Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Get to know your girls

Yesterday was an interesting day, and since we all know I like to outdo myself, today I decided to top it by locking myself out of my house. When I had a conference call starting in 10 minutes. And in the midst of my sweat-ridden panic realized I hadn't put deoderant on yet.

I eventually got in the house thanks to an accidental spare key in the garage and did also eventually put on some deoderant. You're welcome.


But back to yesterday. This picture provides a bit of explanation. Let's just say it did not involve buying a new watch (though she is pretty- thanks, honey!), but instead a nice little hospital-issued wristband and baring my girls for complete strangers. I think you know what girls I'm talking about. They're the two that are attached to you at all times. That unless you're prone to adult films or wet t-shirt contests you'd prefer NOT to bare for the general public.

This post is probably TMI but whatever. If you can't bare your thoughts (about your chest no less) to a blog-community full of strangers who can you talk to? :)

About 10 days ago I noticed a lump that caused a bit of concern. 48 hours later I was at my OBGYN where they confirmed said lump, killing any hope I had that it was a complete hallucination. One week later (yesterday) I was at the women's radiology clinic for an ultrasound to try and figure out what this new visitor was. Turns out we think he's a fibroadenoma which is nothing more than a benign tumor. Apparently very common in "women my age".

Typically when these are small they recommend you come in 6 months later and monitor it closely to make sure it doesn't grow/evolve in any way. When they're large they suggest a biopsy to run some further tests. Mine is right in the middle, which means they're leaving it up to me. Seems like an easy decision. I mean, avoiding needles and knives is usually the prefered route in any major decision making process. But I come from a family of worriers. And let's be honest, since the birth of the monkey I've been known to worry from time to time. Manically even, which is why it's so surprising I'm not the least bit worried about this.

So, it looks like I'll be going under the knife. I figure it's worth the peace of mind. And a day off work.

The moral of this story is- check your girls. You never know what you might find.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Glutton for punishment

As I've mentioned, Matt's spending quite a bit of time out of town this summer for job training. And he's not just the next state over, he's in Connecticut which might as well be Dubai as far as I'm concerned.

In light of the fact that he's leaving again on Sunday I started making a list of things we needed to do before he leaves so that I'm not having to run errands, clean the house, etc etc...basic things to make my next stint as a single-parent just slightly easier.

- Bake two dozen muffins (freeze half) to have for breakfast/snacks
- Pluck my eyebrows and do my nails. If these are not on the list I can assure you they will not get done.
- Clean out my car. Take clothes to Goodwill and books to library to donate.
- Clean the bathrooms, dust the house, vacuum, clean the microwave and fridge, finish putting laundry away....on second thought, email cleaning lady this morning and pay to have someone do all of these things for me. Score one for delegating.
- Shop for diapers, wipes, and any toiletries we may need.
- Hit Publix for groceries and easy meal ingredients. Plan all meals using this cute template so I can mindlessly get food on the table every night.
- Clean out Madelyn's closet and pull the many clothes she's rapidly growing out of so I quit trying to dress her like Britney Spears in midrif tops and daisy dukes.

Apparently I felt this list left me far too much free time, so I decided I NEEDED to make a wreath for the front door, decorate the house for Fall and Halloween, AND plan a last-minute surprise 30th birthday party for Matt before he leaves town.

Really?

Am I incapable of functioning without 47 projects on my plate? Honestly.

Please remind me next time I complain that I'm running around like Joan Rivers at a free-Botox convention that I do this to myself.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Yeehaw

On Saturday we traveled further out into the middle of nowhere than we already live to visit a local farm festival called Heritage Day: A veritable celebration of a simpler way of life. We saw tractors, a moonshine still, and LOTS of overalls. Here are a few pictures from our little adventure.

Matt couldn't resist the homemade peach ice cream.

Neither could Madelyn...

I, on the other hand, opted for something with a little more grease...


All I can say in my defense is worth.every.bite.


Seriously, I'm still thinking about it. Especially when I jog and I feel my butt jiggling behind me, quietly reminding me of my indiscretions.

Damn oreos.

Here you can see how someone took an old car and made a barbeque out of it. Matt was in complete awe over this.

Aforementioned overalls, example 1/94:

The same farm also grows Christmas trees which provided a beautiful backdrop for pictures.


I wore plaid....when in Rome....

And last but obviously not least, the cutest little denim-covered one year old you've ever seen:)

Friday, September 17, 2010

Perfection



Has anyone seen this picture floating around online of Jennifer Aniston in Donna Karan?

I. Die.

It's perfection.

Speaking of best dressed, am I the only one who thinks that if you have that coveted combination of hair/body/tan you could be best dressed in anything? I mean honestly, half the time I think she looks better in jean shorts and a tank top than I do in my favorite cocktail dress.

(Picture comes from people.com where she was recently nominated for best dressed.)

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Motherhood: the great equalizer

I think one of the the things that has surprised me most about motherhood is how it has the ability to instantly put all child-bearing women on an even playing field. You realize when you become a mom, that you've just instantly made millions of friends you never had. You can find yourself in any social situation and if the subject of your children comes up you can easily talk to anyone else with children for hours. Days, really, if left uninterrupted. You reconnect with long lost friends who along with you, now have children because you relate. You get it.

You can meet any woman and as soon as you find out she's a mom it's like on some level you instantly get each other. Because only other mothers know what it's like to live the sometimes massively overwhelming and often massively gratifying life of a mom.

It doesn't matter how much money you have, where you come from, what you do for a living, or if there are any other similarities in your lives. Once you become a mom, everyone else out there with children is just a mom to you. Even Jessica Alba with her fancy stroller and skinny legs that show no sign of ever having carried a bulging belly.

I sometimes imagine being stuck in an elevator with Jessica and talking for hours about the usual mom subjects: discipline, breastfeeding, making your own baby food, working, not working, what color shirt is impervious to spit-up, organic vs. non, how the he** you are supposed to wear heels when you spend all day bending down, etc etc...

I imagine it could be quite an interesting conversation. But probably no better than the ones I have with my other mom friends who to this day have provided me with more precious and valuable advice than any book ever could. Best accompanied by a glass of wine while daddys babysit. That's when the good stuff comes out.

And speaking of good stuff, a little note to you moms out there who like to make it seem like being a mom is so easy and seamless you can barely even tell your life has changed since having children--you are not helping anyone. Tell me the truth. Tell me that there are days when you doubt yourself, when you feed your child pancakes and no vegetables for dinner, when you feel like you've said "no!" 967 times, when you have the breast pump in one hand and a cold beer in the other. It's these things that make the rest of us feel better, and we all know you're doing it anyways, so just fess up already ;)

Sunday, September 12, 2010

A perfect night


Well, close.
My perfect night would obviously be a nice sunset sail on a catamaran in the middle of the ocean with all my friends and family, mojitos, and a 24-hour masseuse on hand.
I'll settle for second best.
A nice mix of interesting and trash-ridden magazines and some Kardashian's reality marathon on E.
In BED no less.
Aaaahhhh....

Friday, September 10, 2010

Miscelanny

Not sure if that's a word, but I guess the beauty of having your own blog is that you can say whatever you want. Since my brain is fried from a very busy week at work I'm here with a few more random tidbits about our life in the past week.

  • I've been trying to drink less coffee. For one, my consumption was getting way out of control. It was becoming a little bit of an obsession, and with the requisite cream and sugar not the healthiest of choices. Plus I keep reading about all of the amazing health benefits of green tea. Did you know it's PROVEN to reduce your risk of cancer, fight bacteria, and has tons of antioxidants that help your entire body? It's true. Yet at some point today I must have blacked out, driven myself to Dunkin Donuts, and allowed my alter ego to order a LARGE nonfat caramel latte. Shame on you, alter ego.
$3.50 and 15 minutes later I was back home without the slightest clue of what had just happened.

  • I'm working from home today and just spent the last 20 minutes trying to kill a fly that I'm convinced was the devil disguised in a little black body. After incessantly taunting me and no doubt getting quite a laugh out of my inadequate aim with the fly swatter, I opened the front door and out he happily went. How nice to know that I spent 20 minutes going BA-Na-Nas when all I had to do was use a little common sense.
  • We're about to put our house on the market again. Let's face it, I'm super impatient and I hate uncertainty, and I want to move (Now). We'll see what happens.
  • I had the pleasure of holding this little face for a nap earlier this week which never happens anymore. Sorry the picture is so dark, I obviously couldn't use the flash.

  • This Saturday Matt will be traveling up to South Carolina for the Clemson football game and Madelyn and I get to have a girl's day. I think we're going to go to Costco. I just can't think of another place with air conditioning, free food, and $1.25 lowfat frozen yogurt under one roof.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Labor Day highlights

A few highlights of the past week...

- My mom came to visit. We love this. She's a huge help with Madelyn and it just gives me such peace to have her around! I think it's ok I'm super attached to my mom at 28. Whatever.

- Matt came home! We have him for three whole weeks. We even got to go out one night ALONE while mom watched Madelyn. Talk about a treat. I ate this. Almost all of it. And yes, it was just as awesome as it looks. Matt reeeally regretted getting the Key Lime pie when they brought this monstrosity out.

- While mom was here we did lots of shopping and she treated me to a few early Christmas gifts. I also think it's ok I'm still spoiled by my parents at 28. I mean, those grey suede pumps were waaay too cute to leave at the store. They didn't belong there. We also planned and purchased Madelyn's entire fall wardrobe which will mostly consist of tunics and leggings, as well as a few sweater dresses. She's seriously stylin.

- On Sunday I went to the store for a quick Publix run that would make anyone think I had a serious dairy addiction, but I got FIVE bags of Kraft shredded cheese and two four-packs of YoPlus yogurt for just $5 and I saved $16! I'm still on cloud 9 about this and it was days ago.

- I love that the US Open is on because I love watching tennis.

- We also spent some time reading at our new table and chairs courtesy of Gigi, riding in our wagon, and generally being mischevious. I cannot believe the sass coming out of this girl. I'm starting to think she's already smarter than me.

Hope everyone has a great week!!

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