New Years Eve 1994

Originally uploaded by blondemom.

It looks like we’ll be ringing in the new year tonight in the same hedonistic fashion as last year, only this time Amelia is mobile and not just available for lap dances and the girls have a plastic echo microphone from the dollar store that will provide some fantabulous impromptu karaoke moments. I’m certain our revelry will rival the throwdown Britney Spears is hosting in Las Vegas. If we get really crazy we might play a round of Candyland and break out the microwave popcorn with extra butter. We know how to party.

Ten years ago we would be contemplating what champagne and beer to buy, what party to attend, and setting out the jumbo bottle of Ibuprofen for the day after. Tomorrow morning I’ll be doling out chewable zoo animal vitamins instead of hangover relievers and yet again procrastinating on the official tear down of operation Christmas. I mean will it really hurt anything, except my OCD pride, if our tree stays up another week?

One of my favorite New Year’s Eve celebrations was twelve years ago. I boarded a ValuJet plane from Nashville to visit a cute boy (aka now the hubby) in Jacksonville, Florida. After breaking up and getting back together more times than I can count in melodramatic angst ridden episodes that would make a great movie on the Lifetime channel, he moved to Jacksonville in 1993 in a quest of self discovery, leaving small Southern town America with nothing but his truck, a guitar, and a few clothes. (OK, OK, he had a little bit of money in his wallet, but not much.) I went to visit him in the spring of 1994 with my roommate and the rest, as they say, is history. The hubby had made wonderful plans for us to attend a New Year’s Eve party at the Marriott at Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach that night in 1994. I wore a little black dress and he wore a suit. He had to work late that night so while I waited for him to get home I got ready, listened to music, danced around his apartment, and drank. And I danced some more and I drank. And then I drank some more. By the time our wonderful dinner was served at the hotel party late that night I was practically crying drunk and almost did a face plant in my meal. But somehow I pulled myself together and I never got sick (I think I just needed some actual food in my stomach to absorb the alcohol) and as we were leaving the party we had someone snap our picture.

That New Year’s Eve in 1994 we were on the cusp of our “oh my gosh we’re adults with a mortgage and homeowners’ insurance” phase. We would be engaged one year later. Tonight, twelve years later, we’ll be “partying” with a blonde and brunette who will be overindulging on juice and cookies.

Happy New Year!

I went to work today escaped from home for a few hours while my mother-in-law watched the girls. I needed to catch up on things since I missed last week due to Amelia’s pneumonia, which thankfully she has fully recovered from. I realized other than going to the pediatrician’s office, a trip to Walgreens, and visiting family on Christmas Eve, I haven’t left the house in about two weeks. It was kind of nice to eat my Chick-Fil-A sandwich in peace at my desk without small children tugging on me. This is the fuzzy kind of Hallmark moment when I realize I don’t think I could be a full time stay at home mom. I work four days a week and although I’d love to cut back to three days, most of the time I don’t mind working. But I’m always wondering how I could change my schedule to make the life/work balance, if there is such a thing, more attainable. When I worked from home last year after having Amelia it started getting more and more difficult to work during the day with an increasingly mobile baby and I started to get a little antsy to return to the office. Now on days when my workload is light I find myself wishing I still worked from home. I guess my “ideal” job would be part time, would allow me to come and go as I please, would offer full reimbursement for childcare (I will wholeheartedly admit I’m counting down the months until August when Caitlin starts kindergarten and we no longer have double daycare expenses), and would offer free Starbucks coffee in the break room. Surely that is not too much to ask?

So what about you? What is your “ideal” work scenario? Do you long to be a stay at home mom, work part time, or work a full 40-hour week? There are pros and cons to each and I’m trying to fully appreciate my current work scenario, as most of the time I can leave early or come in late as needed which is an absolute must with small children. Even though the other side of the fence might seem greener, at the end of the day there are still noses and bottoms to wipe, bedtime stories to tell, and kisses and hugs to administer. And that is the most important “work” of all.

Rasta Moses Doll!Originally uploaded by blondemom.

The girls got an assortment of new dolls and stuffed animal friends to add to their menagerie. From Dr. Seuss’s star-bellied Sneetch to a Dora Knows Your Name doll, our family of toys has grown and the girls have already cooked dinner for their friends with their new play kitchen left by Santa.

My stepmother bought the girls a trio of talking Biblical character dolls and my inner 13-year-old boy sense of humor took over yesterday when I squeezed Moses’s belly and the first thing he quipped was “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” All I could think was that he would be the ideal gift for an 18-year-old going off to college. Just stash the talking Moses under their dorm mattress while they aren’t looking and it would be quite the conversation starter. Or effective birth control.

Psssst: If you click on Moses, you can see a few of our pictures from Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

Santa and his elves are about to get busy, so I thought I’d share the Christmas card final candidate from the great photo shoot of 2006.

Presents are wrapped beautifully stuffed in gift bags recycled from years’ past and some are actually under the tree.

Christmas cookies are to be baked from scratch for Santa from pre-made dough.

I may or may not have already regifted an item.

Amelia has stopped yanking the hangers off the tops of our glass ball ornaments and sucking the tops like a crawfish head.

Caitlin is spending the night with my mom tonight and rumor has it that Santa is working on a play kitchen just for her. We’re headed up to visit with our parents tomorrow and we will be home all day Christmas. The Weather Channel is issuing a “warning” about possible snow in Middle Tennessee Christmas night. Stop teasin’ me like that Weather Channel!

I hope you and yours have a safe and very happy holiday. I’ll see you on the flip side of Christmas!

The Bratz have infiltrated our home, and quite stealthfully I might add. They’re sneaky bitches. Beware!

A very good friend of ours stayed with us early this week en route to visit his parents in Illinois. He always brings the girls presents and Caitlin wanted to open her present immediately. She ripped open the wrapping paper and was thrilled to find a bracelet kit…a Bratz bracelet kit. She sat at the kitchen table Monday afternoon and carefully made a beautiful beaded bracelet and although I helped her get started, she finished it with just a few bouts of “I CAN’T DO IT MOMMY!” and it is quite lovely. Thankfully the bracelet itself is Bratz bling free. I guess they could have included a mini Bratz doll charm, but I’m not crying over that omission. It’s funny because she immediately shouted “Bratz mommy!!” when she saw the box the bracelet kit came in. I was surprised because I have no idea where she’s seen the Bratz except for a few snippets of commercials on TV. (The Bratz marketing team just shouted a collective, “Woot!”)

I know many people frown down upon Barbie and her very marketable, but unrealistic portrayal of beauty, but we are talking about dolls, not real people. I will, however, take Barbie over the Bratz any day. At least Barbie looks like Miss America or maybe a Christie Brinkley double/California type beauty, not someone down on the corner waiting to turn a trick or a future porn star.

As a child of the 1970s and early 1980s, I can’t recall any dolls that compare to the Bratz sensation although eyebrows were raised over the whole gang of hippies riding around town in a psychadelic van craving Scooby snacks. What were they smoking in that van?

My retired dad, aka my own personal manny, has been in sunny Florida for over a week, but now he’s back and just in the nick of time. He’s entertaining Caitlin for the day and he’s already made a post office run for me. I believe lunch at O’Charleys and a matinee (maybe “Happy Feet?”) are on the agenda. Dude, I want to be four again!

Any way, here’s a little ditty, dedicated to my daddy. (Yes, in the south you can be 37 and still call your father “daddy.”)

My Manny’s Back (sung to “My Boyfriend’s Back”)

Papa went to the Redneck Riviera
And my baby girl got pneumonia
And, when I needed a Santa’s helper
He said he’d be right over

(Hit it…)

My manny’s back and he’s gonna run some errands
Hey la, hey la, my manny’s back

He goes by Papa and he’s tight with Santa
Hey la, hey la, my manny’s back

That’s all I can think of…this mama’s going to take a much needed nap while Amelia is asleep. Well, scratch the nap. She had a terrible coughing jag that woke her and now we are playing.

Tis the season to be stressed
Fa la la la la la la la la

I’m doing good to get showered and dressed
Fa la la la la la la la la

Gonna fix a glass of wine
Fa la la la la la la la la

Don we now our hand sanitizer
Fa la la la la la la la la

Nothing like chasing St. Nick down to the wire
Fa la la la la la la la la

Good news on Amelia’s pneumonia. I took her in for a recheck this morning and the doctor said she should continue to improve since I can tell a difference now that she’s started on an antibiotic. She doesn’t want her to take a cough suppressant, though, so tonight should be interesting hellish.

I have most of our photo cards addressed but so much for personal, witty notes lovingly hand written on each one. Wait a minute, I’ve never done that.

I haven’t mailed packages for out of town family.

I need to buy gifts for five, yes five, daycare teachers.

I’m missing most of this week at work but thankfully my workload is very light this time of year.

Amelia keeps pulling the most fragile ornaments off the tree.

I ran to the grocery today with her so we’d have something to eat besides potatoes, eggs, and Dora theme animal crackers. Hey, grocery shopping is critical to recovering from pneumonia. Besides, she seemed up for it and gnawed on some string cheese while we were there.

As Lucy says in the Charlie Brown Christmas special, “Deck them halls and all that stuff.”