Well, it's official

I've arrived. I'm a BIG BLOGGER! No, it's not the Mamapop gig that is making me feel this way. I got my first piece of HATEMAIL! Apparently my site sucks and who do I think I am? Well, I'm pretty honesty about who I am and feel free to go read another blog. There are a trillion out there. Back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Attention all December Brides: I may have picked out your wedding gift

Being a mom has made me a better person. Yeah, I know everyone says that but I think it really has. I have finally gained some measure of patience. Saturday I was at the mall and I ended up at the cash register in the home section of a department store behind a very old woman. She was very, very confused about the whole wedding registry process. Ordering a place setting of china took about 20 minutes. Before Michael I would have sighed and tapped my foot and looked frantically for another open cash register. (In Macy's, please.) But, I didn't have Michael with me and there really was no big rush. When the woman did not understand that the gift was shipped directly to the bride, I explained to her that brides really like getting the gift at their house other than bringing it to the wedding, than they don't have to worry about it getting it to their house before they go on their honeymoon. I heard all about her great nephew's wedding, that they were getting married right before Christmas, the wedding was in Philadelphia, and they just graduated college. Between the store clerk and I we managed to get this couple a wedding gift, although picking the card greeting was quite a feat (Did you know you could say Congratulations, Best Wishes, or Congratulations and Best Wishes. What would Miss Manners pick?) So, if you are getting married December 23rd in Philadelphia and your fiance has a great Aunt that lives in the DC area, I think you owe me a thank you note, email me for my address. I'll take a wedding invitation as well.

Reminiscent

My blogiversary is coming up in a few weeks. And I've got BIG THINGS planned. Like contests and re-posts of my favorite posts and lots of good stuff. I was recently looking through pictures of Michael and decided it was sad that I started this blog when he was a year and a half old. You guys missed the early years. So, please indulge me with a montage. I know, I know, it's not even his birthday or anything and I'm pulling this nonsense. I've watched it about a gazillion times and every time I do I cry.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And Michael, thanks for being my "somewhere over the rainbow."

Labels: Random Bloginess, Random Parentness

Huge, Big Colossal news

I've joined Team MamaPop!

I'm their celebrity legal consultant. Go read my first post, all about the Brittany Spears/Kevin Federline custody battle. Come on, you know you have always wanted to hear my opinion on celebrity legal matters. Love me for me mind, not just for my body.

Just eat it

You must live under a rock if you have not heard about Deceptively Delicious, the new book by Jessica Seinfield, wife to Jerry. The book is all about hiding vegetables in food when your children won't eat a veggie to save their life. I'm lucky in that Michael loves vegetables. He will snack on raw carrots, cucumbers, celery, and tomatoes. I need something that can teach me how to hide protein sources. There are meals I don't even give him a vegetable because I know he will only eat them. We have tried everything. Peanut butter on celery, cheese melted on vegetables. He rejects all meat, will eat a chicken nugget only if it is in dinosaur form, and would live on eggs as his only protein if I let him. Like most kids he goes through eating phases, Recently we went to a local Mexican joint and Michael refused to eat his kids quesadilla but downed Doug's spicy chicken burrito. Fried calamari is a restaurant favorite. Put hummus on anything and he loves it. If I serve him something for dinner he better not see it again for weeks, this kid won't eat anything that could possibly be a leftover. I hear you asking yourself, you make two dinners every night? Yes. And no, we don't have family dinner most nights. I know, bad mom. Doug gets home too late and Michael asks for dinner at 4:30. So Michael eats between 4:30 and 5:00 and I sit with him. Then, Doug gets home and puts him to bed and we eat dinner after that. It works for us even though I know it is not ideal. Ideal would be smiling family sitting around the table and no one jumping up and down and feeding their dinner to the dog. Instead I get peace and quiet and some conversation with my husband. And no constant, "Michael just taste the fish stick." There was an article about not having family dinner in the Washington Post this week. Be sure to read the comments. I'm not so sure why everyone gets up in arms about how other people run their lives and their family. If it works for them, who cares? I'm sure we will have family dinner when Michael gets older but right now he is too young to wait until 6:30 to eat when Daddy gets home and if I let him snack he doesn't eat dinner. And I enjoy my alone time with my husband. Am I not teaching Michael that meal times are a time for conversation and bonding? Maybe not. But I'm teaching him Mommy and Daddy need to connect, which I also believe is important. This post brought to you by Parents bloggers network.

Like no race I have ever been to

"Mommy," Michael says, pointing in front of him with a stick while playing on the playground "on your market, get set with it, GO!" "What?" Irritated this time, "Mommy, on your market, get set with it, go. Let's race." "Oh, on your marks, get set, go. Got it." "Mommy, stop talking and race."

It's my blog and I'll complain if I want to

I know that I have had a string of downer posts. Fucking Thomas and my broken coffee table. (Which the wonderful company is going to replace by the way, yeah!). But listen to this one. I go to pick up a prescription at Target and am told that I don't have health insurance, the company said it was canceled. "Um, that can't be right, can you re-run it?" "Nope, still canceled," the pharmacy clerk says, in her chirpy cheerful voice, "you should call them." So I whip out my phone while standing at the Target pharmacy and do just that. After 45 minutes of being on hold and being transferred to a million different people I am told that in fact, no, I do not have health insurance. My plan administrator needs to call, who is the HR person at my husbands office. So, I have to turn this task over to my husband and his office, who I have no control over. I'm not so good not being in control. It's not like I can call and harass the HR person at Doug's office. And, if myself, my husband, or my two year old is hit by a car right now, we, do not, in fact, have health insurance. Good stuff. And Doug, works for an organization that represents HEALTH INSURANCE companies. Way to Go! Guess I'm not having sex anytime soon since the prescription I was trying to pick up was my birth control.

Where are my fucking trains?

My sister gave us my nephew's old Thomas table and about a million lead filled trains last year. (Granted, she didn't know about the lead when she gave them to us. And my nephew sucked on them for years and he was fine). I sent them back in the first recall in JUNE. It is now the end of OCTOBER. The only train I have received back was a "free gift" that has since been recalled because of lead. Yes, they sent me another lead filled train. I'm not trying to get on the ban all the Chinese toys bandwagon or sue them or anything. I understand mistakes happen. I wasn't even that outraged in June when I sent back 20 trains and it took them months and months to send me a reimbursement check. It's been 4 months! Everyone I know has gotten their replacement trains. And I've since sent back a second round of stupid trees and stop signs that were recalled. I hate fucking Thomas and Sir Topham Hat. Michael doesn't even play with it that much. I'm throwing the whole thing against a wall soon.

Ever feel like nothing in your life actually works

My brand new coffee table, broken.

Seriously, things come into my house and go to crap.

It only took 6 years

I hired a painter. To paint my house. My whole house. I still think this is great idea, but where the hell am I putting all the stuff that needs to be moved while they paint? And when am I finding the time to pack it all up. And no tivo, for 3 days. The color, latte, which is perfect for my Starbucks addiction. But still, paint. Now if only I can convince Doug we can afford to move. Half of our crap is already going to be packed anyway.