Book Review : The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

I've recently come across something that is great for me. I love to read, I love to discuss books, but my schedule is way too full to join a book club. I can't guarantee that I will be able to go out every third Friday of the month, or whatever would be involved. It's something I would like to do in the future, but I'm really enjoying Good Reads right now. It allows me to see what some of my friends are reading and read their opinion of it before I get started. Currently, there are about 10 books I want to read, just from this alone. If you haven't checked it out, I definitely recommend it.

The first book I noticed my friends reading is called The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. I stepped out of my comfort zone and read it.

The main character, in the first-person, is Christopher, a 15 year old boy who is "special needs". It doesn't flat-out say that he's autistic as far as I remember, but it's either that or Asberger's Syndrome. He is extremely gifted when it comes to math and science, but he doesn't like English (too many metaphors and jokes) or being touched. The book opens with an incident where he discovers his neighbor's dog dead, and as a result of his admitted emotional shortcomings, he winds up being accused for the murder and taken to jail for assaulting a police officer. He decides, with the help and encouragement of his teacher, Siobhan, to write a story investigating the death of Wellington.

The prose is very straightforward and one-sided. The narrator tends to wander, especially when he is starting to feel agitated. I won't go into details, because there is a fairly significant plot twist about 3/4 of the way in, but when he steps out of his comfort zone, he tends to react by retreating into his own head, which makes for deeply boring passages explaining how to calculate all the prime numbers in existence or how to solve various math equations. If I want to read that, I can pull out the Calculus textbook the university wouldn't take back. The other thing that bothered me (but I suppose is a good thing overall for the author) is the character's assumption (or just lack of consideration) that his audience knows nothing at all. He explains Occam's Razor, among other theories, in the most basic and condescending way imaginable. I felt like my intelligence was being played down through some passages. That being said, Christopher is as aware of these shortcomings as we are, and it was interesting to read the tangents he applied to Wellington's murder and see in a very linear fashion how he got from point A to point B.

It was very different to have a main character who is afflicted the way Christopher is, but he is obviously good at managing issues that affect him daily (for the most part). He is burdened slightly by well-meaning if not completely inept parents. I can't imagine the stress of caring for someone who needs so much long-term and will continue to do so without understanding the need for a "break". However, I think his parents contribute to some of his problems as well.

On the whole, I'm not sorry I read it. It's not something I will read over and over though. At Good Reads, I gave it three stars for "liked it".

Visit the Baskin Robbins in your 'hood on Wednesday!

It's cheap. It's yummy. It's to honor a good cause! What more could you ask for? If you want to invite more people, follow the link and fill out the form.

Putting the "smart" in smart aleck since at least 1984

It's no secret that all parents feel like their kids are brilliant or bound to be the next great something, whether it be a doctor, lawyer, or the researcher who cures cancer. No one wants to say "Hey, my kid is going to barely eke out an existence at or below the poverty line!" We all want to believe our kid is fantastic, and there is nothing wrong with it. Everyone needs that encouragement (pressure) and support (nagging).

I have honestly never expected anything out of Mason in terms of accomplishing things early. I just want him to be healthy, happy and normal. If things continue the way they are, I expect he would be happy to work on a garbage truck. As long as he can keep the job and be happy about it, it doesn't matter to me what he ends up doing (law-breaking and boozing aside).

With that being said, he has been learning and exploring at such a rapid pace it's been staggering to keep up with. The other amazing thing is his memory--it knows no bounds, and definitely makes us stop as we try to remember back to whatever event he brings up. Is it bad if the toddler is rapidly becoming more intelligent than his mother? (I like to throw the blame back to the intelligence deficit known as pregnancy. I've never had to pause more to think, laughed at more jokes I didn't get, or existed at such a generally tired pace in my life.) I feel compelled to post his recent accomplishments/discoveries/comments in list form because they have been coming so fast and furious.

1. "Help Daddy wash the leaves." Alan went out yesterday to start preparing our yard, and Mason confused the Round-Up used on our first self-starting group of dandelions with cleaning solution because it looked like bubbles.

2. Mason can now count to five, demonstrating with his fingers. Verbally, he can count to sixteen (the number of stairs in our house) if you can keep his attention on it long enough.

3. You may remember my previous surprise about Mason recognizing the letter "W" and "C"; he now knows "H", "B","P", and "F". He will ask for "L", but he can't quite say it so I'm not sure if it counts.

4. He distinguishes between bodily functions and will loudly announce (with complete delight, by the way) the proper one and who did it. "Daddy burped."

5. He has stopped mixing up the colors pink and purple.

6. Mason now names any animal we throw at him, and we try really hard to stump him. He can pick out a ferret, a kangaroo, a seal, a prarie dog, and a buffalo with the greatest of ease. He is also beyond seeing the turtles, bunnies at birds at the pet store. Now he wants to see horses. (Let's be clear about it--pictures are not good enough).

7. On a recent visit to Target, he picked out his own Thomas the Train movie, then asked dad to pay for it so he could go home and watch it. He was deserving of a reward, so we let it slide and brough the movie home. The bonus? It also contained an episode of Bob the Builder.

8. Our previous trip to the grocery store had to be sticker-free (despite his best efforts to charm the checker) because they were out of stickers. Our trip on Sunday was sticker free because he informed me they don't have stickers any more.

I hope all of your days are also filled with so much discovery and excitement about the world around you. I know I have benefitted greatly from the sweet example he sets of seeing the world through new eyes. I have also managed to persevere through the recent battles of "Just say please already and you can have it" and the disapproving toddler screams when he is told no, so at least being a parent has some balance to it.

Patient Planning Pays Off

For almost the last two years, in light of budgeting and time issues, I've been trying to plan dinner for our family on either a bi-weekly or a monthly basis. It seems to be working out. The only complaint from Alan is that I don't leave enough nights to work on leftovers. So in addition to finding new things to cook, I've been trying to either find smaller recipes or start freezing halves for nights when I'm at work or we're short on time. My biggest goal here is to actually finish all of our leftovers instead of wasting the food and money throwing them out. To help hold me accountable, and to share what I find, I'm going to try posting our biweekly menu (we are only home together five or six nights in that time period--those are the only nights I cook). So please enjoy the below recipes/links. These are also in no particular order, I try to keep the items on hand and cook each thing when it sounds good.

Spinach Tomato Tortellini
Fragrant Lemon Chicken with Lemon Almond Broccoli
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Meatloaf
Chicken Pasta Toss
Grilled Cheeseburgers w/ my mom's ranch pasta salad (no recipe on these, just improv)
BBQ Ribs and Smoky 4 Cheese Macaroni


Chicken Tortilla Soup (Fix It & Forget It Lightly)
16-oz. can fat-free refried beans
15-oz. can black beans, rinsed & drained
14-oz. can fat-free chicken broth
1 1/2 C. frozen corn
3/4 C. chunky salsa
3/4 C cubed, cooked chicken
1/4 C. water
2 C. shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 bag baked tortilla chips

Combine all ingredients except cheese and chips in slow cooker. Cook on low 3-4 hours or until heated through. Add half of the cheese. Stir until melted. Serve in bowls with crushed tortilla chips on top, and sour cream or other toppings as desired. It says the yield is seven servings, but we usually only have one good-sized bowl left over.

Meatloaf (thanks, Joey!)
1 lb. ground beef
1 egg, beaten
1/3 C. bread crumbs
1/2 C. milk
1 tsp. salt
1 onion, diced
1/2 tsp. Worscestershire sauce

Topping- 1/2 C. ketchup, 3 Tbsp. brown sugar (packed), 1/4 tsp. nutmeg, 1 tsp. dry mustard

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients except topping and shape into loaf in a 9X5 loaf pan. Combine topping ingredients and pour over top of loaf. Bake for about 1 hour. Makes 8 servings.


Chicken Pasta Toss (thanks again, Joey!)
10 oz. spaghetti
1 tsp. minced garlic
2 Tbsp. butter
3/4 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1/2 C. chopped green onions
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp each onion powder, rubbed sage, white pepper, black pepper
Dash cayenne pepper
1 C. heavy whipping cream
1/2 C. shredded Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. parsley

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute garlic in butter. Add chicken, onions, and seasoning. Cook uncovered for 3-5 mins or until juices run clear. Stir in cream. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 4-5 mins or until slightly thickened. Drain spaghetti. Toss with chicken mixture. Sprinkle with cheese and parsley. Serves 4.

The Long Goodnight

Do you ever feel like your child's bedtime routine is getting out of control? Especially in the two-year-old world in which we live, bedtime routine is absolutely crucial. We have to follow all the steps, in just-so order, for Mason to make it to bed successfully. Part of it is probably that he's a particular little guy, especially at bed time.

Step by step, we've gotten ourselves into an hour long routine, which is tough to live by when work hours come and go at all different intervals or we're out late at Grandma's house. There is nothing like starting bedtime at 9:30 or 10:00 pm, only to finish up at least an hour later.

Our routine consists of the following: diaper change (to "blue and yellow stars", because the special night-time diapers are good to us) and put on jammies, then we look at the alphabet slideshow on Starfall (sometimes we even take the "puter" into Mason's room as a special treat), and then we read stories. It used to be all the stories, then we cut it down to three, and now we're back up to somewhere between five and seven. After stories, we tuck him into bed with all SEVEN blankets (that's right-- he hugs two or three, and has at least three on top of him, the kid is a blanket aficianado!). Then it's time for lullabies. This is where I run into problems.

I need some new book suggestions and some lullaby suggestions. I've only found three songs he likes, and I only personally care for one of the three. I'm hoping to make him a little CD or something I can just let play to help cut a few minutes off our bedtime ritual. It's not that I mind spending the time with him, I just want to simplify things a little bit. Often, Dad is getting home around bedtime or Mom gets home from work late and it's meaning that no one besides Mason gets into bed before midnight.

So, please post any lullaby suggestions or ideas on how to simplify our bedtime routine. I have gradually managed to move bath time to earlier in the day, but I would be very interested and very grateful for further ideas!

Baby Mason at age 8 weeks when bedtime was much simpler

No Dumpster Diving Allowed

We had a rather unusual case of trauma yesterday. The county had delivered several of the "spring clean-up" dumpsters throughout the neighborhood as they do every year. The first oddity for Mason, the official "garbage truck watcher", was that the truck left the dumpster behind. He kept telling me the garbage truck came apart.

The second problem was the disposal of a very broken office chair. The chair snapped in half a few years ago, and we weren't sure how to properly dispose of it. It's been sitting off to the side of our office unused while we tried to decide. I forgot to take it out during the spring clean last year, and as Mason has become more aware, he likes to twirl it around when he's playing. Apparently, he's become quite attached. When I took it out to the dumpster between our house and the neighbor's house, he watched from the porch in horror. When I pitched the chair over the edge into the dumpster, he started screaming. He was standing on the porch, purple in the face, and I was so sure our neighbors were going to call and report some form of child abuse. When I picked him up, he brokenly told me he wanted the chair back.

Eventually, he asked to see the chair. He then told me "Take it out and get tape." Mason discovered scotch tape a few months ago and thinks it will fix everything. I told him the chair couldn't be fixed with tape, that we couldn't fix it at all, and the dumpster was going to take it away to a new home. He spent the remainder of the evening telling anyone (daddy, grandma, grandpa, uncle "Kylie") who would even pretend they were listening and understood that the chair was in the dumpster, that he can't fix it, and he can't get in the dumpster with it. (That was the other desire that I immediately denied.)

This morning, the trucks came to pick up the dumpsters in our neighborhood. He seemed okay with it, and said "Bye!" to the chair, the dumpster, and the truck as he watched from his semi-permanent post at the living room window.

I like to pretend I'm a bargain shopper

I'm totally spoiled. When I worked full-time and we got through the first married year of being totally house poor, I got used to some creature comforts. I like clothes shopping as much as the next girl. I don't think anything will pick up a bad or sad mood quite like a new shirt or new shoes (this is a more recent thing for me, however). When I agreed to cut back my hours at work, I knew it was a sacrifice I was making for the good of my child. And who doesn't enjoy the opportunity to play in the dirt with dump trucks more often (I wish I were being sarcastic here, but I'm not. I love playing with my kid, even though sometimes my sorta-girly brain can't keep up with the tunnels and race track slides involved in being a little boy)?

One thing I gave up was my salon-grade shampoo and conditioner. Once upon a time, I would've told you this made no difference and it was paying more for the same exact thing. With my particular hair (heat-styled on a good, rare day without a toddler begging me to do anything else), I have decided I like my fancy salon products. The catch is that now I'm more hesitant to go spend $40 on shampoo and conditioner, even if the big bottles last me six months. Luckily, I found this . I can get my favorite (Back To Basics) for $26, which is just over half-price. If you are a hair product princess like me, check it out!

I've also been introduced recently to Ebates. They have always-changing special offers plus regular cash-back incentives for purchasing online from many, many stores. If you shop online frequently (who wants to take their 2 year old boy to the mall with him yelling "Go back out!" from the stroller every time you enter a store with anything other than toys?), this is highly worth the thirty seconds it takes to fork over your email address. As far as I've seen, they don't send out hundreds of annoying emails, either.

Fire Station Fare, version 1.0

Back in the days when Alan worked at an over-staffed fire station (read: not as health-conscious as where is his now so they also ate bigger portions), he brought home some truly awesome recipes. They were unabashedly huge, unapologetically unhealthy, and a little expensive (because you can spend a little more when it's divided among six guys rather than three). I threw back to these days as I searched my recipe book today and here's the recipe we used for dinner. I can't give credit where credit is due, because my first source of this recipe was male (read: "What do you mean who gave me the recipe? Someone at the fire station, I don't remember who!"). Oops, was that too sarcastic?

Swedish Meatballs

1/4 C. ketchup
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 C. bread crumbs
2 Tbsp. parsley
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 lbs. ground beef
2 lbs. ground pork sausage

Sauce:
1/2 C. sour cream
2 pkgs. brown gravy
dash paprika
dash nutmeg

Combine all ingredients except meat in a large bowl and stir. Add meat and mix thoroughly. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Shape meat into 1-inch meatballs and place on an ungreased cookie sheet, just far enough apart they aren't touching. Bake for 20 mins, turning frequently. Just before removing, combine sauce ingredients in crock pot. Add cooked meatballs and stir to coat evenly. Cover and turn on desired heat, leaving until heated through.

We like this best served over cooked egg noodles. I confess, I used reduced fat sour cream (don't tell), and I needed to use a little more for whatever reason, about 3/4 C. I also used reduced sodium brown gravy mix (don't tell again), extra lean ground beef, and turkey sausage instead of pork. And, why not? Just tell. I also used whole-grain pretend they're egg noodles. I said the recipe was unhealthy, I didn't say I wasn't trying to alter it and make it a little better. If I was really going for the healthy gold, I would have used Egg Beaters instead of real eggs, too. Oh well. I also lined my cookie sheet (I had to use two, it yielded about 45-50 meatballs) with aluminum foil for not-so-earth-friendly clean up. At any rate, it was a great once-in-a-while meal that we have that I thought I would pass on. Those firefighters really do know how to cook!

Mason and the "bumpy slide" adventure

It's no secret how I feel about the snow and general weather ickiness that has been hanging around for a while. I got some new "spring"y shoes that I was dying to wear and the weather has not been cooperative.

Well, that is NOTHING compared to the disappointment Mason was dealing with. Ever since this kid could express any sort of a preference, he has wanted to be outside. Our first camping trip took place when he was 5 months old, and all he did was stare at everything around him like he would never get enough. He cried when we took him in the tent for bed. He is also (if such things are genetic, I passed this on for sure) a little bit of a fairweather fellow. He will play outside, in the dirt, on a slide, in the water-- as long as the weather is good. He manages okay in the cold, but he is not such a fan of the snow. Thus, it has been a very long winter for him.

Well, the weather being what it was yesterday, we just couldn't deny him the chance to spend some one-on-one time with our local new playground. I think that was the ploy to shut us up when they put in the also local skate park. So we outfitted the dogs, buckled Mason into the wagon he has been itching to ride in, and took him over to play. Other than the city being out setting up their sprinklers (and never knowing which ones would come on next for a minute-long test run so you never knew where to stand safely), it was a perfect day for him!

He wasn't so sure about the tall slide, and wasn't willing to let the turtle test it out first.

But with dad behind him, it was nothin'.

Sometimes, especially when there are big kids around, Mason doesn't recognize limits. As far as climbing goes, he has definitely embraced the "don't look down" philosophy, and as a result, he HAS no limits. Fortunately, Dad does have some sense of "trauma waiting to happen". Call it an occupational hazard.

It's just as much fun to climb up the slide as it is to go down it, apparently.

Mason sure loves to pose for the camera, as has been previously discussed. Once he realized I was taking pictures of him, he was all about the "cheese".

The Three B's go Baking -- Beautiful Banana Bread

I made a loaf of banana bread for the first time in a long time yesterday. The bananas don't normally last long enough at our house to make bread because Mason loves them. But this recipe is, hands down, the best one I have found. It bakes out just right. It's not dry like some other recipes I've found and it has a great flavor. I hope if you try it you enjoy it!

Banana Bread

1 1/4 C. white sugar
1/2 C. butter, softened
2 eggs
1 1/2 C. mashed very ripe bananas (about 3 medium)
1/2 C. buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt

Move oven rack to low position so top of pan will be in center of oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottoms only of 2 8X4-in. loaf pans or 1 9X5-in. loaf pan. Mix butter and sugar until well mixed. Stir in eggs completely. Add bananas, buttermilk, and banana. Beat with a spoon until smooth. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt just until moistened. Divide batter evenly if using 2 pans, or pour into 9-inch pan. Bake 8-in loaves about 1 hr or 9-in loaf about 1 hour 15 mins-1 hr 20 mins until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on cooling rack for 10 mins. Loosen sides of loaf and remove from pan. Place on cooling rack and cool completely, about 2 hours. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature for up to 4 days or refridgerate for up to 10 days.

I got this out of a Betty Crocker book. There is a substitution I've used for buttermilk in there, too. It works just as well, but not necessarily better. You measure 1 1/2 tsp. vinegar or lemon juice (I used lemon juice) plus enough milk to equal 1/2 C. You may also add 1 C. chopped nuts to the batter before baking, but I don't because I'm the only one who likes them. Happy baking!

Confessions of a "Bob the Builder" lover

I must admit, the kids' show "Bob the Builder" holds a special place in my heart. Mason is a big fan for obvious reasons (all I need to say here is 'trucks'), and it entertains him for at least five minutes at a time.

Mason made an important connection over the last couple of nights. A new part of our bedtime ritual is looking at his "ousabet". (Also see the permanent link in one of the sidebars- I recommend this site to anyone!) He also calls it the "moo cow". We started with the starfall site thanks to our super-mom neighbor whose children could recognize all the letters well before they turned two. I hear it has some other really fun activities, but we haven't tried those yet.

Anyway, Mason's requests to see the various letter slideshows has been relatively limited to specific things he wanted to see. Some of them have been tricky, like the frogs. The frogs are under the game at the end of the letter "J" because it's used for "Jump, Frog, Jump". This has been relatively frustrating for the "on" parents because we don't necessarily know what was uncovered the night before, so we don't know where what he's requesting might be.

For the first time, Mason asked to see the "W". I asked him to identify it on the page, which he did. I asked him what sound the "w" makes and he said "wuh". I was so very proud! When I told Alan, he mentioned that Mason has also correctly identified the letter "C" in recent nights. Maybe there is something to this alphabet slideshow!

Cafe Rio Pork Salad and Snickerdoodles... an interesting combination

I've been busy baking and making new things lately, because it seems like I go through phases. I won't have all the pictures to post that Nicol does, though. Really, all of this didn't last long enough to attempt pictures. I was making the cookies for a potluck at work and we ate the salad for a dinner on the fly one night.

Cafe Rio Pork Barbacoa
about 4 lbs. pork, any cut
1 C. salsa
1 C. brown sugar
2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. paprika

Put meat in crockpot (we used pork shoulder, but you can use anything boneless). Mix everything together and pour it over meat. Cook on low 6-8 hrs, or until done. Drain juice into saucepan and thicken with flour or cornstarch to desired consistency. Shred meat and combine with sauce.

Cafe Rio Creamy Tomatillo Salad Dressing

1 packet (0.4 oz) buttermilk Ranch dressing
1 C. buttermilk
1 C. mayonnaise
2 tomatillos, peeled and cored
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic
1 lime (just the juice)
1 jalapeno

Prepare ranch as directed (I think the buttermilk and mayo amounts are correct, but I threw the packaging away without writing it down). Put tomatillos, cilantro, garlic, jalapeno and lime juice in food processor and chop finely. Add ranch mixture and blend until well combined.

The jalapeno adds a lot of spice and I'm not sure about it, but Alan and Mason really liked it. The texture is also a little thicker than the dressing at Cafe Rio, so I might play with the recipe a little in the future, but it was pretty good overall.



Snickerdoodles
1/2 C. butter, softened
1/2 C. shortening
1 1/2 C. white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 3/4 C. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3 tsp. cinnamon
3 Tbsp. white sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 C. sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Blend in the flour, vinegar, baking soda, and salt. Mix 3 Tbsp. sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Shape dough into approx 1 Tbsp. balls, roll in cinnamon sugar mixture, and place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 mins or until set but not too hard. Remove from cookie sheet immediately to cool.

*Usually snickerdoodles use cream of tartar but I didn't have any on hand the day I was making these. I found white vinegar as an equal substitute, and I actually like the cookies better with it instead so I have continued using it.

Enjoy!

To dream the impossible dream....

The last few days have been so busy that I can't believe it's my laid back life! We did make our own version of a Cafe Rio pork salad last night, and I have to admit it was pretty tasty. I owe this to Jill. When I figure out where Alan put the recipe, I will post it!

Anyway, on a totally unrelated note, Mason had an unusual goal the other day. We were putting lotion on his cheeks and he was staring at himself in the mirror and pulling faces (as usual, the cute little geezer). He stuck his tongue out and laughed. He then informed me "I can't drop it, the tongue."

This goes along with my previous post. This isn't something I ever anticipated that I would have to explain to a child. Especially when he isn't sure of the word "attached". He looked disturbed when I told him his tongue was stuck inside his mouth. Finally, I just agreed. "You're right, Mason. It is impossible to drop your tongue."

What impossible feats have your children tried to manage lately?

Five Things I Never Thought I Would Say

So, anyone with kids probably knows this feeling. Especially if your kids, like Stephenie Meyers', sometimes act like "chimpanzees on crack" (notice the unofficial bio)!



1. "How do I get the quarter and/or the dime out of my steering wheel?"

2. "No, Mason. Trucks do not have bums."

3. "What does a turtle say?"

4. "Garbage trucks go to sleep after the sun goes down."

5. "What color pancakes should we make?" (My husband started with the multi-colored breakfast foods. Don't look at me!)



Joey's look of wonderment when she realized what she had said inspired the gathering of this list, even though I have had numerous mom moments like this already, and I know for a fact I am not the only one. Her comment to an impatient boy waiting for a pony ride? "The nice lady had to take the baby goat inside first."

Cheese and haircuts

Mason went to get a haircut today, and as usual, I can't believe how much older he looks. Here are the before (above) and after. I mean, hopefully it's obvious which is which. But the other thing I discovered is anytime he sees the pre-flash warning light on my camera, he knows to strike a pose and say "cheese" meaning I will only get to see that beautiful, normal smile in my memory. My baby isn't a baby anymore!

"I say no bed"... and Meme- Five Things And What They Say About Me

Today, I'm grateful for sassiness. Especially at nap time. *sigh*



So I came up with five things and what they say about me a lot faster than I thought I would. The snow outside really dampened my desire to do anything outside my own house. I don't even have the blinds open so I can see outside. That's how much I hate the snow.

Five Things #1

This is the curio table in my living room. Since we got married, I've been gradually building items to decorate my house, especially living room, with. My original goal was to have something for each season, plus Christmas. I've ended up with a strange mixture of holiday and seasonal tabletop decor, but I make it work. The catch is, a little boy takes over your entire life. Half of the living room I tried to painstakingly decorate and make cute has been taken over by his race track. That's fine, as he loves his race track so much, but there is still this one table I can call my own. He doesn't play with the stuff on it by some miracle.

So I take the time, every couple of months or so, to make this one little spot of the house mine. My husband doesn't care, because I know something like this is WAY girlier than his interest level. But it feels like a place I can make my own statement. I can make the colors as bright as I want. I can put out flowers. I can be a girl in this house full of boys.

Five Things #2

These are the bookshelves in our loft. When we were first looking at the model home, it had bookshelves installed here. Being too cheap to pay the builder's (ridiculous) cost for them, we just purchased bookshelves to fill in the area ourselves. I remember looking at them after we got them all put together and thinking they looked so big and empty. We filled them with pictures and various knick knacks to help cover up the fact that we didn't have very many books. Well, we have also budgeted an insane amount of money for books. Whenever we have the money, they seem to be our luxury item of choice. As a function of distance, we didn't go to the library very often because it was not close to us. So we purchased the books we wanted to read. Now we have quite the impressive collection of books, so much so that our pictures and knick knacks are being pushed out of the way.

This speaks of our (my) love of reading as much as it speaks of my disorganization. My husband desperately wishes for a return to the days when the books were categorized. I have yet to bring myself to tackle that job.

Five Things #3

This is my keyboard. When I was in ninth grade, I expressed my long-harbored desire to play the piano. I already played flute (which is sitting just below the guitar on the box of music, but I couldn't fit it in the picture), so learning to read music wasn't the big stretch. Buying a piano was a big stretch. It's a large financial investment and I'm not notorious for sticking with things. So the compromise for that Christmas was my mom bought me this keyboard. I have spent hours playing on this thing. The guitar is an addition made by my husband when we both decided we wanted to play. These things have all taken the backburner as life has gotten out of control, but they sit there and occasionally I get a few minutes to play and it is equally relaxing and frustrating because it's not quite like riding a bike and makes me wish I could spend more time playing. Nothing is better when you're angry than pounding out a violent song on the piano! Samson whines or howls when I play my flute, and that is fun in its own way.

For now mostly, I just sing songs to Mason when no one else is paying attention. We sing lullabies at night but we sing quite a bit more during the day. Music is a huge part of my life, and hopefully I'm making it a huge part of his, too, because I don't think there is a better outlet and way to express thoughts and feelings.

Five Things #4

This is what I like to call "The Wall of Vanity". It has our wedding pictures and a framed copy of our wedding invitation. We haven't hung anything else on this wall, but I can see it someday full of pictures of Mason and our friends and family. These photographs and the memories they hold, are very dear to me. I like to remember the places we've gone or the people we love. More often than not (the picture above being a rare case), the curio table across from this wall has several framed family pictures. Mason is, naturally, my favorite subject. But our families are very central to our lives, and for me in a lot of ways, our wedding was really the beginning.

Five Things #5

Last but not least, this picture might seem kind of odd. This is our downstairs bathroom. A bathroom is not necessarily how I want people to remember me. But the color is. The color is bold and vibrant, and not traditional. It's kind of my example of the times when I am unique. I am capable of being bold and vibrant. I am often untraditional. Kind of like the plates in the bathroom or the synthetic flowers in the plate holder.

On a good day, I can be creative and spontaneous. I will admit, the spontanaeity of the bathroom was sparked by my husband, as he had it all ready to go one day when I got home from work, but the qualities it represents are things I have shown hints of and qualities in myself that I want to develop and embrace.

Well, Jill and Joey, you are the only two bloggers I know of at the moment besides Nicol (who invited me to do this). How about it? Can you find five things around the house that symbolize who you are and join this meme?

My Friend Nicol

So Nicol invited me to do something she did on her blog where I pick five things in my house and explain how they represent who I am. Boy is that going to take some thought! If anyone has any suggestions, let me know.

As I was looking at her page, I started thinking back a little bit. Nicol and I have been friends for a long, long time. We are probably only in touch thanks to her efforts at communication. It isn't that I don't want to stay friends with her, it's that she is SO good at keeping in touch while I am... just not.

It was at Nicol's house that I first locked my keys in my car while it was running. It was at Nicol's house that I learned how much antagonism an older brother was truly capable of. We navigated through years of glasses, braces, and awkwardness (especially where boys we concerned) together. I think we both turned out okay! And I *heart* the pictures of Olivia. I can't believe it's been that long since we went out to dinner, but she has just gotten so big and more beautiful!!!

In retrospect...

...we were previously more interesting than we are at this very moment. The picture posted to your right is from our first visit of the season to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point. Mason really likes it down there, especially when we go with my friend Joey and her kids Nate and Alex. Mason is especially fond of the play area because there are little-kid sized buildings for him to climb in and out of. I wasn't so crazy about that plan when it involved jumping out the window. I just sighed and grabbed my camera.

Get this party started!

So, I was encouraged to start a blog for me, us, our family... since I'm not exciting, I probably better make it for our whole family. I guess that's good for our friends and family that we don't get to see all that often. Then nothing will get left out. The catch is going to be if I'm good and keep it updated. It'll be a good listing of cute things Mason has done at the very least, right?