April 20, 2013
This says it all
So amazed, impressed, and thankful for the Boston law enforcement community. Thank you for everything you did so the people of Massachusetts could sleep soundly tonight.
April 18, 2013
Marathon musings and prayers for peace
The events of Monday at the Boston Marathon have prompted me to come out of my unintentional retirement…not because I think I have anything of value to share, but because I need a place to work through my feelings and emotions. As a self-described Catholic, I struggle with events like this. Events like this – and the doubts they raise in my mind – make me question my right to call myself a “good” Christian or a “strong” Christian, but I definitely am a true Christian.
I know for sure that evil does not come from God, nor does he “allow” it, but that evil exists in the world despite God’s best efforts. At the same time though, I struggle with the sentiment that this is all God’s plan. I do not believe that he “plans” for things like this to happen…for people to die or be maimed…but I do believe that he lifts up those that he can and sets them on a path of meaning.
I choose to believe that the three people who died were chosen by God, not because they didn’t “deserve” to live, but because he knew they would be better off with him. I choose to believe that the first-responders and doctors were God in the flesh that Monday afternoon, saving as many people as they could. I also choose to believe that whoever committed this heinous act was acting on behalf of the devil and will join him in hell upon their death.
I’m using the word “choose” very carefully here. It has taken me all week (and the writing of this post) to wrap my head around how anyone could be so evil as to hurt children or people who were already at their physical (and mental) limits…and the only way I can make sense of it is to believe that the person who did this was truly the devil incarnate.
At this point all that is left to do is pray for peace in the city of Boston and for healing of those who were physically, mentally, or emotionally injured (both here and in Texas). Please join us for “wear Boston” day tomorrow, and wear anything you have that shows “Boston,” one of our sports teams, or any of the Boston or BAA/marathon colors. May God bless America and all those who strive to make the world a better place.
August 20, 2012
Memorable moment Monday
That moment when you realize you got your dates wrong…
…and we’ll be another full week without a kitchen sink or countertops. Oof.
August 16, 2012
Thought Vomit Thursday
I’ve always loved these kinds of posts. 😉
- Why is it that A says “dada” ALL. DAY. LONG. but only says “mamaaaaaa” when he’s whiny and wants something? Literally, first thing out of his mouth in the morning – “dada”, every time he hears a car or sees a truck – “dada”…and so on. S is loving it, but COME ON! 😛
- Why is it that I hear about an opportunity for a full-time position at the same time as my freelance work is finally starting to trickle in again? I have a call this afternoon to get details, but I would (not-so-secretly) hate for it to be an opportunity we couldn’t afford to turn down…
- Why is it that I still assume I’ll be able to get pregnant like a normal person? I’m five-weeks post-AF and actually convinced myself that I needed to take a pregnancy test! I should know better…
- Why is it that my body is fighting me every step of the way back to getting in shape? It is no longer negotiable…I was just recently asked “so you’re working on #2, huh?”, COMPLETE WITH BELLY RUB! Seriously?!? I’m blaming it on my mini alcohol binge post-BFing, so no more bottles of wine on weekday nights, but I’m still annoyed that I can’t work out like I used to. Whenever I try, I’m so sore the next day (or two!) that I can barely move or pick A up! So now I’m trying to do less (end my workout before I feel completely “worked”) but more often.
I think that’s it for now. Here’s a picture of my little punk:
And for fun, here he is last year in the same hat: 😉
August 10, 2012
My fight against CHAOS
Soon after A’s birthday, my freelance work dried up (more on that later) and I became a bona fide SAHM. Around the same time, A became more mobile and began refusing to stay in his playroom (a small gated area off our main living room). I looked around and realized that our house was a DISASTER – not child-proofed, not clean enough, and FULL of clutter. When I was working full-time (and even part-time), everything got done “enough” – clean enough, organized enough, just good enough. But once A was crawling around on the floor full time, I knew things had to change. And to be honest, I had NO idea where to start.
So I did what anyone else would do in that situation…
I googled!
I think my exact search phrase was “how to organize your life.” 😉 And the website I came across was nothing short of life-changing.
It’s called FlyLady.net and has a whole host of guidlines, routines, and prompts to help you conquer the CHAOS (can’t have anybody over syndrome)! It’s set up so anybody can use it – SAHMs, working parents, retirees – and written in a way that breaks through the guilt and procrastination and sheer overwhelmingness (is that a word?) so you’re able to jump right in.
They divide your house into zones with a different zone focus each week (for more detailed cleaning), and then every day there is a cleaning or decluttering “mission.” They also encourage you to set up weekly routines (certain days for errands, paperwork, cleaning, etc.) and every month there is a different “habit” to focus on (laundry, drinking water, etc.).
That is just a snippet of the value the site offers, but honestly guys? I have never felt this in control of my life. I know that I’ll be able to keep up with it, even when my freelance work picks back up, and I foresee our family using these guidelines and routines for years to come.
If anyone out there is feeling a little out of control, go check it out! You’ll be glad you did. 🙂
This is not a paid advertisement for FlyLady.net. The FlyLady has no idea that I exist…I just had to share my great find with all of you!
May 23, 2012
Wordless Wednesday
Family day at the Rod&Gun club
My first Mother’s Day!
Driving Daddy’s boat
And learning how to fish!
May 18, 2012
May catch-up – allergies, birthdays, and more
Fell off the bandwagon again, sorry friends. May has been a crazy month…A’s first ear infection turned into his first allergic reaction, I turned 30 (gasp!) and had my first real mother’s day!
Did you know that a drug allergy can take up to two weeks to manifest itself? I had no idea. My parents kept A overnight (for my aforementioned birthday party) and he woke up with red rashes on his cheeks that slowly spread to the rest of his body, culminating in swollen cheeks and eyelids by bedtime. ER here we come. The ER doc called it a virus, gave us some Bena.dryl and sent us home. Luckily, our pedi requires follow up appts for any infants who go to the ER, so we saw our doc in the morning who diagnosed it as an amoxicillin allergy. A was completely MISERABLE for a good two days – as in, so miserable that he couldn’t sleep for more than 15 minutes at a time – but was back to normal in about a week.
My birthday ended up being a three part-er…which I think for three decades is totally reasonable! 😉 S threw me a fab party the weekend before my birthday (dinner and dancing with some friends), my family took me out to dinner the following weekend, and my actual birthday was pretty low key (lunch with a few close friends and meeting a new baby, then grilling out at home for dinner). Just what the doctor ordered! Honestly, 30 has never seemed that scary – people keep telling me it’s because I’ve got a pretty good life going 🙂 – but I have to admit, that it felt pretty surreal on my actual day. I guess it’s just weird to think that 30 always seemed so old growing up, but now I still feel so young! Like so young that sometimes I wonder if people think I’m the babysitter and not the mom, lol. 😉 No, just me?
Mother’s Day was the following weekend, and once again, S outdid himself. I told him that all I wanted was to sleep in…as in, he gets up at the first peep out of A and takes him downstairs, so I don’t wake up so much that I can’t go back to sleep! S was like, “umm, aren’t you supposed to spend time with your kid on mother’s day?” NOPE!! A ended up sleeping in until 7:30 (which is unheard of!) so S got off the hook, but then I got breakfast in bed, and S took A on an errand and he took his morning nap in the car, and I took an hour long bubble bath and painted my nails! By the time they got home I was missing them. 🙂 Then we went to my parents for lunch, and ended the day with a family walk and dinner outside. SO nice.
All in all, May has been a month of big transitions, that will culminate in my SON’s FIRST BIRTHDAY. Don’t even get me started. I think it’s just hard to process when I think about how different these milestones were last year. My birthday and mother’s day were on the same weekend last year – a weekend that was book-ended by the appointments where we found out about A’s intestinal issue. I spent the two days on pseudo bed rest, trying not to panic. Fast forward to this year, I have an almost-one-year-old who is eating me out of house and home (and yes, I know what that means for him as a teenager!) and just the happiest little boy you’ll ever meet.
There aren’t enough words to express how happy and grateful I am – and once again, this is a case of my emotions rendering me mute – so all I have to say is, I am loving life right now, and enjoying every minute of a life that I know I am very lucky to have.
February 13, 2012
In a nutshell
Okay, let’s see…the past eight months… I really didn’t mean to let it go this long, but every time I had a minute to sit down and write a post I never knew where to begin! So I guess I’ll backtrack a bit…
My maternity leave flew by in the blink of an eye (FYI, 12 weeks does NOT equal 3 months!) and before I knew it I was back at work. My last two weeks of leave were full of Irish visitors (literally, the last group left the day before I started back!) and we just barely managed to squeeze in A’s christening. My job (which deserves a post of its own) did not get any better once A arrived and I finally reached the point of misery where I was able to convince S that we needed to figure out a plan B.
So on November 1st I became a stay-at-home-mom/part-time freelancer and have loved every minute. It hasn’t been easy – finding the work, and finding time to do it – but we’ve got a good schedule going now and it seems to be working out. My mother comes over on Tuesdays and Thursdays and watches A so I can work (and even helps with my laundry and housework!) and I squeeze in my other hours while he’s napping on the other days. It seems to be working out, although S is still really anxious about the long term. Keeping our fingers crossed…
And in between then and now we took A on his first international flight (to visit his Irish family for Christmas), and I had gall bladder surgery in early January.
So now we’re just trying to catch up with other things that got put on the back burner…one of which is this blog!
A few weeks ago, I was trying to remember when something happened so I started poking through my blog archives and I realized how special it was to have my entire pregnancy documented. It made me really sad that I hadn’t kept up with my blogging and had missed out on the record of Aidan as a newborn. So I’m really going to try to make an effort to post more, mostly for my own posterity, but I know there will be plenty of stories to keep you all entertained. 😉
If anyone is even reading this, THANK YOU…I’ve missed you all. If you’re up to it, drop me a note to say “hey!” and let me know if you have a blog that I should be following. 🙂
July 18, 2011
Home from the hospital
I can’t believe that it has been over a month since I posted…sorry friends! I don’t want anyone to think that my blog or our blog community is any less important to me now that I have a child, and I likewise don’t want to fall back on the “I’m busy” excuse (although you have no idea how true that is!). In reality, I have so much to write about that every time I have a half an hour to sit down in front of my computer, I don’t know where to begin!
So, I’m just going to have to start from the beginning…
A’s last few days in the hospital went exactly as planned, and we brought him home on Sunday, June 12th – our seven year wedding anniversary!
Our little boy all wrapped up and ready to go home!
It wasn’t exactly the romantic occasion that it has been in the past, but it was still one of the best days of our lives. Honestly though, if I had had to spend one more night in the hospital, they might have needed to check ME in as a patient!
The first night was comical in retrospect…we thought we were so prepared, but we didn’t even have the diaper pail put together! We woke up in the morning to a pile of dirty diapers on the corner of the changing table, a full load of dirty blankets and burp cloths, and no real idea of who got up with the baby when! 😛
The next few weeks were a blur of breastfeeding (more on that later) and doctor’s appointments and just figuring out how to squeeze in a shower once a day!
More tomorrow….
Life by the Day 