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| Six Month Photo Shoot at Sears |
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| Bathtime last night |
These pictures of the Monster are roughly one year apart. Where has the time gone?
Friday, September 9, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Ella-isms
"Battheball. Battheball. Battheball." - Said while retrieving her toy bat and smacking pretty much anything - ball, dog, stacking blocks, etc.
"Mommy, up. Peeease. Up. Peease." - Repeated over and over to me in the event I have the audacity to lay down on the floor with a pillow while she is around. Mommies should be up and out of her way, darn it!
"Uh-oh, Teevee." - Said anytime the tv is not doing what she thinks it ought to be doing - too quiet, off, on, muted, paused.
And my favorite phrase of the day:
"Sorry, baby." - Said in a very matter-of-fact way with a pause in between the two words. It cracks me up every time.
"Mommy, up. Peeease. Up. Peease." - Repeated over and over to me in the event I have the audacity to lay down on the floor with a pillow while she is around. Mommies should be up and out of her way, darn it!
"Uh-oh, Teevee." - Said anytime the tv is not doing what she thinks it ought to be doing - too quiet, off, on, muted, paused.
And my favorite phrase of the day:
"Sorry, baby." - Said in a very matter-of-fact way with a pause in between the two words. It cracks me up every time.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Wishes
I want a typewriter.
As I said in a recent post, I'm contemplating how to live my life a little more deeply and deliberately. One aspect I come back to is my love of the written word and my former drive to craft stories of my own. I haven't completed my notes/thoughts on bettering my life (Hey - I said DELIBERATE alright? Off my case!) but I do know that part of my problem with the written word is my tendency to waffle and then wander away.
I write a paragraph or two, futz with the words, delete whole sentences, futz some more, and then wander off in search of easier pursuits. I leave convinced of my inablilty to write when really, it's my inability to commit to anything more academically challenging than a tv game show by the time the work day is over and the baby is in bed.
I have wanted a typewriter for as long as I can remember. I blame Murder, She Wrote. When I was probably five years old or so, my mother gave me an old gray-green one that set in it's own case. It was old, the keys got stuck, and it probably weighed as much as I did. I loved it! When we moved to California from Ohio, she made me get rid of it, saying we had a computer now and it wasn't worth the move. Pfft.
For my 21st birthday my parents purchased an old and dinged up typewriter for me with the intention of refurbishing it. Sadly, college was in full swing and I didn't take it with me. About a year and a half later they sold the house and, in the garage sale in preparation of the move, sold the typewriter. Pfft. (To be far, this time they asked and I gave permission as I knew it was not going to be refurbished any time soon.)
You may think I'm kidding about my typewriter love but this website is where I fantasy shop. *drool*
Now that you know the backstory...
Last night I was sitting with my laptop and wishing the battery in it wasn't completely kaput. I have to charge up about every hour or so. I was also wishing it wasn't so warm on my leg and it wasn't so distracting. I had ten windows open, kept clicking into Facebook, and screwing around with a few other things. I thought about all that internal noise we keep plugging into. I thought about all the effort to be near a plug, remain connected, deal with glitches. If I could have something that allowed me to write, forced me to focus, and wouldn't allow me to fiddle with paragraphs, instead helped me to move forward through the pages I would have a useful tool to help build my skills.
What magical machine could do such things?!?
Typewriter!
It wouldn't have to be beautiful like the ones I linked to above. It would only need to be a workhorse, something to help me build the strength and focus that I seek.
I haven't convinced Craig yet but I'm thinking that a few well chosen things to be sold would get me a decent starter machine and put me on the way toward discipline. (More on discipline in a later post.)
Ahh...to google, perchance to dream.
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| Mmmm....typewriter. |
I write a paragraph or two, futz with the words, delete whole sentences, futz some more, and then wander off in search of easier pursuits. I leave convinced of my inablilty to write when really, it's my inability to commit to anything more academically challenging than a tv game show by the time the work day is over and the baby is in bed.
I have wanted a typewriter for as long as I can remember. I blame Murder, She Wrote. When I was probably five years old or so, my mother gave me an old gray-green one that set in it's own case. It was old, the keys got stuck, and it probably weighed as much as I did. I loved it! When we moved to California from Ohio, she made me get rid of it, saying we had a computer now and it wasn't worth the move. Pfft.
For my 21st birthday my parents purchased an old and dinged up typewriter for me with the intention of refurbishing it. Sadly, college was in full swing and I didn't take it with me. About a year and a half later they sold the house and, in the garage sale in preparation of the move, sold the typewriter. Pfft. (To be far, this time they asked and I gave permission as I knew it was not going to be refurbished any time soon.)
You may think I'm kidding about my typewriter love but this website is where I fantasy shop. *drool*
Now that you know the backstory...
Last night I was sitting with my laptop and wishing the battery in it wasn't completely kaput. I have to charge up about every hour or so. I was also wishing it wasn't so warm on my leg and it wasn't so distracting. I had ten windows open, kept clicking into Facebook, and screwing around with a few other things. I thought about all that internal noise we keep plugging into. I thought about all the effort to be near a plug, remain connected, deal with glitches. If I could have something that allowed me to write, forced me to focus, and wouldn't allow me to fiddle with paragraphs, instead helped me to move forward through the pages I would have a useful tool to help build my skills.
What magical machine could do such things?!?
Typewriter!
It wouldn't have to be beautiful like the ones I linked to above. It would only need to be a workhorse, something to help me build the strength and focus that I seek.
I haven't convinced Craig yet but I'm thinking that a few well chosen things to be sold would get me a decent starter machine and put me on the way toward discipline. (More on discipline in a later post.)
Ahh...to google, perchance to dream.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind: #41-45
41. If you knew that everyone you know was going to die tomorrow, who would you visit today?
Gah! I'd take my family with me to visit my parents and my inlaws and during all of that travel time coast to coast I'd call my closest friends to connect along the way.
42. Would you be willing to reduce your life expectancy by 10 years to become extremely attractive or famous?
Give up ten years of friends and family? Ten years of watching my child (and potentially her child) grow? Ten years of attempting recipes and going on walks and bad tv shows? Not a chance. I already have a life I love. Ten years is too great a price to get an equal life with different circumstances.
43. What is the difference between being alive and truly living?
One is merely existing and the other is experiencing. I've met a few people who go through life letting it happen to them and it is never a pretty picture. They have war stories and bent backs but they never seem to have learned or enjoyed anything. It's always about what happened to them rather than what they did or how they happened to other people. I may feel at times (see my previous post) that I'm letting life just sail by without doing anything about it but I strive to feel in control of my life. I want to know, at the end of my time here, that I mattered to people, that I didn't just sit by and let things happen but that I went out and effected change in the world whether through activisim, friendship, compassion, or hard work.
44. When is it time to stop calculating risk and rewards, and just go ahead and do what you know is right?
This question is incredibly timely for me. I think it's time to stop calculating when you've gone over everything from several angles, thought about it, discussed it with those involved (spouse, partner, colleague), discussed it with your chosen sounding board (parent, friend, etc) and the only thing left to do is commit. I don't make hasty decisions. I can't afford to when I have people depending on me. However, when you're running the same scenarios over and over with the same result and you know the answer, it's time to make a decision and stick with it.
45. If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake?
Learning from mistakes can be painful, messy, and embarrassing. Who wants to go through that? I think we're always looking for ways to learn our lessons without having to cry, bleed, or beg in front of others. We often fail and come out the other end better people but it's not an easy process. Life is not always (or often) kind.
Gah! I'd take my family with me to visit my parents and my inlaws and during all of that travel time coast to coast I'd call my closest friends to connect along the way.
42. Would you be willing to reduce your life expectancy by 10 years to become extremely attractive or famous?
Give up ten years of friends and family? Ten years of watching my child (and potentially her child) grow? Ten years of attempting recipes and going on walks and bad tv shows? Not a chance. I already have a life I love. Ten years is too great a price to get an equal life with different circumstances.
43. What is the difference between being alive and truly living?
One is merely existing and the other is experiencing. I've met a few people who go through life letting it happen to them and it is never a pretty picture. They have war stories and bent backs but they never seem to have learned or enjoyed anything. It's always about what happened to them rather than what they did or how they happened to other people. I may feel at times (see my previous post) that I'm letting life just sail by without doing anything about it but I strive to feel in control of my life. I want to know, at the end of my time here, that I mattered to people, that I didn't just sit by and let things happen but that I went out and effected change in the world whether through activisim, friendship, compassion, or hard work.
44. When is it time to stop calculating risk and rewards, and just go ahead and do what you know is right?
This question is incredibly timely for me. I think it's time to stop calculating when you've gone over everything from several angles, thought about it, discussed it with those involved (spouse, partner, colleague), discussed it with your chosen sounding board (parent, friend, etc) and the only thing left to do is commit. I don't make hasty decisions. I can't afford to when I have people depending on me. However, when you're running the same scenarios over and over with the same result and you know the answer, it's time to make a decision and stick with it.
45. If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake?
Learning from mistakes can be painful, messy, and embarrassing. Who wants to go through that? I think we're always looking for ways to learn our lessons without having to cry, bleed, or beg in front of others. We often fail and come out the other end better people but it's not an easy process. Life is not always (or often) kind.
Monday, September 5, 2011
A More Deliberate Existence
I know I've been absent an awful lot from the blog lately.
I know I say that on a semi-regular basis.
I'm trying to be better.
Lately, I've been mulling over the concept of living a more deliberate life. So many of the things I focus on throughout the day are outside of my immediate control. I obsess over the long term while neglecting the here-and-now. I feel like I'm half-assing it through the day to day and I don't like it.
In the midst of the recent chaos (recent? haha), I'm taking a bit of time to try and map out the important parts of my life and how to treat them with a little more thought, care, and respect. Faith, family, home, hobbies, and self all need a bit more care. I'm almost at a point where I'm ready to share my new goals.
While I continue to muse, enjoy a picture of the cutest little monster this side of...well anywhere!
I know I say that on a semi-regular basis.
I'm trying to be better.
Lately, I've been mulling over the concept of living a more deliberate life. So many of the things I focus on throughout the day are outside of my immediate control. I obsess over the long term while neglecting the here-and-now. I feel like I'm half-assing it through the day to day and I don't like it.
In the midst of the recent chaos (recent? haha), I'm taking a bit of time to try and map out the important parts of my life and how to treat them with a little more thought, care, and respect. Faith, family, home, hobbies, and self all need a bit more care. I'm almost at a point where I'm ready to share my new goals.
While I continue to muse, enjoy a picture of the cutest little monster this side of...well anywhere!
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