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    Monday, January 21, 2008

    To My Laundry

    I had you whooped. I had won. And then the holidays, and birthday parties, and various other things came along...and so once again, you have taken over. You clever bastard.

    But I am on your trail, and I am coming for you. It's happening, so deal with it. It will not be pleasant. If you'd like, you can spare yourself the humiliation of being soundly defeated and just wash and dry yourself.

    I'll give you until this evening if you should choose to do just that. Then, the battle begins. And I will triumph. Know that, and enjoy your final hours.

    Tuesday, January 15, 2008

    Valentine's Colors...Awww...

    Me likey. Cute stuff! Think I'll keep it a while...

    Mid-January Babble and Other Such Nonsense

    Hey all, I know I've been absent these last few weeks, but the storm known as "holidays followed immediately by Samantha's birthday" is now over, so hopefully my life (and my computer time) will get back to normal, with some much-needed changes.

    For instance, "normal" needs to include walking on the damned treadmill every day. No bitching, no whining, no excuses, just plop your plump ass up on it and WALK. Nothing simpler than walking, right? So that's my FIRST needed change.

    "Normal" also needs to include more blogging, on more varied topics, for you, but also for me. It's good for my brain, keeps me from getting MushyBrain Syndrome, which is what happens when you practice ABC's and numbers and answer questions like "What does the clock say?", "Do I have blood in me? Do you have blood in you?", "I don't want to grow up - why do I have to grow up?". Simple, basic, essential questions (to the asker for sure), but none that challenge my brain, none that "work out the muscle between my ears", so to speak. So I need to challenge ME on a regular basis. I also need to do some word puzzles or some shit, because my vocabulary is going down the drain FAST. Occupational hazard for SAHMs, I suppose. The parts of my day when I'm not participating in conversation with the 4-year old, I'm teaching the 1-year old how to talk, which involves repetitive use of words like "potty", "snack", "drink", "mama" and "dada", but nothing much more complicated than that. Again, crucial for child, mind-numbing for Mom...Buuuuut, I do get a major adrenaline rush when my kid, either one, masters a new skill, no matter how simple or small. THAT does truly thrill me, and charges my brain with lots of neuron surges when I consider the possibilities for them. Surely mine are the most brilliant ones ever, destined to change the world! Anyway, to end this ramble, suffice it to say, I need to give my brain more food.

    Also included in the new Normal is better food choices, ALL THE TIME. No need to rehash this, is there? We all know what kind of food I should eat, what we all should eat, and I need to do that. Consistently. It's more and more of a health issue than a weight issue as I get older. And since I "get" to turn THIRTY-FIVE this year, I'd better start taking care of my body or I KNOW I'll be sorry.

    I guess this is basically a resolution list, this "normal" discussion. Housework, laundry, spending time with my husband outside of parenting, eating out less, cooking good meals more, spending less, working on the house, finishing the landscaping, and about 12 other things - these are all things that I need to work on this year. 2008 will be a busy one, no doubt. But what year has been any other way? None I can remember!

    So stick around, because the blogs will be coming and you won't want to miss it! By the way, the best way to NOT miss it is to subscribe to my blog. It's up on the top there, on the right...seriously not a spam trap or anything that's going to load spyware on your computer. It's just a chance for you to not miss one single post of mine, and to boost my cute little ego all at once by letting me know you love me!

    Oh, by the way, Samantha says "Hi!" to everyone on Mommy's blog! Here is her version of typing "Hi": qaaaaaaaaaa s 2222';g hhhhhhhhhhhhhhht

    Like I said ~ genius, right? I thought so.

    Wednesday, January 9, 2008

    Have YOU Eaten Today?

    I know I've eaten my share, and felt no stress as I opened my cupboards to see if there was anything to eat. It's probably the same for you. Did you have food to feed your kids this morning? I know I did, and it sounds like a silly question.

    But I wanted to remind you, faithful readers, that there are LOTS of folks who do need food. I cleaned out our pantry this week and got rid of some stuff we don't need or use, but that is perfectly good food, and posted it on Craigslist to give away. The response has been a little overwhelming, and I am reminded of how many have needs I can't even begin to understand. In the 1/2 hour it was posted before I chgd it to "pick up pending", I heard from SEVEN people asking for it, saying how much that one box of food would mean to them. Two were asking for a food pantry that helps people like the other five. I'm sure there would be more if I hadn't listed that someone is coming to get it. Actually as I type this, more emails are coming in asking for the food anyway.

    It's easy to get warm and fuzzy during the holidays about helping the less fortunate, but sometimes we forget that need knows no season, and people go hungry all year round. Today I was reminded of how much some pasta, baking staples, canned goods and pudding mixes can mean to someone. It takes five minutes to go through your pantry and find a few things that you know you won't use (or shouldn't have), but that someone else may need. Or, next time you're out shopping spend an extra five dollars (or two, whatever) on canned vegetables, or baking items, or anything else you know you'd be lost without in your kitchen. It takes SO little effort to make a HUGE difference for someone else. Every can helps, every box of food is one meal that a baby doesn't have to go without.

    So find your local food pantry, clean out the cupboards and give, give, give! Here, I'll get you started:

    In Columbus:
    Platte County Food Pantry
    3020 18th Street
    Columbus, NE 68601-4254
    Phone: (402) 563-4544

    In Lincoln:
    http://www.lincolnfoodbank.org/home.asp

    In Omaha:
    Omaha Food Bank
    (402) 331-1213
    6824 J St
    Omaha, NE 68117-1090


    In Norfolk:
    Norfolk Food Bank
    106 West Norfolk Avenue
    Norfolk, NE 68701-5340
    Phone: (402) 371-2591


    Feel free to search online and find other community food banks, add them to this list and then copy this into an email and pass this on (or you can use the "email this post" button to send as-is). It's ridiculous that in this day and age, babies go hungry in the wealthiest country on the planet. Whose fault it is that they go hungry, and why they go hungry doesn't really matter, does it? They are still hungry, and they still need our help.

    So find a way to help, and then pass on something worthwhile today - this! You'll feel good about it!

    Sunday, January 6, 2008

    Happy Birthday, Samantha!

    Aww, my sweet baby girl is going to be FOUR years old on Monday (in 42 minutes)! Seems impossible!

    Four years ago, right now, I was sleeping. Well, probably not sleeping, I was in bed, for sure, on mandatory bed rest until the morning when my induction would begin.

    Then at 10:06 p.m., Samantha Kae came to live among us. Sweet, sweet Samantha, so content from the get-go that they couldn't even get her to cry for several minutes, giving Mommy her first of countless panic attacks in my life as a parent.

    She is my heart, my very breath, and I can't remember my life before her. She is part of the puzzle of my life, and without her, the puzzle could never be whole. She, Greg and Jackson are my whole world. At the risk of going all Jerry Maguire, they complete me.

    Happy, happy "Number Four Strawberry Shortcake Birthday", my love. You're my best girl, today and always...