Fall and Photos

Remember when I used to post here? That was nice. Gah, I hate that I haven't made time for this. I need to be posting here, need to be putting images and snapshots of our life here. It's so stupid - I don't even know why I feel like I'm too busy to do this lately. There's something about the kids being a little older, having a little more homework, going to bed a little later... I don't know, it all just seems insurmountable to add in extra stuff lately. Working out, blogging - they've both gone completely by the wayside, sacrificed to the comfort of the couch and the TV remote and a glass of wine. My Hulu account thanks me for being so up to date on my queue, but my waistline and digital memories do not.

 

Also, remember when it was fall? That was nice, too:

 

That's a Finn hidden under the leaves there.

He kills me with how cute he is.

 

Then it was Thanksgiving. I set a pretty table, and my mom and dad joined us:

This little one woke up at five am Thanksgiving morning, throwing up. She rallied by late afternoon, and joined us at the dinner table (where she ate nothing, with style, and in pajamas)

I even made fresh rosemary napkin rings. I channeled my inner Pinterest goddess.

He drank soda out of a grown up glass and thought he was in heaven.

The next day we busted out our Christmas decorations to get a move on a holiday that was less than 4 weeks away:

And I tried my hand at some shaped Bokeh  photography this week (see how the lights in the background are star shaped?):

Even attempted some Christmas card photos (out-takes below):

I'm still working on this whole bokeh technique (you should have seen me trying to fashion a makeshift lens cover out of black construction paper that was 3 years old and seriously faded - it took a really, really long time), but I've at least had some beginner success (here is one of the many tutorials you can find online). Then I broke my 50 mm/1.8f lens in a tripod accident (OK, I was a numbskull and let go of the camera when only 2 of the 3 tripod legs were at the same length) and was really upset with myself. Such a good lens! And a gift from my dad (it was an old Nikon lens of his that fit my camera). The glass/lens is completely cracked.  A bit too late to remedy this for Christmas, but rhis is definitely going on my next birthday/mother's day wish list.

That was Tuesday of this week, day 2 of our two days of snow days. Now it's Thursday evening.  M. is away on a quick work trip, and I am doing what I normally do when he's gone - staying up too late and gorging on TV shows he never wants to watch (3 more episodes of Scandal Season 1 are now in the bag). And while I'm not working out, at least I'm blogging. So that's something :-). And now, since it's practically midnight, and the small creatures of the family will be up in under 7 hours (not to mention the full work day I need to put in tomorrow), I'm going to bed. Goodnight!

Happy Blogday To Me!

This blog was started, as many great things are, as a result of healthy sibling rivalry. My sister, MommyEsq, was pregnant with twins, and regaling our family and friends almost daily with postings on her now pretty-much-defunct blog (which I WOULD link to, but she pretty much never posts anymore, so...). Anyway, to keep up with her and give MY family some just and deserved attention from the distant masses, I started this blog. My first post was on July 10, 2008, four years ago exactly. I typically don't remember the anniversary date until after it has passed, but tonight a fleeting thought crossed my mind as I took a post-run shower, and I thought to check. It must have been some kind of divine intervention (or a closeted savant-like skill I am just now about to discover), because today is the exact day!

When I started blogging, I didn't really know what to post about. Do I write about my kid? Do I show pictures of him? How much of our lives should I put out there on The Internet? Should I write about myself? Will people think that's narcissistic? Should I try to make it funny, or come up with something deep and meaningful?

Well, that last one was definitely out. I am not deep and meaningful.

Instead, I wrote about my hair. And 271 other things, apparently.

This blog has been invaluable to me. I am so glad I started it, and I'm even happier that I've stuck with it. I don't know or care if anyone else is reading it (OK, I care a little), because *I* read it. Every so often I go back through old posts, and I smile at the photos, I get misty eyed at my growing babies, I even laugh a bit at my own jokes. I hope, 50 years from now, I still have these posts to look back on and help me remember these fleeting moments.

Here are a few of my favorite posts, the ones I like to go back and read the most:

I love Bye-low My Baby for the way it brings back both bedtime with a young Finn, AND memories of my great-grandmother.

The Sequel, where I come clean on our secret that we were having another baby.

For Love of Fruit Flies and Olives, where I expound on the craziness of Sarah Palin, the pickiness of toddler diets, and my deep appreciation of scientific research.

We Have, which describes a moment for the baby books. If baby books included "First Poop in the Potty" as a milestone.

Both kids' birth stories: Finn's, and Lucy's.

Addiction, where I revel in little hugging bodies.

Lucy, For Now, a snapshot of Lucy at a year and a half.

Honestly, I could link to almost every post, especially any post with photos and videos. I love them ALL! Ooh, my babies are so smooshy and CUTE! And while I may not post as regularly as I once did, and I may not share all my complaints and frustrations as the kids get older, I plan to continue capturing our days - the normal ones, the special ones, even those inevitable terrible ones. For my family, for my friends, for Finn and Lucy, but mostly for me.

Food "Pin"spiration

Well, I did it – I surrendered myself (finally? Seems like everyone else is already doing it) to yet another internet movement/fad/obsession. I crossed over to the dark side and requested a Pinterest account (still holding out on Twitter, though...). Mainly because I’ve become a bit addicted to browsing through food blogs. Seriously, I can’t stop looking at all these delicious, beautiful looking pictures of food, and dreaming of making them. How’s that for diet inspiration – not so good, eh? Anyway, I would like to actually COOK some of these delightful recipes (the healthy ones, of course... and maybe one or two not-so-healthy-but-oh-so-yummy-looking ones), instead of just drooling over them. But I don’t want to end up with a stack of messy, crumply, tree-killing, bound-to-be-lost-and/or-stained sheets of 8.5 X 11 paper. So I’m joining Pinterest (well, I’m on the “wait list”, so I *may* be joining Pinterest, if they extend me an invitation), which I plan to use to “pin” these recipes all in one place, a place I can then reference for inspiration when I’m menu planning and what not. We’ll see if my usage extends beyond that – I’ve heard that once you start browsing and pinning, it’s hard to stop.

How about you? Do you have a Pinterest account? If you do, what do you use it for?

Also note that, to better feed my food blog obsession, I’ve started a new blogroll to the right to make it easier for me to frequent some of my favorite "food porn" sites. I’m sure I will be adding to this list. I encourage you to browse, too – you’d have to be the most heartless, dedicated, food-hater to not come away with a rumbly tummy and an intense desire to cook something absolutely fabulous!

File Under "Weird Blog Things"

There is a whole culture of blogging out there, one which I did not know existed until recently. Even now I am pretty sure I've just touched the tip of the iceberg. I'm pretty behind the curve, I guess. I didn't know people could make a LIVING off something that is the internet equivalent of keeping a diary, for example. The amount of blog-specific terms that have been spawned in the last several years could fill a Wikipedia entry, and even that said entry is not truly comprehensive. For example, it leaves off the word "meme." Which, technically, is not a blog-specific term as it has its roots in Darwinism and sociology, so maybe not an oversight. Rather than go into a long explanation of what a selfish gene is and how it helped coin this phrase, though appropriate for this website, perhaps, I'll just link you to yet another Wikipedia entry that explains it much more thoroughly than I could. Please, don't read the whole entry as it is quite wordy and your head may explode.

Basically, a meme is an idea or behavior that is passed from person to person through imitation. Like a fashion fad or a chain letter, I suppose. In the blogging world, it has become a way to annoy your fellow blogging friends and relatives. I have been tagged by MommyEsq with a meme that requires me to share "6 UN-spectacular things" about myself with all of you. There are rules I should follow, but I'm going to ignore them. Mainly because the last rule is that you have to "tag" 6 other bloggers to share 6 things about themselves on their blogs, and I don't KNOW 6 other bloggers. Well, I do, but I ONLY know 6, and MommyEsq has already tagged them all. So no sense in going through all the necessary steps, I'll just skip right to the oversharing part.

But first, putting aside the thought that "UN" might stand for United Nations (that would be a hard meme for me to complete, given that I try not to follow international events too closely), I could use a little clarification on the assignment here. Do I take "unspectacular" to mean average, boring, run-of-the-mill? Like:

1. I'm 5'4" (on a really, really good day).
2. I do not dye my hair. I plan to dye my hair as soon as I find my first strand of gray.
3. I like to read, but lately it's nothing high-brow. I get sucked in to chic-lit and Oprah's book club books and then feel ashamed and slightly dumb.
4. The last movie I saw in the movie theater was Be Kind, Rewind, on a girls' day out. Before that, it was The Da Vinci Code, pre-Finn.
5. Today, I am wearing a charcoal gray skirt, a white wrap blouse, and black heels.
6. For the last two years running, I have joked that I am 29, again, on my birthday. I am actually 31. Everyone jokes about their age, right?

Or, does "unspectacular" mean the opposite of spectacular? Do I need to share 6 things I am bad at? Here goes:

1. Running. I huff and puff and manage to do about 11-minute miles. My face turns beet-red. If I ran REALLY hard, for just ONE mile, I might be able to do it in 10 minutes. Pathetic, eh?
2. Cleaning. Before this past weekend, when M. and I made a concerted effort to remove most traces of construction dust from the house, I had not dusted Finn's room in at least 6 months. I can't remember the last time I mopped the kitchen floor. While I wipe up water spills created by me or my spirited young child, which may alleviate SOME of the dirt, I am sure my floor is quite gross.
3. Phone calls. I hate making them, my shy bones take over and render me panicky and mute. Usually only when calling people I don't know or don't normally talk to, but occasionally it extends to those I know.
4. Christmas shopping. I am always very last-minute about my Christmas shopping (clearly I don't take after my mother in this regard), and I have a hard time thinking of things to get people. Heck, I have a hard time thinking of things for people to get me. I may have a list a mile long and tons of ideas in August, but by December I've completely forgotten them all and I haven't purchased a thing.
5. Sending cards. I'm very good at buying them, but terrible at sending them. Sorry to everyone who didn't get a card from me this year - I probably have one sitting for you in a pile somewhere, possibly even written out. I promise, I MEANT to send it!
6. Just about anything requiring hand-eye coordination. Special gym, folks, special gym. 'Nuff said.

There you have it. Not 6, but 12 things about me, you lucky ducks. Since I'm not following the rules right anyway, I tag all of you. Feel free to share something unspectacular about yourselves in the comments.