So my year is up at my job and I'd like to move on. My ultimate would be to travel for a year and stage at restaurants for 1-2 months. Oh the experience! I even found a travel buddy. He is apparently a trust fund baby so I don't have to worry about him bailing because of $$.

I need to figure out how much longer I can handle being at my job. It is dramaX984367. Seriously. But if I don't stay for 6 months then where do I work? What do I want to do? I need income.

So trust fund baby and I need to plan out where we want to go, how long, guestimate how much we need in total for ferry rides, train rides, hostels, food, winter clothing, fun, socks, cell phone bills for our iphones, postcards to send home, batteries for the thousands of pictures we'll take.. I need to sublet my apt. Finding a chill/non-crazy person that is cool.

What a process. Or we can just fucking wing it. I like this idea, though I have been brought up to have a plan and 17 back up plans.. I feel sometimes in life you can't plan shit.. just do it. It just happens eh?

oy vey.

-r

Okay, she uses the word "cool" one too many times for me.   McCain is a few heartbeats away from being 6 feet under.  He says Obama has no experience and now "this" is his VP choice.   She's a "cool gal" and may be a great governor for Alaska but she's just not presidential.  

She has been governor of Alaska (a state with a population equal to Omaha, NE) for less than two years.   SHE HAS A 4 MONTH OLD BABY and was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, population 6,500, until she became governor, less than 2 years ago.    Can anyone say Dan Quayle?

Lesbians unite - don't vote for McCain because his VP loves fish, wears ballcaps and plays basketball. 

And an informative article about Palin from today's online Wall Street Journal:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121993453813079803.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news

During the primary Obama and Hillary had battling ads about receiving that national security threat telephone call at 3 am. Both said they would be ready to take that call.

Well, Sarah Palin will be ready for that 3 a.m. phone call too: She’ll already be up with her baby

Here is a sneak peek from the session:

We can't wait to see how quickly he grows and changes :)

Comments are always loved.

-C.

A police officer on the case noted that, "The diaper opened and the baby fell to the ground, but at a much slower speed. The diaper obviously lessened the impact of the fall and saved the baby's life." The child is being treated for only small fractures at Hospital Memorial in Sao Jose, where spokesman Gilberto Tenorio said that he is in stable condition.

If the accompanying image along with this story doesn't give you chills and have you checking your windows, I don't know what would.  These parents should head over to Corner Stork Baby Gifts and buy a diaper cake to celebrate diapers and then write a check to the maker of that diaper brand that had enough strength to hold their child suspended for a few moments.

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"Don't stick your finger in the baby's mouth."

"What's in the baby's mouth?!"

"Do not pick the baby up."

"Get your tushy out off the baby's face." (why do they like sticking their backsides in her face?)

"Please be quiet, I'm trying to think." (not that I can think once they are quiet)

"Please give me some space."

"Did you wash your hands?"

"Go get dressed." (my kids love being naked/mostly naked)

"Sit down and eat." (they would rather play than eat, but then they start losing their minds from hunger)

"It's okay to be angry, it's not okay to hurt others."

"We don't call people names."

"Hmmm. Sounds like you're really angry."

"If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

"Oh no! What happened?"

"Oy! That looked like it hurt."

"I want to give you a hug, come here."

"I am so grateful that Hashem sent you to me."

"I love you so much."

For as long as I can remember, a sweet Lysol scent was the indicator of a clean house.  Nowadays though, the smell of Lysol along with many other cleaners makes me think of poison, and since becoming a mother I am much more aware of what comes in and goes on the house. 

I’ve tried numerous cleaning products, mostly natural, some not so natural (yet claim to be), and some that I make myself.  My fav is the products from Eco-me.  Eco-me supplies you with all the items necessary to make your own products.  You can purchase the Home, Body, Baby, Dog, and Cat kits to create your own 100% natural products. 

The Home kit comes complete with :

1 natural fiber storage bag
2 spray bottles for mixing spray cleaner and polish
1 jar for mixing scrub cleanser
1 natural bristle scrub brush
1 handy mixer
1 microfiber cleaning cloth
1 bottle Eco-Me Home Cleaning Essential Oil
Easy to follow instructions show you how to mix ingredients right from your own kitchen.

All you need to do is follow the instructions, and bring your own oil, vinegar, water, and baking soda, most of which you probably already have in your home.  I have tried the Home kit and love the smell of lemongrass that is left behind, and now I would like to try the Baby kit.

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i would rather be here. there is no doubt. but i must reconcile the end of that time in life with the reality of today. it is time to live in the now and plan for the our families future. this is a time to live on this budget and to raise this family and to love today and the life we have been so privileged to live today. this is the time to think about college funds for kids and retirement for us and getting out of debt. this is also the time to find and make our home here and to make friends and become a part of the community that we are living in today and to become a part of solutions to the problems that plague our society.

somehow we cannot shake the need to make some difference but for me i need to balance that need with the importance of raising our children to become resonsible and good adults and to being the help and friend and love that my hubby needs and more, deserves or at least the attempt at these goals. oh lofty.

La de AC/DC (la más divertida)

La de Aerosmith (la más trabajada)

Although there has been a slight change to the Christmas knitting schedule.

Namely, Hanami.

I plan to work on the Christmas knitting while I'm out and about - at craft lunch, at relatives' houses, at my guild meeting, etc - but will focus on this little baby at home.

Hey - at least I already have the proper yarn at home.  Now I just need to get me some beads...

We have no plans for the long weekend - Larry came home last night with the brown bottle flu (and is even home today!), so we haven't really had a discussion about it.  Whatever you're up to, have a great weekend!

Between my wife and two daughters, I’ve lived the past few years in a house dominated by women, and I’ve easily adapted to a make-believe world of princesses and dress-up. Having a pink-colored room was no problem and easily accepted. Barbies and Disney and tea parties have become second nature. So, pushing the macho ideal to the side was easily done.

But, there is change in the air.

Yesterday, Diana (who is at the halfway point of her surprise pregnancy) had the big 20 week ultrasound, the results of which confirmed what the ultrasound tech had surmised at the last one eight weeks ago. We’re officially having a boy.

Now, I am not that worried about this and I’m sure that everything will be fine, but I have to admit to being a bit perplexed about what to do with a male child. Living in a pink-tinted world for six years changes a man’s perspective and our newest addition will involve a major change of gears. Will our lives now involve toy cars and sports and G.I. Joes?

It will be different, but it is exciting and we are really looking forward to it.

We aren't doing anything particularly special for him today, but he has his second birthday party tomorrow for my wife's family. Most of them were out of town during his first birthday party a couple of weeks ago with my family, which we had to hold early because my sister is now back at college on the Gulf Coast.

As a result of that, we're also nervously watching the weather reports this weekend as Hurricane Gustav continues to strengthen and make its way into the Gulf of Mexico. We're well aware that this is the three-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and that the region is still nowhere close to recovering. Although she goes to school in Mobile, Alabama, most of my sister's friends from school are from Louisiana and the New Orleans area.

The school may decide to close down today, but many of the students would most likely be safer there, on a hilltop campus away from the bay that can serve as an evacuation center for the city, than they would be back home. A short drive away, in New Orleans, the city is bracing for another potential direct hit and hoping the federally maintained and only partially repaired levees can withstand a major storm. If they fail again, will New Orleans, one of the most culturally important cities in the world, let alone the country, even be able to survive?

It's pathetic and sad that after three years all we can do is keep our fingers crossed.

Lots of fun last night with Caiden and his mom Meghan last night for Part 1 of Caiden's photo shoot! Can't wait for Part 2!

Avni can say dada and mama. she even says amma clearly sometimes when crying. unga is still her favourite sound which she says it now and then. When left alone, she makes several complicated sounds. When the Cbeebies is on, she goes totally excited and starts talking to the TV. Doesn't show that excitement for Law&Order or for other similar programs.

As we are on updating milestones, let me just note it down that she can eat her own finger food. She drinks from her beaker on her own. We introduced the beaker after she turned six months old. She got the hang of it within a couple of days. At the moment water and juice are given in beakers. but I am still feeding milk in her bottle. I am looking to change that too to beaker in a few days.

Avni 7 months and 3 weeks or 33 weeks and 3 days (freaky number!) old

I guess people are REALLY ready for a change.  Crazy!

I do not have to try very hard to remember how I was feeling during that 20 minute car ride. It was surreal. It was overwhelming. We had spent the day at the hospital waiting for the okay to take my jaundiced baby home - hoping against hope that we would not be leaving without her. I knew that my parents, my grandparents, my sister and her husband - and a dash of my husband's family would all be waiting there to greet us (really, the baby) with open arms.

About 10 minutes from home I remembering getting so full of emotion that I burst into tears. I have never been a big crier. Yeah, maybe when I am angry or really upset but I have never been one for "happy" tears. Sophia changed all that. I cried the moment I heard her first cry after birth. I cried on the way home from the hospital because I was so excited to take her home. And then, like an even bigger idiot, I cried when I walked in the door with her because it was so overwhelmingly unbelievable that after all of these months I had my baby, our baby, at home with us. That all of those months of gathering baby clothes, diapers, and...well all the STUFF that comes along with a new baby finally had a reason. She was home.

And now it is 11 months later. More than that by now actually - probably more like 11 months to the day that I brought her home - and we have gotten so much use out of all of that "stuff" that half of it is in bags or bins or stored away in another room because she has outgrown it all.

Being Sophia's mommy just rocks my socks off! Its close to a year later - and the older she gets the more nostalgic I get. And the closer we get to her birthday - the more of these blogs you will probably have to endure. How did I go from holding on to and nursing my newborn, from sleepless nights to starting daycare to here - where I can look at her and wonder what type of big sister she will make (no, that is not happening yet but God willing is in our future) and what she will "say" tomorrow.

I was one of those people who loved babies. Little babies that cuddled and wanted to be held and snuggled. While Sophia is not against a quick snuggle now and then - she is currently much more interested in moving about on her own and testing everything out. I am now one of those people who enjoys babies at each and every stage. Even when the current stage proves that my baby is trying to outgrow being a baby! Daycare is already advising me that the next stage is teaching her to take naps on a map on the floor and learn to eat in a little chair by a little table rather than in a high chair or booster. To move to NO bottles and focus on sippy cups. A huge part of me wants to grab her and run away screaming, "but she is still such a little baby!" But she isn't anymore. She is getting to be this little independent person who thinks, plays, moves, and communicates in her own way. And she is only 11 months old.

And now as I wander into this new unknown realm and, as yet, unexplored realm that is being a parent to a future toddler I prepare myself for the inaugural ceremony. The first birthday party. I am going against all of those suggestions in magazines that say to "keep it small" and "do it at home" in favor of throwing a HUGE bash in honor of my Pookie. 75 invited guests, 25 of whom are children or babies. Balloons, hot dogs and hamburgers, a clown - a THEME! The way I look at it this party is just as much for me and my husband as it is for our baby girl. We made it a year. The c-section that got her here, the nursing, the 3am feedings, starting work, daycare, the ear infections, learning to speak, crawl, stand, etc, etc, etc. September 26th is the anniversary of the beginning of the greatest adventure of our lives. Why not celebrate it with a big bang? Judge me all you want Parent's Magazine but we do not do things small in our world.

I was also (and still kinda am) a Mom Group snob.  I hadn't really gotten a handle on who I was.  I was lost.  As a person whose identity was always wrapped up in her title, I had a hard time with the SAHM status, even though I loved being with the Moose.

During a particularly dark period in my life, I took Moose home to Charleston.  My best friend took me to one of her Mom's groups, and I realized it wasn't too bad.  So there were a dozen people I had nothing in common with, but if I could have just one conversation with another adult besides my husband, it would be nice.  And she said she was in several mom's groups and ended up with 2 good friends.  Not bad odds, right?

So I immediately went home and started checking out sites.  I ended up joining Stroller Strides.  Even though I was already 10 pounds lighter than my pre-preggy weight (I hear the cursing, but hey, I can't help it!!), I needed to tighten up and I figured I could meet some people.  And I ended meeting some moms very similar to myself - no one was native to Knoxville, everyone wanted to be fit, and most of us didn't consider ourselves typical SAHM even though all of us were! 

I always believe if you open your mind for good things to happen, they will come to you.  Not long after I joined Stroller Strides, I met a random girl and her daughter at the park.  Now almost 3 months later, they are our closest friends in Knoxville.  Ana and Chick Pea are the friends that we see everyday and never get sick of :)

So to all the lonely mommies out there, make it a goal to attend one organized session where there are other mommies - whether its a mom's group, a library function, or whatever.  And if you find yourself at a park or Walmart and you spy another mommy with the same lonely look in her eyes, walk up and ask her how old her baby is.  You never know where your next friend is hiding!!

well, college days are over. we no longer go out very often at night to do research and some projects, and the overnight outings. we are now working, and spending our hard-earned money. we don't see each other that often also anymore. karen went home to their province, i and harlene are working in manila, while saida, krishna and sasa (riza may) are still in davao.

it was december 2004 when sasa gave birth to francesca (is the spelling correct?), the first baby in the group. when jotams (harlene) left for manila, we very seldom heard about her. all we know is that her boyfriend at that time followed her there.

may 2006, i left davao for manila to work. at that time, saida and jotams were already there. in that same year, jotams got married and gave birth to her son. the more she got dettached from us. in that year, saida got pregnant.

in march 2007, saida gave birth to wenzie. after giving birth in davao, she went back to manila to work. i saw her all those times she was missing her daughter so much. then last april, she decided to stay for good in davao. she resigned from her work here in manila and went home.

january of this year, karen got married to her long-time boyfriend. as much as i would have liked to attend the wedding, i could not.

when i went home to davao last summer for a vacation, we met again - sasa, karen, kring2, saida and me. it's when i knew karen is pregnant, as well as kring2. all 4 of them were talking about getting pregnant and having a baby. then suddenly, i felt outcast.

yesterday, august 28, 2008, kring2 gave birth to her son. and karen is expecting to deliver her daughter early this september.

my realization:
all of my 5 closest friends now have babies. and i feel like i don't belong anymore. i am the only one left - single, no baby. when will i have my own? i don't know, but i'm excited to have one.