Saturday, August 25, 2012

What up, life?

It's party day -whew! Time to bring on the Batman, the cake, and the three year olds. Then - a nap. (Who am I kidding - naps are a distant and beautiful memory.)

I have been wishing daily to blog and keep up with all of your blogs, but this whole working mom (with a new, much more intense job description - which I love, don't get me wrong) is way freaking harder than I thought. Every second of my waking hours seems to be full and yet I have a messy house, a stack of work I need to get to, and a husband I vaguely remember having adult dinners with.

The good side is this, I have never had to prioritize and organize so carefully in my life. I am an easily distracted person who has had the bad habit of bouncing from one project to the next instead of taking my mom's best advice - One Thing At a Time Until It's Done. I also prefer to start with something I like (like blogging, cooking, organizing the baby's clothes) instead of what is truly most important (getting food on the table - gourmet or not, packing lunches, making sure everyone has clothes for tomorrow). No more of that! Now I have to put first things first or they won't happen. It is a wake up call that I needed.

Could the house be cleaner, if I decided that sweeping, dusting, and organizing where second after basic needs? Probably. But, I have decided that those things are not my next priority. 

Better Homes and Gardens will not be knocking on my door. I haven't cooked a complicated recipe in three weeks. But, last night I sat and held my baby for half an hour, rocking him and talking with him and gazing into his deep blue eyes. Today, I am going to spend two hours focusing all of my attention on making sure my three year old has the Batmaniest, best birthday party he can imagine (I even hired a babysitter for the baby so that the three year old will get all of our attention for once). As long as I am keep us fed, clothed, and relatively clean - the next most important priority is time with my kids.

So, if you happen to come to my house and you notice the mess, here is what I want. When you see the dirty dishes in the sink, notice instead the art supplies and pictures strewn around the kitchen table where we were making beautiful pictures. When you see the pile of shoes in the living room, also notice the pile of storybooks on the couch where we were curled up reading. If you happen to go into my bedroom and want to focus on the papers overflowing the "to file" box, take a peek at the stack of baseball cards Stone and Simon spend hours enthusiastically organizing.

This part of my life is not as polished on the outside as I have previously expected from myself, but it is the sweetest, best part I have ever experienced.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Funerals and Weird Apples

I had to go to a funeral today. It totally sucked. Not that most funerals are fun, but this one was particularly sad because it was for a young (37) friend who left behind two small children. There are not a lot of uplifting things to say about a situation like that.

On the way home, Stone and I started talking about what we want for our own funerals. I want a memorial service that really reflects who I am:

I want a memorial party, not a funeral - somewhere nontraditional - like the ballroom at a cool hotel.
I want balloons - like a birthday party - big, shiny balloons at the entrance and decorating the ballroom.
I want an ice-cream sundae bar - with all the best toppings - hot fudge, mini M'n'M's, brownie bits, praline pecans, etc. People can eat while they mingle.
I want TV's set up around the room playing my favorite movies - like The Princess Bride and my favorite episodes of Friends.
I may, at some point, want a mariachi band. I am a little up in the air on that one.

The friend we mourned today was one of the funniest people I knew. He was always playing practical jokes, finding funny videos on YouTube, and telling ridiculous LaffyTaffy style jokes. He loved to find weird food and share it with us. He would say, "You will never believe what this is!" and then pull out a chocolate covered cricket or cabbage flavored Japanese candy.

Here is a little tribute to him - a bubblegum flavored apple I found in the produce section. It tasted 90% like a normal apple, and then there was a slightly disturbing bubblegum aftertaste.  The texture was the strangest part because you have this crisp, crunchy apple but your mouth tastes like you should be blowing soft pink bubbles. He would have loved it.