Just further proof that if you want something done right in this world, you have to do it yourself. Another anxiety-addled blog about the pursuit of single motherhood. Join me, won't you?
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
A very Bumpus-y Halloween
Here are some shots of Bumpus as - what else - on his first Halloween on the outside! Plus his first swing experience today. I'm pleased to say he enjoyed both!
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
The Festive Season
We are heading into what I will from now on call The Festive Season. Halloween through New Year's is pretty much non-stop holiday stuff. And as of right now, I'm totally into it.
I sent an invite for a Christmas party I'm going to throw on the 23rd of Dec. Last year's party was slightly marred by the fact that I was very pregnant and too worried about falling or otherwise straining myself by setting up a tree or properly decorating. Not so this year! I have every intention of going all out. If I could afford it, and wasn't afraid the local homeboys would come into the yard and steal them, I would get some of those animatronic light up deer for the front. But I can certainly do wonders with some basic lighting.
Mom Guru and I are getting together with some other parents tomorrow for one of the LA suburbs' charming little small town Halloween parades. Bumpus' costume is WAY too big so I will spend tonight trying to take it in (or may just do a quickie job with safety pins tomorrow-!). I will also spend tonight making devil's food cake cupcakes from my favorite 1930's recipe. The supermarket was out of spooky shape sprinkles and I forgot the food coloring for the frosting, but I'll make it work somehow! I am inordinately excited about baking again. I missed it a lot.
Bumpus will never remember his first Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas outside of stories, pictures and videos. But already his very presence has made this holiday season very special for me, and for this I am truly thankful.
I sent an invite for a Christmas party I'm going to throw on the 23rd of Dec. Last year's party was slightly marred by the fact that I was very pregnant and too worried about falling or otherwise straining myself by setting up a tree or properly decorating. Not so this year! I have every intention of going all out. If I could afford it, and wasn't afraid the local homeboys would come into the yard and steal them, I would get some of those animatronic light up deer for the front. But I can certainly do wonders with some basic lighting.
Mom Guru and I are getting together with some other parents tomorrow for one of the LA suburbs' charming little small town Halloween parades. Bumpus' costume is WAY too big so I will spend tonight trying to take it in (or may just do a quickie job with safety pins tomorrow-!). I will also spend tonight making devil's food cake cupcakes from my favorite 1930's recipe. The supermarket was out of spooky shape sprinkles and I forgot the food coloring for the frosting, but I'll make it work somehow! I am inordinately excited about baking again. I missed it a lot.
Bumpus will never remember his first Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas outside of stories, pictures and videos. But already his very presence has made this holiday season very special for me, and for this I am truly thankful.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Dogwearing
Today I decided to take the poor neglected dog out in a recalled baby sling for a nice hike. She seemed to enjoy it, although as you can see Bumpus looks a bit skeptical.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
My "no duh" moment
Lately I find myself getting caught up in weird assumptions that, once debunked, make me wonder, what the heck was I thinking...? Is it getting older? Is it sleep deprivation? Or am I just getting less flexible and creative in my thinking? Or have I always been this way?
For example I spent weeks - weeks, I tell you - agonizing over how to afford to fly this French couple to teach at my event, since they were attending another event in the US a week before and didn't think they could easily re-enter the US a few days after returning to France. It was a sea of emails back and forth and lots of worry on my part that I would have to sheepishly tell them I couldn't afford them after all (for some reason flights were twice the cost when buying just one way or multiple cities) before a very simple and obvious solution appeared to me - just fly them to the other event and then back from LA and they pick up the very cheap internal US flight (originally before I hired them they would have had to buy their own flight to and from the US-France, so this made them very happy). Why this didn't occur to me when they first told me about their plans for this other event I have no idea. It's the baby. I blame the baby. :)
So along those lines, as I was lying in bed last night fuming over my neighbor's totally irritating Halloween party, the idea suddenly hit me - I have the Baby Kennel for nights and weekends already; why not just make my "free day" a weekend day? No new paperwork, no getting used to a whole new place and their policies, no being locked down to set days or times. I was thinking the other day about what exactly I'd do with a five hour stretch of time during the week; with all my friends working, I could see myself just wandering around aimlessly. But on weekends, I can see friends for lunch, movies, shopping, hiking, skiing, or just stay home and sleep or hang out in the hot tub. And I can switch back and forth between Saturday and Sunday as kid-friendly activities (kid's birthday parties, Babywearing groups, etc) arise, and when they don't (hair cuts, strenuous hikes).
I think it just didn't occur to me because I still think of weekends as family time, but for me all the time is family time, and if anything as a band singer I spend more time technically working on weekends than not. I like the flexibility of it, how I can plan week to week. I think the hard part is going to be setting up a day even when I don't have plans - making it a set thing that I MUST use one day every weekend whether I need it to go do an activity or not. That it's ok to spend $50 to have someone watch my child for five hours so I can just hang out and read or nap or sit around and play on the Internet. That this is my "free period", that I earned it, and it's ok. It's going to be hard to convince myself of this, but I think I can do it!
For example I spent weeks - weeks, I tell you - agonizing over how to afford to fly this French couple to teach at my event, since they were attending another event in the US a week before and didn't think they could easily re-enter the US a few days after returning to France. It was a sea of emails back and forth and lots of worry on my part that I would have to sheepishly tell them I couldn't afford them after all (for some reason flights were twice the cost when buying just one way or multiple cities) before a very simple and obvious solution appeared to me - just fly them to the other event and then back from LA and they pick up the very cheap internal US flight (originally before I hired them they would have had to buy their own flight to and from the US-France, so this made them very happy). Why this didn't occur to me when they first told me about their plans for this other event I have no idea. It's the baby. I blame the baby. :)
So along those lines, as I was lying in bed last night fuming over my neighbor's totally irritating Halloween party, the idea suddenly hit me - I have the Baby Kennel for nights and weekends already; why not just make my "free day" a weekend day? No new paperwork, no getting used to a whole new place and their policies, no being locked down to set days or times. I was thinking the other day about what exactly I'd do with a five hour stretch of time during the week; with all my friends working, I could see myself just wandering around aimlessly. But on weekends, I can see friends for lunch, movies, shopping, hiking, skiing, or just stay home and sleep or hang out in the hot tub. And I can switch back and forth between Saturday and Sunday as kid-friendly activities (kid's birthday parties, Babywearing groups, etc) arise, and when they don't (hair cuts, strenuous hikes).
I think it just didn't occur to me because I still think of weekends as family time, but for me all the time is family time, and if anything as a band singer I spend more time technically working on weekends than not. I like the flexibility of it, how I can plan week to week. I think the hard part is going to be setting up a day even when I don't have plans - making it a set thing that I MUST use one day every weekend whether I need it to go do an activity or not. That it's ok to spend $50 to have someone watch my child for five hours so I can just hang out and read or nap or sit around and play on the Internet. That this is my "free period", that I earned it, and it's ok. It's going to be hard to convince myself of this, but I think I can do it!
Friday, October 26, 2012
7 month photo outtakes
So my neighbors are having an unbelievably loud and obnoxious party and I can't sleep, so just for the heck of it, here's some outtakes from my seven month "shoot":
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Learning curve
Today I went to a Babywearing meet hosted by my Mom Guru friend and they showed me how to do this wrap - can't remember the name of it; double half calf and a sow cow? Something like that. Anyway I am completely in awe of these women who can take a simple length of cloth and turn it into all these amazing carrying positions. A hat, a brooch, a pterodactyl? I can't even remember how to use my Beco for back carrying!
Since I am thinking of getting B into some occasional daytime care and don't want to spend my entire life pumping (also I'm secretly terrified of his teeth coming in and my poor wasted nipples being chomped - ouch!) I have decided to at least make some effort at baby food making. I have two cookbooks and a steamer/purée machine; today I took them all out and started reading and mentally preparing. Why is it I'm so reluctant to do something for the first time? Is everyone like this, or is it just me?
I know when I've even done it once I'll feel better - it sounds very simple, just steam, purée, freeze. I can do that. But will I do it? More and more friends, especially those with multiple children, tell me they can't be buggered with all that, thus the Baby-Led Weaning; it's just simpler to have Baby eat what you eat. And since mostly what I eat is slop anyway (bean stews, lentil soup, etc) that won't be a problem in this house. But I have to say the whole non-breastfeeding food thing is daunting to me. The mess, the accoutrements, the time spent. You can see why I'm not exactly falling all over myself to get started, despite my earlier enthusiasm. Still, just like with the breastfeeding, I feel like I need to at least try. I cook all my own food from scratch anyway, what's a little carrot purée?
Since I am thinking of getting B into some occasional daytime care and don't want to spend my entire life pumping (also I'm secretly terrified of his teeth coming in and my poor wasted nipples being chomped - ouch!) I have decided to at least make some effort at baby food making. I have two cookbooks and a steamer/purée machine; today I took them all out and started reading and mentally preparing. Why is it I'm so reluctant to do something for the first time? Is everyone like this, or is it just me?
I know when I've even done it once I'll feel better - it sounds very simple, just steam, purée, freeze. I can do that. But will I do it? More and more friends, especially those with multiple children, tell me they can't be buggered with all that, thus the Baby-Led Weaning; it's just simpler to have Baby eat what you eat. And since mostly what I eat is slop anyway (bean stews, lentil soup, etc) that won't be a problem in this house. But I have to say the whole non-breastfeeding food thing is daunting to me. The mess, the accoutrements, the time spent. You can see why I'm not exactly falling all over myself to get started, despite my earlier enthusiasm. Still, just like with the breastfeeding, I feel like I need to at least try. I cook all my own food from scratch anyway, what's a little carrot purée?
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