Soon I will say goodbye to 2006. Ok. Really, I said goodbye about a month ago and I've just been checking off days until it was official. I've never been in this place before and it's strange.
I'm so relieved the year is over. I find myself turning the pages and reading ahead the hopes of the new year for fun. It's a bit abstract of course. Alright. My brain is broken and so it's very abstract. Mostly, I think about bike riding, story telling and jumping on imaginary lilly pads as I smile. I think about arts and crafts and singing. I think about how I'm going to grow down a little more.
It's going to be a good year. And if things get rough, I'm going to smile and say I know the sun is shining up ahead.
What about you? What does the year hold for you?
Happy New Year!
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas from the land of sun and snoap. I hope this finds you enjoying the best of this year and planning for joy in the next.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Penelope
We played a great game today. Penelope and Mrs. Picklebottom. Penelope smacks her lips, speaks in an abrasive whine (maybe a bit of Jersey in her) and Mrs. Picklebottom must reign her in. I love being Penelope!
My daughter is not sure what to think. She tried to explain to me that picking everything up in the store and putting things like greeting cards on my head was not the thing to do. She also said Penelope wasn't supposed to do the wiggle her bottom dance in the aisle while holding cards on her head. I feel bad for Penelope. Mrs. Picklebottom doesn't even want her to scratch the inside of her nose. How else is Penelope going to make it stop itching??!!
I think Penelope is going to go out with us more often because it was the easiest round of errands we've ever had. And now, my princess, who never sleeps, is sleeping. Which is good. She was up at 4 this morning.
Hopefully, she and Mrs. Picklebottom will wake up refreshed and ready for Penelope's antics. If not, I will have had enough of a break that I will be ready to play birthday party again.
My daughter is not sure what to think. She tried to explain to me that picking everything up in the store and putting things like greeting cards on my head was not the thing to do. She also said Penelope wasn't supposed to do the wiggle her bottom dance in the aisle while holding cards on her head. I feel bad for Penelope. Mrs. Picklebottom doesn't even want her to scratch the inside of her nose. How else is Penelope going to make it stop itching??!!
I think Penelope is going to go out with us more often because it was the easiest round of errands we've ever had. And now, my princess, who never sleeps, is sleeping. Which is good. She was up at 4 this morning.
Hopefully, she and Mrs. Picklebottom will wake up refreshed and ready for Penelope's antics. If not, I will have had enough of a break that I will be ready to play birthday party again.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Catching up
I would start at the beginning. Julie Andrews said it was a good place to start. however, I can't remember when and where that was.
We are in Bloomington, IL again. Russell's contract here will be done at the end of the year. So this was a good time to come visit and do all of the things we enjoyed doing while here. I hope to come back some day, perhaps I can lure my family here with promises of Chicago. However, we are recovering from a snowstorm so now is probably not the time to start campaigning :)
The children are growing, as they tend to do. My daughter is learning to read. This is so exciting for her parents. She enjoys seeing our enthusiasm. She says I can do my happy dance anywhere I want. Our son is finally spouting a few words regularly. He has his favorites. He'll go to great lengths to find the sports pages in the paper so that he can look at it and say "ball." Ducks and dogs also make it to the top ten list. He's got some misc other words in there, but he is not the talker his sister was. Of course, it could be that we aren't the parents we were back then either. I seem to have lost my place in the Mommy wars and that's ok. It's much less work to be genuinely happy for other people's prodigies than worry about where mine are. They are here and they are beautiful.
But still, I had no clue how powerful mother guilt could be when I was younger! I could not have imagined this tendency to second guess so much. Even when I know the sane path. Sometimes I wonder if I am too strict on some things. My daughter will tell me, "this is part of growing up" in the middle of some tantrum or misadventure.
I will say "not here it isn't' or " I don't want to grow a grown up who does such and such" Luckily these things do not happen too much. And sometimes, she's probably right. And so I tell her so sometimes and we start over, with the understanding it will not occur again. If we are lucky, it doesn't. We are all learning.
In any event, we are all well. We fought a brave and victorious battle against some vile cold recently. We were probably due for some such thing, but we were sick for almost two weeks. I was so glad to finally be myself again. Russell was so glad when I was finally myself again.
Now the holidays are here and I flow between the joy of them and the sadness of all that has happened. I try to remember that that is the choice every person makes on any given day. But it's hard. And last night, when I woke yet again in the night from my wild dreams, I had another talk with God.
So much is really good for us. And exciting. I am tired though. Very, very tired. I try to remember though, that I can choose to be sunshine girl. Most of the time it helps.
We are in Bloomington, IL again. Russell's contract here will be done at the end of the year. So this was a good time to come visit and do all of the things we enjoyed doing while here. I hope to come back some day, perhaps I can lure my family here with promises of Chicago. However, we are recovering from a snowstorm so now is probably not the time to start campaigning :)
The children are growing, as they tend to do. My daughter is learning to read. This is so exciting for her parents. She enjoys seeing our enthusiasm. She says I can do my happy dance anywhere I want. Our son is finally spouting a few words regularly. He has his favorites. He'll go to great lengths to find the sports pages in the paper so that he can look at it and say "ball." Ducks and dogs also make it to the top ten list. He's got some misc other words in there, but he is not the talker his sister was. Of course, it could be that we aren't the parents we were back then either. I seem to have lost my place in the Mommy wars and that's ok. It's much less work to be genuinely happy for other people's prodigies than worry about where mine are. They are here and they are beautiful.
But still, I had no clue how powerful mother guilt could be when I was younger! I could not have imagined this tendency to second guess so much. Even when I know the sane path. Sometimes I wonder if I am too strict on some things. My daughter will tell me, "this is part of growing up" in the middle of some tantrum or misadventure.
I will say "not here it isn't' or " I don't want to grow a grown up who does such and such" Luckily these things do not happen too much. And sometimes, she's probably right. And so I tell her so sometimes and we start over, with the understanding it will not occur again. If we are lucky, it doesn't. We are all learning.
In any event, we are all well. We fought a brave and victorious battle against some vile cold recently. We were probably due for some such thing, but we were sick for almost two weeks. I was so glad to finally be myself again. Russell was so glad when I was finally myself again.
Now the holidays are here and I flow between the joy of them and the sadness of all that has happened. I try to remember that that is the choice every person makes on any given day. But it's hard. And last night, when I woke yet again in the night from my wild dreams, I had another talk with God.
So much is really good for us. And exciting. I am tired though. Very, very tired. I try to remember though, that I can choose to be sunshine girl. Most of the time it helps.
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