Christmas caroling

I love Christmas time, and last night I went Christmas caroling with the family. We had at least three different people giving us our starting note, which ended badly. At our first house, the widow we sung to pronounced "well, you're not the Mormon Tabernacle Choir!" We gradually got better though, and a little more coordinated, until the last widow we sung to flattered us by saying that we did, indeed, sound like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Writing a book

I've decided I should write a book. I majored in English and I like to write. I stay at home with Sammy and (theoretically) have lots of time on my hands. Sooo...what to write about? Young adult, fantasy, memoir, deep philosophical musings? I keep waiting for some awesome idea to come to me in a vision, but no luck so far. So I guess I will just start writing and wait for the novel to flow out of my pen.

A difference of opinion

We all like to be different. Just a little, anyway. We are all trying to create identities for ourselves and stand out from the crowd while not being...too different. But have you ever ran into someone like this lady I know? She believes that because she's living differently from the people around her, she must know something they don't. How annoying is that? I'm reminded of people who get mad when their favorite band hits the big time. Their music isn't special anymore because everyone knows about it. So they need to find another obscure band just so they can be different.

The instruction book

Ahh! What is going on with my child? I sat her down in her booster seat to eat breakfast and she started crying. She loves eating, but this morning she refused to eat anything. I tempted her with all her favorite, sugary things, I held her, I changed her, what am I not doing? Where is the instruction book for this kid? Whatever I tried she just cried and cried and cried, so I finally put her in her crib, which she seemed to like. Of course, all these paranoid thoughts are running through my head about what could be wrong with her....ear infection, Asperger's, something sharp poking her that I can't see, etc. Being a mom means guessing most of the time.

First class, baby!

Home again, home again... Well, we didn't buy anything on Black Friday, even though we shopped for hours, but we did bring back a little flu bug from the in-laws. Sammy woke up Sunday by puking over the side of her crib (special thanks to her--it is super hard to change the sheets) so we skipped out on church.

I would say that the high note of our trip was flying first class on the way home. You'd better believe it--Seats 1A and 1B! So roomy, so cushy, and you can play with your tray during landing because they don't care what you do! As my husband put it: "First class: where they treat you like a person." The Samster was being a pill (I'll chalk it up to her impending bout with the flu) so the tray priviledges were nice. It was a good trip, we're safely back at home now, and the hubby is flying off to work to earn us more excellent upgrades to first class. Thanks, hon!

The open skies

Time to fly with the toddler again! I've done this about five times since Sammy was born but I expect this to be the easiest. I'm not breastfeeding and she's actually interested in toys. I raided the dollar store here a couple days ago and bought everything that looks like it has the potential to keep a child occupied for long periods of time. The only thing I'm worried about is that my flight will be delayed...it is the day before Thanksgiving. Well, wish me luck. We'll see how this thing plays out.

She's still awake

I wish my baby was asleep. She'll go silent in her room for two or three minutes, and right when I think I'm home free she starts screeching. Granted, she gave me the gift of a three hour nap today, but I figured she was catching up on last night--when she stayed up 2 1/2 hours past bedtime. I like to blame her weird sleeping changes on getting new teeth, but could it be that she's just messing with me? There seems to be method in her madness.

Hallelujah

I'm not sure what to post today. Last night I found a babysitteer and went to "Girl's Night Out" with nine or ten other ladies from church. It was a great evening, with good food and good company. The only sour note was when I brought up that Sarah Palin was coming to our town. I just thought it was interesting--I don't care much one way or the other when it comes to Sarah Palin--but everyone else seemed really excited about it. One lady took this as permission to tell an Obama joke as seen on a billboard in Texas...should have stopped her there. I could tell we all thought it was rude instead of funny so no one laughed or really said anything afterwards. Awkward! I should have paid attention to that "no politics" rule I learned at the etiquette dinner the other night.

On a random yet upbeat note, I have kicked off the Christmas season with the Hallelujah Chorus! I know it's still early but I'm a little lonely today with the husband gone. And now for yet another excellent tradition--afternoon nap.

Awkward phone conversations

I am the master of awkward phone conversations...I hate how there's no body language to read, no facial cues, how I always start talking at the same time as the other person, and to top it off, that I can't hear very well on the phone. Give me email any day...texting, even. Long distance communication doesn't have to be painful.

What's in a name?

Do you want to know what the hardest part about starting a blog is? No, it's not my procrastinating nature, it's picking a good name. You know, you want a blog title that is catchy, easy to remember, meaningful, evocative, etc. Unfortunately, the world is full of people who have stolen these catchy and evocative blog names, posted once about four years ago, and then forgotten all about them. Curse these bloghogs! (Sorry, "bloghogs.blogspot.com" is taken.)

One of these bloghogs happens to be my husband. He hopped on the blog train a while back, proudly proclaiming to the world that he was now a cool blogger person. After posting only once in four months, I can only presume that he has disembarked from the blog train. Taking with him, of course, the name of his blog. There are probably a lot of angry Polish people out there right now.