11.30 Victory!

So on this eve, the last of NaBloPoMo, what do I want to post? I have been pretty negative lately and quite trite too. Since I am watching the Vikings/Bears game I might be doing the same again...

Something that has been percolating in my brain the last couple of days has been the end of the world. Do you ever wonder if all this shit going down across the globe is the beginning of the end? Negative again, I know. But, let me set this up. 

I picked up Terry Brook's Shannara series the other night. I thought I had read the whole series before but either it has been too long or I forgot it all after reading Tolkien and Eddings. (I think I actually read all three of these around the same time, it's no wonder I can't remember. ) 

All of these stories carry the same theme, good vs. evil and races that fight to death. Some races are nearly extinguished and in Brooks' version, much like King's Gunslinger series, "the world has moved on". In Brooks' version Man nearly destroyed itself by trying to gain too much power. In all of the series, including King's, man's greed and need for control leads to the end of the world as we know it. 

When I think about the war of the races, Brooks refers to in the Shannara series, I simply replace the 'races' he lists with the religions and races on our globe. What we are witnessing in our world the last several years, could be the beginning of the 'Great War' or the First War of the Races. I just keep thinking that the stuff in Mumbai and across the globe could signify the beginning of the end. Morbid, I know. 

I think my mind is here because I was reading the paper on Friday, feeling helpless. I picked up the first in Brooks' series and the similarities couldn't be missed. Then the hubby and SD brought home Hellboy II last night, and that's more of the same. 

Ok, I'm rambling. I'm off to do something mindless and watch the Vikes. 

11.29 Mushrooms & olives

Little Missy put down some pizza at dinner tonite, cheese with mushrooms and black olives. She ate it like a champ and still put down her peas. I didn't find anything saying mushrooms or black olives needed to be avoided, but I'll be keeping an extra eye on her, nevertheless. It's somewhat hard as she has had eczema since an early age.

Today was a fairly quiet day, I'm battling yet another cold. Hmph. I'd hate to see how sick I was if Little Missy was in daycare. Apparently, I'm the one bringing home the crap.

11.28 Black Friday

Having worked retail for too many years, I avoid any sort of store or mall location on this day. I'm afraid something like this will happen to me. 

And I have to admit, I only read part of the paper this morning. This stuff that is happening in Mumbai.... I just can't fathom being in that situation. It's just sad. So very sad. 

11.27 Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving!

11.26 Mmmm pumpkiny goodness

I whipped up a couple loaves of pumpkin chocolate chip bread. My sister and I got this recipe from a magazine my grandmother used to give us. It is super delish and because of the amount of pumpkin used I have to make four loaves (that's my rationalization).

I have been using one of those stone dishes and I have finally decided to chuck the thing. The last three loaves I have made recently haven't been cooked through. My teflon version doesn't have this problem. Last night I experimented by making a bigger loaf, I knew I would need to bake it longer because of the extra dough, but I had to pull it out before the sides and bottom burned to a crisp. When I turned it over the middle fell out and looked like gooey mess.

I thought these stone babies were supposed to be the best thing ever. I've had nothing but problems. If anyone has any suggestions other than tossing it, or maybe turning it into a pot for plants, let me know.

11.25 4 hours

No, that's not how long it took me to run the race. That pain ended in 31:22. Too slow in my book, but it was cold and there were hills, damn it. My friend who I ran with last night felt like it might have been a bit longer than 5k, too. We're going to snag a fellow runner pal and run the course with her GPS watch. We'll get to the bottom of this!

That's the amount of sleep I got last night. This insomnia is getting worse. I woke up somewhere around 1am and went downstairs to see what my hubby was doing as I couldn't sleep. Nothing helps. I went to the couch. I sat in child's pose downstairs. I tried to go to my calm place. Nothing. I think I finally fell asleep somewhere around 5am with my earplugs in and my head under the pillow. This is getting out of hand.

In the past, this has occurred when I have been a) extremely stressed about work/life or b) bored out of my damn mind. I'm not stressed (other than not sleeping) so I am leaning towards 'b'. I'm bored. My job is boring. My life is a pattern of the same thing over and over and over. I'm stuck in a rut.

How can you be in a rut with a toddler, you ask? Aren't things always changing? Yes and no. Yes, she is starting to communicate better and getting into more things but it's always the same routine when I get home from work. Eat, play with her by myself, put her to bed, watch TV, go to sleep, wake up in the middle of the freaking night. Oh, bath night is in there once in awhile.

The real boredom is at work. I am so freaking bored. I find my ability to stay focused severely limited. I am no longer excited about this job or the material. And I am sick of my work being torn apart, rewritten and commented on again and again when it has been published. Sensitive, you say? Maybe a little, but I will say it again. My job is to translate legal jargon into 'normal person' speak. When you red line and rewrite it, why should I bother even trying to put something together in the first place. Just write the thing yourself.

I know I should be thankful. For my family, having a job in this economy and for my health. I feel guilty being upset about the boredom of my life but can't seem to get myself to snap out of this. The kicker is that actually sleeping would likely make me a happier person who wouldn't dwell on this crap.

I'm rambling this morning. This is one of those instances where I should listen to the saying, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all".

11.24 Off to the races

I'm off to freeze my hiney off running in the cold. At least it warmed up more than I expected. I have a scarf, gloves, hat and layers. I'm not looking forward to this. Thought I should get this out there before I come home and drink oodles of hot cocoa.

11.23 The Waiting is Killing Me

I caved and upgraded my camera body and bought a new lens. I've been thinking about this for several months and simply have had a hard time swallowing the change required to make this purchase. It is, however, quite overdue. And a local retailer (not a big box) had a sale on the lens I wanted, beginning today, so I raced there to make it before closing. When I walked in I didn't even hesitate. I knew if I said, "Well, I'm thinking about a...", I would have walked out empty handed. I am now a proud owner of a new camera that should help my business, if at least my confidence as a photographer. Can't wait to shoot a fantastic wedding in Duluth this coming spring (hi Michelle!) with this new equipment.

So, why the heck are you blogging, you ask? Besides having to meet the NaBloPoMo commitment, I have to wait for the battery to charge. I should have plugged it in when I got home from the store but I didn't and it takes 2.75 hours for it to fully charge. Dang it. I tried my other batteries thinking the chargers are the same... no luck. Doesn't fit. Urgh.

Tomorrow, after I run that stupid race, you know where to find me. Tee hee!

11.22 Cursed Iowa

What a drag. We went to the Gopher game tonight. Left at the beginning of the 4th Q b/c it was 55-0. That's right folks.... 55-donut. What a freaking sad state of Gopher affairs. How fitting this is the last game in the dome. Here's hoping that next year, playing outside, back on campus, brings us some good juju. We need it.

11.21 Because I am a shameless promoter of family

Please check out my cousin in his latest commercial here.

I'm hoping by the time Little Missy is watching TV he will be another famous Jim McMahon!

11.20 In-freakin-somnia sucks

Working on roughly 4 hours of sleep, not tied to the babe. Don't have a clue what is causing this latest rash of sleeplessness. I haven't slept through the night in over a week. I've got to figure this out since I swear, every night I don't sleep I shave another year off my life.

So, shifting gears to the positive, maybe that will help. Little Missy (I'm changing her referral via the blog again just to spice things up - and those loving alliteration will catch my drift) is finally starting to say more things that sound like words. We finally got her to use the word buba for bubbles. We like to blow bubbles in the house while daddy is making dinner, keeps us occupied and allows me the chance to deflate after work. For many months now Little Missy has been grunting and we've been encouraging her to open her mouth to make sounds. The last couple of days she has been doing that more and more. And things sound more like words. I can almost hear the nuance between nana for banana and nana for grandma. Maybe it's just wishful thinking.

She painted a picture at ECFE yesterday with a feather. Dad said that she broke free from her fear of being without him for the first time yesterday and didn't cling to him during class. It only took 2 months for her to get used to the environment.

11.19 Beep! Beep!

Heads up drivers on the east side! My SD got her permit last night. After completing the first round of driver's ed she headed to the DMV with her dad yesterday afternoon. Another teenager on the roads.

Seriously, remember how excited we all were when we finally got our permit? Ahh...those were the days. Now I just get in and don't think about it. Which is why sometimes I drive to work before I realize meant to go north instead of south.

Her dad took her out last night for her first behind-the-wheel action. They headed to two school parking lots near our house. Nice, empty spaces. She said she was nervous, but her dad said she did well for her first time out.

He noted some interesting things:

• i keep my radio way too loud (actually, this was my observation when they left the house - it sure doesn't seem that loud when i am in the car)
• he couldn't remember the last time she had been in the driver's seat. Maybe on his lap when she was three.
• it wasn't automatic for her to adjust the mirrors and seat before hitting the gas
• parking is a breeze when there are not other cars around

I just realized that both of us drive automatics (as does her mom and step-dad). We're going to need to find someone who has a stick shift. I learned on a stick and feel that it is important that kids know how to drive both. You never know when your college roommate is going to need to be rushed to urgent care and the only car in the driveway is a stick.

11.18 Brrr....

Yikes. It was a whopping 20' when I awoke this morning. I'm simply not ready for this.

I could be overreacting since I went for a run last night after work to help prepare my lungs, muscles and mind for next week's race. What the hell was I thinking signing up for a race at 5pm at the end of November. I hope there are a lot of people signed up and we run in a pack to keep each other warm.

It wasn't that bad, really. Once I got going and if I was running out of the wind. I did scare the bejesus out of myself running at dusk. I'm not sure if it is due to my lasik or if I would have the same issues wearing contacts but my vision at dusk sucks. My path takes me along a swampy area over a boardwalk that is often traveled by deer and other animals. I only had my hubby's book reading light with me (so I could shine it at other cars - not to help me navigate) so in the waning daylight I kept 'seeing' things that weren't there. Of course, when I came upon a person walking their two dogs along another dark part of the path, I nearly ran into him (he was not wearing white!!). I saw his little white dog just in time and veered around.

Needless to say I will be bringing a stronger flashlight with me next time.

11.17 It's a Monday

I spent nearly 30 minutes on hold waiting for IT to answer my call since I was locked out of my computer. Appears the safety boot system they had installed is backfiring and they need to remove it from over thousands of employees laptops. Hmph.



Does your heart break when you hear your child cry? I noticed this the other night while I was drifting off to sleep (or in and out, who knows). Ms. C cried out in her sleep and my heart broke. I felt some sort of pain there, it's hard to explain and I find it happens the most when I can't see what is causing her to cry. She'll cry out when she sleeps every once in a while, she isn't really awake and typically puts herself back to sleep without issue, but it still makes my heart hurt to hear her little cry. Is it fear? Is she stuck? What should I be doing to help her.

This has to be an ingrained mommy gene that no one told me about. Is this where the super human strength comes from when something happens to one's child?

11.16 Nap Schedule

Ms. C has never really gotten into a nap schedule. This makes life somewhat hard since we can't really get into a rhythm and never know if we are going to have a sleepy baby at a certain point in the day or a cranky one because she won't nap. 

I took her to church this morning and thought we could make it back home, but no, she fell asleep in the car for a whopping 10 minutes. So, her dad just tried to put her down 20 minutes ago and I am listening to her babble through the monitor. Two more minutes and I'm going upstairs to get her. Now it's a crapshoot as to when she will go down again. 

I've read tricks and am reading the Toddler Whisperer but none of those work. She will sleep when she wants to, no matter what we do. 

11.15 Addicted to Word Twist

I think I am truly addicted to Word Twist. Darn facebook. I could play this all day long and never get anything done. It's down for maintenance right now and I think I have the shakes. 

The hubby and I headed to a dinner party last night and stayed out far too late (anything after 10am is late to me, these days). It was a good time and the wine didn't kick my butt too bad. I attribute this to our choice of food - pasta, bread and two desserts. Enough food in one's belly helps suck up all the alcohol.

In other news, I've got nothing. The Gophers play the Badgers this afternoon and I'm hoping to plant myself in front of the TV. I somehow have to convince Ms. C that she wants to play downstairs for 3 or so hours. I used to be able to use the cat but Tabby has gotten quite smart and escapes to the laundry room when she hears us coming. Poor kitty. Ms. C loves her so much but can't or doesn't understand how to pet her nicely. We're lucky she's a good cat and doesn't bite. Someday, I imagine these two will be inseparable. 

11.14 Burning in the fiery pits

I'm going to burn in hell, according to this man. Well, at least now I know what is going to happen to me when I die, because I haven't seen the inside of a confessional since I was a teenager.

As a Catholic, my soul has been on the cusp of heading to hell for quite some time. Heavens, the least of which are the use birth control and supporting pro-choice. I'm really going to be damned since I also support gay marriage and don't fully understand why the Vatican won't get out of it's old-boys-club thought process and actually let the women in the church be a bigger part of the process. Can't quite wrap my head around how we hold Mary in a higher position and regard than other religions, yet we won't led a woman lead a church. WTF? Oh... and my swearing. That's another thing. Not even to mention activities in my youth (no comments from the peanut gallery, please, my hubby knows this blog exists).

Well... I might as well just give up and forget my vows and start some torrid affair, screw volunteering as much as I do, stop giving money to the church, forget supporting social justice, etc. 'Cuz apparently none of that means diddly to God. At least according to this man.

FYI - the seats last night were freaking awesome. 13th row behind the Wild goal for 2 periods. Good times. Good times.

11.13 Going to a fight...er, hockey tonight!

Whoo-hoo, I'm getting jazzed. My pops called last night and has tix to the Wild game tonight. I'm heading to the hockey game with my pops!

I remember the first professional hockey game I went to (which was with my dad). We took a bus from Austin to Bloomington as it was back in either 1990 or 1991 and the North Stars played the Blackhawks. Hockey fans out there know that the rivalry between these two teams was intense. It truly was a fight where a hockey game broke out.

Along the years, my pops and I have attended a handful of Gopher hockey games together, but we haven't been to a professional hockey game together in nearly 15 years. Go Wild!

11.12 I'm gonna race

Yesterday I signed up for my first race in 2 years. It's the 24th of this month but it's only a 5k so I think I should be able to handle it. I'm running with a friend from work and the race starts from our main campus. Nothing like leaving for a race from work.

However, it snowed last night and I'm not the best cold weather runner. At least I'll get a beanie hat and a shirt out of the deal.

Wish me luck!

FYI, my arm hurt from my flu shot last night and I couldn't sleep on my left side (boo hoo, I know). It's been forever since I had a shot and didn't expect I'd be this much of a wuss. Still hurt a bit today.

11.11 My first shot

I received my first flu shot ever this morning. My company supplies them on a first come first served basis at no cost. I stood in line for roughly 20 minutes and was out the door (with a warning from the person shooting me to pay attention for itchiness and scratchy throat). How very nice to not have to go anywhere else to obtain this shot. BTW, no allergic reactions on my part.

Why do it now? Because I have a wee tot at home who cannot get a flu shot due to her age (and probably weight). She's not in daycare and since her dad doesn't work out of the house, I am the most likely culprit to bring home the nasty bug.

I am sitting at my desk looking out the window watching the snow flakes fall. We'll see if we have an accumulation today, I hear there might actually be snow on the ground come 5pm. These are the days when I appreciate having my whopping 3 mile commute. (Well honestly, I appreciate that short commute every day!). I'm not ready for the snow and cold. Hmph.

Happy Veteran's Day

Thank you to all who have served this country!!!

11.10 (2) Irish Eyes are Smiling

Ok. I'm a little slow and didn't find this until today. Maybe the luck of the Irish helped a wee bit.

11.10 Football

There was a football game on yesterday?

Just kidding. But between my niece's baptism, the celebration after, watching Ms. C play with the matchbox cars and eating, I saw maybe 2 minutes of the game. Right when Chili makes the great decision to go for it on 4th & 1 at the 40. WTF? We got lucky and pulled out the win, I hear.

I used to plant my ass on the couch every Sunday (and most Saturdays when the Gophers are actually on TV) but this year has changed everything. Since I don't spend that much time with my daughter during the week, weekends are our time together. This has resulted in a serious lack of football watching on my part. Get TIVO or DVR the games you suggest. Right. I'm saving that $$$ for Ms. C's college education.

Anyway, it's only football and I will be heading to the last Gopher game of the season with my family in a couple of weeks so I'll get a fix. And they better win damn it. What the heck (as my nephew says) happened to them against Michigan? I mean, we're talking about Michigan 2-7 Michigan folks, not last year's Michigan. It's disappointing. Our last game is against Iowa. It's a complete toss up, considering they beat freaking Penn State on Saturday. Seriously, what the heck is going on in the Big 10? Craziness.

11.9 Cars, hammers and wrenches

These are my daughter's favorite toys. We returned from her cousins baptism to my sister's house and the first thing my daughter chooses to play with are her older cousins matchbox cars. Whoo-hoo! I'm raising a tomboy :) Now, that's what I like to see. 

Short post as DH has to use the computer for work and Ms. C. wants to play with the car I 'borrowed' from her cousins. 

11.8 A 2 or a 6?

Whew. Comcast is having outage issues in my area this evening. I thought I might miss posting and blow it in the first week. 

OK dear readers. Why is it that I can go from one store to another and in one wear a size 2 short and in another a size 6 ankle? Granted, the first was a pair of chinos and the second a pair of jeans, so it is a bit like comparing apples to oranges but 2 whole sizes? Even if they were the same style I wouldn't expect to see 2 whole size differences. It's frustrating. This is one reason why I have trouble ordering clothing online. I have asked my hubby to pull out the measuring tape so I can get my stats down. 

I'm not even going to comment about the crappy loss my team had today to a 2-7 friggin team. I didn't get to watch the game (ever tried to do that with a 16 mos old? Right), all I know is what I heard on the radio in bits and pieces. No offense. 

11.7 Where are the words?

So, as I lay in corpse pose in yoga this morning my mind turned away from relaxing thoughts to "why isn't Ms. C. talking?" thoughts. So much for relaxation.

I've been worrying about this for quite some time. I know that not having her in daycare would lead to a 'slower' development than some of her peers, but seriously. It's not like we don't talk at our house. And she certainly understands a lot of what we talk about at home. In fact, there isn't a great deal of frustration on that side of the coin.

Her communicating to us is quite the opposite. She still only says 'nana' (banana) and 'num' (when she likes food). In fact, she no longer will say 'down' (which, I swear, was there two weeks ago). We read to her regularly, very regularly. If she doesn't read 20 books a day it is a slow day in our house. Heck, you'd think she'd be saying 'book' by now. She doesn't even say 'bye bye' (yes, she waves) when I leave the house and I say that to her 5 days a week! We sing (well, maybe only I sing but her dad says the words), I try to tell her what I am doing. I just don't get it.

I'm beginning to wonder if her dad speaks to her at all during the day....

Some parents tell me to count my blessings, that once she starts she won't stop. But it is so hard to console her when she is trying to tell me something and I don't understand her. What's a mom supposed to do?

11.6 You gotta spend money to make money

Isn't that what FDR said to get things moving again? So I ask myself, after coming out of a quarterly meeting with my business, how is the pay freeze my company has initiated going to help me get the economy back on track.

I had heard rumors that this might be coming down but, at this company, rumors can easily be blown out of proportion. The rationalization is that in order to maintain our current leading position (let me just add here I work for a FORTUNE 100 company, not a mom & pop shop in po-dunk USA and not even a Fortune 500 company, but in the top 100) we need to preserve our cash. OK, I hold an MBA, I get the position we are in but it seems sad to me that the company is choosing this route to try and 'right-the-ship'.

I'm off to rethink my spending.

11.5 Ack!

Anyone have any solutions for when your child pees on the carpet? Last night after bath, as I was trying to get Claire to come into her room, clean up the space and get things in place she peed on the carpet in the hallway. This is the second time she has pulled peeing on carpet. At this rate we're going to have to re-carpet the whole house.

The first time I was getting her dressed and she stood up and refused to sit down. I'm not one for slamming my child on the ground and so I was attempting to negotiate with her while moving her towards her diaper and she peed. On the new carpet in her room. I think we used a combo of pet cleaner and a water/vinegar combo. Seemed to do the trick and we made it through the rainy fall without a huge smell in her room.

Last night Pete put pet cleaner on it after soaking it up. I'm hoping that does the trick. Seriously, the carpet is probably 20 years old but I don't plan on living in this house for more than 2 more years so I'm not putting in new carpet.

Any tricks from parents who have had this issue? Step one is to not let your child run around without a diaper on, I get that, but in the event she does it again????

11.4 A Simple Task

There are women in this world who still can't speak their minds. I intend to speak mine today with my ballot. Regardless of how things turn out, I am proud that I live in a place where there is NO question about what I can do today.

11.3 Oh the weather outside...

sounds delightful. I decided to work through lunch so I can skip out early and go home for a run. How can a Minnesotan pass up a 70' day in November? There should be a state law that if it hits temps this high this time of year we can skip work.

Even though I ran yesterday I am going to take advantage of the fantastic weather and get another one in today. It's not like my fat ass can't use the exercise.

Now.... where did I put that leftover Halloween candy?

11.2 Cursed daylight savings

Wake up time for Ms. C - 5:15am (yes, I know...6:15 on the body clock)

First nap of the day (only nap???) 9:45am.

I've gotten used to the routine we have in our house and this blasted daylight savings thing is already wreaking havoc and it's only 10am. Urgh. We tried putting her to bed a bit later last night in a vain attempt to shift her body clock. Nope. Not happening. At this rate, she will be going to bed at 7pm and I will see her for two hours and night after I get home from work. In addition, I will need to be up at 5am to get through the shower before she wakes up in the morning. Again...urgh.

11.1 First Post of NaBloPoMo

The first post of the month. Ahh...where to start. Hate to start of negative but I listened to the Gopher football game this afternoon (too nice to sit inside!!) and we lost to NW. Urgh. Homecoming loss again. Oh well... next year I hope to be at the game outside enjoying the weather AND a victory.

We had a slow Halloween last night, which we are associating with it being a Friday night. Only 71 kids. Needless to say we have a lot of leftover candy. I'm bringing into work so I don't eat it here. The last thing I need around me is chocolate. I'm trying to lose weight, here!!!!