What the hell? It's over?

Yep. 2007 is on its course to recorded history. Thank goodness.

Truly, it was not that great of a year. We had a lot of sickness around these here parts. Much mucus. Oh my god, the mucus.

And X walked away from a business that he started with his Then Life Savings to start yet another business with our Current Life Savings.

And both of our families had some pretty serious heartache this year. Things I could not write about because this blog is my story to tell. Not their story.

And this year brought us Anjali - our sweet baby girl. We are complete now.

I suppose it was a pretty damed good year, after all.

Happy New Year to you - I hope you are spending with the ones you love.

What are my favorite posts?

These are my favorite past posts - it is an ongoing post that I keep mainly for myself.

This doesn't necessarily mean these posts are good, it simply means that I like them and they mean something to me personally. Sadly, when I ditched Haloscan all the past comments went to BlogHeaven. I swear crickets haven't been chirping for two years over here.


• Why were our 20s so hard?
• Knitting Continental or English? Knit picking from a nitpicker
• Is it cultured or just plain shocking??
• Where have you been Bad Attitude?
• Where’s the martini in maternity?
• Where does the ending meet the beginning?
• Since when is cynical a bad thing?
• What have I learned?
• Fit to be a mother or just fit to be tied?
• Co-Sleep or Co-Weep?
• Holy Shit. Six Months. Where does time fly?
• Grizzly bear, grizzly bear, what do you taste?
• So, what do YOU do?
• Will I be there for you?
• Should I have told her?
• Isn't admitting your Hypocrisy the first step?
• What television, music, movie or book from my childhood am I excited about sharing with Arun?
• What's that FDR line about "Fear"?
• Aren't Pictures Worth a 1000 Words?
• Couldn't we ALL use a Three Martiini Playdate?
• Need Some Motivation?
• Why? Why not?
• Why do we say "Bye Bye" but not "Hi Hi"?

Do you hear what I hear?

Truly, this was one of the best Christmases in a long, long time. Having a certain bug-eyed toddler there to "oh! and ah!" over everything seemed to have made all the difference. The big gifts this year from Santa were a Diego Rescue Center, a mountain tunnel (for his birthday train set), and a toy trumpet. He was appropriately awestruck when he came downstairs to find them under the tree. So awestruck, that for once, he was not sure what to say and was actually fairly quiet over the whole thing at first. Until he fully woke up, of course, and then he was a bat out of hell All Day Long. Banana cream pie will do that to a 2 year old, I suppose.

Speaking of Santa, it was totally and utterly kickass to play the part. I am unapologetic and firmly in the camp of Believer now. Seriously - it was SO MUCH fun setting everything up the night before. I was so jittery with excitement that I had trouble sleeping and I even got up before Arun in the morning. Yeah - something was seriously wrong with that scenario. Ahem.

Anyway, it was a really nice Christmas. Not overly done - the kids got plenty of presents, but nothing extravagant. The past few days have been mostly about eating and hanging out with family.

As it should be.


Damn Cat

This year's Christmas card. I could not help myself, although I know that most of the recipients probably did not "get" it. And yes, even though I have kids now, I am still that dork that sends a picture of her cat. Sue me. Go ahead.

The Glasses Are Half Full

The Hat

Yes, all the sharp corners in such close proximity to his peepers gave me a coronary, but I still managed to snap a pic before yanking the damned thing off.

Santa Baby

More Stuff on My Kid

Is Santa for real?

When your children are sick for a week, this seems to put everything off kilter for the same amount of time - if not more. I wish I had more to report on what I did during this blogging break, but really - nothing much of interest. Christmas cards are sent, educational requirements for my CPA license completed, bills are paid, some stuff completed for the Big Idea (which is going AWESOME, BTW), some Christmas shopping endured, various paperwork has been completed, slow progress on Anjali's blanket has been made, a book was read (Jenny McCarthy's book Louder Than Words about her son's autism. It was okay. A little dramatic, but that is McCarthy's usual style of writing. I did find her connections with food and diet fascinating - I wholeheartedly believe there is a connection/solution there. Her experiences only confirmed that for me. The part that broke my heart the most is that she is able to do all these special therapies with her son that normal folks simply cannot afford.) and I began another book (Marisha Pessl's Special Topics in Calamity Physics which is absolutely stunning, compelling and beautiful thus far!) Anyway.....

For whatever reason, whenever I mention Santa, Arun immediately pipes up with the word "trumpet". I do not know if they have one at preschool or if it is something he has picked up from Jack's Big Music Show, but the kid is associating Santa and trumpets for whatever reason. Lucky for him, I finally found one. Who knew that such a simple kid toy would be so fucking hard to find? I searched everywhere - Restoration Hardware, ToysRUs, Walmart, Target, and online..... I found one at the Toy Store in downtown Lawrence.

So, yes. We are going to do Santa with our kids. X thinks it is silly since in India, Christmas is actually about a Mass for Christ (for reals? Who woulda thunk?) However, I suspect when he sees how much fun the kids have with Believing, he will be on board with the white-bearded geezer. I will admit, I am still not sure how I will answer the inevitable questioning of the veracity of Santa from my kids. I do not remember the exact moment when I found out Santa was a fraud, so I must not have been too broken-hearted (or perhaps, I have merely repressed the trauma?) Regardless, I still found him a lovable old coot, even if he was a figment of my imagination. Besides, the concept of Santa is fun, so what is the harm?? We will not go overboard with the "naughty or nice" theme and Santa will only bring a toy or two, not the entire Yuletide Bounty. I do not see that this is a big deal.

Anyway.....in other spaces, I have posted at the FoodieBytes blog about the "one and only one" Christmas food you would choose. We are getting some really cool mentions out in the Blue Nowhere so I talk about that as well. At the BoobLog, I am talking about how useless baby cereal was for us and how I do not see myself going that route much with Anjali. Bring on the lentil soup!

Better now?

Hop...hop...hop.....

Arun has really been into jumping these past few months. The past few weeks, he has taken his jumping skillz to a whole new level and is now jumping over things. Perhaps, a baby lying on the floor? The same baby who coincidentally has recently learned out to roll over onto her stomach? Good thing Arun is a damned good jumper. Be still my heart.

In other news, I went to Target YET AGAIN to get another prescription filled YET AGAIN. I also got to see my new boyfriend Greg The Pharmacist..... YET AGAIN.

SO..... I really appreciate all the comments lately - it seems opening up my comments to unregistered users helped folks. Truthfully, my unofficially announced goal for December had been to get better at replying to comments, but as you can see, I suck. However, I do feel bad that Blogger is being an ass about easily linkable commentary. SO.... here is what I will do about Making Nice. I do appreciate my readers. Many have become personal close friends that I have leaned on in hard times (oh, say, for the entire year of 2007. Gulp.) In a related note, one of the things that I regret about NaBloPoMo this year is that I did not make any new friends nor did I discover any new blogs. I was running 2 steps behind the entire month of November, so that was my fault, not NaBloPoMo's fault.

Therefore, to Make Nice, if you comment during the month of December not only with I respond in the comments section. From this post forward, I will also make a commitment to visit your blog as well through the month of December - leave your URL in the nickname field or the comments field. I will admit that I have considered and am still considering a move to Wordpress, which makes me sick to my stomach (the thought of re-doing everything? losing readers? starting over?) As I think about that, consider this my olive branch in the meantime for having the audacity to be a Blogger blogger.

Obviously, this would be the lamest post EVER to make a comment on, so I will offer up a topic for discussion. If you had one and only one piece of advice for a new mother, what would it be? And no, this is not a trick question - even if you do not have children, you can still offer up a pearl of wisdom. We have ALL been children at some point, so at least we can all offer up a advice regarding What Not To Do. Right?

My advice? Trust your Mommy Gut. No one knows your child better than you and your partner. NO ONE. Not even your doctor. I listened to my Mommy Gut on Monday morning and am so grateful I did. Anjali was not acting right, but there was nothing definable other than she had the sniffles and her eating habits had been off since the night before. However, I called the doctor and flat out said we needed to see someone. This is how we discovered her ear infections. I am new to ear infections (Arun's first was discovered just last week) so I would have had no idea otherwise.

So, what do you have to say to a new mother?

That is all you got?

We are still in the 10 Circle of Hell around here. Yesterday, Arun was his perky self, merely in need of sleep. Then last night, it became apparent that it was to be Anjali's turn with illness. Per our doctor's appointment this morning, it has been confirmed that yes, indeed, Anjali has two ear infections. This brings our Grand Household Total of Infected Ears to four. Go us! I have been to the Target pharmacy so many times in the past 6 days that Greg, the pharmacist, has been one of my few adult interactions and he is beginning to look sorta hot. The upside to all these Target excursions is that X circles through the parking lot so the kids can sleep. Which translates into some Kid Free Shopping as I wait for the scrip to be filled. I sneak in fun stuff hoping that X does not notice the extra bags. In related news, Choxie has released a special line of holiday chocolates, those bastards.

I wish I could compose a hilarious post with heartwarming tales but really all I have got is copious amounts of mucus mixed with antibiotics dispensed in florescent hues. I shall just move on - is that acceptable with you??

My baby girl turned 5 months yesterday. While Arun is the engine that put our little family on track to becoming a Family, Anjali is our caboose. To say that she completes us is an understatement. As stressful as this past week has been, I would have it no other way.

Gene Simmons Can Kiss My Ass

Golden Girl

She is just one Shampoo n' Set from total, full-on Old Lady hair.

Little Girl

In this one, I see glimpses of the little girl to come. Hold me, Internet.


5 Months

How much is too much?

Arun is still sick, although he is perking up today. The first antibiotic had no effect, we are trying another one. It turns out that he also had an ear infection - his first ever.

In the meantime, I am going to take advantage of the fact that I have opened anonymous commenting up. Two questions for you and you can comment anonymously if you do not want to 'fess up publicly.

How much do you spend on your kids for Christmas? If you do not have kids, what do you think it reasonable? I am limiting myself to $50 per kid this year and it is HARD because it is FUN to buy toys, no? However, Arun has seen a steady stream of toys since Anjali was born in our desperate attempt to keep him entertained when we were drowning. Then, he even got a Melissa & Doug train set for his birthday. I am trying to apply a tourniquet to the situation. The goal for future Christmas is one big gift and several small gifts. No matter what our financial situation is, I do want Christmas to become overblown, but I still want it to be fun. We are lucky in that not a lot of extended family buy for our kids anyway.

Also, how many outfits do your kids have? I try to limit myself to no more than 14 since I do laundry every Sunday anyway. Anymore than 14 and I feel bad that the clothes are not getting enough mileage. Am I weird?

What do you think?

Seriously now. Would Debra Winger lead us wrong??

One word: Croup.

Last night, I insisted to X that we needed to sit in a steamy bathroom with Arun to clear his croupy throat. X protested saying this did not make sense and that Arun would just freak out. He proclaimed that the cool mist humidifier in the bedroom was enough. He then questioned my expertise in the realm of Things Croupy. How could I explain that I had seen Debra Winger do it with her daughter during the countless times I have watched Terms of Endearment, one of my all-time favorite movies? I cannot blame him for not wanting put the fate of our son's health in Debra Wingers hands. But still. Innernets, was I wrong??

My poor baby. There is something about a feverish kid that freaks my shit out. I do not handle it well. But now, I have Perspective again. Something I had lost earlier this week when I was struggling with a big of a Funk. Holy CRAP. Nothing else matters much when your baby is sick. Nothing.

Anyway - while doing nightwatch over Arun last night, ironically, I had time to fiddle with photos on the Mac that resides in the spare bedroom. Enjoy.


Just what I always wanted. My own little sister!
I will name her George, and I will hug her, and pet her, and squeeze her.




Look at my baby girl totally rockin' those cowboy pajamas! I hope she appreciates those moose pajamas that are comin' down her Fashion Pike.

Happier times.

Yes, blue eyes. We are not sure whether they will eventually turn brown, but damn. We are loving them in the meantime.

Are you a texter? What are the rules of engagement?

It is official. I feel so Old School, or rather, just plain OLD, admitting this, but until recently, I was not a texter. It was my firm belief that you email or call if you had something to say to me. It was Mojavi who turned my way of thinking. I realized that sometimes, I just needed to send a quick message that said "what time?" or "r u on ur way?" or "yo bitch. where the hell are ya?". And then, my friend T came into town, was busy running around and then, had a family situation come up which necessitated a quick text to me saying she would not be able to see me after all. And then, I really needed a way to get a hold of Monkey. Since she is a Californicator and I am a Wheat Stater, we struggle with the time differences and what with her working behind Locked Firewalls and all, email was not always an option, either. And phone calls? Let me digress a minute.....

In the olde days of yore, those known as "free of progeny", I lived for phone chats with my best girlfriends. My favorite time was Saturday morning - I would down a pot of coffee and a half pack of cigs while chatting the morning away. While I do not miss the nicotine-laced caffeine buzz, I do miss talking on the phone. But these days, it is hard to get a minute to talk. Wait a second. Actually, I could talk the night away, if the person on the other end does not mind Constant Interruption. The other night, while talking to Monkey, I was desperately trying to keep Arun's trap shut attention diverted so that I could listen to very important details that Monkey was revealing about the bachelors behind doors #1 and #4. During the entire conversation, I would have to quickly reroute Arun to something new and I hope Monkey did not think I was trying to be witty by quoting Eric Carle since the Man Behind the Collage is probably not the go-to guy for dating advice. I hate that I have to talk to my kid while on the phone because I remember before I had kids who damned irritating that is. I am not sure what the solution because Arun goes to bed so late these days, I cannot wait for him to sleep to begin ringing up people. And sure, X is around, but toddlers have this 7th sense when it comes to their mamas being on the phone. Have you tried hiding from a toddler lately? Have fun with that! Soooo.....

Where was I?...... Oh yeah. What are the rules for beginning a textual relationship? If I want to text someone, do I need to ask permission? Do I send an email to ask permission? Or do I call them on phone? Or wait until I see them in person? Send a text, perhaps?

So yes, texting. Is new to me.

iz v. v. cool

Care to comment?

Edited to Add: Robin over at Pensieve has a nice post about this Blogger backlash with a good list of other folks writing about it. Just spreading the Linky Love - ironically, of course.

So, as usual, folks are getting the Hate On over Blogger and the newest complaint regarding Blogger is baffling me completely. Folks are mad, nay furious, because they cannot link directly to their sites in the comments section. I did not realize this was a recent change and I was not aware that Blogger had even allowed direct linkage before - it was definitely news to me so I misunderstood it at first. Besides, just last spring, I had to turn off non-registered comments when I found myself to have acquired my first troll. I hated doing that because it did require folks to register with Blogger in order to comment. However, at the time I did not have the patience to deal with a troll or to begin moderating my comments.

So, it appears folks are suggesting Haloscan as a solution. I used Haloscan in the past and did have a great experience with it. They went through a period of time where it was exploding in mid-air, so I switched back to Blogger comments. I do not necessarily regret it because Haloscan does not keep your comments forever - if that is important to you, I cannot recommend Haloscan. Also, switching to Haloscan will blow away your previous entries' comments as well. It is just something to consider if you are going to switch.

I am not going to sit here and pretend that Blogger is perfect, but it is usable and free, to boot. I feel compelled to defend a free product that for the most part, works quite well. I have used Typepad and Wordpress for other blogs and I do not understand why folks rave about them being so superior to Blogger. Frankly, I have used Wordpress for two different blogs and both experiences were frustrating. I am still struggling with it on my food blog which is frustrating because I would rather be writing posts, then screwing around with the settings and such. And Typepad? It was okay when I used it a few years ago, but I could not justify paying for it. However, I will admit that I just want to write a blog. All I desire is to write meaningless crap about my life. I am not into site design and adding widgets and fancy stuff into this place. I realize that makes my blog fairly boring and probably contributes to my low readership. I also know that just the fact that I do not have my own URL has automatically relegated me to a lower status in some social circles. So, it is not like I count myself as serious or anything like that. But I am having fun over here and that is my #1 criteria for blogging - I need to find it fun or I cannot justify this hobby.

So, I still do not understand what the fuss is about - I have a Blogger profile set up for my FoodieBytes Wordpress blog and in that profile I have set up linkage back to the FoodieBytes site. As such, we are seeing traffic going to the FoodieBytes so it is apparent this setup works. Would it be more convenient if folks could link directly to the site from my comment? Of course, but I know lots of sites that require registration and it has not prevented me from commenting. For example, I do not see anyone bringing the Hate On at Alphamom because they require comment registration.

Since I am not willing to switch back to Haloscan and yet again, lose all my past comments, I am going to just open comments again to unregistered users. It seems that way you can enter a "nickname". If you do not wish to register with Blogger, you can use the nickname field to enter your name and url. Oh sure, we will not be able to link directly to you, but holy crap folks! It takes 2 seconds to select text and paste it into a URL field. If someone is willing to take the time to comment on my site, I am willing to take the time to cut n' paste to check out their site. That would only be fair.