to your mother

THOUGHTS ABOUT BEING A MOTHER AND LOVING A MOTHER...FROM A MOTHER OF TWO.







Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Joe's Self Portraits

Joe enjoys using the camera...nuff said.


Monday, March 15, 2010

i heart faces: bundled up

Here's a picture of Joe all bundled up in action!

Be sure to go to http://www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com to see more bundled up photos!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Shady Neglect + Simple Action = Daily Victory

It is usually when I'm talking with Don



that, together, we come across a simple way to describe what we make to be a complicated life. For example...

Don and I have decided that when a person is neglectful of something that could cause a grievance with self or others, that person is committing shady neglect. Examples of shady neglect could be leaving a pair of soiled underwear hanging at eye level in a tiny hotel bathroom in Paris while vacationing with a friend or seeing the cat jump into a friend's bathtub, then forgetting the cat is in there, then closing the bathroom door so the cats can't get in, only to remember after being out all day and the cat races out of the bathroom when the door is opened that the cat was in the tub, then realizing a few hours later that the stench coming from the bathroom is not because said friend keeps a dirty bathroom but because the cat peed on the bathmat while being locked in the bathroom all day.

In order to avoid acts of shady neglect, one can perform a simple action. When vacationing in a small hotel room in Paris with a friend, a person could remember that said friend will be entering the same small bathroom in which one is hanging said underwear and take the underwear when leaving said bathroom. A simple action for our second example is to not over-think the cat-in-the-bathroom-while-we-are-out situation and leave the silly door open.

Now, these previous examples were the groundwork for our thinking. Upon expanding our thoughts, Don and I realized that shady neglect does not need to be so spectacular as these previous examples nor cause a grievance with others. The neglectful act that is tainted with shadiness (shady neglect) may only affect ourselves, never to have an affect upon someone else. Example: replacing the non-skid stuff under the doormat DAY AFTER DAY AFTER DAY (shady neglect) cause the kids keep taking it out cause they have discovered that they like to gnaw on it, can be resolved by sewing the non-skid stuff to the back of the mat (or use double-sided tape). This simple action can result in a daily victory...not having to replace the non-skid stuff under the doormat any more...EVER!!!!! HAHAHAHAH!!!


Let us all take a step back and look at our lives...what is it that we may be neglecting in a shady sort of way? What simple action could we take in order to resolve that grievance for ourselves or others and create a daily victory for ourselves? Lemme tell ya, my list keeps growing...but when I get off my big buns and take some simple actions, I feel a lot better. You may too.

shady neglect + simple action = a happy mama

Saturday, March 6, 2010

This Guy Called Jamie Cullum

I'm visiting Don this weekend and he happened to have tickets to see this guy Jamie Cullum...

some singer-songwriter dude from Britain. I thought it would be at a coffee shoppe or some church basement...it wasn't but I digress.

I was terribly late getting to Don's cause I took 76 east instead of the PA turnpike so we decided to meet at Home Depot to get us to the concert faster but I had to go to the bathroom so I ran in and when I came out Don was pulling up in his vehicle...perfect.


I ate homemade tuna with some crackers as Don drove with a mission to get us to the show on time. Low and behold, we didn't have tickets to a church basement, but to the Keswick Theater in Glenside, PA...nice place. This was the opening act...


Imelda May, from Dublin. She was spunky and a lot of fun...it was actually a good thing we rushed to see the opening act.


Okay, Jamie Cullum is a funky, jazzy, hip, talented-beyond-his-years artist. He plays the piano and sings and is a fantastic entertainer. All his shows are usually sold out within the first coupla hours of tickets going on sale, so seeing this dude is a treat. (Special thanks to Don for being persistent in getting tickets, even though you didn't know who would be going with you and that special hottie-mama happened to be me...what a blessing!)



Here is asked everyone to take a picture of him at the same time so we could email it to him cause he wants to a make picture montage...Don downloaded the pic and sent it this A.M.



This is the whole band...a dreamy act to watch and by which to be entertained.
What I have learned from this trip to Don's this weekend:
  • Don't think that I know everything (of COURSE 76 is the PA turnpike even though it's not labeled on the signs, of COURSE the bathroom in Home Depot is in the back).
  • Don't assume that since I haven't heard of a performer, it means that they only perform in coffee houses or church basements.
  • Figure out how to use this blasted new camera, cause even the woman sitting behind me at the concert couldn't assist me in taking a great picture and I missed some fabby-doo shots.
  • Don's Goodwill store is a dream come true for me...I found shirts to cover my two-baby-belly as well as pants to fit my wide load...sweet relief.

Friday, March 5, 2010

February Celebration

We went to Mom and Dad's on Feb. 27th to celebrate it all.

Although I made a fuss-load of seafood, the only food picture I took was of this gargantuan stuffed pizza that dear friends Bruce and Ellen had brought...very worthy of the only food picture...yum.


We blew some bubbles,



sat and spun,



and kissed babies.


We unwrapped gifts...


with some assistance from Grandma,



ate cake,



and cleaned up afterwards.


A Joyous Celebration!





Thursday, March 4, 2010

Pockets

This is what I found in the dryer this week...


Joe has discovered his pockets.
I love being the Mama of this boy.