7 Quick Takes, or My Day Today

One

Last night I said to Nathan, "We've gone from forty minutes of sleep at a time to fifteen minutes with this cold poor Ree has.  She keeps coughing herself awake."  I was practicing my violin in ten minute segments in between settling her back down.  Nathan, listening half-heartedly to my blathering, somehow thought I was talking about an upcoming orchestra rehearsal I had being reduced from forty minutes {which it never was in the first place} to fifteen minutes, and he got really excited, because, less childcare minutes for him.  I told him nothing had changed and I still had to leave the house by 7:15 the following morning {this morning}, and he felt quite sorry for himself because I had a rehearsal and it hadn't been shortened.  Something about the whole conversation struck me as funny.

Two

I was out the door early this morning, unshowered and generally unkempt, wearing my not-nicest black jeans and a black cardigan and a pair of warmish black socks with flats instead of dress pants and trouser socks with heels or something similarly appropriate.   I drove to the morning's rehearsal and concerts thinking about all the children we'd be playing for that morning, and how, unlike adults who go to formal evening concerts and see us musicians with real live makeup on, children probably assume that musicians always perform in black jeans or yoga pants and walk around bleary-eyed and scowling.

Three

I pondered the Stages of Gigging Grief I seem to perpetually put myself through.

Four

Driving home from the children's concerts, I wanted coffee.  I thought about taking a detour to Starbucks and getting my new favorite drink, a flat white.  Then I pulled off to the side of the road and texted Nathan, telling him I was about five minutes from home.  He quickly replied, "Good, because I'm about five minutes from a breakdown."  That seemed to clinch my fate; no coffee for me.

And I know, Starbucks is overhyped and overly trendy and is driving small business owners out of business and hey, it's not even THAT GREAT, but until someone opens a good family-owned coffee shop in my town, and preferably one that will either have a drive thru or bring a hot beverage out to my car so I don't have to wrangle kids in and out of car seats, well... until that day, my loyalties apparently lie with Starbucks -- at least to the degree that I occasionally think about going there, and then usually don't.

Five

Ree is slightly sick, mostly just a bit more snuggly than usual, and having a hard time sleeping horizontally, and coughing herself awake a lot.  Nell, however, is a weeping, wailing, whining disaster.  Poor thing.  It's been all "my nose is wunnnnnny!" all day long, and I'm digging deep into my empathy reserves to try to be patient with her but let me tell you, the whining is testing me to the limits.  It's 9 pm here, and in the two hours since bedtime, I've resettled the baby three times and the toddler twice.  It's going to be a long night.

Six

And in case Number Five didn't seem quite difficult enough, well, Nathan is out of town all weekend.

Seven

But life isn't all dismal, because my brother-in-law and sister-in-law brought me a piece of chocolate cake tonight.  So, I think I'll live to blow two small wunny noses another day.

Good thing those wunny noses have such cute little owners.

Now, head on over to This Ain't The Lyceum, which is hosting 7QT these days, and see what other folks have come up with!

seven ways to pass the time waiting for baby to arrive

Baby's 'due date' was this past Sunday, but I'm finding ways to occupy my time while we keep waiting!

It's a strange thing to live in this sort of limbo.  I find that I keep saying to myself, "One last grocery trip before baby comes," or "I'll scour the kitchen sink one more time," or "One more load of laundry... this will be it before baby," or "This will be my last batch of yogurt before baby arrives."  And then, a few days later, I'm doing all those things again.

In any case, here are seven ways I've been passing the time -- maybe some of them will work for you other expectant mamas, too?

one

We may as well start with the most important thing: Wear sweatpants.  Every day.  All day, if you can get away with it.  If you need to go out or look presentable for something, change into something else -- and then change back into your sweatpants as soon as you can.  Only change out of them to wash them, and use those hours to wish you had another pair as comfy as your favorites.  {I'm wearing these ones these days, in black, and wishing I had a gray pair, too!}

two

Realize that it's yard waste removal day, but your husband has already left for work.  Haul 18 bags of leaves etc. from the garage to the curb, made more difficult by the obstacle course of your brother-in-law's stuff filling the garage to the brim.



Decide that while you're at it, you may as well take out not only the weekly recycling, but also try to empty the shed of all the extra trash and recycling a certain someone {cough, not me, cough} keeps piling up in there.



Survey your work with pleasure, thinking of all the garbage and clutter you've now removed from the premises!

three

Do laundry.  Tons and tons of laundry.  You've already washed all the baby clothes, so start staying more on top of the regular laundry than you've ever been in your life.  Wash the sheets, of course, but then wash them again five days later just because you can.  Comb the whole house for every towel you can find and wash all of them.  When you've truly washed everything that can be washed, don't worry -- you can do it all again in a couple of days if you're still waiting around for baby.

four

Take a final trip to Target and spend too much money, stocking up on necessities for the days ahead and successfully passing a happy morning with the toddler in tow.  Getting things done and passing time, all rolled into one.  Two birds, one stone and all that.

five

Decide to finally try making your own shampoo so you can avoid both the expense of store-bought natural shampoos and the chemicals of store-bought cheap shampoos.  Castile soap, water, jojoba oil.  What could be easier?  And it works great!  Success.

six

Head out to your favorite thrift store with toddler in tow.  Find three pairs of 2T pajamas for $1 each.  Purchase.  Sit in nice rocker / glider chair in great condition with $40 price tag.  Consider coming back to buy with a bigger vehicle to put it in.  Call thrift store the next day, only to find it's been sold.  Try to mitigate disappointment with a Dove chocolate egg left over from the Easter candy.

seven

Finally get a day that isn't cold and rainy.  Head outside with the toddler for a walk around the neighborhood.  Take the camera, and take pictures, because hey - she's so cute and so sweet.

{bonus}

Okay, so this actually happened last week, but a great way to pass some time in a highly enjoyable fashion is if you happen to have a wonderful friend offer to take you out to dinner one night, sans kids, and you just get to relax and talk for a few hours.

Then maybe you have another wonderful friend who takes you out for a pedicure!

Oh, that's just me?  Well, I'm pretty lucky -- I have some great friends.

Very fun to have a little pre-baby pampering.

{For more quick takes, visit Jen at Conversion Diary.}

assorted thoughts: seven quick takes

one

Yesterday marked one month from my due date of April 27.  One month!  How did that happen?!  I'm not sure if I can accurately say that the months have 'flown by,' or anything like that, but I do think that a second pregnancy is really a different experience from a first, in the sense that you already have a toddler needing you all. the. time., and less time for navel-gazing and prenatal yoga and birth classes and reading in preparation for the labor and all those good things.

two

I'm going to publicly admit that making the perfect cup of coffee usually eludes me.  Recently when we had a little family reunion in Arizona for my youngest brother's wedding, my brother Jonathan made this amazing pot of coffee that was just perfect.  Why can't I make coffee like that?  Is it just that coffee made by someone other than oneself will always taste better, seem like more of an indulgence?  Do I have an inferior coffee maker? (Probably; it was free.)  Or am I simply unable to attain to the proper ratio of water to coffee grounds?

Tell me, readers: how do you make the perfect cup of coffee?

three

Coffee, by the way, is best enjoyed first thing in the morning and then again during nap time, preferably with a slice of toast spread with creamed honey and sprinkled with a dash of cinnamon.

four

I found this dining room corner hutch listed on Craigslist for FREE a couple of weekends ago -- can't beat that price!

Nathan and his brother picked it up and moved it in, and I am loving the addition to our dining room!

five

Like most New Englanders this time of year, I'm so ready for spring.  Enough with the cold weather and snow already; give me crocuses pushing their tiny heads up through the dirt in my front flower beds, and tulips blooming cheerfully in the yard.

In an effort to usher in spring despite the icy piles of dirty snow still in our yard, I bought some of the $1.50 bunches of daffodils at Trader Joe's and created a simple but bright little spring mantel display.

six

This week is a little crazy; I've had rehearsals in Plymouth (about an hour and fifteen minutes away) every night except Tuesday, with another one tonight and a concert tomorrow.  While I may not be in love with everything on the program, we are doing Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, and the second movement {starting around 3:45 into the linked video} pretty much makes the driving {and the practicing of an Amy Beach symphony... sigh} worth it.   That and the fact that I get to carpool with a friend and chat during the long drives!

It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I just think that is a beautiful piece of music.

seven

Once I make it through the end of this week, I get to focus on the last details of pulling together my upcoming violin studio recital for my students, and then... getting ready to have a baby!  I think it's time to start thinking about packing a bag to take to the birth center, a toddler overnight bag, and a snacks-for-Dad bag.

All of this probably means that Nathan and I should try to settle on a name pretty soon, don't you think?  An agreement has not yet been reached, and it would just be awkward to have a baby that doesn't get named for days on end after her birth, don't you think?  Now accepting name recommendations... just don't publicly recommend one you know I'm actually considering because then you'll open up the floor to criticisms from not-so-innocent bystanders, and we all know how {un-}charming that is.

* * *

For more quick takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Have a lovely Friday, everyone!

7 Quick Takes

I'm doing 7 Quick Takes and linking up with Jen at Conversion Diary for, oh, maybe the second time ever.  Because let's face it, this blog is a little lacking in content lately.  I really want to be blogging more regularly -- to remember the little things, the moments, the thoughts, the daily life stuff.

Not to mention the fact that all of you readers are hanging on my every word, of course.

- one -

Considering that I work part time, and am only teaching two to three days a week during these summer months, it's astounding how little I seem to be able to get done.  The kitchen it always messy, the floors always need to be mopped (my crawling baby girl's dirty knees attest to this fact), and I'm at least three loads behind on the laundry on a regular basis.

- two -

Nell looks so much older to me recently.  She's not walking yet but aside from that rather integral part of toddlerhood, she seems more like a toddler than a baby now.

She's gone from smiling at everyone to scowling with a bit of reserve.  She's got opinions about everything, and while she may not have the words for them yet, she expresses them nonetheless.

She can still light up a room with her smile though, and she gives open-mouthed slobbery kisses that would just about stop your heart.

- three -

I sold two items on eBay this week.  Put them in the mail and made a quick $25.

Impressive, right?

Kidding.

Still, feeling oddly pleased about it, despite the fact that that's less than I usually make in 30 minutes.  I've listed some more things for sale, and am also busily cleaning and organizing spare rooms, closets, and our basement in the hopes of having a yard sale before the summer is over.  Our very own yard sale!  I've never had one before, but I am a serious and hard core attender of others' yard sales every Saturday in the summer months.  So, I figure that my love of yard sales combined with our over abundance of stuff (much of which was left in our basement by the previous homeowners, actually) means we really ought to have a yard sale.  Any advice for a first-timer?

- four -

A friend linked to this on facebook and I found it a really thought-provoking read: Rethinking Service by the Revd. Dr. Samuel Wells.

- five -

I've been devouring blogs and articles and websites about parenting recently.  I stay up too late reading about discipline, teaching, positive parenting, natural consequences, etc. etc.  Sometimes I just come across the best suggestions... I almost feel like I need to memorize the scenarios and scripts of suggestions for handling situations so that I can remember it all in a few years when I'll no doubt need it.  It's a good thing life comes one day at a time, you know?  Because thinking about tantrums and disobedience and such things is pretty overwhelming, and just getting Nell to sleep at night feels like all I can really deal with for now.

- six -

Speaking of sleep.  Nell's sleeping has been nothing short of weird lately.  For one thing, there was the night we thought she might be having night terrors.  But even on the 'normal' nights, she crawls in her sleep, sleeps fitfully, cries without seeming to really wake up, oh, and sometimes refuses to fall asleep until 10:30 pm.  

The different phases come and go so quickly, and just when we've settled into a routine the kiddo goes and changes it.  I remember when a swaddle and a pacifier did the trick, and we could leave that little bundle lying in her co-sleeper and she'd fall asleep.  BY. HERSELF.  Then she outgrew the swaddle, and nursing her to sleep became my new go-to trick.  But now she doesn't usually fall asleep while nursing anymore; instead after nursing she wants to crawl and climb all over me, flail and fling herself around if anyone attempts restraint (i.e. holding her), and grab at my face and laugh.  

Currently we're thinking she just can't fall asleep easily for the night with it still so light out during these summer days.  In general we're all well and happy, but sometimes I stress myself out wondering how we'll handle the next change, and the next one after that.

- seven -

A couple of week ago Nathan had what I suppose anyone would consider a Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day.  He subsequently mentioned that there was too much healthy food in the house and not enough junk food for him to eat.  Later that day I was doing the grocery shopping, and there was a deal at Stop & Shop that made Breyer's ice cream work out to only $1.80 / carton -- but only if you bought ten of them.  So, naturally, I did.  And we've been working our way through flavors like Thin Mint, strawberry, coffee, Snickers, and other deliciousness.  Not so good for the waistline, perhaps, but surprisingly effective at lifting the spirits.

7 Quick Takes

I'm joining Jennifer Fulwiler today -- and a couple hundred others -- and blogging seven little paragraphs.  Mostly mundane.  A little Christmassy.  A bit fermented.  Slightly ridiculous.  That's life around here.

- ONE -

I've been making my own kefir since the beginning of February.  I ordered my organic milk kefir grains from Simply Kefir, and have been delighted with how easy it is to make kefir.

For those of you who are not experts in kefir, "kefir grains" are not grains at all, but rather they are gelatinous, cauliflower-resembling structures made of yeast and bacteria.  You feed them some fresh milk, they turn it into kefir, and you strain them out and start again.  As long as you keep feeding your grains, the fun never stops!  Then you can flavor your kefir with fruit or put it in a smoothie or drink it plain if you like things a little fizzy and sour.  Supposedly kefir contains up to four times the beneficial live cultures as yogurt.

{Of course, that won't stop me from continuing to make delicious homemade yogurt, too.}

- TWO -

I kid you not that my husband's "white trash Christmas tree" (the fake tree we inherited in the basement from the previous owners of our house, not the real tree we put up in our living room each Christmas) is still up in the TV room.  I ask beg threaten him nearly daily at this point, and yet it still stands.  You're probably wondering, "Sarah, why don't you just take the %&*# tree down yourself?"  Well, because Nathan insists that he and he alone can be the one to properly disassemble this piece of plastic-y horror and then take it in its piecemeal glory down to the basement.  I don't know why.  The truth is, I could probably do it, but Nathan likes to make projects really complicated and come up with reasons why they have to be done a certain way and no other way will suffice and no one but himself can be the one to do them.  In this way, he can continue to stress himself out on a regular basis.  We call him "The Overkiller" around here, because pick a project, be it as simple as making a peanut butter sandwich, and Nathan will find a way to make it really complex and use at least four different drill bits, some caulk, and the vacuum cleaner.  Then he'll need to replace a fuse.  That's just the way projects go around here.  

- THREE -

It is amazing what a little sleep can do for a person.  This morning when Nell woke up at 6:30 or so, I was really dragging.  My mind was a jumble of, "I don't know how to be a good mother / I don't know how to make any of the decisions I need to make in life / I have too many problems / I don't have any solutions / I'll never be able to raise this baby to be a kind and productive member of society who loves Jesus."

Then at 9:30 Nell took a nap, and I did too.  And I woke up at 11:00 thinking, "Okay.  There is probably at least one mother somewhere in the world even less qualified than I am.  I can do this."

That's the power of a nap.

- FOUR -

Nell has been a little dramatic lately.  It seems like every little thing makes her face crumple slowly into a look of abject misery, and then the crying begins.  Every diaper change.  Every morning when it's time to get dressed.  Every time she drops a toy.  Or bumps her face with her hand.  Or reaches for something she can't have and is swiftly removed from the situation.  It would be funny if it weren't so pitiful to see her little face fall, as her world comes crashing down time and again.  I have to say, I don't think I was expecting this level of drama until she was at least twelve or thirteen.  Maybe she's working on another tooth?

{Look at that adorable little bundle of blurry frustration.  I love her.}

- FIVE -

It snowed today.  About a foot.  Very beautiful.  But I'm very ready for spring.  No more snow, please.

... I just ran upstairs to re-settle my baby girl.  Then, having been pondering the snow, it seemed necessary to make myself a mug of hot chocolate.  My justifications were twofold: one, it was a snow day for the schools, and snow days require hot chocolate; two, I don't want that tin of Sipping Chocolate from Trader Joe's sitting in my cabinet all summer, so somebody's got to use it up.  Will I regret this indulgence?  My friends, I regret it already.  And yet that is unlikely to stop me from sitting here and drinking it as I type.

Yes, I know it's Lent.  I didn't give up sweets this year.  I'm sure I should have.  I'm striving for simplicity and prayerfulness overall, though, and finding that not surprisingly, these are good things.

- SIX -

I have two avocado seeds properly skewered with toothpicks and half-immersed in water sitting on my kitchen window.  It's been weeks and weeks, and they have nothing to show for themselves.  I also have the beginnings of sourdough starter on my kitchen counter, which I am dutifully stirring and feeding, but which looks suspiciously lacking.  You'd think I could dwell on my successes (such as the aforementioned kefir) and brush these things aside, but they are bothering me.  Especially the sourdough starter.

I still have hopes that it will pull through (I'm using whole wheat flour and pineapple juice as described here), but it just doesn't look very promising yet.  As for the avocado seeds, well, I suppose I can let that one go.  I didn't really envision a yard full of avocado trees in Eastern Massachusetts, anyway.

- SEVEN -

Earlier this week I bought the ingredients to start making my own laundry detergent, as well as some other household cleaners.  This was something I'd been meaning to do for a while, and I've procrastinated long enough.  This weekend, it's happening.  Wish me luck!  Do any of my readers have any experience making their own cleaners/detergents?