Archives for June 2011

Helicopter Improvisation

We’re on a little road trip to visit family and see my middle sister walk across the stage to get her degree. [Potential burglars, beware: our house is still occupied and the dog is there too. He might look cute but he thinks he’s fierce, and that’s about all it would take for him to take you down. Seriously.]

Anyway… We split the trip into two days, because we’re travelling with a toddler and we’re smart like that. Along the way, we spent a night in a hotel. During the whole drive, Connor was so excited about having a bath in the hotel. So when we got there and it was time for a bath, we excitedly ventured into the bathroom and he promptly jumped into the bathtub.

We turned the water on. The tub filled up, ready for some splashy fun.

And then he asked the question.

“Do we have any bath toys?”

<insert dramatic music suggesting imminent doom>

We didn’t. We have pretty much everything else we’ll need, but we didn’t think to bring bath toys. We did this same trip last year and I don’t recall a need for bath toys, so it didn’t occur to me to bring them.

Normally this would be a moment of panic for me. Anxiety would set in. It had been a long drive and I wasn’t prepared for a meltdown about the lack of bath toys.

But wait! A moment of mama brilliance. Surely in the travel box of toys we’d brought there would be something that could go in the bath. And there was.

Between a small, blue helicopter (that doubles as a submarine, as it turns out) and a shower cap that worked nicely as a fishing net, we had a pretty darn good hotel-room  bath.

Confession: I’m not always this brilliant. Only sometimes. 😉

 

Fledgling Friday – June 3 edition

Is it Friday again already? I can barely keep up! Hope everyone had a good week.

How are my newbie blogger friends doing? Can’t wait to see what you link up this week!

Choices

It’s amazing what happens when we open ourselves up to new things. I didn’t know what would happen when I had a baby. When it didn’t go as expected I got stuck. And I got sick, which made it hard for me to realize there were other ways to look at the situation.

When I started blogging, I just wanted to write. I wanted to get the PPD swirl out of my head. I didn’t know that I was making a choice to share this with so many people because I didn’t know all of you were out there.

I have been afraid of things. I have had dreams and have been too scared to do anything about them. Some of my dreams are small. Some are big. Some are desires I can’t explain but that have lived in me always.

There are a lot of options before me now that relate to those dreams. I don’t mean to be cryptic, but I don’t have enough information yet to know where all this is going. I’m just trying to have faith that it’s going where it’s meant to.

At first I thought some of these things would require decisions.

But maybe “decisions” isn’t the right word. Maybe the word is “choices.”

I know what I can do, and as a result I know what I could do.

But it’s not about that. It’s about knowing – and showing – who I truly am, and that opens up a world of choices.

choices-harry

I love these books, and I know this quote. I saw this on a friend’s board on Pinterest today and got a little teary, because I know exactly what he means.

California BlogHer Girl

So I did it. I bought a ticket to BlogHer 11.

I knew the conference was happening. I sort of wanted to go. But me? Nah. I’m too new. I can’t go. I can’t spend the money.

But sometimes the signs point you in a different direction.

There have been a few of them (and no, they’re not the BlogHer team doing a good job at marketing!). And one day I knew it: I want to go. I need to go. I’m meant to go.

So I’m going.

I’ve told my inner introvert to suck it up and I’ve agreed to room with 3 (possibly 4?) other women I’ve never met. This means no room of my own to escape to when I need a break. This means leaving any shyness at home and letting strangers see what I look like first thing in the morning. It might mean abandoning my usual hotel-room tradition of using the close-up mirrors to examine my pores and pluck my eyebrows. (But probably not.)

I’m also going to attend a Pathfinder day, where I’ll get to participate in a workshop with one of my idols on using your blog as a life changer.

The experience might be life-changing. It might be fun. I’m definitely going to learn something. So no matter the outcome it will be worth it.

I will find alone time when I need it. But I’m expecting to find a lot of other things I think I need more.

I'm Going to BlogHer '11