Category Archives: just plain drivel.

33 things.

Posted on by
7

Happy Birthday to me!  I am 33 today and would like to shout a big “thank you!” to my dear Mutti who birthed me. I think it took giving birth to my own little birdie to realize what a true gift this whole life thing is. 33 is also a really lovely looking number, isn’t it? Furthermore…, 33 is the largest positive integer that cannot be expressed as a sum of different triangular numbers. Whatever the hell that means. Thanks, Wikipedia.

I’ll be celebrating with food and family in our nest. We’ll be ordering in Thai food so I don’t have to cook or clean (much). Yahoo!

So it seems like a good time to make one of those “life lists.” I know these are trite, but also fun so here goes… 33 things I’d like to do before, well, you know.

make a teardrop trailer |  travel to South America |  train travel across India  |  climb a real mountain |  win a race |  bake amazing cakes  |  complete an Ironman-length triathlon | make a film  |  have an encyclopedic knowledge of wildflowers |  play the cello | make cheese | bike across the United States | visit Prince Edward Island  |  have a successful business  |  advance beyond first series Ashtanga yoga  | visit all fifty states  |  raise a strong woman  |  travel across country in an Airstream  | kayak the Outer Banks  |  ice climb  |  design and build our own house  |  live overseas again  |  see the Great Wall of China  |  eat sushi in Japan  |  have a big vegetable garden with enough stuff to give away to all our favorite neighbors  |  grow artichokes  |  go dog sledding  |  Safari in Africa  |  sail the Great Lakes  |  write a book  |  get an advanced degree  |  give  A LOT of money to a charity I love  |  perfect my butterfly stroke  | uh oh! That was 33. I guess I’ll keep going because I hope to live a long, adventurous life… |  replace 90% of the lawn with plants  |  backpack with my husband |  have a dog again | scuba dive | visit hot springs you have to hike in to  | winter camp  | run the entire Pictured Rocks trail  |  have a successful cut-flower garden with lots of Bells of Ireland and big orange and green Zinnias  |  wear an itsy-bitsy teeny tiny polka dot bikini  |  have zero debt to anyone or any institution  |  go to a Craig Ferguson show |  see Madonna live in concert  |  visit Madurodam with Wren  | raise pygmy goats and lots of different varieties of lavender  |  paint regularly  |  have a family meeting like the Cosby Family | celebrate Mardi Gras in New Orleans  |  floss every day  |  sleep under the stars at Joshua Tree  |  race the Vasa  |  run the Boston Marathon  | swim with dolphins |  have excellent posture  |  have a cottage on a lake somewhere  |  do one scary thing every day  |  make great stuff that people other than family and friends want to buy  |  simplify  |  sew well  |  live in Canada  |  sweat daily  |  waste less food  | live big.

Tooth!

Posted on by
Reply

Breaking news from Wren’s nest…

The wakeful nights mystery has been solved! Wren’s first tooth is breaking through and I think it might just belong to a shark. Ouch! Way to go, little birdie.

I realize it’s a little early to be thinking about the Tooth Fairy, but a tooth seems like it pushes a baby one step (err, crawl?) closer to being a toddler. So it got me thinking about tooth pillows and pouches. Of course, I hopped right on Etsy and found this adorable tooth pillow.

I also love this idea for making your own tooth pouch, found on the Purl Bee site. Cute and *sew* easy, right?!

***********************************************************************

Dear readers, how does the Tooth Fairy work her (his?) magic in YOUR nest? What successful teething aids have you used? Whiskey? Frozen waffles? Cold washcloths? …

On a side note, I’ll be posting lightly in the next few days as Wren and I are hitting the road soon. Detroit 2010 Or Bust, Baby! While we’re on the road together, I plan on bouncing some blog ideas around, which made me think, what do YOU want to read about? I’m thinking of doing some taste tests – first one being something dear to my heart and belly. Windmill cookies. Something to look forward to, right?!

Happy weekend to all the birdies in your nest.

comic relief.

Posted on by
Reply

I am deliriously tired today after several almost-sleepless nights. After thinking about this, you might not think these things are funny. I do.

ONE

The nursery rhyme, Little Jack Horner.

Little Jack Horner

Sat in the corner,

Eating his Christmas pie;

He stuck in his thumb,

And pulled out a plum,

And said, “What a good boy am I!”

I realize it rhymes, but… where do people come up with this stuff?

TWO

FMYLife Web site. The site where people share mundane, but bad, things that happened to them. For example…

Today, I had lunch with a co-worker, and after having a good talk and enjoying each other’s company, we got up to leave. Right before we said goodbye, she looked me right in the face and looking legitimately confused said, “you know, I really don’t understand why no one at work likes you.”

OOF.

THREE

Yesterday we received an Avon catalog and some thoughts accompanied it. Here are a few, exactly as written.

Hi,

I don’t want to disturb you; My name is Bonnie, and I’ve been an AVON Representative for a few months now and have met so many wonderful people!

….

One more thing, I always have a basket of AVON Goodies … for you to purchase at discounted prices! So if you would like to check out my basket and you see me in your neighborhood just give me a HEY AVON Lady!

HEY AVON lady! You’re disturbing me with your crappy letter!

Last, but not least

Wren’s hair. This is what happens if your Mama were to bundle you (and your damp hair) up in a snowsuit after swim class. Then YOU proceed to sleep for an hour or so…

clearly not an expert.

Posted on by
Reply

I’m sure you realize this by now. I may have strong opinions about child-rearing, but I really don’t know what I’m doing. Honestly, sometimes I just don’t really know what to do with a baby. Thank goodness for everyone involved, I have good intentions. Besides the obvious time-sucks–nursing, diapering, dressing, playing with toys, reading books, attempting to nap–what should I be doing to make Wren a fun-loving, wonderful, hilarious being who saves the planet and reaches enlightenment way early?

In my quest to figure out what I should be doing with a baby, I’ve been seeking out play groups and preschool enrichment offerings in our area. Our very favorite enrichment activity I have found so far is baby swim. Once a week we go to a local pool that is kept very warm and we polly-wog around together with other parents and wee ones. There is an instructor and her hair always looks really good. I’m not sure if this is good or not. It’s like seeing a skinny chef. It makes me equal parts suspicious and jealous.

I’m not really trying to turn Wren into a Nirvana album cover, but it’s fun to revisit the 90s, sort of…

Actually, Wren does swim a bit underwater and it’s pretty amazing. But mostly she likes to kick around and play with toys and try to gnaw on the chubby limbs of other babies. Did you know that the British are really into baby swim training? I’m not quite sure why this is. When I think of Olympic swimmers, I do not usually think of the British, do you? Well, this is probably because there is no correlation between baby swim and future swim success. That’s what “they” say anyway. Oh well, it’s a helluva lot of fun so I don’t care what “they” say.

Speaking of what “they” say, Wren is not sleeping through the night AT ALL and she doesn’t crawl. But she loves to pick up tiny bits of food with her peripheral vision and clap her hands, supposedly somewhat “advanced” for her age. Whatever. She’s sleeping right now so we’ve got that going for us since I’m totally exhausted and have a real-world “work” meeting to attend this afternoon so I better try to be my best bright-eyed and bushy-tailed self I can muster. Another cup of coffee is in order and a shower is probably a good idea too since I can still smell a bit of the chlorine from yesterday, yuck…

Dear readers, do you have some insights into what I should be doing with a baby right now? Should I learn some songs, or at least try and figure out what comes after the first two lines of the itsy-bitsy spider? I always get caught there. Help!

Sunday confessions.

Posted on by
Reply

Being that it’s Sunday, I think a confessions-only post is à propos. Although I’m not Catholic, I went to an all-girls Catholic school so along with an excellent education, I received a healthy dose of guilt. Therefore, confessions are in order!

Confessions

  • We have tenants who live in the apartment above our garage. Technically, just Dave lives there, but his friend, Tom, pretty much lives there too. They kind of came with the place; we didn’t have to keep them, but thought “why not?” This decision came AFTER I researched the online sex-offenders registry… At first, Chris called Dave “Fonzie.” Not to his face, just in reference to him. As it turns out, he is no Fonzie. So I started referring to them as “Bert and Ernie.” Tom is tall with somewhat unruly eyebrows and Dave is short with somewhat unruly eyebrows. And they’re ambiguously gay. So “Bert and Ernie”  have stuck, but I’m a little worried about Wren slipping one day and calling them Bert and Ernie. Who knows, those might be her first words!? So where is this going and what do I have to confess? Well, we get Ernie’s mail in our mailbox and then we take it back to the garage mail bin every day. Although this might be a federal offense, I sometimes recycle pieces of his junk mail before delivering it… Gasp! Just crap from Charter Cable and the local casinos, which exclaim on the front, “We miss you! Come back!” But still. And I don’t open it. Now I know that’s a federal offense so I don’t go there… whew.
  • I read once that Jennifer Aniston takes a three-minute shower. I know she’s a lot thinner than I, but still. How is this even possible?! Every day, I look at the clock when I jump in the shower and I can never get out under eight minutes. And this is only when I choose not to shave. The green guilt is killing me! My only saving grace is that some days I never fit in a shower so maybe it all averages out and I have more in common with Jennifer Aniston than I thought?
  • Speaking of green guilt… I know we could probably save some money on our heating bill and help out the planet if I wore long-underwear during the day and turned the thermostat down a couple degrees, but they make me feel fat so I don’t. Sigh.
  • I promised myself that I would not feed Wren any processed foods, but now she eats oyster crackers every day. And they’re not even organic. The horror! But I LOVE to hear her crunch them – she’s a toothless wonder! It’s hilarious! Plus, she loves them and a 16 oz box is only $1.99. Moving on.
  • Old Navy sells “skinny” jeans in a size 20. They were on sale last I checked. I wonder why. If you wear a size 20, do you think “skinny” jeans are a good idea? 90% of the people I see in “skinny” jeans should not be wearing them, myself included. In fact, that fad could not pass quickly enough.
  • Speaking of fashion, I judge people who wear sweat pants out of the house. This is ridiculous coming from me because I rarely look “put together,” but I will not be caught in sweat pants at the grocery store. Yoga pants, yes. Cotton sweat pants, no. They flatter no one.
  • I had no idea I could love something (someone!) as much as my little birdie, Wren. It scares me sometimes.

Dear readers, what confessions do you have this Sunday morning? By the way, you are forgiven.

monday, monday.

Posted on by
Reply

la la la la la la.

Every other day, every other day,
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Monday comes, but whenever Monday comes
You can find me cryin’ all of the time

Well, not really, but I like that song. While Mondays aren’t nearly as fun as Saturdays or Sundays, it can be nice to step back into a bit of a routine again after a fun weekend with the family. Strange how when I had a rigid schedule like a 9-5 (err, 8-6) gig so lovingly provides, I craved a bit more fluidity and spontaneity in my work life and now that I can barely scrape together any semblance of a schedule, I crave routine, order and control. Humans are just plain weird creatures. (Speak for yourself, lady! OK. Point taken.)

In an attempt to control some of my mild chaos, I like to make lists. Sometimes I write them down on scraps of paper and sometimes I use a simple Web site: Backpack. Check it out – it’s a cool organizational tool – good for sharing with a group of people too. Usually, I can check off a couple items from my list, but not enough to make me feel like I had a very productive day. To thwart any rising feelings of inadequacy, I often write down some other things I did accomplish that I didn’t think to put on the list. And then proceed to cross them off. Lame? Yes. Does it feel good? Yes.

change diaper

nurse

change diaper

nurse

change diaper

nurse

change diaper

nurse

change diaper

nurse

just kidding, I don’t write those down, but now that I think about it, I just might. Wow, what a day! The addition to my list might look more like this:

sew butt hole up in yoga pants

Now that looks really bad when written out, doesn’t it?, but I had a gaping hole in the back of my yoga pants. How else should I have written it? sigh.

Well, folks, happy Monday to you! May your coffee be strong and your Vitamin D intake be more than adequate.

be where you are.

Posted on by
Reply

Happy eight (8!) month birthday to my little birdie, Wren Sabina! Every time Wren gets a month older, I think, “Woah! How time flies!” I know, I know. Everyone says that, but the thing is… it really is true. Time is picking up speed. While some days–and especially, nights–feel like they take forever, my weeks have been zooming by. So today in yoga, my teacher reminded us to “be where you are” in our yoga practice and this really hit home on so many levels.

Today it’s 40, drizzling and just plain yucky. It’s been like this off and on for about a week. I would really rather not be here when it’s like this. Costa Rica? Let me think about it for a minute… OK! Alas, I am here. At least physically I’m here. But I’m trying to be more present in other ways too. Spending all your time with a baby helps because babies are so damn zen without even trying. They don’t seem to be bothered by the dreariness or general malaise of winter life near the 45th parallel. In fact, when there was sun to be had this week, Wren kept trying to avoid it. Too bright! Babies don’t worry about what happened or didn’t happen yesterday or what might happen tomorrow. Babies are present in the present. (Dogs are like this too – I think that’s why I like them so much.) For a 17-lb person, Wren sure has a strong life force. And you ought to hear her crunch oyster crackers without any teeth! Amazing! But I digress. See what I mean about staying in the present? Oof.

Someone once told me that part of being in the present IS planning for the future. Now this I can swallow. Cadbury Eggs, sprinklers and flip-flops in the stores already? Not so much.

While I wrestle (are you ready to rumble?!) with this idea of planning for the future and being mindful of where I am, I find myself thumbing through seed catalogs… I’m planning on creating two raised bed vegetable gardens this spring in a super sunny patch on the southern edge of the catalpa tree shadow. There’s a really cool tool on Gardener’s Supply, which allows you to play around with different kitchen garden layouts. If you’re not going to Costa Rica either, this might give you a much-needed escape. I also recommend some Malibu rum and orange juice.

And for all of us who have a tendency to live in the past from time to time, here’s my favorite Billy Collins poem. Because poetry, like yoga and babies, help to keep us mindful of the here and now…

Nostalgia

Remember the 1340’s? We were doing a dance called the Catapult.
You always wore brown, the color craze of the decade,
and I was draped in one of those capes that were popular,
the ones with unicorns and pomegranates in needlework.
Everyone would pause for beer and onions in the afternoon,
and at night we would play a game called “Find the Cow.”
Everything was hand-lettered then, not like today.

Where has the summer of 1572 gone? Brocade and sonnet
marathons were the rage. We used to dress up in the flags
of rival baronies and conquer one another in cold rooms of stone.
Out on the dance floor we were all doing the Struggle
while your sister practiced the Daphne all alone in her room.
We borrowed the jargon of farriers for our slang.
These days language seems transparent a badly broken code.

The 1790’s will never come again. Childhood was big.
People would take walks to the very tops of hills
and write down what they saw in their journals without speaking.
Our collars were high and our hats were extremely soft.
We would surprise each other with alphabets made of twigs.
It was a wonderful time to be alive, or even dead.

I am very fond of the period between 1815 and 1821.
Europe trembled while we sat still for our portraits.
And I would love to return to 1901 if only for a moment,
time enough to wind up a music box and do a few dance steps,
or shoot me back to 1922 or 1941, or at least let me
recapture the serenity of last month when we picked
berries and glided through afternoons in a canoe.

Even this morning would be an improvement over the present.
I was in the garden then, surrounded by the hum of bees
and the Latin names of flowers, watching the early light
flash off the slanted windows of the greenhouse
and silver the limbs on the rows of dark hemlocks.

As usual, I was thinking about the moments of the past,
letting my memory rush over them like water
rushing over the stones on the bottom of a stream.
I was even thinking a little about the future, that place
where people are doing a dance we cannot imagine,
a dance whose name we can only guess.

Confessions.

  • I’ve been a bit out of sorts lately because Wren seems to think that sleep, both day and night, is pretty overrated. After a bit of Internet research, I’ve learned that this can be an indication that one’s child is “gifted.” Gifted in what, I wondered? Gifted in being awake all the time? Great.
  • Orange is my favorite color today.
  • I’m a bit worried that Wren might not know her real name because I call her by so many nicknames. Most of the time, I refer to her as “Doodles.” This comes from her other nickname “Wrenski Doodleski,” which I have since shortened to simply, “Doodles.” For the record, I do know it’s supposed to be “Wrenska,” but it doesn’t have the same ring to it.

best!

menu planning

Posted on by
Reply

I love the idea of planning what our nest will eat for the next week, but life usually jumps in my way. We end up going out to eat for a meal or two, or what I planned on making Sunday just doesn’t sound good anymore on Thursday. Often, I make too much for 2.5 people and we end up eating something for several days instead of one meal, blah blah blah. On top of that, when I do manage to get us all packed up and head out the door to buy the groceries, I’m lucky if I remember to take my list with me. Sigh. Sound familiar? (Cile, don’t answer that. I saw her grocery cart once. It was amazingly organized and they DO manage to plan out their weekly meals. WOW!) So this year, I invested in a really cute squirrel memo pad for groceries, thinking this would help. Has it? In a way, yes. I love writing things on it and it lives right between the fridge and the back door so it’s sitting on fairly valuable real estate. Kind of like the Marvin Gardens of my nest.

Isn’t it cute?

Where is this post going, anyway? I’m not really sure, but if you’re still reading, many thanks to you…

Other ideas. I thought this was a really cool idea for menu planning/grocery shopping too:

For details on this DIY Grocery List, click on over to Design Sponge.

In some ways, grocery shopping is a lot more phone (it’s early, cut me some slack) FUN now that I have Wren along with me. I like to carry her in our Baby Bjorn and see how many times people say, “awwww, what a cute boy!” She really enjoys being in the middle of everything and I enjoy having somebody to bounce ideas off of while I’m trying to decide whether to buy the organic bananas, which are still green, or the standard bananas, which are ready to be eaten now and in some cases, yesterday. She squeals and kicks and I take that to mean, “buy both.” Some for today, tomorrow and a couple for yesterday. Thanks for the great idea, Wren.

What’s for dinner tonight, dear readers? Re-runs here I’m afraid. But I think I’m going to make this chowder for Saturday night when some friends are coming over for euchre and eats. How do you play euchre and hold a baby? I’m not sure, but I’ll let you know.

Confessions.

  • Instead of buying myself some boots, I decided to buy my Dad some rain boots because he lives in LA where they apparently are experiencing a monsoon of sorts and it’s his birthday coming up AND I needed some retail therapy… So I tried to buy them, but Zappos kept telling me that my ZIP and State combination was “invalid.” And do you think I could get a hold of a real person to tell them that it was a valid combination? Exactly. Screw you, Zappos.
  • Orange is my favorite color today. Still.
  • Only 21 days until the Winter Olympic Opening Ceremonies! I better get training, or at least get cable. I love the Olympics. What sport would you play if you were an Olympic athlete?

best!

wanting.

Posted on by
7

I’m truly blessed with so many abundances. I really am. I’m healthy and I have a wonderful husband, a beautiful child with whom I get to spend my every single day, a cozy home, supportive & fun family and friends. I just snuck in a shower and a cup of coffee. And that beautiful child is taking a snooze. The list goes on.

And yet, I find myself in want. Of these:

or maybe these:

sigh.

Will this wanting ever end? It is ridiculous, isn’t it? When we have so much and yet lust after more?  But they really are cute, aren’t they? And the pea green ones are on sale at Zappos. And given my conundrum with my current boots… oof.

Confessions.

  • So that sugar detox didn’t go so well last night. After a delicious dinner, we treated ourselves to peppermint ice cream with Sander’s hot fudge and a cookie. Then later with Bananagrams, we chowed on Good & Plentys. Oy yoy yoy. Time to begin again, Finnegan.
  • Orange is my favorite color today. Yessirreee. You saw those orange boots, right?
  • Mixed in with the Valentine’s Day candy at Meijer was a big box of Cadbury Eggs. WHAT?!

best!

water winter wonderland.

Posted on by
Reply

I love living near the Great Lakes. It’s a dynamic place – remember when it was a “water winter wonderland?” Today’s it’s a bit snowy and a lot blowy and I just want to snuggle up with my little birdie. You know the joke, “if you don’t like the weather in Michigan, just wait a few minutes… it’ll change.” Apparently, a lot of places say that. BUT do you have Blue Moon ice cream where you live? Supposedly, Blue Moon originated in Michigan and that’s something of which to be VERY proud. Hey, we don’t have a lot these days in poor Michigan so we gotta find our pride where we can…

Are you too a lover of the Great Lakes? Then check out these cool things and “say yes to Michigan!”:

Poster from Ork Posters

“You’re great!” Love these cards from the Cracked Design Etsy store.