little something

2009-08-16T13:47:00.004-04:00

Dear Clyde,

You are almost 2 years of age. You are picking up so many words, to list them would make my things to do list bashful. You are seriously good at playing catch with dad, but you would rather climb up his back for a ride around the room. No dizzy spells, please. We watch all kinds of movies (your fave right now is Wall-E) and have started working in the kitchen together. We made peanut-butter cookies the other day and you helped stir the dough, press shapes onto the cookies and stood back while I put the pan in the oven. Mmmm they were delicious!

You currently love:

sand
bugs
bath bubbles
saying "weeeee" when you slide down the slide
dad piggy-back rides
pretend pooping on the potty
coloring little circle squiggles
making animal noises
hiking, but only short hikes with lots of bugs and moss to look at

I love your:
curly blonde curls
twinkly eyes
toothy grin
belly laugh

I LOVE how you burrow with dad and I at night, and when we leave the AC blasting on accident and are too tired to turn it down- you keep me extra warm. Brushing your teeth has been a challenge, but we have been making up songs and your are much more compliant when I brush your ears and nose first. Also, warnings of a giant whale at the back of your throat tricks you into keeping your mouth open. You'll probably outgrow that one any day now.

I love you mucho,
Mom

THE GARDEN

2009-07-28T08:56:00.001-04:00

by Deborah Jean Saunders

Clydetoe tomatoes
round the bush
Clyde picks and goes
on to the squash
and pepper patch
melons come soon
and those he'll smack

He grabs his spade
and squats on his knees
he digs up the earth
and does as pleases

but those Clydetoe tomatoes
are the best we have
and the boy's pretty good
like his mom and dad

the tomatoes are toys
and on this we'll agree
that Clyde rules the garden
he's the emperor, indeed.

2009-07-21T08:18:00.003-04:00

I've had several trips to my Venezuelan dentist as aforementioned in a previous post. Ten fillings in a mere two weeks. My pantry is stocked with soup and I've been taking this opportune time to shed some lbs. But the pain has been rearing its vladimire-putin-like head and knocked me to the ground. Sometimes there are good hurts, after working out for example. My muscles feel awake and alive and strong. The throbbing pain in my mouth is an injustice. Point blank. And I just have to sit back and take it until Thursday 11:00am sharp. When the dentist leans over, with some befuddled expression, I'm going to clock her in the jaw.

In other Clyde inspired news, yesterday he and his dad were playing catch- I told them they were being SO cliche' (highfive Gabe) and Clyde actually caught the ball! If that's not some major hand-eye coordination then I don't know what is. Way to go, little baseball man.

The other funny thing he did was take a piece of paper and hold it against his back while trying to draw on it. All the while walking in little circles. Ha! I get such a kick out of this kid.

Well, I'd write more but I'm long overdo for some ibuprofen. And punches to my dentist's face. Majorly.

they say its your birthday....

2009-07-05T22:38:00.009-04:00

We celebrated my 24th birthday on the 4th of July (take that, Independence Day!) First we flitted about our neighbors pool, which had a shallow baby pool for Clyde-hooray! We doused each other with sunscreen and yet still managed a red patch or two of burnt skin. Then we headed off to the in-laws for some lemon cake, care of Grandpa Ray and the best tortilla soup I've had to date from Granny Debbie. Finally, I had been anything but patient, we got to the goods: gift opening!! Clyde didn't get any beauty rest because swam for hours and hours. Not the best idea for a toddler, by the way. Missing a nap is like missing a freaking meal. Or missing a key basketball player (to use a sports analogy like Sarah Palin). Bottom line: sleep baby, sleep. It was a curse on the whole weekend to have a sun-kissed, whiney guy. And I am NOT talking about Andrew. *wink

(but back to the most important aspect of birthday celebrations, gift opening)

My first parcel was from Ike! He, (and I suspect my madre) sent me these awesome pearls:

Mom also sent me a wonderful vintage yellow, pyrex mixing bowl (and no, you may NOT borrow it):

Andrew bought me a mucho needed GPS unit, which will make it easier to get around this blasted Queen City (more like Princess Confusing city, if you ask me, which you SHOULD):

Ray and Debbie gave me some birthday ca-ching and two astrology books:

Andrew also got me the holy grail of craft books. oh martha, bless your soul:

Dads present was pretty righteous. Fireworks, squeezy fish for clyde and some handmade jewelry accompanied by a lonesome mermaid with her shell. HOW PRECIOUS. My aunty-roo sent me some fun, bright t-shirts and some candy (no wonder I have cavities), but I promise I will share. ....with myself. Ok, Clyde can have some, too. If he's good. Which he's not.

THANKS, MY PEOPLE.
Congdon OUT

our apartment

2009-06-11T12:52:00.000-04:00

you can't handle the tooth.

2009-06-09T21:30:00.003-04:00

Had the old set of pearly whites checked out today, not goood. Not good at all. I would expect more from my expert brushing, but alas, the dentist literally said "Have them show you how to brush your teeth when you're at your cleaning appointment." I brush everyday. Floss often. I don't drink soda, I never eat dessert, I upgrade and buy fancy toothbrushes every couple of months, so what the crap!?

She wrote me a prescription for a flouride wash I can swill around my mouth before bed. Now I have to brush THRICE, daily. And floss twice as much. I have a massive MASSive cavity that is being filled, but watched and possibly extracted. My dreams of being a hillbilly will soon be realized. I will be missing teeth and pro at barbecuing and playing the banjo.

The end.

But only because I have to go brush my teeth. *pout*

exhaustion....man!

2009-05-29T05:30:00.004-04:00

So today is the day I get a sleep deprived EEG (electoencephalography) because I think I had a seizure the other day. I'm hoping its nothing because I would like to be able to buy regular health insurance someday and they would look at me donning my Garden State-esque helmet and point me to the door.

To prepare for the festivities, I had to go without caffein and chocolate ALL day today (can you even imagine??) and then stay up until midnight, sleep until four am, and then somehow rouse myself from my beauty sleep. I took a hearty bath to eat up some time but now I find myself clicking away on the keyboard, trying to run out the clock. I have to be there by eight am. They hook me up to some sticky suction cup thingys, flash some lights, and look at pictures of my fascinatingly large and voluptuous brain. I'm suppose to somehow sleep through all of it, so Godspeed dear brain.

Visuals? Here. Except I'm sure I'll look more adorable:

Wish my noodle luck!

2009-05-26T16:06:00.003-04:00

Update:

We are back from a small stint in Colorado, fresh as ever and ready for summer. At least I think we are. It was humiliatingly hot today as Clyde and I plowed through the Queen city, but this afternoon we found a park that had shade (ka-chow!) and a nice breeze. We kicked around the ball, had some discussions about nature (ie how to "tree" a squirrel), I changed the weirdest poopy diaper of my adult career, ripped a magnolia off a tree, you know- the usual...

We're thinking about putting Clyde in *gasp* daycare once or twice a week, just for the mornings. He really doesn't ever get a chance to be on his own, around kids his own age. But we're still weighing the pros and cons. We've moved so many times and he's really clingy so we figure something like daycare would provide consistency in his little whirlwind life. I found one that is pretty state of the art. It has cameras, so at any point of the day the parents can log on and watch their kiddos. They have super healthy snacks and small groups. They also believe in positive reinforcement and hugs. I thought I could use the time he's in "school" to work on some craft projects and set-up a shop on etsy! Felt creations. Little something is going to be big. And by big, I mean big on felt. Pillows, checkbook covers, wallets. Salem style. Serious Salem style.

This is the plan anyway for when he's in grade school. So I guess if we decide against going that direction, I have time to plan it out for when he's in regular school. Its hard picking what's best for ze bebe.

I hope you are all:

enjoying the sunshine
eating popsicles
studying cloud shapes
keeping fresh flowers everywhere (even stolen ones)
getting your nails dirty in some garden
and
splish splashing in a __________ (pool, lake, sprayground, bathtub)

Easter

2009-04-17T12:42:00.006-04:00

The E Bunny (no, not the kind from raves) came to our humble abode and dropped off this tasty number for Clyde. He loved it. Made his day.

And then we went to the grandfolkies where Clyde pulled a large mirror down on his head, fell down a flight of brick steps, and racked his spine on my tap board. Way to go, buddy. Get out all your injuries for April in one day.

My dad and aunt diane sent us some delish goodies, and some outfits (we are some pretty s-p-o-i-l-e-d kids). Yay for Easter!

Dear Clyde

2009-04-10T12:12:00.003-04:00

You are 18 months old and in love with tractors. Its all you even think about, really. I mostly feed you yogurt (with sprinkles), green beans, onion rings (shhh don't tell Dad), and mandarin oranges. I wish I could me more inventive with your menu. SOMEtimes I can get you to eat french toast sticks. Other times all you want is jasmine rice with a hint of soy sauce. But you are growing!

Our daily walk is somehow always exciting. Like how you miraculously never step in dog do. You are really good at pointing out bugs. In fact, the other day you pointed to a bug on my shirt! I hope my freak-out dance didn't permanently scar you for life.

We've really been making each other laugh lately. Thank god you have a sense of humor. Otherwise, things might not be working out as well, you know what I mean. You hate your carseat. Fair enough. But you love riding in your stroller in the store, munching on all the free samples we can hunt down (bless you Harris Teeter).

Our rituals are:

bath in the a.m.
big nap in the p.m.
a walk around the complex
fun time with Dad
two stories at bedtime

Please stay funny.

love,
Mom

remember folks

2009-04-09T16:28:00.001-04:00

getouttahere

2009-04-09T01:03:00.007-04:00

It was getting a little crowded in here, so I banished all my lovely postings to separate blogs.

recipes

crafting

2009-04-08T23:47:00.000-04:00

William R Davie Park. What a treat!

2009-04-08T15:18:00.003-04:00

Finally! A cool playground for Clyde and its only 20 minutes from us:

Thats only part if it, there's a soccer field with really soft + clean turf, and a castle playground and a teeny tiny playground for babies. I've been dying to find something like this, the one we go to is not cutting the mustard, I tell ya! We went there today for an Easter egg hunt some of the moms put together for our gigantic mom group. There were cupcakes, runny noses, and picnic spreads but Clyde was mostly interested in throwing his body down each and every slide. He is becoming more and more interested in the other kids and was even concerned when a little girl fell and hit her head. Maybe that's because he recently banged his head on tile last week. Sympathy pains.

Its finally warming up, too, but you wouldn't know it today BRRrrr. Nice try Spring, maybe next week.

2009-04-02T09:15:00.002-04:00

I've been meaning to write (and not post just pictures) for ages!

Well, my little darling angel had really severe diarrhea a few weeks ago and we had to take him to the emergency room to get an IV started because he was super deyhrdrated. They poked him five times (and even gouged a vein that bled all over the turnicate) and I put my foot down and said "no thanks, modern medicine, we're going." He's fine now! He lost a pound, which is a lot when you're Clyde sized. We've been active in our mom group and enjoying the queen city.

Andrew went to the barber and got a nice trim. He's learning all about the tools they use for granite and other "solid surfaces" and also how to clean them. Did someone say worker bee?

I've been planning planning planning the wedding and am sending out save the dates, soon. So I will need addresses. I got what I thought was a spider bite, only to find out it was a staph infection and now I feel like an icky leper. Its a tiny hole on my pointer finger, but a pretty serious thing if its not treated. So now I'm on antibiotics that make me headachy and nauseous. Its called the bridal staph diet, try it sometime.

We're hanging in there.

2009-03-20T09:59:00.003-04:00

Clyde's vocab list as of late:

bug
ear
ball
momma?
dadda
balloon (more like, bawooo)
dig dig digging
hot
shhhhh!
yum yum (num num)
night-night (more like, nye nye)

2009-03-17T14:37:00.000-04:00

We forgot to say cheeeese.

whats in a name??

2009-03-16T13:13:00.003-04:00

Your rock star name
(first pet & current car)
Muffy Prix

Your gangsta name
(fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)
Strawberry Pinwheel

Your Fly Guy / Girl name
(first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)
S-con

Your detective name
(favorite color, favorite animal)
Mauve Monk E.

Your soap opera name
(middle name, city where you were born)
Elizabeth G. Junction

Your Star Wars name
(the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)
Consa

Superhero name
(2nd favorite color, favorite drink put “The”)
The green Strawberry Bombshell

Nascar name
(the first names of your grandfathers)
Bud Wayne

TV weather anchor name
(Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter)
Barron Baltimore

Spy name
(your favorite season/holiday, flower)
Sunny Spring Sweet Pea

Cartoon name
(favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”)
Peachy Jeansie

Hippy name
(What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree),
Chai Olive

Your rockstar tour name
(”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”)
The Felt Mist Tour

Genuine veneer. Dear.

2009-03-10T13:25:00.002-04:00

I love Etsy. For those not in the know, its like the Ebay of all handmade things or vintage finds. This ring looks like a perfect match. Its sturdy (in your face real wood!) and its handmade by a sweet couple who collaborated this brilliant design. What do you guys think? Thanks for turning me onto Etsy, Korie!

2009-03-03T23:16:00.002-05:00

wizard of oz themed wedding. AH. love it.

<<>>

2009-03-02T21:24:00.003-05:00

What are your ring sizes? I got my child-like hands sized today by several jewelers and it came down to a 5 and a quarter. They made fun of my slim, knuckle-less hands and were awed at the meaty tops.

So, what size are you guys??

2009-02-24T19:54:00.000-05:00

Gustavson girls make me smile so big that my eyes disappear into my face.

change we can believe in.

2009-02-24T08:56:00.003-05:00

HOORAY! We are getting a different apartment in a week or so that is a little better suited to our needs (ie not gigantic that we can't fill with stuff we don't need). So this means cutting down on the toys for Clyde, getting rid of some furniture, and giving back piles of tupperware to Andrew's parents. That oughta do it. We are going to be in the same apartment complex, but in the back with a view of the woods, and the apartment will be on the ground level. No more nightmares about Clyde falling off the balcony, suckers.

Did I mention it will be four hundred dollars LESS? That's some kind of crazy amount of savings my brimming brain can't even compute!

Sometimes you just need to do a little downsizing, a little slimming of the ways. I will send out the new address post-haste!

2009-02-16T14:37:00.000-05:00

more details?

2009-02-15T11:25:00.006-05:00

Andrew surprise proposed to me at Sullivan's steakhouse, (we both agree Sullivan is a stellar name for a future child). Let me start off by saying, the night was perfect! The restaurant was nestled between skyscrapers and criss-crossed highways, quite a ways from hunky dunk Indian Trail. Our reservations were at seven and we arrived at a crisp 6:30. So they went ahead and seated us at the Godfather table, our backs were to the wall and we could reign supreme over the other lowly diners. Also, we had the advantage of being first to see an encroaching attack from an enemy mob. Advantageous!

They brought me out their signature cocktail, The Knockout i.e. orange infused vodka with Hawaiian pineapple juice and twist of orange. I gave them my signature head nod of approval. This was the first in excellence brought to our GF table.

We ordered Ahi tuna as our appetizer. Though I could scarcely stab the thing with my fork, it had an easier time slipping down my gullet. Delicious! Sometimes you have to just dig right in to seared, yet raw fish. And not die, which we didn't.

The waiter noticed my garnet red hair and ordered me up a Strawberry Blonde i.e. strawberry vodka with strawberry pucker shaken with sweet and sour mixed with pineapple juice. Perched on the rim was, you guessed it, one giant succulent strawberry. Ripe for the plucking....off my glass. It met up nicely with the tuna in belly.

Then the real feasting began. Steak and shrimp for Andrew and a salmon and mushroom combo for Salem. I've never seen half a lemon wrapped in cheesecloth as a garnish. Clever! I squeezed it over the fish and the cheesecloth kept any pulp from getting loose. I had a hard time continuing the conversation because I just kept shoveling food into my mouth. The only time I would come up for air would be to steal bites of Andrew's steak.

Now that Andrew had me all liquored up, he turned to me and said, "well, its been a long time coming, but like Glenn says 'if you over-cook the fish, it'll spoil'... will you marry me?"

And then BAM out comes the ring, garnet with diamonds, and I squealed like the piggy I am.

"So that's a yes, then."

I faintly remember a banana bread-pudding, but at this point my mind was swimming in diamonds, garnets, and love for my sweet man.

I said yes!

2009-02-14T16:11:00.000-05:00

2009-02-13T13:20:00.003-05:00

Its over! We made it. The doctors visit went well, we're just waiting to hear how the blood draw went. The new doc is pretty, young, overall a nice gal. I'm disappointed she was less than thrilled I was still breast-feeding. She asked when I was going to wean and I made it very clear that I wanted Clyde to decide when he's had enough boobie. When we were on the topic of his crawling weight, I joked he was welcome to take some of mine. "Oh, well that will get better once you're done breast-feeding," she says. What!? Surely she hasn't forgotten that breastfeeding helps new mothers lose the weight they gained during pregnancy. How about 500 calories a day, doc. That's how many you burn as a nursing mother. Mercy Minerva.

So now we wait. They had to test Clyde's iron level and test his blood to he if he was ever exposed to lead. We couldn't do the next vaccination because, gulp, my calendar math was off and I took him in at 17 months instead of 18 months. WOOOPs. The doc, Susan Lester, said "nbd" (no big deal) we could do the shots early, but they hadn't received his vaccination chart. Um, yes. Yes they did. Liars. It wasn't until I was out the door that they grabbed us both by the collar, kicking and screaming to try and talk us going back in for a shot or two.

"maybe next time, nursey."

And that was the end of that.

Ok, not really. But I did hang in the office while the baffled nurses scratched their heads and wondered why only half his chart had arrived. Meanwhile Clyde is holding his arm with his other hand as if it had been mortally wounded. Which it had! They did the blood draw from a vein in his arm! Is that normal? They took three bottles of blood, too. He just sat there quietly saying "waaaaa" with his little face scrunched up, holding perfectly still, tears rolling. It was precious. I gave him full permission to cry. After all, they were doing the blood draw in an abnormal place if you ask me.

In the end we decided to schedule another visit for the booster shots since they didn't have all the correct info from Colorado and Clyde was nursing his arm in confused terror. I do not look forward to going back.

2009-02-12T11:42:00.004-05:00

It was a milk and cookies kind of morning, when I stumbled across these. Wall decals with some serious style. Some of them are reusable, so when you change your mind in a month or a week or a day, you can pull them off and reuse them later. Alligator.

worry worry worry worry

2009-02-11T11:05:00.002-05:00

I'm a little worried about Clyde's weight. Andrew weighed him on his parent's scale and we were hoping for big numbers, but it turns out he's tipping the scale at 21 lbs. When he turned one he was 20 lbs, so if my math is correct, that is only a pound more. The opposite needs to be happening here, I need to be fluctuating from pound to pound and not rapidly gaining weight. Hint hint, Clyde. He's been trying new foods, eating frequently, drinking soy milk, drinking juice (although I swore I would never give him juice), I don't know what's going on. He has a doctors appointment this friday I'm nervous about. And don't worry about it being last friday, because we showed up then, a half hour late for an appointment we didn't have. Psh. Is the doc going to slap me upside the head with a stick of butter? Will she throw me out on the street after shoving my pockets with globs of saturated fats?

I'll let you know.

2009-02-09T12:34:00.006-05:00

This weekend (feb 13 & 14) my aunt Rebecca is presenting some choreography she did awhile back. The performance will take place in the black box in the Moss Performing Arts Center at Mesa State. It starts a 7:30 (but get there early to make sure you get in!) All proceeds from ticket sales will go to dance scholarships, wicked cool.

Each vignette is based off of Wim Wender's Wings of Desire. A really interesting german film that was later loosely translated into City of Angels. I was in the original, too (the littlest angel)!

Break a leg, Becca!

it looks like you've got moss growing....OH GOD

2009-02-08T21:27:00.001-05:00

A real moss bathmat, folks. It gets watered as you drip dry after a relaxing soak! Uh. Weird.

cool!

2009-02-07T17:23:00.001-05:00

There's a cool website that vintagefies your photos. My computer is acting like "vintagefy" is not a word. You may be a mac, but you will never know the creative process that IS my brain.

zzzzzz

2009-02-04T16:00:00.004-05:00

I love co-sleeping, even though its not for everyone. . .

The physiological effects of sleep-sharing are finally being studied in sleep laboratories that are set up to mimic, as much as possible, the home bedroom. Over the past few years, nearly a million dollars of government research money has been devoted to sleep-sharing research. These studies have all been done on mothers and infants ranging from two to five months in age. Here are the preliminary findings based on mother-infant pairs studied in the sleep-sharing arrangement versus the solitary-sleeping arrangement (Elias 1986, McKenna 1993, Fleming 1994; Mosko 1994):

1. Sleep-sharing pairs showed more synchronous arousals than when sleeping separately. When one member of the pair stirred, coughed, or changed sleeping stages, the other member also changed, often without awakening.

2. Each member of the pair tended to often, but not always, be in the same stage of sleep for longer periods if they slept together.

3. Sleep-sharing babies spent less time in each cycle of deep sleep. Lest mothers worry they will get less deep sleep; preliminary studies showed that sleep-sharing mothers didn't get less total deep sleep.

4. Sleep-sharing infants aroused more often and spent more time breastfeeding than solitary sleepers, yet the sleep-sharing mothers did not report awakening more frequently.

5. Sleep-sharing infants tended to sleep more often on their backs or sides and less often on their tummies, a factor that could itself lower the SIDS risk.

6. A lot of mutual touch and interaction occurs between the sleep-sharers. What one does affects the nighttime behavior of the other.

7. The American Academy of Pediatrics and UNICEF both recommend cosleeping because it supports breastfeeding and bonding in the first six months of life and beyond -- both very important for baby's physical and emotional health. Attachment Parenting International supports sleeping arrangements that enable parents to be emotionally responsive to their infant while protecting baby's physical safety.

Even though these studies are being conducted in sleep laboratories instead of the natural home environment, it's likely that within a few years enough mother-infant pairs will be studied to scientifically validate what insightful mothers have long known: something good and healthful occurs when mothers and babies share sleep.

some good websites:

http://www.parentingscience.com/nighttime-fears.html

http://www.attachmentparenting.org/support/articles/safesleepguidelines.php

http://www.naturalchild.org/jan_hunt/familybed.html

Dear Clyde

2009-02-03T08:00:00.005-05:00

This was when you were one month old and your dad bottle fed you so I could take a nap. That little foot looks like its losing circulation! You still have a rustic tan from having jaundice but the swelling from your head has gone down. Good times.

2009-01-28T13:40:00.002-05:00

2009-01-28T12:27:00.000-05:00

Looking for Work
by alison luterman

Consider the pigeons of the city,
how in their filthy swoop and dive they fatten
on dusty Dorito crumbs;
consider their evolution
through generations of squawk and squalor,
peck and fight. (And what did it take for that one,
strutting his kingly amethyst ruff,
his neck sheen of subdued emerald,
his fat gray feathers of survival,
to survive here?)

Consider the homeless man outside Albertson’s,
approaching every car with his rags and Windex,
whose far-distant ancestor
was able to track and kill
the wildebeest, the antelope, and the cape hare.
Consider how far he has come,
listening to his Walkman between customers,
and yet how faithful he stays to the wild
dictates of seek and hunt and gather,
scoping out the best shelters for meals,
the cleanest beds, the one
tight face still able to open.

Consider your bank account,
dipping like a low-flying bird,
then spreading wings and planing
over the fields of dead numbers,
canceled checks, ancient pay stubs,
long afternoons bought and paid for
in boredom and lost purpose. And the live
bodies of your brothers and sisters, crushed
in the trash compactor of Unwanted Ads.

Consider yourself,
marching in and out of these institutions
in your skirt and nylons, leaving ferocious lipstick tracks
on styrofoam coffee cups,
your name and address on application forms,
like one of your ancestors peeing on a thorn bush.

2009-01-28T12:21:00.001-05:00

pass me the sugar, sugar

2009-01-28T12:03:00.002-05:00

Dad, Ben and Maile making sugar cookies. Nice work! I would like to point out Ben is wearing a sweet hat that reps Church of Skatan, which is a skate shop in Santa Barbara where they live. He's already cooler than I am!

2009-01-24T00:13:00.006-05:00

Charlotte finally got her act together and it was nice out today! It snowed on inauguration day, which is really rare here, and its been Colorado cold ever since. Nice try, Charlotte. Like you could ever be like my sweet sweet western slope. PFFT. So I put down the mug of hot coco and saddled Clyde up in the car and away we went.

We live down the street from this really cool community called Lake Park. There are always geese and Clyde believes the way to introduce oneself is to RUN RUN RUN, I can't blame him. That's exactly how I like to interact with geese. He gets it from me.

Poor Clyde was ounced by the end of the day. He kept crawling over to the pile of pillows like "helloooo mom, put me to bed already." But I just laughed and took pictures. And then I really did put him down for the night. So tigh-tigh.

call edge

2009-01-22T13:07:00.004-05:00

I found a cool, low-key community college that I am in the process of enrolling in. Here is the link and a picture of the campus:

http://www.cpcc.edu/

Their slogan, "Get There." is kinda dumb, but I won't let that get me down! I just need to send a request form for an official transcript from Mesa State and then its in the bag, baby. There are even dance classes! Tap, ballet, modern- the whole shebang! I am going to get my little twinkle toes in a few of THOSE classes, for sure.

congratulations!!

2009-01-20T12:40:00.005-05:00

Today is the best day of my life. We are covered in snow, Clyde and I snuggled in bed all morning, Andrew got to stay home for the morning to watch the inauguration and and and.....

I witnessed the first african-american get sworn in to the most important office in the world. What a world!

thanks, Kari!

2009-01-19T20:08:00.015-05:00

Brownies:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter softened
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup hersheys syrup or 1 10 oz can hersheys syrup
heat oven to 350. Grease 9x13 pan. beat all ingredients together. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. The top may appear still wet but should spring back when touched. Cool COMPLETELY!

Mint layer:
2 cups powered sugar
1/2 cup butter sofened
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon mint extract
3 drops green food coloring
Beat all ingredients until smooth and spread over 1st layer. The reason the brownie part has to cool all the way is so this layer doesn't melt. Put in the fridge again until both layers are cool.

Chocolate topping:
In a bowl put 6 tablespoons butter and 1 cup choco chips. Melt in microwave for 1 min and then mix together with a spoon. Pour over top of mint layer and make smooth with a butter knife or spatula, being very carefee not to mix!

My belly is aching for choco mint brownies...

spell with flickr

2009-01-18T20:17:00.006-05:00

and

Put in any words and flickr spits out the letters. Check it out here

I feel.

2009-01-18T13:20:00.005-05:00

Cranky Pants, no seriously. My pants are cranky.

I'm accepting new friend applications. You have to live within 5 miles, love babies, and have a sharp wit. And a car. Please submit your resume to the hollow log in the back of my apartment. Serious inquiries only.

I can still taste the popcorn

2009-01-18T11:11:00.001-05:00

x is for xylophone time

2009-01-15T11:36:00.004-05:00

So I wanted to write down this story before I forget (you know how that is, right?):

For the last two weeks or so, Clyde has been running up to me with one of his socks. So I show him how to put it on his foot or I stretch the sock over his hand and call him "sock hand" or I use it as a sock puppet, but Clyde usually ends up getting frustrated and gives up.

Until today.

He runs over with a sock, as usual, I try the sock hand, as usual, until it hit me: Christmas. I had explained all month that Santa brings good boys and girls presents and leaves them in their stockings. And then when we hung up his little crap dollar store stocking, I compared it with one of his little socks. Socks, stockings, socks, stockings. To test my theory, I stole away with his little sock, and filled it with little toys of his. Sure enough, to his delight, christmas came early this year! Boy, has he got a lot to learn about the long wait.

f is for felt

2009-01-14T23:50:00.011-05:00

If I had a world of my own, everything would be made out of felt. Now, if I could just find a rabbit hole to fall down, we may be in business. How is it a fabric can be cartoonish with earthy undertones? Wool felt, I love you.

*

2009-01-13T10:39:00.000-05:00

3 satisfying books.

2009-01-13T10:08:00.005-05:00

The Sunday Philosophy Club.

Here's the review from the NY times. Although, if you like "going in fresh," like my brother, Gabe, puts it- don't read it. On the other hand, if you like a thorough understanding of what you're getting yourself into, by all means:

blam

The Thirteen Clocks.

A real treat. Why oh why wasn't I read this story when I was little? Well, I still am little and my appetite for children's literature is as strong as my breath! When are they going to get off their asses and put it up on the big screen? Here's another far superior list of reviews:

blamo

Tales of Beedle the Bard.

A little weird to read if you've never read the Harry Potter series, which I have. So it shouldn't have been weird, which is wasn't. I'm just saying. It was kind of like binge drinking after being off the sauce for awhile. I loves me some JK Rowling.

blamdiggity

peas on earth

2009-01-12T16:24:00.009-05:00

We just bought a high chair. No more uncivilized meals for this kid, he's eatin' fancy from now on. I got him to eat (and enjoy) peas!! Clyde's not usually known to eat anything green, but lately he's been a good sport about trying new things. His thighs are even looking a bit hefty. Woo! I was worried we would get to his next check-up and he would STILL be 20 lbs. eeeeeek.

.

I cooked a giant pot of beets, too. They were, how do the french say- magnificosa! I soaked them in a little red wine vinaigrette and voilà! A perfect snack.

oooOOooooOOOOooo

2009-01-11T15:26:00.004-05:00

Too bad these are sold out. Adorable:

made with recycled materials
stuffed with old shirts
hand stitched (take THAT china)
contains a walnut heart

Awww Halloween Octopus, I love you.

tickle me pink.

2009-01-11T10:55:00.008-05:00

Yesterday, standing by the customer service kiosk at Harris Teeter, Andrew and I were picking out a balloon for Clyde when a guy walked over with his son. He asked him what color balloon he wanted, to which the little guy replied "I want the pink one!"

Andrew looked straight at the guy waiting for a response. This, afterall, was a common enough test of dad strength. Should he say no and guide his son to more manly hue- blue, for example. Or liberate himself from gender classification of color and let his boy have the pink balloon.

"Nah, you don't want pink, what about another color?"

We stood there, unsure of what to do. Little did he know we were ok with pink. We plan on having Clyde play with a doll when he's older. A man doll, Andrew likes to point out.

"PINK"

Its now or never, stranger dad. Its OK for boys to like every color. It doesn't mean he'll grow up gay and if he does what is this dad going to do, stop loving him? No, that's ridiculous. Everyone has the right to love the color pink.

"Ok, pink it is, lets go home."

.

holy shelves

2009-01-09T18:32:00.004-05:00

french toast kabobs

2009-01-09T16:21:00.005-05:00

let's make this for dinner, Andrew. c'mon!

&

2009-01-09T12:25:00.006-05:00

Time to get some ideas down on paper, internet style. Clyde and I were sitting on our balcony when the idea occured to me that I might be able to volunteer for Men Against Violence. That is, if Charlotte has one. When I worked for Americorp, I helped my friend Deborah work on an art auction to benefit the grand junction chapter. That would be so cool to do out here. Especially since I remember most of what we did to organize and plan one. The only set back is I don't know anyone!

I have such a huge need to volunteeeeeeeer. The hard part is finding somewhere baby friendly so I can bring this little monkey on my back with me. Clyde is part of the packaged deal. We are the proverbial tv dinner. Clyde is the collard to my greens and I the ruta to his baga. Amen.

Oh, and for Halloween I am going as an ampersand. Clyde's going as a comma, Andrew an exclamation. So if you need ideas for this year, I recommend visiting your balcony or porch. Seriosuly, the ideas flow there.

beard font

2009-01-09T00:20:00.001-05:00

The Yellow Tree Restaurant

2009-01-08T22:38:00.012-05:00

A group of designers in New Zealand have come up with the idea of this Tree House Restaurant. Really makes the tree house I worked for look like a sack of beans! They used laminated pine, redwood and plantation poplar woods. My questions is- where is the fire exit? Take THAT architects.

_________________________________________

In other, more serious news: I danced today! And by dance I mean I danced for my life. Mom and Glenn got me a punch card to a dance studio in Charlotte for Christmas. Woo! So we left super early (which was good because the directions we had were wack!) and I got there with five minutes to spare. The studio is huge and everyone was super friendly. I love Audrey (instructor) and am excited to get my twinkle toes back on that marly!

magnetic curtains

2009-01-08T15:40:00.000-05:00

I really like crispy curtains. I wonder how you would clean these....

check them out here

little of this, little of that.

2009-01-07T23:44:00.000-05:00

Christmas pictures! More to come. In the meantime....

Clyde lost his MIND today. We have it on camera, in fact. Too bad this lame blogspot place sucks at uploading videos. He was doing this weird thing where he was kneeling on the bed and slumping backwards like he had been shot. And all the while shrieking like a monkey.

"I don't speak monkey," I told him (okokok...quote from a Series of Unfortunate Events). He didn't even have anything weird to eat today, like chocolate. He's following a strict yogurt, carrots and an occasional grahm cracker diet. Its all the rage for the under two crowd. Don't be fooled by the olives-on-finger picture, that was for cheap thrills. He didn't actually eat any of them. Rats!

Tonight we ate delicious mexican meatloaf.

3 lbs ground beef

squirt of BBQ sauce

squirt of worchestershire sauce

2/3 cp salsa

2 cps crushed corn chips

2 eggs

1 cp shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cp taco seasoning

Mash it all together and form a log. Bake in a greased loaf pan at 350 for an hour and a half. These directions, by the way, are for me and not you. I can never remember anything.

Mmmmm. Green beans and baked taters. Yum yum.

flossing. get them while they're young.

2009-01-07T23:40:00.000-05:00

You would be surprised at the amount of food that can get caught in six little teeth.

Ask Clyde (just make sure he is finished flossing, please).

hey, what. are. you. doing.

2009-01-07T23:18:00.000-05:00

I caught Ray entertaining Clyde with a nutcracker. This was over Christmas break when we were visiting Andrews parents.