Always, Alli

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.)

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.

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.

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.

Damon took this picture of me yesterday and it is the first picture of me where I feel like I look like myself again. As a result, I feel like things are normalizing and evening out in a good way. Sure, I still feel sleep deprived (falling asleep in the church nursery after nursing Tebow is a pretty good indication), but there are small things I’m acknowledging and adjustments I’m making in order to pave the way to my “new normal.”

For one thing while I have been missing my solid 8 hours of sleep each night, I must also acknowledge I have adjusted my caffeine intake to way less than before Tebow. So, less sleep plus less daily caffeine may have a bit more of a negative effect than I realized.

Another thing I’m acknowledging is how I’m allowing myself to be paralyzed by the variable named Tebow. Once he’s fed, I’ve kind of just been sitting there not know what he’s going to do next. So my adjustment is to feed him and then get moving to the next thing. I can put him down or wear him while I attempt chores or focus on Fuller.

It feels good to feel a little bit like I’m more in control and moving forward in our new normal.

Last June I was celebrating my brand new appendage- the Nikon D40. It was something I had been coveting for quite some time. And since it was a gift, it was even more special. I remember sitting around, thumbing through the manual and just wishing I could have a magic digital photography Genie pop up every time I wanted to ask a question about how to get the outcome I wanted. I think I would call her Pixie. Yes, a Genie named Pixie. It works, right?

I digress.

I remember sitting in my kitchen and taking these pictures:

It was press the button, turn a dial, press another button, look at the LCD screen, press the button, look again, turn the page… over and over again. And it was fun!

While having an artistic eye for lining up a shot is important, understanding your artist’s tool is important too. Taking pictures over and over, being ok with having lots of crappy shots, and even just going back to shooting in Auto for a while is part of the learning process. And it isn’t always an instant process. I just figured out white balance a few days ago! And there is still so much more to learn.

The point of all of this is while I am still wishing for my Genie named Pixie, there are opportunities out there for people to learn from experts and maybe learn a bit more quickly. One of those opportunities comes from the folks at Digital Days, a traveling photo workshop. The prices are totally reasonable and they cover the country, so you might find one near you.

I found out about Digital Days through my friend Drew because he is hosting a photo contest where the winners get passes to attend one of the Digital Days two-day workshops. And while you would think I would be entering, I’m not. (Nursing a baby is more my priority these days.) Instead, I’m one of the judges!

So, if you think you would like to wow me with your best shot, head over to Drew’s blog and get the details. (You have to join the Ben Spark’s Digital Days Photo Contest group on Flickr to upload your best picture.)

The contest ends on March 31st. When posting your picture, make sure you include the city where you would like to attend the workshop. One entry per person.

I’m so looking forward to this!

Technorati Tags: digital days, digital photography, BenSpark, photography contest