Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving

I just made macaroni n cheese, from scratch, with well over a pound of cheese and bacon. I also made banana bread. Thanksgiving is the food olympics and I'm bringing my A game.

In all truthfulness, I have a lot to be thankful for this year. My family, my friends, my career, my home, my bulldogs. I often complain, whine, moan "why does everyone have an easier life than me???" But right now, I'm recognizing the reality which is that I am very blessed and thankful for all of it.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

ABC Easy As 123

So I'm failing miserably at NaBloPoMo but I was feeling rather uninspired and very, very sleepy. Luckily I found a blog idea to steal!

A. Age: 31, about to be 32 in March. I can't even deal with how old that sounds.

B. Bed size: We finally got a king size bed about a year ago. Except that we got an Eastern King and we live in California where the California King reigns supreme so it is fucking impossible to find sheets that fit. And somehow my toddler takes up my whole damn bed.

C. Chore that you hate: I can't think of one. This is sick. I love my house being clean. Ok, I got it. I really, really hate picking up the dog poop.

D. Dogs: Frank and Mickey! Combined they are about 100 pounds of purebred English Bulldog. We love our fur babies so much even when they snore and fart (which is a lot).

E. Essential start to your day: Shower. I cannot shower the night before. If I do, I still have to shower in the morning.

F. Favorite color: Red. It used to be pink but I am a grown woman now.

G. Gold or Silver: White gold but sometimes I really like traditional yellow gold.

H. Height: 5'4, a little too tall for petite but too short for regular clothes. Shopping is fun.

I. Instruments you play: I have no musical talent at all. I used to lip sync in my junior high choir.

J. Job title: Deputy general counsel thankyouverymuch. That's just a fancy way to say lawyer.

K. Kids: Leo! 26 pounds of pure mischief. He is an evil baby genius and adorable.

L. Live: The OC. I am NOT a real housewife. Although I have shopped where they do.

M. Mother’s name: Debbie, Deborah, Crazy.

N. Nicknames: I have never had a cool nickname. Some people call me Court. Weird thing, my husband rarely calls me by my full name. It is usually Court, Babe or Baby. If he actually says Courtney I know he's annoyed with me. I had a boyfriend once that called me Lovey. It made me want to barf every. single. time.

O. Overnight hospital stays: Just for my Leo. It was really creepy. I am not a fan of overnight hospital stays.

P. Pet peeves: Sniffing, spitting, people eating cereal or anything crunchy near me, the t.v. being too loud...I kinda have issues.

Q. Quote from a movie: "Bearfucker! Do you need assistance?" That was the first one that popped into my head.

R. Right or left handed: Right.

S. Siblings: An awesome sister and a brother, both younger.

T. Hey there is no T! I'll make one up. Ummmm, transit. Ok Transit: my mom-mobile, a Hyundai Santa Fe.

U. Underwear: Always. Even while sleeping. My husband thinks I'm weird.

V. Vegetable you hate: Green mother fucking peppers. They taste like evil.

W. What makes you run late: I am rarely late. I'm even more on time since having a baby because I'm so paranoid about being late.

X. X-Rays you’ve had: My ankle when I was 10. I was in a hit and run car accident on the way to girl scout camp.

Y. Yummy food that you make: Lasagna and mac 'n cheese.

Z. Zoo animal: Polar bears. I love them so much.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Stepping Out Saturday Deja Vu

This Saturday my little family had plans to go to the mall, get the husband some new clothes, eat dinner, and visit Santa. I had a cute outfit all planned so I thought I would link up with Stepping Out Saturday (for those that don't know, it is a blog link up where you highlight your Saturday outfit).

I had my husband take a picture of me in my outfit (which he said made me look like an "Occupy Wall Street-er".) Whatever, I thought it was cute. Then it hit me.


Sweater - Target. Dress - H & M. Boots - Old Navy

The one other time I did this link up, I was wearing the same fucking dress. Fail. Anyways you can see how I took my dress from summer to fall. Which was totally my point. And I totally own more than one dress.



Ugh my legs were pasty even in the middle of the summer. So we took Leo to get his picture with Santa. I know it's early but with working full time I can only do these types of things on the weekends and my December weekends are already booked. Plus the line was super short.

Leo looked totally unsure of Santa but this Santa was such a sweetheart. He saw me looking nervous and said, "Don't worry, he's going to cry but he'll be fine and you'll love the picture." He then told the Elf taking the picture, "this is a quick one," and before you knew it the whole traumatizing experience was over.



Santa was right. This picture is awesome. See that little dog Leo is holding? That is Spot. Leo loves Spot. Spot goes everywhere Leo goes, even daycare. Spot eats with Leo, sleeps with Leo. Tonight we lost Spot. He fell out of the stroller while we were walking throughout the mall. I was in tears. I retraced our steps. I asked people. I felt like an utter failure as a mom because I couldn't protect the thing my son loved.

Leo didn't even notice he was gone. Maybe Leo was mad that Spot didn't protect him from Scary Santa. When we got home, I dug out this little bear that was about the same size as Spot and poof! Leo had a new best friend.



Maybe I'm not a failure after all.

After all this, I rearranged the living room furniture and put up our Christmas tree. I also cleaned out our garage this afternoon. I sincerely hope this productivity carries over to Monday.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Over It

I am far too cranky for a Friday night. This work week has kicked my ass and my December (work-wise) is looking insane. One one day I have three trials, um how in the hell is that supposed to happen?

Those who took the July California state bar exam found out tonight if they passed. It has been five years since I logged on to the bar website and found out that I had passed. The bar exam was the hardest thing I have ever done mentally and I was immensely relieved to find out that I had passed and would never have to take it again.

It has only been five years. A drop in the bucket. And I am already feeling burnt out. All I deal with are problems. I practice special education law and I never get to see anyone happy about the education their children are receiving. No one is happy to see me when I walk into a meeting. It is all disagreement, confrontation, anger, frustration, all the fucking time.

Normally, I love being a lawyer. I really do. But today I am so fucking over it.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Dangerous Co-Sleeping?

I asked my husband if he had seen the controversial co-sleeping advertisement.

Me: "You know the one with the baby and the knife? They are trying to say that co-sleeping.."

Husband: "....turns babies into murderers?"

Um not exactly. I tried to explain to him the point of the ad campaign is to tell people that co-sleeping is dangerous because people could roll over, etc.

Husband: "whatever, I've been rolling over on Leo forever."

And then he went back to looking at his fantasy football stats. I kinda wish that I could just brush off parenting controversies like him. He just never gets wrapped up in what other people are doing, are saying, the latest study, "the mommy wars." He just parents the way he parents, lives his life the way he lives his life and that's it. What other people are doing is of no concern to him.

When I saw the co-sleeping ad, I furiously googled safe ways to co-sleep, benefits of co-sleeping, read everyone's blog post about the ad, about co-sleeping. All this despite the fact that we've been co-sleeping for about a year with absolutely no problems. So obviously what we are doing is working for us and that should be enough for me.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Food

I'm in a bit of a ranty mood. A ranty mood about food. And now I'm a poet and I didn't even know it. I should really just stop and go to bed but I must vent.

Meal planning is driving me fucking crazy! All I want is for my family to eat healthy food. I'm not getting all crazy with organic. I'm not insisting that everything be made from scratch. I just want the majority of the food we eat to not be sodium-laden crap. I just do not want to eat take-out every night of the week. Part of this desire is The Guilt (you know the working mom guilt, that just plain mom guilt), in my quest to do it all I feel like I have to provide my family with nutritious meals. The other part is a desire to not become a bloated whale.

I have two major forces working against me in my meal planning. First is time. I simply do not have time to cook a whole meal after work. I try to feed Leo by 6:30. When you get home at 6, that doesn't leave a lot of time. Lately, I have been making dinner the night before so I can heat it up and we can eat together. This works but it means that I have to spend another hour after Leo's bedtime cooking and cleaning the kitchen. This cuts into my wine time which is not ok. I only have a couple of go-to meals that I can pull together in 30 minutes. I need more!

The other force is the pickiness. My husband is an insanely picky eater. He will not eat the following: ham, any kind of seafood, sausage (he'll eat it but pout about it), corn, spaghetti noodles, any kind of squash, eggplant, green peppers, whole wheat pasta. There are more but I'm drawing a blank right now. And Leo has decided that he only eats carbs, meat, and cheese.

The other night I made pasta with homemade sauce with carrots, zucchini, and lean ground beef. Neither of them would eat it! They both caught on that I had sneaked veggies into the sauce. So frustrating. Last weekend I think Leo only ate chicken nuggets.

I'm not sure what the point of this post is. I just had to pound out my frustrations somewhere and I chose my laptop.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

A Day In My Life

I love the holidays. Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are my trifecta of happiness. But this time of year is hard for me too. The time change seriously messes with me. I absolutely hate picking up my baby when its dark out. I feel like I've abandoned him at daycare when it is really only 5 o'clock. The holidays also seem to highlight whatever lame family drama I'm having.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, and in the spirit of cleaning up any holiday funk laying around, I have decided to do a "day in my life," the grateful version. Be forewarned, I'm about to get a little sappy.

Around 5:30 a.m. I hear whimpers from the nursery. I go in to see a baby not quite ready to wake up but wanting to snuggle. I am so grateful for those snuggles! I bring Leo into bed with us and catch another half hour of sleep. Around 6 a.m. I wake up and see my boys sleeping soundly and feel incredibly blessed to have a husband who loves me and a happy healthy baby (ok toddler).

I get out of the shower to a still sleeping husband and a just waking up happy baby. I adore how happy he is in the morning. I get ready while Leo runs around the bedroom and hides the toothpaste from my husband.



After we are all dressed we head downstairs for breakfast. I present his highness with eggs, homemade whole wheat zucchini bread and wait with baited breath to see if he eats it. Today I'm grateful that he actually ate something!



Next I feed the dogs, pack up our bags, and we head out the door by 7:30-7:45 ish. Mickey isn't pictured but I love my bulldogs and I am grateful that they are sweet dogs who get along with Leo and are in (mostly) good health.



I drop Leo off at daycare around 8 a.m. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm extremely grateful to have a fantastic daycare so close to my house with sincere, caring teachers. My son is thriving there and his teachers have been a huge help to me.

Then I'm off to work where I do a number of lawyerly things. Some of which include reading blogs and playing on pinterest. (What? Everyone needs a mental break sometimes!) In reality, I'm researching, writing, emailing, conference calling, meeting, putting out fires. I am grateful to have an excellent job which challenges me on a daily basis, allows me to provide for my family, and keeps me sane.

I'm out the door by 4:45 p.m. and off to pick up Leo. We get home around 6 p.m. and today I am grateful that I made dinner the night before. I just had to heat it up and we were eating. My husband gets home around 7 p.m. and we play, hang out, watch Yo Gabba Gabba until bathtime. I don't like that we eat without my husband but I'm incredibly grateful for how hard he works for our family.



Around 8 p.m., it's bath, last sippy cup of milk, teeth brushing, stories, and then off to bed. Tonight I am grateful for easy bedtime routines because mama is tired.




After Leo is in bed, I clean up the kitchen, watch t.v., play on the internet, hang out with the husband, tweet, blog, eat ice cream, drink wine. There are so many more things I'm thankful for: good friends; a warm, cozy house; plenty of food in my fridge; gas in my car. The basics that many don't have. My life isn't easy, I don't know anyone who has that, but I am grateful for all my blessings.


Monday, November 14, 2011

It's Monday and This Is All I Got

Me: I need a blog topic.


Sister: You could blog about how I keep trying to ask you for dating advice but you can never help me since you don't even know what it means to date anymore. Then it could start a whole debate on what dating really is. Is it to meet your soulmate? Or just to find someone to have sex with?

Me: Wow, that's really deep. I was going to post a picture of bulldogs and call it a night.


Photo by The Rogue Woman

Look, it's Monday and I survived. I think that is pretty good. Forgive me for not being more deep than that. Enjoy the picture of my bullies, feel free to discuss what it means to date amongst yourselves. But seriously, I do not understand dating in a texting/facebooking/tweeting world. Apparently, people do not just ask you out to dinner, pick you up, take you to a nice restaurant, and pay for dinner anymore.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

One Drink Minimum

Our Saturday night was cuh-razy. First we went out to dinner with another couple and their 13 month old son. Two wiggly toddlers in a restaurant was quite the challenge. The other mom and I ordered a glass of wine and joked how there is a one drink minimum at dinner because with a toddler you don't have time to have two and forget about ordering dessert.

Then we rushed home to meet our babysitter because the husband and I actually went on a date! We had a gift card to a really nice restaurant by our house, high up on a hill with amazing views (thanks Dad!).



We sat on the outside patio, ordered drinks, and chatted. When it got too chilly we moved inside to the piano bar and made fun of the stupid drunk people from the wedding held at the restaurant. I saw multiple people climb into the backseats of cars while still holding their glass of wine.



As seen above, we enjoyed martinis. Pre-baby, one of my classic drinks was a dirty vodka martini with extra olives (bonus if the olives are blue cheese stuffed). I don't think I've had one since Leo was born because this drink is basically a cup of booze and while I can handle my wine, vodka is whole different story. So I had one of these and I was feeling so good, I ordered some foofy hibiscus martini which was pink and sweet and I don't even know what was in it.

We had a lovely date, just talking, being romantic, reconnecting, blah, blah, blah. When we got home, Leo woke up about four times throughout the night. After sleeping for shit and my martinis (plus the wine from dinner) I woke up feeling like pure fucking hell. I was hungover. I have not been legitimately hungover in a long time. Maybe once while Leo was an infant and that was a combo of hangover + stomach flu. While that sucked, it wasn't that bad. Just thaw out some breastmilk, give the kid a bottle and let him stare out whatever developmentally stimulating toy we had.

Hungover with a toddler? That shit is hard. He was bouncing all over the place, wanting to play, climb, jump off the couch, etc. I dragged myself downstairs, got him some milk and turned on the t.v. At least it was PBS kids. I'll take my mother of the year award now, thanks. Finally the husband woke up and took over for me. I ended up being able to go back to sleep and it was glorious. I felt horrific that I had to lay down because I had too much to drink before. And then I felt bad that one glass of wine and 2 martinis was considered too much to drink (I'm getting old!).

The only thing that got me out of bed and snapped me out of the depths of my hangover was me remembering that I had to get the crockpot going to start my latest pinterest recipe.

The morals of my story are: when you have a baby don't try to drink like you did before said baby, hangovers with a toddler are miserable, and pinterest will cure your hangover. You're welcome.


Saturday, November 12, 2011

Big Boy 'Do

Leo got his first real haircut today. Not just me chopping off his bangs or his aunt (who is a hairdresser) cutting his hair in her kitchen. We actually went to his aunt's salon for a professional job.

Why do I keep hearing "cat's in the and the silver spoon" playing through head? Because my little baby boy is growing up!

So his hair had become a hot mess and someone thought he was a girl yesterday.



He was so good throughout the whole ordeal!



Hehe, my baby has gel in his hair. He looks so grown up now! I can feel all that little babyness he had just slipping away.



It makes me sad, but he is becoming one awesome toddler.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Wine Time

This week I had lunch with a working mom friend of mine. We were commiserating over the working mom stress, guilt, and dire need of wine. She told me that at the grocery store, her 3 year old daughter asks, "does Mommy need wine?" and she justs hopes a social worker isn't standing nearby. While Leo's language skills are not there, I have no doubt that one day he will equate wine with Mommy. We joked that we are not alcoholics but sometimes we just need a glass of wine!

And then it hit me, it's not really about the wine, it's about the circumstances surrounding the glass of wine. I explained this to my friend, sometimes I don't even drink the wine I've poured. But if I'm having a glass of wine that means (1) I'm not at work and (2) I'm not actively parenting (ok sometimes I have a glass of wine in front of Leo but I usually take two sips and then I'm off chasing him). Having a glass of wine means I'm relaxing, no one is bugging me to fix anything, to settle a case, to train an employee, to get more goldfish or milk, to read Brown Bear, Brown Bear for the millionth time. The glass of wine means I am talking to my husband or reading a book or catching up on my DVR. Sometimes the glass of wine means I'm knitting and subsequently screwing up my knitting because I'm drinking a glass of wine. Basically, having a glass of wine means I've slowed down and taking some time for myself.

I feel like a lot of moms, myself included, are always saying "I need wine now!" But I think the wine is really code for "I need some fucking me-time people or I will cut something." And we all know that the illusive me-time is crucial to the survival of any mother's sanity. Of course, me-time is even better if you do have a glass of good wine to accompany it.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Baby Sister

This is my baby sister.



She has amazing hair and I am jealous. That is all. And she's awesome. Ok, she may have told me to say that. But she is.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Confessions

So I did this accent vlog last night and then spent all night trying to figure out how to upload the video and I never figured it out. Which is a shame because I was ridiculously cute and funny, didn't look tired, and my hair looked awesome. In related news, sometimes I exaggerate.

And then came today where I dealt with a teething toddler who has pinkeye. So I had to keep him cooped up in the house all day and he was going cuh-razy. Husband gets to stay home with him tomorrow. Good luck Honey!

So I wanted to keep up with my posting every day during November but last night's post got screwed up and today was just a cluster fuck of not-awesomeness. So all I have is a couple of parenting confessions:

1) When I read books to Leo I pretend I'm doing a voiceover for Reading Rainbow and try to read the story in my very best professional actor voice full of depth and emotion.

2) When I cook in the kitchen, I let Leo play on the floor around me and empty out my cabinets, play with pots and pans, etc. (while making sure he's safe and all). While he does this I day dream about his Food Network special where he says in his interview, "I grew up in my mom's kitchen, watching her cook and that's what inspired me to become a chef." And then he becomes a world famous chef, sells cookbooks, opens a restaurant, and takes care of me in my old age.

Ok that's all I got. Back to my appellate brief who is being a little bitch and won't write herself.

Monday, November 7, 2011

A Better Answer

Today I got another "I don't know how you work with a baby, I stayed home with my babies," comment. Seriously, why do people think this is an ok thing to say? I don't say to fat people, "wow I can't believe, you continue to be so fat, I went on a diet and it is so much better to not be fat." I mean, what makes people think they can just comment on people's major life decisions?

Of course I gave my usual lame answer, an awkward "oh I don't sleep very much." While this is true, it is a poor answer because I've never slept very much. In college, I partied Tuesday through Saturday, worked, was active in my sorority, and got good enough grades to get into law school. After college was law school and then becoming an attorney, so yeah, sleep isn't really something I do.

Since my answer to the inevitable "how do you do it all?" is so weak, I've decided to come up with some better ones. The next time someone asks me anything about how I manage to work full-time and be a mom here are some of my choices for an answer:

- It's easy to do it all when you are full of the awesome, like I am.
- I rule at all aspects of life.
- I am practically perfect in every way.

And here is the real answer. The answer that I should be proud to say. The real reason how I can manage everything.

I am smart, ambitious, and driven. I am organized, efficient, and dedicated to every commitment I undertake whether it be as a mother, attorney, wife, dog-owner, or homeowner.

Why I am so hesitant to give the real answer? Is it modesty? Am I really that humble? Does it feel like I'm bragging to tell somebody that I am good at all the things that I do? Why can't I just be proud of it? Is this something that other working moms struggle with?

This dilemma reminds me of Tina Fey's take on the matter where, she says that this question is the worst you can ask a mother because she either has to say that a) she's not doing things well or b) she is doing everything well which makes the other person feel like shit. That's a very loose paraphrasing because I can't find the actual quote but you know what I mean. I wish mothers could get to a point where we can comfortably say "hey I'm a good mom and employee," and other mothers can say "hey, that's great, good for you," without any bad feelings on either side.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Blah

Today has literally sucked the life out of me. Leo has four teeth poking through, daylight saving time royally fucked up his sleep, I made apple cinnamon oatmeal muffins (from scratch), lasagna (from scratch save the noodles), dusted, vacuumed, did about 5 loads of laundry, and entertained Leo all day so my husband could work.

I. Am. Done.

So instead of anything meaningful, I have one last thing to say about the Johnson & Johnson cancer-causing baby shampoo issue. I'm not sure why carcinogens would be put in baby shampoo but they obviously do something because the organic, non-cancer-causing Burt's Bees shampoo/wash sucks. It doesn't get foamy and bubbly, it smells weird, and makes the water look oddly oily.

And tomorrow I have a court appearance that I really would rather not attend. Plus I have to write this stupid appellate brief that I have been putting off forever (sidenote: Pinterest you need to go away for this week, I've got shit to do). Basically, I'm in a "WHERE THE HELL IS MAH WINE?" kind of mood. Alright, that's enough of that. I am off to be pissy now.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Fail

This morning Leo had swim lessons. Before that we went with the husband to watch the Michigan game and have breakfast at a restaurant. Then I took Leo to a little holiday boutique at a church and bought a really cute santa from some adorable little old ladies. One day I want to be an adorable little old lady selling crafty items. Although, I also want to be cussing and drinking a martini while doing that.

Anyways, back to the swim lessons. I do not own a lot of bathing suits and after the birth of my precious child, most of them look down right scary. I had been wearing my super cute, red, 50s style one piece to lessons. Although it is flattering, it is a really expensive Juicy Couture suit and really made for lounging by the pool and not actual swimming. So today I figured I would give my expensive suit a rest and throw on my faded black bikini, baring stretch marks and all. I was a little self conscious about this choice but I thought, "fuck it, last week a mom wore a sports bra and shorts, we're all moms right?"

Wrong. Of course this is the week that there are two dads in the class. Obviously they also have children and wives who have had children so the gasps in horror at my stomach weren't too loud. That was fail number one for the day.

After swim lessons, I threw Leo in the bath to rinse off the chlorine. I lovingly washed him with his Burt's Bees soap. After the Johnson & Johnson debacle, I threw all of mine away, even the Aveeno because it is made by J&J, ran to Target and spent way too much money on Burt's Bees soap and lotion. Apparently, I think it is ok to put my kid in a swimming pool with so much chlorine my eyes are burning, but absolutely no J&J.

After the bath, I lovingly massage the Burt's Bees lotion on my cute little baby. All the while I'm thinking, "what the hell? This stuff is so sticky and doesn't absorb at all." Looking at my white little baby, I realized I was vigorously rubbing the soap on him. Fail number two. Back in the bath he went, I'm sure thinking, "what the hell is she doing? I just took a fucking bath."

It is not even 2:30pm and I've had two major fails (but I managed to get a blog post out!). Tonight I'm going to a wedding where I have just been informed that the bride plans to get me hammered since she was so hammered at my wedding. As long as she plans on giving me about three glasses of wine, she will accomplish her plan.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Day Four

Here I am at Day Four of National Blog Posting Month and I'm already running out of steam. The challenge is to post every day for the month of November, including weekends. Just a little daunting. Since it's Friday and I'm really tired, I'm just going to do a list of random things:

- How many teeth do 16 month olds get? Because I feel like Leo has been teething for-fucking-ever. I love that little man but I am over the whiny and the drool and the nasty teething poops.

- Pinterest may be my downfall at work. I have this appellate brief to write and I just do not want to write it. So I play on pinterest. It is terrible and I'm ashamed to admit but I'm sick of wading through pages of testimony.

- I started Christmas shopping this past week and I feel so on top of this holiday already! I'm sure I'll be scrambling at the last minute for something but I will enjoy my feeling of accomplishment while it lasts.

- While I may have gotten a head start on Christmas, my Halloween decorations are still up. And it poured rain today. So my cobwebs on the bushes in the front are now, I don't even know, but they don't look easy to remove.

- I hate U.S.C. football.

- This week I found this video:



My mom bought a VHS of this 1968 Christmas special from the bargain bin at Pic n Save (now called Big Lots). And we loved it so much but the VHS has long been lost. I was so excited to find it, I even cried a little while watching it. Also, I remember being so embarrassed to go to Pic n Save and worried that I would see someone that I knew. And then my mom pointed out that, if I did run into someone I knew than that person would be at Pic n Save too so there is nothing to be embarrassed about.

Ok, that's all I got. Expect some more fluff over the weekend and hopefully some substance next week.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

A Board Marriage

My husband and I have this really terrible habit. We've been doing it ever since we moved in together before we were married (gasp! I know, so sinful). We've tried to stop doing it. We've talked it over, we've bickered about it, dare I say, we even yelled about it.


We are addicted to our laptops. Not just our laptops. The laptop plus the internet.

At the end of the day when we finally get around to relaxing on the couch, we sit on opposite ends of the couch and play on our laptops. He's reading sports blogs, ESPN, news, and the Drudge Report. I'm tweeting, pinning, blogging, and facebooking with a healthy dose of gossip sites. We still talk but our hands are glued to the keyboard. There are plenty of "hey did you hear about..." or "watch this video, it's hilarious!"


We've tried putting the laptops away to watch movies or a tv show but inevitably we will see an actor that we can't remember or the name of a song and we feel the compulsive need to google.


I know it's horrible; but we are lawyers. We talk and argue and explain all freaking day long. It's exhausting. Then we come home to parent and it's all "row, row, row your boat," "Leo don't lick the dog," "Leo don't climb on that," and reading the counting book with the moose five million times. By the time we get to the couch, we are just all talked out.


However, at the urging of my husband, we have started to slightly change. We have instituted game night.



It started with Trivial Pursuit, then I bought Scrabble and now we have a brand new Monopoly waiting to be played. We don't play every night (dude, Scrabble is hard and you need some brain power for it, I don't have that every night). But it has been shockingly fun to turn off the tv and laptops and play a game. Normally, I despise games, especially of the board variety, but I actually look forward to playing now.


We have not completely given up our old ways. It's 9:30 pm and I'm on my laptop and he's reading Car and Driver magazines (research for a new car which we do not need and I oppose because I'd rather buy fancy art and a flat screen for our bedroom, you know, first world problems). Bad habits die hard but I feel like we are taking a tiny step to reconnecting and getting back to basics. We don't get out a lot for date nights so it is important for us to spend time together when we can.




Hey Nablowies - posting every day is hard yo and this is only the third day!




Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Goodbye October

I'm sad that October is over.

I will miss the pumpkin patches.



The petting zoos.



Little lions walking down the street.



Even if he is a grumpy little lion.



I need to get through November, respect the turkey, and then BRING ON CHRISTMAS!

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

The Speed of Mom

The other day I settled a case in 30 minutes. 30 minutes and it was done, settlement agreement written and signed. Opposing counsel was also a mother of a toddler. Coincidence? I think not.


Toddler moms move fast. We move fast while maintain accuracy because we have to. Because toddlers are crazy and all over the place and toddler moms are experts at containing the crazy.


We move with lightening speed to pry out whatever sharp/dirty/dangerous thing the toddler may be trying to chew on.


We move swiftly with cat-like reflexes to scoop up a tumbled over toddler, trying so hard to run/climb/jump, and cover him with kisses.

We eat in a flash because while the toddler may be happily munching his raviolis one minute, we know that in a second he could be flipping his toddler shit and flinging raviolis at the dog.


We pee like we are in a crowded bar and there is a line of drunk angry girls out the door because, let's face it, it is awkward to pee with a little person staring at you and trying to unroll the toilet paper so you just want to get it over with.

We zip through Target either on our lunch break or with a toddler in tow, hoping to pacify him with a cake pop from Starbucks so we can buy diapers and a cute pair of shoes (and we only go to the Targets with Starbucks for obvious reasons).


But every so often, we slow down, take advantage of the illusive toddler snuggle, read a story, and drink in the wonder of being a toddler mom.