St. Paddy's Day

It's St. Patrick's Day Eve...


and I was just reminiscing about St.Paddy's days of the past. I sent one of my friends an ecard today that said

Alas... those days are long gone. St. Patrick's Day is (was) the perfect holiday for drunks like me... a sanctioned day to partake in pub crawls, Mass Street strolls, and various bar games and bagpiping extravaganzas. I used to pay money to get on a bus with people who annoyed me on a daily basis at my neighborhood bar to ride downtown with them and go to Mass. Street bars with them and watch the parade with them, and then to end up the day on the sidewalk outside the overcrowded Sandbar, waiting to get back on the bus to ride up the hill back to the neighborhood bar where the rest of the annoying regulars were super drunk and waiting for us. Good Times! Some years in between all of that I'd hitch a ride in the parade out to the local strip bar/family friendly corned beef&cabbage& $5 cans of Busch light to hear who won the Grand Prize in the parade... it's ALWAYS the Sandbar, people. Always. A couple of good years included riding in the parade wearing ridiculous sequins and tiaras with some fabulous girlfriends. (Actually, I did that after I got sober as well. And pregnant. I was a sober pregnant saloon girl on a St. Patrick's Day float. That was a good year.

Now I don't need green beer to pee my pants. Childbirth gave me an edge in that department.

I still pass out regularly, but it's in my recliner at 9 pm during a movie.

I have flashed my breasts more in the past couple of years than I ever did drunk.

I still have tons of green Mardi Gras beads. They are in a baby wipes container in Grace's toybox.

If you see me sitting on the sidewalk downtown it's probably because I'm doing something fun with my kid.

I am more concerned that Grace wear something cute and green than with whatever I am going to wear tomorrow.

I did make corned beef in the crockpot tonight... skipped the cabbage. I guess I'm too old for that as well. Oh, and calling it Cornbeef Nuggets doesn't work with the kid.

To celebrate this year I would love love love to take my little leprechaun to the parade tomorrow, but I have to work.... Also a first on St. Patrick's Day for many many of the past 20 years. I always ended up taking this as my "Personal" holiday. Like instead of Easter or some other holiday I didn't get as excited about.

So Easter, here we come... we will be all about bunnies and chickens and tweet tweet and chocolate and baskets and eggs and such.

Hippity hoppity Easter's on it's way...

Forget about St. Patrick's Day.

Spending lunchtime with friends in AA.

And after work to the park to play.

We've been going to the park a lot. Anytime we are outside Grace seems more motivated to practice walking. She does well. She walks holding on to one hand when prompted, and will also walk behind walking toys. She has NO desire, however, to stand up and walk otherwise. Crawling is much faster and safer, apparently. And when she's tired, she will crumple to the ground with lower lip trembling, big brown eyes welling with tears, and say "No no no walky."

19 months and counting. Should I call the physical therapist again? She says everything's fine. Should I call Cesar the dog whisperer? The pediatrician? KU Info?

How did anyone parent before Google? And why am I "parenting" instead of just being a mama? I am embarrassed to tell you about the many toddler activity (fun learning things to do with toddler) books are sitting next to my chair (2) PLUS...

The Emotional Life (roller coaster) of the Toddler,

The Happiest Fucking Toddler on The Block,

The Everything You Are Doing Wrong with your Toddler Book,

Healthy Sleep Habits- Happy Child-(If the occasional tiny sip of benadryl is wrong, I don't want to be right)

The No-Cry Don't Smack Discipline Solution,

Parenting with Love,Logic,And Xanax.

You Are Your Child's First Teacher, (Sesame Street doesn't count)

Dr. Sears Baby Book, (Attachment/Bondage Parenting)

Finding Your Inner Mama, (she may be hiding under the bed with the dust-bunnies and the vibrator you forgot you had)

The Girlfriend's Guide to Toddlers... (Because your real girlfriends still have a life and are out having fun without you)

3 of those are on Kindle, not actually stacked in my living room. And the magazines?? Parents, Parenting, Motherhood, BrainChild, Highlights for Younger Children, Working Mother, Woman's Day, Good Housekeeping, (Shut Up.)

Happy St. Patrick's Day...no peeing in public, and if you have any books on potty training save them for me.

Home sweet home...

"The number of homebuyers who agreed to purchase an existing home sank to a new low recently, as economic woes turned them away from the staggering housing market..."

Well, seems like as good a time as any to sell my house. I have made it as clean and pretty and uncluttered as possible, which isn't much by anyone else's "normal" standards.

I still have poor abandoned "Delores the Taurus" hunkered down in the driveway (hey, at least she's not in the yard on blocks. Yet.) I am thinking about adding her on the sale of the house and having the car put into the MLS as a "Storage Unit". Honestly, I think you could fit some stuff in there. I always did when I was driving it, for that matter.

Now that the house is cleaned out by about half, our clutter is gone, and this has necessitated some major overhauling and re-organization, I kind of like the house again. It's cute. However, I am still hankering for a big eat-in kitchen area... I want a place where there is a table, and my friends can drop by (after they call, first***) and we'll sit around the kitchen table drinking coffee and gossiping, having gourmet dinner parties, and old-fashioned "game night". Jamie says there is nothing stopping me from having people over now, I say it's too small and crowded and we can only have one guest at a time. More than that and it's hard to breathe.

Also, I can't re-finance the house right now, so I need to go rent for a year or so and get my credit on track. It's like a "credit crash-diet". I thought about blogging about it and reporting publicly all my bill paying, debts, purchases, and exercises in frugality that I will be undergoing, but then I realized it would be torturous for all of you as well as me.

Okay, so regarding THE DROP IN... who out there is alive right now that did not see that episode of Seinfeld or otherwise hear of how dreaded the unannounced DROP IN is? Or the phone call where you state: "I'm just checking to see if you're home, thought I'd drop by." Okay, it's at least a phone call (warning) but doesn't leave much room for input. I just said recently "NO. I'm not home. It's not a good time." I wasn't home. But what if I was? Again with the small house, if you are hanging out in the living room the front door is soooo right there that it is very difficult to ignore a knock or hide from guests. There's a window right there. I think maybe I need better curtains, I guess. I'll just lock the door and hide.

I guess I need to get better at stating what I want and don't want. I can't help but think that a move would make this drop in more difficult, if for no other reason than that it will be easier to ignore the doorbell. More distance between front entryway and living area, with no view inside.

We will see.... I know that much is up in the air right now about whether or not a potential rental option will open up at the right time when when when I sell the house.

I have a statue of St. Joseph buried in the yard.

Babble

Overheard way too often in my house:

• Put that down.


• Can you pick that up?


• Bring it here.


• Give it to me.


• Drop it. Drop it. Let Go.


• We don't do that with pancakes.


• Crayons (playdough, dirt, plants, money, socks) are not for eating.


• Use your words.


• I'm sorry you're mad.


• What's in your mouth?


• That's not for you.


• The phone is not a toy.


• Can I have my phone please?


• The door-stop is not a phone.


• Do you need to "nuggle"?


• Blow.


• Walk!


• Hold still.


• Will you watch her so I can take a nap?


• Quick, get a towel.

************************************************************************************

What Grace Says...

• walky walky.


• Go?


• Monkey.


• More cookie?


• Hi kitty cat.


• Chickie Nuggie?


• Milk. Milk, please.


• Here go.


• Tank you.


• Mama?


• Itsy Pider.


• Up, peez.


• Nonononono.


• TV?


• Elmo.


• Abby. Jack. Dora.


• Bird tweet tweet.


• Ok. ok.


• Ok Mama.


• Andy?


• Hi Jamie. Or Amie.


• Hi Dott.


• Bicky, Header, Goma, Gopa,


• I lub you.


• La la la.


• Cookie?


• Mine.


• Baff. Take a baff? Quack quack.


• Weed. Weed? Weed. Book?


• Night night ceiling fan.


• Night night. Kiss.