a 10 year old. As silly as it sounds, it was really bothering me.

The Army Man helped me out a few nights ago when she was asking for this “Mom” person. He simply replied, “There’s no one here by that name”, and that seemed to make it clear to her. Now when she calls me Mom, I just ignore her until she says Mommy. Is that mean? Maybe, but I’m just not ready to be Mom. Interestingly, a little bit ago Laura had a bit of a tantrum, something that's been pretty rare these days (thank heavens!) and as she sat there in her room, screaming and crying, she began calling for Mommy. And Mommy was very happy to go to her, believe me. Maybe we'll be back on track now, until Kindergarten or whenever it is that kids are too cool to have Mommies.

A Shave And A Haircut

2009-06-17T14:04:00.011-04:00

Today, much time, energy, and money was spent on procuring hair cuts for Laura and Moxie. Poor Moxie's mane had become unmanageable, and after her mean dog run-in, I found several matted sections around her neck. So off to the groomer she went, with the instructions to cut her fur very short, to get those matted sections out. Right after we dropped her off, we went to get Laura's hair cut.

In the last few days Laura had been telling me that she wanted her hair short like our neighbor Mary, who sports a cute bob. I was surprised since Laura has always been consumed with her desire for long hair, but I figured this was the first of many times I would need to let her make her own decisions about harmless things like hair. She told the hair cutter (her words) exactly what she wanted, and did a great job of sitting still for the almost 30 minutes it took to create her new look (that child is just like her mom-lots of hair!).

So the results are: Moxie and Laura both have short hair! Moxie's fur is really, really short, which makes her ears look bigger than ever. And I can't figure out why the groomer saw fit to keep Moxie's tail so full-it looks like a feather duster stuck to her rear end. I tried trimming it a bit myself, but left it mostly intact so the Army Man gets a good laugh tonight when he gets home from work. Laura looks completely adorable, I have to say. I told Laura I thought that she look liked a fairy, and the pleased smile that burst across her face told me that she is pretty darn happy with her new look.

Laura wins the prize for cutest cut (sorry Moxie, you look pretty ridiculous), but up for grabs is the biggest change. I'll let my readers decide!

Laura giving me a goofy smile. I found it really hard to get a good picture from the front.

A side view

The back

Poor, goofy looking Moxie

Now she really looks like a fox

Smiling even though I was laughing at her

Rottweiler+Moxie=Bad News

2009-06-15T18:18:00.006-04:00

Something happened this afternoon that the Army Man and I have been nervously anticipating for a few weeks. While the Army Man was running with Moxie, the neighborhood Rottweiler managed to pull free of his backyard tether, and attempted to attack Moxie. Don't worry, everyone is fine, but I'll be blunt: I'm pissed off.

Let me start what will be a lengthy post by saying that I had a Rottweiler growing up. Sheba was a sweet, fuzzy, bear of a dog, and had the advantage (some would say disadvantage, but not I) of being a long-haired Rottweiler. The general public usually didn't discern that she was a Rottweiler since she didn't have the traditional look, and therefore people usually weren't scared of her. Which was good, because she was sweet. So I don't mind Rottweilers. I think that if they are well-trained, properly socialized and exercised, they can be great dogs. That's true of any dog really, big or small. If you don't give your dog attention, affection, and playtime, it will quickly become bored, destructive, disobedient, and even aggressive.

Now that I've started running in our neighborhood, I'm pretty cognizant of which dogs look like they could give me trouble. Top on my list is the house with what appears to be 5 or 6 large dogs, all "contained" behind a 3 or 4 foot fence. When I used to run by with Moxie the barking and growling was deafening. So I don't go that way anymore. The other house is up the street, and about six months ago the Army Man reported that that house was now in the possession of the most adorable Rottweiler puppy. When it was a cute little puppy, the family walked it all the time and it was usually kept inside.

We watched that puppy turn into a big Rottweiler. We were sad when we realized the family stopped walking it as much. And we started to get worried when we saw that they were now tethering it in their unfenced backyard for the entire day, and well into the evening, even when they were home. The bigger it got, the more ferocious it got, the more it would pull at the end of it's tether to bark and lunge at people who walked by. We took a short family walk last night, and saw the dog react in that way to another family walking by. We opted to not walk down that street, and the Army Man and I discussed and worried what would happen if it broke free.

So yep, that's what happened today. Moxie and the Army Man went for a run, and passing by the house, the Rottweiler pulled the tether out of the ground, and charged Moxie. From what the Army Man says, it sounds like her giant mane of fur protected her from a full-on bite, but there was definite yelping on her part. The Army Man managed to get a hold of the tether and had the dogs separated, but really had no good solution to how to get rid of the Rottweiler and get Moxie safely home. Luckily for him, a very nice young man came along who knew the Rottweiler, and took it from the Army Man.

Once he got Moxie safely home, he went back to the house, only to be greeted by a teenage boy who seemed completely clueless. He left his number, and we did get a call a bit ago, from the mother. She really didn't seem to care that much. Apparently she did her part by tethering her dog. The Army Man telling her that we often run that way with our young daughter didn't seem to matter to her. He advised her of the new law going into effect on August 1st (not a moment too soon) that will bar people from tethering their dogs when there is no human present. She never really apologized either, which blows my mind. Her only words of comfort were that it would "never happen again".

I called the after-hours Animal Control number to report the incident. I may be a sweet, nice person who doesn't like to cause trouble, but this was unacceptable to me. What if it had been me, Laura, and Moxie? I would have essentially had to sacrifice Moxie to protect Laura. What if the dog thought Laura was even more appealing to attack than Moxie? I really am trying not to think about how bad it could have been. I am feeling so lucky that it was the Army Man, and that both he and Moxie are okay. It turns out that the Sheriff's office is the after hours Animal Control, and a nice young officer (so young, like maybe 12) came to our house. There isn't much he can do so I have to call again tomorrow to make sure Animal Control is aware and can make a record. The bad part is that when the Sheriff was here, the teenage boy owner of the Rottweiler walked by, taking the poor dog for a much needed walk. So now they know where we live AND that the Sheriff was called. I just hope it doesn't turn into a bigger mess.

The Sheriff advised the Army Man that if this ever happens again, he is completely within his rights to defend himself however he sees fit. I would hate for it ever to come to that, but I will protect what's mine, whether it is Laura or Moxie, and I know the Army Man will do the same. I suppose some sort of protective device is now in my running future.

If you made it through that entire post, I commend you. I was extremely riled up when I sat down to write, and it was very calming to share all that information with my readers. I think the situation had pretty much the best outcome possible, and I'm grateful for that. Everyone is fine, and Moxie had a huge, delicious dinner tonight. Probably a great night, in her book.

Claire Conquers The Zipper

2009-06-13T16:46:00.007-04:00

I made something new last night that I just have to share. I feel like I have now completely conquered the crafting world since I made something with a...zipper!! Of course, in reality, I am nowhere near the level of excellence that many crafters achieve (including both my mom AND mother-in-law), but in my mind, I am totally awesome. Zippers are hard to work with, but I persevered. The little pouch I made is not the most expertly constructed item, but I think I'll only get better the more I make. Female friends and relatives, prepare to receive these little things as gifts for the next five years. Sorry.

A tiny zippered pouch, measuring about 6 inches long and 4.5 inches high

What's that, a nice lining inside? Lovely.

Look at all the goodies I managed to fit in.

That should my last crafting post for a while, and soon I will be returning to regale you with tales of Laura's antics. As I'm sure you can imagine, Laura + summer=craziness.

My Dog Is More Popular Than Me

2009-06-12T11:06:00.006-04:00

I have a way of seeing who visits my blog. Neat, huh? Don't worry, I usually don't look at it except to see the total number of people who visit each day. For all I know, it could be my mom coming over and over again to inflate my ego. My numbers have been down lately (as have my comments, boo), but I figured it was due to it being the summer and everyone having more important things to do than wait around and see if I will post something new.

So imagine my surprise when I checked this morning and A LOT of people came to my blog yesterday. I was curious, so I started trying to figure out who the heck these people were. And oddly enough, almost all of them had clicked on the "Moxie" label so that they could read all of the stories about Moxie. Person after person had come to read stories about my dog. Kinda weird.

Now I think it's great that people would want to read about her, but the coincidence was just too much that that many new people would come here on the same day, just to read about Moxie. But the problem is, I can't figure out who sent them!! It's driving me crazy. Was I mentioned on a blog somewhere? Did someone tell their friends? I must know. So if you are one of my new visitors, welcome. And thank you for visiting. And PLEASE tell me who sent you. I figured I'd better give the people what they want, namely a new picture of Moxie. This is from a few weeks ago, showing her slow progression to a lion. Look at that mane! The Army Man has decreed she is to be shaved for the summer, but I don't know if I can damage her self-esteem like that. A hair cut is in order, for sure, but up for grabs is how short the hair cut will be. Then again, Moxie has figured out a way underneath my high-tech chicken wire barrier, and can get under the deck no problem. The amount of filth she collects in that mane is horrible, so maybe a shave is the way to go. I fear poor Moxie has sealed her own hair cutting fate.

A Simple Decoration

2009-06-08T15:01:00.009-04:00

Just a quick post to share a little decorating project that I completed today. My friend Kim gave me this idea a looong time ago, but I never acted on it until a few days ago. I use our dining room as my craft room, and the paint job the previous owners did is a bit...unusual. It's textured (kind of like sandpaper) and it's a greyish color with flecks of gold. When we first moved in the Army Man and I vowed it would be the first change we made. In the end, the first change I made was painting over the black paint in Laura's room. Then I painted several other rooms and stopped working. That was almost 2 years ago, and I guess you could say we've gotten used to the sandpaper paint. The only problem is it doesn't give off a very "crafty" vibe, and was kind of bringing me down when I would sew.

So I chose some of my favorite fabrics, put them in the hoops, glued the fabric down in the back, and added a little sawtooth hanger. Super easy! The thing that took a while was obsessing over the placement of the hoops, but I finally got annoyed with myself and just did it. I wish it took up more of the wall, but it will do for now. I'm tempted to do this throughout the house, since this is now officially my second decoration in my entire home. I'm a bit impaired when it comes to decorating.

And now you all know what my crafting area looks like. If you want to know why I never send you any presents, it's because I spent all of my money on those piles of fabric.

A Skirt For Laura

2009-06-06T19:23:00.006-04:00

Instead of making things for my shop like a good girl, I spent today yakking on the phone with some wonderful people, and then made a Christmas skirt for Laura. Because in June one’s thoughts naturally go straight to Christmas, right? Actually, I had some scraps from a quilt hanging around, and I noticed a lot of them were red and green. I figured I’d make a test skirt from the fabric, since I’ve been wanting to try skirts for a while.

Laura seems to be getting sick of being my measuring and modeling victim, but this time, for whatever reason, she was beside herself with glee over this silly little skirt. It ended up shorter than I expected, it's really not that nice on the inside, and I had wanted it to flare more at the bottom. But that doesn't matter because, for once, my little girl was happy with my creations AND I actually made use of some scraps that otherwise would have gone in the trash. Maybe I’ll become one of those people who pledges to make all of their clothes by hand. Then again, maybe not.

These pictures are pretty bad (is my house really this dark?), but I guess they hide just how dirty she was tonight. Oh, and those poses? All Laura's doing.

Claire Needs Crafting Help!

2009-06-05T12:01:00.008-04:00

I need opinions from the blogosphere! I showed my rocket ship appliqued shirt a few weeks ago, and I've decided to make more shirts like that (I'm thinking next will be a whale!). Before I do though, I need to decide which is the best way of sewing the applique. I won't share my opinions here, lest I sway anyone. I'm curious what people prefer, and why. The only thing I will say is that machine sewing tends to result in some fraying of the applique, over time. But maybe you like fraying-it does make it look pretty cute. Oh, and click on all the pictures to make them bigger, if you please!

Machine sewn

Hand sewn (not quite finished though!)

Machine sewn, from afar

Hand sewn, from afar

The Delinquency Continues

2009-06-03T16:40:00.011-04:00

I believed I promised I’d be back with more vacation pictures, right? And then I never came back and instead only posted about turning 30 in six months? I know, I know. I’m sorry. I wanted to post pictures and give a rundown of our trip, but of course, life got in the way. My excuses are good ones! They include: bronchitis (me and Laura), errands and chores (lots), dress orders to fill (two), a dog acting weird (Moxie), and a husband going back to work and being told they are leaving again on Saturday (Army Man).

So today things have finally calmed down, although it’s only due to Laura being sick and us being forced to stay home all day, to include missing her first swimming lesson today (not that she's upset by that). When the Army Man came home from work today, the house was a mess, I wasn't showered, Laura was still sick, but at least I had started this blog post. I have priorities, people!

I can't possibly describe the whole trip, so here's a brief recap. On Tuesday morning, Laura and I left bright and early to meet the Army Man in Savannah, Georgia. It was so wonderful to finally see him in the flesh and know that he really had survived his training. Laura was thrilled to be reunited with Daddy and we spent the day freezing to death in Savannah which, I'm sorry to report, is kind of boring. The next day, we left and drove through the worst rain I've ever driven in, but luckily the Army Man did some great driving and we all arrived safe and sound. We got to Florida in enough time to go to Downtown Disney and eat dinner at the Rainforest Cafe, where Mommy enjoyed a delicious beverage that may or may not have had alcohol in it.

Over the next five days, we went to the Magic Kingdom (twice!), Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Typhoon Lagoon, and Sea World. We went to Downtown Disney twice. We swam in the hotel pool. We saw a movie. We got rained on and we sweated to death in the sweltering heat that greeted us when it wasn’t raining. When you ask Laura what her favorite part was, she says, “Everything!” so I take that as a good sign. The Army Man and I had fun too, of course. We got to ride lots of rides and I totally beat the Army Man on the Buzz Lightyear ride.

Laura and Cinderella

Laura, enraptured by Belle

Jack Sparrow, or the next best thing

Laura took a picture of us

Shamu, doing his thing

Laura and Mommy in front of Mommy's favorite ride

Laura in front of Cinderella's fountain right before we left

It was a great family vacation, and I can't wait to do it again in a few years!

Almost 30 And Not An Adult In Sight

2009-06-02T09:38:00.008-04:00

Today is my half birthday. In just 6 months, I’ll be 30. And I have to admit, that’s an age I’ve looked forward to for a long time. When I was younger, women in their thirties seemed so glamorous and grown up, and I’ve always had high hopes for myself upon reaching that age. Now that I’m almost 30, women in their thirties still seem so glamorous and grown up, and I’m starting to wonder how I’ll fit in.

See, the problem is that I’m still a kid. I’m not sure how I managed to fool everyone and trick them into thinking I’m an adult, but I’m not. I really don’t understand who authorized me to get married, buy cars and houses, and worst of all, have a kid. That’s grown up business, not meant for kids like me!

Yet…

I find myself paying bills and taxes, worrying about how much longer my house’s roof will last, wondering where to send Laura for school next year. My husband and I discuss nuclear bombs, our future, the state of our bank accounts. I hear myself saying distinctly mom-like things to Laura. My back hurts sometimes. I buy sympathy cards for the losses my friends and family members have suffered, I read about war, I worry about my daughter. I have my own business. I’ve already had talks with Laura about body parts, jealousy, and death.

I suppose perhaps I’m an adult after all. But when did that happen? And why do I still feel like an impostor?

The Delinquent Blogger

2009-05-28T19:38:00.008-04:00

Yes, yes, I know you all are dying to know how Disney World was. I'm afraid I must keep you in suspense a bit longer. You see, I caught a bad cold on our last day there, and I haven't been the same since. Luckily the Army Man is off of work until Monday, and is taking care of Laura. I still feel overwhelmed though: I am on load number 8 of laundry and still not done, and I also have pre-K applications to fill out, dresses to make, and a multitude of other things to do.

But enough of my complaining! I'll share a few pictures for now, and hopefully be back tomorrow or the weekend with more pictures, and full details. For now, the recap is: Laura was thrilled with her surprise, we had a lot of fun, and it rained every SINGLE day we were there. Full on storms too, not just a light sprinkle. But we were at the happiest place on earth, so it didn't really matter. Although it didn't help me in my quest for a tan.

Laura talking with Ariel. She was in awe of her.Laura and I on our first day at the Magic KingdomLaura and Daddy in the Robinson Family Treehouse

Laura on Shamu at Sea World. She was in heaven there, as was the Army Man.

Disney World, Here We Come!

2009-05-18T18:47:00.003-04:00

Before I leave you all hanging for over a week with no Claire fix, I wanted to pop in and let you know that the Army Man survived his survival training. He called yesterday afternoon and sounded really good. Apparently he lost 15 pounds in just 3 weeks (sign me up for that program, minus the torture, please!) and ate, among other things, a grasshopper, clover, a snake, and a rabbit heart. But I don’t want to tell his story for him. Maybe I can convince him to write a guest post when he gets home.

Home from where, you ask? Oh, that would be DISNEY WORLD! Or, as I have been calling it, “D-World”. That is my most excellent code name, as I decided to keep it a secret from Laura where we were going. I figured if she ever had a really rough day of missing Daddy, I would whip out that little bit of info, but I never needed to tell her, and I’ve been successful at keeping my lips zipped. I mean seriously-when you’re 4, how awesome will it be to just roll up to Disney World one day? She’s beside herself with excitement as it is: she gets to see Daddy tomorrow, and stay in a “hoe-and-tell” (that would be a hotel for those who don’t speak Lauraese) with a big pool.

She has been harassing me nonstop today, asking what the surprise is, but I’m remaining strong. Although with the weather forecasting rain EVERY SINGLE DAY of our trip, the surprise might be that Mommy and Daddy spent a nice sum of money to sit in a hotel room all day.

Is My Daughter One Of “Those” Girls?

2009-05-16T12:30:00.003-04:00

So, I’m starting to think that my daughter is really cute. And that’s not a statement I make lightly, because I certainly don’t want to a braggart. I am merely going off of what the general public has made perfectly clear to me over the last few days. And that is-if you are cute and sweet, like Laura, you will get attention and gifts for no reason.

Now Laura has always been the type to get a smile or some conversation out of even the most ornery people. I attribute most of that to her personality. When she is in a good mood, she is downright bubbly. She’s talkative and fairly easy to understand when she speaks, and is often the one to start a conversation. So I think a grouchy person can’t help but be charmed by a tiny little thing who approaches them with a story about how we need to get a new toy for our dog because she is trouble and chewed the last one to bits. I have so many examples that it’s hard to pick just one. An anecdote from when Laura had just turned three is one of the best ones. We were walking into a store and a middle-aged man was walking past us, looking somewhat sour. Without any prompting, Laura looked up at him and said loudly and clearly, “Good morning!” It was such a sweet, innocent gesture that I basically melted right there on the spot, and I’m pretty sure that man did too. He perked up so quickly and chatted with Laura for a few minutes before going on his way.

I provide that background so that those of you who have never met Laura will understand that she is not a shy 4 year old. She has no problem speaking to adults, and in fact, seems to relish it. So yesterday when we stopped by our local nursery to buy some sod, I wasn’t surprised when the store owner struck up a conversation with her. He was so taken with her that he couldn’t stop smiling and complimenting her. She was wearing a rather fancy dress (poor Mommy was slumming it in jeans and a t-shirt) and was really using all of her charms. So naturally, the man just HAD to take a picture of her. He wanted to show his wife how fancy this little girl was, and she was happy to oblige (don’t worry-he wasn’t creepy and I have met him before). Laura knocked out several pictures with a multitude of poses, loving every minute. I kept thinking how if such a thing had happened to me as a child, I would have been mortified. Then I thought to myself, such a thing would never have happened to me a child, or as an adult. Must be nice, I thought.

Today was no different. At the craft store, one worker thought Laura was so cute and “such a good helper” that she just “had” to give her a lollipop. I wanted to know if Laura whining while we walked through the store qualifies as quality helping, but I kept my mouth shut. Then, not 30 minutes later, I decided to treat us to lunch at one of our favorite hamburger stands. We took our food to go, and while we were waiting, the store manager AND the district manager came over to ooh and aah over Laura. The district manager was a big, tall guy, but Laura wasn’t intimidated. She smiled, laughed, and wound up with an offer for a free cheeseburger on her next visit.

So here I am, a girl who was a nerdy and rather goofing looking child and teenager (and adult, I’m afraid!) with a pretty and outgoing daughter. It’s honestly really weird. Sometimes I wonder if this will last or if she’ll take after her mother and end up just another nerd with bad hair. I try to imagine what it would be like to have a teenage daughter who is popular and pretty. Maybe I'll share my wisdom with her, so she can relate to all of the nerds. Most of all though, I am astounded to find out that it is true, that pretty girls really do get things handed to them. Must be nice.

Pittsburgh

2009-05-14T20:59:00.021-04:00

I’ve been meaning to post about our trip to Pittsburgh, and since my blogging mojo is still MIA, I have to admit that I’ve been putting it off. I guess with this particular post, there’s not much witty to say, no clever way to write about attending my Grandfather’s memorial.

I think the thing that was the most interesting for me about this trip and the memorial was realizing how little I knew about Grandpap. So much of his personal history was unknown to me, but even more upsetting is how much of his personality was a mystery to me. I suppose such a thing was to be expected-when I was born, he had just turned 67. I grew up in California, and I didn’t see him that frequently. As I child, I knew him to be quiet, yet kind. Still, I couldn’t help but be intimidated by him. When I did see him, I never thought I had much to say that would interest him, and never could quite figure out how to talk to him. Our whole dynamic makes me so sad for what I missed out on, and I have to be honest-it scares me since I don’t want that situation repeating for Laura and her grandparents.

We live far away from both sets of Laura's grandparents, and I want her to be close to them, to be able to talk to them on the phone if she wants. I want her to feel like she knows them. I have heard so many wonderful things about Grandpap from my Dad, and I heard so many more interesting things at the memorial. I’m so happy I was able to attend and to celebrate his life and his family. And I’m grateful for the wake-up call, that NOW is the time to get to know our family members. I got to talk quite a bit to some of my cousins, and surprise, surprise, they are all really interesting and fun people! I suppose that is why memorials and funerals are so bittersweet. They remind us, all too clearly, of what has been taken from us, yet seem to nudge us even closer to our loved ones.

It was a great memorial, and a wonderful trip. I was so sad my Mom couldn’t come. We all missed her, and my two brothers, and my two cousins who couldn't come. The day after the memorial we did a little bit of sightseeing in Pittsburgh, one of my favorite cities. I have some pictures to share, and except for the picture of Pittsburgh, they were all taken by my sister Marla. She has a much nicer camera than me, and is also a lot more skilled than me when it comes to taking pictures.

I also want to recommend this post written by Citizen Grouch (aka my Dad) which is his very moving tribute to his father. He read it at the memorial and had me in tears, and it will give you a glimpse into my Grandpap’s life.

Me at lunch after the memorialOur table, with Dad, Aunt Louise, and JuliannaMe with my Godmother, JuliannaLaura, harassing her cousin FisherLaura with Fisher and Sam-they had a blast togetherGroup shot of the family (most of us)Laura and Grandad, at the Soldiers and Sailors MuseumAfter much searching, Dad found the name of his great uncle who had fought in Gettysburg!

Pittsburgh, in all her glory

There were so many more great pictures, but if I add any more it may be the longest blog post ever. And while the writing itself may have been a bit vague, I don't feel like there is much else I can say. Even though we weren't as close as we could have been, I think it's safe to say-I love you Grandpap.

Flowers For Laura

2009-05-11T09:27:00.006-04:00

I have never in my life just sat down and randomly sewn something. My crafts usually take weeks, if not months, of preparation before I can actually begin work. There’s so much planning, purchasing, arranging, thinking, and generally delaying going on that it’s a wonder I ever make anything. But last night, fresh off of my nine hour drive home from Pittsburgh, I managed to feel so inspired that I whipped up a little shirt for Laura.

It all started because I had a rocket ship onesie to prepare, since someone bought one (hooray!) Then, since I had all the appliqué goodies out, I figured I would try out a different design. I wanted to do flowers for Laura, but I am such a bad artist that I ended up settling on circles as flowers. It’s all very abstract, you see. To make my flowers even more modern and abstract, I purposely did not sew straight. Or maybe I can’t sew straight-you decide.

I think it turned out pretty well, for a last minute job. I stayed up way too late working on it, but once I got started I was determined to have it done for Laura to wear to school this morning. I left it in her room last night for her to find, and the reaction was a good one: I was woken up by a small child jumping around my bed singing about her beautiful new shirt.

The completed shirt

A close up of the "abstract" flowers

Laura wearing the shirt to school today

I'll be back soon with details and pictures of our trip to Pittsburgh!

Getting Mail At 8pm Would Be Preferable

2009-05-05T11:33:00.003-04:00

Note to self: when your mailman misdelievers mail to you so many times that you just can’t take it anymore, do not punish him by leaving him a nasty note, because someday he may punish you by stealing your mail. I suppose that sounds more dramatic than what actually happened, but when it comes to my package of fabric that has gone missing, it feels really dramatic.

A small package of fabric and a pattern was supposedly delivered to me on Friday at 5:29pm. I know this because there was Delivery Confirmation on my package, and the post office confirms this delivery. All it really means though is that the mailman delivered it to SOMEONE on that day and time, and it sure as heck wasn’t me. How do I know, you ask? I was stalking my mailman that day, waiting for him to come, because I had an outgoing package I wanted him to take. When he arrived, I ran so quickly out of the house that I slipped on the kitchen floor (Angela can attest to this). I handed him my box, and he didn’t give me one in return.

Once I realized that I was supposedly in possession of my package when I actually was not, I started making some calls. Eventually I got to talk to the Post Master of our local branch. She was very helpful at first, and said she would check into it and call me back. She called back today and said she spoke to my carrier who claims he put it on my porch. Huh? You mean when I was standing right there? I think not! The post master said she “did her part” and that now I should contact the police to report a missing package.

Well, that was when I stopped being nice. I proceeded to tell her about all of the problems we have had with this carrier. The W-2 that was missing for 2 weeks and finally showed up with “not at this address” written on it. The official looking mail for our local grocery store that I got a few weeks ago. The package for my next door neighbor that was in my mailbox. The days upon days of getting the mail for the lady next door, and then it finally stopping, only for her to start getting ours. The missing magazines. The jury duty notice that was delivered not once, not twice, but three times to the original owner of this house who hasn’t lived here for over 3 years. That was the letter that got the nasty note, since he apparently was unable to read “Return To Sender” on it the first two times.

Once I spewed all this out to the Post Master, she confessed that today is her 6th day at this branch, that she is brand new, and that she will be making some changes. She did not elaborate, but I sincerely hope that those changes involve slapping our mailman around a little bit until he figures things out.

Fly Me To The Moon

2009-05-04T17:36:00.006-04:00

I’m leaving on Wednesday to drive up to Pittsburgh for my Grandfather’s memorial. I have about 20 million things to do before then (okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit), but instead of tackling any of them, I decided to waste my time by fiddling around with the new appliqué paper I bought yesterday.

And for once, my goofing off has paid off! I created a little appliqué that matches my newest bib perfectly. I sewed it onto a onesie, and presto: a shirt so cute that it makes me wish I was 3-6 months old! I plan on doing more shirts with appliqués, if I can figure out how draw anything other than a rocket ship.

Hopefully once I return from my trip I'll get back to posting more frequently, because for now, on top of everything else, I feel like I've lost my blogging mojo.

Brains Anyone? They're Fresh!

2009-05-01T20:11:00.004-04:00

So I’m finally here with my review of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I finished the book a while ago but I just couldn’t figure out how I felt about it, which wasn’t making writing a review all that easy. But good news: I finally made my decision! So let us begin. I’ll try very hard not to include any too-important spoilers. But then again, if you’ve read the original, you already know how it ends. Or do you?

I never would have imagined that zombies and Jane Austen would have any place together, and for this successful "collaboration”, I applaud Seth Grahame-Smith. As his biography states, he once took a class in English literature, and it pays off here. The story was very well done, the writing exquisite. The novel flowed seamlessly from proper English life to zombie gore and back again. There were some one-liners so hysterical that I made sure to make note of them to include in my review.

Elizabeth watching her friend “suffer through a quarter-hour of sickness so severe that decorum prevents its description in these pages” is funny. Mr. Darcy attending a meeting of the League of Gentlemen for the Encouragement of Continued Hostilities Against Our Most Unwelcome Enemy is funny. Elizabeth telling her sister Jane that “this unhappiness is best remedied by the hasty application of a cutlass to her [Miss Bingely’s] throat” is really funny. But humor alone wasn't enough, and I’m forced to say that I didn’t really like the “And Zombies” part of this work.

I think my problem with this novel was twofold: first of all, I am so used to reading the masterpiece that is Pride and Prejudice that I couldn’t keep from being annoyed every time new material interrupted me and reminded me that I wasn’t reading the real deal. Things just don’t seem as romantic and proper when zombies are feasting on people. My other complaint is that the Elizabeth Bennett character seemed too different from Jane Austen’s description of her. Where we once had a clever and feisty young lady, Mr. Grahame-Smith created a professionally trained fighter, a lady unconcerned with killing, consumed with honor, and possessing more than a touch of bloodlust.

One part of the novel finds our Miss Bennet, blindfolded, killing Lady Catherine’s ninjas. Now here’s Elizabeth balancing herself, upside down, on one finger, while Mr. Darcy looks on in amusement. Her rejection of Mr. Darcy ends in a physical battle that includes her kicking him so hard that he shatters part of the mantlepiece. Wait, now she’s eating someone’s still beating heart (those poor ninjas). Seriously? We’re supposed to believe that faced with zombies, this is what Elizabeth Bennet would do?

Still though, I must again commend Mr. Grahame-Smith. His clever writing was admirable, and he even included illustrations and a handy reader’s discussion guide, which was my favorite part. The final question had me laughing out loud in the doctor’s waiting room, which is never a good thing when you’re reading a book with a bloody zombie on the cover.

"Some scholars believe that the zombies were a last-minute addition to the novel, requested by the publisher in a shameless attempt to boost sales. Others argue that the hordes of the living dead are integral to Jane Austen’s plot and social commentary. What do you think? Can you imagine what this novel might be like without the violent zombie mayhem?"

That question to me sums it up for me perfectly: a really funny novel, but yes, I can imagine what it is like without the zombies, and I’m sorry to say I like it better that way.

How DOES My Garden Grow?

2009-04-28T22:24:00.004-04:00

Did you know that I had a garden? No? Well, neither did I. But today, while pulling weeds in the front yard (always fun on such a blazing hot day), I found something that looked suspiciously like a vegetable. Since I don't really eat vegetables, I had a hard time identifying this mysterious food. It looked to me like something I recall my mother forcing me to eat as a child, but I can't be sure.

Laura could not have been more thrilled at the discovery, although she was HORRIFIED when I used "Daddy's tool!" to cut open our bounty. How rude of me to use the Army Man's box cutter. There they are, in all their glory, the fruits (or vegetables, as it were) of my top-secret garden. I would really be thrilled if there were also some healthy and fully cooked dinners out there just waiting to be harvested.

A Day At The Aquarium

2009-04-27T15:22:00.013-04:00

We’ve been so busy at our house over the last few days, and I have a lot of pictures to share! So many pictures in fact, that it might take 2 posts to get them all in. Friday was the Army Man’s last day with us before he left for more training, so to celebrate we drove 2.5 hours to Wilmington to see the aquarium at Fort Fisher. It was a very nice aquarium, and Laura was thrilled because she loves fish, but the two adults in attendance agreed that it wasn’t enough to make our 5 hour round trip worthwhile.

Once we finished up there, we drove along the beach for a bit and found a tiny little restaurant and had some lunch. While there we discovered the most delicious barbecue sauce ever created, and even got the name of it from the waitress. Too bad it is a food service brand and apparently not available for the general public to buy. I don’t think I’m going to let that stop me in my search for it-it really is that good.

After lunch we walked down to the beach (too bad we hadn’t brought any beach attire or equipment). Last summer Laura nearly died of a heart attack at the beach, she was that scared. This time around, she was in heaven. I couldn’t believe how much fun she was having. Her dress got totally soaked, but luckily I had my handy hurricane emergency kit in my car complete with a change of clothes. And yes, she was still able to fit into the 2T sized clothing. Just barely though! Guess it's time to update the kit.

Laura and Daddy posing with an alligator

The Army Man is so brave

Laura checking out a real alligator

The free-range quail I wanted to birdnapLaura and Daddy in the waterLaura hard at workLaura was thrilled to show this to meLaura running from the "waves"Totally soaked

The Unintentional Thief

2009-04-23T13:39:00.004-04:00

I think I’ve been the victim of a reverse scam. Is such a thing even possible? I guess it is when someone comes to your yard sale last Saturday, buys a few items with cash, says he'll be back to get them, and never returns. So I have his $18, plus some things that I could sell to someone else if I was the cruel type. Not to mention I also appear to have the key to his pickup truck, which probably explains why he hasn't come back. He was driving a small van and since he also bought some large pieces of furniture from my neighbor, he said he would go get his truck and come back. We know nothing about this guy and haven't heard a thing from him.

Is he some sort of yard sale fairy godfather who goes from house to house spreading money and good cheer, and leaving the goods so that we can make double money off of our stuff? Or is he going to show up in 6 months demanding his stuff that I will have eventually given in and gotten rid of the day before? Sadly, I'm going to have to guess it will be the latter.

An Afternoon At The Lake

2009-04-21T16:17:00.009-04:00

Did you all miss me? Did you not know what to do with your life without my posts to read? Well luckily I am here to remedy that for you!

The Army Man has been on leave since Friday and we've been busy and I haven't had much time left to post. Today however, I've found a few spare minutes and want to share pictures from this afternoon's trip to the local lake. For those who aren't local, this lake actually was dry from 2003 until just a few months ago. Since we arrived here in 2004, we had never seen it in any form other than a rather ugly dried up lake-until the replacement dam was finally finished last year. It looks beautiful now, and today we finally got a chance to check it out in person.

Apparently people are allowed (and do!) swim in this lake, but you couldn't pay me enough money to go in there. The Army Man and Laura stuck their feet in (they said it was very cold). Moxie, the dog who is terrified of water, refused to enter. We also walked over the footbridge that gives a great view of the dam below, and all the rushing water as it overflows and heads downriver. The noise is much more significant that I expected it to be, and both Laura and Moxie had to be dragged across. Apparently fear of noise runs in the family, whether or not you are adopted.

There's a playground there, and a stand selling shaved ice, so all in all, a fun place to go on a nice day like today. Now, on to the pictures!

Laura before we started out

It's a bit blurry, but I love this picture of her running

My picture of the token wildlife

Before crossing the bridge. Notice the grimace on Laura's face!

Moxie refusing to cross the bridge, and being draggedLaura and Daddy wading in the lake

Phew, that was a lot of pictures! I'll be back to post again in a few days, with a review of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. As promised, there has been plenty of zombie gore so far!

Finally!

2009-04-17T12:20:00.012-04:00

The day we have been waiting for finally arrived today: the Army Man graduated from the Civil Affairs Qualification Course. Laura and I attended the ceremony this morning, and got to see all of the soldiers all dressed up. Nothing like a man in uniform, right? Too bad for everyone else that our Army Man was the most handsome one there.

I am so proud of the Army Man for doing such a great job during school and dealing with all the grief that comes with being in training. There were plenty of times of annoyance and confusion, lots of sitting around and waiting, and some really time consuming (and possibly pointless) assignments. But never once did the Army Man say that he regretted making this switch, never once did he say he was going to give up, and he never stopped doing his best. That is why I am so proud of him, and why I am so thankful that he is a member of our military.

He has put up with hard work, stress, and time away from his family, all so that he can be the best officer he can and protect his soldiers when it comes time to deploy. He chose this new branch so that he can go to other countries and help the civilians there, however he can. Selfishly, it will be hard to be without him when he deploys, but if he makes a difference in the life of even one other citizen of this world, be it with health care, infrastructure, or government, it will be worth it.

올리브 주스 여보

Laura, Age 4 1/2

2009-04-15T12:54:00.005-04:00

Laura is now 4 1/2, and is suddenly all grown up. She has started wearing a watch which I think makes her look so much older. Today she stood there in front of me, wearing her watch, pronouncing all her words without a lisp of baby talk as she asked me for a paperclip to clip her drawings together. In that exact moment I had a flash of realization that she is not my baby anymore. I asked her, as mothers do, "How did you get to be so big?" Her reply? She looked at me and tried not to roll her eyes as she said: "I grew".

Well, duh.

Chicken Wire=Fabulous

2009-04-14T10:26:00.002-04:00

On Sunday, in an effort to class up our house, I put some chicken wire in our backyard. It was all for a good reason though, and that reason is to keep Moxie from going underneath the deck and burying bones or birds or small children or whatever it is that causes her to be so filthy when she finally emerges. It was surprisingly hard work, and the Army Man had to step in an assist me (read: do most of the work). Where we ran out of chicken wire, we stacked rocks. Our backyard now looks so fabulous it’s not even funny.

You know something is tacky when your husband looks at the finished product in disgust. Even Moxie looked skeptical (Really? That’s the best you people can do?) But I will assure you just as I assured both of them: it’s a short-term fix. The Army Man is leaving in less than 2 weeks, and I don’t care how it looks-I just wanted it done. Now Moxie will still be alive when he returns in May, because if she went under that deck again, I wasn’t going to be making any guarantees.

The downside to the chicken wire installation? I may have gotten tetanus. At the very least, I have a very painful scratch on my leg. I guess that’s the price one pays for such a stylish home.

It's Not Easter Without A Sumo Chicken

2009-04-12T21:07:00.016-04:00

Somehow I managed to catch Laura's germs, and I've spent the last few days feeling horrible. I'm not sure how I managed to get sick, since all I did was lay in bed with Laura and clean up her messes while she was sick. Amazing how these things happen! I was shocked by the extreme pain-I expected it to be more of a nauseating sickness, but it was actual, legitimate pain. That made me feel even worse for Laura, knowing she had gone through all of that. I only share all that to explain why our Easter pictures are a bit lacking. We just didn't have too much energy this morning.

Laura loved her Easter basket, and we did our egg hunt indoors to keep it calm. Our Easter Bunny loves to bring toys and her favorite was a little toy fishing pole which she played with all day today. I even managed to find a pink version of the "Sumo Chicken" that I have bought for her Easter basket the last 2 years. The Army Man named these little chickens as such because while their size is deceptively small, they pack quite a punch. Especially when the thrower of the Sumo Chicken lies in wait, hiding, only to jump out at the last moment and throw the chicken at you while yelling "SUMO CHICKEN!" at the top of their lungs. That's not too weird, right? I've heard that other families do things like that....I think.

Laura with said Sumo Chicken. Beware if you ever come to our house!

Laura looks like she is trying to shot death rays at me with her eyes

Laura with her giant basket and fishing poleLaura and Mommy after church

Laura and Daddy

We hope you all had a wonderful day today! Laura's spring break starts tomorrow, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we both survive.

Ondansetron Is My Hero

2009-04-09T12:49:00.005-04:00

What a fool I was. Of course Moxie's accident on Monday wasn't my "bad thing that always happens when your Army Man leaves". That was just the precursor, making sure that I was comfortable cleaning up the nasty bodily fluids that come out of my loved ones in their time of need.

So last night I stayed up really late, trying to finish a last-minute order I had gotten for a dress that will hopefully be a little girl's Easter dress, if it can make it to Alabama by Saturday. It was after midnight and I could barely see straight. I heard Laura making some noise, and went to check on her. She cried for about two seconds and then informed me that she needed to throw up. And sure enough, she did. Over the next 4 hours, she threw up 12 times (at a minimum-I finally did lose count). She was so brave and really handled it like a champ. She did keep saying, very loudly, "I am NOT happy", which was so cute and pathetic.

I put in calls to Grandma and Nana, at increasingly late hours of the night. Both ladies performed admirably in the comforting the Mommy department. Finally at about 4am, I made the command decision to take her to the ER. She wasn't keeping down any fluids, was pale, her fever was rising. I always debate so much about going to the ER, and that was when I really wished the Army Man had been home. It's just so much nicer to have someone help you make decisions at 4am.

We really lucked out and didn't wait long at all. Within 15 minutes she had been given a pill to stop the vomiting, which of course she threw right back up. This medicine (Ondansetron) is truly a miracle because it worked despite being thrown back up. The doctor told me that it's relatively new, and that even a few years ago. they were still having to give IVs for situations like this. I thanked my lucky stars that we didn't have to do that, since Laura and needles do not mix.

We got back home at about 6am, and Laura has been sleeping off and on since then. She felt sick again this morning and was really fussy, but a nap and a Popsicle seemed to have helped. I think she is thrilled by all the TV I am letting her watch. Daddy will be home tomorrow and believe me, we are all very excited about that. If this post made no sense, I blame the exhaustion.

And The Award For Best Fake Crying Goes To....

2009-04-08T13:55:00.002-04:00

On the way home from preschool today Laura was telling me that all of the boys in her class always go in time out, along with just one girl. Can you guess who that one girl is? Laura, of course! She seemed perturbed by this revelation, but also oddly proud to be lumped in with all the boys she loves so much. It turns out that she brought this up today because she went in time out today for being "too dramatic". I guess I have to admire her for her commitment to her role as class drama queen.

The Power Of The Power Nap

2009-04-07T15:48:00.006-04:00

I guess I've been staying up way too late while the Army Man is gone, because I was exhausted this morning. So exhausted that it was very tempting to keep Laura home from school just so I could just stay in bed all day. But once I remembered that Laura was a child, I realized that keeping her home from school would probably only exhaust me more.

So she went to school and I foolishly decided to run 2.5 miles while she was gone. Then we did some errands after school. Then we played. And all of the sudden I simply couldn't function anymore. Luckily Laura got caught up in a project, so I laid down on the couch to rest, which is something I haven't done in a very long time. I'm not much of a napper, but I think I fell asleep in about 3 minutes. All told I slept for 7 minutes, which when I woke up, felt like 7 hours.

I felt rejuvenated! I was energetic! I was ready to go sew three dresses, make dinner, balance dishes on sticks, and even give Laura bath. Then I looked out the window, saw Moxie digging a hole in the backyard, and all of the rest was undone. It was good while it lasted.

Murphy's Law

2009-04-06T12:10:00.005-04:00

It's kind of known among Army wives that once your husband leaves, even for a few days of training, something will go wrong. The worst part is walking around for a few days, waiting for the bad thing to happen. Every time you hear a thump from your child falling down, you cringe and wait for the scream that signals a broken bone. You hold your breath every time you start the car, waiting for the click of a dead battery. Perhaps someone will steal your debit card and drain your bank account. Maybe the toilet will overflow. It's almost as exciting as playing the slots! What will come up this time? How lucky (or unlucky) will I be?

For us, I knew it wouldn't be that big, since the Army Man is still in the state and could easily come home if he needed to. So when I ran home today for a quick bite of lunch and was brought to my knees by a disgusting smell, I knew my time had come. It was almost a relief-the bad thing has happened, let's deal with it and move on.

The way Moxie was wiggling in her crate, I knew the bad smell was courtesy of her. Sure enough-explosive diarrhea. All over the wall, the crate, herself. It dripped down the wall and formed a puddle on the carpet. I feel the need to share these details just so you all can understand how horrible the scene was.

Now I know that even if the Army Man wasn't in the field, I'll still be dealing with this by myself while he was at work. But throw into the mix some torrential rain and a tornado watch, and you've got yourself something that just wouldn't happen if your husband wasn't gone . It's just the way it is-if the Army Man was coming home this evening, the weather would be fine and leaving her in the backyard while she was sick would be no big deal.

You just know that she will need to go out while it's raining or the wind is threatening to blow her away. Or, even worse, Moxie will not alert me that she needs to go out (since she hates getting wet) and we'll have to deal with the aftermath from that. I can hardly wait to experience how this all plays out!

And This Is Only The Beginning

2009-04-04T20:11:00.000-04:00

So, do you think there is enough pollen in North Carolina right now? This is our patch of dirt (soon to be sodded the rest of the way!) and all of that is what collected after our last rain. We are about a week into pollen season, and this is just ridiculous. Even the Army Man is affected this year. He sneezes and has itchy, watery eyes, although he certainly does NOT have allergies, thankyouverymuch. Moxie's paws are no longer white. Now they are yellow paws of destruction bent on turning my carpet yellow. If it's not the frigid cold, then it's rain. If it's not rain, it's horrible wind. And sometimes it's all of those, with a little pollen thrown in. Fun!

This Can't Last

2009-04-03T10:48:00.004-04:00

What do you do when your 4 year old daughter comes to you and complains that she NEVER gets a chance to pick up the dog’s poop? You let her do it. And you make sure that Daddy is the one to hold the bag, because when she misses (and you know she will), you don't want it to be your hand that gets touched by poop.

Laura's New Dress

2009-04-02T09:41:00.003-04:00

This post serves two purposes: giving you a Laura fix, and showing off the prototype of the dresses I will be making frantically for the next few weeks. It’s a very simple dress, but still pretty. My only problem? I do not have any other daughters to assist me with measurements for sizes other than 4T. This dress is also apparently a representation of my love for Laura, as she informed me this morning that she can tell I love her because I make dresses for her. If I had only known it was so easy to buy her love!

Also, did you know that I created a fan page on Facebook for Laurora? Just type Laurora into the search box in the upper right corner, and you can become a fan. Seriously, how awesome would your life be if you were a fan of my bibs? Totally awesome, right? Right?

Just The Girls

2009-04-01T14:05:00.001-04:00

So the Army Man is off doing his Army thing until next Friday, and isn’t allowed to have any contact with us the entire time. That’s a big change for us, because he’s usually been allowed to bring his cell phone with him and call from time to time. But I’m brave and can last 10 days.

We were talking to the Army Man’s Mom last night and she asked what Laura and I will do while he’s gone. The Army Man said we’ll probably just eat out and shop, which I took great exception to, until I realized that it was probably true. The pressure is off for a few days. I can relax, and not worry about that eternal question of “what’s for dinner?” I don’t have to start rushing around at 4pm to make sure my messes of the day are cleaned up. I can turn on the light in the middle of the night if I want. I might even get a good night’s sleep not listening to his snoring.

Sure I’ll still feed my child, but I’m pretty darn sure she doesn’t care if I don’t serve a 3 course meal every night. Yes, I’ll still clean the house (this is me we’re talking about), but I’ll do it late at night when I prefer to do it. I might do a little shopping, but it won’t matter because I’ll just be using the money I saved at the grocery store today by not having to buy food for the Army Man. I spent about $100 less than usual and still managed to buy a DVD, a postal scale, and some Easter presents for Laura!

It’s easy for me to be so chipper right now, when he’s only been gone for 8 hours. Even with all the relaxation, I hate it when he’s gone. It’s lonely, and I get scared at night. Our house is creaky and I am always convinced there is someone breaking in. And who will I complain to about all of my aches and pains? Plus I hate to watch LOST alone. Moxie gets her best exercise with him since she actually has to run to keep up with his running. Laura loves goofing off with Daddy and apparently he's a lot more fun to play with than I am. And I can't forget to mention the Army Man's excellent eye for baby gear and all of the encouragement he gives me while I try to churn out things for my shop.

So hurry back Army Man. There are three girls here who miss you.

Honk With Caution

2009-03-31T09:42:00.003-04:00

Driving home from dropping Laura off at preschool is usually a pleasant drive. It's mostly just driving down one long road with minimal traffic. Today was no different. Until, up ahead, I spotted him. The crazy driver that seems to be appearing with more and more frequency in my town. This time it was a big black SUV, tailgating a work truck in the right lane. I was in the left lane and caught up quickly since he was driving much slower. Just as I was about to pass, I realized with absolute certainty that he was going to get into my lane, no matter what. Who cares that there was a lady in a cute little VW to his left? He was going to do it.

Me, wanting my VW to stay cute and intact, braked as he whipped into my lane. And as my father and husband have taught me, I honked. Not a long honk, just a "hey, dude, you almost hit me" honk. That was obviously the wrong thing to do. He slammed on his brakes and proceeded to flip me off.

Well fine. Whatever. Laura wasn't with me, I knew I was in the right, and it wasn't my eternal soul being jeopardized by the bad language. But this guy was pissed. He was flipping me off so vigorously (I realized he was turned around in his seat while doing it) that his car started to go off the road. Now this was getting exciting! Eventually he swerved back into his lane, and nearly hit the person next to him. But he wasn't done. Now the hand came out the window. Now it was back in the car and he was turned around again. Then he changed into the lane next to me in the hopes of driving along beside me.

Luckily for me, a red light stopped us with him farther behind with him back behind the work truck he wanted to pass to start with! When the light turned green, I used my raw German power to get the heck out of there. Naturally he caught up, honking and flipping me off some more. Serious issues, that guy. Finally he turned off the road. I had the presence of mind enough to get his plate number and called the police (who were so much more helpful this time!) but the most they are able to do is patrol the area where he was driving to look for him. I wish I had called while it was all going on, but I was also concentrating on not getting hit.

So a fun morning. I'm off to run and hopefully not be subjected to any more middle fingers for the rest of the day.

Zombies And Jane Austen, Together At Last

2009-03-30T10:42:00.002-04:00

Guess what book I ordered on Saturday? Pride and Prejudice and Zombies! It was my friend Kim who first alerted me that such a book was even being written. It is essentially the Jane Austen classic with some good zombie gore thrown in. I read one of the lines from the book, and thought it was so hysterical that I just had to share.

“Mr. Darcy cut the two zombies with savage yet dignified movements. He then made quick work of beheading the slaughtered staff, upon which Mr. Bingley politely vomited into his hands.”

That is just awesome. They were sold out at the bookstore when I went on Saturday, so it is on order and will hopefully arrive in a week. I will give my review once I read it, but everything I’ve read has been very positive. I can’t wait!

3 Months Later

2009-03-28T08:56:00.009-04:00

I know I just wrote about Moxie, but it was brought to my attention that today is our 3 month anniversary of having brought her home. 3 months doesn’t seem that long at all, yet as anyone who adopts a pet or has a baby can attest, 3 months is also a loooong time. We’ve spent that time getting used to having a dog in the house, figuring out her personality and quirks, and trying to bend her to our will as much as possible. So far that is going mediocre at best. Moxie is a stubborn dog, and fits right in at our house with that sort of personality. But she is also adorable, gentle, funny, and sweet (most of the time). I know some people don’t understand the joy that having a pet can bring, but for us, having Moxie in our lives has really brought increased happiness to our home.

As we gear up for the Army Man being gone here and there over the next few months, I find myself even more grateful for her presence. There is such a feeling of added security and companionship by having a dog in the house. When Laura goes to bed at night, it doesn’t feel quite so lonely. Scary noises aren’t quite so scary if Moxie is there to protect me (although the Army Man and I still can’t decide how much actual protecting she would do). These days, Laura will actually go play in the backyard with Moxie for a bit, essentially giving us a third party in the home to break of the monotony of just Laura and me all day long. And although Moxie causes me grief on a daily basis (like how she is now so obsessed with the animals behind the house that she has to be forced to go to the bathroom), I can’t imagine not having her in our lives. Sure, I can remember what life was before we had her, but I don’t mourn that past.

And to prove what some love, exercise, and good food can do for a dog, I present Moxie from December, and Moxie from a few days ago. The Army Man and I are a little unclear on why we thought she was so cute in the beginning, but we figured we saw what we needed to see to convince us to adopt her.

The current picture of Moxie (which was taken by Laura, by the way) really doesn't do justice to just how different she looks. Her fur has grown with a vengeance and now she has a mane of sorts. Her tail is so fluffy compared to that pathetic little thing she used to have. She has gained at least 8 pounds, which on a dog her size, is pretty significant. She just looks and acts so much happier. It's hard having a rescued dog, because I think aspects of her past will haunt her for the rest of her life. Dropping her off for a bath has become a heart-wrenching ordeal. Each time she resists so strongly that I am convinced she must think I am abandoning her. When I arrive to pick her up, she is so hysterical that she can barely control herself, and has knocked me over more than once. I cringe to imagine what it will be like when we have to board her this summer.

Sometimes Moxie almost seems to have flashbacks to her past, because if she is not listening and we become more stern with her, she turns into this pathetic, scared creature who runs and hides, flops on her back in supplication, or worse case scenario, pees inside. It's much worse if it is the Army Man who is the one trying to get her to do something. She acts terrified of him which is just ridiculous-he would never hurt her. But somewhere in her past, those sort of situations obviously resulted in physical abuse for her, and she can't forget about it. I can only hope that the longer she lives with us, the more she comes to understand that she will always be safe at our house.

So here's to many more years of happiness with Moxie, and I'd better refer back to this post frequently to remind me that I do in fact love her, because so help me, it's 9:19 in the morning and she has already dug a hole in the backyard.

Moxie The Bird And Squirrel Destroyer

2009-03-26T18:50:00.004-04:00

Darn Spring, arriving with its chirping birds and chattering squirrels, all seemingly on the same mission-to torture my dog. The Army Man and I could tell from day one that Moxie is a bird dog. It’s obviously in her blood, and according to her, birds are the most exciting thing on the planet. If we’re on a run and she spots one in a yard a few houses up, well you’d better just pick up the pace, because she will literally drag you to that house in an attempt to capture the bird. And if the bird only flies to the next house in its escape attempt, then yep, you’ll be dragged to that next house too. Have I mentioned before that running with Moxie isn’t always that pleasant?

Since Moxie came home with us in the dead of winter, we didn’t really see right away just how hell-bent on capturing a bird she is. Now that the birds are out with gusto, she can think of nothing else. We have a small patch of woods behind our house which is now teeming with wildlife. The birds and squirrels are all so grateful to use our bird feeder, and this has created an unpleasant situation for everyone.

Moxie the bird and squirrel destroyer CANNOT allow any animal to linger in her backyard. They must be chased off, or preferably, caught. If Moxie is not allowed to be outside defending her property, then the only position she can be in is at the back door, looking out menacingly. Every time someone walks anywhere near her, she is sure to go into full body convulsions of excitement, thinking she is about to be let out the back. If she is not let out the back, she starts weeping. When she is out the back, it’s amazing to see her instincts at work. She hides, she low crawls, she sneaks. She is determined. Yesterday she hid on the deck behind the grill and when a bird finally landed, she catapulted herself off the deck through a small opening. She walks on her back legs attempting to see over the back of the fence. She is starting to worry me. She never wants to come inside anymore, something which used to be so thrilling to her that she would wiggle while sitting. Her one-track mind is not allowing her to enjoy life anymore. Normally during the day she would take some naps, look out the front window, play with her toys, and get petted excessively. Now she is obsessed and cannot relax when she is inside.

Today I thought perhaps if I closed the blinds on the backdoor she would forget about everything in the backyard and just lay down. Nope. That actually brought out the whining and pacing. So finally I gave in and let her out the back. I should have had my camera ready, because this time there were TWO squirrels on the premises and she actually threw herself against the fence in her attempts to capture them. When we adopted Moxie, the story they told us about her leaping the four foot fence and returning with dead squirrels to feed her puppies made me tear up at the thought of her being such a devoted mother. In fact, that was even part of the inspiration for her name. Now I know, that just like a used car, every positive attribute of hers is just disguising a negative one. She’s so devoted to her puppies really meant she is so obsessed with wildlife that you will never again have a pleasant day until the winter comes again.

I know what you’re all saying-the backyard is fenced, so just let her stay outside all day if that’s what she wants. But therein lies the rub. Moxie is also a digger. There are creatures underground that require her attention too! Lately she has been so obsessed with the birds and squirrels that she ignores her digging responsibilities for about 20 minutes. That’s a long time for this dog who used to start digging after being outside alone for about 3 minutes. But I can never be quite sure-will this be the time she digs or doesn’t dig? Yesterday she dug up the one lone tree in our backyard, digging so deep that the roots were damaged. She sure is a champion digger, our dog. We’re so proud! I really don’t enjoy going to check on her every 10 minutes to make sure that she isn’t digging. I’d rather she was inside, where I can keep my eye on her. Inside, where she will be at the back door, freaking out.

The Army Man is convinced that soon she will actually attempt to jump our six foot fence. I’m starting to consider injuring a squirrel and putting it in the backyard for Moxie. This afternoon I took the bold and unpopular step of completely removing the bird feeder from the backyard. Moxie the Bird and Squirrel Destroyer is not placated or deceived. She will keep at her post no matter what. Last night she lay there in the dark for about 30 minutes, in a perfectly crouched position, waiting for the kill that will never come.

I would feel bad for her if the whole situation wasn’t so annoying.

Moxie guarding the bird feeder, in one of her more relaxed moments

Laurora

2009-03-24T22:32:00.008-04:00

I’m excited to finally announce the opening of my shop, Laurora. So far it’s not quite as full as I’d like, so know that there is more to come! I have another quilt in the works and I’m also going to make some simple dresses, hopefully in the next week or two. I’m selling through Etsy, which bills itself as “Your place to buy & sell all things handmade”. It’s a giant website with thousands of crafters selling their wares, and you may find yourself never shopping anywhere else again. When I first discovered Etsy, I spent hours on it, searching through all the wonderful things for sale. I really think Etsy is a wonderful idea-it gives people like me a chance to place things up for sale, and it has also connected me with so many talented sellers that I never would have found on my own.

You do have to create an account to buy something, but it’s just like creating an account to buy anything else online (name and address, essentially). I will warn you-it asks you to pick a name for your profile and your name can’t be changed, so if you ever plan on selling anything on Etsy, choose your name carefully! Most sellers accept payment through PayPal, which is very easy to use. Don’t be intimidated! If you have any questions about Etsy or PayPal, let me know or just visit their websites. There is plenty of explanation offered at both places.

Now, let’s get onto the details about my store. First, I know you’re wondering about the name. It’s a combination of Laura (who else?) and Aurora, also known as Sleeping Beauty. For a long time, Princess Aurora was Laura’s favorite princess and Sleeping Beauty was her favorite movie. Laura once told me she wished she had been named Aurora, and when I was on the spot to think up a name back when I started shopping on Etsy, Laurora was what I came up with. So like I said, your name sticks with you. I actually like it, since I’m not the type to name things something like Claire’s Crafty Creations. Laurora is unique yet sweet. And since I’m the owner, I get to say how it’s pronounced (La-roar-uh).

What I sell is not necessarily unique to Etsy. There are lots of women already selling bibs and blankets, but I think me just being me is what will allow me to be competitive. Simply put-I'm a perfectionist. It’s good for my buyers, since I am so hard on myself and have only offered up things for sale that meet my strict criteria. You won’t see me trying to sell something with crooked stitching, stray strings, or lumpy spots. At the same time, this perfectionism is bad for me since for everything you see for sale, there are probably 3 others I have deemed just not good enough. The Army Man has tried to convince me that everything in my reject pile is just fine, but I think he’s just trying to be nice to me.

But I leave it up to you to decide for yourself if I’ve done a good job. Take a look at what I have to offer. Since I’m still so new to this, I completely welcome any suggestions about my products or the way my “store” is set up. And if you know someone who is looking to buy something for their baby or needs to buy a gift for someone else, I’d appreciate you mentioning my store to them. I’d appreciate the heck out of it. So much so that I will lavish gifts upon you as a way of saying thanks! Just tell your friends to be sure to mention your name in the “notes to seller” section if they purchase from me. Three referrals and a small gift will be in the mail to you!

The link is up at the very top of this post-just click the pink "Laurora". I also have a small little section over on the right which will take you right to my shop if you click on it. Or just use this address:

www.Laurora.etsy.com

Inspiration Through Visual Torture

2009-03-23T23:22:00.005-04:00

Back in September I decided to face facts. My child had been out of the womb for close to 4 years, and I still looked like I had just given birth. I had not been taking care of myself, and wasn’t setting a good example for Laura. Inspired by my friend Angela, I started running on September 29th, 2008. I followed the Couch to 5K running plan. It’s so simple, and starts out so slowly (60 seconds of jogging followed by 90 seconds of walking) that even I could handle it. In 9 weeks you are supposed to be able to run your first 5K. I did my first one on December 5th. But even with all the running, I wasn’t really losing any weight, and I didn’t feel much healthier. So at the end of December, I stopped buying Pepsi for the house.

Now if you know me, you know I love to drink pop (soda for all of you who are confused and don’t call it by the right name). I especially love Pepsi and was usually drinking a can with lunch, and sometimes another can for a snack. So once I finished that last can in December, that was it. I haven’t bought it for the house since. Of course I always have some if I go out to eat, because I think complete deprivation is both cruel and unrealistic. It was so hard at first. Every day at lunch I missed it terribly. But about 5-6 weeks later, I realized I had stopped thinking about it so much. These days I couldn’t even imagine having it at lunch.

On top of that, I stopped eating out so much, and stopped buying candy for the house all the time (horrors!). And guess what? Six long months later, I finally notice a difference. I’ve shed a few pounds. One of my pairs of jeans is too loose to wear and still look respectable. And the absolute best thing is that the Army Man stated he thinks I definitely look skinner.

I’ll be honest-when I bend over, there’s still plenty of skin bending over the top of my pants with me. I imagine, thanks in part to having been pregnant and in part to my own laziness, that will always be there. I haven’t dropped any sizes in clothing. There is no six-pack, four-pack, or even ½ pack appearing on my stomach. My thighs still slap together when I run (my father-in-law’s wisdom is that the noise one hears while running is people clapping for you, which I wholeheartedly agree with).

But I will let the Internet be my judge. I am about to share two pictures with you, both of which are horrifying and embarrassing. They are my “before and after” pictures, in a sense. I hope that in a few more months I’ll be able to share another “after” picture with you, when that six-pack finally makes its appearance. For now though, you’ll just have to settle for me in all my glory.

The first picture is from May 2007. I debated for a while about whether to share it, because it’s usually preferable not to embarrass one’s self in view of the entire world, and even worse, in view of one’s parents and in-laws. But I hope that everyone (including myself) understands why I’m sharing it. I’m sharing it to show how far I’ve come, to remind other mothers that most normal people don’t lose the baby weight in 6 weeks, and that sometimes, once you’re a mom, you never get back to how you used to be.

So anyway, this picture. Laura is about 2 ½ and me? I look horrible. Yes I know I’m sitting in this picture, and I’m slouching too (sorry Dad!) but you can’t deny that I don’t look all that healthy. This is actually pretty much my most hated picture of myself, and when I first saw it back in 2007 I almost deleted it off of the computer. I’m not sure why I kept it, but I guess I’m glad I did. I only share it with you know because it’s late and my good sense has gone out the window. Please turn away if you are faint of heart.Now, to erase that memory from your mind, my newer self. I also look pretty silly here-odd smile, pale white stomach, weird hair-basically your typical Claire picture. But a definite improvement, right?Is there anyone else out there who needed a little push in the right direction? Did my pictures help? Or are you now throwing up in the bathroom? If you survived this post, check out the Couch to 5K link; it’s really easy to follow and can turn anyone into a runner. Just remember, it took me almost 6 months to really notice a difference. I made a few food related changes as well, but nothing too serious. My overall goal was to have made a noticeable difference in my life in one year, and I think I’m on the right track. If I can do it, you can too! Seriously.

Sometimes Cheesiness Is A Good Thing

2009-03-22T00:09:00.006-04:00

A few days after my recent post about my unread books, I decided it was high time to actually tackle some of the books on the list. It was late at night and I didn't think it was the right time for something like Jane Eyre, so I picked up The Other Boleyn Girl. I had been promised cheesiness, and that's exactly what I got. And I enjoyed every decadent moment of that delicious cheese.

I majored in history in college, and have always enjoyed historical fiction (insert mandatory shout-out to The Pillars Of The Earth by Ken Follett). One of my most treasured childhood books was about King Alexander III of Scotland and his granddaughter, the Maid of Norway. I used to wish that time travel was possible so that I could go back in time to all of my favorite time periods and witness everything firsthand. So while The Other Boleyn Girl was silly, fluffy, and probably not all that accurate, I had a great time while reading it and got quite caught up in it. I rushed through it in two days and experienced that all too common feeling of euphoria and sadness that one experiences when they finish a book quickly.

Soon after I finished the book, the Army Man brought home the movie version for me to watch (he's sweet that way). We watched it 2 nights ago, and I barfed in my mouth a little while I watched it. It was one of the worst. movies. ever. I love (love!) Natalie Portman and do not care for Scarlett Johansson one bit, but none of that matters since it was horrible. Horrible. Bad acting, not true to the book (which I'm sure the Army Man got tired of hearing me say), and overall it just wasn't a compelling story. It managed to be pretty engaging on the page, but not so much on the screen (I'm tempted to insert a "lost in translation" joke here. Whoops, I guess I pretty much just did).

I'm sad I subjected my eyes to that movie, and I'm bitter because it is threatening to take away the enjoyment I received from reading the book. So I post this in the hopes that I can save even one person from a similar fate. If I can, then I will not have suffered in vain.

While we're on the subject, will I ruin the glory that is Atonement if I watch the movie?

Complain, Complain, Complain

2009-03-18T18:05:00.005-04:00

I know nobody likes to listen to other people complain, but hey, I’m Claire. I’d complain to a wall if it would listen. Today has been one of those days, and I figured I’d share with you a few highlights.

--Moxie attempted to tunnel to China today while in the backyard unsupervised. Instead of China, all she got was a foot deep hole and a whole lot of trouble. I had to wash her front paws off since she was covered in mud, and let me tell you, that dog hates getting wet. She flipped out and ran off, through the conveniently open door and into the kitchen, leaving behind perfectly formed muddy paw prints. I felt like I was in a paper towel commercial or something. Thankfully my screaming stopped her from going on the carpeting, but it didn’t prevent her from soaking me with muddy water when she ran back outside.
--Speaking of mud, Laura decided to play in her mud patch while wearing her brand new shoes. They may never recover.
--A cavity that I have had filled 3 (count them!) different times woke me up last night and I’ve been in pain ever since.
--Along the same line, I was standing in the kitchen, minding my own business, when my knee decided that my day wasn’t bad enough and did whatever it is that knees do to reduce their humans into excruciating pain. I honestly was just standing there, contemplating my horrible photography skills, when I nearly collapsed from the pain. Interestingly, it only hurts when I stand around, not when I walk.
--In the past 48 hours I have driven 152 miles doing nothing but small, local errands.

And that is the official end of my complaining. None of those are actually that big of a deal, but you know how it is when everything seems to pile up on the same day. Several other small, annoying things happened as well which probably contributed to me feeling so overwhelmed. Hopefully I will be feeling much better once I watch LOST tonight and eat a whole bunch of SweeTart Chicks & Bunnies.

In other news, if I could learn how to take a decent picture, my Etsy store should be opening in just a few days. If you don't hear from me for a day or two, it's either because I'm working like crazy to get everything ready, or because I jumped up and down on my camera and have gone on the lam rather than explain to the Army Man why I broke the camera we bought to replace the other one I broke a few months ago.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

2009-03-17T09:51:00.005-04:00

We wanted to wish everyone a very happy St. Patrick's Day! If you're not wearing green, consider yourself pinched. Laura was very excited this morning to wear the shirt that Nana sent, so of course we had to take a picture. I'm about half Irish, so I know Laura has some in there somewhere. She definitely looked the part today. The Army Man always teases me about taking this day so seriously, but the joke's on him since he is wearing his uniform today, and it's basically entirely green!Moxie got in on the action too, although not very willingly. In the end I just draped a pair of Laura's green dress-up shorts on her. She looked very Irish to me, especially since she seems to be kind of a red head.And I have to share my favorite St. Patrick's Day picture ever, from 3 years ago. This is my sweet baby girl when she was about 17 months old.I hope you all have a great day! It's still so cold and dreary here that I might be tempted to celebrate with some Baileys and coffee tonight.

March Madness

2009-03-16T19:16:00.010-04:00

In this particular instance, March Madness does not refer to how mad I am that it has been raining for 4 days straight, or how mad I am that Moxie rolled in the wet grass right after getting a bath, or how mad I am that I spent $235 at the grocery store today. I am talking about NCAA basketball, the legitimate March Madness in which college basketball teams play against each other in the hopes of moving closer and closer to the finals and being the eventual champion. I have no idea what they get if they are the champion. A trophy, I assume. Perhaps a title that declares to the world that they are the NCAA champions and will remain as such until next year when another team takes the title away from them.

You may have caught on that I am not all that knowledgeable about college basketball. But that doesn't matter, because the Army Man's big brother took a chance on me and has given me an opportunity I've never received before-a chance to pick the winners and possibly win the big bucks if I'm the one to correctly predict the most outcomes. That's right, he invited me (the one who doesn't even know what these teams are playing for!) to join his tournament and I'm honored to do so. Too bad I have to pay the $10 to enter-I guess being the Army Man's wife is of no benefit to me in this case.

So today I received my bracket to fill out and send back to him, and I have to admit-it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I certainly didn't want to only pick the top ranked teams. That would make me look lazy, not to mention elitist. You know there are going to be a few good underdogs in the group, and won't I look good if I pick them? There's also team loyalties to take into consideration. I'm sorry to report that I didn't give my alma mater the time of day and left them right where they started, #15 in the West. Sorry CSUN. I moved the Army Man's alma mater pretty far ahead, but in the end, I had to pick Wake Forest over them. Everyone knows that USC is a football college. Or at least, that's what I think.

In the end, I was a lot more loyal to my adopted state of North Carolina than I intended to be. I just can't deny how good our teams are. And my eventual champion was picked because that's where I really, really want Laura to go to school one day. I hope that when it comes time for her to apply, I can mail in a copy of my bracket from this year, and maybe from future years (if Jeremy will allow to play again!), and say, look, I always picked you guys to win. Surely that has to count for something, right? Right? Hello?

[Click to Enlarge]

Nobody better steal my picks, because I researched each team thoroughly, and I know I have predicted every game correctly.

And thanks to Jeremy, for planning and coordinating this entire tournament, and for being so nice as to allow us to play from across the country!