Last night was the first time in about a week I didn’t spend an hour listening to one of Teddy’s late night temper tantrums. You might think a good night’s sleep would equal a Super Awesome Quick Takes, with the power to whiten your teeth and banish dandruff! But you’d be wrong. Now behold the rambling mediocrity you’ve come to know and accept begrudgingly.
1. Things Teddy fusses about at 3 a.m.
Roll me over.
Roll me back.
Blanket.
No blanket.
Put the blanket up to my cheeky.
(muffled sound of Teddy pretending he can’t breathe)
Pants off.
Pants on.
Cup.
NO! (throws cup).
Mama snuggle.
GO AWAY!
AAAA!
Pick me up!
(Smack to the face.)
And, my favorite
I’m tired!!!
FINALLY, something we can agree on. Accept “being tired” to Teddy apparently means, keep screaming for 30 minutes.
2. With temperatures around 90, we went to a beach along the Great Egg Harbor bay for some fishing on Wednesday. (Today it is freezing cold and pouring rain. Mother Nature you need a serious spanking.)
3. I’m feeling like I’ve fallen into a blogging rut. I’m reading all these deep and thoughtful posts and I feel like my posts are about as attractive as the weird kid that approached you at a middle school dance and made some awkward comment intending to be funny and all you could do was back away slowly and try to hide when “Stairway to Heaven” started to play. Even though this is my blog and I should feel no pressure to write on a schedule or even to produce quality work, I do. I love not being under a deadline like when I was a journalist (let me tell you how fun it was in the newsroom the night the election results came in for Bush/Gore) but I don’t think the relaxed format I’ve got going means I can post crappy stuff. So anyway, now that I’ve subjected you to this unwanted look inside my ego, any questions from the peanut gallery? What would you like to know about me? My family? Is there some weighty issue you’d like me to weigh in on weightally? Let me know, seriously, otherwise get prepared to read about my weird obsession with bacon in three parts starting Monday.
4. I’ll be at the CHAPLET Homeschool Conference tomorrow; will you? I’ll wear something outrageous so you can pick me out in the crowd. I radically photoshop all my selfies so unfortunately, you won’t know me otherwise.
5. We started running/walking as a family to get the kids in shape for spring track. On Monday we did day one of an eight week ‘Couch to 5K’ ap and after 30 minutes of walking and jogging the kids were screaming for my head. All except for Fulton who came along in his stroller and thought the whole trip around the neighboring development with me yelling “RUN” “WALK” was as great a time as an outing to Target. After our cool down, Edie was clutching her side and crying on the side of the road and Fulton tried giving her a pep talk, “That was great, let’s keep running! Edie get up!! Let’s go!” Every time since then that I mention running Byron says a prayer under his breath that he comes down with a stomach bug so he doesn’t have to go.
6. I officially transferred all my RSS feeds over to The Old Reader and, so far, I like it. I don’t like it as much as Google Reader but TOR is close enough to make me happy and I’m hoping that as more people switch over, TOR will change some of their options/settings so I can make it even more like GR. It doesn’t have a mobile ap, but it adapts nicely to my iPod screen. If you are one of my three readers subscribed via GR, be sure to switch over to something by July. Otherwise you’ll miss out on more posts like this. (Not sure if that is a threat or an incentive at this point.) [Update: 4/25 Feedly in ‘Title View’ tops it.]
7. And of course, I have to mention baby mama drama. Please continue to keep Jen and Joseph in your prayers. I can somewhat relate to what she’s going through as Teddy was born at 34 weeks and spent two weeks in the NICU. After his arrival in the wee hours, I held him briefly and then he was whisked away. I didn’t get to hold him again until much later in the day due to my own health issues. Our priest came and baptized him and I couldn’t even be there. I know how hard those first hours were on me and the following days in the NICU. It is draining physically and emotionally and although my older kids understood my absence, it was hard on the younger ones. I agree with everything Priest’s Wife posted and recommend it for anyone facing an NICU admission.
Alright, I think I’ve allowed the screaming to go on unsupervised for long enough. Be sure to swing back to Grace’s for more Tick Quakes of blow out proportions.
I wouldn’t worry too much about what you write :). I enjoy your posts, whether they are random ramblings or deeper thoughts. I stress about blogging too though, so I get it – although mostly I berate myself for not blogging more often and being a weirdo lurker on so many blogs and not getting more “involved” in the whole blogging community. Right now, I’m the kid at the middle school dance hovering against the wall, imagining how fun it must be to be one of the cool kids out on the dance floor, hanging out with friends and stuff. 🙂
Ditto to what Claire said, and I love the image of the school dance – it captures the angst perfectly. I can’t even imagine the daily challenges in your life, and I’m amazed that you not only manage to stay in the conversation, but do it with cool photos as well (I particularly love your WIWS ones!). And I want to hear all about your obsession with bacon – a noble obsession for sure!
Your rambling posts are some of my favorites anyway. So, keep it up. But, no pressure. Don’t stop!! I mean, you just relax and take it easy.
Question …. are you funny in real life?
Totally not. Absolute drag. (I might be joking…)
You are all about stirring up trouble with your comments these days aren’t you “SWKHIRL”????
It’s my new online persona. I’ve decided to become a Troll.
OK, we have been following you since we (my 4 daughters & I) stumbled upon your post for WIWS on veiling. We laughed so hard we had tears in our eyes. Don’t stop writing. We look forward to your posts because, #1) we identify with your family life; #2) I wish I could write so humorously about our family life; #3) you make us laugh! I even referred your blog to a fellow homeschooling mom with SMA kids. We all take our selves WAAAAY to seriously so please, DON’T STOP WRITING!
You know what I like about your blog? You have a dry sense of humor (my favey fave), but you aren’t afraid to switch gears and write a serious, thoughtful post either.
I guess it’s something I try to emulate in my blog too. We can’t be funny or serious all the time, ya know?
What to write about? I signed up for a daily writer’s inspiration blog, and, well, they send you daily topics to write about. I rarely use them because I am not in a funk at this moment in time (hey, stop laughing!), but when I do get funky, it is nice to have a little nudge.
I love the pimped out chair with fishing line – rambling posts are the best!
Thanks for the link to my blog 🙂 one thing I forgot to add- for most NICU parents- there is a happy ending. Today I took my ‘preemie’ to her tap class. She’ll be four in June and she is one of the biggest kids there! It is a joy seeing her grow
I love the variety in your writing and I’m a huge fan of your sense of humor.
I don’t know if this is too personal or perhaps for a different reason you choose to not blog much about it, but I would love to read your thoughts on being Fulton’s mom. Maybe you have old posts that talk about things like when you found out about Fulton’s diagnosis, adjusting to life with a wheelchair, how strangers interact with your son with special needs, being part of that club, etc. I’d also love to hear why you named him Fulton. I guess it’s one part being nosy and one part healing for me to hear from other moms who have kids with special needs. But I definitely want to be respectful of your family’s privacy!
I will be heading over to the CHAPLET
Hit that button a bit quickly… yowsa. I meant to say that I’ll be at the conference tomorrow morning right around opening and hope to say hello! I’ll be the one in the embroidered denim jumper, peter pan collared blouse, sensible shoes, and nursing infant- should be easy to spot in the crowd…. 😉 Actually, only one of the above is true and that’s because Leo is coming along. Whew!
As for the blogging – keep doing what you’re doing! I enjoy the rambles and the serious posts too. I must say, my favorite so far is the “Banned List” of toys. That should be an annual feature.
And here I thought we’d be in matching outfits! Oh well. I’ll be there bright and early; I’ll keep an eye out for you!
You may never stop writing. I won’t allow it. I will hunt you down and place you in front of a computer with bats booby-trapped to fly into your hair if you leave before completing a post.
Seriously, though. You have too much to offer, with humor and insight to boot. I’m sorry you feel uninspired, but I think that’s normal from time to time. And I wouldn’t have noticed if you hadn’t mentioned it!
I am in week seven of couch to five k and I love it–now running 25 minutes straight! The best tip I’ve been given is that if it feels hard that means you are jogging too fast. Slow down until it feels pretty easy (you are able to chat while you jog and you don’t get any side stitches) and then you will be able to make it through all the levels. Good luck to you and your kids!
The kids are still yelling at me; how do I get THEM to jog slower???????