Cloudy today!

Yay!

I'm kind of happy that it's cloudy today. I think the heat has been doing a number on me. Last night when I went to take a shower I realized that my shoulders are pretty sunburned. Now, I use sunscreen, but sometimes I forget about me and focus on her. And for me I use the Huggies' sunscreen spray, too. Maybe I need something else? After all, I'm not exactly the generation Huggies is geared towards, I just purchase their products for my little miss.

Anyway, a cloudy day = a cooler day, so that's kind of nice. Although my nose is runny now, so I guess I just can't win!

I promise I'm done w. my griping now. I think hubby is right and I need to get one of those "complaint bracelets" that my brother and SIL have. I'll have to look into them. There are so many things to gripe about, but for the most part life is pretty d@mned good! Have a great day, everyone!

Do they ever ..?

Listen to you without you having to say something ten times?

Stop spilling water all over the place no matter WHAT kind of cup you give it to them in?

Let you change their diaper without a battle? (We're getting there with this one, just not 100% of the time!)

Learn to do what Mommy says because it's very important?

Stop eating crayons, chalk or whatever other writing implements they get their hands on?

Use their utensils 100% of the time?

Stop licking food up off of the table? (Or is this just my kid?)

Let you have ten minutes on the computer without running over to you and pushing you at thigh-level? (Gotta run!)

Being a mom means ...

* Never knowing what sound you'll wake up to in the mornings.

* You'll never have a minute to pee by yourself again!

* Your bathtub will ALWAYS be covered in bath crayon art work.

* You'll see yourself in this miniature version of you and your other half and be amazed at what it is that you see.

* An exciting surprise every day!

* Hearing sounds and seeing things through your child's eyes in ways you could never imagine before.

* A whole lotta: 'What's that?' 'Come on!' and 'Mommmmmmmmmmy!'

* Never getting another night of sleep without listening to the monitor to make sure she is breathing.

* All of this and much, much more ... but most importantly, being a mom means receiving unconditional love, day after day, minute by minute, even when she's mad at you, you're frustrated with her, or you've just lost your cool over the stupidest thing EVER. Never a minute will go by without you knowing you are loved!

Wasted Trip

We took a ride to the Air Show today, in Goldsboro, NC. We pulled up at the main entrance and the man there told us to go to another one, as this one was closed.

OK. Great.

We drive, and drive, and drive. And we're at the point that our little one is JUST starting to drift off. Seriously. We've been in the car for how long, and she's about to fall asleep now? My husband says that he doesn't care, we're going to transfer her to her stroller and all will be well. I am fine with that (not so sure it'll work, but fine with the idea, anyway.)

We continue driving, and find the right street. Turn in, pull up behind someone who is taking a really long time to talk to the person at the gate. Oh, they're checking ID. Got it. (An Air Show open to the public and they're checking ID? Should have been a red flag immediately, right?)

We pull up, hubby hands over his license and the gentleman says, 'You don't have a military ID?' HUH? Nooooo (questioning tone) oooo? Husband asks, 'I thought this event was open to the public?'

Man at the gate says, 'It was.' DRAMATIC PAUSE. 'Until three o'clock.' Husband and I look at the clock on the dashboard, which is turning to 3:00 as we speak. Man at the gate waves us around to make a U-turn. I am wondering if he is freaking KIDDING ME!?!?! Seriously? Closed to the public now?

Check out the website HERE and see that there is NOTHING that says that they are closed to the public at 3PM. And look here ... where it specifically says NO ID REQUIRED.

So, majorly bummed and missing the Blue Angels, we turn around and head towards home. Stopping for Chicken and BBQ at Smithfield's along the way. Which leads to a whole other post that I'll refrain from making. Let's just say I'm not feeling that hot right now.

Oh, but hubby did get a bit of a bonus parting gift, turns out he got back in time to make it to the 'Canes-Devils game. I haven't checked the score yet, but I sure hope Carolina is kicking some NJ-a$$! ;)

You know it's hot ...

When my dog gets into our baby pool, on his own, several times throughout the morning:

And only leaves the water when my daughter climbs in!

Holy HOT out there!

OK, so we spent about 30-40 minutes outside, mostly in the sandbox, all before noon. And it was so friggin hot I had to convince my daughter to come back in! I was drinking water, giving her water, sharing water with the dog, refreshing her sunscreen, and again, I remind you, all before noon, not even prime tanning time! Whew!

And it's not even May. I can only imagine what kind of summer we're going to have ahead of us. In the meantime, thank G-d for Handy Manny and Mickey Mouse, they're GREAT entertainers! ;)

**To be fair, I did offer to come inside and do some belly dancing with her, I've been wanting to get back into it and am really curious what she'll do while watching the workouts, but she insisted on watching the Mouse as soon as we were in the door, and who am I to push?

Does it count?

... as a bath (for me) if I joined her in the tub and used Huggies' Baby Wash?

... as breakfast (for her) if it's cold noodles and a few bites of a waffle?

... as child labor if she LIKES washing the crayon off of the bathtub with baby wipes?

... as 12PM somewhere if I open a bottle of wine this early? (Just kidding, everyone, but I seriously have some weird back spasms right now and I'm sure it would help!)

... as blowing a lot of money if you *know* she's going to grow into them?

... as one more step towards Mother of the Year if I turn on the TV so I can surf the web in peace? (Not yet, but maybe later!)

Share with me, Mamas. What are YOUR "does it count" comments and questions? Show me I'm not alone in this!

Why not leave me a comment?

Just to let me know I'm not talking to myself.

OK, maybe I am, and I don't really mind that, but hey, if you happen to stumble across this page, just say HI. That will be enough for me. :) I promise to return the favor!

Pizza AND Sex and The City!

So last week I watched an episode of The Food Detective, and they were reviewing pizza in New York. The comparison was that it's the water that makes the pizza so d@mned good up there, and I have always agreed. So the experiment was that a pizza-man made three exact pies, but used water from New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

There were 4-5 judges, and ultimately the NYC pizza won out. Proving that it truly DOES matter where the water comes from. So when you hear down here in NC that the owners of such-and-such pizzaria are from Brooklyn, or so-and-so grew up in Little Italy (or even in Italy, which is a whole other pizza altogether) or Staten Island, tell them that's all well and good, but it just doesn't cut it. And the bagels don't either, by the way!

Second, I finally watched the Sex & The City movie after all this time. Although I have never been exactly in the shoes (literally, I mean WHO HAS?!?) of Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte or Samantha, watching this movie made me wax nostalgic (is that even the right saying?) for the old days ... just a little bit.

I remembered the nights of traipsing around Manhattan, wearing too little clothing, bad shoes and having had too much to drink. I remember sitting in old man bars and ordering another, knowing I'd need to take a cab home and checking my back pocket to be sure I had enough cash. And I remember walking arm in arm with my closest friends, or those who fit that spot at the time, and laughing, talking, singing ... making our way through the city to find the perfect diner for that middle of the night, sober me up a bit, breakfast before the sunrise.

I miss those days, just a little bit, every now and again. But not nearly enough to go back to them. And while I will say that a night out on the town would be a blast, so many of my old haunts are gone now, as are many friends, so it just wouldn't be something I could even attempt to recreate.

I'll just leave that to Carrie and the girls.

Help me as I *Race for the Cure!*

Help me as I walk to rid the world of Breast Cancer. Make a donation to my personal Race for the Cure page by clicking here. Let's work towards making this a world in which our children never learn the words breast cancer to mean such a terrible thing, but one in which they know it as a disease we have found a cure for.

Last year kiddo and I did the race together. I'm not sure if she'll be joining me this year, as I don't think she'll make it through the entire race and she's lil miss stubborn, so I doubt she'd stay in her stroller. We'll wait until race day gets closer to make that final call, but she definitely wants your donations to come on in. Thanks in advance! **Andrea

Day 1 ...

It's the first day of the medication that is supposed to help me breathe again (breathe again ...) I'm not puffy, mean or super hungry yet, but MAN, I'm tired.

Oh wait, I'm the mother of a two-year-old, I'm usually tired! ;)

Let's see what tomorrow brings ...

Does it make me a bad mommy?

Some days I don't want to go outside! It's not that we don't need the fresh air, and it's not that I don't love the sunshine, but every time we go out there I wind up filling up our water table and she gets completely soaked. Today wasn't so bad, but I had to take her pants off as soon as we came in the house because they were totally wet and totally filthy.

Now, I don't mind playing in the dirt, mud, water or anything like that, but some days I just want to stay inside, avoid the pollen and entertain her in here.

Even when I bring 900 other possible options outside with us, she stays with me for a minute or two and says, 'I need water.' Need. What an interesting word, isn't it? I mean, what can a two-year-old really need? She's so determined, too. She tries to turn the spigot on the hose and get the water flowing, without caring about anything around her. If I don't turn it on right away, like today, she takes my water bottle and spills it into the water table. Heck, she's strong enough and determined enough that she even turns the table OVER to start playing. Where did this kid come from, anyway?

So, I confess, sometimes I just don't want to deal with being out there. I do it because I know she loves it, but I still don't always WANT to. And never mind the battles of coming inside again later. Those are the worst. Alas, we still end up having fun, and more often than not, I'm soaked right there with her!

Seriously?

So I went to the doctor today to figure out what to do about my inability to breathe through my nose. Yeah, it's allergy related, yeah, it sucks something awful, and oh yeah, one of the side effects of the medication they're giving me is that it will make me really HUNGRY!

WHAT? Nobody asked me if that was okay. Nobody checked to see if being hungry was an acceptable side effect of a medication. I mean, yeah, it'll be nice to finally breathe again, but hungry all the time? And mean, let's not forget mean. Some of my mommy friends have told me that it has made them or people they know really mean. Or maybe they were just too friggin hungry?

So great. Here I am, stuffed beyond belief and ready to be unfulfilled beyond belief? Seriously? Who comes up with these meds and how can I talk to them and explain that hunger is not something acceptable to a mommy of a two-year-old who has been trying to lose weight since I was like -- six? eight? ten? Something along those lines.

Anyway, I start tomorrow. So if I start posting really mean things, well, forgive me. I guess I can blame it on my meds.

Composting? Am I crazy?

So I really want to learn about composting. I've been asking my fellow mommies for more information and I'm on overload. All I know is that I found this cute little composter on The Container Store's website. One of my parenting magazines tipped me off to it and now I want it.

Check it out HERE.

I mean, isn't it cute?

But that's not why I want to compost. I just want to do my part, reduce my carbon footprint, help Mother Nature, etc. etc.

I'm thinking that it would help reduce the number of garbage bags I use weekly, and that would be a financial savings, along with an environmental one.

I'm still trying to figure it all out, but here are some links that my mommy friends have given me to help me learn more:

Composting 101

Ideal Bite - Scrap Happy!

And a few I found on my own:

Composting Tips
VegWeb.com's Intro to Composting

Hope these inspire you to look into this a bit more and take a little bit off YOUR carbon footprint!

Ah, pretty in pink!

I polished my toes yesterday! A true miracle. I can't remember the last time I did that, sadly, so this was quite a joyous moment for me. And *I* didn't even disturb me, or mess up my nails, or anything! I'm not quite brave enough to do my fingers yet. But maybe one day if she actually naps without me I'll find the courage to take that on.

Don't worry, I won't show you a picture because I absolutely hate feet, but they're pretty in pink, and that makes me happy!

Ah, and I have that massage tomorrow, too, remember? Even happier! Maybe I'm starting to remember what it's like to take care of me? Now if I could actually wash my hair tonight or tomorrow I'd be all set. Wishful thinking, I'm sure ... but a mom can dream!

Pamper yourself this weekend, if you can!

OK, I did it!

I just made my blog open to the public. Not sure why I decided to go for it now, but hey, what the heck, right?

So, for anyone out there (and how sad will it be if there is NOBODY out there!?!)

WELCOME!!!!

Now I just need to figure out how to add one of those counters to the blog page ... anyone have any tips on that?

A Jewish Girl in the South

Does it even *sound* like it fits?

It does, but it doesn't. Not when it comes to the holidays. Nobody knows what it's like to be an outcast in the South like a Jewish girl. Seriously.

I called my doctor's office for an appointment, mentioned calling back tomorrow and the receptionist said, 'We're closed tomorrow.' I heard myself think out loud and ask, you are? 'Yes, it's Good Friday.' My response was a bit of an: "Oh." And hers was, 'Yes, Easter's here already!'

I made an appointment for myself at a Massage Envy and was trying to figure out what kind of massage to get. I opted for Shiatsu, and when she explained the difference between that and Trigger Point massage she explained that one was more intense, '... and you don't want to be sore for Easter!' Riiiight.

And lastly, the worst part (right now) about being a Jewish girl in the South is that there are practically NO places to go shopping for Passover! I mean, honestly, is it that hard to have a small but serious section of products for your observant Jewish clientèle? I can't tell you HOW many times I picked something up in a supermarket "Passover section," only to determine that it wasn't actually a Passover product. Bah! I did buy a few items, and at least I was able to pick up two boxes of Matzo, but man, you'd think North Carolinians had never heard of Passover the way things have seemed these last few days!

So that's my gripe for today. I'm a transplanted Jewish girl from Brooklyn who would love it if someone from NY would open up a Kosher deli and/or catering place, or at least a little nook in the wall that sold K-P products! In the meantime I'm thawing out my dad's matzo ball soup, minus the matzo balls. Ah, well! A Zeisen Pesach, everyone!

I've been missing ...

I have been a bit MIA, I noticed as I checked my Blogger Dashboard this morning. I hadn't posted in here since last Tuesday! That's over a week ago! Where the heck have I been?

Well, hubby was away for a long weekend, and before that he was at a hockey game, and before that, well, I guess I was just in hiding for a bit. I have been posting a little in my ultra-private blog for I's updates, but just skipped coming by here to say anything.

Sometimes there isn't anything to say, and sometimes I guess there is just TOO much!

I've been digging around the Internet a bit these days and coming across more and more moms writing blogs of the trials and tribulations of mommy-hood. There was even an episode of Oprah the other day that had a mom who basically supports her family with her blog about being a new mom. It's amazing! It makes me think that it's time for me to make this one public, to let other moms see what's happening in my life, and maybe let one or two recognize themselves in here, and know they're not alone. Maybe that's a little dream or my imagination running wild?

I'm not exactly sure, but I think it's OK to let the world, or whomever might be interested, hear what I think. I'm not conceited, I'm not bragging, I'm just being me. And if anyone happens to stumble across this page and find something that peaks their interest, hey, why the he!! not? ;)

So, stay tuned. I'm sure I'll have more to say, but for right now my child is grabbing at me from under my feet, so I guess I'd better go. Sigh.

Why do they bother?

Seriously. What is the point of those paper cover-ups you get at the Gyn's office? I mean, as if anyone could cover themselves up with one of those things! And then they leave you sitting there for a good ten minutes, if you're lucky.

You know, I always bring a book with me, but never seem to remember to take it out of my bag before I sit down, barely covered, on the table to wait for my doctor to come in. So instead I sit there and think to myself, what the he!! is the point of these things, between the mini-bolo jacket aspect of them, and the draped paper sheet across my bottom half, it's not like anyone who might walk into the room can't see my butt hanging out the minute they walk in the door. Oy.

Anyway, after the fun appointment this morning I am happy to say that I don't have to return for another year. Yahoo! No more mini-paper-robes. Thank the Lord. Because, seriously ... why do they bother?

Hug your little ones closer today.

I'm so sad today. A friend here in NC ... a friend I've actually never met face-to-face, but still call my friend ... she was scheduled to have her baby girl yesterday and today shared her loss with us all. It is just so horribly sad, my heart aches for her and her family. I will keep them in my thoughts at this time where words are practically impossible to find.

Hug your little ones close today, and remind yourself how truly blessed you are. And think of those whose hearts hurt with the loss of their own. It's so impossibly sad to consider, and terribly difficult to understand. Today I saw my child through different eyes. I cannot imagine my life without her, and I know that I am truly blessed. I've always been told and believed that everything happens for a reason, but will admit that in times like these it is so hard to accept.

With love to you and yours. **Andrea

I order my groceries online!

Am I a true Southern girl? I don't know, but I am surely taking advantage of this opportunity to purchase my groceries from the convenience of my own home, place my order and have my hubby pick them up on his way home from work, all within a few hours time.

Like today, I placed my order a few minutes ago, as the deadline for same day pick-up is 3PM. My order is in, and I will get a call from my "personal shopper" later today if there are any issues with items that are not available, or if they need to swap something out, like the flavor of muffins or ice cream I picked!

I have been doing really well at making sure my husband has my coupons with him so he can have them credited towards the next online orde, but since we've been out of town for a little bit I have fallen behind on my organizing and so today I tried to purchase items already on sale (with my membership card) and/or things I normally wouldn't have a coupon for anyway. I got my order down under $100, and I also had a $9 credit from last time's Qs. Not bad for a day's work, right?

And now I get to go sit down without having to try to stuff my toddler into one of those carts with the steering wheels, with the hopes that she will actually stay put without screaming her head off, and never-mind the endless possibilities of heck she could inflict on us getting her in and out of the car seat twice. Whew. What a relief! Lowe's Food-To-Go, how I love you so!