Drowning

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First of all, I am very pleased with the way that elections turned out last night.  There were a couple of issues that disappointed me and the fact that Harry Reid is still in office annoys me to no end, but more than anything I’m glad that there is a better balance of power in Washington now.  Perhaps we can finally have reasonable discourse and work toward the good of the people.  For a great analysis of how I feel about all this, visit Nicole’s blog.  She essentially said everything I want to say and said it better than I could have.

I’m going to have to bail on a post today.  I’m trying to do a better job of not posting bad, rambling posts on the days when I don’t really have anything good to say.  Actually, I’ve got a couple of posts rolling around in my head but I just don’t have the time to write them well right now.  You see, I’m smack in the middle of a little editing project. My deadline is 13 days away so I need to hunker down and dig in my heels.  Let me just tell you – trying to work from home when you have small kids is hard. I have a newfound respect for working moms.  And I have a newfound respect for the 5:00am hour.  Me and 5:00 are becoming well acquainted.

I don’t like 5:00.  AM or PM, come to think of it.

On top of that it’s Holiday season which means there are class parties, birthday parties, Christmas parties and every other kind of party you can imagine to plan and prepare for.  And rehearsals for our church’s Christmas Musical (which is going to be amazingtickets go on sale this Sunday!)  And field trips.  And big, fat giveaways on 5 Minutes for Mom coming your way – be on the lookout! 

There’s also election night coverage to watch, which I know I don’t have to do but it’s so entertaining to listen to husband pants yell at the TV that I can’t pull myself away.  There is food to be cooked, lunches to be made and boo boo’s to be kissed.  I am speaking on a panel in a couple of weeks at the St. Louis Women in Media’s Fall Networking Event alongside several other amazing women so I need to prepare myself for that, and I need to find a baby sitter and I need to find a babysitter for a date night next week. 

Date night!  I love date night.

I’m not complaining.  Life is full right now.  I love it.  I go to bed knowing that my day was packed and productive.  But life is also tiring right now and I’m learning to say no.  It’s hard to say no.  But I am doing it.  I said no twice today.  It hurt because they were big no’s.  But for now, no will do.

Oh, I forgot to add that I need to do laundry.  I feel like I mention my laundry woes here quite a bit.  It’s probably because I’m always waist deep in laundry.  How does that happen?

Speaking of laundry – for those of you who are the mother’s of little girls, you must invest in several pairs of socks from Little Miss Matched.  It’s the most brilliant idea ever conceived.  Sell socks in packs of three, all of which coordinate but don’t match.  This way you never have to worry about trying to match socks.  There are leg warmers and underwear and shirts and tights and even dresses like this one:

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I am going to sign off now because the whole point of this post was to tell you that I’m not going to post today.  See?  This is exactly the type of rambling, boring post I’m trying to avoid

Clearly I need to work a little harder on that goal of mine.

Live and Learn

I had a casual business meeting yesterday.  It was at a St. Louis Bread Company so I decided rather than round up childcare for Landon and Tia, I’d just take them along.  No big deal.  They know how to behave in a restaurant.

Riiiight.

I’m not sure exactly when I determined that bringing them along was a bad idea.  It might have been about the time that Landon started dipping his napkin in his cup.  Or maybe it was when he poured his entire cup of water over his sandwich.

No, that wasn’t it.

It could have been the moment when they both crawled under the table and started peeking their eyes up over the edge and laughing hysterically.  At that point I got a nagging feeling that this meeting wasn’t going as well as it could have.

I think the breaking point came when they spilled out from under the table and began wrestling on the floor.  Right in the middle of the restaurant.  Shrieking and laughing.

Yeah.  That was it.  That was the moment that I knew bringing them along had been a very. bad. idea.

Thankfully, the woman I was meeting was gracious, a mom herself, and had a great sense of humor.  We might even be able to do a little work together.

Provided, of course, that I never bring my kids along again.

Because I’ve worn myself out

I wrote a post last night about how much I love writing.  It included little anecdotes about a fifth grade story on a hot air balloon race, a college professor who changed my life and how I waxed poetic on journal pages throughout the years growing up.  I even included little nuggets of interest like how my mom has just about every little school project I’ve ever done tucked away somewhere (as well as my first lock of hair and, for a long time, my baby teeth.  If you haven’t already mom, you can get rid of those.)

It might have been brilliant.  But it felt forced so I erased it.  Because it’s my blog and I can do that.  Ah!  The power of being in control!!!

I do really love writing, but this week I’ve worn myself out.  There are lots of projects in the works.  Good things.  Fun things.  But it’s tiresome.  And I’ve been researching and prepping for a temporary freelance gig that starts next week that I feel totally unprepared for.  And my brain is fried. Like an egg on a hot skillet.  Without the drugs.  Though I do get quite a buzz from the creative process.  See that?  Fragmented sentences.  A writing no-no. 

Fuh-RIED, my brain is.  Yes – I’m also channeling Yoda thanks to my kids.  Crazy, I am.

So I have nothing of real substance to offer today.  Obviously.  I’ll leave you with a few photos instead.  Because I hope to somehow redeem this runaway train of a post.  Ah!  A cliche.  Another writing no-no.  I need to stop.

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The Moolah Shrine Circus: Landon didn't just hate the clowns - he practically undressed me trying to get away from them.

The face painting was nothing short of a work of art.

The face painting was nothing short of a work of art.

What do you do with a crabby Butterfly? (I'll give you a hint - it requires a warm blanket and a quiet, dark room).

What do you do with a crabby Butterfly? (I'll give you a hint - it requires a warm blanket and a quiet, dark room).

 

My outfit yesterday. Why? Because it's finally warm enough, because I love cowboy boots, and because I can only pull this off for so much longer before it starts to get weird and I become an embarrassment to my kids...

My outfit yesterday. Why? Because it's finally warm enough, because I love cowboy boots, and because I can only pull this off for so much longer before it starts to get weird and I become an embarrassment to my kids...