My Little Attachment

I affectionately refer to my baby  (never mind that she's five and a half) as my little attachment.   My first born was a social girl and would just as soon be with Manna, or the neighbor. . . or the girl she met at Home Depot, as she would be with me or her dad.  But Siggy is all mine.  She is extremely loyal--if Rob teases me too much she comes to my rescue, and she likes to snuggle and tell me she loves me.  We don't part much.  In fact, I left her home with her dad and sister for nearly a week a few months back.  It was the first time EVER that I had left her over night!  She did pretty well.  Apparently she started crying over every little thing after about day three--but she never associated her sadness with me being gone!  (She does have a tendency to disassociate her distress from the source and place it elsewhere--remind me to tell you the story of Scott the pill bug sometime!)  When I got back it was like I had put my arm back on.  We were tight.

 

So when my good friend offered to let her sleep over (her sister would be there) I had my doubts.  She had never had a sleep over.  By five and a half Hannah practically lived at our neighbor's house and had no trouble leaving me.  I was fine with her going too--call me a bad mom, but it didn't bother me to let her sleep at a friend's house.

Back to Sig.  This is the child who doesn't sleep.  Hannah will be out well before nine--always has been.  Sig sings to herself and makes up stories and finds a million things that will be "real quick" that she needs to tell you before sleep takes over and knocks her out sometime after ten thirty!  Needless to say, I had my doubts.  I tried to talk her out of it.  I tried to talk Shannon out of it.  But no.  She wanted to stay.  She swore she'd be fine.

And she was.  

But on the drive home to my empty house I was a little sad.  She might not miss me, but I missed her!  It was a strange and peaceful night.  I went to bed by ten thirty.  I was very excited to sleep in but since I had gone to bed so early I woke up shortly after six--and managed to linger until seven.  

Apparently my little attachment is breaking free.  Excuse me while a weep a little.

Ahhh, Domesticity, I Have Missed You So

My kitchen my not be done, but my cook top and oven are in.  And it may have only been macaroni and cheese, but it was homemade macaroni and cheese. . . and it was divine!

Now excuse me, please.  A cookie sheet is calling my name.

I am still avoiding my Shakespeare essay.

Avoid, eschew, keep one's distance, ignore, run away from, escape. . .

Writer's Workshop with Mama Kat

Prompt of choice:  3.) What are you putting off right now?

Time for homework. . . but first

do the dishes

fold the laundry

call my sister

Now some Shakespeare. . .but wait

check my email

read a blog

visit ebay

Act 1 scene 1. . . boy I’m hungry

make some lunch

get the mail

take Sig to school

Focus! Medieval or Early Modern? . . . was I sleeping?

get a Dew

flip through Veranda

sketch out garden plans

Back to history. . .is that the bus?

get girls a snack

do some yard work

run to the store

Will? Who’s Will?

Make some dinner

do the dishes

who wants cookies?

Essay?  What essay?. . .

sweep my floor

admire my kitchen

watch a show

. . .

scrub some toilets

wash some windows

floss my teeth

. . . 

What are you avoiding?

Ever Seeking Motivation. . .

I am getting a bit of spring fever.  I started the semester with zip and zeal and didn't really mind the backside numbing hours spent in front of the computer.  But as the months drag on and daffodils pop up outside my window--taunting me and calling to me--I find I am having a hard time focusing on my homework. 

Take now for instance.  I should be finishing my Shakespeare assignment or working on my Anthropology essay, but here I sit typing away on this blog (the danger of doing classes online is that you are forever online--where an over abundance of distractions are a mere click away!). One professor even sent out a note about getting refocused and plugging through until the end.  She advised us to seek new forms of motivation.

This didn't really work that well on me, but it gave me ideas. . . for motivating my children.  I have mentioned the point system my girls work from before--they earn points for chores, homework, good behavior, that they can then convert to money. They used to just save up until they could buy something they wanted, but recently we opened savings accounts for them and they mostly deposit their money.   Hannah is saving up money to buy a Mac Book.  

The problem with putting most of your money into an account and not getting rewards right away?  The points l o o s e   s o m e   o f   t h e i r   a p p e a l .  Telling them they will earn points, or loose points does not motivate like it used to.  So yesterday while I was trying to get Hannah to do her chores and was met with grumpiness, I came up with a brilliant idea.  The girl loves music.  So I told her if she cleaned her room, the playroom, and her bathroom I would let her download a song from itunes to put on her ipod.  

The girl has never cleaned so fast.  Instant gratification certainly has appeal.

But of course I can't let her download a song every time she does her chores, she still needs to learn to save.  So I made a deal with her:  For every five points she earns for the bank she can put her sixth point towards a song (points are a buck so that works out well for the .99 songs). 

Voila!  Motivation.  

What do you do to motivate your children?

I'm Seeing Green!

For the first time ever my house was visited by a little green clad man.  It is his habit, we have learned, to steal into houses during the night before St. Patrick's Day and wreak havoc upon unsuspecting homeowners.  He never visited when we lived in Utah, but apparently a leprechaun lives in the area--I think he migrated from Canada (Since he left gold Canadian loonies--of the chocolate variety-- at Signe's preschool--after messing up her classroom and dying her toilet water green.)

The girls were nervous to see if he would hit our house this year.  We escaped his notice last year and the girls were tempted to put a note on the door saying we wouldn't mind if he chose to tease us this year.

He didn't disappoint!  The girls woke up covered in green confetti. . .their toilets filled with green water. . .and a breakfast fit for a leprechaun:

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Have you been seeing green?

My Year of Sweets

In my Women Writer's class we are reading a book this month called "My Year of Meats."  It is about a woman producing a TV series entitled "My American Wife!" which airs in Japan. It is funded by the beef industry and it's main goal is to promote meat eating in that country.  Each episode features an all American house wife who cooks a meat based meal.  It aires each week for a year.   Incidentally, American promotion of meat in Japan significantly raised their heart disease.  I am not saying anything bad about meat--I grew up on a beef farm and I eat meat regularly.  Just a little FYI.

But that's not what I am writing about.  While I was reading it I was struck by my own eating habits.  Meat is not my downfall. . . sweets are.  So I decided to outline my year of sweets.

MY YEAR OF SWEETS:

January - January is the month of resolutions.  Time to stop eating junk food and get in shape. . . ironically, we start all that off with a big party where we eat crap.  If that is not enough, in my house the Christmas candies are still hanging around (no not my waist--at least not only my waist, the cupboards and counters too).  What. am. I. to. do. . . I have to eat them to get them out of the house--right?!

February - Resolutions die quickly mid month.  Valentine's Day must be accompanied by loads of chocolate--preferably Dark Dove Chocolate. . . and Sees raspberry truffles (I am salivating just typing this). Plus since I bought a chocolate mold I had to try that out in various flavors and fillings.

March - I know what you are saying--"No one eats candy on St. Patrick's Day."  I don't--really.  I don't need to because my birthday is in March.  So I eat cake. . . lots of cake. . . and ice cream.  There is no break in sugar consumption this month.  And even if it wasn't my birthday it is girl scout cookie season.   You know what that means?  I ordered 18 boxes of girls scout cookies--you do the math (what?! it only comes around once a year and I accidentally promised two girls I would buy from them.  I couldn't disappoint). If you want to laugh a few of those calories off that were consumed due to over indulgence of the GS cookies, go here and have a listen--it's worth it.

April - It is only March but I am sure you know what is coming--the stores are stocked up and prepared for April. . . and the upcoming visit from the Easter Bunny.  Who can resist those cadbury eggs?  (Actually I can, but the Dove Truffle eggs do me in!)  The starburst jelly beans tempt me too. . . not the peeps though, never the peeps.

May - By May I am trying to reinstate the whole get fit routine (swimsuit season is looming)  but I have kids. . . and those darn kids like to buy me chocolates for Mother's Day.  You cannot refuse chocolates from your children on Mother's Day--it would be wrong.  So I suffer through and. I. eat. them. I know, it's tough, but that's what mothers do for their children.

June - June should be a sweet free month.  But of course those same darn kids can't leave dad out.  More chocolates -- luckily they tend to be cherry chocolates (which I am not fond of ) or peanut butter cups (which though they are not fond of me, they somehow manage to get into my mouth).  They aren't my chocolates. . . there should be no problem.  I don't know what to tell you.  Except--just because they aren't mine doesn't keep them from sticking to my thighs. . . darn chocolates.  

July - July takes a turn (for the better, really).  Fresh fruit is in season. June/July = strawberries, raspberries, blue berries.  But do we eat them straight and healthy?  Sure. . . and baked in pies and made into jam and added to homemade-straight-cream ice cream. . .  Delicious, sure.  Swim suit friendly?  Hardly.  

August - August keeps up the fresh fruit trends of the summer.  Plus we add more homemade ice cream and Popsicles and blackberries (which turn into jam and cobbler and milk shakes).  Plus all summer the Ice Cream Truck passes by our house every Friday--and we must purchase ice cream.  It is a compulsion I have.  To understand why go here.

September - Whew.  Sweet Free!  (unless you count apples season, and therefore apple pie and cobbler and crisp and applesauce and apple jam. . . but who counts that anyway?).

October - Halloween candy.  Carmel apples. Halloween candy. Bat and pumpkin shaped sugar cookies. Halloween candy.  Pumpkin bread, muffins and cupcakes.  Halloween candy. Rob's birthday cake Halloween candy. . . It is all going down hill from here.  Prepare yourself (But really it's all winter from here on out and what's an extra layer of fat?!  Insulation right?  And who can tell under all those sweaters and coats? No one I tell  you.

November - More sugar cookies (shaped like turkeys and pilgrims) Pumpkin Pie with whipped cream.  Apple pie with ice cream. Berry pie. . .with both!  Pecan pie (it's largely sugar, it doesn't need ice cream or whipped cream, but you will add it!).  Birthday cake for two birthdays. . .

December - The grand climax of the year of sweets.  Candy canes. Penuche.  Carmel. Cookies. White Fudge. Chocolate fudge. English toffee. Peppermint bark. Gingerbread houses. Candy garland. Chocolate oranges. Hot chocolate. Homemade marshmallows. . . .I think I am gaining weight as I type!  I better stop, though the list in far from complete.  There really is something to be said for going out with a bang (or a pop!).  

So you see, avoiding sweets is nigh on impossible.  Would it be wrong to resist?  Please tell me, what kind of year would it be if there was no sugar?  I know I would loose some recently acquired "body texture" if I turned a cold shoulder on sugar.  But I am addicted to a real bad thing and I know the parting will be painful.  

Have you said so long to sugar?  Do you even want to?  

The Possibilities Are Endless. . .

Writer's Workshop with Mama Kat (I can't believe another week has flown by already!)

Prompt of Choice: 4.) What inspired you?  Write about a time when you were impassioned to write.

This is funny for me.  Everything and nothing sparks stories in my head.  I have apparently passed this on to my daughter--both of them, actually.  The older one brings home half written stories and songs daily and the younger one, well, her entire world is make believe. 

But when I read this prompt I thought of Sits (the Secret is in the Sauce)--the site I joined last year that is a network of blogs.  I can't remember the last time I visited due to lack of time these days.  But after I joined I eagerly awaited my day in the spotlight.  Each member gets featured for a day with a little intro written by Heather and Tiffany (the hosts).  They always had such nice things to say, like "So and So is so witty and clever."  or "Such and such is a fabulous photographer."  or "This person should be published she is such a talented writer."  Or "That person is so funny I read her blog regularly."

I particularly looked forward to seeing what Heather had to say because I read her blog regularly and found her funny and witty--and a talented writer.  

The day finally came--sometime last September.  I got up early and logged on to read my intro and prepare for the onslaught of comments.  What would Heather have to say? It went something like this:

"Not only does she look like a super model, she's a fantastic mom with some super adorable kiddos." 

 What?!

 My response? 

"Who cares about that, what about my writing?"  Call me a snob, but my next reaction was "I don't want to be noted for being pretty, pretty people are less interesting!"  (Don't get me wrong I'm all about being pretty in person, but it's sort of like going on American Idol and being told you look good!)

I realize that statement is largely untrue, or at least very sweeping, (I know a lot of pretty and interesting people) but that line alone struck ideas in me.  I started writing a story based on that idea--and perhaps proving it false.  I haven't finished it yet, but it just proves inspiration can come from anywhere! 

(To give Tiffany credit, she did say, "She is a talented writer and a pleasure to read."--Thanks Tiffany!)