I'm thrilled about McCain's pick, Sarah Palin, for Vice President. The more I hear about this women, the more I like her. I can envision a member of the Executive, the first in my lifetime, being a true role model.
When Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the House, I was very inspired. While I disagree with Nancy Pelosi on close to everything of importance, and find her contradictions between Catholicism and values quite appalling, the road she took to get to where she is now is admirable. A mother of five, she stayed at home with her children until her youngest was nineteen. Only then did she venture into politics. I love the dedication to her family and children and the successful results it yielded in her political career.
Sarah Palin is another one of those stories, although because of her dedication to life and ethics issues, I can truly count her as someone to look up to. A mother and a leader, she first became involved in her local PTA. She then was elected mayor, proved effective, and slowly proved herself in state committees and became Governor. Now she's McCain's pick for Vice President.
Her story gives me hope after assuming that to be a nominee it was necessary to go to Yale or Harvard, be born into "old money," and be a part of high society.
A future President might be lurking out there right now, organizing play dates, or raising money for schools. In the "Land of Opportunity," we grow up being told anything is possible. In this situation I believe that phrase.
This Veep is my Peep ;)
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
Getting Organized
This is the first fall in...gulp...19 years for me, and 21 years for Mark that the fall doesn't bring a new school year. No more shopping for No. 2 pencils, cool folders, and new school clothes. The fall does, however, bring a new job for Mark. In place of school shopping we've been spending our last days of summer wrapping up loose ends, making phone calls, taking trips to the dentist, and taking Luke to the places we've been meaning to all summer.
Exhaustion has taken over most of motivation in the last weeks, with my closest thought being how many hours I have to get through before I can go back to bed. I haven't been cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, or keeping Luke adequately entertained. While most of this is to blame on the Lunesta effect of pregnancy, I'm getting fed up with my lack of enthusiasm and want to do better. With Mark starting work as an attorney, me juggling staying home with Luke, working evenings, and carrying another baby, I've got to get it together.
My plan of attack revolves around goals, these are a few I came up with tonight. Sticking to them will be tough, but routine is my friend and I'm ready for a reunion.
1. Plan lunches and dinners two weeks in advance based on coupon sales and seasonal produce.
2. Go grocery shopping before working all weekend wipes my butt.
3. Get up! Get up! Get up! Don't wait to make coffee until 9:00am, make it at 7:00 when I wake up. Eat breakfast and get dressed early!
4. Do laundry everyday. Whether it be an actual load or just putting away a basket of clean clothes, do it everyday.
5. Read more to Luke, take Luke to storytime, develop a reading routine Luke looks forward to.
6. Nap when Luke naps.
I start tomorrow.
Exhaustion has taken over most of motivation in the last weeks, with my closest thought being how many hours I have to get through before I can go back to bed. I haven't been cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, or keeping Luke adequately entertained. While most of this is to blame on the Lunesta effect of pregnancy, I'm getting fed up with my lack of enthusiasm and want to do better. With Mark starting work as an attorney, me juggling staying home with Luke, working evenings, and carrying another baby, I've got to get it together.
My plan of attack revolves around goals, these are a few I came up with tonight. Sticking to them will be tough, but routine is my friend and I'm ready for a reunion.
1. Plan lunches and dinners two weeks in advance based on coupon sales and seasonal produce.
2. Go grocery shopping before working all weekend wipes my butt.
3. Get up! Get up! Get up! Don't wait to make coffee until 9:00am, make it at 7:00 when I wake up. Eat breakfast and get dressed early!
4. Do laundry everyday. Whether it be an actual load or just putting away a basket of clean clothes, do it everyday.
5. Read more to Luke, take Luke to storytime, develop a reading routine Luke looks forward to.
6. Nap when Luke naps.
I start tomorrow.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Live and Learn: Nuks
Expecting another baby makes me think a lot about what I will do differently than what I did with Luke. Over the next several months I will recap mistakes, misunderstandings, and bad advice that will hopefully impact the first weeks with a newborn in a positive way.
Luke, while a wonderful little boy, was a high needs infant. The night he was born he cried all night with the pattern lasting a whole year. As a new mom, breaks were few and far between with Luke's constant need to nurse and be held. While his highs-needs temperament was, I believe, largely inborn, taking some extreme advice to avoid being a "bad mommy" didn't help. Below is my first installment of "Bad Mommy Myths," strictly my opinion, and definitely learned the hard way.
Bad Mommy Myth #1: Nuks
A few very popular baby experts, along with some advocacy groups (which shall remain nameless) claim that using a pacifier is a "lazy" way to console a baby, since the crying baby wants you, and the pacifier is a distant replacement. Also, these experts claim that using a pacifier will spell breastfeeding failure.
I took this advice seriously, firmly believing that using a nuk would make me a bad mother and make it impossible to nurse. I've since realized that many wonderful mothers use nuks and find them a life-saver. Who knows if a nuk would have helped Luke during those fussy days, but it would have been worth a shot.
Live and Learn.
Luke, while a wonderful little boy, was a high needs infant. The night he was born he cried all night with the pattern lasting a whole year. As a new mom, breaks were few and far between with Luke's constant need to nurse and be held. While his highs-needs temperament was, I believe, largely inborn, taking some extreme advice to avoid being a "bad mommy" didn't help. Below is my first installment of "Bad Mommy Myths," strictly my opinion, and definitely learned the hard way.
Bad Mommy Myth #1: Nuks
A few very popular baby experts, along with some advocacy groups (which shall remain nameless) claim that using a pacifier is a "lazy" way to console a baby, since the crying baby wants you, and the pacifier is a distant replacement. Also, these experts claim that using a pacifier will spell breastfeeding failure.
I took this advice seriously, firmly believing that using a nuk would make me a bad mother and make it impossible to nurse. I've since realized that many wonderful mothers use nuks and find them a life-saver. Who knows if a nuk would have helped Luke during those fussy days, but it would have been worth a shot.
Live and Learn.
Life Lesson: Everybody Poops
Laying on the couch this morning sometime between Little Einsteins and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse I get a tug from the two year old playing on the floor.
Holding up his biggest Brontosaurus and pointing to it's rear he asks, "Mommy, dinosaur poop?"
Half alive with fatigue and nausea I answer, "Yes Lukey, dinosaurs poop."
A minute later I get another tug and look down at the accumulating pile of the animal kingdom below. His inquisition begins easily with barnyard animals.
"Mommy, cow poop?"
"Yes dear, cows poop."
"Mommy, horse poop?"
"Yes my love, horses poop."
"Mommy, doggie poop."
"Yes darling"
"Mommy, kitty poop?"
"Uh huh."
Curious minds don't stop there, and I proceeded to confirm the inevitable that bison, turtles, elephants, moose, white tigers, panda bears, kangaroos, and every extinct dinosaur do, in fact, poop.
Some of you might be out there saving the world, but I'm teaching bowel fundamentals...one animal at a time.
Holding up his biggest Brontosaurus and pointing to it's rear he asks, "Mommy, dinosaur poop?"
Half alive with fatigue and nausea I answer, "Yes Lukey, dinosaurs poop."
A minute later I get another tug and look down at the accumulating pile of the animal kingdom below. His inquisition begins easily with barnyard animals.
"Mommy, cow poop?"
"Yes dear, cows poop."
"Mommy, horse poop?"
"Yes my love, horses poop."
"Mommy, doggie poop."
"Yes darling"
"Mommy, kitty poop?"
"Uh huh."
Curious minds don't stop there, and I proceeded to confirm the inevitable that bison, turtles, elephants, moose, white tigers, panda bears, kangaroos, and every extinct dinosaur do, in fact, poop.
Some of you might be out there saving the world, but I'm teaching bowel fundamentals...one animal at a time.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Back for Good
A month...wow, over a month since I've posted! It's both amazing and pathetic how I can't live without the computer during the winter months, but as soon as summer hits I'll go days without even checking my email. This summer proves even more unconventional with Mark around studying or job hunting.
Life is about to change for us drastically as Mark begins his first job as an attorney, we house hunt, and anxiously await our second baby due the end of March.
Not the most important, but weighing most heavily on my mind is the house hunting. Basically, I'm not cut out for it. I'm full of opinions, preferences, and full capability to make important decisions, however, I find the speed at which something so large and expensive can be purchased utterly daunting. I like to process my decisions, discuss pros and cons,pray a little, wait a little, and then just get a general feeling about the direction to go next. Home buying, unfortunately, meets none of my decision-making skills.
As adults, we are expected not to buy on impulse, to go the grocery store on a full stomach, only to purchase sale items, and to deliberate heavily between wants and needs. These mature criteria are thrown out the window for home buying, with the accustomed motto being "get it before it's gone," because, it will be gone if you don't get it!
When we do get a house, it will be bought on impulse and adrenaline; the chase that we win. Only after we're plopped on the couch in our new living room will I realize the full extent of what we've done. Let's hope Mark is little more confident than me!
Life is about to change for us drastically as Mark begins his first job as an attorney, we house hunt, and anxiously await our second baby due the end of March.
Not the most important, but weighing most heavily on my mind is the house hunting. Basically, I'm not cut out for it. I'm full of opinions, preferences, and full capability to make important decisions, however, I find the speed at which something so large and expensive can be purchased utterly daunting. I like to process my decisions, discuss pros and cons,pray a little, wait a little, and then just get a general feeling about the direction to go next. Home buying, unfortunately, meets none of my decision-making skills.
As adults, we are expected not to buy on impulse, to go the grocery store on a full stomach, only to purchase sale items, and to deliberate heavily between wants and needs. These mature criteria are thrown out the window for home buying, with the accustomed motto being "get it before it's gone," because, it will be gone if you don't get it!
When we do get a house, it will be bought on impulse and adrenaline; the chase that we win. Only after we're plopped on the couch in our new living room will I realize the full extent of what we've done. Let's hope Mark is little more confident than me!
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