I started to wonder what my life would be like if I had my current schedule, but was working in an office? What if Ellie was my client and my boss. I figured one major difference would be the morning routine. For most people, for most jobs, you wake up to an alarm clock. Usually, you would take a shower and start getting ready for the day. You’d probably have some breakfast, maybe some tea or coffee. In the car on the way to work you would probably listen to morning talk radio, the news, or just some jamming tunes. Once you are at work, you would log into the computer and maybe even grab another cup of coffee. All of these activities fall into the “waking up” category. I don’t get to have this. My alarm clock is either crying, or the sound of Ellie pounding on her crib waiting for a fresh diaper. “I’ve got yesterday’s meatloaf in here! Let’s get this cleaned up chief!” Continue reading “THE OFFICE”
NIPS
I love fall. I love everything about fall. I love the cool crisp air. I love the sound of the dry leaves beneath my feet. I love the apple orchard trips filled with apples, pumpkin donuts, and cider. I love carving my Halloween pumpkin. I love watching horror movies. I have a list of movies I try to watch every October. I love the food. The squashes, the apples, the pears, and the pumpkins. Pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin pie, pumpkin donuts, I even developed my own pumpkin meatloaf recipe with a pumpkin gravy. And with me being in charge of the kitchen these days, I’ve never been so excited for a magazine to arrive at my house. I was greatly anticipating the arrival of my Cooking Light magazine. The October issue.
THE KIRBY
I was getting over a cold. Ellie had barely napped so I was feeling extra exhausted and all I wanted to do was rest. Finally at 5:00pm, Ellie quietly sat next to me eat her cheerios. This always buys me a lot of time because her hand-eye coordination isn’t the greatest yet. It takes her 5 tries to get the Cheerio in her mouth and then it keeps falling out. Then she repeats. So I was lying on the floor, half in a daze, Ellie with her snacks, and feeling relaxed. And then someone knocked on the door. Ah man… The window was open too, they could probably see me lying there, I guess I had to get it. But maybe it’s a kid selling candy bars, I could go for one of those, I thought. I had to get it now. I brought Ellie to intimidate whoever was there, to reverse pressure them into leaving. Who wants to sell something to me when I have a fussy kid in my hands right? I got to the door and there were two guys with ties. He said something really fast as he handed me a thing of Bounty paper towel telling me it was free. Kinda of confused as to what was actually happening, I said, “uh, ok.” They got excited and said they would be right back. I stood there stunned and very worried to what I just agreed to. Continue reading “THE KIRBY”
PORCH SITTIN’
The heat and humidity are fading and fall is approaching. And with more tolerable weather upon us, it’s time for some good ol’ fashioned porch sittin’. This is one of my favorite things to do. To kick back in my old man rocking chair on the porch, with a book, or some tunes, and some coffee and watch the world go by. You might wonder how can just sittin’on the porch be so much fun. Well, with the crazy cast of characters on my street, there is never a dull moment.
A MONSTER IN THE CLOSET
There we were. Standing face to face. I’m standing confident and strong with Ellie in my arms. She’s cautious and worried. She doesn’t remember her curious history with this monster. She’s perfectly still in my arms holding onto my shirt. She looks at me only with her eyes. Her head stays still. Then she looks at the monster. Then back at me. My fear for this monster has faded long ago. Not only has my fear faded, but I have tamed this monster to be a productive member of the household. Even with it’s mighty growl and lighted eyes, I still feel no fear. Today, I try to teach Ellie that this is a monster we control.