Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Why I Like Dumbo

Let's be honest for a minute. I'm going to lose my few readers, probably. But I have to finally admit it.

I hate Disney.

I HATE DISNEY.

I don't know if it's leftover jealousy from never having gone to a Disney them park as a kid. Or if it's when I realized "Happily Ever After" leaves too much left to chance and I really questioned how those princess marriages actually worked out, considering the princes usually only just met the women and were married quickly after. Or maybe once I saw how much commercialism went into the damn brand, I boycotted it.
BUT ...

Friday, July 19, 2013

Simple Mom, take me away!


About a month ago, I was in a rut. Not even a rut of boredom. It was a hectic rut. My anxiety levels were through the roof. Sleep, which is when the sub-conscious is supposed to file all those thoughts and memories into neat little folders for me, wasn't as efficient as it usually was. I kept just feeling like I was barely hanging onto sanity.

The only time I was able to focus on anything was when I gave my 110% to L. And then, I realized that meant I wasn't giving anything to myself. I was in a mental place where I felt like I didn't deserve it. I had let any idea of a diet fly out the window because I couldn't afford to eat well. My bills were paid exactly on their due date because of an e-mail reminder, and the ones with automatic withdrawl usually weren't accounted for in my head so I would overdraw my account. (Luckily, thanks to "Friends," I put 10% of my paycheck into a savings account, but by the end of the two weeks after getting paid, I usually have transfered most, if not all of that, over to my checking account.)

My only form on entertainment for myself were podcasts I began listening to in the car to and from work. I had gotten sick of the radio. And I don't just mean the Top 40 stations since those don't even have a preset in my car. But I mean my alternative station wasn't any good anymore. My oldies station just wasn't playing music that I felt fit my mood, even NPR was just too much, especially after working at a newspaper for eight hours and the last thing I wanted was to hear about the news I just had to read about.

Our new addition


We're proud to announce an addition to the Self-Evident Supermom household. Meet Biff the Basil Plant.


Appropriately named after Marty McFly's archenemy in "Back to the Future." Not that the basil is a bully, but because one of boyfriend's friend will seem to see Biff everywhere. Wherever we go or whatever we watch, he's convinced Thomas F. Wilson plays a role in life in general. He will then ask, "Is that Biff?" and we've just started saying yes.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

It all comes down to yoga pants

* Warning, I drop the F-bomb when I finally realize I have to do laundry.


I also should note that I will do laundry when L. needs a load done. But, usually that just means I throw my yoga pants in with her stuff.

The War

My darling sleep,

How I already miss you. I was taken away from you too soon this morning, not even by the Enemy, but by a thunderstorm, which in turn woke the Enemy from her slumbers.

When hoping to reunite with you during our usual afternoon rendezvous while the Enemy napped, a new strategy was used that our side was not prepared for: the Enemy has learned to climb out of her prison cell, or "crib," as we call it here on the battlefield. The sound of "thumps" came from Enemy camp as she fell onto the floor and promptly kept playing.

Soon, she had wandered over our line, camouflaged in dirty PJs from the laundry basket that, fittingly enough, said, "Too Cute to Sleep" and with a huge grin on her face, causing our side to erupt into hysterics.


Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Progression of a kids song ear worm

Earlier in the day, I had been listening to L.'s CD of nursery rhymes and toddler songs. "Little Bunny Foo Foo" was one of her favorites so we had sung it probably four or five times that day.

Later at work, I found myself still hearing the melody in my head as I was working.

(Also in this picture, next to the bottle of generic Aveeno, you will see my Simple Mom Daily Docket, the closest thing I have to a personal assistant. More on that in a future post about the Simple Mom podcast and website and my love for Tsh.)



Hypothetical Question


Would you rather .... 

Have an extra arm to help with every day parenting things? Or have Mary Poppins' bag that contains anything you could possible need or want (or, more importantly, forgot to pack)?

This question popped in my head as I was on a long car ride home with L. and she fell asleep. I could tell the AC was a little too cold for her, and I wished I could have easily gotten the blanket out of the trunk. So, digging through what many of my friends refer to as the Mary Poppins mom bag, I figured the changing pad would just have to do.



But, the third arm could also come in pretty handy, especially today when I put the keys down to get L. into the car and the stroller in the trunk, only to find L. had grabbed them and had locked all the doors. Luckily, the trunk was still open so I could climb in and get them from her.

How I reclaimed Facebook for FUN


* Made while procrastinating cleaning.