my little one...

Today at the grocery store I was reminded that I need to appreciate the time I DO have with Zoey and stop crying about the time I DO NOT have with her.

Zoey stands in the front of the shopping cart, holding on with both hands, wind in her hair. Think Kate on the front of the Titanic.

She greets everyone we pass with "HI!" and proceeds to tell them about everything in our cart.

In the produce section she says, "beep-beep-beep-beep," as I type in the produce code and "Oh, wow!" as the label prints out. She loves to put the "sticker" on the bag.

In the bread section I push her right up to the bread and she knows exactly which one to select and put in the cart.

At the deli counter she says, "Cheese, peas [please]!" and "Danks [thanks]!"

She points out the train (that drives around an elevated track around the store) every other minute and each time she is as excited about it as the last.

When we checkout she helps put the items up on the belt and wants to hold the pen attached to the credit card machine.

Today, four people stopped to "chat" with Zoey and left smiling. She makes a lot of people smile.

Today I was reminded that my little one is getting bigger, and I am so grateful for that.

a natural artist

18 months old and already her musical talent is leaps and bounds ahead of her parents. It must skip a few generations.

blogspeak...

As of late, there has been a bit of blogspeak here and here (and everywhere) regarding the facade - or lack thereof - behind which some of us choose to present our blogthoughts. On my blog, I find myself somewhere between the two extremes. In real life, I find myself leaning far, far, far to the whining, woe is me, are you kidding me extreme. I know, I don't know why B-Man sticks around, either, except for that now we have a little lovie who he could never ditch.

So, in response to some of your thoughts, here is a Saturday morning no makeup, bedhead photo. Hold your applause, please.

Yikes is right!

And here are some of my worst woe is me nags.

I worked really hard to lose weight after Zoey was born (all 56 pounds). It took me over a year to reach my pre-pregnancy weight, but I never posted a picture because, of course, I am still not happy with the way by body looks. Bringing sexy back? I wasn't sexy before!

It is embarrassing to me that I cannot afford to stay home with my daughter because I am not willing to give up the lifestyle we live (which is, by the way, in no manner lavish, but is very comfortable). I always say I want to be home with her more than anything in the world, but am I willing to give up cable? No. My cell phone? Nope. Eating out? Not a chance. Oy.

I am a neat-freak in every aspect of the word, but sometimes we have dirty dishes out for a day - or two - because I literally do not have 2 minutes to put them in the dishwasher and/or am too exhausted. Yes, too exhausted to lift up a dish, run it under the water, and place it in the dishwasher.

I can and have eaten a whole box of donuts in the time of a day or two. I love donuts. I do not feel good about myself after this happens, but I feel plenty good while it is happening. I blame this bad habit on my parents - really, I do - but that is another post in and of itself.

When something tragic happens to someone else, my initial reaction is, "Thank you for not letting this happen to me." And then I feel badly for the other person. I am selfish that way and in many other ways, too. Not proud of this, but it is true.

So, there is some of my trash for your reading pleasure.

And I just had a realization. I don't usually post about this stuff because it doesn't make me feel good. At this moment, I don't feel uplifted like I do when I post cute things about Zoey or funny things about myself. So, as much as a facade as it might be, you won't see much of this. I am not hiding anything. Just trying to make it one day at a time, like each of you, as gracefully as possible.

Happy New Year

My New Year's resolution? To post more meaningfully and frequently. Now you can sleep better tonight, having this peace of mind.

Just kidding. I don't have the time to post more meaningfully and frequently. I am lucky if the dishes get done and the house looks somewhat decent. That's just my life right now.

But, I couldn't pass by the opportunity to share a few (dozen) pictures of our past week.

Christmas decorations? Check.

Too much snow? Check.

House clean? Check.

Jen and Rob arrive? Finally!

Table set? Check.

Christmas Eve dinner? Oh-my-delicious.

Stockings? Check.

Santa? Check.

Christmas morning awe? Check.

First pigtails? Check.

Lots of fun? Check.

Dora cellphone? Check.

Cutest little girl? Check.

We are so grateful Jen and Rob came to spend Christmas with us and so happy we were able to spend lots of time together as a family.

Please, don't ask me how I feel about going back to work on Monday.