Things people say

So sorry about the delay in posting. Life has a way of getting in the way of me and this blog sometimes. We had a few weeks of friends and family come to visit and work picked up a bit, which means that if I am at my computer I am working and if not I am cleaning and/or playing and/or prepping a meal and/or putting my wife hat on for a few minutes. Then we went to FloydFest, our big anticipated music festival, which deserves it's own post. I had to delay my journey into the homemade, so I focused instead on the many uses of good old vinegar, come to find out it's great for laundry, deodorizing, dishes, diapers and more (http://www.almanac.com/content/household-uses-vinegar)! Love this stuff!

In the month since I last posted, I have been storing up a cache of things people say. See, I have an invisible sign on my head that says 'say weird stuff to me, or tell me how you really feel, I don't mind and would like to talk to you about it'. Here are the things that people have said to me in the past month that I thought you'd find interesting:

1. While backing out of the driveway, my elderly, Chihuahua walking, sweet neighbor with mild dementia stopped Lane and I in the street. said she didn't want to be nosey, but asked me where I was going. We talk fairly often so I didn't think anything of it and responded that we were headed to the grocery store. She responded 'they let you take her in there?' and pointed at the baby in the back seat. 'yes' I responded.....while trying to think of something to add and coming up empty. 'They don't let me take Cha (the Chihuahua) in' she said, I believe insinuating that taking a baby into the store is the same as a dog. 'no kidding' I said and smiled blankly. 'What I do is just leave her in the car with the window cracked - unless it's too hot' she advised, clearly thinking that I should do the same with Lane. 'Nice talking to you, don't get to far from home' I responded as she walked away smiling. I hope that when I am old, nice young people will not judge me for the crazy things I say and will smile blankly at me as I yadder on.

2. In line at the grocery store a couple weeks after this incident, a grandmotherly woman in a lark pulled into the aisle behind Lane and I. Lane started engaging her as I unloaded the basket, and the woman asked me the standard questions, her age, her name, etc. I was pleasant and answered as Lane screeched and showed her the bag of soy nuts I had given her to shake. 'Sweet baby' she declared, and I thanked her. Then, in a hissing loudish whisper she added 'that's why I just can't understand abortion'. I did a double take and thought about how I should respond. It crossed my mind to tell her that abortion rights probably isn't an appropriate grocery store conversation, but instead I responded that 'abortion is a very personal subject, but right or wrong, I don't want the government telling me what to do with my body'. 'I agree with that, but I don't want the government paying for it either - you know how much government money goes to abortion clinics, don't you'. It was here that I stopped the conversation. Clearly this person and I were not on the same page and definitely not the same news/radio stations, nor did it matter. I checked out, returned the understanding glance that the cashier gave me, and left. I hope that when I am old, nice young people will not judge me imposing my personal beliefs on them in the checkout aisle at the grocery store.

3. Leaving Sam's (an embodiment of all things excess only one step above Wal-Mart) a couple weeks ago, I was walking beside an elderly gentleman wearing one of those sun hats that covers not only your head but your neck and shoulders making you look like a desert nomad. Savannah heat can be pretty rough, even just going to your car from the store, so the crazy hat alone was not enough of an indication that I should be wary of this person, and he smiled at Lane as we crossed the parking lot. 'Happy baby' he said. I said thank you. 'You're brave to have a baby these days'. I remained silent, pondering meaning and response.... and he went on 'I made a mistake and had four, now I worry about them and my Grandchildren and their future'. All I could say was 'I agree'. Yes, it was a weird thing to say to a mother with a young child and yes, this person was probably in Sam's stocking up on canned goods for the zombie apocalypse dungeon he's building in his back yard, but I cannot help agreeing that I worry about Lane's future with the direction that our planet seems to be headed in. We're using up our natural resources, our planet is getting warmer, water levels are rising and we're headed for more wars that I believe are based more on keeping the military machine running than on morality....and the worst part...no one seems to care. I hope that when I am old, I hesitate before depressing young mothers outside stores.

Lane took her first real steps on Father's Day, right before turning 13 months. She did a quick one-two-three from the coffee table to her play table. She just turned 14 months, and now she doesn't crawl anymore. Just like that, the crawling stage is over. Like so many things from this past year, I blink and there is another change. She's getting her molars right now so she is a pile of drool, but she doesn't seem to be affected too much other than the constantly wet shirt. She is a happy little thing, going up to strangers to be picked up, dancing, hugging and giving big, wet, open mouthed kisses. I am so lucky to be her mommy.

On a business front, I scored a couple more good jobs that I have been working on as well and had a couple of 'conceptualization' meetings on the jobs that I already have. Last month was a lot of front end time so it was a pretty poor billing month. Handling July billing now, hoping that it will come up better.

I have some 'official' 13 and 14 month pictures of Lane to put on here, but the photographer who took them needs to email them to me :-). So until then, here are a few from my phone, which always seems to be handy instead of the good camera.

This week: Pesto

Sometimes life seems to move along at a glacial pace and other times I feel like I blink and a week has passed. This week's highlights, baby Lane climbs on things and I won a writing contest (http://www.floydfest.com/rise-shine-campaign/) which got us free tickets to the music festival that we're headed to this summer! Small beans but exciting for me! It is summertime in Savannah...the car read 106 yesterday (it's really only in the 90's but with the humidity it's like a sauna), the pool is at 85, the ocean is warmer, we're getting thunderstorms in the afternoon, and the basil plant looks like this, which is how it always looks when it gets this hot!

.....which meant it was time for some homemade fresh pesto! I have done this once before, but it is so tasty I thought it deserved another go. Three cups (flattened) of basil leaves came off of that plant, which was blended with some parm, some toasted pine nuts, olive oil and some garlic.

while I happen to think that wine and pesto go together like peas and salmon, the wine glass is just for scale. All those leaves yield a little more than one small jar, but this will last us a while.

Happy summertime from three of our unit members!

Dave looks way more excited about this picture than Lane or Neeko.

At least the baby pool is getting some use. Lane is terrified of inflatables.

And for Scott - here is last week's granola recipe, but I substitute whatever I have on hand instead of the
apricots, etc from the recipe!

Ingredients

4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

2 cups sliced almonds

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup good honey

1 1/2 cups small diced dried apricots

1 cup small diced dried figs

1 cup dried cherries

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup roasted, unsalted cashews

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Toss the oats, coconut, and almonds together in a large bowl. Whisk together the oil and honey in a small bowl. Pour the liquids over the oat mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until all the oats and nuts are coated. Pour onto a 13 by 18 by 1-inch sheet pan. Bake, stirring occasionally with a spatula, until the mixture turns a nice, even, golden brown, about 45 minutes.Remove the granola from the oven and allow to cool, stirring occasionally. Add the apricots, figs, cherries, cranberries, and cashews. Store the cooled granola in an airtight container.

A life less ordinary.

Going against the genetically modified grain, living a life less ordinary, grabbing life by the homemade horns...get the drift? I am devoting this next blogging year to taking the path less chosen...through making things from scratch, opting out of the mass produced machine, asking the questions that we do not usually ask. Raising a little human is making me think more, about cell phones and how much we use them (when the phone rings she holds her hands up to her ears and babbles), about genetically modified ingredients and how much we eat them (see article on effects of GMO's), about unsafe factories producing cheap products that we don't need in mass quantities, about landfills, about garbage, about climate change, about debt. We do the little things that we can do to help (we recycle, Dave drives a hybrid, we compost, we raise chickens for eggs, Lane is back in cloth diapers, we use green cleaning products, we have a clothesline, we keep our bees) but if we're going to live on our farm someday, I want to take things one step further...I'm talking a homemade pasta, jarred food, pickling, homemade laundry soap making, garage saling, rain water collecting, house clutter purging, toy donating, volunteering step further....and thus our year begins.

 

I'm still a mother, still a business owner, still a wife and I cannot make this my full priority but in the little ways that I can, I want to conserve - to act - to help - to learn and to teach.  I want to raise a grateful, thoughtful, aware little person...a little person who just pulled my box of pencils down, spilled them all over the floor and is now putting them back in the box and dumping them out again....and who's best friend is a dog leash....maybe my aim is a little high.....but I am going to give it a shot.

 

This weeks project, homemade granola - baby steps people. Why buy it surrounded by plastic, in a cardboard box for twice the money when you can make it at home and it's just as good. Healthy snacks for little human and I are always appreciated. Oh, and I am going to do a monthly pic of Lane. She's still changing, still growing, still learning so fast that I can't help but document her expanding world.

 

Some pics from our week:

 

Gates are her enemy and our best friend

 



National Clothesline Day



 



We had a visitor



so Dave caught him

 

and relocated him.

 



Homemade granola ingredients

 





Baking



 



Next time I'll double the recipe.

 



This face says 'I am in the dog water - you better come get me'

 



Then she noticed the dog.

 



Then she climbed the stairs.

 



Then the dog left.

 

Here's to you all catching your dogs this week! Happy Tuesday!

 

 

 

The beginning and the end

We have reached the end of Lane's first year. She is not a big girl yet, but she's not the tiny baby that slept on my tummy in the hospital (no plastic box for her) and looked up at me with those big blue eyes that seemed so old for such a little person. She can do so much and 'say' so much now, the time has gone by too fast. I am not sure if we will have more children or not, but I know that I will miss this baby phase, even with it's meltdowns and uncertainties. We are in a gray area right now - toddler feelings but not quite walking, peaks of happiness with troughs of arm flapping frustrations, stair climbing but timidness going down. It's the beginning of year two, and I'm ready, or at least I have to be.

 

In the time since I mentioned my interview for the County job, I interviewed. Then I went back to work for the week, pretty sure that I was the long shot, but grateful for the face time with the people that interviewed me. It was a long week of motherhood and business and dogs peeing on the floor and not getting caught up and check chasing - and then I found out - I got the job! I was and am still shocked. I feel major pressure to do a great job, and had my first meeting with the project manager yesterday. I LOVE working for municipalities and the quick and to-the-point meeting yesterday reinforced why. They just want good work, fair billing and an on-time delivery - which I can offer! I am so excited to get started. It's the end of my first year in business, and I get the feeling this is just the beginning.

We celebrated our wedding anniversary - it was year eight, marking eleven years together. Our tenth anniversary we went to Beaufort for the afternoon, I was so pregnant....so unsure of what the next year would hold. At night my mind would race - thinking about Dave, the dogs, my freedom....and all the other things that were about to change - and then two days later we dove head first into parenthood. This year we went for a movie and food kind of anniversary - little one was with her sitter at home - and it was just the two of us, but it really wasn't. She's there now, our most important little project, whether she is with us or not. Parenting has been our biggest adventure yet, and we haven't even crested the wave. I love this man I married and seeing him change into a Daddy makes me love him more.

As we end our big month I am a little sad, a little relieved, a little sappy, a little excited and very happy. Life is good.

#2. Hugs. You aren't generous with them, but you do give them...especially to Daddy...before he leaves for work or before you go to sleep. I get them occasionally too...love.

#1. Mamama. You said it on my birthday for the first time and you babble it to me as you crawl for me. Don't know why this makes me feel so special, but it does.

 

 

 

A very big day for a very little girl....

  

 

Lots of catching up to do, in this world and the world of my messy office and full laundry basket but I needed to post, to be grateful, to be present.

 

We had a very big birthday for a very sweet little girl over the weekend. I have always been inspired by fun Mommies who throw fun birthday parties, so with an enlistment of Dave, we gave it our best shot. It began with prep...cleaning and stacking and signs and stocking up...

 

 

and an invitation...

 

 

 

There was a ball pit...

 

 

 

 a colorable fort..

 

 

 tissue paper pom poms, balloons...

 

a clown, snacks, sangria, limeade, salvaged baby food jars full of candy, growable party favors

 

 

 

lots and lots of cupcakes...

 

 

and lots and lots of love.

 

 

 

Love from friends who we don't see often, and friends who we do, love from mommys and daddys to babies,

 

love from out of town family who called and sent gifts and messages, love from people with a lot to people with a little in the form of donated food.

 

 

It was wonderful and fast and perfect, and it rained at the end but that was okay because a few close friends huddled under a tent outside and listened to music and let a little girl get a little dirty....and play with an empty beer can in the rain, which are her favorites, and usually not allowed, but it was her day.... 

 

 

 

and I have more to share, lots more, in the form of weekly pictures and accomplishments and stories, but I wanted to get this out there, because it made me happy and I thought it might do the same for you.

 

 

Home Again

We are back. In a whirlwind of flights, rides, hugs, carseat buckling and un-buckling we saw, loved and enjoyed family and friends. It went by fast, too fast, like everything else in the past year. This time last year I was finishing up my last week at my old company and setting up my brand new home desk with a baby due. I remember the excitement of picking out my desk chair on my lunch break. I was so pregnant and so happy. This year I had my first interview for County work yesterday. I made the short list (three firms out of nine that submitted) which makes me happy all by itself, but would love to get this job. It's a park master plan (the site visit involved taking Lane to the park) for a medium-sized urban space, and I know I could do a good job. I think the interview went well, but the other older firms have a big advantage over me so I feel like I am sort of a long shot. There was a time when I would have been very nervous about an interview like that, but now that I am a Mom, juggling much more, it seems like small stuff. If I can manipulate a baby schedule, get dinner cooked, get the floor clean, prepare for a presentation, grocery shop, respond to emails and work on first birthday invites then I can certainly answer some off the cuff questions about my philosophies on park planning. I will hear back within the next few days.....and regardless of whether or not I got the job, I'll have a glass of wine in celebration - not pregnant but still so happy. 

 

Each week I have a list of 'musts' and a list of 'want to's'. Sometimes all I get done are musts (which means the house is a total disaster at the end of the week and I am a mild head case) and sometimes I get to pull from both lists. I am feeling a balanced week ahead...a little bit of park or pool time with the baby and a little bit of billing and drawing. A few birthday presents arrived in the mail while we were gone. I am excited to open them and also a little sad that my baby who enjoyed her dining room cruising obstacle course this morning is so close to being one, to walking, to talking. I know that letting her go falls onto the 'must' list....I just don't want to.

 

#5. Mouth-hand. You use your mouth as a spare hand when you're crawling. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but if you want to bring some cumbersome item along with you when you crawl, you put it in your mouth. It's pretty funny.

 

#4. The getaway. You think it is so funny to crawl away for something that you're not supposed to have. You've started to crawl faster and squeal if I come after you as you head for whatever it is that you want. I know I wont think this is funny when you're walking and faster, but I enjoy it now. We're working on 'not in mouth', 'not for babies', etc. and I think you are starting to understand - but I like the spark of 'you can't get me' that I am starting to see.

 

#3. Little miss independent. New place? no problem...off you go. Daddy and I watched at the park over the weekend as you crawled fearlessly away from us and toward the ball and water bottle in the middle of the field. When you're tired or hungry we're your people but most of the time you're all about the new and novel. Keep going, keep meeting, keep holding out your arms for new people.

 

Our photographer friends took some impromptu pictures of Lane at the beach last week. They seem to be cataloguing our lives with her and I love it. We're going to do a first birthday shoot as well, but these are too good not to share. I still owe a 49 week pic, but these can do for now. I hope you all have a balanced week this week. Thank you for the gifts for my little one, we feel very loved even though you are all far away.