Happy Thanksgiving

I've always contended that, in a past life, I was the ultimate Betty Crocker wife and mother...either that, or a farmer's wife with a house full of mouths to feed. Reason being: I'm notorious for over-cooking. If we're expecting 4 for dinner, I instinctively make enough to feed at least 8. I also get a strange pleasure out of planning, organizing and making things "just so" in my home (although, if you were to happen to drop by on any given occasion, you'd question the above statement).

Another occurrence to substantiate my past-life theory: Every Thanksgiving morning in recent memory, I've awoken really early--I mean, unreasonably early--not because I have to, but because my body wakes me up around 5am or so (as I write this, it's currently 6:26am and I've been up for about 30 min or so, after laying in bed for awhile, trying to will myself back to sleep). I like to think of this behavior as a reflection of, what famed Psychoanalyst, Carl Jung would call our "collective unconscious". Collective unconscious has been described as a "storehouse of latent memory traces inherited from man's ancestral past, a past that includes not only the racial history of man as a separate species but his pre-human or animal ancestry as well.*"

Generations of domesticated housewives and mothers have arisen at ridiculous hours of the morning on Thanksgiving Day for years and years (or at least since 1863--it wasn't until 1863 when Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday in November Thanksgiving that the tradition really became part of America's culture. The only other change was when Franklin Roosevelt changed the date to the fourth Thursday in 1939*), tied aprons on, put a silky scarf on over their rollers, popped a Valium with a bloody Mary chaser and began the task of cooking the Holiday meal. Somewhere, encoded in my DNA, is the latent urge to get up before the sun and begin basting, sauteing and chopping. Even though I don't usually have to cook on Thanksgiving Day, I've learned not to even fight the urge anymore because my body won't let me go back to sleep. I only wish that the Macy's parade started earlier, so that I'd have something to watch on tv instead of infomercials. OR, even better...if the notorious, "Black Friday" shopping event were to happen on Thanksgiving morning instead of the day after. I could totally be up, dressed and ready to go at 4am on Thanksgiving morning, in order to elbow, kick and punch other people for $5 off of an electric blanket at Sears.

Since you've been so patient with me and my wordy, nerdy post, I'll include a picture for your viewing pleasure. Did I tell you that Santa stopped by my house last weekend, during our early Thanksgiving celebration? (When, yes, we did have way more food than was necessary--just the way that I like it.)

Anna was not digging Santa so much and, pulling from her collective unconscious, hung onto her Daddy like a baby baboon on a banana tree

*Thanks Mom and Dad for all of that money spent on college. I think that I just finally redeemed it's value in this post. Oh and how cool is the internet for plagiarism? Kids these days...so lucky. When I was a kid, I used to have to walk 3 miles in the snow to get to the library, to plagiarize from actual books.

8 years

Today is our 8 year wedding anniversary. These lyrics to the Indigo Girls song, Power of Two sum things up nicely, I think:

I took us for better and I took us for worse
Don't you ever forget it
Now the steel bars between me and a promise
Suddenly bend with ease
The closer I'm bound in love to you
The closer I am to free

How'd we get so lucky? I love you, Kev...

Conversations with a toddler at 8am on a Thursday

I just went into Anna's room to get her out of bed. My sinus headache for the morning had just set in, so I was moving slowly with deliberate movements. Here's the dialog between my daughter and I:

Mommy: Good morning, Anna! Are you ready to get out of bed and start our day?

Anna: No, thank you. (which is her new thing and makes the many, many "no's" that I get from her everyday much more bearable and downright cute)

Mommy: Ok, then Mommy is going to sit here in the chair and wait until you're ready to get out of bed (as Jenny slowly sits down, clutching her head at the blood rush from that simple movement)

Anna: Mommy? Are you ok?

Mommy: Yeah, it's just this headache that I can't seem to shake...

Then it dawned upon me that I was totally having a real conversation with my daughter. What a trip.

Random thoughts

So, I've just learned recently that typically, in the South, it's called "dressing" and in the North, it's called "stuffing". I've always called my favorite part of Thanksgiving "dressing". I like mine the way that both of my grandmothers make it--moist, gooey and mealy. I think of stuffing as "Stove Top"--more cruton-esque. I like a forkful of dressing with a smidgen of cranberry sauce and a bite of turkey. Yum. Bliss.

I saw a 12 year old girl yesterday at one of our neighborhood parks, working out with her trainer. The trainer had her scaling the monkey bars, walking on the playground curb like a balance beam and running in the field next to the park. When did it come to pass that parents had to hire a trainer to teach their kids how to play at the park?

After dropping the kidlet off at school yesterday, I high-tailed it to Macy's for one of their "early bird, door-buster" sales. There wasn't really anything that I needed, but it never hurts to look, does it? I ended up getting a few things, but the most entertaining aspect was watching people fist fight over super cheap kitchen tools and turkey roasting pans. Also, Macy's had advertised a 6.5 foot, pre-lit Christmas tree on sale for $59.99, provided you arrived there before 1pm (the store opened at 8am). I was there at about 9:30am and the hoards were descending upon the Christmas department to claim a tree. They were told by an employee that the trees were sold out--that people were lined up outside the store at 7am, in order to get in the doors right at 8am to buy a tree. There were some livid people in that store. I really felt for the poor Macy's employees yesterday. By the way, in case you haven't seen it, the Martha Stewart stuff at Macy's is gorgeous. I want. All of it. Pretty please?

Behold the gluttony

This is in no way a bossy wish list--merely an explanation of what Anna's currently into to help, in the off-chance that you were contemplating buying her a little goodie for the upcoming Holiday or her birthday.

We've put out a memo, sent an email and might write a letter too (must go buy stamps first--grrr. I haven't physically mailed a letter in months) to Santa Claus to see if Anna could maybe score a toy kitchen for Christmas. She's been a good girl, so I don't see why he wouldn't be able to fill this request. Anyway, she might enjoy some of the accessories that go along with a toy kitchen like pretend food; pots and pans; etc.

Her favorite shows are currently Jack's Big Music Show, Yo Gabba Gabba and Blues Clues. Amazingly, she knows all of the character's names on Yo Gabba Gabba. I seldom watch that show with her because, first of all, it makes me twitch and want to carve my eyeballs out of my head with a melon baller and secondly, it comes on at 4:30pm, followed by Blues Clues at 5pm. That gives Mama an hour of Zen every afternoon because Anna parks it in front of the tv for that hour (such an admirable parenting style. I'll be penning a book soon to share my skillz.) and stays still and quiet for the whole time. This affords me the opportunity to get dinner started, clean up the house, or more commonly, scour the internet for the latest celebrity gossip. As a result of my not being that familiar with Yo Gabba Gabba, I was shocked the other day when I mosied through the living room while it was on and she was shouting the character's names out, during the introduction at the beginning of the show. From what I can tell, Brobee seems to be her favorite but she also likes Muno too.

As always, books are a hit in our home. It's nice now that she can sit still through a little longer, more involved book. Makes reading fun for all of us.

For clothing, she's consistently wearing a 2T these days, but pants can be iffy. Some 2T pants are acres too long and even huge in the waist. She's wearing lots of little leggings now because they are more forgiving size-wise. I would give you her info on shoes, but she's very particular about shoes--and this is an entry (and future psychoanalytical thesis) for another day entirely. She currently will only wear 1 pair of shoes (Stride Rite, size 5.5W) and will allow her Crocs, when applicable. I have a cute pair of black patent leather shoes that I've been hiding for months now, that I have hopes will complete her Holiday outfit, but alas, do not be surprised if you see her in a velvet dress, white tights and hot pink Stride Rite sneakers.

I'll post more ideas as they come to me. Again, this is in no way a plea for stuff. I just thought it would at least be entertaining if not informative, if you wanted to know what is currently bloating Anna's goat.

Cuteness Personified

Kevin and Anna, on a walk.

This past weekend, I was sitting in the front room and heard a conversation being had as people walked by outside. I looked out the window to see my husband and daughter, strolling down the street, engaged in discussion. My heart melted a little. They are completely over the moon for one another.

All dressed up...

A few weeks ago, Anna started showing an interest in dressing up in other people's clothes. This first picture is of her in Mama's shoes, sweeping the floor. Cute, huh?

It goes downhill from there. The above picture is of our dear child with her Daddy's underwear on her head. Fear not, they were clean...but still.
Then today, I caught her with one of my bras tightly wound around her. She was very proud of herself, as she marched her shopping cart (with it's basket full of toilet paper?!) down the hall "wearing" a bra.

The zoo and other fun places to wallow in self-pity

This day is gorgeous and I'm officially sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. I figured that, instead of laying on the couch all day, feeling sorry for my sick self and letting Anna watch copious amounts of television, we'd go to the zoo and feel sorry for ourselves there, while potentially spreading our germs to other parents and children. Misery loves company.

Anna really enjoyed the playground at the zoo--especially this Hippo that she claimed as her own. (Disclaimer: This is not a real, live Hippo)



Next, we went to visit Liberty, the bald eagle. Anna thought it was fun to sit in the eagle's nest and act like a bird. She said, "Tweet! Tweet!". I didn't have the heart to tell her that eagles probably don't say, "Tweet! Tweet!" but I also didn't know what bald eagles do "say" so, who cares. Leave me alone. I'm sick.

Then, I mentioned that those two white things were eggs and she stated that she wanted to eat the eggs--which she then proceeded to attempt.

I can't imagine why we can't seem to shake this nasty cold.

It's not you, it's me. Promise.

Dang, people. Nothing like a couple of controversial posts to get people to come out of the woodwork and speak up.

First of all, regarding the "Hipster Baby Names" post:

Do not fret. We will not be naming our son Mangus or Roscoe (although, Kevin might lobby a little for Roscoe, in honor of his beloved Dukes of Hazard). If you know us at all, you know how I feel about "new-fangled" names. Trust that we will name this baby something traditional and normal.

Secondly: My political post from yesterday was a result of having been awakened from a nap twice by automated phone messages from various politicians, (one of which, entirely recorded in Spanish) reminding me to vote. I've been battling these dumb allergies for a month now and generally feel like poo (on a good day). Yesterday, I really needed a little snooze while Anna was napping and those two phone calls did not set well with me. That launched me into a Tazmanian Devil-style tizzy of political rage that has been building with each and every >>>>FWD'd political email; dirty campaign ad; etc. I don't think that I'm alone in this political fatigue and I think that most people are just ready for it all to be over with. The responses that I got from that post just further prove how emotional people feel about this election--which is a good thing! It's refreshing to see people get passionate about their future. Now, stop bitching at me. I'm pregnant and sick, for Pete's sake.

Here's hoping that we can all still be friends.

Open Letter

Dear anyone who tried to sway my opinions during this election primarily via email but not excluding automated phone messages, tv commercials or other passive-aggressive tactics,

First and foremost, I voted early last week so there has been no need to call me repeatedly for the last 8 days now to remind me to vote...oh, and the ugly forwarded emails can stop now too. Also, there's no use in telling me who (or who not) to vote for; for calling me an idiot or (my personal favorite) less of an American because I didn't vote the way that you did--what could be more American than citizens with different views having different goals and ideas for our country and expressing those views and goals by voting for parties or politicians whom they feel represent their interests? I made my own, educated decision, based upon my own world view and my personal aspirations for our country--isn't that what exercising your voting right is all about? I feel good about the decision that I made and, contrary to what you might think, it wasn't the "wrong" choice, if I happened to vote differently than you did. It was the choice that I feel represents me and my needs, as a citizen of this country, at this moment. Period.

This is not to say that I might not one day look back and wonder if I made the right decision, but last week, when I voted, it was the right decision at the right time, for me. Sadly, while I do like a lot of what the Presidential candidate that I chose has promised, there are things that I don't agree with. I think that it would be rare to find an informed citizen who agrees 100% with the candidate that they chose, but I digress. I'm not trying to sound holier than thou or elitist because, in the end, I'm guilty of probably voting not entirely for the person who got my vote, but admittedly more so against the other party and what they represent. Being a woman and the mother of a female greatly influenced my vote this election and I'm hopeful that tomorrow will be a new beginning for this downtrodden, damaged country.

To sum up: This is why I don't discuss politics and prefer to keep my political opinions to myself. I'm not self-centered enough to assume that everyone wants to know (or cares) who I'm supporting and would change their mind, based upon the decision that I've made. I'll be glad when it's Wednesday, Nov. 5 and we can all go about our business, live our lives and play with the political hand that was dealt to us, without trying to impose our ideas and opinions on one another. My experience in this election has been that the most vocal and rigid in their opinions tend to be the most ignorant.

Please leave me and my vote out of it. I, personally, can't take it anymore. See ya on the flip side of Nov. 4.

Respectfully yours,
Me

Halloween Re-cap

We were really unsure how Halloween would go over this year with Anna. She's not a fan of dressing up so I knew that I had to broach that subject carefully with her. I chose a simple, comfortable costume for her: The classic witch. We found, pretty early on, that if we called the witch hat her "funny hat" Anna responded much better to it (she's really into being funny these days). I made no big deal out of getting her witch dress on her, putting on her Great Pumpkin socks and handing her her broom (which was also a big hit). Then, we informed her that we were going to a party (our neighborhood has a great blockparty every year--it really takes the pressure off of families to trick or treat and gives you something to do besides sit at home and give free candy out to ungrateful, 19 year olds and their 27 year old mothers). The above is a cute video of us as we headed off down our driveway for the party. As you'll see, Anna really embraced her "inner witch" and had a lot of fun.

Our first stop, on the way to the party, was a quick "trick or treat" across the street at our neighbor, Ms. Leslie's house. Anna had never trick or treated before, but she seemed to get it. Ms. Leslie had a cool "spell book" that cackled and talked when she opened it and the candy was hidden inside of the book! She opened it for Anna and Anna promptly chose a Snicker's bar and then said "Thank you!" and put the candy in her pumpkin bucket. A perfectly executed trick or treat! After getting her candy, she played for awhile in Ms. Leslie's yard, amongst the pumpkins, mums and ghosts (oh my).


Next stop was the block party. Anna got to go on her first hayride and had a grand time! She ate some of her newly-acquired candy, got to pet some sweet doggies, played with other children and had an excellent time!

We were very proud of our little witch on her big night.