Made me LOLz

Enter the ICHC online Poker Cats Contest!

You go, Cat. Yes, we can.

A week of temporary single motherhood

Hubster has been called upon to serve a tour of duty in Westmont, NJ for work, lasting a week. (This is in the part of New Jersey that wants to be Philadelphia. There are three parts of New Jersey. The part that wants to be Philly, the part that is AC, and the part that wants to be New York.) He departed yesterday morning and will be gone until Wednesday night.

Can I just tell you, that being a single mom SUCKS? Thank God I don't have to work a real paying job like real life single moms do. I couldn't hack it. Phat mad props to the real single moms out there, you ladies are amazing. That being said, I will now commence to whine and moan about my week thus far.

Jackson is an 11 am pooper. Once a day, around 11, he becomes Captain Stinky McPoopypants. Like clockwork. No big deal. It's reliable, I kind of like it. I know that with his 2nd diaper change, I put a flushable liner in his diaper and that helps me wrangle the turds that will soon appear. This is true for every single day, except yesterday. Yesterday there was an 11 am poop. And a 2 pm poop. And then, for good measure, a 8 pm poop. You know, just because he wasn't sure if I had seen enough baby poop that day. Needless to say, I was not pleased.

And then there's the talking and explaining. He asks me, "Durka durka la Dada?" and I know he is asking where his father is. I try to explain that Daddy had to take a trip and he will be back in seven sleeps. As you may guess, this is a difficult concept for a 17 month old to grasp (this is when we all together gasp and say, "Holy cow, he's almost a year and a half already????!!!!!!).

Besides helping out with Jackson when I need to go to the bathroom, cook dinner or do the dishes, Daddy fulfills many other important roles. For example, some nights Jackson wants to snuggle in Mommy's chest pillows to fall asleep, and sometimes he wants to snuggle into Daddy's fur. Daddy is the official purveyor of fine bathing expeditions in our house. Tim chose bathtime as his part of our bedtime routine back about 13 months ago (when we started having a bedtime routine). He has mastered the delicate balance of bubble bath to water ratio, knows which duckies are the preferred ones and has really polished his Bathketball 3 point shot to perfection. Dada is also in charge of all shoulder rides/swinging around/swinging upside down/swinging the baby in the air and give Mommy a heart attack maneuvers. I don't do upside down. Just...no. I wear him on my back and that's about it. He's 30 pounds. There is no indoor gymnastics going on here.

So...how will this week end? Will Mommy keep her sanity? Will the dishes ever get done? Who will take the trash out next Tuesday night? Can Jackson survive an entire week without being tossed into the air or going on a shoulder ride? Will Mommy suck at Bathketball, or will it be nothing but net? To find out all this and more, stay tuned...

You say it's your birthday...

Celebrating You

for Jaylo.

I remember way back when,
About 4 years ago
I was trying to escape Chicago for LA
But was delayed for snow.

Stuck in O'Hare with a carry on and a phone
We talked for hours while my plane was delayed
Conversation came so easily
I almost wished I could have stayed.

A week later we met for dinner
Over sub-par mole, tequila and lime
You captured a piece of my heart *
My spirit woke up for the very first time.

I drove home feeling like I could fly,
All of a sudden life was fresh and new
You always draw out the best parts of me
So today I celebrate you.

You gave me permission
To reach for what I wanted
To demand better
To dream bigger than I ever had before.

You made me believe
That I was beautiful
That I was brilliant
That I was amazing and that I deserved more.

You let me cut loose in every way,
We did the Momo and drove the bus
I love that these words mean nothing
To anybody but us.

As I grew, I changed directions
I know that today isn't at all what we planned,
You're across the country and
I'm blissful with another man.

Yet you are the one who made me believe
That all my dreams can come true
And since today is the day you were born,
Today I celebrate you.

* this is some prime, high-end real estate, Pal. And once you become tenant, that studio apartment is yours for life. You can never be evicted. Happy Birthday. May this year be your best ever. I wish you every happiness life has to offer - you deserve it!

The Obamamobile is ready to rock and roll!

I got Tim's permission for not only one, but TWO stickers and he even helped put them on!

I took some cell phone pics this morning of our Obamamobile:

Si se puede

I'm pretty sure everyone in the world has seen this by now, but in case you haven't - or in case you'd like to see it again, here is will.i.am's "Yes We Can" Obama Video.

If this doesn't inspire you, the part of your heart where Patriotism used to reside is dead.





It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.

Yes we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.

Yes we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.

Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality.

Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.

Yes we can heal this nation.

Yes we can repair this world.

Yes we can.

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics...they will only grow louder and more dissonant. We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.

Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea --

Yes. We. Can.

Hitchin' up the buggy, churnin' lots of butter, raised a barn on Monday, soon I'll raise anotha

This Friday we packed up the whole family (puppies included) and trekked out to Amish Country, Indiana. We stayed in a pet-friendly hotel in Shipshewana and had a lovely weekend of relaxing and doing...really, nothing. Which is the beauty of vacation to Amishland, there is nothing to do there, nowhere you have to be, no schedules, no rush...you just b-r-e-a-t-h-e and be still. You can open your windows at night and hear the clip-clop of horse drawn buggies traveling down the road, as you sit and read or knit or sip cocoa and just CHILL.

Amishland is my Happy Place. The pace is slow and easy, the people are genuine, the food is amazing. There is homemade noodles, like you've never had anywhere before and this peanut butter spread that I'm sure my endocrinologist wouldn't be too pleased to hear I had and the PIE. Oh, the pie. More pies than Bakers Square, all homemade and wonderful. There's lots of great shopping to be had, lots of artisan shops and of course beautiful quilts.

And there are farms. Miles and miles of farms. So naturally, I thought we're going to Amishland, surely I would be able to find some Amish milk while we're out there. We buy Jackson Amish non-homogenized organic whole milk. Lots of reasons, but he prefers it so much now and it's not that much more expensive than Horizon Organics or Organic Valley (the factory farms of organic dairy - don't get me started!) We went to every store in Amishland in our quest for Moose's milkies. None. Not even any organic milk to be had! We ended up having to drive over 1/2 hour away into "town" to a health food store, where we bought the same brand of milk we buy here at Whole Foods. It's from the Kalona Amish Farms in Kalona, Iowa. I was pretty irritated that I couldn't find any good milk! I was ready to walk up to an Amish house & knock and ask if I could have some milk. I only needed about a quart, sheesh. Such milk drama!

The Girls did great on their trip out there and back. They napped in the back of the Jeep, and we timed our travel to coincide with Moose's naptime so he snoozed too. We drove out on Friday, enjoyed a fab Amish dinner at Das Dutchman Essenhaus Friday night, spent Saturday shopping for handcrafted wooden toys, organic pastured humanely raised and euthanized Amish meat and other Amish yummies, and went into "town" for milk and dinner. Sunday, everything is pretty much closed so we drove into the "town" that was the other direction because they have a Sonic there. You know I had to get my cheese tots and cream slush on, yo. Then today we took a leisurely pace returning home, stopping to rescue a lost dog on the way home. We had Chiropractor appointments this afternoon, then we went to do a little grocery shopping and we're all back home now, well adjusted all around.

Last night I snapped a few camera phone pics of Jackson after he fell asleep. I call this one, "Surrender to Slumber"



And here he is from another angle. So tiny, precious and sweet! I just want to eat him up! But that would be mean.

Apparently, he has things to say...

I love this photo that Carrie took at one of our playgroups. Check out the Donald Trump combover...is he telling me I'm fired? :)

Put a fork in her, she's done!

SWEEP SWEEP SWEEP SWEEP! Chanting this takes me back to state competition in high school. We knew how to clean up the 1st place awards.

But I digress...The Big O swept all the states in primaries/caucuses today, by very decent margins. Recent polls show that Obama is the most viable candidate in a face off with McCain (no big shocker there!).

Just in time for...nothing - our Obama for President yard sign arrived in the mail yesterday. Thanks! Backorders suck. A major triumph - Hubster is going to let me put an Obama bumper sticker on the Jeep! You must understand, the Jeep is his Golden Calf and the only sticker on it is the one required by the state. Car sticker permission is HUGE! I "said" we could remove it with Goo Gone after the election, but I really have no intention of doing so. (Shh!)

We had a lovely, quiet family day around the house today. Everybody got a really nice afternoon nap in too. And...life is good. :)

It's A Beautiful Day...

What a SUPER Super Tuesday it was for us. Even in the states that Hillary took, it wasn't by a large margin. More states chose change.