100 things

What is with all of these challenges lately? Anyway, here is another one. Sarah and Tara started the trend. Now I follow suit.

100 things you may or may not know about me:

1. I bit my nails until I was 17 or 18.
2. I am allergic to tomatoes and eggplant.
3. I love almost all foods with the exception of raw onion and cilantro.
4. I am addicted to Bravo TV
5. Especially My life on the D list and Top Chef.
6. I met my husband Kevin in 1994.
7. We were in Marching Band together.
8. I played saxophone for 8 years.
9. I still wish I played.
10. I don't have a tattoo.
11. Sometimes I wish I did.
12. I am way too chicken.
13. I worry I made the wrong choice to stay home.
14. I wouldn't trade this time with her for the world.
15. Growing up we had two dogs, Smitty and Fred.
16. Smitty was hit by a car less than a week after we got him.
17. Fred ate my dad's birthday cake.
18. Fred only lasted a few months before he was given to a better home.
19. I didn't notice he was gone for at least a week.
20. My first real pet was a cat named Barney.
21. When he died we had to get two cats to replace him.
22. Their names were Ricky and Lucy.
23. I still miss them.
24. I am 5'11" tall and when I was little I always thought I would be 6'.
25. I have a masters of Communication.
26. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.
27. I love being a mom.
28. I don't always love being at home.
29. I love photography and would love to spend a ton more time practicing.
30. I have a hard time making a decision when it comes to my future.
31. I worry all of the time.
32. I would say that it is a problem.
33. I do however leave my house on occasion so it can't be that bad right?
34. It takes me at least a half and hour to fall asleep at night.
35. Once I am asleep, I am ASLEEP!!!
36. I am not only a sheet hog, but a bed hog as well.
37. I do feel sorry for my husband though.
38. We sleep on a double bed.
39. I used to have a problem with shoes.
40. Now, I don't even remember the last pair I bought.
41. I have one brother.
42. I love my brother a lot.
43. He is one of my best friends.
44. My parents have been married 30 years.
45. I was a "surprise" during their first year of marriage.
46. I relish nap time.
47. I am never ready for Madeline to wake up.
48. I hate housework.
49. I feel guilty for not keeping a better house, especially since I am staying at home now.
50. I am blog obsessed.
51. Kevin and I have been married for 3 years.
52. We have lived in our house for almost 5 years.
53. I love our home.
54. At the same time I can't wait to move into a bigger place.
55. I worry that may never happen.
56. I have envy issues.
57. I suffer from "the grass is always greener" syndrome.
58. I love the color of our front door. (dark blue)
59. I hate the color of our living room. (boring white)
60. I have lost all of my pregnancy weight.
61. I am still 20 lbs heavier than I want to be.
62. I've been at the same weight since Madeline turned 4 months old.
63. I think that totally sucks.
64. My favorite color is purple.
65. Blue is a close second.
66. Green is third.
67. I think my ankles are the most attractive part of my body.
68. When I was pregnant they were so swollen that I thought they might never recover.
69. I am happy to say I was wrong.
70. I try not to think about germs.
71. I know that if I did I would become totally obsessed and might never leave my house.
72. I very rarely drink.
73. When I do, my drink of choice is a margarita.
74. But I won't turn down a 7&7.
75. Kevin was my first kiss.
76. I was his too.
77. Fall is my favorite season.
78. My birthday used to be my favorite day of the year.
79. Now Madeline's is.
80. I hate being sick.
81. I am pretty pathetic when I don't feel well.
82. I am not a morning person.
83. I am not a night person.
84. I am a middle of the day person.
85. I lived overseas in Oslo, Norway for 6 months in 2001.
86. I dream of going back.
87. I worry it won't be as perfect as my memories tell me it was.
88. I don't own a bike.
89. I hate wearing make up.
90. Now that I have had Madeline I need it more than ever to cover my dark circles.
91. The 4th of July is my favorite holiday.
92. Fireworks make me smile.
93. I've never been arrested.
94. I can't dance.
95. As a kid I used to dream of being and veterinarian-lawyer. Yep. Both.
96. I am scared of rail road crossings.
97. I can't wait for the Olympics to start in just 8 days!
98. I was a competitive swimmer for 8 years.
99. I miss swimming.
100. This was harder than I thought!

How about you?

mg

The Maddy Monster

Madeline is teething. Our calm and sweet little girl was so not herself today. She was replaced with a monster.

**********

Dear Maddy Monster:

I hope that you enjoyed your stay in our home today. Could you be so kind as to leave? We'd like to have our Madeline back. Thanks!

Best regards,

Maureen and Kevin

mg

Getting real

So, I have water, phone, internet and TV! All we have done tonight is shower and veg. It has been wonderful.

I have to thank those readers that commented on the past few posts. I really do feel loved! Thank you Fern, Elliot, Jodie, and Christy! And a very special shout out goes to Michelle! I am so happy for you!!!!!!! (Don't know what I am talking about, read the comments for the previous post!!) I feel the love. Really I do.

So for the challenge:
Read Jodie's original challenge here. Then you can visit her post here.

My answer to her challenge:

Dirty dishes on the sink and counter. (there is a pot on the stove too, but you can't see that in the photo.) Why is there such a mess in my kitchen so early in the day? Well...

This is why. This is the dishwasher. Full to the gills with clean dishes. I just have to motivate myself to actually unload that dishwasher. I remember the days before we had the dishwasher. I know that I must have said "I hate all these dishes in the sink. If we had a dishwasher, that would never happen." Yep. I eat my words.

Madeline, not yet dressed (it was like 12pm) and sitting on her pile-o-books. Yep. She pulls most of her books off of the shelves and instead of cleaning them up 30 times a day, on the floor they stay. I think those books have been on the floor for at least three weeks. We just step around them to get her in her bed.

How I spend 90% of my day. I like to sit with my feet up and have Madeline bring me toys or books. That way I never have to get up. What you can't see is the glass of Chardonnay in my left hand and the bon bons resting on my post baby belly. Oh, and those dishes putting themselves away. (Think Sleeping Beauty!)

Madeline's bed head. Normally when people talk about bed head it is b/c they wake up with crazy hair and then they do something about it. I have to admit that I rarely do anything about her hair. So really this should just be called Madeline's everyday wild and crazy hair.

The dining room table. You can see my camera bag (camcorder not SLR), sewing kit, trash, craft projects in progress, hole punches, internetless laptop, target bag and books for the classes I am teaching this semester. Plus at least 10 more pounds of junk. And you can still see some of the table cloth. It looks pretty clean really.

Olive, laying on my clean clothes. She couldn't have chosen a spot on my white clothes. No, she is directly on top of my navy tee. She sure knows how to pick 'em.

Just some of the books that I had in my possession from the Saint Louis County Library. They were only a few days overdue and I returned them yesterday. Not so bad really.

I think overall this is a pretty accurate portrayal of my life right now. A year ago would have been a totally different story. With a 3 month old I was operating on empty. But even 15 months later, unlike Jodie, I am not brave enough to display my post baby belly. But I think the point of this is to show that life is perfect with all its imperfections. I know that as a stay at home mom I feel like I should be super mom. The house should be immaculate and dinner on the table every night at 5:30p.

Reality is that some days I am just too overwhelmed to do anything but the most basic functions. (You know, feeding, clothing, making sure we don't stink or eat cat food.) I know that life for me is fairly simple. I have only Madeline to contend with. I read about Jodie with her three under three and Fern with her four high energy kiddos and I wonder how they do it.

Speaking of Fern she also answered the challenge with post 1 and post 2. So did Tara here. How about you out there in blog world? You brave enough?

Sorry this post has gotten so long. I promise more tomorrow or Thursday... and they will be shorter!

mg

My Source of Dissapointment

Yep. That's you.

Ok, that was harsh but I was hoping for at least a little love in my comments. I am dealing with some SERIOUS UTILITY RELATED STRESS here people!

Still no phone service. Which means no internet, or cable service either.

AND (yes, there is more)

I woke up to no water. I don't even have a phone to call the water company with! (ok, my cell phone is still working but it is the principle of the thing!) The water company was on the street dealing with the issue within an hour of the water main break on our side of the street. I can't say that the same is true for our phone company. Argh.

So where is the love people. I truely thought I would have readers who were even a little disapointed in my absence. I guess I am wrong. I'll just go live in my van, down by the river.

Ok, for a glass 1/2 full moment: It could be worse. If we didn't have power then we would be hot and we would loose our refridgerated food which would be very costly. Not having water isn't too bad. The only down fall is that my hair looks like crizap today and you might not want to stand so close. (I think my students understood.)

Jodie posted her weekend challenge and although delayed, I promise to do the same. I have some pretty good ones I think. Although I am not nearly as brave as Jodie. Showing your belly 6 wks post-pardum takes guts. (no pun intended) and 15 months later, I am still not nearly brave enough.

mg

Source of Dissapointment

Yes. That is me.

I won't have photos for you tonight. And probably not tomorrow either. Now before you cry out in sadness, throw your self on the floor whining in desperation for a glorious post from mgk please let me assure you that THIS IS NOT MY CHOICE!

This morning when I posted I had internet service. About an hour later I got online to send an e-mail and I didn't have service. As a matter of fact we don't have phone service either. (Or U-verse cable.) I feel totally cut off from the world! Our neighbors have service so it looks like it is just us without it. Of course we haven't seen anyone out in the 'hood working to fix it either. Argh.

When I called AT&T I was told it was a system problem and it should be fixed between 8am and 7pm on the 29th. That. Is. Tomorrow. Double Argh.

So until we get it all squared away I am out of luck. And so are you.

I leave you with a photo of Madeline from July '07. (I am on my parent's computer and this is what I can find!) Isn't she cute?!?!

mg

Slacker

I have been slacking in my posting over the past week or so. I guess I just don't feel like I have much to say.

I read so many blogs that are so clever. The authors are either really great writers, or incredibly clever crafters. I feel like any thing I would post would just be a lame attempt to match their wit and creativity. So I just don't post.

I will promise though that by the end of the day today I will post again. I can't promise that it will be clever or even creative.

Jodie , over at Jodified, challenged her readers to take photos of the not so pretty parts of life (dirty dishes, crying babies, etc.) so I will attempt to answer her call. As painful as that may be.

And of course there will be photos of our adorable little girl!

Check back!

mg

I underestimate how lucky I am

It is true. I don't give how lucky I am a second thought. That is until it is 2:37 in the morning and I am wide awake an hour after Madeline has woken up screaming in the middle of the night.

Madeline started sleeping for 10 hours a night when she was eight weeks old. I would get up and nurse her at 5 or 6am and then she would go back to sleep for an hour or two more. Then at 12 weeks, she dropped that early morning feeding and slept for 13-14 hours straight. Even now, she goes to bed without much fuss (most of the time) and sleeps for a good 12+ hours. This is after she has had two naps that are about an hour and a half to two hours long every day.

Can somebody say spoiled? Yep. That's us.

So that brings us to tonight. At 1:25a Madeline started screaming. Not the 'I am still asleep and dreaming' kind of grunting, no, full on 'oh my gosh I am freaking out come get me' screaming. So I head into her bedroom and check all the usual suspects. She isn't wet or dirty, she isn't too hot or too cold. Although it is dark she doesn't look like she has a rash (yes, that is a common occurrence with our little bits and we don't have a good answer why from the peds... he says it isn't anything to worry about if it comes and goes... but I still worry... I'm a mom...). When I pick her up she calms almost immediately. I rock her for a few minutes, then lay her back down. She cries for about 2 min. Then she is back asleep.

Me? It is over an hour later and I am still up. I tried to lay in bed for almost an entire hour before finally submitting and getting out of bed. Madeline is asleep again. I really am so lucky. If only I could get back to sleep!

mg