News Flash

HEY!

What's new? I miss you, Siestas! But I've been keeping up with your blogs, even if I haven't done the same with my own.

Here's a quick news flash.

1. I heart tennis. It's expensive though, with the club membership, fancy new racquet, comfy tennis shoes, and lessons! I'm taking a series of eight private lessons and in a couple of weeks I start my weekly group class. It's sooooo much fun. I'll let you know if I end up at the US Open or anything like that. ;)

2. We are feeling so great about our decision not to move to Atherton, CA. Weekly one of us will say, "Aren't you glad we aren't in California right now?" No offense if you happen to live there! It just wasn't the job, town, time for us. We want to move somewhere small and podunk, not a major metropolitan area!

And a job has opened up in one of the top ten places in the world that we would like to live. Make that top five. Make that top three. It's a small, four seasons college town in Central Washington. And it just happens to be where my favorite girl in the world hangs her hat... my very own mother! Wouldn't it be amazing if Penn got the job and we were able to live there!? I'm not getting my hopes up AT ALL, but it's fun to think about. I even have a house all picked out. It's an adorable Cape Cod about a half mile from the college and five minutes from la casa de mama. Did I mention that I've always wanted to work at a college?

Even though this job is a major long shot, it just makes me realize how happy I am that we didn't commit to something that we didn't feel good about. The opportunity cost would have been huge.

3. Nicknack is a handful these days. Even more than usual!

Here he is at the pumpkin patch:


And with his favorite "person" - my mother's dog, Maddy:

Hi!

I haven't been posting much lately because I've been busier than usual. Actually. I have the same amount of things on my "to do" list, I'm just doing them. Which is time consuming and has distracted me from my blog. The house is clean, the laundry is caught up, I've been making dinner every night, and I have tackled organizational projects I'd been putting off for months and months.

And I haven't been spending much time with MacHenry, my laptop.

Today the Lillian Vernon kid's catalog arrived and I sat down with MacH to order a few things for Nicknack for Christmas. That was about 90 minutes ago. Because I decided to visit several websites and blogs. And made a few lists. And read a few articles. And just generally waste a lot of time. Valuable time. 3/4 of Nicknack's nap time, actually. Kind of a bonehead move. That's the only time in the day to get things accomplished that aren't possible with a 25 pound "helper" who seems determined to undo whatever I've just done. So I just wasted almost an entire nap!

I realize how much time my laptop sucks from my life. It's a black hole. Even more than television. Because TV time automatically has limits. Shows end. Sometimes I'll sit down for lunch and select a sitcom from my DVR list. If I fast forward through the commercials I have about 22 minutes before the recording ends. Of course, I can always choose to watch another show. And another. And another. I usually don't. But even if I did, at least a couple of hours don't disappear without me even realizing it, like they often do when I sit down with my laptop.

So I need to be more disciplined with my computer time. Set a timer. Limit myself to certain times of the day - evenings, after Nicknack has gone to bed, maybe. Open my laptop with a specific task in mind and close it when that task is complete. Something like that.

Because I like myself waaaaay more when I'm on top of my game. When the house is clean and free from clutter I maintain it. I make dinner. And maybe dessert. Keeping up with an already clean house is much easier and more pleasant than cleaning up a great big mess every few days and sitting around feeling bad because the house isn't tidy the rest of the time. I feel like I have so much more time! And I feel more motivated to do fun things with Nicknack. How about an impromptu trip to the park? After all, the house is clean!

I know there must be some people who genuinely are not affected by the state of their house. But my mood and self-esteem seem to be inexplicably intertwined with whether or not my home is in tip top shape.

If the house is messy I am messy. I might be wearing my pajamas. In the afternoon. I'm definitely not wearing any lipgloss. I probably brushed my teeth, but not necessarily my hair. I start to think about how I'm something like an unpaid maid. And not a very good one. My life is boring. I'm boring. Maybe I should get a job outside the home, since I'm not very good at this housewife gig.

When the house looks good my spirits are immediately lifted. Hey, what a beautiful day. I love my life. How lucky am I that this is my job? What a wonderful husband I have. What a great house we have.

etc.

I don't think housekeeping has much to do with being a good mother. I would never assume that another mama with a messy house was lacking as a parent. In fact, I once knew a woman whom I would categorize as a not-so-good-mom with the most immaculate home imaginable. But for some reason I stop feeling like a sucky mom and wife the instant the house hits company-ready status.

Lately I've been feeling like I'm actually making a home for my husband and son. You know, like a homemaker? Go figure.

Anyhoo, it's been so nice, and I'm more than happy to sacrifice a big chunk (almost all) of my computer time to keep up with my life.

So on that note, I'm not sure I'll be blogging much in the future. I'll probably post a blog when something happens that I want to record. I'll still keep up with all of your blogs, but not on a daily basis.

Now I'm going to publish this post and shut down my computer for the day so I can try to squeeze in a chore or two before my oh-so-helpful toddler wakes from his nap...

Blah blah blah

I've had a case of the blahs lately.

I think it's because I've been feeling so sluggish and sleepy a lot of the time. I've been sleeping a ton, getting up late, and still ready for a nap at any given moment throughout the day. I even went through the Starbucks drive thru this morning and purchased a pumpkin latte in an effort to start a coffee addiction.

I don't actually enjoy the stuff at all but I would love to be one of those women who starts her day with a 5am quiet time and cup of joe. Thanks to all the sugar and whatever else they put in a flavored latte, mine was mildly pleasant - although I would like to state for the record that I tasted no pumpkin whatsoever. I quickly determined that a coffee habit is a lot less convenient (and much more expensive) if you have to leave the house to procure some. And I'm quite sure I could never learn to tolerate the horrid stuff that comes out of my husband's coffee maker each morning. You know, just regular old non-latte java? Aaghck!

So coffee is out.

I spoke with a friend today who suggested I get my thyroid checked. I also think I will schedule a sleep test, as my husband thinks I may be experiencing sleep apnea. He claims I hold my breath a lot while I'm sleeping.

So I have my annual ladies exam on Tuesday (woo hoo, right!?) and I am going to schedule a regular physical as soon as I can get into see a doctor. I hate, hate, hate going to the doctor. All because of the dreaded weigh-in. (duhn-duhn-DUHN!) And although I don't overeat anymore, the weight hasn't melted off as those diet commercials would have me believe. I clearly need to start exercising. But that's the last thing I feel like doing right now, when I would really like to take a little snooze.

I also feel like I need a little more structure in my day, and it would do both Nicknack and me a world of good to get out of the house more. We usually stay at home unless we run errands, go to the grocery store, or make quick trip to the neighborhood park. The highlight of our week is our Thursday Bible study. Nicknack loves the nursery so much that every week I'm tempted to sign him up for day care just because I think he'd love it so much.

So today, after Bible study, I came home and used my computer for good. I found a Mommy and Me tumbling class at the local community center and signed us up for Tuesdays. It doesn't start until November, so in the meantime I booked us for a couple of drop-in classes at Gymboree and the Children's Gym.

Then I made a list of all the child-friendly activities in the area. We have two zoos, an aquarium, two great children's museums, and umpteen parks, pools, beaches, farms, etc. within an hour's drive. If we don't have anything scheduled for the day we'll pick one on the list and visit.

Then, because I was on a roll, I found a tennis center in the area and called and committed myself to tennis lessons before I could chicken out. I have wanted to learn to play tennis for a long time. I booked myself for a one hour individual lesson this Monday afternoon. (Penn has the day off.) Then after that I'll be taking a weekly group lesson on Sunday afternoons. I already checked the football schedule and it will only interfere with a couple of games.

I'm so excited!

But I'm still super sleepy.