Variations on a Theme: Spring might, maybe, be cometh-ing.

Once again, it's been too long since I've posted here. BabyA has been/is teething, or at least I'm assuming that's the problem, from the drool problem she's developed.

(Note the shiny chin)

She has been waking up every hour to hour and a half, needing soothing and/or nursing. Since she's usually a very sound sleeper, I'm assuming this is being caused by teething, although as yet we lack any concrete evidence. Whatever. All I know for sure is that waking up every hour to hour and a half is wreaking havoc with my sleep schedule. I've been up since 5am, which is wrong on more levels than I can tell you. However, it should give me a chance to catch you up on what's I've been doing.

1) I discovered The Pioneer Woman. She is high-LAR-ious, and obviously ridiculously talented, as she not only has four young kids, but also homeschools them. And blogs about it. And also about cooking, and gardening, and photography, and her enduring romance with her husband. What a show-off. Sheesh. Seriously though, you should totally check out her site, it's the awesome. So is her Chicken Scallopine, which I made this week.

2) I also made Fresh Strawberry Pie, with this recipe from Epicurious.com. It consists of fresh strawberries in a kind of homemade strawberry gelatin base, and a shortbread cookie crust, which is good because I DO NOT make pie crust.


This pie tastes like summer. It's a good thing the snow is finally starting to melt, or it might just make me cry.

3) I am working on quantifying the magic that is my homemade burger.


Seriously, if I am remembered for anything after I die, it will be these burgers, they are that good. But I've never actually measured any of the ingredients - it's more of an 'Add rolled oats until the mixture feels dry enough' sort of thing. But my Bonehead Brother asked for an estimate so he could make them, which inspired me to attempt to create an actual recipe. My Bonehead lives in Calgary, which means they were cooking burgers outdoors about a month ago, the jerks. But since the snow has finally melted enough for us to get to our BBQ, and the weather has been above zero (Celsius), I made enough burgers for 2 or 3 meals. I'm freezing some of them for later.

4) You may have discerned somewhat of a theme from my activities, all centred on the idea that it is finally starting to feel like spring around here. It's still early spring, mind you, because our yard still looks like this.


But that's a hell of a lot better than it was at my last post, and it's a close enough approximation of spring that I can bbq, and make strawberry pie without crying. Which also means, I can start to garden. Not outside, of course, at least for another month or so, but I have started planning our yard for this year, and I'm hoping to get my seeds started indoors this week. Yay!!

Our yard, and especially our flower beds, are going to be alot of work this year, as they've been kind of neglected for the past couple years. Last year was kind of torture for me, as I was teaching all of May, too pregnant in June for much gardening, and then spent the rest of the summer recuperating from my C-section. The only gardens I got to enjoy were my lovely cousins' and the ones in Dunvegan. This year, with a lot of luck and hard work, I'm hoping to get the yard back into shape. I'm starting a bunch of perennials indoors, and hopefully some veggies (especially tomato plants) in my mother in law's greenhouse. I will be soliciting suggestions, so stay tuned for pictures of my beds and yard.

5) And finally, there's this.


Which I'm always working on. Or with. Or whatever. However you say it, this project is the one I can't live without.

Go be happy, people.

This weekend was quiet - we visited with some of GeekDad's stepfamily on Saturday, and did grocery shopping and movie watching on Sunday. I'm not sure why I specify stepfamily, because really, these people are just family. I totally lucked out on in-laws, I have to tell you. My mother-in-law is wonderful - kind and supportive and very careful of not overstepping her bounds. I find it kind of funny, because she never has overstepped her bounds, but she tells me about how she won't say something because she worries I'll be upset, and I can sense how much she loves both her son and I. And she is married to a generous and kind man, who comes with his own family, both immediate and extended, who have completely adopted us. It really is something to be grateful for.

Which leads me to my next topic - 365 days of Grace in Small Things. This project and network was started by fellow blogger Schmutzie, and it strikes me as a singularly fabulous idea. The purpose of GiST is to "Grace in Small Things exists because we are choosing not to allow the noisiness of life to rob us of the time and energy to be mindful of ourselves and those we love and to recognize the grace that exists in small things," by listing 5 things which make us happy every day. I have always found that remembering the good and happy things in my life helps me to stave off the occasional boughts of self-pity and a family tendency for depression. This just makes it a little more formal, and also, will give me something to regularly post about here.

So, here goes. Things I am happy for today:

1. My family, immediate, extended, and extended-extended. I love my family, and they make my life richer.





2. The colour of the sky on a bright winter day. I'm no fan of winter, but you just don't get that same clear blue in the winter. The sunshine is far preferable to the grey, overcast days, and I wish I could get my bedroom walls to be this colour.



3. My hair. Despite the changes pregnancy has wrought, I love my curly hair. It is easy to do, it recovers well from colouring, and it looks good both short and long.

4. Public radio. I don't like having the TV on constantly with BabyA here, and CBC Radio 1 keeps me entertained throughout the day.

5. Today, this video made me happy. It was posted by Schmutzie on the GiST website. The song is light and pretty, and the video is creative and interesting and happy-provoking.



Now, your turn. Go be happy.

Dear Santa Clause, for Christmas I would like...

I hope you don't think this Christmas list will involve schmaltzy stuff, such as family-together-time, or environmental fixes, or world peace. Because I'm far too shallow for that. This, in no particular order, is my pop culture Christmas list.

10. An Ironman suit. Or Ironman himself. Or Robert Downey Jr. himself. Cause the movie rocked, and being able to fly and kick bad-guy ass seems like a good time.

9. My very own personal Edward. Because those ladies at MAMAPop went on and on about the Twilight series, and then I bought the first book, because I didn't want to buy them all in case I didn't like them (you can stop snickering now), and finished it in a day. If you haven't checked these books out yet, you should.

8. A post-humous Oscar for Heath Ledger. Because he gave himself over to the role of the Joker, so much so that I couldn't even FIND Heath Ledger anymore. And now that he's gone, we're never going to see how much better he could've gotten, so the genius should be recognized.

7. A chance to listen to good music again. There are 5 radio stations in the city I live in, so you would think I would be able to find some good music. Also, I listen to a wide range of music, so you'd think that would increase the chances of finding music I enjoy. You'd be wrong. The radio situation here sucks to such an incredible degree that I've given up, and only listen to CBC radio, because they are at least up-to-date and educational. I used to rely on the interwebz for good music suggestions, but having a new baby = no spare time = I need some suggestions for new, interesting music people. Please feel free to leave suggestions.

6. Some kind of award for Tom Cruise's role in Tropic Thunder. It can't be an Oscar, 'cause it would be fore Best Supporting Actor, the same category as Heath, and Heath would definately win in that matchup. But still, Tom as Les Grossman was absolutely, totally hilarious. And when he described character development on The Hour, as "He has to have fat hands. And he has to dance."? Absolute genius. This character actually made me start liking Tom Cruise again.

5. That 'So You Think You Can Dance Canada' would be as good as the American version. I loved 'So You Think You Can Dance'. I loved the judges, especially Nigel. I loved the contestants, especially Twitch. Twitch was my eye candy this summer while I recovered from my c-section. The judges were critical, but in a positive, you-can-do-better kind of way. The music was hip, the costumes were crazy - I loved the whole damn thing. So when the Canadian version started this fall, I was all ready to be in love again. But unfortunately, not so much. The dancers were great, for sure, but the judges seemed unwilling to make serious criticism, the costumes varied from good to waaaay off, and Blake just seemed to want to sleep with everybody. Sorry Blake, it just came across that way. I know these shows can vary alot from season to season, so I'm hoping that if there's a second season of SYTYCD Canada, we see a little more greatness, and a little less jazz hands.

4. Bratz dolls should cease to exist. Yes, I'm a Bratz-hater. I think these dolls promote a wacked-out body image, promote excessive consumerism, and most of all, they just look weird. I've always been of the "Yeah-Barbie-is-kind-of-unrealistic,-but-she's-a-classic school", but the Bratz dolls just push me into the deep end of my feminist pool. However, there is light at the end of this tunnel. Apparently the guy who invented Bratz hadn't closed his contract with Mattel before he started working for MGA, and therefore the Bratz dolls are infringing against Barbie's copyright. So maybe the Bratz will go away before my daughter has to deal with them. If not, at least there are Heart's Club dolls.

3. For everyone I know to start using Twitter. Twitter is my new best friend. Because the thing I use most on Facebook is the status updates, and Twitter is essentially a tool for updating your status EVERY. DAMN. SECOND.

2. For TV comedy to continue it's recovery. TV comedy has been in a slump for a long time. But it's starting to recover from its Two-and-a-Half-Men low point. First there was How I Met Your Mother, which is smart and funny, and which Neil Patrick Harris is pushing towards greatness. Then Chuck, which may not be a sitcom, but which is one of the funniest things on TV. It's pop culture references, and lovey-love for geeks of all kinds, plus the fabulousness of Zachary Levi make the show worth watching, trust me. And The Big Bang Theory, which has really hit its stride this year, also celebrating the geek connection. These shows are totally making TV funny again, so you should watch them. Go do it.

1. That everybody would get why blogging is cool. I'm actually not refering to myself here at all. As I was prepping for parenthood, I discovered the blogosphere, and my people, it is like I was blind and now I can see. There are amazing people out there, writing about everything you can imagine. And doing it really, really well. These are the people who've inspired me to start blogging. Check out my 'Bloggers I Would Vote For Section' to see the people I'm reading. And if you only have time to check out a couple, you can't miss Sweetney, MAMAPop, and most of all, Her Bad Mother. These are the cool kids, no doubt.

So, why a blog??

It’s a good question, considering that until this last year, I had never read a blog. Then I got impregnanted by GeekDad, and since I didn’t have many pregnant friends, I went looking online for women talking about motherhood. And what I found was an amazing community of women and men who have created an incredible community around the shared experience of being a parent.

These people have shown me that blogging is about connecting with other people, sharing your vulnerabilities, your joys and sorrows. Most importantly, they made me GREEN WITH ENVY – because they are the really cool kids, not just the popular ones. So, I’m joining the blogosphere – to keep a record of my journey into motherhood, to share my crazies and happy thoughts, and to connect with the people out there, maybe I can encourage someone the way the mommyblogging community has encouraged me.

Ok, enough with the mushies, blogward ho!