Mommy Weirdest

Please note: I’m working on revamping my blog’s layout, so for the next week it’s going to be chaotic/and or boring.

Now.

Yesterday afternoon, after a day of working and feeling sorry for myself, I hiked up my hot pink sundress and decided we would go into the mud to look for flat rocks to paint. My little art projects NEVER, EVER go as planned because Paige is too young to follow anything but the simplest of directions, and she’s a bonafied mess maker. We got muddy looking for rocks, set up with paints outside, and she ended up smearing red paint everywhere and getting very little on the rocks.

So there we were. Just two girls covered in paint and dirt on a Monday afternoon, when the doorbell rang. Apparently I should look at the $40 planner I bought more often, because I had a new babysitter interview I forgot about, and was competely unprepared for. I kept saying “sorry” because I looked like something the cat dragged in, and because I forgot who the girl even was since I have had so many emails from folks who want to earn summer cash.

To make matters more awesome, Paige gleefully announced our new visitor had BOOBS and could she touch them?

Awesome. A family of perverts are we.

Include:

-Last day of writing with our nanny entertaining bug. A sad day for all, and a day that will probably be tear filled.

-Getting my passport “shit” done. Like applications, picking up birth certificates and photo ids.

-Going on a picnic in the gardens with Paige & Caity

-Bulk shopping at craft store

-Girls night dinner, num num num.

-Family BBQ

-Fireworks and some snacking and swimming

-Family day at this place on our “street” which is like 15 miles long and in the woods. Paige is going to ride ponies and be incredibly awesome.

Summer is busy so far

Today is Monday, which means Tuesday is our part time nannies last day

The thought of finding someone who can even come close to rivaling her awesomeness makes me want to cringe, and the thought of someone else coming to play with Paige, makes me want to cry. It is so incredibly hard to find someone that’s as good to your kid no, better than you are with your kid. Someone who loves her like she’s their own, who doesn’t put on the teleivsion ever and instead goes outside, plays games, and make crafts, and someone that you just trust with all your being.

This woman was our person.  Paige has had like, a bajillion babysitters come and go. We’ve had teenagers that did such a half assed job I found myself fuming in my office instead of working, one who was slightly  sweet and religious with a pention for tricky tray’s that wore Disney sweatshirts because Paige she loved them, friends, friends of mothers, and more. A decent babysitter comes and goes, but the process is so harrowing.  I love the nanny we have now, but she needs to move on and I can’t hold her back. I know Paige adores her, and I adore her, and we are going to miss her so so so much [maybe more than she could realize, is that pathetic?] but I’m keeping my fingers crossed we will find someone who can appreciate a messy house, a silly wife, a husband who makes cameos for snacks, wild animals and my quirky adorable lovely daughter.

I am not looking forward to Tuesday.

We are a family of readers

My own Dad reads historical non fiction and engineering books, my brother reads memoirs and fiction, my mom has a love affair with romance novels, my husband can spent hours pouring over graphic design books, and I’m smitten for anything that has a hot pink cover (hey, we all have guilty pleasures) non fiction, and manuals on gardening and crafting (whether I’m ambitious enough to do the things in them is another story)

And Paige?

Paige loves books too.  We read 100 books a day (and I’m only exagerating a teeny bit) The first words out of her mouth in the morning are book? And more often than not just as she’s falling asleep she’ll request either a book, or a song that I make up as I go along. She likes pop ups, picture books, and has taken to pulling all my novels off the shelf to “read mama, I reading!” This makes me so happy inside because I need a bookworm for a kid. So we can read together, so I can read to her all my favorites, and so she can appreciate the absloute awsomeness that is reading.

She’s not here this weekend though. I was going to hold a garage sale but I have a little cold, and instead spent the morning drinking strong coffee and pouring over my new books. Not having a kid around means I can tease myself with those little pleasures I miss SO MUCH. Like going out without lugging around diapers, staying up late without feeling guilty, reading, paying so so so much attention to my smelly dogs.

But I do miss her, a teeny bit. On Sunday we are picking her up in New York and heading back up into the woods to go to opening day at the farmers market. We are going to stuck up on produce, shop around, and come home to eat and swim. It sounds heavenly. This week I’m interviewing new babysitters, going to BBQ’s, watching fireworks, and enjoying summer time.

So life is good here. Have a nice weekend dudettes!

There’s something about a farm stand nestled in between a busy road and rolling hills that’s the best.

Yesterday I got: summer smash pie [cherries, blueberries, strawberries and peaches] a bundle of asparagus, eggplants, tomatoes, and blueberries for 11$. That’s enough produce to last us the week, and it’s delicious and only traveled like 12 miles to get into my belly.  The Farmer’s Market has “opening day” this Sunday and I can’t wait to go with Paige! What better way is there to spend a Sunday?

Yesterday I went out and bought myself an Ipod.

I’ve never had one, so I’m itching for new music. Suggestions? Stuff that’s folksy, soft and girly?

Phil’s got an Ipod filled with every techno remix you can think of, so it’s important I feel confident that putting the pod on random won’t result in my kitchen turning into a rave.  My musical taste hasn’t changed much since high school, so I have lots of Belle and Sebastian & Fiona Apple. Music to do dishes too eh? I’ve also got a bunch of kids cds: I really DON’T like the They Might be Giants 1, 2, 3’s album, and I’ve got Beatles covers with kids singing which is a waste. If you want them, they are yours

So, music. New artists? Oldies you love? Let me hear it, so I can stick it on my new baby.

Yes, here I am still obsessing with moving! Things don’t come easily to me, change especially. This is a post of reasons to stay/reasons to go. Kind of like a more OCD “con and pro” list.  And on another note: thank you to my readers who’ve offered advice, emails, and the likes on city(ish) vs country(ish) living

Why we should stay:

The rent’s affordable. The kind of affordable that makes it okay to splurge on good meats and produce, little day trips, and bookstore shopping sprees.

The house is huge. So you don’t think I’m bragging I will add this: it is huge and falling apart  – we have leaks and spiders and creaky floors. We also have space for an arts and crafts area, offices for ourselves, and for our animals to roam and not be all up in our space.

We have a pool. For swimming when we aren’t dealing with months of rain. A pool that has frogs in it!

The land!

The quiet area . At night I hear crickets, the occasional car, and my cats boyfriend meowing. During the day I hear birds, and kids playing down the dirt path. I can also walk outside in my underpants if I feel like it, and the yard smells like roses and  lavender.

Close to my parents. The G-parents don’t visit every day, but I can see them on a whim if I want.

This house has many secrets, and it’s old and the bathroom’s small, but I do love it. I love that it’s only an hour from New York [without traffic, ANY traffic] but still on 30 acres of land. I love that I’ve met some friends who are fantastic, and I have a network of sorts. I love that there’s a few Waldorf inspired schools that we can indulge in next fall…and yet:

Reasons to go

The commute for husband..I really do enjoying seeing my husband. He works from home 90% of the time, but if he does [an he should] commute, I am “single momma” for the day(s) I know the drive tuckers him out, tuckers the car out, and isn’t a blast for our family.

The “what if we never do it..” argument, which basically says that city living should be experienced atl east once right? Walking, taking public transportation etc?

I don’t like driving, the thought of it, or cars in general. City living = public transportation = awesome

So, I’m not sure. I like excitment and chanes but deep down I’m happy in the “country,” and I know Paige woud be bummed without an outlet for bugs and mud.  I also think about our chickens! THE CHICKENS!

With that, I’m going to drink raspberry iced tea and work on my writing for another hour, before we head out to pick up homemade BBQ and a new coffee machine at Target. Yes, I’ve been coffee-machine-less for about four days, but I’ve been boiling water over the stove to feed my addiction.

To a Dad that’s:

Good at air spins, upside-down flips, and tickle wars

Cooking dinner last minute

Handsome as hell

My partner in crime, and my partner in ooh-ing over everything out kid does

You are awesome, and I’m glad we have a three person family to swoon over.  Here’s to a hundred years of happiness, arguments over who’s going to cook dinner and moldy coffee mugs, and parenthood.

We are taking the fathers out today for a nice early dinner Italian feast, followed by dessert at my mommas. A good day, and I’m hoping that it will hold off on raining so that we don’t have to drive to New York in a monsoon because lets face it – New York drivers are insane.

My daughter now says “I love you”

Here’s my situation:
We are leasing a fantastic home. It’s huge [and by huge I mean very odd and long and perfect for playing tag or hide and seek] we have a load of outdoor space, it’s quiet all the time, the dogs can play in the fenced yard whenever they feel, and we have our own offices/room for musical insurements, art supplies etc. The outside of the home is overwhelming in that we need to get it mowed at least bi-weekly, and the amount of weeds that grow can make anyone go insane. The good news is we have an in-ground pool, and veggies growing for spring and summer! We live in a place rich with museums, cute little towns for lunchin and walking around, and there’s some fantastic pre-schools and mommas groups for eclectic homeschoolers in the area.

The cons: I hate driving, hate the idea of driving, and have a natural fear of cars. We are 13 miles down a road that consists of houses and woods, so not driving and taking any sort of public transportation isn’t an option. Phil has an office in Manhattan he needs to get to, and the drive to/from the city can take over 2 hrs if there’s a smidgen of traffic on the road, which is a bummer.  Sometimes it’s a pain to live so far away from things that I’d love to walk to — and sometimemes not being able to go for walks [we live on a semi busy road] or for bike rides is killer.

We are toying with the idea of Brooklyn/Manhattan living. Maybe not forever, but just to say we tried it. I am inclined to suck up every momma/toddler opportunity there, and we have found some places that have outside space, and aren’t going to make our bank account cringe. The thought of walking everywhere makes me tingle with excitment, and I love that there’s so many activities for kids.

What would you do. Would you say HELL YES, simplify your posseions and move? I’m thinking about it. Well, WE are thinking about it seriously, and I’m kind of digging the idea. Yes it’s crazy, since we have moved far too much, but is it worth it? Ditch the cars, put on our walkin’ shoes and head to Brooklyn?

Happy Birthday to ME today! The sun is shining, I woke up next to my sweet daughter who let us both sleep in, I have the afternoon to write and later am going to the bookstore and a lovely French dinner with Phil, and life is good. I was spoiled this year by everyone: Our fantastic nanny made me a gratitude journal and photo clip board, my husband got me a trip to the Kentucky Womans Writing Conference in September, my parents got me books and gardening sets, and my best friend is coming over!

This weekend was kind of a blur of activity.

Saturday Morgan and I braved the rain (what else is new) and went to estate sales with Paige. Yes, bringing a toddler IS possible, and scores you bags upon bags of free, stinky teddy bears that you say “thank you how awesomely generous” for, and than chuck in the garbage. No, I’m not ungrateful, just slightly creeped out by the idea that a stained, moth ball stinking teddy bear is a must for our family…or any family at that.

Sunday we bbq’ed at my Aunts and took Paige to play on the beach for awhile. Seeing her gasp and smile as the ocean tickled her toes was enough to bring me happiness for a week. The weather was crummy, the wind was blowing, and the waves were dangerously frothy, but it was still awesome.

The not so awesome part of our weekend: the injuries. I’ve kind of prided myself on the fact that Paige hasn’t had any major or really even minor falls or scrapes. Lately she’s becoming quite the daredevil, and it’s safe to say I’m going to have a heart attack very soon if she doesn’t cut the shit.

Example A: Our bed. A place we a lot of action occurs: sleeping, book reading, video watching, snuggling and tickle fests. While I attempting to fold clothes on Saturday evening, Paige was playing “hide and seek” under my quilt with her brown bear. I turned my back for one second, heard a thump, and both the kid and the bear are on the floor. Oops!

Example B: While playing with Daddy-oh on the deck, Paige leans forward and manages to smash her nose into the wood. Ouch! Tears, mini heart attacks and a bloody nose later she’s perfectly fine and diving, jumping and skipping around again.

She’s got a bruise on her check, a scrape on her nose, and a smile today, but I am scarred for life.

Now I’m off to work my butt off!