PractiGal

Extreme Phobia Makeover

For years, I had a fear of choking. For no good reason. It was just something that crossed my mind from time to time. Now that my son is eating real food and putting everything in his mouth, I find my fear resurfacing.

With me, it started when I lived alone. I'd be eating a meal, thinking that if I choked, no one would know, and no one would be there to save me. The thought would cross my mind again if I was eating by myself in my car. It was a strange fear, but nonetheless it popped in to my head fairly often. Weird, I know. Are you laughing? My husband laughs at my craziness.

It's been years since I've experienced that choking anxiety about myself, but now that my son is chewing real food and stuffing anything he can into his mouth, I do get nervous about him choking.

I've been fishing wood chips out of his mouth for weeks -- we've been heating with wood, and despite my efforts to vacuum as often as possible, he finds stray chips & stuffs them in his mouth. Today, he got hold of a styrofoam peanut and stuffed that in his mouth. I got it out quickly.

Now that it's spring, I'm so excited to hang out outside & start working around the yard, but I'm not looking forward to having my 1-year old out there with me, stuffing chokables into his mouth at every turn. He'll be walking any day now, so he'll be very busy investigating out there on his own 2 feet. I'm sure this sounds really strange. I'm not worried about him eating a little dirt, but I am concerned about him choking on something. Obviously you can't babyproof the great outdoors. And I love the great outdoors and want my son to love it too.

So am I the only mother with this bizarre fear? How do you cope? What would you do if you were paranoid about choking?

Every Now and Then, You've Gotta Scream

I think that I am able to completely shut my brain down for holiday weekends, which is a wonderful thing. Wonderful, that is, til Monday morning rolls around. And thank goodness for only one Monday per week. I'm not usually one for grumbling, but today I must.

I usually check my work e-mail before eating breakfast to see if there are any urgent issues that I can take care of before I eat. Today was no exception, and drat... I had a meeting invitation to discuss a project that I worked on many years ago. Great. My brain was barely remembering what I ate yesterday, much less the details of a project from several years back. Hence, the beginning of my foul mood.

Halfway through my cereal, the doorbell rang. It was 7:50a.m... We were expecting the Volunteers of America to pick up a couch between 8 and 5. I guess they were running a little early!? I opened the door and forced some cheeriness: "just one minute please!"  I scurried around gathering up toys & moving things out of the way, so they'd have a clear path to get the couch out. Two men came in & didn't speak. They didn't utter even one word. They took the couch and that was it. "Thank you!" I let them know I appreciated their help. Could they even manage "have a nice day" or "goodbye?" No. Back to my soggy cereal. The foul mood intensified.

Over lunch, I reviewed the project that I'd been summoned to discuss. What do you know, it was 8 years ago. Another customer wants to do something similar, and since everyone else who was involved in that project is no longer with the company,... guess what? Lucky me. So I brushed up a bit, reviewing the philosophy and approach we used with creating this particular product line. And you know what? At the meeting, no one was interested in that. No. They wanted to know if I remembered anything about the mechanics of using the MS Word template that was used for this project. I'm not kidding. No, I don't remember the particulars of working with a template that I used 8 years ago. "So Ned, the guy who created the template must've done a custom such-and-such." Yeah, guess so. Glad I went in to the office to tell someone about what I don't remember.

I swung by the grocery store on the way home. I figured I'd do a quick turbo-shopping trip, since we didn't have anything at home. What I didn't know, was that I timed my trip perfectly to coincide with Slow Shoppers Day. Of course. With all due respect for the elderly, I just don't know why they all had to shop at the same time, same store as me. Damnit! Of course it wouldn't have bothered me if I weren't in a foul mood, but since I was, it just made me even grouchier.

Ahh. Thanks for letting me vent and attempt to purge this foul mood. Oh yeah, this is my blog... I can do whatever I want here. Well, if you read this all the way through, thanks for commiserating with me!

ps -- and thanks to TypePad for adding even more to my foul mood!!

Happy Easter! Happy Spring!

Happy Spring & Happy Easter!

I went out for a spring walk, because it's sunny at 45 degrees! Yes, this is good.

Here are some pictures I took today at Highland Park's Lamberton Conservatory. The outdoor shot shows one of the park's famed lilac trees, beginning to prepare for this year's festival. I had planned to take a picture of a particular bench inside the conservatory, where my husband asked me to marry him, but it was occupied.

Click photos to enlarge. Enjoy!

Raising my lighter

OK, not really. I don't have one... But I feel all schoolgirl-giddy today! This a.m., tickets went on sale for a concert by some of my favorite musicians... Alison Krauss and Union Station. I click-clicked my way to some primo seats. And I'm so excited!  I've never seen Alison & crew perform in-person before, though I've seen them tons on cable. I have most of her CDs and I swear I never tire of them... I've been a devoted fan for many years. Now I'll see them perform from the 8th row! I feel like a groupie again.

I've been thinking how I've been a concert-junkie (well, except for the past year) since I was a teenager. My first concert was STYX. Oooooh. Then Journey... The Who... and Jackson Browne followed. Yes, this was the 80's. This will be my first concert since motherhood.

My favorite all-time concert performance was by Lyle Lovett & His Large Band. Phenomenal. That man is an entertainer, a story-teller. He sets the stage before each song, so that you appreciate it that much more. Plus, the venue was the incredible Eastman Theatre, with near-perfect acoustics.

Do you remember your first album/CD?

How about your first concert?

[My first album was the Captain & Tennille... in the 70's]

Why Do Toys Exist?

It's an awfully profound question for a Thursday, I know. But it's one I've been pondering lately. And since Mother Nature threw us a curve (snow)ball last night, being in the house with a very active 1-year old has prompted me to ponder it with you.

Why do we buy toys for our children? As far as I can tell, introducing a new toy to the room is fun for about 90 seconds. We already have a mountain of plastic things in the living room, but always more interesting than those items are:
Mom & Dad's eyeglasses
Wood chips that have gotten away from the wood pile
The remote control
Socks with holes in them
The on/off button on the tv
The big living room lamp
The stairs

It's kind of got me wondering, why'd we bother with the blocks, books, stuffed animals,.....? My husband is already salivating at the thought of buying our son a train set some day. Why?

When I think back, I know that I spent a good amount of time playing with Barbies as a kid, but I remember playing with a lot of non-toy things too. One year, the highlight of Christmas was getting my own loose-leaf paper, scotch tape, box of tissues, and cotton balls. I was in heaven.

Today my son was in the kitchen with me, and while I was clearing off the table, he was into the one cabinet that's not child-proofed. He was thrilled to play with a couple of lids he got hold of. When he tired of them, he moved on to the garbage. It's just the right height so that he can hold on to the container & reach in. What fun! When I tried to distract him with a box of toys, he'd have no part of them. He blew by me on his hands and knees to find a floppy disk on the floor by the computer. Much more interesting than some silly toy!

Yet, there's a multi-million dollar industry out there, making and selling children's toys.

Why?

Hey, that's MY line!

After a visit with his doctor, where they discussed blood pressure, cholesterol, heredity factors and such, my husband returned home with the biggest bar of dark chocolate I've ever seen. HUGE.

"It's medicinal,"  he said.

Apparently I need to switch doctors.

In a somewhat related note, yesterday's weekly weigh-in revealed that I'm holding steady. Harumph. The good news is that we're getting more nice days for walking now, and more walks will help me to move the scale in the right direction.

Speaking of chocolate and calories...  is it true that if you bite the ears off a chocolate Easter bunny, the calories (& hence Weight Watcher "points") will all fall out?

Zen and the Art of Teeth-Cleaning

With difficult topics in the headlines these days, I’ve decided that I need to do something to spread some kindness today. After all, the very gracious Michele has done something very kind for me by choosing this site as her site of the day. And I, in turn, shall do a small something to reciprocate with the great cosmic ledger of kindness.

For a couple of weeks, I’ve had a blank note-card sitting on the kitchen table. The envelope is addressed, and it’s ready to go. But I haven’t written the note yet. Sometimes, I know that I want to say something but am not sure what to say, or how to say it. Today I’ll find the words though, and I’ll get the card off in the mail.

The card has been sitting there since my last trip to the dentist, where I spent most of my time with the dental hygienist. Surprisingly, I actually look forward to trips to the dentist. Not because I enjoy having my teeth poked, probed and scraped, but because I really like my hygienist. I always enjoy our conversations – granted, they’re pretty one-sided, as my mouth is occupied while I’m there, but I really enjoy my time with Karen.

Karen is a very positive, strong, feisty woman. She always tells me what her kids are up to, how her family is doing. I’ve been going to her for about 10 years, so I’ve come to know her a bit over the years. She’s a proud, good Mom; it’s easy to see that. When I was getting married, she offered to have me come in so that she could polish my teeth on her own time. She’s a quietly spiritual person; it’s always been obvious to me that her faith is very important to her. She’s one of those people you feel good being around, too, because she’s such a good person.

Anyway, at this recent visit, Karen was telling me about something, when she hesitated to find a word. Then she stopped and told me she had had a stroke since I last saw her. What? She’s probably in her mid-40’s. I couldn’t believe this. Throughout the rest of my visit, she updated me on what she’d been through -- stroke and then heart surgery. Through it all, she kept saying how fortunate she is, how blessed she is, and she remained incredibly positive. I was reclining back in the dentist’s chair and could feel the tears, first welling up in my eyes and then running into my ears. I forced myself to pull it together. I was just so moved that she had been through so much and was able to be so strong and positive, talking about it.

When I left the office that day, I was overcome with emotion. I wanted to do something for her. But what?

Well, the least I could do is tell her that I look forward to my trips to the dentist, because of her. I will tell her that. Today.

Giving the Remote a Rest

We've gone back and forth for a while -- keep the cable television, let it go, ... no let's keep it,... no let's cut it now.  I remember missing HBO when we cut that -- I was hopelessly hooked on the Sopranos.

For a variety of reasons, including now having a small child, we've decided that now's the time to cut it.

The call has been made. After this month, we'll have about 12 channels instead of a gazillion. How will we survive?

What I'll miss:
Comedy Central
Monk
Cable news
Cooking shows
Home improvement shows
The occasional good movie, including the 5-millionth showings of Coming to America and Office Space.

What I won't miss:
Boobs everywhere
Half a gazillion channels showing violence
"Television for women" - at least that's what they call it... I call it the victim's channel
The Poker channel

I'm sure I'll go through some kind of withdrawal period, but we'll survive. With the weather getting nicer, we'll be outside a lot more. I plan to do more reading, too, when the little one is sleeping & I'm not.

Have you ever cut your cable?  Do you miss it?  If you haven't cut it, what do you think you'd miss if you cancelled it?

But He's My Baby!

Today as I walked up and down the aisles of the grocery store, I was in my usual bright light daze. But I snapped out of the daze when I came to the baby aisle... I felt my heart sink a little. I don't have to buy formula any more. Or jarred baby food. Is this the same me who was grumbling at the price of formula a few weeks ago?

So just when does a baby become a toddler?

Is it when he starts drinking whole milk? (last week)

Is it when his 5th tooth starts popping through his gums? (also last week)

Or maybe it's when he climbs the stairs by himself... (yesterday)

Or walks around the perimeter of the kitchen holding on to & banging on the cabinet and appiance doors along the way.

Or when he offers an enthusiastic "hi!!!" to anyone and anything that he comes across.

Oh my goodness. How did this happen so quickly? And yes, I'm fighting back some bittersweet sniffles right now. Anyone have a tissue?

A $20 Experiment

Though I don't always enjoy conventional shopping, I really do enjoy bargain shopping. This week I did a little experiment, unintentionally, and found myself more convinced than ever that bargain shopping is for me.

Since it's not garage sale season yet, I've spent the winter frequenting a nearby consignment shop. I buy clothes, books, toys, and videos there for my son. One of my favorite things to do there is to see how far I can stretch a 20-dollar bill. Do I know how to have a good time or what? Any way, the other day I headed out to pick up some sneakers for my little guy. He'll be walking soon, so I wanted to have some sneaks for him. I had checked out sneakers at Old Navy, and stomped out when I saw that baby sneaks were $14.  Yes, I am cheap, but why would I pay that much for something he'll wear for a few months? Off to my local consignment shop I went. I love this place. The woman who runs the store is picky about what she takes to sell, and I usually have good luck finding what I want. Behold - beautiful sneakers for $4! Before I knew it, I was playing my $20 game... I came out slightly over ~ $21.65, but here's what I left with:

sneakers
sandals
2 short & shirt outfits
1 t-shirt

That is what I call shopping. The only way I could have done better would have been at a garage sale.

The following day, I headed across town to a mall where a Lord & Taylor store is located. Yes, a cheapstake like me was headed to a high-end department store. My sister had passed me some store credit that needed to be used -- coincidentally, it was for $20. I realized it would be an interesting study -- how far would $20 go at this store?  I headed for the toddler clothes, and picked up the first pair of shorts I saw. $42. I'm not kidding. I don't think I've ever spent that much on shorts for myself; in fact I don't know if I've ever spent half that on a pair of shorts for myself. Oh! But they were on sale... phew!... $30.  No thanks. I continued looking around and thought my sister may have been right when she said I could take the store credit & get a sock. Nevertheless, I continued looking around. I found a rack of toddler t-shirts on sale. Ah! Something I could afford. I picked out 2 t-shirts, for a total of $18.63.

Consignment shop.... 1
L&T.....0

Those 2 outings have reminded me that I'm so ready for garage sale season. Bring it on! Only another couple of months til they're in full swing in upstate NY... another sign of spring!

Oh, and I'm going to be scouting out the garage sales where the Lord & Taylor regulars live...  Maybe I can pick up those $42 shorts for $1!