Small Things

So I guess we are old now

We just got something in the mail from XM radio, highlighting some of their more popular radio stations. One of them is XM Flight 26, which is the one channel that Jamie and I both love when we are in the car together.

Turns out it's tagline/description is "Grown-up hits from the '90s through today. Never too hip or too young."

Ya reading this, Jamie? That's us. Welcome to age 34. Goodbye hip and young.

Thanks to friends and family, March for Babies went better than planned!

I was a little nervous about doing the walk with my three kids and no one else to help me, but it turned out to be a great day. I bumped into a couple of friends from my Moms Club, which is amazing because there must have been hundreds of people there. Then I bumped into my friend Marlieke, wife to a classmate of my husband's from the legendary 23rd company, class of '97 USNA. (Ya like that, Jamie?) So we had to finish the walk together and catch up.

The weather was good, overcast but just warm enough. I found parking easily enough, which was my main worry. Wrong move taking the jogging stroller, the fixed front wheel was hard to maneuver in a crowd, especially with an infant strapped to my chest as well. But the kids were great.

And here's the best part--I raised $470 for the March of Dimes!!! That's way more than I expected, and it's thanks to my wonderful, generous friends and family who were able to sponsor me. Thanks to Sarah, Darcy, Patrick, Alayna, Shan and Antoinette, Lori, Aunt Donna, Aunt Norma, Kelly, Heather, Mike and Lisa, and Jamie W. On behalf of the tiniest of babies, thanks for supporting me and helping to prevent prematurity, birth defects, and infant mortality.

I have a picture of us from the walk to share, but it is stuck in my camera until my husband returns from his trip with my camera's USB cable. I'll post it in a couple of weeks. There are some curious characters in the backgroud of our picture--I'm not quite sure why Darth Vader was there with some of his cronies, not to mention Tony the Tiger. But hey, it was a cool photo op. You'll just have to come back to see it!

Road Trip Debrief

So we weren't on the road ten minutes when I realized I needed to take notes on how to better prepare for our next PCS. Or in civilian terms, our next Big Cross-Country Move. Not every PCS is cross-country . . . at least not for other families. But WE will criss-cross this vast nation for the FIFTH time at the end of May.

Last week, we made our first road trip in the Outlook, hauling the kids all the way to South Florida to have the youngest, Katy, baptised, along with our new nephew, at my in-laws' church. We broke up the drive down with an overnight stopover at my parents' house, just north of Atlanta. So two days driving down, two days to stay, then two days back. No, we were not drunk when we planned this. Though several times while we were driving, I wished for a couple of cosmos.

So here are my notes for the next time we hit the road:

1. Must bring empty plastic cups for their cupholders. This lightning bolt hit me before we really got started, when we picked up some fast food before getting on the highway. They cannot keep things on their laps without spilling, but a couple of plastic cups are easy to fill with fries and half a cheeseburger, kept securely upright in the cupholder. (Ketchup was already forbidden when we bought the Outlook a few months ago.) Plus, then I can buy large sizes of snacks and parcel them out into the cups as I see fit.

2. No cheetos, doritos, or anything else with greasy dust that coats the fingers. We usually stick to raisins, goldfish, and popcorn, but at one gas station I lost my marbles for a moment and let the kid get cheetos.

3. Buy big bottles of water and juice, to fill and refill their sippy cups.

4. Must get noise reduction headphones to plug into my ipod. Those ear buds are not audible over the baby, the kids DVD player, and the Red Sox Game.

5. At each and every long-awaited rest stop, we fill the gas tank, all water bottles, and the baby. Empty all bladders (not forgetting my own), toss the trash, and change the baby.

6. Bring notebook to write down this kind of stuff, or the names of songs I want to find on itunes, or ideas for future blog posts, or heck, to start that novel I'm always thinking about.

7. Bring a booklight.

8. Bring more toys for Mary.

9. Stash pacifiers everywhere.

10. Remember to enjoy the scenery, and point neat stuff out to my kids. It is, literally, a journey, and I don't want my kids to miss seeing the country. Or for me to miss seeing it through their eyes.

You can find me and Small Things on Facebook

Over the last few months, several friends have invited me to "view their profile on Facebook," which of course requires joining Facebook first. I resisted. I love to stay in touch with friends online, and these were some of my best friends. So why not? Because I knew I would like it TOO much. I knew it was right up my alley, my cup of tea (which is coffee), made exactly for people like me. (Too old for myspace, yet always online.)

I have enough of a challenge keeping up with my business (BabyPhilosophy.com), my blog, my email, and what else, let's see . . . oh yeah, raising three children and keeping house. I feared Facebook would seduce me into evenings of neglect and mornings of regret.

I finally joined two weeks ago, and surprisingly, have managed to keep it in perspective. I WANT to update m profile regularly, learn what poking is, play the Biggest Brain game--but I don't have the time now, so I haven't yet. I did, however, add the Blog It application, so I can post to Small Things right from Facebook, and keep a minifeed on my page, which kills two Internet birds with on widget. Isn't that efficient?

If only they would make a widget that could combine floor mopping with returning phone calls . . .

My son is no Mona Lisa

Yesterday, while waiting at the pharmacy, I gave Mary, my 2yrold, a notepad and pen to play with to pass the time. And by "pass the time" I mean to keep her from running circles around everyone while shrieking. It did keep her busy and content, but apparently at the expense of Jimmy's (my 5yrold) sanity.

Mary: I am going to draw a picture of Jimmy! (scribbles on pad) Jimmy, do you have a mouth?

Jimmy: (Annoyed) Yes, MARY, I have a mouth right here! Everybody has a mouth!

Mary: (Scribbles some more, then looks up) Jimmy, and do you have a forehead?

Jimmy: (Throws up his hands in frustration) Yes, of course! Mary, I have everything!

Mary: (After adding more scribbles) Hmmm. Do you have . . . some ears?

Jimmy: AAAARGH! You know I have everything! I told you already, MARY!!!

Mary: (Looking thoughtful with finger on chin) Something . . . is . . . missing . . . Jimmy, do you have some cheeks?

Completely apoplectic, Jimmy almost falls off the chair waving his arms and yelling at his sister.

I don't know what the other two people in the waiting area were thinking, but all I could do was laugh.