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When a MacBook air commercial comes on, I could be in the worst stinkin mood and I will start boppin my head to Yael Naim’s “New Soul” because its just so gosh darn sweet and catchy!
Hubby spent a little of his birthday money on her CD, and I just fell in love with a few songs, the following one in particular.
After pulling a late night of work, I slept in a bit on the couch while Lil’ E ate breakfast and watched Sesame Street. I got moving, did some chores and so on. I had a call with a prospective new client and it went fantastically (SO crazy how it came right in as I reduce my involvement at another). It was a beautiful day, low 70’s, sunshine and breeze, so Lil’ E and I headed out to the supermarket for rabbit bedding and a birthday gift, with a quick stop at the park.
On the way home, late afternoon, Lil’ E was passin out on the bus and I have a metal basket on wheels to drag/push around, (as well as two sweaters we stripped off in the heat and a plastic bag of left over burritos from the lunch we half ate). We were on one of the old buses (you know, with steps up instead of a curb level floor), and I pulled the chord, beckon E to rouse himself, “LET’S GO, BUDDY, THIS IS OUR STOP!” We tumbled off (quite literally) and made our way to the next stop for the bus home.
No sooner did we sit down when I went to grab my cell phone for the time. Cell phone, I think, … Huh, I feel like I am missing something.
Ya’ll: I did. I really did just leave my purse on the public transportation system. Complete with the following items:
keys
cell phone
check book
id
2 debit cards
What does this mean? We spent the early evening running to get cash out at the bank before closing the account, canceling our other banks debit card, canceling our cell phone and HAVING A FLIPPING BABY COW.
At this point I am also concerned with the fact that my address is on the checks and they have my house keys. FANFLIPPINTASTIC!
But, hey, its cool. It’s cool. Everything always turns out a-okay in the end, right? This week was so great, it was farting happiness. So the cosmos were bound to send me a little -okay, maybe big- hiccup. I’m still staying positive, so TAKE THAT, COSMOS! Whose cryin’ nooooooww?
What a strange passed few weeks I have had. I’m not sure where to begin and how much I am at liberty to share, but suffice to say that my employment situation (like the rest of the nations?!) has been in limbo (sort of?) and out playing golf and just plain driving the “planner” in me bonkers.
I love working, I really do, and I tell myself that I am darn lucky to do what I do, from home, even if I barely pay the bills, even if I feel Lil’ E is being neglected, even if I do not have the job security of permanent employment nor the perks of benefits or paid sick days. The long and short of it is part survival, part pleasure.
My (main) job has been more or less back and forth, one month I am planning for the inevitable discontinuation of my current role by brainstorming possible new careers (web design? in-home childcare again?) and the next month I am toying with the real possibility that I will be hired on permanently, which will be both a financial strain in some ways and simultaneously a great peace of mind. I struggle with seeing how things “work” out there in the great big world, where a job I already work can’t just be, well, my JOB. But I know life and corporations are more complicated than that and I try daily to leave things in God’s hands - while my captain insano “be prepared” speech turns on and I start worrying all night long about June 1st’s rent!
It’s fairly exausting to worry, as I am sure you all know. It’s not a positive energy and rarely leads to positive actions aside from getting you moving, which may or may not be what you actually need to be doing. Freud might say that being a “doer” is overcompensating for “dreamer” parents, who knows. Several people, some of whom know nothing about this situation in my life, have mentioned something along the lines of the following advice: Get to that quiet place where you can hear, and go from there.
In the meantime, let me tell you - this brain is so not quiet, and my body feels at times like its under panic attack for real! I know that the God I have relationship with is so so so darn good and true and faithful, and never once have I been regretful for surrendering my plans and worries over to him. At the same time, I am habitual in my efforts to take over and PLAN for Him, and not doing so takes concentrated effort just about every milli-second of the day.
That and two facts you will find rather TMI (”too much information”, for the grandparents): I have the first of these in like a decade and they are driving me crazy with preoccupation and additional worry AND I am SO this.
[/rant].
I plan to enjoy our last day with Ethan’s bud, Finn, on Friday, as the family we child-swap with will be moving to the east coast this weekend. We might meet a new childcare possibility the same day, more of a “nanny-share” (God, You’ve got a sense of irony about these things, don’t you?) This weekend expects to be a sunnier one than we’ve had as of late, and I plan to soak it up as much as realistically possible (Farmer’s Market on Saturday, some Coop building in the backyard, so on.) The fresh air always does me good, (one reason the carless thing is likely less of a big deal to me than it might otherwise be), so perhaps by early next week I will have some post’s for you of great fun and jubilation
Hope every one is having better luck in the future plans/economy/emotional health department - as my brother ALWAYS SAYS:
Some might call me *mildly* obsessed with the greatest show in the history of television, by which I mean Lost, of course. I don’t care, I heart Lost like its no body’s business. If my dvd collection, blog posts, and constant bringing it up in unrelated topics of conversation do not reveal my devotion, a simple glance at my Facebook groups autta do the trick:
I even have a google group, Lost in Portland, by which Portland friendies can be in the know about coming to our pad for “Lost Night”. Yeah, so what that there are only two other people besides me and my Hubs. We are new here. These things take time! (And all you who didn’t accept the invite, yeah, you- you know who you are… the BLACK SMOKE MONSTER IS GONNA GET YOU, ISLAND STYLE!)
But I am not the only one who thinks the idea of throwing a Lost theme party to celebrate the season 4 premiere (WOOT! WOOT!) on Thursday is a fantabulouso idea! (And no, I don’t mean my BFF Steph who is throwing one simultaneously over in Florida with her ‘rents- she is a girl after my own heart…*tear*).
Check out this and this and this for ideas on throwing your own Lost theme party! Mine are simple, and include printing out these Dharma logos on sticky paper to make beer and wine labels and serving mangoes and bananas and maybe putting a candle in an empty peanut butter jar, among a few others goodies. If money weren’t an option? Ohhhh shoot, I don’t even want to THINK about the plane wreckage, bamboo and banyan trees, and other such island props I would no doubt spend a fortune on to do this thang right! (BTW, I’m this close, THIS CLOSE, to dressing up my bunny as a Polar Bear.)
So tune into the 2 hour season premiere on ABC, Thursday eve!
Okay, I’m going to go breathe in a brown paper bag now.
P.S. Refresh your cache and check out the site’s new Valentiney feel!
We’ve been going to a new church for a couple of weeks, (I’ll be sure to blog about this another time in more detail). This church happens to meet at a pub house, and after service a good bit of the church stays around to order lunch and hang out with each other. Due to our increasing need to save money, we split a lunch last week and snacked on a bowl of salted in-shell peanuts. Yum!
When we saw how much Lil’ E enjoyed them, we bought a big bag at Whole Foods. Today our downstairs neighbors and friends were out on the back porch and told us that this bird has been eating peanuts out of their hand! I quickly joined the fiasco (anything to avoid work, I tell ya!) by opening up the window and handing the bird peanuts we bought this week. We’ve been feeding this Western Scrub-Jay all afternoon, he is very friendly and comes right up to our windowsill for a snack (see video). Apparently they are known for hoarding brightly colored objects (I had to fend Hubby off of my few pieces of jewelry when he read that!)
Just had to give “Scrub” an honorary mention in my blog!
There certainly is a knitting craze (that has probably been all the rage for some time, but leave it to me to be the last to find out!). And I’m not the only one who thinks Portland in particular has a knitting fetish. First it was just watching these women knitting up a storm on the bus. Then it was passing all these incredibly posh knitting stores like this one and this one and this one and this one. The bug was starting to itch and now I see Fluffy Flowers creations with a sewing machine and recycled materials and I’m about to jump on the flow of the tide!
I’ve got a sneaky feeling that this little hobby would be a tad time consuming (relative to the time available for a full-time working stay-at-home mom of a toddler?) and a tad expensive (relative to a full-time working stay-at-home mom of a toddler with about $50 to her name?)… so perhaps embarking on this little venture will have to wait. Seriously, though, check out those links and LOOK me in the eye and TELL me you don’t want a seat on that bandwagon? YEAH, that’s what I thought…
Quite truthfully, Portland’s month of rain, rain and more rain is not really that bad. Maybe its the honeymoon phase. Perhaps I’m being idealistic. My survival mechanism is to go about life as usual, get on your jacket and head out. DO NOT STAY IN DOORS! Yes, the backyard is too soggy to play in, and the parks are pretty much the same. BUT the sidewalks and streets are filled with minor puddles on my way to indoor activities. Besides, without a car, staying out of the rain is hardly a choice. Walk we must, come rain or come shine. And its been a while since there was shine.
This morning, the clouds parted, and a very nice day broke through for a few hours. I was able to run out and feed the bunnies, take my counter composter to the bin, and inspect the vegetable garden a bit. It was enough to give me an itch for the glory days, namely, May-July when we had just moved here and the clear skies smelled of bloomin’ roses, and tulips and wild flowers greeted you at every turn! I can hardly remember our yard, sprouting with overgrowth that covered the paths, a gorgeous display of colors so rich in beauty that we ran out to take pictures and eat strawberries from the garden all month.
But as I’ve told many of you, the rains have brought with them, for me, a nice kind of hibernation. Bears do it, bees do it, let’s fall in love- type of feeling. At first, I had to turn to St. John’s Wort to keep the dark couped-up mood at bay. But that only lasted about a month (I’m way too forgetful to have to take something for very long!) and it was enough to get my spirits up and get my lifestyle OUT of the house. Since then, I’ve welcomed the rain and cold as a much needed r&r for this gal whose spent the past 23 years in the Florida sun. LOOOOOVIN’ the cafe’s and bookstores with their bottomless cups of java and cute mittens on my hands to hold my mug. Still prefer it to climates so UN-wintery.
But must admit, sometimes those darn puddles just annoy the ever livin’ crap out of me. Sometimes the constant drizzle of rain that makes any work put into your hairdo completely worthless gets under my skin. Sometimes I get the urge to put on a bikini and grab a beach towel and lay out in the grassy backyard and have some good ol’ Vitamin D toast me up. Sometimes the darkness by 4 pm is just the most ridiculous concept and I literally contemplate how some one needs to write a report about it and hand it in to the Big Guy.
All this to say, I can SURE appreciate Portland’s amazing Spring/summer combination, and I can’t wait. Just a few more months that, if all goes as usual, will fly by and then, oh the joys we will see of our bulbs spring back to life, of the wisteria on the gazebo start popping with little green leaves, the wild flowers I hope to plant after the last frost start to liven up our curb-side appeal. Such images and thoughts keep my heart nice and toasty during this month. Needless to say, we’ve been reading lots of The Cat in the Hat lately, and I’ve scoured my Rainy Day Activities with Toddlers book a few times!
On a side note, my amazing and beautiful pride of my heart two year old finally, tearfully, could not hold his bladder while straddling his potty today. Having been given an amount of water equal to the Willamette River, he ended up peeing at least 5 times in two hours; 3 times in his potty, twice on the chair during dinner. Poor guy!!! BUT he was SO happy to finally “make water” in the potty and the difference was completely and utterly due to giving him a book to read while doing his business. Hmmm… both Hubby and I like reading material while we take our potty breaks, so I suppose its no wonder! We are interested/anxious to see how the next few days play out as we use diapers for only outings and night… particularly when it’s time for Lil’ E’s mid-morning Numero Dos.
Job Update: Hubby still working to find employment, part of the 5% of the nation we heard about last week. Has applied to upwards of 20 or so legitimate ads, in addition to unemployment agencies, with several follow up phone calls on his part but no leads as of yet. We are working to stay busy and positive and not blow any money we have because we are so depressed! I literally got on my knees in the shower yesterday praying for a job that would make my husband happy. I know some how that all this will turn out all right in the end. There are so so many people we know that are going through just incredible hardships right now, so it certainly puts us in the “can’t complain” category! Thank GAWD!
Hope you all are trudgin’ through your January’s with high spirits, by and large unaffected (at least negatively!) by whatever weather and life conditions you’re facing!
Office Max has this goofy little thing to do if you’re bored and have 5 minutes… and if you’ve always wondered upon looking in the mirror if you look kinda like an elf…
When God thought of mother, He must have laughed with satisfaction, and framed it quickly—so rich, so deep, so divine, so full of soul, power, and beauty, was the conception. — Henry Ward Beecher
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I even have a google group, Lost in Portland, by which Portland friendies can be in the know about coming to our pad for “Lost Night”. Yeah, so what that there are only two other people besides me and my Hubs. We are new here. These things take time! (And all you who didn’t accept the invite, yeah, you- you know who you are… the BLACK SMOKE MONSTER IS GONNA GET YOU, ISLAND STYLE!)
Well well well.
