hairyshoefairy

• Do you ever feel like you’ve been busy, busy, busy all day long yet at the end of the day you look around only to find you’ve accomplished a whole lot of nothing?  It seems I’ve been having lots of days like this lately.
• Wingnut had an especially rough time one night last week.  Our yard isn’t very even so while walking around he tripped and fell, scraping his forehead on one of the pavers at the base of our deck stairs.  Less than thirty minutes later he decided to dive down the deck stairs, scraping the side of his head on the pavers again plus getting a big bonk just above that.  The scrapes have scabbed over and are healing nicely but the bruise is still pretty big and obvious.  It was fun getting to explain all his owies to everyone at church on Sunday because they were so obvious everyone had to ask.
• For a little oversharing, I weaned Wingnut this weekend.  It’s gone really well, actually.  We only had two times (one at 6 am) when he cried because I wouldn’t feed him but eventually he gave in and sucked down his cup of milk.  Now he happily accepts it without question.  I’m still feeling a bit full but it’s getting better.  In other TMI news I had my annual exam this morning.  My OB is retiring in July so this was my last appointment with him.  He’s very nice and I’m glad I got in before he closed up shop but it was still, you know, an annual exam with all the delightful fun that kind of appointment entails.
• When did one space after a period become acceptable?  When I took typing classes it was always two spaces.  Even in college, which wasn’t all that long ago, mind you, it was still two spaces.  I know.  I was an English major at the time.  I recently read something Teeny typed up and was like, “Uh, so what’s with the single space after all the periods?” and she told me it was what she was taught in school.  Wha?? When did that happen?  I’ve noticed it has become the norm on things like facebook, twitter, and texts where you only have so many characters to work with but in everyday typing?  Really?  Is anybody else outraged by this?  I also wonder if that’s the reason all my archives got all jacked up when I updated my version of Wordpress a while ago.  I had that weird A with a carat above it after almost every period and couldn’t figure out why and have yet to go back and fix the first two years because I’m too lazy so if you’re confused you can still check out an old post and see what I mean.  Anyway, in case you couldn’t tell, this single space conspiracy is rather disturbing to me and I plan on forever continuing in my two-spaces ways.
• Wingnut has begun going through our indoor recycling can and tossing everything onto the floor.  It’s awesome being constantly surrounded by trash.  Thank goodness the real garbage can has a lid.
• I had to get Peanut some new sandals today because on her old ones the velcro stopped working.  I know that sounds ridiculous but seriously.  The grabby loops are all still grabby but it seems the softy loops have almost all broken through or something so they aren’t actually loops anymore so they no longer stay hooked to the grabby loops.  Yes, I know this sounds like idiotic drivel but I found it kind of weird and annoying because Peanut’s sandals no longer stayed clasped which means they no longer stayed on her feet when she walked which means she got frustrated with them which resulted in her throwing herself in a loud, huffy, dramatic heap on the floor every few minutes.  So yeah, we got Peanut some new sandals today.
• I’m going to the Casual Blogger Conference this weekend and am really excited about it.  I couldn’t swing the money to go but knew they were giving away tickets all over the place several months ago and I got lucky enough to win one of them!  I have no idea what I’m doing and I have a bunch of stuff I’m still trying to get through before it begins on Thursday night but I’m really looking forward to it.
• My sister, Teeny, is graduating from high school this week.  It’s kind of freaking me out and making me feel old.  And I’m not that old!  As a graduation gift I got her a string of freshwater pearls like the ones I got for Mother’s Day.  Pearls aren’t really her typical style but it’s such a classic piece I think every girl should have a string.  I’m sure in the future she’ll have plenty of occasions to wear them.  Yesterday she and my mom went shopping for a cedar chest and she texted me a picture of the one she chose.  It’s beautiful and I think it’s cool to see the style she chose for her traditional graduation gift.
• I made homemade pizza for dinner tonight.  There are very few homemade pizzas I like.  And by “very few” I mean I only like mine and only this one crust recipe.  Yeah, it’s a bit snobbish and I’m sure many people wouldn’t like mine (Teeny, for example, isn’t a fan but she’s also a picky eater) but I like it and ate basically half of one of the pizzas by myself tonight.
• My cousin, Aliese, compiled most of her favorite recipes into a blog so when she’s out and needs to get stuff for a recipe she can just look it up on her phone and see what she needs to pick up.  I haven’t tried all the recipes on there but she has so she can stand behind them.  If you’re looking for something new to make for dinner check it out.  I’ve already made a list of a few new recipes I want to try.

So, I have a lot of things to write about so there will be a bunch of posts coming over the next few days.  I got home from a trip on Sunday night, spent almost all Monday doing some major spring cleaning and organizing because my house was complete and utter chaos (shocking, I know).  I spent most of today catching up on message boards and blogs, in addition to running errands so we have food in our house again.  Now I’m putting off going to bed because ODD is on a new rotation where he has to be on-call at the hospital for 36 hours sometimes and tonight happens to be one of those nights.  It sounds like a hideous schedule, I know, but I think it will actually be better than the schedule he’s had the last ten weeks because despite the 36 hour stays at the hospital he’ll actually spend more time at home while the kids are awake and will be able to see them more than just on the weekend.  That’s a happy thing even if it does mean I have to sleep alone sometimes.  Anyway, I just wanted to pop in and say I’m still alive and will resume regular posting again soon.  Promise.

• Church was a bit wild today.  ODD was asked last minute to fill in for the Primary Pianist.  Considering he was sight reading most of the music he did a good job.  Since he was playing the piano I took Wingnut to class with me.  For the last month or so ODD’s been taking Wingnut to class with him so I could regulalry teach without the major distraction a baby is to 8-11 year olds.  Wingnut did really well today and didn’t try to eat anybody’s shoes or scriptures so that’s progress from the last time I took him with me.  Part way through the lesson the Primary secretary brought in a wailing Peanut.  She didn’t know what had happened but apparently Peanut had been crying for a while and the secretary thought maybe I’d be able to calm her down.  I shouted the lesson to my class over her continued wails as she sobbed on my lap.  Wingnut saw me cradling Peanut and decided perhaps he needed some cuddling at that moment as well so he came over and began fussing until I picked him up and tried to make a little more room for him.  Peanut wasn’t happy to be sharing the throne so making room was not really easy and all the while the wailing continued.  We carried on in this manner much to the entertainment of my class, I’m sure, for another five or ten minutes until ODD, having finished singing time, burst in, swept Peanut away, much to her disappointment and protest, and left me, once again, with only a squirmy little boy on my lap.  Of course once Peanut had vacated the premises he was more than happy to get down again and play on the floor.  I came to find out after class that when Peanut came back to Primary for sharing and singing time she had wanted to sit by both ODD and her teacher.  There was already a little boy in the seat she wanted so, naturally, that disappointment called for a complete and utter meltdown.  Oh, the injustice!  ODD couldn’t do much since he was playing the piano and Peanut was pretty out of control, as her emotional outbursts are apt to be, so that’s why she was brought in to me until ODD could come to my rescue.  Being a mom is so fun at times like this.
• Wingnut is still not walking on his own.  Honestly I’m pretty shocked.  He’s been cruising for months and in January when the doctor suggested I try to keep him crawling until St. Patrick’s Day I actually laughed out loud and couldn’t imagine him crawling past Valentine’s Day.  I hadn’t heard the 4 month recommendation before with Peanut but maybe that’s because I was living in CA at the time and I always got the impression my doctor was just happy to see my baby was being fed and changed regularly.  Anyway, once Peanut started cruising it was a matter of a couple of weeks before she walked by herself.  Wingnut is more than happy to cruise along furniture and hasn’t shown really any sign of a desire to let go and be free-moving until just this last week.  I think Em’s post about the difference between her boys pretty much sums up my experience as well.  Wingnut’s on his own time table and that’s perfectly fine with me.  He’s beginning to take a few steps here and there but nothing terribly consistent.  I’m sure it will happen when he really feels ready.
• I’m working on a new blog design.  I’ve liked the simplicity of mine but lately have been feeling it’s a little too bare.  I’m ready for a new look complete with correct names (sorry, NYDD is still up there coming on a year after the change) and updated likenesses.  It probably still won’t be for a while because I have a lot going on and it takes more brain power than I have some days but I’m happy to have it in the works.
• The other day Peanut was helping me in the kitchen, telling me stories, and being goofy while we got lunch ready.  As we were going over to the table to eat she reached around, put her hand on her lower back, and told me, “I think I threw my back out.”  I almost dropped the food I was carrying to the table I was laughing so hard.
• I’ve started having Peanut do some chores.  I’m going to try a few different methods to track what she’s doing each day but so far having her do some jobs has been a very good thing.  I’ve been thinking for a while that she needed to begin having some sort of consistent responsibility and talked to quite a few people about ideas for jobs and tracking and motivation.  I finally put it into action last week and am going to try a different method this week.  She’s done really well so far and I’m proud of her for (usually) being willing to work.
• We took a last minute trip to visit our parents yesterday.  ODD has been scanning some family photos for his mom so he wanted to pick up some more to work on.  It’s been so cool to see some of these photos!  Four-ish years ago we scanned all  8,000+ of his parents slides.  It was fun to see a lot of his family members in them but most of ODD’s pictures were taken on regular film and were developed into prints so most of them weren’t included in the slide scanning.  With this project we’re seeing photos of ODD as a baby that we’ve never seen before.  This afternoon he even scanned photos of his parent’s wedding.  These photos are priceless and we’re so excited to see them and share them with the rest of his family.
• We also helped my parents yesterday.  They bought some new furniture for their basement (it’s awesome!) and asked if we’d be able to help move it since my brother was out of town, my dad still can’t exert himself that much, and our friend who is living with them right now broke his collarbone a couple of days ago while skiing.  We were more than happy to help.  My strength training has paid off a bit because I was able to heft the couches into the house with ODD and my parents helped us angle them down the stairs.  I was quite impressed with myself even if ODD was chuckling at me as I proclaimed how strong I was.  If you saw me you’d probably be laughing, too, but it felt good to help and I was proud of myself.
• I’m planning out the dress I want to make for Peanut for Easter.  I’m excited about it but still need to find a pattern for it (not making up my own for this one) and figure out the colors I want to work with.  Then comes the hard part: figuring out a time I can actually sit down and put it together.  At least the ideas are rolling.

• My anniversary is this week.  I have been married for 7 years.  I’ll post more about that later, though.  Happy, happy day!
• ODD and I sang in church today.  It was a double quartet singing I Heard the Bells.  It sounded pretty from what I could hear and it was fun to sing again.  Peanut, who, for the last few weeks of after church practices, stayed in our bench and played with some toys from the church bag decided that would just not work for her today and followed us up onto the stand.  Wingnut was in his wrap but Peanut was free-roaming.  She brought a little mini magna-doodle with her, stood before the bishopric and drew pictures for them over and over during the song.  It was quite entertaining.  When the song finished and ODD went to get Peanut to bring her back to our pew she loudly called, “I don’t want to get down!”  several times before ODD could get her out of the chapel.  It was a very exciting end to our meeting.
• It’s a good thing Christmas is this week.  Our tree is pretty much dead.  It’s stopped drinking and is pretty crisp.  There are needles scattered beneath it but that could be because Peanut can’t seem to leave it alone and is always rearranging the ornaments.  Or “ordaments” as she calls them.
• I now believe I gave birth to a dog instead of a little girl.  Peanut chews on everything.  It’s so gross.  She’s always chewing on something whether it’s her own nails, the sleeve of her shirt, or a favorite toy.  Maybe it’s out of boredom.  I don’t really know.  Whatever the reason it’s been going on for over a year now and nothing I do seems to help.  It’s just gross.  Hopefully as she becomes more socially aware she’ll realize how nasty it is and stop.  Until then I’m considering exchanging some of her Christmas gifts for chew toys from the pet store.  Just kidding.  Sort of.
• I think my postpartum balding has finally slowed and hopefully stopped after 8 months.  With all the hair I’ve lost I could make a full wig.  ODD doesn’t appreciate me shedding all over the house either.  Yeah, it’s gross, but that’s part of my postpartum life.  Now I’m sporting the lovely mom-halo because of my pretty new growth.
• My phone is available for an upgrade now so I’m looking around.  Any suggestions?  I currently have a Nokia flip phone.  It’s fine and works well but I’m ready for something new.  I’m thinking of maybe this one in blue.  I like a little phone and don’t want a full keyboard.  I’m still looking around but hopefully in the next few weeks I’ll have a new phone.  Do you like your phone?
• I still have some sewing to do before Christmas but first I need to put my sewing room back together.  I tore it apart looking for some things and it’s a disaster.  I probably won’t get it all put back together before sewing but I need to at least get it workable.  I’m also excited to cut some fabric because I got my sewing scissors sharpened the other day.  A local quilting shop was offering a really good deal on sharpening and I realized my scissors have never been sharpened in the years I’ve had them.  I only cut fabric with them but I think they were still getting a little worn down after so many years.  They look sharp and pretty now.  I can’t wait to use them again.

• I have a couple of cartons of Eggnog in my fridge.  I love that stuff.
• We made taffy on Tuesday.  It tastes yummy but we layered several layers of more taffy and waxed paper on top of each other in a pan because we didn’t have counter space to put it all and the bottom layers got really smashed flat.  We didn’t plan on giving any of it away so it isn’t a big deal.  We just think it’s funny.  They look like big flat amoebas.  Peanut keeps helping herself to it all day long and I’m sure it will be gone soon.  Well, the real taffy will.  ODD insisted on making molasses taffy too but we didn’t have any molasses at the time so he used honey instead (the recipe said it was okay).  I will eat honey in things like peanut butter balls and granola and I like honey butter but I really dislike the taste of honey by itself.  I helped ODD pull it all and the smell was enough to make me gag.  Peanut loves honey and even she didn’t like it.  ODD loves it, though, so we’ll see how much of it he actually gets eaten.  I’m guessing we’ll be throwing some of his honey taffy out.
• I noticed today that one of the gallons of milk I bought last week expires on Christmas Eve.  I don’t know why I think that’s so cool but I do.  Yeah, I’m a geek.
• ODD went Christmas shopping on Tuesday and wrapped everything up and stuffed it under the tree.  I don’t think I will ever understand his drive to put every gift under the tree before Christmas but whatever.  I did manage to convince him to keep a few things hidden until Christmas so Santa has something to bring.  The morning after ODD set the presents out Peanut saw them (ODD did all his wrapping after she’d gone to bed the night before) and has asked incessantly if she can open them.  Wingnut does ask.  He just does it.  He crawls over to the pretty paper, grabs a random piece that isn’t taped down well and pulls of little pieces which he immediately tries to stuff in his mouth before I can get to him.  It’s disturbing to Peanut that he can tear the paper off and she isn’t allowed to.
• I need to spend some time sewing.  I have a few things I need to make before I can wrap everything and I’m hoping to get most of it done tomorrow.  We’ll see if that actually happens.
• We went to a party last night for ODD’s residency program.  It was at a very nice home in Bountiful.  I finally got to meet everyone ODD works with.  I can’t remember why I didn’t go last year.  I was probably still feeling like crap while pregnant with Wingnut.  I’m glad I was able to go this year.  I’ve heard so much about all these people and it was nice to finally put faces to all the names.  The Chaos’s watched the kidlets (thanks Lady!) and it was nice to enjoy the party without worrying about them breaking something or crawling all over us while we visited and ate.  It was a fun few hours.
• I’ve been singing Christmas songs with Peanut every day.  ”Jingle Bells” is a big hit though she sings it “Tinker Bells.”  She also loves “Deck the Halls” because of the “Fa-la-la-la-la” part.  She knows none of the other words but she sure knows the “Fa-la-la” bits and sings them with gusto.  In Primary we’re learning the sign language to “Silent Night” so she likes to do that with me, too.  It’s so fun to see her learning all these song.  I love Christmas music and hearing it sung with my little girl’s sweet voice  makes me tingle.
• Wingnut began crawling forward on Thanksgiving day but what he’s really wanted to do since, well, birth, was walk.  Despite the ability to get around so quickly by way of crawling now he still tries to stand and walk any chance he gets.  On Tuesday night we were in the living room and Wingnut crawled over to the center of the couch, used it to pull himself up to standing, then started to “cruise” from the middle to one end.  It surprised me and I wanted to get it on video so I sat him back on the floor and while I got my camera and turned it on he did it again.  He did it one more time before he realized I was close by and wanted to snuggle with me so I didn’t get much on video.  He’s quite determined, though, and has done it a few more times since.  He’s going to be walking before I know it.