Posted by Alli on April 29, 2009
Easing into a vacation is always a good idea. Get to your destination, rest up a little, glance around, take a nap… then get into the nitty gritty of seeing the sights and making sure you “be there, do that.” And, I’m happy to report, thanks to yucky weather, we are definitely easing into this vacation.
I even got a nap today. Sure, naps can be had at home, but here, at my parent’s apartment, I can sleep and not feel guilty for the full dishwasher and laundry that needs folding.
Tomorrow, while my mom is at work, we might leave the apartment for a walk and some picture taking. But for now, I’m resting and easing in. This is going to be a good vacation.
Posted by Alli on April 28, 2009
Before I write this review, I have to say I think I was a little off my rocker to sign up for this. Finding time to read was difficult, but I soon figured out how to nurse and hold a book in one hand.
When I was asked to review The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club
, I read the description and thought, “Is this the British version of The Friday Night Knitting Club
?” The basic plot seemed the same- single mom, issues with men, running a yarn store, finding her path in life via the people who also knit and come through her store. And since I enjoyed the The Friday Night Knitting Club, I thought, why not? I was curious to see how different they could be.
And different they were.
The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club is way more focused on the main character and how she grows while learning to run her grandmother’s yarn store. The The Friday Night Knitting Club sends you on a journey to discover many more characters than you can probably handle.
In The Beach Street book, main character, Jo, adjusts to the life as a widow/ single mom and endears the reader to her by pulling herself up by her bootstraps. Her children, while trying to her, are adorable to me (maybe because I’m the mom of two boys now?) and I was cheering her on from the moment she drove from London to Broadgate Bay. The community she surrounds herself in is interesting and those characters keep Jo moving along in her story, which is very even tempered and never lags.
Adventures abound, from her friendship/mentor role with a movie star, her Christmas trip to Italy, and dealing with the controlling PTA president.
I really enjoyed the book, probably more than The Friday Night Knitting Club. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a good read.
[tags]book review, Gil McNeil, The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club[/tags]
Posted by Alli on April 27, 2009
Today I didn’t expect to:
1) burn my thumb
2) slice my pinky
3) ruin a shirt with food coloring
Today I wanted to:
1) put things away in the attic
2) get out the suitcases
3) start packing
Today I actually accomplished:
1) making and decorating cupcakes for the school our Moms Group supports
2) four loads of laundry
3) finished weeding out my clothes
4) cleared off the dining room table
Before I go to bed tonight I have to:
1) fold and put away laundry (2 loads)
2) empty the dishwasher
Tomorrow is the day Fuller, Tebow, and I fly to Texas to visit my folks. My mind is trying to wrap around everything I have to do. I’m making lists and trying to sort it out. I’ll be happy to rest once I get to Texas. I just hope I don’t forget to pack my underwear.
Posted by Alli on April 26, 2009
I have been exhausted all day, and Tebow is definitely not to blame!
When I was up at 2:30 last night/ early this morning, I felt this painful lump in my neck. I’ve been having problems with allergies (who hasn’t?)- mainly itchy throat and stuffy nose- so I figured it was related. Since I was having problems breathing anyway, I took some generic allergy medicine. When I woke up this morning I was running on some sort of “Mommy must do everything” kind of adrenaline. I didn’t even have time to make coffee, so when we got to church and I was fighting to keep my eyelids open, I figured it was lack of java.
I downed a cup an a half of coffee between church and Sunday School but I still couldn’t shake the desperate need to sleep. I tried to sleep when Tebow slept, but he didn’t nap well today.
I finally realized the culprit wasn’t lack of coffee or sleep but probably the medicine at 2:30 in the morning. Non-drowsy my foot!
There is an allergist who attends our church and he said the lump was probably allergy related, especially since it got smaller after taking the medicine. Now if I could just wake up enough enjoy the day… oh, I guess it’s time to go to bed now. I’m actually looking forward to the coffee tomorrow morning.
Oh, and the local paper ran a blogger profile article today. And I mention this because I’m one of the bloggers!
Posted by Alli on April 25, 2009
I’ve been getting more sleep lately, thanks to Tebow’s new found respect for the concepts of night and day. Last night I only had to get up once, which made me fine with starting the day at 6:30, the next time he woke up.
But since I’m better rested, I have been trying to use the time between nursing sessions to actually accomplish tasks like laundry, clothes weeding, and making dinner before 7 p.m. It seems to be working for me, since I took four garbage bags of clothes to the thrift store drop off yesterday.
At some point today, after a nursing session with Tebow, I was cuddling with him and thinking how awesome he was. We have moved to a better place where I feel like I know what he needs and how to fulfill that need. Of course he still screamed for a few hours tonight, but I feel a little serene when this happens because the one thing I’m sure about is he will finish around 11 or 12. Tonight it was a bit earlier.
I’m not claiming to have discovered our “new normal” yet, but I think the path to getting there is smoothing out a bit.
Posted by Alli on April 22, 2009
Yesterday was Free Cone Day at Ben and Jerry’s. Our family made sure to be there for our free ice cream. We went last year and it will probably become a family tradition.
When I was taking the kids downtown (with visions of ice cream in my head), Damon called to let me know the deli across the street from his office would be opening today. And because of this, they were having their rehearsal and all the food was free. Everything from bottled water to the desserts and all the sandwiches in between were free. So, before we were enjoying free ice cream, we were enjoying a family meal at Chattanooga’s new Sweet Peppers Deli.
We didn’t go overboard and order one of everything (though based on how nice the staff was, I think we could have), but ordered as if we were paying and ended up with about $25 worth of lunch all for free. The food was good, the service was attentive, and the deli itself was very nice. I have a feeling we will be paying for lunch there some time in the future.
Posted by Alli on April 20, 2009
As I’ve been trying to find my footing in the path to our “new normal” I have been thinking a lot about priorities. I think the idea was planted in my mind by Besty and her kind suggestion of putting only three items on the to-do list.
I have tried, really, to figure out how to get to the point where three is attainable. So far I have tried to focus on one non-kid related thing and I keep failing. I get distracted by all the other things that I need to do and I end up working on a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I have unfolded laundry in the living room, I have dirty dishes in the sink, paper clutter on the tables… and even though I tell myself “don’t mess with the paper today” I somehow get my hands on it. Interruptions from the kids derail me and when I can go back to non-kid things, I forget what I was doing.
I’m still thinking about what priorities are realistic and what goals I can accomplish each day. We are getting ready to do a drywall project which means Moving Big Things, so I have to buckle down and focus on prepping for all the fun this project will bring. And if that means letting the dishes sit another day, then I guess we will work on that when we run out of silverware. (It also means daily blogging is still on the back burner for a while.)
Posted by Alli on April 10, 2009
No matter how you say it, ten is the number of years Damon and I have been married. April 10, 1999 was a beautiful day, full of joy and happiness for us both. The last ten years have been a roller coaster of events, emotions, and dreams. And I know there are many more years to come for us to experience more of the same.
I’m happy to say “Happy Anniversary” to Damon and thanks for sitting by my side during this roller coaster called marriage.
Posted by Alli on April 9, 2009
A few weeks ago I took a trip to visit my sister, Austina. She is getting married this weekend and I was present at one of her showers. It was a treat to hang out with her for a while and have a small break away from the mom with two kids lifestyle. I only had to focus on Tebow and I was actually refreshed when I got back home.
One of the fun things I got to do when I was visiting my sister was take pictures of her “test run” hair appointment.
I’m not the official photographer of this weekend, but I’m looking forward to taking pictures of my sister’s special day.
Internet access will be almost nil (if we get desperate, I think we can hang out at the Huddle House), so posting will resume after the weekend.
Posted by Alli on
If you recall, my cell phone was water damaged in January. (Thank goodness for blog archives!) The good news was the cell dried out and started working again, with the exception of the outer display.
Well, apparently the story wasn’t complete. I accidentally let the battery totally die on Tuesday. When I went home and plugged it into the charger something happened and killed the inside display. A full charge later, battery out and in, and still no interior display.
The phone still works, but I can’t tell who is calling me. And even though I know there are actual numbers I can punch to take me to my voicemail, I have no idea what they are since I usually depend on the display to guide me there.
So, if you know me and my cell phone number, feel free to call it. But if I don’t get to it in time, please don’t bother leaving me a message. Just try me again, either right away or sometime later at your convenience. When I get back from this weekend away, I will be trying to transfer the phone number to my old cell phone. Sigh. Not what I want to do.
Easing in
