we're heading out in a few hours to spend christmas in iowa. the weather looks clear and the kids slept like crap last night so i'm sure they'll crash nicely once we're on the road.
merry christmas to all you out in bloggerland!
12.16.2006
12.14.2006
why hallmark and the postal service love me
we've been getting more and more christmas 'cards' in the mail, since the holiday is approaching rapidly. i call them 'cards' because what people have been sending is barely worth the 39 cent stamp on the envelope.
apparently the 'in' (or acceptable) thing to do is to put a picture of the kids or family onto a picture postcard, add in a lovey greeting and then stuff in an envelope with computer-generated labels stuck on the front. what they end up sending out is something that is as unpersonal as you get. the only thing special is the picture, when the real reason i open the envelope is to see the card they chose...the greetings they used...the signatures of my friends and family.
i think letter writing is a dying art. not in a sense of communication, that will continue through email or other electronic means (although the thought of texting honestly makes me cringe). i mean, putting your thoughts on paper in a semi-organized form, with legible penmanship, a loving closing, and flowy signature...spending the 39 cents or more, putting it in the mailbox, and imagining the recipient's excitement at opening mail. i love getting REAL mail. there's not much of it these days btwn the bills and the credit card offers. i consider the time that i put into a letter a gift of its own.
that is why all 70 of the cards i sent out were:
upon receiving a photo card from people who i thought of as dear friends, it makes me question the relationship btwn myself and the sender. for example, i've known 'monica' since 2nd grade. we were best friends from about 5th grade on. we grew apart during college and rarely talk now, but i still send her a chatty card for christmas and usually a card for her birthday. today in the mail i got a picture of her two boys in the normal computer-generated format. nothing special at all included to show to me that i was more than just another name in her address book, another checkmark on her card list.
another couple, the husband used to work with rob, sent the most boring printed letter ever, having stuffed it into an envelope with computer printed labels. they didn't even sign the letter. the only PERSONAL touch was a picture of the couple on the address label. i really feel like christmas mailings are all about who can take the most shortcuts with their computer these days.
as long as i can still hold a pen and find a post office, i will do it my way. which we all know is the right way, right? right.
apparently the 'in' (or acceptable) thing to do is to put a picture of the kids or family onto a picture postcard, add in a lovey greeting and then stuff in an envelope with computer-generated labels stuck on the front. what they end up sending out is something that is as unpersonal as you get. the only thing special is the picture, when the real reason i open the envelope is to see the card they chose...the greetings they used...the signatures of my friends and family.
i think letter writing is a dying art. not in a sense of communication, that will continue through email or other electronic means (although the thought of texting honestly makes me cringe). i mean, putting your thoughts on paper in a semi-organized form, with legible penmanship, a loving closing, and flowy signature...spending the 39 cents or more, putting it in the mailbox, and imagining the recipient's excitement at opening mail. i love getting REAL mail. there's not much of it these days btwn the bills and the credit card offers. i consider the time that i put into a letter a gift of its own.
that is why all 70 of the cards i sent out were:
- hand addressed (return address too)
- a personal greeting and signature in each card
- a family signature on our xmas letters that were included (and YES, the letters were off the computer...i do have 3 kids after all!)
upon receiving a photo card from people who i thought of as dear friends, it makes me question the relationship btwn myself and the sender. for example, i've known 'monica' since 2nd grade. we were best friends from about 5th grade on. we grew apart during college and rarely talk now, but i still send her a chatty card for christmas and usually a card for her birthday. today in the mail i got a picture of her two boys in the normal computer-generated format. nothing special at all included to show to me that i was more than just another name in her address book, another checkmark on her card list.
another couple, the husband used to work with rob, sent the most boring printed letter ever, having stuffed it into an envelope with computer printed labels. they didn't even sign the letter. the only PERSONAL touch was a picture of the couple on the address label. i really feel like christmas mailings are all about who can take the most shortcuts with their computer these days.
as long as i can still hold a pen and find a post office, i will do it my way. which we all know is the right way, right? right.
12.09.2006
arg.
my husband is trying to waterproof a jacket. he's spraying this scotchguard/waterproofing agent on his jacket...while still inside.
does he read the part of the can that says do this in a VENTILATED area??? the man is a college graduate, he has 2 degrees, why does he not follow directions???
his excuse? it's too cold outside to do it out there. so instead he's going to expose all of us to these wonderfully toxic fumes. arg.
does he read the part of the can that says do this in a VENTILATED area??? the man is a college graduate, he has 2 degrees, why does he not follow directions???
his excuse? it's too cold outside to do it out there. so instead he's going to expose all of us to these wonderfully toxic fumes. arg.
12.07.2006
i am...
i am a diet pepsi whore. so is rob. the bottles are mine, the cans are his.i am also the family bottle redemption clerk so i get to take these back to walmart and feed the machines to get our deposit money back. i hate it when the machines are full or the scary looking people with garbage bags full of cans are there. my mother used to work customer service at a grocery store where they would accept pop cans at the counter in back. she has lots of tales of people bringing in garbage bags FULL of cans, not necessarily in clean condition...and sometimes with a dead mouse or live spiders way down in the bottom of the bag. people would just leave the bags out in their garage and bring them in 'when they got around to it.' my mother was transferred to another part of the store long before the redemption machines put in an appearance. these days, i think there should be a limit on how many garbage bags one person can redeem at once. it's not unusual to see a person with 3 bags at the machines. i'm wondering if they use that money to supplement their welfare checks or what. it has to take forever to empty those bags.
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i am mentally reviewing my purchases for the kids' christmas presents and i believe i have NOT bought any gifts which require batteries. i believe this is the first christmas as a mom that that has happened! we're going the puzzle and dollhouse route this season. while other parents are looking at the new game systems, we're going granola. (i personally don't understand why parents buy these systems for their kids. rob compared it to his parents buying him an original atari when he was 9. point for rob, but ataris were/are cool. and there was not a lot of blood or cursing on an atari game. the most you had to be worried about was a white square shooting blocks at your yellow square.) it seems like kids don't get enough fresh air or exercise, why would you buy a gaming system to encourage this? rob might use the excuse how it teaches hand/eye coordination. he may be right, but dammit, can't we get a pingpong table to do that instead? or a game of jacks? or a good old fashioned acorn fight every fall? (i'm reliving my childhood here...my brother and i would have acorn fights, the perfect place to launch an attack was from the bed of my dad's pickup truck. it was always parked right under an oaktree.)
i am guilty of keeping the kids inside too much. before elisha was born we played outside a lot, mostly it was cade helping me garden and reese running laps around the house (she likes to run...don't know how she could be MY daughter). but with a tiny baby, it's a little hard to orchestrate outside playtime. it's almost 55 outside and sunny today, we should be out there right now. the sun sets in about 3 hours (rolling eyes here, i hate short winter days).
i am wondering if winter days will last a bit longer when we move to georgia? it's further south, but not quite the bahamas.
and now the baby has woken up. damn.
i am outta here.
a bit of craziness
things i've accomplished this week:
the last few days have been rough for me, mentally. if it's not postpartum depression, it's something similar. i've found myself thinking about throwing myself down the stairs, and then cursing the same stairs for not being long enough to break my neck if i did go down them. also passing through my thoughts: my kids would be better off without me. i've had a dark few days, apparently. i haven't even told rob the thoughts that have gone through my head. i should but i'm scared to death of actually seeking help...i worry about mental evaluations following me in my medical record.
anyway, i've been feeling better the last 24 hours. i think i was just at a low point, maybe brought on by holiday stress. damn holidays. that's the reason i'm crazy. heh heh.
it also helps that elisha slept really well last night. she only woke up once last night, around 4am. she nursed and went right back to sleep. she's such an angel.
better go get some more stuff done...only an hour til reese gets home.
- far too much laundry...3 loads of kids' clothes ALONE. am i buying them too many clothes? i'm so tired of folding little clothes...ugh. if we had more closet space, i'd hang them all.
- gotten rid of 2 sleeping bags and an old carseat through freecycle. i love freecycle, otherwise i'd feel really guilty for throwing all that away. we already produce the most garbage on our block...how do the other families get by with just one big bag of garbage a week?!?!? i'm sure that with 2 in diapers, our trash is also the most fragrant.
- finally vacuumed upstairs. i've been wanting to do this for the last week...so it REALLY needed done. and it's finished just in time for me to vacuum downstairs again. sigh. i would love to have a central vacuum. (yes, i just wished for a big vacuum.)
- almost done with our xmas letter that goes in our card. we got some pictures of the kids last night that MIGHT work to go into the card, too. i'm going to take a few more shots tonight if everyone is happy and we'll make the final decision. then i'll send rob to the local kodak machine to make many many prints. at least all the envelopes are addressed. i did that yesterday.
the last few days have been rough for me, mentally. if it's not postpartum depression, it's something similar. i've found myself thinking about throwing myself down the stairs, and then cursing the same stairs for not being long enough to break my neck if i did go down them. also passing through my thoughts: my kids would be better off without me. i've had a dark few days, apparently. i haven't even told rob the thoughts that have gone through my head. i should but i'm scared to death of actually seeking help...i worry about mental evaluations following me in my medical record.
anyway, i've been feeling better the last 24 hours. i think i was just at a low point, maybe brought on by holiday stress. damn holidays. that's the reason i'm crazy. heh heh.
it also helps that elisha slept really well last night. she only woke up once last night, around 4am. she nursed and went right back to sleep. she's such an angel.
better go get some more stuff done...only an hour til reese gets home.
12.01.2006
happy december! (otherwise titled '24 days to go!')
it's december! hooray!
i celebrated by having a bagel instead of my normal raisin bran. it's a yummy cranberry bagel, ones that only come out at christmas time. delicious :)
elisha's first tooth is ready to pop through any time. it's weird to see a teeny baby chewing on her hands, usually at this age they're just discovering they HAVE hands and watching them quietly or sometimes sucking a finger when it gets too close to their mouth. but elisha is cramming her whole fist in her mouth. we have pictures but they're on my husbands camera and i have no clue where the cord is to upload the evidence. so you'll have to wait.
she's also gotten a her first cold. it's a real 'juicy' one, lots of mucas and congestion. so we're using the snot-sucker as needed, and we even have one upstairs and one downstairs for our own convenience. reese brought this cold home from school about 3 weeks ago and it's taking forever to get over...averaging about a week per child, but they all still have a nasty sounding cough. so i just give them some more orange juice and hope it goes away soon. i'm sure it will, just in time for the next round of sickies.
i think i'm passing on the flu shot for the kids this year. according to our pediatrician, we SHOULD get it, since elisha is so tiny but we've gotten the flu shot every year since we started having babies in the house and i think it's just useless. after joining a parenting board, i'm more worried than ever about vaccines and their side effects. i think it's absurd that the chicken pox vaccine (varicella) is required for entrance into preschool or kindergarten. unfortunately, for reese to attend preschool, she had to have it; seems that the school district is telling ME how to care for my child's health. since cade is not in daycare, he won't have it until he has to enter school...same with elisha. i just don't see what is the benefit of the varicella vaccine....is it just so kids won't miss a week or more of classes with chicken pox? so it won't wipe out a whole class for a week or more?
i had the pox (how medieval sounding!) when i was a baby, under 2 years of age. i frightened my mom with my high fever and febrile seizures, but i think that's pretty uncommon to have with the chicken pox. i don't remember any of it. i think the vaccine needs to be studied more before it becomes school policy. too late for many districts though.
we're heading to iowa for christmas. this is really turning into a national lampoon's road trip. 3 kids and a dog in a minivan....add in a dad that stops for every starbucks and a mom that continually tells the dad to slow down and that would be us. how, in 5 short years, did i go from newlywed to mother of 3? from 0 to frumpy in 5 years flat. speaking of, this month marks when elisha was conceived (i think pearl harbor day was the big day...let's just say our sex
life is pretty easy to track) and december 30th marks when i found out i was pregnant with her. the last year has just ZOOMED past. how does time go so fast???
when it comes to christmas music, i'm pretty traditional. i found a double cd set in bath & body works that i bought on a whim (for $10, and a $1 of that goes to a charity of some sort...i figured what the heck). it's a pretty good album with some big names (they could have left off the pussycat dolls...do they belong on a christmas album? no.). for some non-traditional christmas music, i recommend it.
i celebrated by having a bagel instead of my normal raisin bran. it's a yummy cranberry bagel, ones that only come out at christmas time. delicious :)
elisha's first tooth is ready to pop through any time. it's weird to see a teeny baby chewing on her hands, usually at this age they're just discovering they HAVE hands and watching them quietly or sometimes sucking a finger when it gets too close to their mouth. but elisha is cramming her whole fist in her mouth. we have pictures but they're on my husbands camera and i have no clue where the cord is to upload the evidence. so you'll have to wait.
she's also gotten a her first cold. it's a real 'juicy' one, lots of mucas and congestion. so we're using the snot-sucker as needed, and we even have one upstairs and one downstairs for our own convenience. reese brought this cold home from school about 3 weeks ago and it's taking forever to get over...averaging about a week per child, but they all still have a nasty sounding cough. so i just give them some more orange juice and hope it goes away soon. i'm sure it will, just in time for the next round of sickies.
i think i'm passing on the flu shot for the kids this year. according to our pediatrician, we SHOULD get it, since elisha is so tiny but we've gotten the flu shot every year since we started having babies in the house and i think it's just useless. after joining a parenting board, i'm more worried than ever about vaccines and their side effects. i think it's absurd that the chicken pox vaccine (varicella) is required for entrance into preschool or kindergarten. unfortunately, for reese to attend preschool, she had to have it; seems that the school district is telling ME how to care for my child's health. since cade is not in daycare, he won't have it until he has to enter school...same with elisha. i just don't see what is the benefit of the varicella vaccine....is it just so kids won't miss a week or more of classes with chicken pox? so it won't wipe out a whole class for a week or more?
i had the pox (how medieval sounding!) when i was a baby, under 2 years of age. i frightened my mom with my high fever and febrile seizures, but i think that's pretty uncommon to have with the chicken pox. i don't remember any of it. i think the vaccine needs to be studied more before it becomes school policy. too late for many districts though.
we're heading to iowa for christmas. this is really turning into a national lampoon's road trip. 3 kids and a dog in a minivan....add in a dad that stops for every starbucks and a mom that continually tells the dad to slow down and that would be us. how, in 5 short years, did i go from newlywed to mother of 3? from 0 to frumpy in 5 years flat. speaking of, this month marks when elisha was conceived (i think pearl harbor day was the big day...let's just say our sex
life is pretty easy to track) and december 30th marks when i found out i was pregnant with her. the last year has just ZOOMED past. how does time go so fast???when it comes to christmas music, i'm pretty traditional. i found a double cd set in bath & body works that i bought on a whim (for $10, and a $1 of that goes to a charity of some sort...i figured what the heck). it's a pretty good album with some big names (they could have left off the pussycat dolls...do they belong on a christmas album? no.). for some non-traditional christmas music, i recommend it.
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