This is sooooooo silly!!!

I love my pets, but Come On!!!

http://www.puptogo.com/

Love the one you're with....

Marriage is tough.

No one explains that to you when you are planning your nuptials. And no one explains to you as you are getting ready to walk down the aisle that there will be days that are no fun - at ALL.

But then again, no one tells you of the amazing, beautiful moments of everyday that mean so much more because of who you married.

There are those simple moments of love. These moments involve little things that wouldn't mean anything to anyone other than you, but your beloved does these little things for you and, for a little while, everything in the world seems right. It is all ok, and you can't imagine trading places with even the most privileged.

Love transcends all our own faults, our impatience and our selfishness. It is what makes love the most important of all the blessings God has for us.

Hug your baby. The one you don't have to diaper.

Least not yet.

Good Ideas from Daily Candy & Mmmmmunch

MMMunch's Tips for Picky Eaters from Daily Candy at DailyCandy.com. Good tips to keep your munchkin munchin' without the fussin'. For more, try out MMMunch.com Don’t Be a Short-Order Cook Unless your kids tip big, don’t take orders. That’s how picky eaters are created. Give them a choice occasionally, but remember management’s policy: You get what you get, and you don’t get upset. Involve Them Take them shopping. Let them pick out something new and have them help cook, because if they chose it or made it, chances are they’ll try it. Go Jedi Put a taste of a new food on their plates without explaining. Intrigue works better than bribery. Kids can smell desperation and will think if you’re selling something it must be awful. Change It Up Think outside the broc. Turn kale into kale chips. Carrot sticks into carrot juice. And pretty much any fruit can become a smoothie. Be Patient It may take ten to twelve tries before a kid likes something new. But it will happen if he can dip it, stick it, stack it, or roll it. Should have your picky eater chomping like a champ in no time.

Affordable Manhattan ~ no longer an Oxymoron?

YO!!

It's Monday. And the day has flown by....finally got Munchkin to take a real nap so he should be in a purty good mood when he wakes up.

Anyway, ....

So, a girlfriend of mine from Texas is heading up to my old stomping grounds in New York City for some holiday fun. To do this, in years past, if you did not LIVE in New York, going up there during the holidays normally meant you had to take out a second mortgage on your home in order to afford the hotel rates. After we moved down here to North Carolina a year or so ago, we looked into going up there to visit friends we left behind and to see the Nutcracker, as was our custom every Christmas when we lived in Manhattan. We had to can our plans however; in addition to 400.00 a pop to fly up there (normally about 180 outside the holiday season), hotel rooms were upwards of 600.00 a night - and this wasn't for any place nice. In fact I think one of the "hostels" on the Upper West Side wanted 300.00 a night - with a "shared" bathroom. Needless to say we laughed at that one. But then again, that is, or was, typical NYC.

After my little research for my girlfriend's trip, I am guessing people are no longer able to get a second mortgage on their homes quite as easily as they were two years ago. Flights are more reasonable yes, but the real tell tale sign is that prices on Manhattan hotels during the Thanksgiving - Christmas season in NYC have come down. Like, come down from Kilamanjaro (how do you spell that??) to the Dead Sea. Well, ....maybe not the Dead Sea, ...maybe more like Texas Hill Country. Where you can actually breathe without passing out.

So, one may actually be able to FIND a room (no.#1) and (no.#2) actually stay in NYC for less than 400.00 a night at a relatively nice hotel this holiday season.

Hey! - Monster,.....aghghgkk.....my cat wants to sit in my lap right now while I'm typing with my computer in my lap. Sorry buddy, not going to work.

Back to expensive hotels. Two years ago staying at the W (a very hipster hotel chain) in Manhattan at Christmas time (which is so so so cool in Manhattan, ...the lights, the carriages outside the park all done up in holly and bells, the amazing Christmas window displays at Saks & Bergdorf, the craziness of the hordes of tourists walking four by eight, shoulder-to-shoulder on the sidewalk - blocking your way as you're scrambling to catch lunch and coffee between meetings at work, causing you to come out of your tree and scream at them on the sidewalk (hence the "rude" New Yorker)) would have been close to 600.00 a night. That's not including the additional New York city sales and hotel lodging taxes, which tack on another pretty penny or twoTHOUSAND.

Now, today, as shown per my latest search on Kayak, to stay at the swanky W Times Square is a mere 280.00 a night. That's actually pretty damn good! Or, you could choose to stay at the Michelangelo, a gorgeous old New York hotel, for about the same amount of cash. If you're really in the mood to just throw caution to the wind, and you still have your job and health benefits in the otherwise economically traumatized year of 2009, you can actually get a room at the Plaza or the Peninsula for 700.00. You laugh - but you could not pay the bellman at the Plaza a few years ago to just let you in to gawk at the real pretty people. Today, you can actually pay him to kiss your @$$.

Amazing. Truly, truly amazing. Miracles never cease to happen. Even the little ones like being able to stay at the Ritz for less than 500.00 a night during peak-Manhattan-holiday insanity. Not that I could ever get my dear hubby to spring for that whilst I am unemployed. Not that I could ever justify it, ....even when I was employed.

What happens when half of the world gets laid off and the other half is afraid of losing their jobs??? Travel and lodging in Manhattan actually becomes somewhat affordable. At least, for those who never took out that home equity loan on their home.

I am a Sad Panda

There is this episode of South Park where the school has begun using this mascot to inform the children about sexual harassment. It's a bit sick and sad to have to inform KIDS about sexual harassment, but there is where I think you have a partial point of that episode. To further pad the increduluity (I made that word up) of the episode, the creators had the mascot be a panda, the "Sexual Harassment Panda." For those who were better occupied at that point in their life, you can quickly check out this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lLjYLNJDcw

At a certain point in the show, the mascot notes that he is, in fact, a very "sad panda." My hubby and I have since picked that line up from the show to identify the ridiculous in our life. For no other reason than it sounds funny, and usually works well enough to make the other person smile.

So, now that you are wholly thrown off point, yesterday I was a very sad panda. To top it off, there wasn't any real hilarity to the reason of the realization of what was going on. Yesterday, after getting some news that sort of sank my battleship, I think I hit some sort of realization about my life and what's going on with it right now. This enlightenment is definitely a mixed bag, mind you. Mostly, it's a sad, melancholy, grayish type bag. Which for the fashionista is quite fashionable this year, given the crappy economy and even bleaker outlook into next year (particularly if you are among the jobless right now. ...I use jobless because I HATE the word unemployed). And, ....sorry, if you're here for a good pick me up blogging, .....well, ....today this ain't the place to feast on the usual upbeat drum I play. Sorry again.

Back to the mixed bag. In the short term the underlying actuality of this "realization" means that I'm going to be a bit sad, a bit melancholy I think for a while. In the long term, however, I have to believe what is going on in my life is what has to be done, and thus, basically, I'm stuck at this place with no real way out.

This flash (at least to me anyway), was that being a mom - a full time, stay at home, wash the dishes and clean the house MOM - is lonely. First - I understand that I am the one to have chosen this road with all the fervor and determination of a woman claiming her freedom and her independence - except that I did it for the inverse reason, to stay home - and I wouldn't trade a second of my time with Munchkin for any other occupation out there. Not now in these first few years of his life. I want to be there for his smiling, his exploring, for every toy, spoon, fist and foot he puts in his mouth. I want to be there. I have to be here.

But.

It is lonely. I do stay in touch with my family, and my husband works at home so I get to see him, and talk to him of course (poor guy, .......talk about STUCK!), but I never realized how alienated you become, ...the ultimate caregiver to the kid. You get ousted from your previous life and societal merry-go-round you used to ride without even knowing the ride stopped and the carnival had moved to a different town. You're just there. Alone with your love, you kid,....and Munchkin is amazing. But, ....it's just us. And no one is going to come over for an afternoon of baby poop wiping and a dirty dishes cleaning bonanza. No matter how cool and appealing I think my kid is, this is it!! And all those things I used to take for granted (time to go to the gym, a pedicure every few months, getting my hair done, yoga, reading, coffee with friends, meaningful telephone calls and time to wax my legs (which my husband does actually bemoan as well), it is all gone. POOF.

Actually it feels a hell of a lot more like "SPLAT. Here is your new life."

Whaa?????

One of my sister's in laws tried to explain it to me once. I now want to flog myself and I feel like such a horrible, horrible haughty, judgmental feminatzi for not realizing at the time what she was trying to say - which basically is just freaking be my F$% friend!~!! Just call, email, etc. etc., just to let me know you still acknowledge my existence in this world. Maybe even watch the kid for me so I can go be social. Hello!!!!!! - knock knock!!!!!!! (that is her knocking on my forehead).

I get it now. What she was trying to hint at to the overly self-absorbed, dense matter of who I was (and still is sometimes), it that she ("me"(!!) now) hadn't, despite her self-imposed reclusiveness due to feeding and necessary nap time scheduling, fallen off the face of the earth. And us mothers, we love love love LOVE our little ones, so deeply we often cry when they are laughing. And who's kidding, for those of us who stay home by choice, we are waaaaaaay too anal to let anyone else raise our kid. Not that that's a bad thing. I just wonder if that means that it's going to be this way for a while?? Realistically, if I'm going to make sure he gets the sleep he needs (hence good naps at home, in a crib), eats well (food I make or what have you), and is connected to those who love him dearly (mom & dad), then it's going to be me at home, ...not a nanny. But then that means, well, ...that I really don't have time to go out and play like I used too. Even if we got a baby sitter a few days a week for a few hours, ...I guarantee you those hours would be spent grocery shopping or doing other house hold things and probably not a lot of "me" crap. So maybe it was all crap to begin with??

I realized last night that, outside of my husband, ...my life involves little else but the little one and me at this point. And though I would not change my decision, I do miss having the time with others outside the walls of our home. It's nuts. It's crazy. But that's the way it is.

If I'm going to raise Munchkin, it's going to be me. Dad has to be dad. I have to be mom.

That reality made me very, veeeeeeeery lonely yesterday. It hit because I found out I won't be able to attend a workshop with a yoga teacher here in December anymore (for those of you who don't know, I teach yoga too..........when I can). And YES, in the big scheme of things it is soooo not a big deal. It's pretty petty actually. BUT, it was something I was looking forward to, mostly because it was going to be paid for through the studio I used to teach at. That won't work out however because I recently was taken off the teacher's list because I just can't commit the time to the studio like I used to. That time is for family now. See, I can't in reality spend the time it takes to go take a class there because of the time away from home both in actual time spent there for the class (90 min+15 minutes to get in and out), the time spent going back and forth to the studio (a little over an hour), and the time it takes away from my time with my husband, who's already a little neglected considering that most of my time nowadays is spent on Munchkin. My family is part of my identity now and not that yoga studio. And for that place, if I don't live there I can't teach there. Hence, I won't be able to attend the workshop for free, which in turn means I probably won't go. Things are tight since I left work and the world decided to crucify bankers like my husband. But that's another posting.

It only takes a second of playing or crying with Munchkin though for me to realize what's important - and at this point it's him. I guess Mom's life can take a small hiatus while his life begins its journey. Since we're his parents, it needs to be us there with him.

Most of my friends who have gone back to work really didn't have the choice. Situations and finances required it. For the most part, that's us as well, but at the moment we are geographically situated in one of the bleakest areas for the kind of work that I do, with or without this pissy economy. So I'm staying home. I'm not saying that going back to work isn't in the cards for me. It is, but not at this age where every day is a whole new world for our little one. We are lucky right now to be able to enjoy it with him, and that's something I need not forget.

For most of our stay-at-home mom's out there, ....I just don't think we as a society understand (I didn't anyway) how much work this is and how isolating it is. Our working counterparts who had the choice and decided to go back tend to look down their nose at us as a little lazy, since they are doing both jobs, or at least wearing two hats at the same time. At this point I'd have to say I could not wear both hats well and with penache. I would look disheveled and disoriented with no real satisfaction for being able to do a really good job at either. That's just me though. I'm not that talented. Then there are the women who stay at home but have the luxury of not really cleaning or cooking and just mothering. To them I say bravo and I wish many many times a week I could trade places with you. Especially after having just destroyed the kitchen with an attempt to impress my husband. There are also, however, other women who stay home who don't cook, clean or really do any mothering either. Their time is not all that limited when it comes to their personal time because they actually have the time. I think the problem comes in because the tendency to forget the kid sneaks in here and there until it becomes a bad habit that ends up taking up most of your time. The child becomes a nuisance, which is beyond heart break for me. Please understand I'm not saying you completely lose your self in the kid and totally sacrifice your identity - we all need a break now and then don't get me wrong, but I can't imagine handing Hayden over to someone who's not his dad or gramma to change his diaper or to play with him while I get dinner going. When the other extreme comes into play though, where you are so wrapped up in you that the kid is nothing but an afterthought, well, that's just shitty. The relationship with the child suffers (or utterly fails to exist) and after that I think you get just a really nasty attitude in the family as a whole. Each member a bit more self centered than the other.

I think, and this may just be my own justification or self preservation method kicking in here, that mom's who skip time with their babies when they are so young are missing out. Many of my friends who have gone back to work say they wish they could stay home. And I think even with feeling this isolation that I'm feeling right now they'd still do it. We, and they, didn't have a kid so we would have another distraction or pet project we'd only enjoy for a few minutes after work and sometimes on the weekend. There's a sector of our society that does that and we're not it. We had a child in order to have a family. A genuine, feeling, laughing, fighting family. That means you need to be there to be a part of it. As much as you can.

Us outcast, "unemployed" and hairy legged mothers don't regret our choice. It just feels unappreciated.

I get that now. And I guess it takes becoming a mom, ...a house cleaning, dish washing, dinner making, rushing to the store, rushing to the baby when it cries mother, to understand just how lonely it is.

Well, this lonely, tired momma is signing out. Tomorrow is a new day and I can't wait to see it.

Smoochies.

Shahan

So, why Test Momma??

Well, it stems from many things. From the fact that my husband and I are continually experimenting with new items and methods for raising baby and keeping a clean and somewhat tidy home, ...from the fact that every day of my life seems like a new test in varying aspects of the human condition, and because every day at one point or another my patience is tested to the nth degree.

Mostly though, it comes from the fact that I feel I am, crazily enough, a "test" mom for my Munchkin. You know, how some couples go out and get a dog or a pet of some sort to "test" the waters of what parenting would be like? That their new labrador is a test puppy? I feel like I am that test puppy. Except, ...in addition to being the test-ee, I am also the test-or. The dichotomy is offsetting. And truly no one, NO ONE - not your friends, not your parents, not your anybody - tells you how difficult this parenting thing is.

And they can't. There is no way to explain this to anyone. I had friends who tried. I have to say they sincerely tried to let me in on the tsunami that was about to hit and wash away my grass hut of oblivion. They gave me books, took me on trips with the kid(s), let me baby sit, ....but it just does not behoove the non-parent to listen. It was never that immediate or that important for me to pay attention before Munchkin showed up. It doesn't get that way until they show up. The exact second they are born you understand. You get it that this is going to be no cakewalk and it terrifies you. You call your parents, you pray to God and you start thinking about insurance, 401K's and wills. At the same time that this adrenaline rush of fight and flight hits you also feel the waterfall of love and caring beyond almost that that you have for your spouse, ........and the whole world could fall away, leaving you with nothing but that little grass hut of a life you have, and that would be ok. As long as you can keep them safe and happy, everything else is ok.

So, ....I am test momma. And this is my place to share the craziness of my life of parenthood and how it changes on a millisecond basis. That and some fun stuff too. Story-telling (more on that later), info on products and those who sell them (at least the ones I know and have tried, or would like to try, ....like the new Porche sedan, ....hey I can dream!!!), and a bunch of girl stuff like good deals, sales, hair, make up, celebrity gossip (hence yesterday's post), ...and a bunch of other mindless, wholly unimportant gibberish.

Oh and please talk back. I ain't your Momma.

It is a sunny day here in NC, ...

And honestly, I had a ton of stuff rolling around inside my noggin before I logged in, and now - "POOF" - it's all gone.

Welcome to placenta brain. At this point, it has lasted 6 months beyond the birth of my Munchkin. My doctor says it can last, ohh....., .....well into the 18th or 19th year of your child's life. Sounds about right. My parents didn't ever make sense to me until I was about 26. So it may last even a little bit longer.

Since today is a Saturday, I've not quite paid attention to the news. In fact our television hasn't been turned on at all today, which is something we are getting better at, limiting our zombie time in front of the TV that is. It honestly does turn your brain to mush. Dad, unfortunately, was right about that one.

Anyway, so I'm typing this while my hubby is out cleaning our water heater (fun huh??) and I'm jogging back and forth between the computer on the desk and Munchkin on the floor doing tummy time. For those, who like I about 6 months ago, are completely unawares of what "tummy time" is, it is the time you let your beloved little one grunt and groan and get frustrated and fussy - all while on his tummy on the floor. It's to build strength in their back, abdomen, etc., ....but in truth I think it builds character because they certainly get completely bent out of shape when being on their tummy gets frustrating for them, ...or they get tired. At this point (6 months), you don't know which because he has yet to truly develop the ability to say "I'm tired."

But we're working on it. Ha!

Munchkin's good though. He's learned that if we don't come running to his rescue to roll over and that usually does it for him. Then whatever is near goes in the mouth and he's happy. For a few.

I am also simultaneously (to blogging here in the stratosphere of Web-land), downloading the new software for the iPhone. Now, I was never a tech junkie like the man in my life prior to the gift of the iPhone (which I've now had near 3 years - a record for a cell phone), but I have to say...all things Apple are quite tasty. The iPhone is expensive yes, ....but it replaced about four other gadgets and has cost me NADA as far as the phone is concerned since the gifting of it. It doesn't break, it does freeze up occasionally but I hardly ever turn it off. I have all my music, email, links to Twitter, Facebook, pod casts, news, and about five or six games that can usually keep me from completely losing it in horribly boring company or an extra long wait at the doctor's office. It is truly the coolest thing out there. Of course, "out there" is somewhere I have not been in about eight months. So things could have changed.

I know fashion has changed. Boy do I feel like the lady in the mom-jeans now when I go to the mall. Oh well. I prefer to feel "country sheik," ...as opposed to goth, preppy, country club or college hooker, which seems to be the preferred mode of appearance for most girls now between the ages of 11 and 28. So sad. So much makeup, so little self confidence. Paris Hilton you did nothing but degrade the strength of young women as beautiful, smart and independent of the need for male approval. But then we survived Madonna's bustier's and see through tuu-tuu skirts in the 80's. We will survive the likes of you!!!

I have to say I do hope the new girl de jour, the absolutely otherworldly Maegan Fox, gives us more to leave to the imagination. So far so good. I think she's done something for Maxxim. I think there too though she still has some clothing on. Please girl, keep it real and keep it a secret. WEAR UNDERWEAR . Brittany is not a role model.

Actually, I can't say that anyone out there in celeb-land is anyone we should model ourselves after. Most of the realistic ones I would wager to say would support this - that they are not role models either. Most humans who are tracked every day of their lives and circumscribed by the criers of our time would not fit the bill. Indeed, the US Airways pilot who landed his plane in the Hudson river, I would consider a role model for that act. I don't know if 365 days a year, 16 hours a day, for the last 5 years of his life, examined and thoroughly criticized - that even he would stand up to the muster of a self righteous society. After nitpicking his actions every day of his life, I don't think I would want to model my self after him. Then again, maybe I should. He could actually be one of those people who live a very just and honest life. We all fail sooner or later, ....I think very truly it is just a matter of magnitude.

All this to say, please remember, celebrities are not role models. And that is A, B through R list celebrities. Hell, even Miss California got a boob job, compliments of the California taxpayers. Of course, it does make her a true-er spokesperson for the State of California.

Well, guess that's it for today. At least for now. I'm going to go be a better mom.

smoochies.

First Shot

Well, well, well. I finally got here! After all that time thinking and plotting, I'm finally here. My own blog.

Pretty much, this blog will concern the life and times of an immature girl (girl being a VERY relative term) morphing at warp speed into a mother. A mother of a loving, life altering human being. It is something you can't explain. It would take ten years of Oprah specials to explain to the non-mothering what this experience does to the inexperienced. It supersedes all concerns and those inane expectations of the childless. Both in the labor and the love created and exhausted in the pursuit of peace of mind in the care and rearing of your child.

But those are run on sentences aren't they???

This blog will also cover current events, the latest in skin care for the over-obsessed and fashion commentary. It will be "commentary" because I could never claim to know anything about fashion except that I follow it religiously. Sad but true. It is an art. I am but a student.

And hair. I have curly hair.

Which in turn means I have an obsession with "non frizziness." Hence the hair issue.

Soooooooooo.......at this late hour on the East Coast, ..........this will end my first entry.

I am TestMomma. Hear me More!!!!

Smoochie Woochies.