A Life In Six Words August 30, 2008

Erin at “Some Kind of Wonderland” (formerly “this is life”) has challenged me to write my memoir in six words. (P.S. Christine, I’m tagging you to give it a try!)

The Rules:
1. Write a six-word memoir.
2. Post it to your blog, maybe with a pic.
3. Link to the person who tagged you.
4. Tag a few folks.
5. Leave a comment for them with an invite to play.

I’ve been pondering this task for a few days, thinking, “How can I sum it all up in just six words?” It’s hard, let me tell you.

I’ve always been one that learns things the hard way. I am the queen of finding the bumps in the road. My memoir should reflect that. And yet, I am so grateful for the lessons I have learned and the way everything has turned out. I look forward to the learning that awaits me as I get older. My memoir should reflect that, too. So here it is:

Always learning and loving the journey.

I challenge you all to take on this six-word memoir. Leave yours in the comments, if you’d like. I’d love to read them.

Rumble

Last night we had an interesting night. Around 10:30, I was in the living room doing some work and Rob was in the dining room swaying Sam to sleep, when all of a sudden we heard clattering against the side of the house. Rob handed me the baby and ran outside to see the 12-year-old neighbor kid and his friend leaning out the upstairs window throwing stuff (we think it was rocks) at our house. I looked out the living room window and saw them, too. Rob went to their house to talk to the mom to ask her to tell the kid to quit throwing stuff. She wouldn’t talk to him, but just sat in her living room yelling to him from the couch. Rob said he would really like to speak to her or he was going to call the police. She said, “Fine, call the police.” So he did.

[Side note: We’ve been dealing with this kid for two years. He’s thrown a lot of garbage in our yard (everything from Mr. Freeze wrappers and sandwich crusts to concrete blocks and railroad ties), peed in our yard, yelled obscenities at us, etc. Rob has tried numerous times to talk to the mom about it, but she refuses to talk and just walks away from him. So it’s not like we are the crazy neighbors who just snap and call the police on a whim.]

A policeman came over at 11:00 p.m. and talked with Rob and me and asked if we wanted him to write the kid a citation. We said no, hoping that just a warning will help curb the kid’s behavior. So the guy went over and talked with them. Hopefully, this is the end of the Terror From Next Door.

By the time this was all over, neither Rob nor I could sleep. I kept waiting for retaliation from the kid and was just upset by the whole thing. No one wants to involve the police in neighborhood issues, but at the same time, if he had broken a window and we’d been asleep, it would have been the window where Sam sleeps and he would have been covered in glass. No good. So after lying in bed and talking about it, we decided to get up and play double solitaire (which, if you think about it, is a contradiction in terms). Finally at 2:45 a.m. we went to bed.

And Rob had just been saying earlier in the day that we hadn’t had any issues with the kid since we’d been home. He jinxed us! 🙂

Honey-Do

Today was a day of organization in this house. Having been gone so much this summer, the house was kind of a disaster.

I spent a couple of hours reorganizing Sam’s room. All of his newborn to three-month clothes are now in a big Rubbermaid container and his drawers are reorganized. Every piece of nine-month or larger clothing is in a small plastic container stacked in the closet, washed and ready to go for when he’s big enough. His bookshelf has been reorganized with board books on one shelf, regular books on another, with little stuffed animal friends interspersed throughout. There are some hanging things that still need a home on the walls, but that’s for another day.

The kitchen is clean, the laundry piles are dwindling, the bathrooms are halfway cleaned, there’s vacuuming in the future (tomorrow), the bills have been scheduled for the month, the backyard has been partially weed-whacked (ran out of gas), the suitcases have finally been unpacked.

It’s been a relatively productive day.

And Yet His Favorite Sport Is Hockey August 29, 2008

I love my husband. He is such a sap. And I mean that in the most loving way. Today Sam rolled over from back to tummy and Rob was there to witness it. In fact, Rob was so happy to see it that he shed a little tear. It made me cry a little, too, to see how excited he was. And because you can’t have too many saps in one house.

For Britta’s Desktop So We Can Have Matching Wallpaper. Again. August 27, 2008

Baby Book, Internet Style

I’ve added a new page to the blog. In the upper right corner you’ll find the new “milestones” page, highlighting the firsts in Sam’s life. I don’t want to forget the dates of when everything happens. And that is a real possibility, given the after effects of baby brain that seem to be lingering. I’m shedding my pregnancy hair, so maybe the baby brain will go with it. Here’s hoping…

A Study in Sleep

You know that phrase, “sleeps like a baby?” Yeah.

And yes, he often sleeps with his eyes cracked. It’s creepy.

Quivery

Sam and I went to school today to meet with one of my professors. My plan this semester is to finish the classes that I left last spring in order to tend to my blood pressure. One class is being taught by a new person this semester, and she graciously allowed me to finish my work in her class. Anyway, I walked into her office, she squealed and said, “IjustwashedmyhandscanIholdhim?” All in one breath. She held Sam the whole time we talked and then proceeded to tour him around the office suite, showing him off to her colleagues. It was pretty funny.

I am going to two classes and writing two papers. That’s it. And she said that if I don’t bring Sam to class with me, she will fail me. That’s good, because Sam has to come to class with me, since Rob’s Tuesdays are really busy and he can’t get home in time for me to go. She said she will probably want to hold him the whole class period and I should be ready to give him up at any moment.

She kept smelling his head (he’s due for a bath, FYI) and sighing. At one point she said, “Ah, this smell just makes my uterus quiver. My husband would totally leave me if I had another baby.” She cracks me up.

So all of my classes are set to go. I can get back on track, which will feel good.

Surprise, Surprise, I’m A Little Anxious August 25, 2008

Tomorrow I go into the hospital for the first time since March when I was put on bed rest. I’m only going in for a staff meeting and to meet with the woman I am replacing on an interim basis.

[Have I talked about my job change? I don’t think so. I am going to be the interim nurse educator for my floor at Children’s. There’s a long story as to how I came to have this opportunity… long story short, I am taking over some responsibilities for the regular educator while she takes on more hospital-wide tasks. I will be going in four hours a week and doing everything else from home.]

I can’t tell you how nervous I am about going in. Not only have I not seen everyone in months, but I don’t know any of the patients, and I am out of the loop on a lot of the new stuff going on. Not to mention the fact that it will be the longest time away from Sam since his birth. I can’t pump enough to feed him anymore, which is a bummer, so Rob will have to give him formula if I’m not back in time. I don’t worry at all about Rob’s ability to care for Sam. I mean, he couldn’t be a better dad. Seriously, he’s amazing with him. But I know that my mind will be at home, hoping everything is ok, that Sam will take the formula, etc.

So I have mixed feelings about tomorrow. I am so grateful for this new position, because if I’m having this much trouble leaving for a few hours, imagine what a basket case I would be if I were gone for 14-15 hours! I’m sure it will be fine… right?

Bad Mommy

I know I shouldn’t love this sad face, but I do. He’s cute even when he’s a sad bunny.