Go-Go Mommy

Photo Friday! 05.30.04 (Serenity now!)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Time to Beg for Fitness Torture!

Okay, so I'm entering the Citymama Wii Fit contest and I only have 10 mintues to do so, so this is going to be brief - which is saying a lot coming from me!

Here goes:

Most of you know I had 5 months of bedrest with Sweet Pea (aka dear daughter #2). Well, fast forward 16 months and I'm still trying to lose the last 10, make that 15 lbs that supposedly comes off when your done breastfeeding. Well, I'm mostly done (darn that nighttime routine!) so while I'm still waiting for those last few pounds to come off I realized that they probably wont magically fall off and glom onto someone else (preferably the many 40ish in-shape actresses I see on tv) so I thought I would do an "assist" and actually sign up with Stroller Strides to work out.

Here's the funny part. I've never in my life been a runner so what the bleepity-bleep was I thinking? I took my "city-sidewalk-only" jogging stroller and tried to push Poppy (4years) and the aforementioned Sweet Pea along with the other moms as we made our circuit around the park.

"The embarassing part?"; you ask. That would be when Poppy started to unbuckle herself and get out of the "moving" (barely) vehicle and announce "Mommy, I want to go faster so I'm going to run too." And then she was off. Off like the wind. Off like the girl who is living somewhere inside me (again, 15 lbs lighter AND in shape) and left me in her dust - literally. In fact. she glommed onto one of the moms at the head of the pack and stayed with that mom until the end of the session (yes, she is very social).

Maybe she wanted to pretend that was her mom who was in shape and could actually run, yah think? Anywho, apparently I NEED A WII FIT!

Photo Friday! 05.23.04 (WMH Gardens)

Here are some photos I took at the Winchester Mystery House gardens a few weeks ago when Grandma and Papa were here. Hope you enjoy!

Life Lately

Sometimes life comes at you hard and fast. It definitely feels that way in my life right now. The girls are doing well, KB is working harder than ever, and I am getting back to work. Not that I haven't been working beyond my expectations as a SAHM, but now I am even busier after the girls go to bed with a new project that will move me into the "WAHM" and "mompreneur" categories.

It is exciting to be so close to having something that will enable me to exercise my professional muscle again; to put my "thinking cap" back on and get back to a sense of business acumen. I will share more on this later, but in the meantime, I'd like to share my latest life moments that make giving up the "crazy rat race" in the first place so worthwhile.

Today I saw:
-Sweet Pea so beautiful and innocent at 19 months. She has the cutest wispy hair that is too baby fine and sparse to take her for an actual haircut but is now so long in the back and at the sides that it's starting to curl in all directions. It looks sweetest head-on where it sometimes sticks straight out beyond her ears and catches the light making her look like a little mad scientist. Because of this trait, she has affectionately also become known as "Bibble" in our household.

-Poppy lovingly putting shoes and a dress-up bonnet on Sweet Pea and Sweet Pea sitting quietly like a little, live baby doll, watching her big sister with enormous hazel eyes behind lashes that just don't seem to end.

-Poppy sweetly (and sometimes a bit bossy) directing Sweet Pea on where to go and what to look at as we toured some new homes today.

-The two girls together as one "read" a book (Sweet Pea) while the other talked on a pretend telephone (Poppy) and set up a "sleepover" with a close friend. I can finally see that while Poppy's hair is a more striking color, Sweet Pea's is getting close to becoming a toned-down version of the same unique color.

-Poppy help her little sister up into and down from various chairs around our house when Sweet Pea would make noise that she needed help.

-Sweet Pea inspecting all of the flowers at the newly landscaped model homes. She had to go up to each and every bloom and touch them. I'm not sure what she likes more, the color, the variety, or the feel of them.

-Poppy putting on her ballet leotard and slippers and dancing with Sweet Pea who was dressed in a sparkly green Tinkerbell outfit. The image of the two of them twirling and curtseying will always live with me.

In sum, it's so clear that while my new "job" may give me an avenue to pursue some of my personal passions and interests, it's still all about being here for the little moments.

Latest Project: Happy Birthday, Mom!

Well, here is the "before" and "after" of my latest knitted project. It started out as a hot pad or trivet but ended up being too wide so I made it into a dishcloth. The matching hot pads will follow (hopefully by next year's birthday)!

Happy Mother's Day!

What I got:

- A "picnic" breakfast in the living room. (The best breakfast ever complete with bacon, omelette, pancakes, cranberry scone, brioche bread, and the most yummy fried onion and potato dish ever. YUM!)

- A cup of tea in a colorful mug from my new set of "HuesNBrews". Beautifully painted colors of celery green, sky blue, orange, pale orange, and pale green. I love it!

- A new MacBook complete with Microsoft Office for Mac for my new business venture. (This gift was totally unintentional since we already had a MacBook but I kind of killed it when it fell off the shelf where I keep it when I opened the cupboard door. As Sweet Pea says; "Uh oh!" - More on the business venture to come soon!)

- A trip to one of our favorite towns to run around the "town fountain" and enjoy lunch out. (Still no cooking today for mom, yeah!)

What I am getting:

- My favorite dinner - linguini and meatballs with a delicious salad and fresh bread.

What I need most:

- Nothing, just to leave the computer and get back to enjoying this wonderful holiday.

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

Itching for the Holidays.

Poppy is definitely my girl in so many ways. First, for better or worse she seems to be almost a little carbon copy of me. (Scary for those of you who know me, I know.) But really, when Poppy, Sweet Pea and I are out shopping together, people always look at the girls and nod toward Poppy as they say; "She's certainly her mother's daughter." In other words, if you held up her current photo to one of mine taken at her age, they could be mistaken for being photos of the same person.

She can also be very firm in her convictions and will make a great movie and/or stage director one day. She loves to give people detailed instruction on how to play with a toy or what lines to say when playing "Ariel and King Triton."

However, the most telling feature linking Poppy to being just like me is that not only can she watch the same movie over and over about 30 times in one week (well, maybe not 30 but it certainly feels like that to KB and I) and she notices something new each time, but more importantly is the fact that it's not even June and she's already jonesing for the Holidays. How do I know? Well, the other day she had to watch "A Christmas Story". Or as she describes it; "You know, the one where the bad kid makes the other kid stick out his tongue and then he's stuck to the pole and the firefighters come and rescue him. That's the movie I want to watch, PLLEEEAASE!"

Of course, we watched it. Of course, we enjoyed it. Of course, it's not even June yet, and I usually don't throw in a holiday dvd or cd until about July but I just loved it. I loved that she thought of it. I love that we cuddled as we watched it and pretended it was snowing outside (again, another one of Poppy's directives). I just love that she shares one of my passions. Bring on the holidays! We're ready!

My Pre-Mother's Day Anxiety Attack

I'm sitting here not knowing what to do and almost literally "wringing my hands". No, tiny droplets of glistening dots are not forming above my upper lip and around my hairline because I live in Florida and it's 85 degrees with 110% humidity. And no, it's not because I forgot to pay the Comcast bill and I'm afraid that my DVR will be cut off from recording this week's American Idol shows (besides, I've forgotten to pay before and the only thing that happens is that I get double the bill the next month - no worries).

Give up? Okay, I'll tell you. It's because apparently Mother's Day has visited our household a week early and I was not prepared for it. Well, I know it's not officially Mother's Day at the Go-Go Mommy household because I didn't get breakfast in bed (which was my request for this year) and I didn't get any homemade cards from Poppy and Sweet Pea. But it feels like Mother's Day because this morning KB put all the dirty dishes into the dishwasher (and there was a pile from last night that I just didn't get to) and took the girls to the park so I could "have some alone time."

Oh I enjoyed about the first twenty minutes or so of it. I decided to be lazy and lie on the couch with a cozy blanket and watch an old black and white Dorsey Brothers movie that was playing while I knitted my Mother's Day gift for my mommy. Then, I started getting restless so I thought that I'd better get up so I would have time for a shower followed by a pampering bath before everyone got home.

Things were going along well, I got to shower in peace without someone coming in wanting something to drink, needing to brush teeth, etc. And then I lazily settled into the warm bath water with thoughts of putting on my new hip outfit (courtesy of a Heritage 1981 shopping spree I recently treated myself to for spring/summer clothes), and lovingly slicing bananas and strawberries for KB and the girls so we could have a quick snack before heading out to our Farmers Market.

Ahhh. My world was perfect - just the right amount of time to myself to catch my breath and then get back on my white charger so I can save my family from their hunger. I was out of the bath and ready to dry my hair when the phone rang. The voice on the other end says; "Hey hon, it's me. I just got your car washed and we're heading to the park now so I hope you're getting your rest."

"What?! You're just going to the park now?" I answered. And that's when things started to crumble. "You mean I'm not going to see all of you bounding in the door soon as I'm slicing fruit and doing my best "Mrs. Cleaver" imitation?"; "You mean you were able to take my car to have it washed and cleaned from top to bottom with two little ones running around (a feat which I have yet to accomplish)?" I wanted to say all these things and more but I simply felt my lips moving as the words "Great. I'll see you guys after the park." involuntarily escaped from my mouth.

I hung up the phone and felt my heart beginning to race... where do I begin? Do I go back to working on my knitting? Do I start my birthday project for my sister, "G", who is getting a decorated felted purse that needs to be finished this month? (No one tell her please. She's not on the internet so if she finds out about it I'll know someone blabbed!) Do I get on-line and check my email or write a scathingly snarky blog about mommybloggers who are too attached to their kids? THAT'S IT! I'll be able to write a post about my near miss with an anxiety attack.

What is wrong with me?! Can I be pulled back from the world of Martha Stewart Living? Do I even want to be saved?

These questions, and more, are going through my head as I write this post and then, TA DA, salvation came to me. Not as some cataclysmic realization that I could be using this time to practice my 10 minutes of mindfullness a la Maria Shriver (although that is a good option). Instead, it came in the form of a ringing telephone with KB on the line saying; "Honey, we're here at the park but it's pretty cold and windy so I don't think we'll be here long. We'll see you in about 15 minutes."

Yeah! Mama's back in business! And yippee! I just heard the "beep" of the horn as KB locked the car and Poppy and Sweet Pea are now running up our long walkway to see me! (Ahh, a hug from them is like manna from heaven.)

Look's like it's time for me to go cut up those strawberries and bananas! BTW, I'll be ready for the real Mother's Day next week, KB, I promise!

Original version posted on Silicon Valley Moms Blog.

Sorry mom, Maria Shriver has your "thank you" card!

Two nights ago, I attended a private talk and book-signing with Maria Shriver featuring her new book, "Just Who Will You Be?" I'm sure you'll hear this from every other mom blogger who attended but I'll reiterate just in case: Yes, she is even more beautiful in person. Yes, she is kind, gracious, and witty. And yes, she spoke from her heart and touched all of ours.

Maria Shriver is known for many things; she comes from a famous family, she has a famous husband, she is the First Lady of California, and she was a high-powered journalist - with an emphasis on "was". This became the impetus for her newest book. After she was asked to resign and give up her journalism career when her husband became Governor, she discovered that her twenty-five year career had been the major factor by which she defined herself. And when that vanished, she wasn't sure exactly who "Maria" was.

Sound familiar? How many of us have by choice or otherwise changed paths or are deliberating a change? How many are at a "personal versus professional" crossroad? How many of us define ourselves by our jobs, by our successes? How many of us are trying to find our own voice while we are the caretakers of others: spouse, children, parents, grandparents, etc?

As Maria spoke to our Silicon Valley Moms Blog group, she told us that the "theme" of all of her writing has been to create dialogue. And boy, did she ever with this one! As she spoke, she openly shared her inner struggle between her background where she was raised to constantly make herself useful and be doing something of importance (after all, with a father who founded the Peace Corps and a mother who founded the Special Olympics, she joked that maybe the only thing for her to do to top that would be to run for President like the rest of her family), and finally her realization that just being herself should be enough.

Many more great points came up in her talk and during the Q & A that night: how she takes 10 minutes a day to just be still and let her mind be still; how she struggled with work/life balance with the birth of each child; and how she manages to run her family while she created and is running an incredible volunteer network.

But the point that really resonated with me was when she said that the greatest gift we can give to our children is to let them know that "they are enough." To which I wanted to yell, "Hear, Hear"!

BTW, here's a photo of the thank you card I hand-stitched and gave to Maria for sharing her personal soulful journey. Sorry your "thank you" from Poppy will be delayed, Mom!