Me: 9
Him: AM or PM?
Me: What do you think?
This stuff just writes itself, folks.
There is not a screw in my belly button that keeps my butt from falling off.
There is no way that potatoes can grow between my toes.
A rat named Herbie does not live in my hair causing snarls.
Speaking into my ear does not echo.
A swallowed apple seed will not sprout into a full grown tree. Doesn’t work with watermelon seeds either.

When I bought my home in 2003, I was taken to task for my home choice.
Why?
Because I had researched what I could afford. I researched the areas I wanted to live in. I also chose to take a loan only for the purchase price, not the value of the property (which was significantly higher). Additionally, I opted for a fixed rate loan.
I did a ton of research and knew exactly what I could afford and what I was willing to deal with.
For my trouble, I was called a fool by both my mortgage broker and my real estate agent.
They knew that I qualified for far more. They knew that my payment would be HALF of what my mortgage payment would be if I took the adjustable rate loan. They said I was throwing away money that the banks WANTED TO GIVE ME.
Most folks didn't do the research I did. Most folks took their mortgage brokers’ and real estate agent's advice and took what they qualified for.
So if you're calling all those people who are losing their home irresponsible, greedy and self indulgent you need to think about the real problem. I think the real problem was that the foxes were in charge of the hen house and the hens trusted the foxes.
I’ve been working on my son’s birth announcements for about 12 weeks now. First, there was coming up with the perfect design. I wanted something that would be cute but would also be really fun. No standard blue booties for my kid.
So I researched. And researched. Until I found a completely cute idea. And detailed. And very intricate.
Oh, and I have to make 40 of them.
Strangely, I thought I’d have more time when I was in the hospital. I remembered having a good bit of downtime when my daughter Phoebe was born and thought that would be when I’d work on them.
But I didn’t count on being INCREDIBLY tired and having a baby that wanted to stay up all night. So with the exception of just a couple of hours, I slept when the baby slept.
But now I’ve been home with my darling boy for eight weeks now and I still don’t have them done. Part of it just the sheer lack of time that I have.
Having a newborn and a preschooler at the same time has been a completely different experience than the first go around. For one thing, the older child is AWAKE during the day and during baby’s morning nap times. At the other end of the spectrum is my son’s interesting evening schedule.
IT’s gotten better, but he’s still up until 11 or so every night and then up at about 3 or 4 AM for a couple of hours. Then Phoebe gets up somewhere between 7 and 8 in the morning. So while I’m getting between 4 and 5 hours of sleep, being awake from 3AM until 11PM is pretty tiring.
Oh I sometimes get a nap before Phoebe gets up and sometimes I can time everyone’s afternoon naps so that I can get one but it’s not leaving a lot of time for anything else.
So when I do have a few minutes I can dedicate to something crafty, I need something that I can get done quickly and can also drop in an instant if little man decides he doesn’t want to sleep.
Here's where the problem is. As a perfectionist, I want to work on my craft and tweek and massage it and make it look just gorgeous. This does not lend itself to being speedy.
So I procrastinate and wonder if I have enough time to work on a project. I estimate how long it will take me to get my materials together. I second guess the design I have in my head and I surf my favorite websites looking at ideas and examples. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking and pretty soon, my son is waking up ready for a feeding or Phoebe is awake from her nap and wants a snack and I’ve lost the opportunity to get anything done.
Flylady says:
Perfectionism is when we decide that we can't do something because we won't have the time to do it "perfectly".
She is right. I can’t do what I want because I’m afraid I won’t do it perfectly or I don’t have enough time. I should just grab a couple of pieces and work on them and be done.
So that’s my challenge. What about you? Does perfectionism keep you from doing what you want?
Few weeks ago, John got a new iPad. He loves it.
But then the topic of what to do with his Kindle came up. He wouldn’t really need it because he could use the iPad and the Kindle app to read his books.
So I took it from a couple of weeks ago. Bear in mind, it’s only on loan and if he REALLY needs it back, I guess I COULD give it back to him.
Since getting it, I realized how much I miss reading. I’ve loaded a few favorite books: Pride and Prejudice, the first three Anne of Green Gables books, The Boleyn Inheritance, the Bible, etc. All books that I tend to read over and over. I’d love to get a couple of the Harry Potter books and To Kill A Mockingbird, but they aren’t available on Kindle.
The thing is, I really enjoying reading this format. I didn’t think I would because I LOVE books. I love the smell. I love the feel of the pages. I love the sound of the pages turning. I marvel at my abuse of paperbacks. I can look at a book and tell how much I love it by how badly the book spine is broken.
I mostly read paperbacks if you can’t tell. Hard backs are nice, but they are heavy and hard to stick in your purse. The only problem with paperbacks is that they are only good for so much abuse before you’ve got to get another copy. This little book reader however, goes neatly in the diaper bag.
So I am happy to salt my words and eat them. I still prefer physical books but this is an acceptable way to read.


I have decided I have to change my attitude.
I’ve been tired and worn out and, well, just pissy for so many days now that I have got to do something else.
So I have decided to focus on the positive.
For example, instead of fussing that I only got 4 hours of sleep last night, I will get excited that I got those 4 hours IN A ROW and IN MY OWN BED!! Because more often than not, I sleep in the recliner downstairs and Nugget sleeps either in the pack and play or the swing. This happens not by design but because I don’t know how long I have before the next scream-a-thon at night.
I have tried, as much as possible, to let Phoebe and Moo get as much sleep as possible. Moo needs the sleep because he is going out of the house and working every day. Phoebe needs the sleep because OH-MA-GAWD preschoolers MUST sleep or they get cranky and cranky mommy can only deal with so much crankiness every day.
So I try to keep Nugget’s crying upstairs to a minimum.
This is not easy or, to tell the truth, possible. He seems to have his cranky period from 6:30 until midnight or 3AM, which ever seems to drive me crazy first.
Actually, it is getting better, because as I stated above, he settled down at midnight last night and slept until 4. I felt that he was pretty sleepy and put him down upstairs instead of in the pack and play or swing. This means that I got to sleep in my bed. I didn’t take off my clothes but I did sleep in my bed.
So see? I put a positive spin on it. No whining. Let’s see if I can keep it up.