Why are toy lobsters always bright red?

Think about it. Lobsters are normally a rusty brown while alive - they turn bright red after they've been boiled. That adorable toy your precious progeny is playing with? Yep, it represents a carcass. Albeit, a tasty one.

So........I usually refer to Rancid Raves as my Happy Place. However, it appears my green card has been revoked. I am not sure what to write. I feel paralyzed. Things are not bad. But they aren't great. Oh sure.....the kids are fine. Arun is SO sweet and full of personality. And fairly agreeable. These tantrums that I keep hearing about? Just a concept in some Wise Parenting Tome I once read in my fat and lazy days during my First Pregnancy (you remember the First Pregnancy? The one filled with Hope and Dreams?) Anyway, we have yet to see a full-blown, Category 5 tantrum out of Arun. I'll gladly ride that pony til it turns to glue, thankyouverymuch. And Anjali is also so incredibly scrumptious- very snuggly and tolerant of Arun getting in her face (all the time!). My kids are so fucking adorable it blows my mind. So, yeah - to quote Livia, "Poor me."

But they aren't sleeping at the same time. EVER. Which also blows my mind in its own special, unique way which I need to look into trademarking. Some days, I feel as if I can't even catch a breath because there is always someone wanting something. And the deadline is now...now.... NOW. Oops. Yesterday...... Arun is still so fascinated with Anju that I am actually afraid of him loving her to death. Every morning, I feel the bed shake as he scampers onto it so that he can see "da bee-bee". He HAS to see her first thing and he HAS to kiss her first thing. Every morning. However, he has to be watched constantly. Constantly! And Anju? She has awakened from her peaceful newborn state. She veers between needing to be entertained to needing to be held so that she can go to sleep to needing to be nursed to needing Yet Another Diaper Change.

Need.....need......NEED. That should be the first line of those stupid "what to expect" books. Expect to be NEEDED, my friends. That's really all you NEED to know.

And what is totally kicking all of our asses right now is the weather. We NEED daily visits to the park. We NEED our backyard. We NEED our front yard. We NEED the Deanna Rose Farm. WE NEED TO BE OUTSIDE. All of us. Even my South Indian husband refuses to go outside. Dude. It's THAT hot. Arun is bored stiff inside. Anju looks in wonder at the world everytime we hustle briefly outside on our way to air-conditioning. I know that she also needs the stimulation of the outside world. And I need the exercise. All these months of being a slug are catching up with me emotionally and physically.

Again, with the Perspective. It's all temporary. All of it. Fall will arrive.....the kids will grow up. It's still the middle of August, 2007, though.

Dammit.

Anyway, while I am fighting deportation from my usual Happy Place, I've been skulking in other locales........

Over the Moon Over Lunar
Over at Kansas City Kitty, I've posted about Boulevard's newest year-round beer offering called Lunar. Boulevard Brewing Co is a Kansas City based brewery and their beers are YUMMY. However, it appears the Lunar brew may not be taking off as quickly as hoped. Which worries me because I LOVE this new brew.

Beer, Babes, and Boobs
Over at the New BoobLog, I've posted about consuming alcohol while breastfeeding. Believe it or not -- a breastfeeding mother probably can partake in an alcoholic beverage of her choice while breastfeeding. Shocking, but true. But only if her baby watches Baby Einstein while doing so. You know, to even things out .