Alabaster Mom

When I still lived in the Washington DC area, I got used to having a fair number of day-off kinds of holidays. Many employers in that neck of the woods simply follow the federal government's holiday schedule. When I moved to the midwest, I lost a few holidays. No more days off on Veteran's Day, Martin Luther King Day, etc. Let me just tell you that the period from New Year's Day to Memorial Day is a vast wasteland of drudgery and disappointment. So it was that I was very excited about having a three-day weekend for Memorial Day. Now, lest you think I'm a shallow hag who doesn't know what the holiday is for, allow me to assure you that I do. But still, sunshine and lollipops, too. I had to leave work early on Friday for a band concert at my daughter's school. God love that poor band instructor.  He teaches band to fifth graders at every elementary school in the district. He probably hears Hot Cross Buns in his sleep. My kid plays the clarinet - and I'm us...

I haven't written in a while (except for my brief anniversary post), mostly because I thought you might be tired of listening to me bitch about my feet. Good news - you're mostly off the hook on that score now.  I own three pairs of definitely-not-cheap Vionic shoes at this point and, for the most part, that's all I wear. They aren't the cutest shoes in the world but, let's face it - the cuteness ship has sailed for this old lady anyway. I do feel slightly annoyed with my podiatrist because he didn't mention these shoes as an option. I have given up on curing the plantar fasciitis (and obviously I can't make the bone spurs go away). I now just focus on walking without pain. My Fitbit tells me exactly how many steps I take each day. When I walk 11,257 steps in a day, that's how many times my brain says, "Ow." (My brain hears about it from my feet.)  It's hard not to focus on the pain when you are reminded of it thousands of times a day. The ...

19 years ago today, I married the handsome guy who had proposed to me on bent knee. We had been together for five years when we got married - apparently it took few hundred dates for him to notice that I was the girl of his dreams and all that jazz. I wish I had some sage advice on what it takes for a couple to stay together for 24 years. Honestly, I think it comes down to personality types. He's easygoing and I'm not. End of story. I don't even think shared interests is a firm requirement - we don't like the same music, we aren't the same religion or even the same political party, and we don't have any shared hobbies. But, we get along and there is a lot to be said for that. We get on each other's last nerve sometimes, but there is always respect on hand, and that IS important. Happy anniversary to my sweetie, my guy, my comic book geek. Here's to many more years of wedded bliss (or something like it)! p.s. In an expression of true love, we jus...

Hey, Happy Mother's Day! On Mother's Day, my first thought is always of my own mom. While it's true that she did give me faulty hips and such, she also gave me lots of good stuff, like having the courage to be a free-thinker. She knew how to build character before character-building was even a thing. I love you, Mom!  My next thought, each Mother's Day, is of my daughter's birthmom. Without her, I would not be a mom. There are no words to describe how I feel about her - believe me, I've tried. And you guys know how I love words. As for my own role as a mom, my main request for Mother's Day this year was: "I don't want to pick up anyone's stuff off the floor." I know, it's a big request. I feel like I spend half my life picking up crap that doesn't belong to me. "Why is this sock in the middle of the living room floor? Why are your shoes right here where the puppy can chew them?" And, since we do have a puppy, sometime...

As a parent, I'm sometimes torn about how to react when my child gives minimal effort to something that should clearly receive a much higher level of effort. Is it okay to demand excellence or it is better to say, "Well, at least you tried?" She entered her school's talent show, which was held this evening. She's known about the talent show for at least a month. We spent a lot of time listening to song choices that might work well. The song also needed to be appropriate for an elementary school, of course. She chose "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz. (The song contains the word "damn" but of course we just changed it to "darn.") I printed the lyrics for her. Twice (because she lost the first sheet I printed). I played the song for her on my iPod. I found a karaoke version on YouTube so that she could practice singing along. I knew she didn't know the words very well and yet she did not practice. As the talent show got closer, I b...

Happy birthday, baby girl! The days are winging past me so fast - I fear you'll be in college before I know it. Right now I complain that you waste too much water with your insanely long showers, but I know the day will come when I will miss hearing you singing into the shower head for 45 minutes straight. Hey, would this be a good time for me to tell the story about all the times you pooped in the tub when you were little? I am so proud of you and all that you are. You make me crazy with your dilly-dallying and your refusal to be a part of the whole "a place for everything and everything in its place" theory that seems to work for everyone else on the planet, but you just wouldn't be you if you didn't follow your free-spirit heart. I love your singing. I love your sense of humor. I love how you still call me Mommy sometimes. I love your crazy curls and your expert-level hugs. I'm so happy to see you developing the heart of a volunteer. You understand th...

In keeping with our "there's no way you're getting a birthday party every single year" tradition, we let our daughter pick a weekend destination for her birthday (instead of a party). She chose a massive indoor water park, located about 2 1/2 hours from our home. We let her choose a friend to bring along.  I also ordered a cake so that we could take that along, too. The water park is a resort and so, of course, you can stay there. However, I could not bring myself to spend quite that much money. By my calculations, the weekend would have cost about a grand if we went that route. Instead, I booked us for two nights at a Best Western that had a pool and free breakfast. (It was still $300 for the hotel, but regardless . . . still an improvement.) I then purchased day passes for the water park.  We arrived on Friday evening and of course the girls wanted to go swimming in the hotel pool right away. We had stopped at a Red Robin for dinner along the way, because I had a ...