Pregnancy scare

Now don't panic, I'm not pregnant nor am I worried that I am. Nonetheless, I've been reflecting on birth control/pregnancy and all that jazz.

It occurs to me that now, while happily married with a home and all, I'm more terrified about getting pregnant than I was when I was ...well... let's just say the possibility was there but I was not ready "lifewise."

Oh the irony.

Progress

1. Take a class on something I know little/nothing about. B-mod is awesome. I can't wait to learn more!

2. Design a stocking for Isaac.

3. Paint it.

4. Stitch it. About 2/3 completed.

5. Take a vacation.

6. Learn another song on the piano.

7. Be proud of my body.

8. More art.

9. Finish decorating one room in the house.

10. Beach.

11. Fly a kite with the kids. Easter. It was FANTASTIC.

12. Paint a canvas. Did a series of letters for Isaac's room. Definitely more graphic than painterly, but very fun. More to come.

13. Design a line of needlepoint series.

14. Enroll Rhianna in kindergarden.

15. Spend a day with Owen.

16. Get a tan.

17. Read a book. Kevin Connolly's Double Take. Highly recommend.

18. Read another book. The Role of Metaphor in Art Therapy, by Bruce Moon. Couldn't put it down.

19. And at least one more book.

20. Go skiing. Skied Lone Peak for the first time. It was ok. I'm comfortable skiing once every few years at this point; somehow it's lost it's thrill.

21. Play tennis.

22. Play with a dog.

23. Draw Lucy.

24. Draw Isaac.

25. Let Rhianna have a sleepover. Wheels are in motion. Target acquired.

26. Print the pictures for Mom's bracelet. Damn, totally forgot about this one.

27. Figure out how to use the office. Not even close.

28. Climb a tree.

29. Slip'n'slide.

30. Take the whole family on a hike.

31. Go swimming.

32. Go on a waterslide.

33. Go on a bike ride. Yes! Yes! We've even done a 5-person bike ride! Isaac in the trailer, Owen with training wheels and Rhianna on her two-wheeler. We're a regular Partridge family. Sure, it took us about 2 hours of prep time for a 10 minute ride, but it was foreshadowing (hopefully) of future family fun.

34. Get a good hair cut. I really have to get on this one.

35. See Bill Cosby. April 16. Yeah baby.

36. Host ladies night. Scheduled for this Saturday.

37. Do a puzzle. Hmm. Does a 100-piece Princess puzzle count? We're going to say no... because I'd still like to do one.

38. Game night. See #36.

39. Read the first Harry Potter to Rhianna. May put this one off. Started reading it, but she wasn't as interested as I'd hoped so I may wait a year.

40. Ten cartwheels.

41. Spin.

42. Dance.

43. Design something really cool.

44. Get a manicure.

46. Turn 30.

47. Not get pregnant. Mission accomplished.

48. Ever. Again. This is not a debate.

49. Laugh. Alot.

50. Smile even more.

51. Give someone flowers.

52. Finish this list.

53. Rekindle a friendship.

54. Get a full night's sleep. Turned the mattress last weekend and Oh. My. Lord. the difference is incredible.

55. Volunteer for something.

56. Learn a new card game.

57. Try a new food.

58. Cook something I've never made before. Dave said I've done this. I don't recall, but I'm going to count it.

59. Brush the cat thoroughly.

60. Keep my kitchen counters clean for more than 6 hours straight (while awake). I'm pretty sure this won't happen until summer when we're out of the house for most of the day.

61. Swim laps.

62. Listen more. Definitely trying, but not ready to say it's accomplished.

63. Talk less. Trying.

64. Grow vegetables. F'ing Montana weather.

65. Plant flowers. Planted. Waiting for the growing part now.

66. Let the kids help in the garden.

67. Stain the fence.

68. Stain the porch.

69. Say thank you.

70. Say I'm sorry.

71. Teach Owen to write his name. While I'm not claiming credit, Owen did write his name a week ago. Four relatively identifiable and certainly distinct letter-like glyphs.

72. Teach Isaac to say "mama!" Hooray!

73. Roadtrip.

74. Finish making this list.

75. Fly a kite. Easter!

76. Host ladies night. Scheduled for Saturday.

77. Host game night. See above.

78. Finished watching LOST on Netflix.

79. Stay the same size for more than two months. Done. (Even bought new underwear so now I'm committed.)

80. Learn CPR.

81. Make freezer meals.

82. Try a new food. Dave made fritata (sp?) -- surprisingly good!

83. Get a new bike.

84. Ride it.

85. See a movie in 3D. How to Train Your Dragon. Good call.

86. Go to Yellowstone.

87. Play with an iPad.

88. Stay employed. So far so good.

89. Sew something. Pillow shams for the living room. Keeping the bar low on this one.

90. Purge my closet of all maternity and anything that makes me look pregnant. Getting there.

91. Take a nap. Apparently I did this. I blogged it.

92. Form a new, useful habit. On the way to class, I've decided to call people, often my sister, to keep in touch better. Very good habit.

93. Keep my desk cleaner.
94. Design a Web site.
95. Start a sketchbook.
96. Rearrange my office. Started by experimenting with standing at my desk instead of sitting. The experiment lasted three weeks. Unfortunately, my knees couldn't hack it. So I'm working on a new approach.
97. Archive files at work. Damn.
98. Train myself not to pee 6 times during the hour before I go to bed. Not sure I'm ready to say this is accomplished, but I'm working at about 3 times now.
99. Get contacts.
100. Have a family photo made. Planning to wait until Owen's hair grows past the current mom-botched-it haircut he's currently sporting.
101. Make a book of Rhianna's art. In progress, most are scanned and placed.

Owenism

After a 1.5 hour fit, Owen is sitting at the kitchen table eating his lunch. He asks, "Mom, can I have some chips?"

"No. Eat your lunch."

"Please...!"

"No."

"Why not Mama?"

"Because you just screamed your head off."

"I didn't Mama!"

"Yes you did."

"No, Mama, I DIDN'T!"

"Owen, you've been throwing a fit for the last hour and a half!"

"I know but," he reaches up and smacks his head on both sides, "it's still attached!"

Short-bus special

So this morning I'm talking at the kids about what we might be able to do today and I mention playgroup. Talking out loud, I wondered if they are closed for spring break. Rhianna and Owen, hearing me, but no longer involved in the conversation, have the following discourse: Rhianna: What do think you do on spring break? Owen (in a very serious "duh" sort of tone): Break stuff. So that set the tone for the day and overall, the day was just fine. The only major trouble has been the fight for the bathroom. I ask them to go and they race to the toilet and someone inevitably ends up crying. Anyway, at a certain point this evening, I tell them to go upstairs and start getting ready for bed while I get Isaac's milk ready. Dave is the first to get to the kids and as I reach the top of the stairs, Owen is yelling, "Rhianna got pee on her bottom." ...Ok...? I proceed to give Isaac his milk and put him down while hearing David saying something like, "We do NOT pee on our sister!" Hmm. So, it turns out they decided to "teamwork" the bathrooming. Thinking it would be the most efficient way to go to the bathroom without fighting, my darling little children shared. Yes, Rhianna sat while Owen stood. And, well, you can fill in the rest (and now it makes sense how Rhianna "got" pee on her bottom. Just another night in paradise folks. But seriously, what am I to do. I can't show them I'm laughing or they will do it again. I can't really punish them because they were, after all, just trying to come up with a way to make this efficient and fight-free. I told them that bathroom time is private time but I just couldn't keep a straight face long enough to say that it's inappropriate to share a toilet. How was YOUR Monday?

Making progress

1. Take a class on something I know little/nothing about. More on this another day.

2. Design a stocking for Isaac. Done.

36. Host ladies night. We made freezer meals. Any ideas for the next one?

38. Game night. Snorta and Scrabble Slam are my new favorite games.

47. Not get pregnant. 'nuf said.

52. Finish this list....but maybe not tonight. Yeah!

74. Finish making this list. Ok, so I repeated a few.

78. Finished watching LOST on Netflix. And now I can watch the final season with the rest of the world. Yay. Oh, and yeah, the CG in in this season's opener sucketh.

81. Make freezer meals. Success: Teriaki (sp?) chicken. Enchiladas. Moroccan chicken. Failure: Creamy chicken.

89. Sew something. Pillow shams baby. Could it get any easier? I think it might be cool to figure out how to make stuffed animals though.

91. Take a nap. Technically, I did this on Saturday. It was an accident, but it was still very, very good.

And there was cake. Oh, there was cake.

Yes my friends. There was cake. And God looked, and saw that it was good.

I DID IT!!!

92. Form a new, useful habit.
93. Keep my desk cleaner.
94. Design a Web site.
95. Start a sketchbook.
96. Rearrange my office.
97. Archive files at work.
98. Train myself not to pee 6 times during the hour before I go to bed.
99. Get contacts.
100. Have a family photo made.
101. Make a book of Rhianna's art.

91. Take a nap.

92.

Life lessons

Owen: "Daddy would die if his heart stopped, but his heart would still love us."

Now that's some deep shit.

80. Learn CPR.

81. Make freezer meals.

82. Try a new food.

83. Get a new bike.

84. Ride it.

85. See a movie in 3D.

86. Go to Yellowstone.

87. Play with an iPad.

88. Stay employed.

89. Sew something.

90. Purge my closet of all maternity and anything that makes me look pregnant.

91.

Whew. Ten left. Getting there.

78. Finished watching LOST on Netflix.

79.

Ladies' night meals and toilet paper tube trick

Last night a handful of my girlfriends came over for a unique ladies' night. I decided to give that idea of once-a-month cooking a shot -- but I needed some moral support. So the six of us women transformed about 50 lbs. of chicken into 42 meals for ourselves and families. I never would have done it without the guidance of those friends of mine who actually know their way around a kitchen. It was very fun -- and it would have been a great baby shower for someone pregnant with a second or third baby -- bring the ingredients and fill their freezer with pre-made food!

Other tips of the day:

So Owen is in a booster seat now and the latch into which his carseat buckle should go is always falling beneath the seat. My awesome parent hack: put half an empty toiletpaper roll tube around the buckle and it makes it stick straight up so he (or I) doesn't have to fish around for it.

..continued

55. Volunteer for something.

56. Learn a new card game.

57. Try a new food.

58. Cook something I've never made before.

59. Brush the cat thoroughly.

60. Keep my kitchen counters clean for more than 6 hours straight (while awake).

61. Swim laps.

62. Listen more.

63. Talk less.

64. Grow vegetables.

65. Plant flowers.

66. Let the kids help in the garden.

67. Stain the fence.

68. Stain the porch.

69. Say thank you.

70. Say I'm sorry.

71. Teach Owen to write his name.

72. Teach Isaac to say "mama!"

73. Roadtrip.

74. Finish making this list.

75. Fly a kite.

76. Host ladies night.

77. Host game night.

78.

(tbc)

101...or maybe a little less

An old friend has kept a tradition for a few years where she made a list of 101 things to do in the forthcoming year. Seems like a good idea. I thought I'd give it a shot.

1. Take a class on something I know little/nothing about.

2. Design a stocking for Isaac.

3. Paint it.

4. Stitch it.

5. Take a vacation.

6. Learn another song on the piano.

7. Be proud of my body.

8. More art.

9. Finish decorating one room in the house.

10. Beach.

11. Fly a kite with the kids.

12. Paint a canvas.

13. Design a line of needlepoint series.

14. Enroll Rhianna in kindergarden.

15. Spend a day with Owen.

16. Get a tan.

17. Read a book.

18. Read another book.

19. And at least one more book.

20. Go skiing.

21. Play tennis.

22. Play with a dog.

23. Draw Lucy.

24. Draw Isaac.

25. Let Rhianna have a sleepover.

26. Print the pictures for Mom's bracelet.

27. Figure out how to use the office.

28. Climb a tree.

29. Slip'n'slide.

30. Take the whole family on a hike.

31. Go swimming.

32. Go on a waterslide.

33. Go on a bike ride.

(dude, can you tell I'm a bit stir crazy tonight)

34. Get a good hair cut.

35. See Bill Cosby.

36. Host ladies night.

37. Do a puzzle.

38. Game night.

39. Read the first Harry Potter to Rhianna.

40. Ten cartwheels.

41. Spin.

42. Dance.

43. Design something really cool.

44. Get a manicure.

Wow. I don't know how she got to 101.

46. Turn 30.

47. Not get pregnant.

48. Ever. Again.

49. Laugh. Alot.

50. Smile even more.

51. Give someone flowers.

52. Finish this list....but maybe not tonight.

53. Rekindle a friendship.

54. Get a full night's sleep.

55.

...to be continued....