NaBloPoMo

My bloggy friends might be amused that I'm trying this. For everyone else- NaBloPoMo (or something like that) is the National Blog Posting Month. The idea is to post something on your blog every day during the month of November. I've enjoyed it on my friend's spaces, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. And since we've got the desktop up and running again (woo-hoo), we have pictures too!

I'd like to try to do a "slice of life" thing- post about something in our daily lives each day. Since today is a Wednesday, I should be at work! But both K-boy and I are still a bit under the weather. And since today was an all-or-nothing day in terms of clocking in (conference day) I went with the stay-at-home route.

Runny noses and coughs did not stop us from waking up late... and eventually dragging our butts into the kitchen to make pumpkin pancakes. Kade loves the whole "cooking" thing, which is dumping pre-measured stuff in and mixing it up right now. Then I put his chair at the sink and let him "do the dishes" while I cooked 'em up. We added pumpkin, banana and spices--- yum.

We had a brief set as a mother-son band: Kaden plays drums while I play (pretend) guitar or piano. Coloring for a few cards and letters, and now I believe it is time for a snack and nap! Hope your day is going just as well!

PS- as I write this, they still haven't announced our state governor. The race is too close and not all the ballots have been counted the first time, plus it looks like a re-count will be in order anyway. Gotta love Florida elections!

Election Day Impressions

I VOTED. You know I did because I have the sticker that says I did. Er, wait, our 2 yr old has that. Sticker obsession and all.

It's now late enough that some of the races have been called, but I won't get into how many of my choices are losing. (That's standard, and an entirely other post!) I will say there was a small article about my husband and I in the Sunday paper. Apparently, as a Democrat and a Republican, our "divided" household mirrors the exact divide of our precinct. While neither of us ever votes straight ticket, and our conversations are (mostly) civil, the paper gives a slightly different impression of our (ahem) balanced approach.

Goats, donkeys, tomato, tomahto...

Our "divided" household has discussed candidates, articles, amendments and ads. We've hung up on political callers in equal amounts. We've debated attack ads and claims and now ignore them in equal amounts. We still have to stop and think when we read the TWO PAGE ballot. Even with sample ballots and local paper endorsements, there's always one or two items that skip by us. Why, honestly, are we voting for the Mosquito Control Board?

Don't be fooled. He's really an independent!

But my main impression for the actual voting process today was this: anxiety. Because we had paper ballots that had to have circles filled in completely in BLACK ink. They provided the ink. And the shaky "booths" that are made of light alumumnim and feel like they'll tip over and crash the whole row if you lean too hard. But here's the thing, folks. I was in sixth grade when the stupid scan trons made their appearance, and my math test doubled the grading time needed because the ovals weren't filled in right. I know, I know, right? I've taken a gazillion tests since then, and not ALL of them get returned, and the machine recorded and beeped my vote, and paper ballots are so much more preferable to hanging chads and touch screen voting with no paper record at all... but still. Scan-tron?

the Many Incarnations of Halloween

Whew! Unlike our northern friends, who have Halloween on whatever day their local authorities decide (wha?)... ours is always Oct. 31. That does not stop us from beginning the celebrations early. A full week ahead, we went to our first party: Kaden as Woody and us as, well, Mom and Dad (the fact that we went straight after a Saturday Mass contributed to our lack of parental costumes). There were, oh, maybe 30-40 kids in costume running around. They had pinatas, guessing games, tossing games, decorations ALL over, themed food, even bobbing for apples (extra funny with toddlers involved). It was THE kickoff of Halloween season!

Pirates dance around after looting, yes?

Then came Kaden's "school" parade- he went as Woody, escorting his friend Tinkerbell. She came instead of Cinderella due to a glitter explosion. They climbed in and out of police cars, walked around trick or treating, ended with a class party, and then came home with an ungodly amount of candy.

The boys went out by themselves, as Mrs Potato Head was feeling a bit green!

Later that night was the church's Halloween family potluck at the park. Jim and Kade went (see above) and had a great time running around, eating good stuff and taking a hay ride. Our boys came home before the train ride (shh) since it was getting a bit late, even by holiday standards.

So the next day, the 3 of us headed off to the town's Fall Festival. We ran into some friends, about 3 random single "Buzz Lightyear" kids (one of whom asked our Woody to pause for a photo) and climbed in and out of a fire truck. There was a lot more to do, but it was over 80 degrees and our kid was sweating up a storm in his PJs. I mean costume.

Lollipops cure anything, though. Just ask "Monkey George"

All this brought us to... October 31st! We dressed Kade in his pumpkin shirt and talked about Grandpa Carl, whose bday is on Halloween (and who would have been 74 - hard to imagine). After church, we headed to Toys R Us, to buy Kaden a present from Grandpa Carl in honor of his birthday. (Yes, we had a hard time explaining how a dead relative he's never met was giving him the DVD he saw us pick out!)

Some friends stopped by to Trick or Treat, and despite a bit of a cough and sniffles, Kaden was all excited to go out. We headed to a friend's house, except by the actual holiday he was refusing to wear the Woody PJ/costume, and just kept his pumpkin shirt on. They lended him a pirate hat, which made for some fun "arrrr" and goosestepping. Then, 2 hours later we came home with even MORE candy and a very tired boy.

Whaddya mean this isn't a real costume? They gave me candy and I hardly sweated!

You know what all this led to, right?? Yep, up all night together and then a sick day today. We need to get better by Thursday, though, because we have our very last (previously postponed) H'ween party. Yes Ma'am, the holidays have begun :)

Signs of a Good Day

For at least a few years, I've tried to scale back on my own bday celebration expectations. Birthdays were always a big deal in my family, and I've tried to pass that along and keep the tradition alive... but you know how sometime, when you're the one that usually does something, the favor is never quite returned the way you expect?

The key word in that is: expect. It's our expectations that set us up for so much disappointment. We think we should do this, or be that... or worse, we think THEY should... I've been disappointed with the random minuteness of my everyday life a bit too much. Maybe it's the vestiges of that fall funk. Whatever the case, my bday loomed on the horizon and I gave strong, ah, suggestions to my family: no big deals. No party, no candles, no whatever.

Lately, we've been doing a little "strength-finding" thing at work and it turns out that 3 of my top 5 talents deal with thinking or learning... both requiring time along and focus on something (as opposed to someONE). It was a great reminder of how I can often focus on the idea or goal and not even consider the person involved... or his/her feelings. Hence the bday expectation-disappointment cycle.

Now, I need to tell you that my family is pretty darn cool. Their love for me spills out in all sorts of ways, even after I sometimes take that for granted (so sorry 'bout that). They TRY to meet my expectations, even when they are unreasonable, unfair or full of perfectionism.

But this year, the reason behind the no-big-deal edict was so simple: I'm tired. My job requires a bit of friendliness and open-ness almost all the time, and I don't know if you've noticed, but we've a toddler in the house who has been going through an "all-mama-all-the-time" phase. I think those personality/strength/talent discussions helped me realize this before I got too cranky. So really, I just wanted a break from having to go places and do things and be hospitality and make the plans.

That was exactly what I got. And you know what? It was a pretty awesome day. Multiple phone calls from far-away friends AND family, good coffee, a decent book, thoughtful gifties, flowers, gift cards for later, a very nice homemade meal, some decorations, some time outside in gorgeous weather...

does it get any better than this?

So, for all of you who took time out to make this day awesome...

Thank you.