Be Darling Tee Giveaway

Darling Mummy is selling Be Darling tees for $10 with the entire purchase price going to the American Red Cross' Haiti Relief and Development Fund. I bought a shirt to give to my friend for V-Day and received an extra shirt in the package. Long story short: Darling Mummy told me to keep the extra tee and I'm doing a give away.

So...I've got a large brown tee with a pink (candy) heart that says Be Darling for someone to win. Here's what the tee looks like (sorry I can't make the shirt image any bigger). Leave a comment and I'll pick a winner on Wed, Feb 3 and get it in the mail right away so you can wear the tee before Valentine's Day or wrap it up as a gift for someone. If you don't win, you can still order the tees but quantities are limited. Post the giveaway on your site for an extra chance to win.

Dear Someone

Dear friends who are having babies soon,

I can't wait for your little ones to enter the world. I'm a good babysitter and can provide references. Feel free to call me when you want a break for yourself or a real honest-to-goodness night out. I'm your gal. I can come to your house or you can drop off. I aim to please and the price is perfect.

love,
Mag

Dear Bug,

Spitting into the toilet to make bubbles isn't the same as peeing but nice try.

love,
pleasegoonthepottyformommy

Dear Diaper makers,

Really, my son can't be the only nighttime super soaker in the world. How can your overnight diapers not last through the night? I'm tying to come up with other options...should I design my own uber-absorbent sponge diapers? Are there jammies made of wicking fabric so Bug can stay dry till morning (I saw online that this is available for people with nightsweats--so maybe there's hope)? Should I sleep with a pillow over my head and try to ignore the call of "Mommy, I'm wet" during the night? I welcome your thoughts.

Signed,
Soaked and sleepy

Dear Bug,

Please send me a postcard from Jamaica. And remember to take sunscreen and plenty of diapers (especially for nighttime).

Love,
Mommy

(Side note: Bug woke up this morning and told me he's going to Jamaica today.)

Go to Family of Shorts for more letters.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

I’m afraid I have the Midas touch when it comes to electronics lately. I broke another computer over the weekend. Sigh…maybe it really is time for a typewriter. As soon as everything is back up and functioning at a greater than primitive level running, I’ll catch up on my blog reading.

Highlight of my day: getting a surprise hot chocolate delivery by Donnie at my office! Yes, I’m still having hot chocolate despite the editorial comment I received a couple of weeks ago.

Book suggestions, anyone? I just finished True Confections.

Hmmm, I discovered reading a novel about a candy company with vivid descriptions of candy can be damaging to a person's waistline and so I'm blaming my recent M&Ms binge on the book. And there was a random mention of one of my favorite candy bars made in Iowa that I can’t find on the East Coast so I'm craving that now and I've eaten the stash from my last visit to South Dakota. So what to read next…any thoughts?

Go to The Unmom for more random thoughts.

Afternoon Delight

It's not what you think. Then again, maybe it is. The house is quiet...Donnie is sleeping, Bug is sleeping and little Miss Clara is sleeping (although that's not really news--it's more shocking when she's not snoozing--how I envy her schedule). In any event...the afternoon for the moment is mine.


Sure, there are lots of things I should be doing but not one of them sounds appealing. Laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping...they can wait. I might read my book--or I might not. Right now I'm going to sit back and enjoy the silence until I hear the first noise.

Friday Follow & F-Bomb Friday

Really, how adorable is this?!

I saw this button on Desert Rose Moments earlier this week and of course, had to check it out. It's Friday so click above, link up and find some new blogs.

Joy oh joy...it's Friday and so far I haven't broken a computer or three in two days! I'm feeling a bit smug about that. Donnie arrived home this morning (kudos to him for taking a redeye flight...I'm not so much a fan of those anymore...I like sleeping in my bed).




While Donnie was gone this week, I woke up one night startled by a noise. I lay still in bed trying to make sense of the odd knocking...almost Morse code or what I imagine Morse code would sound like from the old movies or Gilligan's Island when it hits me. It's a mouse in our bedroom wall! Okay, we live in an old house (not Civil War-old but it could receive social security checks at this point) so it's not surprising that we have the occasional mouse (note the use of the singular form of the word).


I've learned I really don't do well when I know there is a little thing with a tail in my house (now that I think of it even my dog doesn't have a tail). Years ago right after college I slept on the floor in my friend's house after seeing a mouse on the floor in the same room. It didn't bother me and I didn't mention anything because I didn't want to offend him. In my mom's house there was a mouse scurrying across the floor when construction was going on (she truly becomes weak at the sight of a mouse so I come by my squeamishness honestly) and I tried to get it. I've learned that it's a different ballgame altogether when the little fuckah is in my house. I want him (again, let's think singular) out. NOW.


Our weekend calendar is completely blank, which puts a smile on my face. Well, Bug does need a haircut but with nothing else going on I think we can squeeze that in. I'm thinking the weekend will consist of some playtime, naptime, reading, a little football, possibly a movie (rental, of course, we're trying to avoid more babysitting expenses this month) and a call to the exterminator.


Go visit MiMi at Living in France for more F-Bomb Friday talk.

Dear Someone

Dear Cold,

Oh, if only I could run as fast as my nose these days. You win. I surrender. I've taken plenty of cold tablets and ibuprofen but now I'm giving up. Yep, that's me waving the white tissue flag. How about we don't do this again for a long time, okay?

Signed,
Sneezy, Dopey & Doc

Dear Computers,

You got me good yesterday and it wasn't even April Fool's Day. First I arrived at work to find out my computer had a virus (why should I be the only one not operating at peak, right?). I'm always a bit hesitant, even shy, when I report problems to our IT department because somehow I think I caused the problem and should know how to fix it instead of bringing in the big guns. Oh well. I received a computer (none of my files but could work via email) but that quit on me so my replacement computer was replaced with a laptop that also shut down. THREE of you died on me yesterday..ain't technology grand? Had it not been the end of the work day I wouldn't have been surprised for the IT dept to bring me a typewriter.

Signed,
Bashful & Grumpy

Dear Bug,

The middle of the night is for sleeping.

Not for eating cookies.
Not for playing outside.
Not for watching TV.
Not for going to the store to find a mirror with purple stripes (but nice try on that one).

Signed,
Sleepy

Dear Donnie,

I'm very excited that you'll be home tomorrow. Safe travels!

Love,
Happy

Visit Amanda at Family of Shorts for more Dear Someone letters.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

Facebook: I found a high school friend/gymnastics team buddy over the weekend. She's remarried so I didn't recognize her name when I first saw her listed. She moved back to my hometown. Anyway, I mentioned that I would probably be back in South Dakota next month and we talked about getting together. She gave me her phone number...it's the phone number from my childhood...as in...she has my parents' old phone number. Weird and kind of nice.

Sprout: We're fairly new Sprout viewers. Bug loves that station and has started asking for The Wiggles (shudder). Truth be told...I think Nina of The Good Night Show has the best job in the world with the possible exception of former athletes who get paid to talk about sports. She hosts a show while wearing comfy clothes, her sidekick is a pillow and she sits on a couch for nearly the whole show. Although I like to pretend when they break for one of the gazillion child-friendly "gotta have it" so beg your parents for it now commercials, that she drops the F-bomb about 47 times and downs a couple of shots before they return to the program.

Allergy Stuff: Bug and I made egg-free/peanut-free chocolate chip cookies yesterday from a mix. I was thrilled to find a mix in the store that I could make for Bug. I've got a pretty good egg-free cookbook for him and have made a few things but the thought of a boxed mix was kind of exciting to me. (I realize how pathetic that sounds but it's true.)

On the plus side, the cookies were really good and for the first time in my life I had to shoo Bug away from the hot cookies that just came out of the oven. That alone was a fun experience the first 17 times.

Go to The Unmom for more.

I think I'm gonna dream about you tonight

Donnie left for a work trip on Friday morning so Bug and I have had a lot of together time this weekend. We've had our moments but all in all it's been good. He wasn't feeling well Friday night so we had snuggle time. During the weekend we listened to some Springsteen (his request, I swear). He helped me give Clara a bath by singing to her to calm her down. We watched some football. And yesterday he was my sous-chef while I made dinner for our company. Of course, as I'm typing this he's upstairs screaming because time out for biting me (again, still, whatever) and naptime came too close to one another.


Last night as I was tucking Bug in, he said, "I think I'm gonna dream about you tonight." Sigh...

So tomorrow the real world returns and it's back to work for me and back to preschool for the little guy. Right now a lot of work things seem to be hitting at once. Part of me is ready to be at the office and deal with stuff but at the same time I know that putting on work clothes, getting Bug dressed by 8am and dropping him at daycare will make me sad.

fits to a tee

hugs & chocolate...in your my face

Our babysitter is on vacation for two-plus weeks so things are a little all over the place at our house right now. I stayed home yesterday. Bug cried and screamed and cried some more when I dropped him off at preschool (he later told me he didn't think I was coming back).


Today at drop off he told me I gave him one too many hugs and asked me to wipe one off and gave me a serving of Mommy B Gone. Sigh...


On my way to work I decided it was a perfect day for hot chocolate. I stopped at a lovely little coffee place around the corner from my office. It's not a big chain and their hot chocolate is capital T--Terrific. I placed my order and the woman behind the counter asked if I wanted whipped cream. "Yes," I said. Then the conversation went like this:


Coffee Lady: You like whipped cream?
Me: Yes, of course.
CL: You like ice cream?
Me: Sure.
CL: You like all sweets?
Me: Yep.
CL: You're not so fat.


(Sigh...correction heavy sigh...)

Sesame Street GANG

Last night I had a dream that I was volunteering at a big gala for our adoption agency (not a wild imagination…our volunteer kick-off meeting is tomorrow night).

The big difference—in my dream the gala was being held at a prison. I was doing some preliminary set up for the event and passing various inmates in the hall. Then I recognized one of the prisoners. There was Mr. Noodle--you know, the guy from Elmo’s World--he put his hand out as though to greet me. Instead, he grabbed my arm HARD and said, “I can kill you any time I want."

Word on the street: FEAR

Number of the day: 20 (to life with no chance of parole)

Random Tuesday Thoughts

Highlight of my day (it's 8:13am): I bought a hot chocolate and it was 20% off! I love unexpected little bits of joy.

Yesterday I had a call from Bug's preschool. He ate part of a cookie with egg in it. The teacher immediately gave him Benadryl and there was no need for an EpiPen. So after one week of school he came home with an Unlucky Duck report.

I seem to be struggling with some up and down, side to side and allovertheplace emotions these days. I'm calling it my new year funk and hoping it doesn't last much longer. It's really NO fun and neither am I these days.

New cookware equals more interest in cooking. I've been having fun trying new recipes with my new stuff. It makes my old kitchen a bit more interesting. I think Donnie was surprised that I wanted cookware for Christmas but explained that if I ask for it, it's okay. If it's his idea it might not be the perfect gift.

Go to The Unmom for more randomness.

faux pas after the foie gras?

Last night we attended a surprise birthday party at a swanky restaurant for a very dear friend. It was one of those birthdays that “ends in zero” so a very fun reason to celebrate…and surprised she was! Her husband said he nearly told her earlier in the week because she seemed depressed that her birthday was going to be low-key and she wanted a party. He was on the fence between spilling the beans to lift her spirits and congratulating himself on pulling it off. Ultimately, he kept mum and her reaction is what every surprise-party-thrower wants. The night was lovely, the guest of honor was happy and she had tears of joy from time to time throughout the night.

It was understood that each couple was paying their own dinner. We were to tell the waiter what orders belonged on each check. So after the cake was finished, we figured we should get the bill and get home to relieve the babysitter so Donnie asked the waiter for our check.

We followed up a couple of times but it was fifty minutes (yes, ten minutes shy of an hour!) from the initial request until we received our check. There was no “I’m sorry for the delay—we’re working on it” or anything just a disappearing trick by our waiter. When the checks were finally delivered put on a nearby table for the attendees to sort through on their own--some were duplicates, others were incorrect and at least one (ours) was nowhere to be found.


When we were finally able to get a check by repeating our order to the waiter, he said, "you don't know what it's like to be in my position." But I do. I've been a waitress before at a few different restaurants and I know it's a hard job, which is why I generally tip well (although this wasn't an issue last night--18% was automatically added on because we were part of a large group). I know that separate checks can be time consuming and annoying (but it wasn't a surprise and each couple pointed out what should be on their individual check when ordering). I know that technology can be a help and a hindrance in these situations (the waiter seemed to be having a hard time entering separate orders into the computer).

It was a fun night with a very happy birthday girl and good food...yet I feel like I left with a bad taste in my mouth.

Dear Someone

Dear Bug,

Thanks for being such a thoughtful little guy for taking care of my boo-boo. Very sweet that you not only found the band-aids but opened one and put it on my face to cover my won't go away anytime in the near future zit. The blue Curious George band-aid would be a nice distraction from the pimple.

With love,
Mommy

Dear Art Schools,

Here is Bug's self-portrait. What's that? Oh, okay, he won't quit his day job school.


Sincerely,
A girl can dream, right?

Dear Boots,

I'm so happy I found you sitting alone on the "what will become of me" sale shelf last month . You're called "chain gang" but you're really not SO bad...but bad enough. You make me smile each time I even look at you and make me feel tougher and a tad more confident when I wear you. Look out, world mama's got a new pair of shoes boots...
Love,

Happy Feet

Dear Reading Time,

Where are you? I miss you and hope to have a reunion soon. Amazon and I recently spent some quality time together and I've now got a stack of books craving attention.

I've got our date planned out: a terrific hardcover (minus the jacket, of course) or wonderful paperback and me on the couch, my jammies, a pillow, a blanket, a bottle glass of wine or mug of hot chocolate and a sleeping Bug. Ah, perfect...now I just need you!

Signed,

Eagerly waiting for your return

Dear Sinus Headache,

Go Away! Three (or four?) days is long enough.

Signed,

*#$&(@

Visit Amanda at Family of Shorts for more Dear Someone letters.

object in mirror is just as tired as she appears

It's one of those days.

If only I were a vampire, I could be sleeping all day and wouldn't even see my reflection. Although I would miss garlic.

don't hate me because I'm organized (bwhahahaha)

Oh, how I struggle trying to be organized. I should have reserved a copy of One Year to an Organized Life for me but I would rather live vicariously. However, today I'm feeling pretty good because: I folded the multiple loads of clean clothes that had become a fixture on our couch and made tonight's dinner yesterday. That should count for something, right? Please? Pretty please?


Here's the winner of the book: B at The Nabors Baby. Lemme know where I should send it and I'll get right on it, I swear!


Bug is at preschool! Highlights for Bug: seeing two trash trucks, six (really, six) school buses, two police cars and saying hello to one police officer and two city workers on the walk to school. Quite a bit of action in those few blocks this morning. Highlight for me: I mentioned to Bug's teacher that I had his EpiPen and Benadryl and without missing a beat she recited Bug's allergies to me and went through the procedures if he has a reaction. Whew, that almost made me cry.


Now I'm patiently waiting for the mail to arrive. My order from amazon should be here today and I would love to start my new book True Confections now that the clothes are folded and dinner is made.

School Daze

Tomorrow is Bug's first day of preschool. He could have started in September (2 1/2 is the minimum age) but we decided he would start in January. He started the school year at the little school and we intended he would be there until the end of the calendar year. (It's a free neighborhood school through the Dept of Parks & Rec where the parents/babysitters stay with the kids and the teacher--a former kindergarten teacher--makes everyone feel special.)


Bug loved the little school...he came home each day with an art project, sang songs to us and taught us to play Alphabet Soup. We loved the school, too, and were considering keeping Bug there until the end of the school year but it closed on October 30. We found out on October 31 when the teacher called to tell us she had just been notified that the school was closed. Just another round of budget cuts in the city.

Now it's two months later and Bug's big day is just a few hours away. I don't know what I expected...I guess I thought it would feel like a bigger day (or maybe I just wanted it to feel that way), a new beginning of sorts but it's a typical Sunday night (oh, but the tantrum tonight was extra special because Donnie put Bug in the wrong jammies and the world fell apart...sigh).

Maybe I want this to feel like a big thing for Bug because this is solo time with other kids in a structured/somewhat structured environment. Maybe I want to have this really feel like a new step in his development. Maybe I want Bug to be as excited about school tonight as he was last week. Maybe I'm feeling abnormal/bad because I don't think I'll cry when I drop him off at school tomorrow morning. (Aren't moms supposed to cry on first days anywhere?) Maybe I'm thinking I should have dropped off his forms earlier instead of carrying them with me on day 1. Maybe I'm nervous because Bug isn't potty trained (we were told it's okay, but um, y'know). Maybe I should just have a glass of wine and go to bed--tomorrow's a big day...

Who's Alec Baldwin?

Here's my year so far:


Bug slept past 8am
Donnie and I hired a babysitter, met up with friends, had lunch and saw It's Complicated (two movies for us in two weeks--this is as close to a social life as I'm going to get!)


As we were leaving the theater a man behind us said, "Who's Alec Baldwin?" I realize I may live under a rock but I know 30 Rock--and other stuff he's been in. (Tammie, if you're reading this, are you horrified that someone didn't know who Alec Baldwin is? I thought of you about 1,478 times during the movie.)