But it sounded whiney & frankly, that pissed me off because living apart 5 nights per week isn’t ideal, but it’s far from troublesome.  Military spouses do far worse.  & having a queen-sized bed to myself isn’t so bad.

Except when I roll over at 4am to find a two-year-old staring at me like the child of the corn & there’s nobody there to hold me while I scream.  Because that totally happened the other night.

I wrote a post on Babble about how I completely freaked when I thought Harrison’s class was having a “Mother’s Day Tea” that I would have to miss due to work, but there’s a tiny piece in that article that speaks huge volumes:

THIS is the work-life balance that I fought so hard to get as a working mom – the ability to do my office job well, but have time to be the wife and momma my family deserves. 

These days, we wake up at 7am & have breakfast together.  I get Harrison dressed & out the door & I’m in my office at 9am.  I’m not frantic or exhausted or stressed because I haven’t spent an hour in the car with a screaming toddler.  I work, walk/run on my lunch break since my boss doesn’t mind me being sweaty the rest of the afternoon.  I pull into the driveway at 5:30pm.  No more bumper-to-bumper traffic with an exhuasted kiddo.  No more 6:30pm arrival times with dinner & bathtime looming.  Instead, we took a walk last night before dinner & it was lovely.

Which is why seeing “contingent” next to our house listing gives me happy tingles.

It’s like I got 3 hours back in my day.

p.s. why doesn’t doug stay with us? other than getting mail & keeping an eye on the house, he just does not sleep well at my parents house. doug sleeping well = i don’t sleep well.  us not sleeping well together = cranky.  cranky = me not a nice wife, not an efficient worker, not a patient momma.  as hard as it is to be apart, this is the best solution overall.

This fantastic lady is pretty-fying my feet & she’s all, “Do you run?”

I’m thinking, is she drunk?

I say, “Only if there’s a Krispy Kreme in front of me.”

& she’s all, “No, you have runner’s feet based on the calluses & your calves have great muscle tone.”

“I pass a lot of Krispy Kremes,” I explain.

& then Instagram was all “WHERE DID YOU GET THAT DRESS?” so I thought I’d let you in on a dirty little secret:

dress:  JC Penney’s, $45 (& that was full price!)
necklace: Banana Republic outlet
shoes: mint green pumps, J. Crew

These heels might be some of my favorites & they were a steal for $20 at a J. Crew warehouse sale back in 2010 & it was pretty Shining-worthy of me to predict how trendy mint would become.  The unfortunate part is that they are a) hella uncomfortable for long periods of time & b) likely to get stuck in the slats of a wood deck during a baby shower while I’m holding a mimosa.

Total wear-with-caution label needed.

Being your momma is my greatest joy, my greatest accomplishment, my greatest love in life.

At night when I kneel by your bed & you thank God for playing outside & yellow slides & tow trucks & oatmeal, my heart beats that I am so, so thankful for you.

Love always,
Momma

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mommas out there. May your day be filled with happiness & may there be pretty cake with buttercream roses on it.

Remember Momma with love, Harrison.

Some of my favorite blogs.  Emphasis on some.

Lately.

Lazy moms non-guide to non-potty training.

In the kitchen this morning, Tuck was finishing her (second!  damn dog for acting like I hadn’t fed her!) breakfast & Harrison walks over to her, points & says “Tuck!  Poop!”

Except when he says “Tuck” it sounds like “touch” & it’s really darling.

So I asked him if he needed to poop & he shakes his head no & says, “Tuck, poop!”

So I shrug & ask him if Tuck needs to poop & he says, “Yes.  Tuck, poop please!”

Maybe it’s one of those things where you had to be there to find it roll-on-the-ground funny, but I was still laughing two hours later.

I don’t know if you’re liberal or conservative or Christian or agnostic.  I don’t know whether you put signs in your front yard or prefer to keep quiet about political opinions.

I don’t usually talk about politics or religious theories because I never feel like I know enough .  If you’ve been reading here for awhile, it should not come as a shock to you that I am a registered Republican.  You know that I am a Christian, a Jesus-lover that also adores wine & a properly placed curse word.  I’m still growing up in my faith & political beliefs, know that they are firming & changing as I experience more of life.  But I do believe in love & equality & fairness of citizenship.

Today, North Carolina citizens will vote for or against an amendment to our consitution which will state that one man & one woman form the only legally recognized union in North Carolina.

When I see signs in yards that state “Another family FOR Amendment One!” I wonder if they feel this way because of a religious belief?  If it is solely based upon religious belief, how would they feel if the tables were reversed & the government forced an Islamic or Jewish or Hindu belief upon citizens?  Do they recognize it as prejudice & hate against a group of people?  What is so terrifying about gay marriage when there are children dying of starvation & young men being murdered for race & Britney Spears marries in a Vegas chapel for a few hours?

I believe in Jesus.
I do not believe the government should be ruled by religious agendas.
I believe that the greatest commandment Jesus gave was to love.
I do not believe that the people voting for this amendment in the name of Jesus are exemplifying the love & grace He asks His followers to show.

 I will be voting AGAINST Amendment One.

For more information:
yes for amendment one  |  no for amendment one

Oh, the burdens we carry. Specifically in a diaper bag! Oh sure, there’s the usual diapers & extra blankets & onesies. Bottles are a must, as are baby wipes. But what about those weird things that nobody thinks about (except a seasoned momma)?

Right before I delivered Harrison, I found small bottles of hand sanitizer. PERFECT for the diaper bag because they were tiny & fit into the zipped portion of my bag that kept the diapers & wipes. After changes, I wouldn’t have to find a sink immediately, which came in handy for the car/park/stroller diaper changes that I never planned for. While I’m sure you can find generic travel hand sanitizer, I loved how mine had a sweet cotton smell to it. (I also had one that smelled like gardenia.) Nothing like feeling pretty after wiping up poop, right?

My other tiny must-have came in the form of a Tide to Go pen. Harrison suffered horrible reflux, & half the formula he drank always ended up on my clothing. When we moved on to solids & oatmeal, I felt like I always had some stain on my sleeve or pants. Since I was usually heading into the office with these stains, I started carrying a detergent pen on me to quickly care for any carrot spills or milk spit-up.

Also, I always carried a little board book on me. I have no idea why since (a) Harrison can’t read & (b) he always prefered little trucks over books. I guess since I always carry a book on me for me, I figured I should do the same for Harry?

Anyway. Enough with the awkward BA facts. Did you carry anything “weird” in your diaper bag? The things I listed above were functional & not necessarily odd, just things I would have never added to the bag until I’d had a few mishaps

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Sounds like a bad drug trip, right?

I’ve been waiting almost a year for this bad boy to come out, the sequal to Divergent.  Basically, it’s another distopian society novel that is set in Chicago & everyone is divided into “factions” based on personality.  To me, Tris makes Katniss looks like a pipsqueak (well, book 2 & book 3 Katniss).  I’ve been sitting in the cafeteria/sunshine/office nomming on my lunch while reading it on my Kindle app for the past 3 days.

Next up is the fabulous Scary Mommy, who wrote her first book.  I cannot wait to dig into this one as I have always admired Jill’s incredible way of making motherhood hilarious.  p.s. I am so stoked by all the bloggers coming out with books these days – Kelle Hamptom, The Bloggess, Nie Nie, Jill…

My sister-in-law recommended this author to me at the beach in August 2011.  I ordered this book a few months ago & have yet to pick it up.  Has anyone else read her novels?

Of course the absolutely darling Ree Drummond & her second cookbook.  I’ve poured over the pages & we’ve already made the cauliflower, which was DELICIOUS.

Last up is the peace for my soul, soaking in words of Madeline L’Engle.  She is fast becoming one of my favorites although I wasn’t wild about her books as a child.  While her poetry is like a balm, this book delves into Christians as creatives & artists.  I’m not too far into yet.

What are you reading these days?

A contingent offer, based on the buyers selling their current home.

So that’s kind of a damper on the OMG SQUEEEAAAA feeling that I really thought we’d have when an offer came through.  It ended up being pretty anticlimactic, actually.  I really thought I’d be spraying myself with champagne & running naked on the Quad or something like that, but I basically just sat there for five minutes & then made a cup of tea.  I think it’s the “contingency” that makes me a little nervous – the buyers have to sell their home in order to purchase ours, which is a fairly common practice.  There’s no time limit but if another person comes along during the contingency (oh yes, we still have showings) & makes an offer, the contingent folks have to pony up in 24 hours with a non-contigent offer or they could potentially lose the house.

So now we pray for a speedy sale over in Chapel Hill for our buyers.

It’s starting to hit me that the offer means we need to start making some sort of plan other than showing up at my parents house with boxes on closing day, so we’re meeting with a lender to discuss options for purchasing another house.  Since I’m a 1099-er (aka contract person) then buying a house gets a little sticky & we may be checking out apartments.

Can you keep a secret?

It’s all so crazy & up in the air, but I’m thrilled for all of this change.  I’m thrilled with the idea of a new house or even a small apartment.  I’m thrilled with moving in closer to friends & family.  It’s this entire new adventure for our little family.  I’m so not afraid of this.

oh, & if you need me…I’ll be on Pinterest.