holiday bliss

Once again, we had a quiet little Christmas. We look forward to future holidays filled with grandparents, cousins and friends, but for now we appreciate our simple routines and moving at our own pace. Happy holidays to each of you. And may you find peace and joy in the new year.

santa has arrived

 streaming yule log

for my paper-free kitchen

post-presents

sacred saturdays

Photo by the turtle

sacred: regarded with reverence

Last Saturday, the turtle's swim teacher was filling the three families in her class on options for the next term. My turtle, the youngest of the group, will stay in Mommy and Me 2 for at least another 18 months. Parents of PeeWee swimmers (the next level) aren't allowed in the pool, which is why most of the little ones in that class are three if not closer to four years old.

The two other boys in Mommy and Me 2 are approaching that four mark and should in fact move up a level. But one of the boy's daddy's (a bear of a man with the sweetest disposition) was hesitant. "I don't know how R will like not having me with him." He said, with the slightest crack in his baritone throat.

I was telling Chris about this, saying something along the lines of. "God these parents. How are their kids every going to gain any independence if everyone constantly hovers?" I was feeling pretty cool as I made my free-ranging declaration with confidence.

"You know, " Chris answered, "They're like you. Swim class is probably their special time together. R's dad might not be ready to give that up."

I felt horrible. Of course swim class is their special time. Like me, R's daddy works all week. He sees his children for a few hours before bed-time, but misses out on music lessons, playdates, trips to the museum, and story-time at the library.

I forget that I'm not the only one for whom Saturdays are sacred.

sweet turtle loves

So anyone who knows and/or reads The Actors Wife, understands how much I love my free-write lists; one worded answers to a simple or complex question. My favorite question being: "what do you love?" And, since I've already done such a free-write for myself, I thought you might like to see my sweet turtle loves list. So these are the things my sweet turtle loves (in no particular order):

milk
books

me and the turtle at our favorite playground

dancing
dinosaurs
cookie monster
crayons
hugs
brushing his teeth
"helping" with the laundry
chinese take-out (specifically chicken and broccoli)
apples
prunes
carrot juice
word games
playgrounds
kung fu panda
winnie the pooh (in french)
coloring
going for walks and
his daddy's brown winter hat

the big compromise

I think I made the first "big compromise" as a working mom. You know that big mom vs. career decision? Yup I made it. Without going into the nitty gritty details, there was a to-die-for opportunity on the table. My dream job, working for my dream boss, doing something I truly believe in. But alas it wasn't the right thing at the right time. And in true corporate terms the ROI just wasn't going to cut it.

I've got a good thing going right now. I like my job. I work with an amazing team. I'm given a great deal of flexibility and autonomy. It's a known entity. I've also arranged a killer 8:00 to 4:00 schedule which has been down-right heavenly. And though I do a lot of work from home, my stress level is pretty low.
All that said, I'm a mom first. It's obvious. I'm a mom first.

christmas came early

Sorry I've been a bit remiss, but the turtle, Chris and I have been busy hosting Rocky Mountain visitors. My folks spent the last leg of a 2 week vacation in New York City. To be fair, the five day visit was a little different than we had planned. On the original agenda was a trip to see the lights at the Central Park Zoo and the Dinosaur exhibit at the Museum of Natural History, but I'm afraid my dad (aka Pops) had a run in with some "natural history" while aboard a cruise liner the week before, when he was bit by what we're quite certain was a brown recluse spider. Most of his and my mum's cruise was unfortunately spent in the ship's medical unit where pops was undergoing hand surgeries and intravenous treatments of antibiotics and the like. The good news is he was well enough by the end of the trip to still spend time with us in the city, but long from fully recovered. So, we changed our itinerary to include a a trip to visit Santa and a drive to the West Point Academy, but other than that we stayed pretty close to home.

No problem. Every once in a while life gets in the way and when it does you have two choices either a) be angry or b) roll with the punches and we opted for choice "b." Besides, when it came right down to it I'm pretty sure pops and grandmum really just needed some good ol' fashioned turtle time. Of which they received plenty.

christmas cookies

sneaky turtle

grandmum and the turtle coloring.