Mamazen

Thirteen things I love about my MOM

My mom was just visiting, and she rocks. so..

1. She respects how we choose to parent my child. More than that, she is a willing participant. ie: when she told ruby to say please, and we explained why we don't force her to say it, she 'got it' and was happy to oblige. Respect is something she's always given me, and I love it.

2. She really knows how to play with my baby. She's a preschool teacher and is so amazing with kids! She gets ruby laughing and learning without batting an eye.

3. She loves me so much. No explanation needed. :)

4. She's funny, and gets funnier with age. ie: she refers to herself as 'vintage' not old.

5. She's creative and has taught me so much about harnessing my creativity.

6. She was my girl scout leader growing up, and was always involved in my life, but not so much that she was annoying or overbearing. She's not a GS leader anymore but still thinks like one, which makes life fun, in that she's always looking for fun things to do and ways to better the world around her.

7. She (and my dad) were the first people who taught me to care about the environment.

8. She loves gardening (and has helped me learn so much about my garden!) and can revive a houseplant with one look! well not really, but she's saved more than one of mine.

9. She really loves my kid. (well who doesn't!)

10. She makes a mean Chili Relleno. yum.

11. She can take some fabric and thread and turn it into anything from a dishtowel to a ballroom gown if you ask her. Amazing.

12. She is always the first person to offer someone a helping hand, a meal when needed and a shoulder to cry on. She's a great hugger.

13. She's a great mama. Has taught me (almost) everything I know.

I love you mom! Thanks for being mine :)

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen things that SUCK about this week.
1. Husband starting to feel sick on saturday night.
2. Husband continuing to feel sick all day sunday. Took a 3 hour nap. Jealous.
3. Getting a call from child care provider mid afternoon that baby has fever of 103.
4. Realizing as I hang up the phone that I feel pretty crappy too.
5. Coming home to crying baby, moaning husband and your own rising temperature.
6. Night after night after night of baby waking ever 30 mins to nurse, or to cry in pain from the fever.
7. Night after night after night of baby sleeping on top of you. While you suffer through 103.5 fever.
8. Husband is too sick to help. all. week. Man cold. (truthfully, I've only seen him this sick one other time in 12 years)
9. Baby is so sick she refuses to even LOOK at anyone else in the house all week. The only thing she has eyes for are my boobs.
10. My. boobs. are. so. sore. Nursing every 30 mins round the clock is exhausting.
11. Having one of these sick days be also a no nap day. now THAT was brilliant.
12. Waking up from a long nap with baby to find that she has symptoms of a brewing ear infection.
13. Taking a long bath to kill your chills, only to have them return 20 mins later.

yeah, it's been a shitty week. however, I've had tons of friends who have reached out, offered help and even a couple who have brought us amazing meals. (of course they RAN from the house of the flu with their faces covered.
Hopefully this will pass soon (altho when my mom had this flu, she was out for 10 days. TEN DAYS!) and we'll be right as rain next week!

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen things happening in my life

1. Our basement is being remodeled so that I can
2. Work from HOME. After Ruby was born I went back to work when she was only 8 weeks old because when you run your own business, you either go back, or let go. As she neared her first birthday i freaked and realized that I really wanted more time with her. The only way to do that was to work from home so that I'd have less overhead and could afford NOT to work more. (Does that make any sense at all?)
3. Broken Furnace! We found asbestos in the cold air return and after we removed it the whole thing went kaput. Bummer... so new, high efficiency furnace, here we come! It will be a few days till it's fixed, so until then we'll be a bit chilly.
4. Spring! It seems to have arrived here in portland. I keep expecting the second winter to come, but I think it's not going to this year. Soon we'll get the DEEP spring rains but until then I need to find energy to...
5. Garden! i lost my momentum in the fall, and my veggie bed were never turned under. OOPS. Ah well, what can you do? I need to get my lists made, and plans set to get things going for spring. Hopefully Ru will be interested in helping!
6. WORK. I've been busy. so busy. I only see patients 3 days a week, and some weeks only 2, but I rarely leave without files in my bag and things to finish at home (which I rarely do). Usually things slow down in jan/feb, but this year I'm booked every day. I'm glad, but also tired, and realize that i will probably have to add another half day to meet demands, which I'll need to pay for the basement. ;)
7. Knitting. Not as much as I'd like but at least 2x a week I get some time with my needles. I know that until the basement is done and all is settled, I'll probably spend some of each night playing catch up with house duties.
8. Cleaning. Oy. don't even ask. I'm so far behind on my chores list... that I barely have my head above water. The laundry always gets done, the dishes don't sit in the sink and the toilets are always clean... but the rest, well that's a crap shoot. Again, i expect (hope may be a better term) that once the basement is finished I'll regain my momentum. Besides, we've got an extra human making messes now because
9. We still have construction workers living in our house! well one. :) ryan's brother was here for 2 weeks, and just returned home, but Adam has stayed on to at least help finish the drywall ( and maybe install the furnace ). He's an easy house guest. Ruby adores him and other than some extra laundry and dishes, he's pretty tidy. He's a lot of fun to be around and incredibly good at what he does. Maybe he'll stay in portland and start a new life?
10. Yoga. Lately my back has been aching from toddler picking up, toddler sleeping upon, and probably the trauma of my c-section... and yoga has been calling me back. Making time to do a lot of it isn't possible, so I'm attempting to start slow and easy. Just 5 minutes of sun salutations at the beginning and end of each day. Ruby sometimes joins me, but mostly she tries to climb on top of me. Not productive, but funny. I forget more often than i do it, but I'm trying.
11. Reading. Oh how I miss reading. just no time. but I have plans to go to the bookstore soon, so hopefully I'll have something to entice me away from the laptop and knitting needles (that I rarely pick up).
12. Late night snacks. mmmm lately Trader joes Os with frozen blueberries. YUM. Sometimes two bowls full before bed. Yep, I'm an eater.
13. Sleep. OMG. It's better. She's napping consistently around the same time, if i am diligent and also getting to bed easier. It still takes an hour for her to fall asleep, but hell, that's way better than 2. She's still up 3-5 times between 12-6 but it's liveable.

On that note, I'm off to bed!

spt, sort of

This was my fave view this week. Not a bad way to see the world, I tell ya.