Klutz of the Highest Degree

If you ask my parents and brother, I'm sure they'd be happy to regale you with tales of my clumsiness from days gone by. I started off clumsy and haven't improved much with time. (I did manage to live almost 28 years prior to actually breaking a bone, though.) I find bruises I can't explain. I get scratches from walking into stationary objects that have been in the same place, in the same house, for years. Yet I still continually find them, with my thighs, elbows, arms, knees, and other random body parts.

Tonight, I achieved a new, strange way to hurt myself. I made the bed. I had washed the sheets today and was reassembling the bedding when I managed to, as I would tell my son, "give myself an owie." As I was snapping the topsheet to get it evenly distributed and less wrinkled, I snapped too hard. My left hand accidentally let the sheet go and was flung against our footboard. I now have a bruise on the middle knuckle of my pointer finger. And it hurts to bend it. I had to laugh at what a klutz I am.

The bruise got me to thinking (which is even more dangerous than bed-making!) I wonder if my knucklehead will be as clumsy as me. It terrifies me to think as such. You see, as a little kid, I was clumsy, but I was gunshy (which probably saved me many injuries.) I didn't become relatively fearless until I was older. My son, on the other hand, is currently utterly and completely fearless. Today, for example, he fell off a wall at a playground. (For the record, I was two steps away but he walked off the wall before I could grab him.) He landed on the woodchips below and I could instantly tell he wasn't physically injured. After a couple of stunned seconds, he began to whine. I think it was surprise as opposed to pain. I immediately picked him up, which instantly quieted him (thus proving me right that he wasn't hurt or in pain.) Then, he did the most fearless thing possible. He tried to squirm out of my arms in order to do it again! Needless to say, I kept him in my arms and we left.

Clumsy is bad (though often funny.) Fearless can be good, but can have it's downside as well. Clumsy plus Fearless only equals one possible solution: TROUBLE!

Favorite Parts of Parenthood

Ah, parenthood. There are so many joys. I will explore but a few this rambling night.

The first thing that surprises me is that things that would gross me out with pretty much any other person, including myself, don't phase me in the slightest with my son. I just do what needs doing. In infancy, he got every possible bodily fluid on me. Often multiple times a day. I shrugged it off. My kid's nose is drippy, I wipe it. It has a boog, I get it out. No biggie. Now mind you, on anyone else and I would cringe at any of those. But one thing I hate above any and every thing else, is throwing up. I hate doing it. I hate hearing it, seeing it, smelling it, even thinking about it! I remember babysitting once as a 15-year-old, one of my charges got sick and didn't quite make it to the bathroom. I called my mom, gagging and crying, asking her what to do and begging her to come over and help me. She didn't. I lived and managed to not get sick myself. Fast forward __ years. Yesterday, I went to pick up my son from his crib. At some point, he got sick. (it didn't seem to bother him in the least, as he was still happy, talkative, and playful. Not sure what caused it, but he was fine.) The aroma hit me when I opened the door. Instead of freaking, gagging, and crying, I stripped him down, got him in the tub, and cleaned him. I got the bed stripped, washed, and never cringed at carrying down the laundry. I wiped down his mattress and bear. I opened the window and turned on the fan. And all was well. Yep, there's just not much I can't handle when it's my own kid.

Except...the second of my favorite parts of parenting. Ok, this one's even more sarcastic than part 1. He's almost two. He enjoys playing independently. He likes being with me and with others. He's generally a very agreeable child who's a joy to be around. But he's almost two. He's learning to assert his independence in a less than desirable manner. The tantrums. If he wants to do something, or not do something, the crocodile tears instantly appear. The kicking and flailing kicks in. The screaming fit ensues. And this kid can literally turn it all off and on like a faucet. I think that's one of the things I find most frustrating. He can instantly stop, if he's so inclined. And restart if he changes his mind. The other thing that is probably frustrating for us both is his lack of communication. I don't know if he would have fewer fits if he had words. But it's so difficult for me to not always know specifically what he wants. I'm sure it's equally hard on him to feel like his mom just doesn't get what he's indicating. Argh! I know that "this, too, shall pass." And I know he's not as bad as he could be. And I'm pretty sure he's not as bad as he will be. I try to have patience and ignore it. But my gracious, can that child test my limit!

The third perk of parenthood I shall enumerate this evening is absolutely serious and in no way sarcastic. I adore the freedom to be silly and child-like with him with no embarrassment or shame. I can sing and dance in the kitchen without anyone thinking I'm nuts. I can chase my son up the sidewalk like a goofball and not worry. Or I can do what I did today. I went outside with my husband and my son and played in the rain. It was coming down pretty hard. We found a stream in the street and stomped and jumped. We ran around getting absolutely soaked to the bone. I threw him up in the air, without worrying about the ceiling, and laughed as he squealed with abandoned delight. Some of the neighbor kids were watching. I don't know if they thought I was stupid, crazy, and that my son had the coolest mom ever. And I didn't care. I had so much fun playing and splashing. And he had so much fun playing in the puddles with his parents. He may not remember this. But I'll never forget it. And that freedom of joy and laughter makes all the tantrums and body functions pale in comparison. Parenthood is delightful!

Visiting with Family

My husband and I are both transplants to middle America. (Seriously, I think we're in pretty much the geographical exact center of the country.) Being away from both of our families is hard. But there is one good perk. Being with them is a special treat!!!! We love visiting them, going "home", and seeing friends and extended family.

But it's also absolutely wonderful to have family visit us in middle America. And we are so thrilled some of Lino's family is coming here soon!!! It'll be fun for them to see our son in his "natural habitat." I think they'll get a big kick out of seeing him playing with his toys, his room, his silly quirky dance moves. We're looking forward to getting to share with them our home, our town, our life.

I'm also excited to have them come because that means I get to be a tourist in my own town! There are lots of cool things to see and do here that I think I forget about because it's always an option. So I'm going to get online and find fun things to do for all of us! With that being said, I'm asking for tips from Midwesterners, native or transplants. What's your highly recommended "don't miss?"

Visiting with Family

My husband and I are both transplants to middle America. (Seriously, I think we're in pretty much the geographical exact center of the country.) Being away from both of our families is hard. But there is one good perk. Being with them is a special treat!!!! We love visiting them, going "home", and seeing friends and extended family.

But it's also absolutely wonderful to have family visit us in middle America. And we are so thrilled some of Lino's family is coming here soon!!! It'll be fun for them to see our son in his "natural habitat." I think they'll get a big kick out of seeing him playing with his toys, his room, his silly quirky dance moves. We're looking forward to getting to share with them our home, our town, our life.

I'm also excited to have them come because that means I get to be a tourist in my own town! There are lots of cool things to see and do here that I think I forget about because it's always an option. So I'm going to get online and find fun things to do for all of us! With that being said, I'm asking for tips from Midwesterners, native or transplants. What's your highly recommended "don't miss?"

Rut-busting!

Today, I was a rut-buster and it felt great! I get stuck in culinary ruts more often than I'd care to admit. I make the same few things for supper. And I know my hard-working honey gets bored with the same-old same-old, too. And I know there are approximately 8.725 billion websites with recipes and ideas. Thus, there's no excuse for getting rut-stuck. Alas, I do. I fall back to the old stand-bys. I forget to look for recipes before I grocery shop. And my pantry, fridge, and freezer seem to generally contain the same batch of items. But today, I decided to be adventuresome.

It started when I stumbled upon a recipe that I already had all the ingredients for. (only one of which isn't a stand-by, but had from a previous recipe.) I ran it by the hubby to get his opinion and give him two options. He said the new one was fine. So I made it (with a couple of tweaks for personal taste.) As we ate (ahem, devoured) dinner, he told me he practically had the pizza place on speed dial after I told him the name of the dish because it initially didn't sound very good to him. (I had absolutely faith in it, having read the ingredients.) Instead of calling back-up, he told me it was probably one of my most successful dishes ever and he absolutely loved it! Yay, me! And double-yay for being able to make dinner with food we already had! (I'm trying really hard to stretch the budget, and space the shopping trips, as much as possible.)

This afternoon, what with all the cloud cover and drizzle, I also felt an overwhelming urge to bake. I haven't baked in a while. There weren't any "desserty" things in the house (although that's probably not a bad thing.) And I just wanted to make some cookies. The only cookies I really know by heart are chocolate chip cookies. And I'll admit, my cookies are pretty darn amazing. But I had no chocolate chips. So, in a fiscally responsible effort, I pillaged my cupboards to see what I had to work with. And I did something I very rarely do. I got creative in the kitchen. I can follow a recipe with the best of them. But culinary creativity doesn't come naturally to me.

To my basic chocolate chip recipe, I added a bit of almond extract and a little cinnamon. Then I divided the dough in half. In half the cookies, I added dried cranberries and glazed walnuts. In the second half, I added some sliced almonds and reconstituted dried mangoes. I was so proud of my brain! And my taste buds were delighted! Both turned out really well. I'm excited to have something new in my baking repertoire.

Yep, I got out of ruts in the kitchen. I may not have scaled Everest, but I feel like a conqueror today!

Colors of Spring

I absolutely love the colors of early Spring. When the first leaves start popping out on the trees, they are so bright and vibrant. I'm not a big fan of yellow, but I adore the first daffodils and have found myself picking them and enjoying them in my kitchen this year. I love the blossoms on the flowering trees that seem to send my allergies through the stratosphere. I love the dark ground right after my husband's watered where he sprinkled new grass seeds. I smile at the dark gray-blue sky right before the heavens burst forth with spring showers.

I even enjoy (well, laugh about) the colors my son turns in early spring. He's his own personal rainbow this year. (Last year at this time, he wasn't walking.) This year, how ever, he's walking, running, and any other mode of transport he can conjure. It's early March. Technically, it's not even spring yet. The colors he has turned thus far are as follows:

The first and most obvious is brown. Brown for the mud created by hubby watering the grass. Brown for the dirt he loves to play in. Brown eyes peering out from beneath a Titans baseball cap. And, I shudder to think, possibly brown from neighborhood dogs' "presents" (but I pretend that doesn't happen.) He turns green from rubbing his tush against the prickly bush by the car. Green from running and falling in the grass. He sports shades of blue. His legs are speckled blue from bruises of falling often because everything is a full-speed ahead adventure for this boy! Blue from putting a (thankfully, nontoxic!) magic marker in his mouth. Blue from running into a corner of something... (Red from running into the corner of something prior to it turning blue. And my little boy turns back into a blonde when he's been freshly scrubbed down after showering with Dad or playing in a bubble bath given by Mom.

It just feels to me like the entire outside world and my goofy little boy have been freshly and vibrantly painted by The Master this time of year. I'm so blessed to get to experience these amazing colors.

Why I'm Excited for St Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day is a celebratory day for lots of different people and for a myriad of reasons. It is, indeed, a religious holiday. For others, it's an excuse to add food coloring to alcohol and partake to excess. For me this year, it means a date night with my fantastic husband and another dear couple.

I cannot tell you how much I look forward to date nights (be they just the two of us or a larger group.) One of the reasons is that I feel free to get all decked out. It's more than slapping on some lip balm and mascara. It's more than wearing a dress or a cute top. It's spending time making myself feel lovely. It's carrying myself in such a way that I ACT like I feel lovely. It's knowing that my confidence makes me even more attractive in my husband's eyes.

It's getting his undivided attention and getting to give him mine in return. It's knowing our son is in good hands and focusing on the relationship of us. Marriage is harder than what most people expect it to be. But that doesn't mean it cannot also be more wonderful than what we anticipate. Or that it is not worth the work and effort. Date nights are about connecting as spouses so we still know one another once the kids are gone. It's about making sure we don't "grow apart."

Date nights, whether fancy and romantic and expensive, or low-key and casual and fun, are about keeping the love, keeping the spark, and keeping the attraction alive. So while others may be getting drunk tomorrow (PLEASE make sure you have a designated driver) I will be celebrating the fabulousness of friendship and marriage.