Snow-pocalypse

In case you haven't seen a news report in the last week, the Baltimore-Washington area got ROCKED by a blizzard to end all blizzards this weekend. It's being lovingly refered to as snow-pocalypse and snow-maggeden around these parts.

Since the hype surrounding this storm started super early, we had time to prepare. Well, by prepare I mean we had time to cram into the grocery store with every other fool in the state and stock up on essentials...bread, milk (well Soy Silk Almond Milk in my case), toilet paper...and junk food.

Yes, you read that right.  That says 31.5 inches of snow on our deck.

The problem with being snowed in is not the initial snowing-in part. I love a day that we CAN'T leave the house. We stayed in our PJ's. We watched bad tv. We snuggled on the couch.  

 We were even kind of productive and did massive loads of laundry, changed sheets, moved some furniture around to add a rug to the dining room. 

We bundled up the baby and took him outside to see the SECOND major snow storm of his young life. 

 He looks pleased about it, doesn't he?

 It made a little nostalgic to think that the last time we got this much snow (in December, mind you), Emerson couldn't crawl yet.  Now...now there is no stopping him.

 

  

I made black bean soup in the crock pot and baked chocolate chip cookies.  I stayed up late to finish a smutty book I started the day before.

The problem with being snowed in starts on the second day. The day when your husband and children look at you like, well, now what? The day when you wake up with a little cabin fever already, want to go out and do something, anything, out of the house. And then you remember that is still looks like THIS outside...

Instead

"Hubby, could you watch Emerson for a few minutes?  I want to write a post real quick."

"Sure, Sweetie.  No problem.

"Ok, Mommy's busy.  Dad?  Dad?"

"Dad, what's that over there?"

"Dad?  Dad?  Hmm, ESPN is on.  If I'm very sneaky, no one will notice I'm missing."

"I'm almost there, so close.  I can't believe he hasn't noticed I'm gone yet!"

"Just a few more seconds and I can get my hands on Winnie...or the extra wipes...or the Diaper Genie.  So many choices!" 

"Oh no!  Daddy caught me."

"Daddy!  Don't tickle me!  We're supposed to be quiet.  Mommy is busy."

"Hehehe.  Ok, tickle me some more. Hehehe."

"Mommy!  Mommy!  Are you busy?  What's with all that typing? Can I slobber kiss your leg?" 

"Mom! Mom!  I have this cool green ball!"

"Don't you want to play with us?"

"Look how cute I am!  How can you resist me?"

"And look at Daddy.  He's pretty cute too!  Stop that and play with us!"

"MOOOOOOOOOMMY!"

"Ok, Binky.  You win.  Mommy will come play."

"Did you hear that, Dad?  We won!  She didn't stand a chance!"

Keeping Up With The New Age

How old do you have to be before you are officially old?  I'm less than 20 days away from turning 29 and most of the time I don't give much thought to my age.  My perception of what that word means has changed so much over the years...becoming progressively older the older I became (haha).  The problem is that I work with college students and they never get any older!

It's kind of like that gross Matthew McConaughey comment about high school girls from Dazed and Confused..."I get older, they stay the same age"

Most of the time it's fine.  Most of the time I can ignore the fact that they are closer in age to my 10 year old daughter.

10 going on 18

Most of the time I can get over the fact that they were almost all born in the 1990's.

And that even though they are only two years or so older they complain about how the incoming class of freshmen is so young that they will hardly remember how cool the 90's were...I was there, I don't remember the 90's being all that damn cool...maybe its because I was a geeky high school student eating her lunch in the Chemistry lab at the time.  Oh yeah, that.

My point being that most of the time, I'm ok with them looking at me like the 10 years that divide is really about 100 years.  Most of the time I actually prefer it, it can make my life a lot easier.

This morning, however, was a different story.  I'd been in my office for maybe 10 minutes.  I was still settling in, checking email, preparing for my day.  A student walked in, took one look at my computer which was on my Pandora* radio station page, and said "Oh, Pandora.  Keeping up with the new age.  Good for you."

Um, exactly how old does she think I am?  Am I too old to be listening to the RADIO?  I know it's a fancy version, but still.  There are PLENTY of things that I'm too old for, I'm aware of that.

Those teeny curtain looking things that college girls seem to call skirts these days.  Worn bare legged.  In February.  With SNOW on the ground.  And put a damn coat on while you're at it! 

But I can't be too old for the radio.  Good thing I'd taken off my fake Ugg boots and changed into my work shoes before she'd arrived or her head might have exploded.

Uh oh, am I too old for knock-off Uggs?

Oh well, I can't start worrying about that on top of this radio debacle this morning or my head might explode

I will console myself in the fact that my 8 month old (Blargh!  How did that happen?!) doesn't seem to know his mommy isn't cool yet.

 At least this guy thinks I'm the bees knees.

Er, better quit while I'm ahead.

What about you? Ever had one of those moments?  Ever done something even if you were too "old" for it?

*Sidenote:  Pandora is awesome and amazing and wonderful and glorious.  I was skeptical when these crazy college kids were talking about it and sure that I didn't need it.  I mean, I was already so hip, I had an iPod, I listened to regular radio stations on my computer, I was light years away from girl I was in my first job out of college when I listed to a CD Player for Pete's sake!  I decided to give it a try one day and I haven't looked back.  I leave it on ALL day in my office, I listen to it at home, I listen to it on my iPod.  Go there right now, enter some artists or songs you like, and enjoy the personalized radio station of goodness you get. 

Why I'm Here

I went back to work in August when Emerson was 10 weeks old.  One of the hardest parts about this transition (besides, obviously, leaving him with someone else all day), was getting used to all the pumping.   

 THE HOURS AND HOURS OF PUMPING, OH MY GOD.

I promised myself before Emerson was born that I would try to breastfeed for a year.  It's been a long, bumpy road over the past eight months, but that's a discussion for another post.  The point is, if you are breastfeeding and working, you quickly realize how much time in your day goes into pumping (for me, it's at least an hour, sometimes an hour and a half).

The other maddeningly frustrating part of pumping that is that, at best, you have one hand free. Unless you have one of these amazing devices, but since I don't, I'm stuck balancing one side of the pumping stuff on my desk and the other in my hand.

 
Sometimes, if work is really busy, I use that one hand to clumsily type emails or do whatever work I can without full use of my hands.  It's annoying...and slow...and did I mention annoying?

Right around the time I went back to work, a friend turned me onto Google Reader.  I was skeptical, figuring that I didn't really read enough blogs to need something like this.  Let's face it, I only read Perez Hilton and a few random personal blogs written by my girlfriends.  Luckily, a few days later I got an email from The Bump with their Mommy Blog Awards.

I always love something new to read, so tried out EVERY SINGLE ONE that was nominated.  I read a post or two on every site and added the ones I liked to my new friend, Google Reader.  I figured I needed something to read while I pumped away at work every day.

Then, as someone mentioned a blog they loved, like The Pioneer Woman that everyone is so obsessed with (with good reason!), or someone linked to a blog post that looked interesting on Facebook (how I first came to love Smitten Kitchen), I added them too.  I kept perfecting my reading lists, testing out new blogs, keeping the ones that really spoke to me and unsubscribing from the rest (even Perez eventually got the boot).

Eventually, I started really looking forward to my Google Reader time.  It was like opening a little present in the morning and it made the pumping time a little less frustrating.  At least I was entertained while I was held captive at my desk feeling like an overloaded milk cow.

Quite the visual, huh?

There were a few sites that really captivated me.  I think some of it has to do with the fact that they are all moms, but more of it has to do with the fact that they seem like genuine, funny, beautiful, honest, inspiring people. The kind of women that I'd like to be friends with.  The kind of mommy friends that are hard to find in real life.

That's not to say that I don't have great mommy friends outside my computer, I do.  But being a few months apart in baby time means going through really different things.  It's nice to go through the same "stages" with people, knowing that others are dealing with the same baby gems like teething, colds, sitting up...it can do a lot for morale.

It's because of these women and their blogs that I started this little corner of the internet for myself.  I'm not the kind of person who chimes in often on blogs, usually I just read posts, smile to myself, maybe star something to enjoy again later, and move on with my day...and my hours and hours of pumping.  I don't often comment or take part in the "community" and I wanted to change that.

I wanted to say thank you to those people who brighten up my morning by sharing their lives, their marriages, their beautiful babies.  But also for sharing their mistakes, embarrassing stories, and rough patches.

I'd like to share with you my two very favorite blogs so that you can enjoy their blog-y goodness too.  And if either of them ever stumble onto this site, THANK YOU!

Confessions of a Young Married Couple
Katie's posts are always funny, honest, and poignant.  Plus her little Bean is adorable and her pictures are gorgeous!  I'm saving up to buy the camera she uses.  

The Glamorous Life of a Housewife
Whitney's site is great.  I love watching her little Weebie in all his stylish duds.  I wish I had her homemaking skills.

There are other great sites that I love.  If you need something new to read, check out the recommendations on my sidebar.  Or if you know of something great, leave it in the comments.

Also, in case you were wondering, these pictures have nothing to do with this post really.  I just happen to love these shots of my little Bink when he was only three weeks old.  The fact that he's eight months old, never sits still anymore, and just pulled up to standing while I was typing this has made me a little nostalgic.