Officially “Red-neck”. Pun intended.

August 27, 2008 – 8:52 pm

Dustin came home without the gleam. He looked surprisingly normal for a man that had 8 hours to think of the best way to massacre his first rooster. I don’t know what I was expecting. Maybe something like this:

Nope. Just same old, after work Dustin. I was practically buzzing with anticipation of the night’s events. “How are you going to do it? No wait, don’t tell me. How do you know how to do this? Are you nervous? What if things go wrong? What if it doesn’t die on the first try and is limping around the yard pitifully in front of his friends?”

Dustin calmly told me he’d take care of it and doesn’t get what the big deal is. I guess that’s one of the differences between men and women. Men were made with the instinct to hunt, women with the instinct to nurture. Which makes me wonder what all of the men with this basic instinct are doing with it in urban civilization. Are they really satisfied going to their cubicle, turning in projects and then coming home for honey-do’s and family time? Does having a physical job make a man feel more manly? Dunno. What do you think?

Back to the story…. I didn’t go outside during the actual “event”. Instead, I stayed inside with the kids giving my sister-in-law a play-by-play via phone of what was going down. “No, he hasn’t done it yet… I have no idea what he’s going to use. WAIT…he’s going into the garage….I wonder what he’s going to come out with….He came in with….nothing! Is he actually going to use his bare hands?….Now he’s leaving the house with a… Target bag? No! Not Target! He could at least use a Wal-Mart bag. Not my beloved Target…..what’s he going to do with a grocery bag anyways? I’ll call you back.”

I did get brave enough to sneak out 15 minutes later to find him sitting on the ground “dressing” the chicken. (Why they call it “dressing” when you’re obviously forcing it to become a step beyond naked, I’ll never know.) He was calm, self assured and again, acted like it was no big deal. Boys are so different.

What’s in your google search bar? Mine…..”how to eviscerate a chicken”

Chicken Dinner

August 27, 2008 – 8:04 am

At 5:30 this morning I was startled awake by a rooster crowing. Our rooster crowing!

Our hunches were right. One of our chickens has turned out to be a rooster after all. Thank goodness it’s the ugly one. I’ve tried so hard to not get attached to the chickens, but in the same way I don’t draw the personal - professional line very well with patients, I apparently don’t draw the personal - strictly business line with my dinner either.

Dustin left for work this morning with a mischievous gleam in his eye. I have no idea what’s going to go down tonight, but I know for sure I want nothing to do with it. He promised that if we ended up with roosters that he’d kill them and replace them with hens, since we’re raising them for eggs and not chicks. AGH! I may become a vegetarian after tonight. (Upside to that, they’re usually really skinny right?)

I wonder what his strategy for extermination is anyways. We don’t own a gun. We don’t own one of those big square knifey things. The only thing we have as far as weapons go is a spear that his sister brought back as a souvenir from Africa. A souvenir!

Updates to come……. :(

Non Vacation

August 26, 2008 – 8:19 pm

My dad called yesterday. Between Maddie’s screaming for “clicky shoes” and rescuing Christian from dangling off of the stove, I heard him say “So, do you feel refreshed?”.

Um, no.  I realized last week that mom’s don’t get vacations. At least not while their kids are this little. I don’t mean that as a complaint but the option of sleeping in, taking numerous naps, lounging around and totally forsaking schedules just can’t happen right now in my life.

Dustin spent the first three days of vacation asleep. Literally.  He would wake up for food and that was about it.  Day four of sleeping man-beauty resulted in a very bitter and pissy Mary. I was tired of being the one to get up from every nap to take care of the kids. I was tired of working harder on vacation than I do at home.  I was … just tired.  We got into a fight and both pouted for two days. Once that was over, I realized that vacation really only means a change of scenery. With that understanding I was able to relax and enjoy the rest of the time.

We did get a chance to take advantage of his parents offer to watch the kids and snuck away to a cabin in Utah for an afternoon and a night. Now that was vacation!  Even though Dustin slept the whole time there too, I had the porch and outdoors to relax in and read.  I was amazed that I found myself in a sweater on the deck in the middle of August!  It was 62 degrees at 7pm! Awesome!

The best part of the past week was my mother in law.  Over the past year we have really grown close.  When Dustin and I had our “time out” last summer I was forced to become super vulnerable with her (since I had left with the kids for her house).  I feel like we bonded that summer and became not only adopted family but true friends.

This past week I got to hang out with her in her amazing garden and just absorb her infinite wisdom about all things flowery and shrub like.  When she had to go to work at the Garden center she owns and runs, the kids and I would walk down to see her and help water the plants just so we could get more grandma time in.  I really am so thankful to have such an amazing mother in law and I’m so glad that the normal in law issues aren’t issues for us at all. Or maybe they are, but she’s just so amazing she doesn’t let it show ;)

Why yes, those are my boobies

August 14, 2008 – 9:07 am

I feel so chatty and no one is online right now :(  I’d call someone but the kids FREAK the heck out as soon as I get on the phone. So here’s everything in my head.

The End.

Just kidding ;)  My geek hubbie finally transfered all of our family pics over onto my computer from some silver computer thingy that he had to store the pics on for an undisclosed amount of time for some reason I either got bored trying to understand or didn’t care. Either way, they’re back!  And not only are they back, but Dustin set up a slideshow screen saver of ALL OF THEM.  I think that’s so thoughtful, he knows how much I love pictures, and all the memories they conjure up.  Thank you hubbie….BUT….there are some, um, private pictures, and I don’t know which file they are in so I can’t take them out of the slide show…yet.  So when the random freecycler comes over to pick up my junk their treasures, it’s a little awkward to see a picture of yourself stripped down to the skivvies breastfeeding your first born.

In other news, we’re going on vacation tomorrow!!!  I really, REALLY wanted to make it back home to Florida this year for my cousin’s wedding (most of my family has never met Dustin or my kids!) but finances have made that impossible. So we’re driving the 5 hours to Page and staying with Dustin’s parents for about a week. I love Page and I’m so stoked to get out of town and just hang out by the lake.  Being by water does something for my soul, and for a Floridian transplanted to the desert, I’m in some serious need of that “something”.

Baby Talk

August 9, 2008 – 11:06 am

While at the post office waiting in line to send off the Thistle Hill package to Christina, this happened:

Christian: (From his perch on my hip) “Where’s Daddy?”

Maddie: (Pauses from pulling all the padded envelopes off the shelf) ” Daddy’s at work”

I almost started crying right there. I looked around at the other two people in line expecting them to join with me in a chorus of “What a beautiful world”, but they didn’t. They didn’t even turn around.

Don’t you get it people? This is a milestone, a moment! My 16 month old and 28 month old just had their first conversation!  First ever!  This is the beginning of laughing at shared jokes, rolling their eyes at each other behind my back. The beginning of shared thoughts, feelings, history and memories. We’re talking about the beginning of a friendship!

They aren’t just two babies taking up space in my heart and my home anymore, they’re starting to share something just between the two of them!  They are brother and sister :)

Happy

August 7, 2008 – 2:16 pm

I’m sorry my posting has been so infrequent.  It usually drops off for me during the third trimester.

Can you believe it….She’s almost here!  Last week at my midwife apt. she said, see you in two weeks. Two weeks?! We’re to that point already? She smiled, put her hand on my shoulder and said “Mary, we were at that point last month, but you missed your appointments”.  Doh.  Seriously, I think I’ve only been to something like 4 appointments this entire pregnancy.  It’s not that I don’t take it seriously, or I’m not interested…Oh how I am, I mean the routine of get weighed, pee in a cup (which Christian spilled at the last apt), BP, “drinking lots of water?” No. “You should” I know; and measuring is fascinating…but it’s so hard to keep the appointments with all of the other things going on.

I remember with Maddie how I would prep for every single prenatal appointment with shaving my legs, pits and other places (just in case they look downtown). I’d pick my cutest maternity outfit, lather on the belly butter and sit dreamily in the waiting room with Dustin as we anxiously awaited our baby being the center of attention for 15 minutes.

This pregnancy when I manage to make the appointments I go with two toddlers in tow, yesterday’s eye liner smudged under my eyes (hoping they think it’s the smoky look), hairy legs and oh my gosh, did I remember to put on a bra? …. Whew!

Despite how different life is this time around, I’ve still managed to get so attached to this little one inside me. I never bore of pulling up my shirt and staring at my belly as she makes it dance around. She’s the most active out of all of them. I swear she’s doing jumping jacks in there.

I’m really big this time too. I’m already bigger than the day I gave birth to Christian and I have two months to go!  Other things are ..um…different too.  Like when I squat to get a toy I feel like my cervix is going to fall out. I’m also having contractions! I have about 6 good contractions a day.  I had Braxton Hicks with the other two, but they were usually in the top part of my uterus and not that noticeable. This time, they feel like early labor. The contractions start at the top of my uterus and pull and tighten their way down and then SQUEEZE.  I’m thankful for them though. It makes me hopeful that this time around my body will not treat labor like a VBAC but a normal vaginal delivery and be much, much, shorter.

I’m hoping to take some belly shots soon, and then I’ll share them.  Oh, and I’ve been a scrappin’ fool the past few weeks. I’ve got to scan in my pages and show you what I’ve been up to. :)

Chaos on the farm

August 1, 2008 – 11:04 am

We have made a ton of changes this year to live more simply and sustainable-y (?). Like:

  • Composting our kitchen and yard waste.
  • Stopped using trash bags and instead use grocery bags.
  • When I remember, I bring my own recycled shopping bags to Trader Joe’s for shopping.
  • Precycling - I think about how much waste something is going to bring into my home when I’m making purchases. “Is this packaging recyclable?”. “Is this packaging degradable?”.  By doing this we have reduced our trash by at least 50%. A weeks worth of trash for our family of 4 amounts to one grocery bag full!
  • We use our grey water to water our flowers.
  • Line dry most of our clothes and run the dryer only once a week for things I don’t want crunchy. (I just don’t dig crunchy panties and stiff sheets.) When we do run the drier it’s during the time of day that’s cooler so it won’t cause us to use more energy in AC use.
  • Our front lawn is xeriscaped
  • We use solar shades on all our windows.
  • I run the appliances during non prime times of day.
  • We built a chicken coop and are raising the chickens for eggs.
  • We fertilize our lawn and till it with the chickens and their….droppings.
  • I’ve made the kids clothes out of our drapery. J/k I’m not that far gone. Yet.
  • Dustin car pools and I only use the car twice a week-ish.
  • I use vinegar for cleaning.

So anyways, all of those things have taken adjusting and figuring out how to make it organized and not to much extra work for us.  Honestly I love the slowing down. I’ve noticed that so many products are geared for saving time and being convienient, but once people buy those products, rather than doing leisurly things with the extra time, they fill it with more productivity and join the rat race all over again.  I really enjoy the time when I’m hanging clothes on our laundry rack to dry. (Big attitude adjustment from back in the day, remember?) It forces me to slow down, and do a very simple task.  Suprisingly, all of these new ways of living have added some peace to my life rather than causing more stress.

Except for…..

The compost. It is my nemesis.  It started with us realizing after we dug a hole and placed the Earth Machine in it, that we’d put it in the worst place possible….right beside the house. Nothing we read warned us. We had fruit flies everywhere in the spring and now….roaches!  I HATE roaches. I called the ASU master gardening program about it and they said “It’s a good thing, it’s part of the process, they break down the soil”. Whatever. It’s gross. So we have at least 200 roaches in our compost, not to mention the food chain they bring with it. Spiders, crickets, weird skinny pinchy things, beetles.  It’s nasty. I don’t go outback at night.  So far, the roaches stay outside (most of the time)…why would they want to leave their cozy, damp home that I dump food into everyday?  But the other critters have invaded us.  Wikipedia suggested diatomaceous earth to kill the roaches (we want to keep it organic). So, we’ll see how that goes.

Until then I’ll hold my toungue while Maddie plays with the “buggies” and treats them like pets. EEEWWW

Something old, something *new*

August 1, 2008 – 10:11 am

Something old:

Something new:

Some of you have probably already noticed it, but my new blog name is “Perfektly Mary“. Tada!  Manchops is in the process of switching it over and we’re making slight design updates to the site. But for now, you can update your links to me with my new name!  No more confusing identity crisis’ here!

Have a great weekend!

And the winner is…

July 31, 2008 – 10:54 am

Has anyone else seen Drew Carey on the Price is Right? Is it just me or does he seem extremely bored with the gig and rude to the contestants?

Anyways….  Did I say I was going to pick a winner for the contest two weeks ago?  I meant two weeks ago “mom time” which is somehow akin to dog years.  I actually didn’t go with any of the suggestions, although I loved them!  The main reason being they were too long as an URL or it pegged me into mom blogging. But, since I love you guys/gals and you made the whole thing so much fun, I still want to give away the Thistle Hill gift package, because I just lovsh the stuff!

So, the winner, generated by the highly technical IM conversation with Manchops involving “Hey, pick a number 1 through 12″ came up with CHRISTINA DEESE !!!!  I’m so glad she won!  She is actually a very dear friend of mine from youth group back in the day.  I wish she had a blog and wrote about her three beautiful adopted kids, but the stinker doesn’t.  But then again, I don’t know how busy it is to have three kids…I will in October though :)

Congratulations Christina!  Email me your address and I’ll get you all the details of what I”m sending you.

It’s Like Crack for Parents

July 26, 2008 – 10:40 pm