The "Going Ons" of a New Year...

O.k. I'll admit...I am pretty excited about the start of 2008 (minus the car window break-in incident, ahem). But OTHER than that...this year has been a total party. What better way to present that than in a LIST FORMATION! Ooohhh....I am getting tingly all over just thinking about the organization of it all...

1. Our neighborhood "winter progressive party" was just that...a total party! I was impressed with the food and laughed too hard at the inappropriate conversations all 14 of us had. Ummm...and 85% of the inappropriate conversation wasn't initiated by either my husband or I AT ALL so don't believe the hype. I mean, come on! We didn't eat until 9 p.m. and I had about 4 glasses at wine before that! But in all seriousness, we are so lucky to have such a great street of people. What a treat when the neighborhood you always dreamed of in your head becomes a reality before your very eyes.
2. I'm training for a 25K in May. I have to admit, I wobble back and forth in my motivation in January and on a boring treadmill...but I really am pretty psyched about it overall. I look forward to long weekend runs in March and April and getting back outside to my "zen running experience." Although 16.2 miles still feels very intimidating to me, I'm feeling positive about the goal.
3. I've started doing some marketing/pr work for Lucy's preschool. I am finding it surprisingly fun! It feels good to be a little bit "back in action" and working on things I know I do well. It helps that everyone has been so open to my new ideas, encouraging and helpful. While it keeps me busy during naptime/quiet-time, it's fun to dust off the cobwebs on that part of my brain. And I have to admit, at the end of the day yesterday, I was feeling very proud. For the first time in 3.5 years, I was actually thinking...maybe I CAN find that work/motherhood balance that works for me after all. Now that's something to ponder...
4. Plans, plans, plans....lots of them! Fun things to look forward to this year such as a trip to Chicago with the ladies, camping trips, visiting friends, 4th of July, and Disneyworld! Hard to believe these things are already scheduled "on the books" but really, you have to plan this early when working with other people's crazy schedules as well.

I have a feeling if the past four weeks have been any sign of what's to come, this is going to be a fantastic year.

My Kids are Cute and My Sister is Talented!

Just in case you forgot....I think my kids are cute...





AND? My sister is very talented! In fact, she has created a website to advertise all her awesome skills...please check it out and spread the word to your friends!

Of course I am partial since there are many photos of my kids over there but still...she knows what she's doing!

Back to "Normal"....

O.k! The fam is back in action! Lucy headed back to school this morning and Tommy and I hit the gym. I have to admit, I am working at about 70%, but you know...us moms just have to keep things moving - no time to linger. Man, that bug really knocked the hell out of our family for 5 days. Some funny moments to note over the past couple of days...
1. Tommy, after hurling in his crib at 10 p.m. Tuesday night....all of a sudden we hear on the monitor..."Uh oh....uh oh, Momma...uh oh..." (I open the door to find him covered in head to toe puke with his plg big brown eyes)
2. Yesterday, Lucy was Dad's helper and brought a Coke up to me in my bedroom. I told her the next day she'd get to go to school and that it was "beach day" and she responded, "Oh! Thanks for telling me, Mom. Enjoy your pop." and walked away all butt serious...
3. This morning, in the dark hallway, Lucy and I find each other and the first thing she says is, "Mom? Are you normal?"
And that's when I busted out my old southern accent and shouted, "Mama's feeling better, Luce, but I'm a faaaaaaar cry from normal!" with a creepy laugh.
(I am sure...)
So yeah, amoungst the grossness, some funny things occured. Let's just go ahead and hope we are all set with illness for a while, mmmkay?

What's Been Happening...

1. Sick husband

2. Puking child

3. Snow day

And there you have it....

Not Sure Where He Came From...

Today is Tomma's 22 month birthday. It is so bizarro that I am actually beginning to think about planning his 2nd birthday party. As is usual, the Tomma is a magical being from another planet. I do not mention much about "what he can do" and I need to get better about that for posterity's sake.
So here we go...things Tomma is into right now:
1. Knows all letters of the alphabet (upper and lower case) and enjoys announcing them to anyone who will listen. At the mall gym last week, he was flailing about playing and stopped mid-flail to give "shout-outs" of letters on a sign in the mall. This other mom looked at me like, "Really?" For some reason, this boy really thinks naming letters is a total party. Hilarious.
2. Knows almost all numbers and can count to fifteen. Again, he truly enjoys learning them. At Target the other morning, he was in his stroller giving "shout-outs" as he would see them. Again, he is different.
3. Naming and playing with various balls. He knows the difference between basketballs, baseballs and footballs and again, loves to yell them out as he sees them. At the kid's area of the gym, he basically spends the whole time holding one of those kinds of balls and throwing it at any older boy who will engage him for 20 seconds. He loves this so much that when I pull into the gym he begins cheering and yelling, "Kids and balls! Yeaaahhhh!" Plg....
4. And finally, he has no stranger anxiety. I mean none. Throw him into any situation and the Shomma Lomma is like, "That's cool...." He is very rarely thrown off by any new situation at all. It is so funny and he is so easy in that department it is crazy. Good thing I had Tommy second or I would have thought Lucy was a whack job! Oh wait, I still think she's a whack job. ha ha...

So fun to have this little boy in our family. Just a totally different personality to shake things up. I can't wait to see what type of boy/teenager/adult he becomes!!

Happy 70th Birthday to My Dad....

“He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.”
-Clarence Budington Kelland

I am a very, very lucky daughter.

All We Have is Today...

You may or may not have noticed (all 3 of you! ha!) that I haven't been posting as much as usual. I have been thinking of posts in my head over the past week but haven't really been able to articulate anything worthwhile up to this point. Don't know if I can now but I am going for it...

I have been feeling quite overwhelmed lately, mostly for financial reasons, I suppose. Let's just say we haven't had any real breaks in that department as of late (note list of bad luck over past 3 years). During these times, I seem to embrace my "stay-at-home" status we are so committed to during these few years. I appreciate the commitment we have made and I hold onto that decision tightly. We knew this wouldn't be easy for us and we weren't even sure we'd be able to pull it off. I just knew I couldn't hand over a 4 month old Lucy to a woman I barely knew for one more day and it kind of took off from there.

I use my usual analogy: "If you are in a hot air balloon, looking down at your (hopefully) 80 years on this planet, these 6 years of rough financial times will be a blip on the radar of life." In short: You can't get these precious years back. You can revive a career but you cannot revive this time. That's our theory we live by.

We estimate we are about 1/2 way through that period (3 years down, maybe 3 more to go) before I head back to work in some capacity. And I am loving the time and loving being home with them. Wouldn't want it any other way, even with the stress of our financials. THIS truly is my life work and I know it to be true. So much so, that I worry whatever "work" I go back to will never utilize my skills and strengths or be as fulfilling in the way this "work" has been. And really, I know it won't be as fulfilling. But hopefully a little fun and exciting.

And as I have been spending wasteful time worrying...friends around us are going through some horrible times. Medical issues...scary stuff. And I am bounced into reality again. We are so very lucky. So very, very lucky. And it reminds me to hold on even tighter to these kids, to these years, to the gift of this very day I have been given with my family. Life can change in an instant.

In the end, money doesn't matter. Things will get better. This, too, shall pass. And all we have is today.

Meet My Grandkids...Max and Allie...

There has been a lot of talk, lately, of Lucy's future. And by that, I mean what she will be doing as "a grown up lady."
Yesterday, we were lounging together and she proceeded to tell me she will have her own house when she is a grown up. The convo went like this...

"Mom? I am going to have a house all by myself when I am a grown up."

"Great! Can I come visit you?"

"Sure!"

"Will you live with someone?"

"Nope! All by myself. (further thoughts...) I haven't met my husband yet. I don't know my husband."

"Oh! You are going to have a husband? That is nice! I wonder what his name will be.."

"Maybe it will be Matt!" (ha ha...because all husbands are named Matt, you know.)

"Will you have any pets?"

(Without hesitation) "Yes! A dog named Kiki!"

How about any kids?

(Again, as if she's known this her whole life) "Yes! A boy named Max and a girl named Allie!"

"Great! Can I come visit you, Max and Allie whenever I want?"

"Sure! And I will cook things that are hot and cold."

After all this "grown up talk," she then paused for a minute and stared off into the sky. Suddenly she busted out, "But what if there are monsters in my house and I am the MOM??!"

As if to say, "What the hell? I will be in charge and I'm screwed!"

Seriously....I GIVE!!!!

O.k. I am going to go ahead and forwarn you that I am taking a direct left turn onto negative lane for this post. Why? I have HAD IT!

I am a person who has always thought of myself as lucky. I have won random things in my life, and good luck just seemed to generally follow me. But something has changed...let's just recap the past 3 years mmmmkayy??

1. Matt gets laid off randomly and without warning with little to no severance package TWO years in a row.

2. July 7, 2007- Matt's random leg accident that becomes a 5 month saga, including gushing leg at work and emergency surgery.

3. December 10, 2007 - Sewer line saga (you've seen the pics...it wasn't pretty...I still shutter at the front yard daily - damn that 50 degrees that melted all the snow that helped me mentally forget!)

4. Scout has random toenail surgery 5 days before Christmas. Um yeah, didn't even mention that one in here before because it was so absurd and I was trying to be all "fa la la la la"...but she was a conehead for Christmas. I am so sure.

So then Matt and I were all, "2008 is a new year! We shall wipe the slate! Start fresh and anew!" I was really trying to be positive.

But then...

5. January 5, 2008 - Our car was broken into in downtown Detroit at my sister's surprise 30th birthday party last night. Smashed the passenger side door of the Envoy, rendering it undriveable and stole the portable DVD player. This is realized at 8 p.m. with Lucy downtown with us and Tommy at a friends 30 minutes away. And we were totally having a great time and dinner was being served!
Umm yeah....driving through downtown Detroit at 9 p.m. with SARAN WRAP on my window while sitting on glass with a 3 year old in the back seat...scary as hell and I don't want to ever feel like that again.
PLG note of the night (although there were many)...Matt eating his microwaved burger I had boxed up for him at 12:30 a.m. and commenting, "It's actually pretty good!" PLG....

Sooo....here we sit. Just feeling really, really defeated with really, really bad luck.

I know, we have our health. That is truly all that matters. I know this. I have been telling myself that mantra for the past 3 years!! So, please god, let that be the LAST RIDICULOUS THING that happens for a good long while!! I mean COME ONNNNNNNN.

Regular positive programming to return to the blog tomorrow....I swear.

Resolutions and Milestones...

Our Resolutions....drum roll please, Tomma...



Me: Stop biting my nails. (Disgusting habit I have stopped and started many times in my life...the sewer saga put them over the edge....I am embarrased...)
Lucy: No more accidents overnight. (BIG new and exciting development over the holidays!!)
Tommy: Get rid of pacifier 100% before 2nd birthday. (80% over the paci during the day, only given right before nap, when crabby, and at bed.)
Matt: I cannot represent the man but will only guess it might be (aka should be) getting his poor leg back in action 100% and resuming regular exercise.