What's in my pants?

A few Rancid Rants. It's been awhile.......

Sugar Mama
Clarification - I am being tested for gestational diabetes Monday morning. In truth, my blood sugar merely tested high enough to warrant further testing, but it's not clear yet whether I actually have gestational diabetes. Lest I be accused of being a drama queen, I thought I should mention that - you know?

Love and Logic - It Ain't Just for Kids Anymore.
Over the weekend, I dumped some uncooked rice into Arun's sand and water table for him to play with. So, Arun was playing with the rice outside while X worked on his laptop nearby. As Arun was gleefully showering rice on X, I kept telling X to not allow Arun to do it. However, I didn't make a big deal of it because it's hard enough to discipline a toddler, why start a fight with your spouse over it -- right? However, imagine my unabashed delight when later I spied X desperately trying to pry bits o' rice out of his keyboard. Squee!!

Rice, Rice Baby
Speaking of throwing rice, when Arun is done with his little "experiments", his hair is chock FULL of rice. Which is quite disgusting because the grains look like LICE, not rice. Specifically, obese lice that could use a good stint in Fat Camp. Bleh.

Shuffle Kerfluffle
Apparently, you can wash an iPod Shuffle in the WASHER, then run it through a hot cycle in the DRYER and it will be fine, just fine. Not that my husband left a Shuffle in his running shorts this weekend. He would never do something like THAT.

Blue, Get a Clue!
Quite frankly, Joe is just too hot for the job to even be believable. TOO HOT. When Steve furrows his eyebrows at the camera, you believe him. Joe? Too hot. I can see Joe totally getting snockered at the hottest clubs in LA, trying to play up his "gig on TV" as an actual "paid actor" while trying to score himself a nice piece of tail. Frankly, when Steve does the cabbage patch dance move in the closing song it's sweet. When Joe does the cabbage patch , it's just wrong.

If He Screams, I WILL Scream.
I despise our ice cream truck dude with his stupid clanging bell as he slowly snakes through our neighborhood during nap time. I want to grab the little fucker by his mullet, yank him through the window of his Creepy Paneled Van and just pummel the shit out of him.

I May Just Be a SAHM, But My Husband is a WAHD.
And we're running both of our little empires from our living room couch. Awesome.

Cut me some slack, at least I bought the T-Shirt

Why do we sing 'Take me out to the ball game', when we are already there?

This has been a weird week. Not necessarily bad, just weird. Arun has really, really been out of sorts and his schedule this week is all over the map. Furthermore, he veers wildly between his dual roles of Goofball and Ragdoll. Poor kid. I had wondered if this would happen - meaning, since he was such a late teether, if perhaps a ton of choppers wouldn't come in all at once.

In other news, he has progressed to "counting" in the teens. Once we get past single digits, he starts to say "dah DEEN". Unfortunately, I can't apply for his Genius License yet because he has also progressed into what's termed "over-generalizing" with the word "Ball". I could understand why he would declare that apples, lemons, and even the moon are "balls", but in his little book last night, he was claiming various articles of clothing were also "balls" and well, that shit just ain't right. Silly rabbit.

A note about the Cerebral Venus Book Club. Someone commented last week that she was relieved the date had changed to May 1st, on Tuesday because she is off early from work that day. I'd like to clarify a few things. I will throw up the book club post that Tuesday, then take a posting vacation and just leave THAT post up for a few days so that we can focus on the book club conversation. That way, you folks don't have to weed through the outdated drivel regarding my meaningless life. In short, if you can't jump in on the action on Tuesday, the action will still be gong on Wednesday. One of the points of this book club is that it is convenient for folks so for me to leave it going for a few days will ensure that anyone who wants to participate is actually able to do so.

Another very, very important point - just because you haven't read the book does not, I repeat, DOES NOT mean you can't join in the conversation! Quite the opposite. In my other 2 book clubs, frequently someone will not have read the book, yet they still want to come and see everyone. And they certainly don't sit there mutely without offering opinions on topics that aren't necessarily plot specific. The way I see it, the book itself is just a starting point for conversation. If you have a comment, but haven't read the book, feel free to just jump in and start off by clarifying "Hey, I couldn't read the book but.........

Shamefully promoting in a Shameful manner my Shameful new site:
Today, over at the BoobLog, I am discussing Isolation. Breastfeeding - it's not the big group hug you think it is.

Why isn't the word 'gullible' in the dictionary?

I think this is my favorite post title yet*

Today, I am very appreciative of my SAHM status. Arun woke up with a low-grade fever and was a ragdoll. He just needed some Motrin and lots of snuggling so I held him for about 3 hours this morning. And I was extremely grateful that I have the luxury and flexibility of being able to clear my schedule just for him. He's doing okay now, but I think we have some serious teething going on. I was wrestling with him yesterday and swinging him backwards at Deanna Rose. I got a good gander at his wide open mouth and was SHOCKED to find that he has already cut a molar even though he only has 4 front top teeth (although 2 others are being worked on). The accountant in me had thought they would just come in perfect order. Guess not. I am assuming now that all the craziness with him a few weeks back was probably due to teething. I think that is the #1 thing that just SUCKS about teething - it's always, always hindsight. Rarely, at the time of his being fussy or having sleep issues do I attribute it to teething - not until awhile later. Usually, I just chalk up his fussiness to my Bad Parenting. Bah.

I am feeling so much better, Health Wise, but DAMMIT, Pregnancy Wise I am neck deep in the throes of a 3rd Trimester Pregnancy with all of its aches, pains, breathlessness and nausea (all normal, at least). I am trying to not be too resentful that I wasted the precious 2nd Trimester with the various colds, bacterial infections, headaches and such, but it's hard. Anyway, all the things I had wanted to get done will still be there waiting even after NewKid is born. It's hard to believe I am nearly 30 weeks along - just 10 weeks or so to go. While this pregnancy has not been nearly as enjoyable as with Arun, I am just trying to focus on my immense excitement of having a new baby. I can't wait to meet her! I will say this, her movements now are SO much fun - I can discern her head now and do think it's really cool at this point when you can tell that you have a little human inside. The earlier movements are always more like little thumps and taps - these movements are pretty cool. And as with Arun, I always try to stop whatever I am doing at the moment and just enjoy them. So, yeah - it's not all bad.

Shameless Promotion
Today at my BoobLog I am discussing nursing in public - the post is titled Public Enemy #1. I am still not clear where society at large thinks nursing mothers are supposed to feed their children.

*Admit it - how many of you looked??

Do cows have calf muscles?

This week is cuh-razy, but it's good. All good.

Last week, the antibiotics kicked in and I started to feel better from the cold, but I was hesitant to post about my good fortune for fear I would jinx myself. It didn't matter anyway because on Wednesday I ate at the stupid Yardhouse at the Legends. I was sick for the next two days (thankfully, Arun had only a few bites, so he was only mildly under the weather). Honestly, it ruined my birthday. It's a damned shame when you are eating tapas for your special birthday meal and you think you are going to hurl the whole time. Anyway, the Yardhouse is OUT. Two strikes and you are OUT, baby. I had a bad experience the first time I ate there, but was willing to give it another go for the sake of a group meal. Never again.

Fortunately, by Saturday I was fairly recovered. On Sunday, we went to the zoo. It was SO much fun to take Arun. He is quite taken with animals right now - his stuffed animals, his animal toys, his animal books, animals on TV - it's all about animals right now. Oh sure, he still loves his cars - he loads his animals up into them and gives them rides around the house. To take him to the zoo was awesome - we had gone to Deanna Rose last week, but the zoo? Blew.His.Mind. He tried to scramble into the area where the kangaroos were because it's not fenced off- fortunately, he isn't that fast and we were able to get him in time. The cutest part was when he saw the zebras and proceeded to "count" them (dah...dee....dee....dah...) Counting is another big thing with him right now - nah, he can't actually count, but he likes to imitate what he has heard us doing since we've been working on his numbers.

Last week, we did have a development with Arun. He's had words for awhile now, but they were random and he wasn't necessarily repeating what WE said. Last week, it's as if he had a V8 and realized "Hey, wait a second. I don't have to come with this crap on my own and can just repeat what YOU say? Brilliant!". He hasn't morphed into a little Pete Repeat quite yet, but for sure, my Swearing Days are coming to an end. Sniff. I'll miss my little pot mouth. Fuck yeah, I will miss it. Sniff.

Anyway - like I said - this week is CRAZY. First, I started the new site or as I call it "the one with 2 breasts" - I got the offer last last week and totally wasn't planning on it for this week. We also have our neighborhood garage sale this weekend. Most of our crap has been languishing in a designated "garage sale room" in our basement. Believe me - that's the height of luxury - having so much empty space in your finished basement that your junk gets its own place of honor. So, the stuff is ready to go, but I do need to price it. Bookwise - I did finish Atonement by Ian McEwan and my review can be found at my GoodReads account. I am now working on Tripping the Prom Queen and the Thirteenth Tale, both of which are due at the end of this week. Yikes. I've been knitting a storm, but am behind on TV. Hmmm... what else? Oh, I guess I am in charge of a human being and gestating yet another one as well. That keeps me busy, I suppose.

I am trying out a new babysitter today. My neighbor is a teacher and basketball coach for one of our high schools here - this babysitter is a student of his and has babysat for them as well over the years. I am going to say it straight - having a babysitter is absolutely the KEY to keeping your sanity - particularly if you stay home full-time. It blows my mind when gals stay home full-time and don't do babysitters. I wonder if the fact that I've had a fairly consistent babysitter since Arun was 5 weeks old is why I have kept my sanity this past 18 months? Just 4 hours a week is enough to let me run out and do quick errands or even get a haircut - if I have nothing to do, I will go read or knit at a coffee shop nearby. Anyway - I am going to have to let Cousin J go. I was going to go ahead and keep her, but she flaked AGAIN last week. It really breaks my heart to let her go because 1) she is family and 2) Arun ADORES her. The last time she came, Arun and I were upstairs. I heard J come in and I told Arun to go on down and greet her. By the time I got downstairs, he was in her arms hugging her with his head on his shoulder - he hadn't seen her for awhile and it was apparent he had a missed her. I am a sucker for my kid, so I was going to relent and keep her on. Then, she proceed to flake out the very next week which is allowing me to stiffen my resolve Sorry, Arun - your first heartbreak is the worst. Suck it up, big boy.

Anyway - I have SO much more empathy for working moms who have issues with their daycare. Back in my days of Armchair Parenting, I would get all up in arms over Daycare Issues and declare that parents should say something! It's their child! They are the customer! Yeah - color me in lovely shades of Hypocrite because now I realize how hard it is to say something to the person TAKING CARE OF YOUR CHILD. You don't exactly want to piss them off, eh? Now, I can see that. Bah.

Shameless Promotion. Because I am Shamelessly Shameless.
I will probably continue to promote my new site this week. If you aren't interested in my breasts, then just ignore the shameless plugs. Although, I would have to seriously wonder why you aren't interested in my breasts. What's wrong with you? Anyway, today I am talking about how Breast IS Best but formula ain't half bad, either. It's my version of "Dude, give peace a chance".

You've always been curious about my breasts, haven't you?

Admit it. You have, haven't you??

I've been vocal in the past about being anti-ads around here. Meaning, my goal is to never do ads on Rancid Raves. It's one of the reasons why I keep the design simple, why I stay with Blogger and why I have no special URL. I don't really care if others do ads, quite frankly. For me, it just works better if I am free of advertisements. I don't want my voice diluted and I never want to feel pressure for hits. If I decide to do a book club, for example, I don't want to hear a cynic declare I am doing it for traffic. Um, no - I would be doing that because it is FUN. This blog is a hobby and it's primarily for me. I'd like to keep it that way.

However, I am not opposed to being paid for blogging - I like the sound of coins rattling in my pencil cup as much as the next guy. Therefore, when I saw that 451Press was looking for a writer on the subject of breastfeeding, I jumped on it like a duck on a June bug. Okay, actually, I applied for the position, then waited anxiously to see if I got it. Whatever. So, with much excitement and anticipation, I am proud to announce that I will be writing about my breasts and their many accomplishments over at Nursing Your Kids.

I am hoping to get a variety of readers on this new site - it seems that all too often, if a person isn't actually breastfeeding, he/she is hesitant to share an opinion. I am hoping this site will allow for a space where an open dialogue is encouraged. Perhaps, we can all learn a little bit from each other.