Transitions

HI~ I write this 90 minutes after coming home from being gone for 3 days. Like, OMG, what a totally dedicated blogger! I was in Colorado for a training session, which was quite interesting, I must say. I believe I am a training junkie. I love learning the new concepts and seeing old colleagues and meeting new ones and having a break from my usual routine. Work, kids, sleep, lather, rinse, repeat. It is good for my sanity to have a change of scenery, climate, people for just a short time. I feel invigorated and refreshed, ready to take on the world! A little brainwashing is healthy! I drank the Kool-Aid, I tell ya!

Miss Mary Sunshine mentality, still coursing through my brain cells, I hopped off the uneventful, ninety minute flight, grabbed my bag, which was one of the first off the chute, went outside to catch the shuttle bus to take me to the airport parking garage, which waited for me to cross in the cross walk and get on. My shuttle stop was the very first stop in the route, I gleefully hopped off and found my car immediately. I was humming "Zippity Doo Dah" as I climbed in my car, zipped home in 25 minutes. Home sweet home.

I couldn't wait to see the kids, of course, but I had a few things I couldn't wait to do when I walked in the door. I was really needing to remove my contacts that were like little slivers of glass, stuck to my now weary eyes from the recirculated airplane air and I had to go to the bathroom and ensure I did not get toxic shock. Food would have been high up on my list of wants vs needs at that moment as well.

But those needs on my immediate to do list were fleeting. The two seconds in the door were greeted with Cole bursting with happiness and pure joy to see me and show me everything that I had missed in 3 days. It was a giant, excited run on sentence of what his homework was and kickball stories and a presentation of a little apology note he had written to me because he had accidentally broken my little crystal snowflake on my desk. Oh, and his book report project is due Friday and we need to do it now. Right. Now. Like, let's do it this very second. Mom.

So, with my suitcase in the door barely, I was promptly gluing and cutting with my contacts blurring and the toxic shock risk rising and the tummy growling loudly. Game on. Back to mommyhood with no visible transition whatsoever. My training brainwashing fresh in my mind, it was a do-able transition this time, and a welcome one.

Fingerprint Necklace~ I LOVE IT!!!

Hi! How are you? I know there are crickets chirping as I write this, but I feel I at least owe those few insects out there who might have hopped around accidentally and landed on this blog, an explanation of why I haven't blogged in weeks. I really don't have an legit excuse once again. Laziness. Apathy. Not motivated to write anything. Busyness. Life just getting in the way. Work stuff. Ok, enough? Good.

Well thanks to Facebook, that my sister, Marcy made me, kind of forced me to join, I have reconnected with lots of friends from grade school, high school and college. It has been insane how people just pop up out of the nowhere. I know you might be thinking I'm too old to be on there, and I'll defend myself in a separate post next time, maybe.

Anyhow, I was fortunate enough to be contacted by my dorm pal, Tina Steinberg. I came to find out that she designs jewelery, really cool jewelery on her site: www. tinasteinberg.com. She takes vintage pieces and turns them into really amazing and unique creations. Each piece is made by her own two creative hands. I just got my fingerprint necklace a few days ago and I LOVE IT!!! She took impressions of my kids' fingerprints and made their little prints into a necklace. Check out her website to see what I mean. I am going to order more stuff from her soon. I just wanted to give her a sincere shout out, since I truly love, love, love her work! Please take a look-see, you'll be impressed!

Working Mom Girl

Flashback to the 80’s, when Madonna was more meaty, and less religious, with no sign of a faux English accent. She donned the hot pink satin strapless gown and matching long gloves with oodles of sparkling diamonds, in her Material Girl video, a Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend takeoff. Got that image in your head? So, please sing along to the tune of Material Girl:

We are living in a stay at home mom world, and I am a working mom girl
You know that we are living in a stay at home mom world, and I am a working mom girl!
Ow, Ow, Ow!

These made up lyrics I sing (to myself of course) mostly every day. There is some small happening each day that reminds me that I am odd man out, or in this case, odd mom out.

Every morning, I drop off Cole and Patty at school, before I head to work. It is extremely hectic to get out the door in the morning, as most households with small children all across the globe are. Backpacks zipped. Water bottles filled. Snack packed. Lunch in backpack. Blue ice in lunch. Library books packed. Shoes tied. Teeth brushed. Hair brushed. Homework in folder, in backpack that is zipped. Name on homework.

Dishes on table from breakfast, washed. Flat iron unplugged. Lights off. Tatum’s bowl filled. Lap top. Cell phone. Headset. Bottled water. Mascara? No time.

We arrive at school and are greeted by various kids, moms, teachers. I walk each kid to their classrooms. Big smothering, wet, clingy kisses and hugs from Patty. Kind of a high five, but not too much contact from Cole.

The bell rings. The kids scurry. The moms are left. Moms begin to congregate to chat it up. I love this time since I get to feel like a “real mom”. The difference is the chatting time is limited for yours truly, because I need to get my butt to work. The stay at home moms get to stay and leisurely talk. For however long they want. One mom holds a coffee mug from home, not a travel mug with lid, but an open topped, porcelain, kitchen mug . As if this is a casual, easy morning ritual. Looking like the girl who overdressed for the party, I stand out amongst the casually, comfortably clad moms, the only one dressed to go to work.

How I long to stay and talk about the kids, school stuff, share funny stories, be leisurely. I want to be in this stay at home mom world, and I cannot. I do not live there. Cuz we are living in a stay at home mom world, and I am a working mom girl…

Stuff the Stuffed Animals

My purging tirade is still at its peak, and I can't blame pregnancy or PMS on this obsession. I have been cleaning out overflowing drawers and closets during the past few months, and I must say, I find it quite enjoyable, yet clearly understand that this translates into having no life whatsoever. I have accepted and embraced its connotations.

This time I targeted a collection of seemingly cute and cuddly stuffed animals, taking over Patty's bed. This child has been sleeping in the fetal position in order to accommodate her army of soft, synthetic, useless friends. Does she play with them during daylight hours? No. Does she cuddle with any of them while she slumbers? No. She does sleep with one mini-teddy bear, which fits snugly in the palm of her five year old hand, which she has named Hannah. I wonder what over-sensationalized tween pop-star she got that name from? Hannah can stay because she is teeny and won't cause Patty to have sciatica in her future.

I took a gander at the heaps of dust collectors just festering their airborne filth into my sweet daughter's pure lungs and knew I had to eliminate a majority of the little bastards. How did they trickle into our home? When did they accumulate to such a large number, a fleet numerous enough to defend a small country if given weapons? Baby gifts, birthday presents, souvenirs from business trips, winnings from the grimy, sleazy state fair.

When Patty was playing elsewhere, I quickly gathered up about half of the evil animals, and shoved them heartlessly into a suffocating garbage bag to donate them another home, where another overwhelmed mother will one day get sick of looking at their phony smiles, and quasi-puppy-dog eyes and stuff them into yet another garbage bag to pass them along once again. Break the cycle. Limit these useless stuffed animals. There. That's my Green message for the week.

And The Envelope, Please...

OMG~ I...sniff, sniff, cannot believe..sniff, sniff...that I actually won...AN AWARD!!!!! OMG!!!! YOU LIKE ME, YOU REALLY LIKE ME!!!


Seriously, this has made my day, my week, ok, ok, my year! Just when I was convinced that the only people really reading this blog at all was my mom, Rosemary and my sister, Marcy (Hi Mom! Hi Rosemary! Hi Marcy!) and of course, my only two regular visitors that comment, Sus from http://wigglerooms.blogspot.com/ as well as Alice from http://elegantthimble.blogspot.com/ I think that very well may still be the case, but none the less, I feel special.





So thank you muchos to Sus from http://wigglerooms.blogspot.com/ who chose little 'ol me and four other lucky mo fos to pass this award to! I can't tell you how touched and very surprised I was to be considered in her recipient list. WOW~ Sus is both totally hilarious and deeply touching in her writing style. Her photos are very photo journalistic and have inspired me to get out my lame point and shoot camera and try to capture the moment a little more often. Sus, I know that if you lived in AZ, we'd be amigos for sure.

I am such a lame-o blogger that I am not even sure I cut and pasted the aforementioned blog sites correctly. Will someone please click on those links and make sure they work? Mom? Marcy? Are you sure you don't want to revoke this award? I'M NOT WORTHY! Gulp, I'm really not. But I'll take it!!! Can I put this on my resume?

But alas, my three minutes of fame are merely three minutes. I will now crown the next award recipients, to those bloggers who inspire me, make me laugh and make me cry sometimes, depending on how much PMS I have coursing through my veins. Although I don't have much time to blog or to read others' blogs, there are a few that I try to visit whenever I can. There are many "famous" bloggers that I would like to pass this to, but I know they have already received this award several times, so I'm trying to pick the folks who may not have won this award yet, but are oh so deserving. Fair?

This award comes with rules. (Enter bald, spec wearing, Arthur Anderson guy in a tux)

They are:
You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.
Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of Arte y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

And the envelope please... drum roll in the distance...

1. Sheri from:
http://myminivanisfasterthanyours.com/

Sheri, a friend of my sister, Marcy, was the lucky blogger I initially pestered to learn how to start up this blog thing. She was extremely helpful and kind to such a pain in the ass type, like myself. Sheri, you are a fabulously funny writer. Your clever style is amazing and I always look forward to reading your blog entries. Thank you for your guidance. I owe you a beer.

2. Lauri from:

http://introducingyalltoarizonians.blogspot.com/

Lauri, you rock sista! You are such an amazing person and friend. Your pictures are priceless and you have such spirit about you! Keep on keeping on! Don't give up! There are many more Arizonans who need some "ya'll" in their vocab.

3. Feener from:

http://mommyvents.blogspot.com/

Seriously LOL funny. She can totally relate to my PMS type outbursts. I love your raw, emotional style. Your blog makes us all feel like we are all in this together (Break into a chorus of, "We're All In This Together..." a High School Musical 1 reference, in case you haven't heard that song like fifty thousand times already in your life)

4. Melissa from:

http://takingwhatisleft.blogspot.com/

Melissa cracks me up! She must carry a camera in her purse at all times to capture the great, hilarious shots that she does! I love the big, fun polka dot background in your blog.

5. Kate from:

http://kateinthewild.blogspot.com/

This is my baby sister, Kate's blog. Can we give this award to family members? I think so. This chick is serving in the Peace Corps in Tanzania for the next 2 years. You are the strongest person I know. We can all learn a thing or two from your tenacity and dedication. You made it through a rodent-ridden bed incident, and now, I am confident you can make it through just about anything! Rock on sista! Please visit Kate's blog and give her good vibes! She deserves it!

Thanks again to Sus for this great honor!

Nighty Night, Sleep Tight, Don't Let the Rabid Rats Bite

I haven't blogged in like over 10 days or so, I'm not sure. Did you even notice I was absent? No? That's ok. I had nothing to really blog about. School is in full swing, which includes lots of daily homework, nightly reading and flashcards. Oy.

I cannot complain. I have no right, no privilege to utter a single complaint after I share with you what my baby sister (she's 22), Kate, went through on Saturday. She is serving in the Peace Corps in Tanzania, Africa (I had to learn how to spell Tanzania once she got her assignment) for over 2 years. She will be educating the locals in her small village how to live healthier, prevent the spread of AIDS and other deadly diseases.

She was initially stationed in a family's home, a Mama and Dada (sister), aged 18. The dad (I don't know the Swahili word for dad) is a teacher who lives in the town that he teaches in, and returns home periodically. She was fortunate enough to have a wonderful, caring family, who killed all the cockroaches and spiders on her walls before she went to sleep. There was no running water or electricity in her quite humble, humble abode. She went to school during the day, learning Swahili at a local school with her Peace Corps counterparts.

Once this portion of the assignment is complete, Peace Corps moved her out to a remote village BY HERSELF. Her hut was a simple 2 room set up, a bedroom and living room, completely empty, again, no running water and no electricity. The door doesn't come to the top or bottom of the threshold. You're thinking I must have forgot to mention a kitchen or better yet, a bathroom. Nope. Neither. The potty is a hole in the ground, outside in a courtyard type place. They cook outside on stones with used corn cobs that are lit. The food is boiled in a kettle of some sort over the fire. She managed to find a mattress and a mosquito net. And that's it for home furnishings. No food, no pots or pans, she's got to go get all of that, somewhere. And it's not like there is a local Walmart nearby. She will have to get herself by foot or bike to the nearest town to purchase that kind of stuff.

So, her first night in her new place, she was slumbering as best as possible on the mattress on the concrete floor, when she heard a scuffle. She opened her languid eyes to see a RAT, who had climbed up to the top of her mosquito net, above her head. She screamed bloody murder and the RAT fell INTO BED WITH HER!!!!! INTO BED WITH HER~!!! Oh. My. God. I'm having the heeby jeebys just recounting the story! BLICK!!! She screamed louder as the rat landed in her bed.

So, she spent her first night, terrified and cold in her "living room", sobbing and hysterical. First she called my mom who didn't answer her cell phone because she probably didn't hear it ring inside her purse. Then she called me, and of course, I'm no help.

"Get a broom and..." I begin.

"I DON'T HAVE A BROOM!" she screams.

"Ok, can you throw a shoe at it?" I lamely offer.

"I'M NOT GOING BACK IN THERE! ARE YOU CRAZY?!"

"Ok, in the morning, can you get some towels and duct tape them to the top and bottom of the door, so nothing can come in through those spaces." I advise.

"AMY, THERE IS NO DUCT TAPE! ARE YOU KIDDING?! THERE ARE NO TOWELS!" she is beside herself.

"Ok, how about newspaper or rags..."

"Will you just tell mom to call me as soon as she can?" she gives up on me, since I am offering little or just plain sucky advice.

My last attempt went something like this:

"It's going to be ok. This is the absolute worst thing that could happen to you. This is rock bottom. Everything from here on out will be better. Tomorrow morning, go find some villagers who will help you. Call the Peace Corps people and have them help you. They will. It will be ok."

I seemed to have talked her away from the ledge because she seemed to be chilling out a little.

"Ok", she sniffed. The she added, "I think I'll be getting a cat."

So, the ending to the story is she borrowed a local villager's cat, who ate the rat~ gulp. But, there was...are you ready for this...another rat, but the cat was too full to get that one down, so Kate's neighbors helped get it out of her house and patch the door, and other holes in the roof. So, for now, no rodents...

Please visit her blog. Although she doesn't get to an Internet cafe but once every few weeks because it is so far away, any comment you could leave would be welcomed. Her blog is
on my blogroll listed as: Can I Wear Stilettos In The Peace Corps? And she really asked that question.

Mall Phases In My Life

Today, I was able to go to the mall... ALONE, a far off, somewhat mystical place that is OUT OF THE QUESTION to visit with whiny, needy children nipping at my sides. It was purely euphoric, even though it was certainly not leisurely, I was just there to return a skirt that Patty rejected.

I had several flashbacks while inhaling the purely intoxicating retail-laden air. There are several Mall Phases in my life that came crashing back as I passed the perfume squirter ladies.

Cruising the Mall

Early Mall Phase with my best friend, Amy. Our somewhat neglectful parents dropped us off at the mall door with $10. We strolled our giggly little pre-teen selves all over the mall, ALL. DAY .LONG. This was recreational shopping at its finest. We followed boys we thought were cute. We ran into our friends at the food court. At the end of the day, our Jelly-clad feet found the nearest filthy pay phone and called our parents to pick us up. We never got sick of the mall.

Take It Off, It Looks Terrible

AKA: Shopping with Mom. This was general shopping for back to school clothes, or just change of season needs. This was hard core, shop till you drop with Mom, stamping her approval or stating, "Take it off, it looks terrible." This was only done a few times a year, so it was for all the marbles, Olympic-style, marathon, balls to the wall shopping.

We're On A Mission For The Perfect Outfit:

This would be specific shopping for special occasions. Mom was convinced that the perfect outfit was lurking somewhere between the now defunct Diamond's or The Broadway. These occasions included weddings, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, school dances, sorority rush and the last one I can recall: my wedding dress.

Shopping With A Baby

Shopping with a new, little, precious baby, peacefully slumbering in a stroller, getting some out of the house time and still being able to accomplish leisurely shopping and returns of duplicate or hideous baby gifts. Ahhh. The best kind. Too bad it didn't last long.

Shopping With Kids

Lasts 10 minutes because Cole is running into the toy store BEGGING for various toys and Patty is pulling clothes off racks and CRYING and WHINING that she really, really, really, really, really, really, really wants the glittery slutty miniskirt. I can feel my blood pressure exploding, so we promptly leave. Mission Unaccomplished.

I'm sure shopping with teenagers is no better than scratching your eyes out with a fork. That will most likely be the next phase since I am not going to the mall until then, I swear it.