Another Sunday? How’d that happen? So here I am, all excited to introduce you to another two really, really great blogs. For the first time ever in my whole life, I’m going to get right to the point: Confessions of a Novice You can be sure that each and every post is something great. Elle doesn’t post every day like, I don’t know, say…ME? It’s like she waits for her very best ideas (I’m sure she has millions) and posts something that’s unique, charming, witty and perhaps even powerful. She says she’s a novice at a lot of things. But it appears to me she’s quite good at those things. Elle has a gift for writing. If there were a recipe for blogging, Elle would have all the perfect fresh ingredients, and she’d know exactly how to measure them all out, serving up something unique and tasteful every time! (ah, a blogging analogy- […]
You’ll notice today (if you feel like it) that a post of mine is over on Mama Manifesto (you subscribe to it, right? I know you do because it’s great and hip and informative and encouraging). So anyway, having a post over there is pretty exciting for me. I’ve been reading and enjoying everything on the Mama Manifesto since the first time I saw it. I guess you could say it was love at first site. Ha! Get it? Site? Yup, wicked sense of humor, huh? But the excitement? It gets better. Why, you ask? I have been asked to contribute to Mama Manifesto on a regular basis! I couldn’t be more flattered at the request, or more honored to be a part of such a great adventure. Yes. Me. Little ol‘ Heather of the EO. I can’t even stand it. So check it out and stuff. I really am a big fan […]
There’s a mother in me. She’s one part of me. Sometimes I think she’s the only one in there. The wife up and left, taking the dog with her. The daughter and sister are too busy to lend support to their family. The friend is distracted, forgetting birthdays and how to return a phone call. The writer and dreamer, they’re taking naps. Other days I hit a groove and roll all of me into one. But I find it’s nearly impossible. I’m not very adept at being more than one thing at once. I get very focused, unable to flow from one thing to the next. If I’m writing, I can’t handle any kind of distractions, even though they’re ever-present, so I become terribly impatient. If I’m trying to clean or do laundry, I get upset with my husband for not reading my mind and taking over childcare. If I’m cooking dinner and […]
There’s an elite group of bloggers out there. They’re rockin‘ the blogging party. They sit typing and smiling, clicking Publish Post and making us all pee our pants with laughter. They make my day many a day, giving me a chuckle and then a big laugh. They call themselves Mormon Mommy Bloggers. And I ask them now, are all Mormons this funny? And in their Classy McClass-Class style, they’ve shown up in a big way today. To help a friend and blogger near and dear, Stephanie and her husband, Christian (you can read about their plane crash and recovery situation over there, to the left, in my sidebar). Sue, from Navel Gazing at its Finest (awesomeness) had a light bulb moment, which you can read about here (and laugh a lot while you do it). And then Amy of The Lawsons did Dallas (more awesomeness) followed suit with more love and laughter here. […]
Do we all have something weird about us? Wait. Let me just say that we all have something weird about us. I am referring to our bodies, not our minds here people. And yes, I think even Brangelina must have something weird. Somewhere. Invisible to the naked eye, maybe. But it’s there. I say this because I would like to believe I’m not a freak of nature. I’ve heard of people having an extra toe. Or even an extra nipple, like Chandler on Friends. Or maybe a strangely shaped birthmark. We have a friend who has two toenails on one toe. No, not layered, side by side. (Sorry B, but this makes you a freak). I believe it’s possible that I may have revealed my freak secret here on the blog before, but I don’t remember clearly. If I did it was back when Kelly, Sabrina and my dad were the only ones […]
Sometimes I don’t feel like I have the same badge of honor as other moms. I didn’t accomplish the great entrance into motherhood as I thought I would. Sure, I pushed and strained, grabbed my husband’s hand and wanted to punch him. I looked into the eyes of my doula and made connections that aren’t possible anywhere else. But in the end, my crying baby was not placed immediately on my chest for bonding and feeding, how I had imagined. That thing I thought everyone had to have, the moments of gazing into one another’s faces, that was swept away for later. Instead, there was a bit of a panic, things being unplugged, people speaking a medical language I didn’t fully understand and darting glances. There was talk of heart rates and a tilted little head… can’t make it through…stuck… What? What does that mean? There was splitting pain, breaking through the medication […]
For three or four years now, Ryan has been receiving lots and lots of retirement information in the mail. We don’t know how it happened, but he got on a list somewhere. So AARP is his new best friend. Which brings me to yesterday when there was a knock on the door. (during nap-time of course, making the dog bark cause that’s just perfect, just as nice as during dinner.) I answered and a nice looking young man in a suit asked if he had woken any babies. I said, “I don’t know yet.” But then I tried to smile and be nice because I could tell he was feeling pretty sheepish. So I stood on the stoop, becoming self conscious about the yard with long enough grass to be a marsh, and the sea of plastic toys around the sidewalk where the nicely dressed smiling man was standing. Then I thought about […]
update: after posting this, it came to my attention that when I changed up the blog, I lost a bunch of folks from my previous blog roll. I don’t know where they went, but hopefully after floating off into cyber-space they’ll join together and return!All that to say that if you notice you disappeared from my blogroll, PLEASE let me know. Or, if you are new to me and would like to be on it, just let me know and I’ll add you!Also, please notice that my blogroll has a little “show all” at the bottom-it only shows the ten most recently updated at a time. So if you don’t see you, click that and you may appear-magically!Well by golly, I’ve received an award! And now I’m ready to pass it on! Thank you, PsychMamma-you’re too kind! And speaking of PsychMamma, she’s another one you should check out. This blog is rated E […]
I think my back might fall off. Have you heard of that happening? I’m quite sure it’s possible. Yesterday Ryan and I took the boys to the tennis courts at the park near our house. Then we played tennis. If you want to call it “playing” tennis. You can if you want. But it was more like playing hit-the-ball-once-and-then-chase-it-because-it-didn’t-go-over-the-net. Or it went to the other court or something. I honestly can’t believe we were both once kind of good at this sport. It’s been over four years since we last played. We could tell in more than one way that it had been far too long:1. See above about the ball.2. We were saying things like, “I can feel my belly jiggle while I run.” 3. We were sweating and panting even though we hardly had to run.4. The lady on the next court over asked if we wanted to switch courts so […]
Here we are, already a week away from the very first Sunday Suck Up. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, I explained last week here. In short (which I’m not very good at), I decided to link to some of my favorite blogs on Sundays, just to give a shout out to some great writers in the blogosphere. Because it’s fun. And like Kelly of orange ya glad i didn’t say jello said last week, I gave her “virtual warm fuzzies” when spotlighting her site. And that my friends, is my goal. I am finding it QUITE difficult to choose. I’m so glad Sundays don’t run out, and come once a week. I will suck up NOW: Superfluous; a little something extraSabrina keeps me feeling hip. Because as she chronicles her daily adventures with hilarity and insight, she throws in a little pop culture here and there, keeping a clueless […]
YES, you are! It’s me, Heather. I’m sitting here trying to do stuff my brain wasn’t intended to do! Work with computer codes and such!Bear with me as I change things around a bit here on da blog. I’m currently freaking out and trying to work out the kinks. Changing your blog is so stressful :) I’ll be sucking up to some of you later this afternoon. Yup that’s right. Second week of “Sunday Suck Ups” is here! Happy Sunday. See you later! Thank you for allowing me to pop up in your inbox and for reading my words, silly or serious. I appreciate you. ~Heather
The boys and I headed over to pick us up some tasty Mexican goodness from Chipotle for lunch today. Ryan is working out of his home office, and at one point he wanted to eat lunch. (I know, so demanding!) I had me a mad craving for the best take-out burrito with lots of guac yumminess. So I took Ryan’s order and off we went. You know what I think Chipotle is missing? A drive-thru. Wouldn’t that just be the best? No unbuckling of the car seats and no, “Miles, stay right here we’re in a parking lot do not move stay by the tire,” would need to be said. No unbuckling of another car seat and lifting of the 20+ pound baby onto the hip, while grabbing a tiny preschool hand and pulling it across the parking lot, hats flying off in the wind. No, with a drive-thru, there would be none […]
The boys and I went to about 576 garage sales today. It was fun. Even if it was hot and we got in and out of the car, me lugging all that boy weight 576 times. It was fun even if Asher pooped at stop number 490, leaving me to change him while he flailed around the cargo area at the back of the car, dropping little poop nuggets on the seat. Still fun. Garage sales make me think positively for some unexplainable reason. But they are kind of weird, if you think about it really hard. People stay up late, putting little prices on things they’ve decided are worth much less than what they paid for them. Then they sit outside and watch people mull over whether or not that very low price is worth the effort. Shoppers saunter around, acting all important, turning their noses up at items and putting them […]
Many of you have heard about Stephanie, blogger at Love for Nie and her husband, Christian. They were in a private plane crash recently, which you can read about here, on Stephanie’s sister’s blog. She is posting updates regularly there. Stephanie and Christian have 4 small children and are both currently in a burn unit, very seriously injured. It will take months to recover. The blogging community is pulling together to donate, assisting the family with medical bills and household expenses as the parents of this beautiful family recover. Here is how you can help:Click on the Nie button on my sidebar to donate.Or,(*Update*)A site has been started to assist in fund-raising and benefits for the NieNie family. It holds a calendar of benefits and provides a way to join in on the “fund-raising fun.” Another lovely site, appropriately named, Nie Recovery. This beautiful family has been on my heart and mind. I […]
A friend (who is similar to me in a million ways) was asked something in regard to parenting and her answer was along the lines of, “yeah, it’s good. I mean…I’m adjusting.” Her oldest is almost five. We had a good laugh over that one, but I feel the same way. I love my family. I wouldn’t change a thing. (Well, okay I’d sleep more if I could change one thing. Oh! And less poop, I’d appreciate less poop.) I admit that at times, I resist the complete sacrifice that is required of a mother, at the same time as I fully love being a mother. Such a strange paradox. A tension. A dichotomy. It’s tiring. It is one of the many things about parenting that there was no way to prepare for. Because of this tension, I wear myself out between acting out of a complete and consuming love for my boys, […]
Did you know that Discover is the card that pays you back? Well, Ryan and I use this card that pays us back and we generally choose our rewards in the form of shopping at Borders. We love us some books and music. Well, anyway. I was on-line yesterday at nap-time, ordering up some free books. I shopped and happily shopped, picking up The Shack, which is all the rage these days, and some kid’s books. I filled out the whole registration form and gift card number and then Asher woke up. So I went to get him and I put him on the floor next to me. I turned to the computer, put my hand on the mouse and prepared to click “place order.” And then the computer screen went blank. Off. Gone. Nada. Zip. Nothing. “What happened?” I said, the light little airy feeling of a book purchase about to be […]
The idea for the following post is stolen from Becky at on top of the world (or at least really far north), a blog I love to read. She interviewed her son, Riley. I decided to do the same with Miles. (Even though I have to embarrass myself to share his responses.) This was so much fun, sitting down with Miles and picking his brain for answers about his mommy, yours truly. If you happen to have a child who happens to be old enough to interview, give it a whirl–so entertaining! 1. What is something your mom always says to you?Miles- Go in a time out! (uuum, that’s really not ALL I ever say…is it?) 2. What makes mom happy?Miles- Cars! 3. What makes mom sad?Miles- Ovens (ha!) 4. How does your mom make you laugh?Miles- You make me bongo (?) 5. What was your mom like as a child?Miles- You were […]
I have wanted to give a whole lot of linky love a whole lot of times. (Dad and um, Grandma, don’t worry. Linky Love is not naughty. It’s basically where I talk up another blogger and then link to their site…)I currently share the linky love sparingly. I say things like, “so and so gave me this great idea on such and such a blog,” but I have never actually devoted a post to giving shout-outs to fellow bloggers. I maybe haven’t devoted posts to passing on links because I fear that my opinion maybe isn’t all that influential and I’m not too sure that I’ll bring anyone too many new readers. (I mean I don’t even know who most of my readers are, which can drive someone a bit batty, but not many people comment, but it’s not like I’m asking for people to delurk, cause whatever, I’m not that curious about […]
The weekend is here. It’s been a hard week. A death in the family, single-parenting with Ryan out of town, Miles being in the terrible three stage, and Asher being in the terrible teething stage. It’s tricky for me to keep my cool with Miles and Asher. The days are long, and I have to admit that I’m not doing that well. I’m losing my cool more than keeping it. But what pulls me through each day are the very people who wear me out so much. Miles is an absolute joy of a person. He is so curious, full of excitement, sensitive and sweet. Asher is an old soul, so interested in people, so willing to snuggle and freely gives a big, “HI!” to anyone who will listen.So when my back aches and screams at me for lifting Asher off the floor, I do it anyway, because there’s just something about the […]
One word. Pandora. Have you heard? Are you addicted? Am I the last person on the face of the earth to use Pandora to keep my sanity, playing my tunes in the background, the soundtrack of my daily life? In case I’m not the last person to ever hear about this, the short explanation is that you put in a favorite artist or song and the site magically creates an entire “station” of music similar to the artist/song you prefer!!! How cool is that? And you can make as many stations as you want! I’m obsessed! It’s free and SO easy to use. Even for me. I need to go listen to my Sara Groves station now. So much fun. Music rocks the party. Go check out Pandora! (Oh, how I wish I were getting paid for these plugs.) Thank you for allowing me to pop up in your inbox and for reading […]
So I have a confession to make. It’s really kind of silly. Ready? My kids have never had an actual babysitter (like a teen) for more than one hour, where I ran to get groceries or something and rushed back. (I am now refraining from going on and on explaining why. There are reasons. Really, really good reasons. Like how I’m a bit of a control freak and borderline neurotic. But I’m trying not to be an approval seeker so I’m not going to explain. Except for to say that Asher has been quite a difficult baby, but I didn’t just say that. Because I don’t need to explain. Because I love Asher very much and don’t want to sound negative about HIM. Not that I care if you thought I was being negative…And I’m not explaining because it doesn’t matter what people think. Unless you’re a control freak, trying to pretend to […]
I’ve bumped into a few blog posts today (pun intended) about tripping, falling off of things, basically making a fool of yourself in one way or another. That sort of thing. I LOVE these posts. I love to imagine the antics of another human being, flailing around and making a fool of themselves. Maybe that’s a bit mean. But I can’t help it. There is no better way to make me giggle until I can’t stop than to walk next to me, catch your toe on a tiny bump on the ground and do one of those sudden attempts to prevent hitting your face on the pavement. Oh, I’m laughing right now just thinking of it. I can’t stop. I’m picturing you tripping and it’s super funny. Hold on a second…. Thanks. Sorry. Oh wait, just another second (imagine me here with finger held up, my hand covering my mouth to prevent you […]
This morning after I put Asher down for a nap, I started to clean up the house. I put the dishes in the dishwasher and started a load of laundry. I picked up some handfuls of miscellaneous junk and put it away. I was walking back from putting some things away in my room and looked up to see Miles coming toward me with a curious little expression on his face. He said, “Mommy, who’s coming over?” I answered that I didn’t know if anyone was coming over today. He said, “Yes. Someone must be coming over.” My parents came over on Sunday. Not long after my dad sat down at the table, Miles stood in front of him, staring up with those big eyes. (Please note that I was standing in the same room and so was Ryan.) He said, pretty much out of the blue, “Um, Spongebob…um.. Yeah, Spongebob, I watched […]
I cannot write a real post. I have tried several times today and found that poop or crying has taken over. Or visits from friends and family (love that) have distracted me. Ah, foiled again. I sit down at the computer with ideas in mind and then….BOOM!….WAAAA!….or knock, knock….or ring ring ring…..or “PEW, what the H is that smell?”….Now. I sit here perplexed, having no idea what kind of lovely ideas I’ve had for posts all day–and there have been a whole lot of WONDERFUL ideas mind you! Well, maybe not…Now my mind is blank, distracted by the distant calls from the bedroom of “MOOOORE WAAAATER, MOMMY!!!!” I guess when life gets a bit nutty I’m not too good at getting organized and focused. Well okay, FINE, I’m never really all that good at getting organized and focused, especially when life is nutty. I feel all out of sorts and distant. So for […]
Yesterday I had lunch with a friend. We met at noon and it was almost 3:00pm before we knew it. We laughed and joked and wavered between silly stories and serious heart to hearts. This is a new friendship, but meeting this new friend has been an immediate blessing to my life. We can talk like we’ve known each other for a very long time. I absolutely love that. We got into a conversation about the stress and strain of life. How it never seems to get easier. My friend admitted feeling angry about that. Confused. Frustrated. Wanting more answers. I felt like what she was asking me was, “where is God?” Because even if you’re a person who looks on the bright side, in awe of the good things in life, there is still that question that arises when things are hard. Or when it seems the “Big Guy Upstairs” has gone […]
Such nice people over there at Five Minutes for Mom, boosting my mommy blogging ego. So maybe I’m not actually famous, but we can all pretend for a moment, right? Update: I’m so honored. More “5 Minute” love came my way from Kelly, writer at Love Well and Five Minutes for Parenting. Kelly mentioned my post The Wall on this week’s “You Moved Us.” Thank you, Kelly! Thank you for allowing me to pop up in your inbox and for reading my words, silly or serious. I appreciate you. ~Heather
Me- “What do you think I should do as a mommy? Is there something you’d like me to be doing?” Miles- “You should be a daddy.” Me- “Well, I can’t really be a daddy cause I’m a lady, so I guess I need to stay being a mommy.” Miles- “You should decide which mommy to be then.” I’ve mentioned before that I love the site Mama Manifesto. I love to read and get ideas, share myself and feel encouraged there. A recent post really challenged me and reminded me that I need to try to stay focused on “which mommy I want to be…” My “Mama Manifesto,” (in short, basically goals I have as a mother) is quite long and involved, making me feel a bit overwhelmed. (Much of it can be found in my post from many moons ago, Ambition.) I have this picture in my mind of the mom I want […]
In today’s bloggy news… A post of mine is featured on Bloggers Annex today. Checking out this new site will not disappoint. It’s a great way to find the best kind of bloggy goodness. In short, the Annex allows bloggers to join and then submit their posts to be featured, one new post per day. The posts that have been featured on the Annex are quite impressive. (I suppose that means I think mine is impressive. Which isn’t what I mean, but I guess I’ll have to sound conceited if I’m going to rave about the Annex.) Just go check it out if you haven’t already, okay? And join. And submit posts. It’s fun. Thank you and good day! Thank you for allowing me to pop up in your inbox and for reading my words, silly or serious. I appreciate you. ~Heather
I rarely watch television. Even the nightly news. I have no idea what’s going on in the media world most of the time. Even so, every once and awhile I notice a fellow blogger mentioning “So You Think You Can Dance?” The particular blogs I read only mention this show and “The Office.” (The world seems to stop for “The Office.”)Tonight I turned on the TV for the first time in a long time. (I have to say it felt like meeting up with a really cool old friend for coffee–pushing that button on the remote and starting to surf). I came across “So You Think You Can Dance,” and I watched as two people ripped up the stage. Then I felt it. The uncontrollable desire to get up and smack my feet against the floor. No shame. Just the need to throw myself around the room a bit. No matter how uncoordinated […]
Last night was our annual block party for National Night Out. As you can see, things didn’t turn out so great for Uncle Kevin: And then there was Miles. He got all hopped up on ice cream and had one too many tantrums. The po po hauled him off to sugar de–tox. He’s back today and we’re happy to report that he seems to have learned his lesson: Isn’t that a terrifying photo? For a mom? C’mon!Miles actually did LOVE the police car, despite the fear in his eyes. (Every year the police/firemen stop by the block party and wow the kids with their vehicles.) Asher and Miles thought they were in heaven. No tantrums actually occurred, but there was a sugar high that lasted past 10pm. Today has been a day of recuperating for the over-tired grumps. But it was worth it: Thank you for allowing me to pop up in your […]
