Hey there, skirt

Although there is a long lineage of oppression and repression associated with the skirt or dress as women's garb, there is also a rich history of this comfortable flattering garment as worn by both men and women. **In this post, I am referring to a twirly skirt, a spinny skirt, nothing tight or short.**

I am just in love with my skirts. I have three of them that I really love. Being a woman who has borne 5 children, there are regions of my body that would take a great great deal of effort to become pants-attractive, and frankly, it just isnt on today's to-do list. Ive said it before and ill say it again: in a great skirt, nobody knows if you have a flat tummy or a pillsbury doughboy pooch and same goes for your booty. I love blue jeans, god knows they are as American and as rock n roll as forever, but I just cant cant cant embrace the mom-butt, I cant I cant I CANT. Plus if they fit when I stand up, then they will dismember me when I sit down--and sitting on the floor, as in, a hundred times a day when raising little kids will find me, fugeddaboudit! OW. So if the jeans are comfortable enough to sit and bend and squat and crawl, then they are ugly or huge when I stand up and choose them in the dressing room---it all is bad.

So, on to skirts. I thought I hated them, or I thought they were for funerals, church, or, a few inches shorter, for the dance clubs, bars and slut-o-ween costumes. I had all of this stuff in my head when I thought about skirts:

one breeze and you just gave everyone a free undie-show

cant play on the floor, cuz of the undie thing

cant play in the jungle gym (back in schooldays) cuz of the undie thing

too cold when it was cold out, too tangly and thigh-chafey when it was hot out

hard to find tights when you are 6 foot one....much harder when you are 6 foot one and overweight

so, when and how did the turn around come about? I guess it was a couple of years ago, maybe 3? I wanted something gentle on my cesarean incision area after Charlie was born and I ordered 2 soft flowy elastic waist skirts from OldNavy.com I was just gonna wear them around the house, with a tshirt and sandals. i instantly loved the look, and the "coverage" of the mystery tummy and mystery butt this 4th baby brought on.... but I was bummed out about undies showing and so DUH I slipped on a little pair of "bike shorts" and voila the best of all worlds was realized right then and there. These are not tight shiny gross Milli Vanilli spandex, just some little softy leggings I guess but that happen to be about knee length or a little shorter. Now I could have the happy freedom and dignity that pants afford us, as well as the cute twirlyness and happy modesty of my new skirts! Also, no thighs scraping, also, no cold breezes, also, no more hunting Scandinavian websites for Extra Tall 1X tights--now all I needed were knee high socks and thus the wonderful look was born.

I will never be without my skirts, nor will I ever be without my little undershorts-thingies. Today's bloomers, I suppose.

I have a beloved skirt that is very long and that everyone who knows me is probably so sick of, and it isnt available any longer, and me and my mom are gonna try to make some ourselves. Cant wait to unveil them, I want about 2 or 3. It is almost floor length and made up of 8 triangular panels.

I still like jeans but none look good right now and none feel even slightly tolerable. If you see me in jeans, know that my incision hurts and that I am slightly irritated.

Even when there is no hope of a morning shower...

...there is always NOXEMA. Remember Noxema, actual Noxema?

I used to put this stuff on my face and leave it on for a long time, sort of a poor (wo)man's version of a mask...I would envision it burning out the zits...and it did help wake me up, that sizzling minty stuff.

Well, so much hip and exciting stuff has come about now for the home face washing, alpha hydroxy acids, scrubbing beads, blackhead eraser machines, biore pore strips...that poor old Noxema kind of seemed like maybe it was bad or --gasp!--"clogging". but I miss it! So I got some and WOO it is great!

When i first wake up, all puffy and horrified looking and feeling, I pull my hair back and put that on. As it fries my senses into morning-dom with its blaring Eucalyptus-y goodness, I make the coffee. When the coffee is done, I put in the cream and sugar, take the hot cup to the bathroom, and scrub off the Noxema with a cold washcloth. Or hot. Depends. Then with my bright pink minty soft face I drink the coffee. Success!

Medium Ash Brown. Sounds gentle. I need it.

Even though spring of '07, when I had the blue hair and the bangs was by far the happiest I have ever been with my looks, e-v-e-r, (and I mean even counting 90 pounds ago, even counting pre-baby having days) I am going brown and staying for a while.

As a symbol of my commitment to healing, rest, and simplicity, coloring my hair a very plain, very subdued dark brown is meaningful to me. I found a Garnier Nutrisse shade called Medium Ash Brown which is just a deep dishwater haircolor. Perfect. Seriously.

I might get whims (who, me?) and I might get bored. But I have TONS of goals coming up for 2009 and beyond, and long hair is one of them and if I cannot stop the bleaching and stripping out of zany colors, I will have to keep chopping it off due to it being too damaged.

I have very fast growing hair, and would love to just settle in to a nice long winter of dark brown, little fun barrette, poof, thats it. I imagine in a year I will have healthy longish jumbly hair and then we will see what is up with bangs and blue and purple, etc. I will get a really nice haircut by then, and see where I'm "at". Maybe I won't want blue hair anymore. Maybe I will be some big yoga hotty hip super funky person with 15 new Mama friends at the school. Its fun to not know. but protecting my hair over the upcoming months feels like an investment in my unknown beauty future, so here's to the Brunette Mama Joy! (....clinking of sippy cups)

Labels, Identity crisis, Finding myself...

I am a homeschooling Mama who just sent her children to school this year.

I am a homebirthing Mama who just had an elective c-section.

I am a vegetarian/natural foods Mama who eats meat again, and waaaay too much processed junk.

I am a cloth diapering Mama who only has a few cloth diapers left, in nobody's size, that are smelly and stained and who spends too much money a week on Pampers but cant afford to buy new cloth ones.

I am a babywearing/attachment parenting Mama who can't wear the baby or the sling even for a minute, whose baby hangs out in her carseat alot. She is happy, and I am right by her, but it IS alot.

I am an alternative hippie punk rock a billy blue and green pigtail'ed, tattoo'ed fierce and righteous politically active combat boot wearin kick ass superstar Mama who is dressed from head to toe in Old Navy and Crocs, kicking no ass whatsoever, barely aware that there is an election, sporting a sensible/matronly/preppy dishwater blonde bob. With no tattoos.

At least I am still breastfeeding. Both the youngest children. 11 years and counting :)

A whole lot to be thankful for

I dont know where to post anything lately, which blog to put what on anymore,but just wanted to give a cheer for spring and for new beginnings, since I have devoted so very much time to griping about winter and sickness and confusions and such!

My husband brought me home roses tonight, on his bike, no less, and the whole family is now outside barbecuing on a nice old time charcoal grill. the smell is so good, music is spilling forth from out (finally!) converted backroom that is now a true "gym/playroom" for the kids, complete with slide and baby pool filled with plastic balls, etc. too fun!

My mom and sister took me out to dinner last night for my birthday, and we had a wonderful time!

We moved our birdfeeder right out front and the wonderful birds that have been coming have entertained us all, all day--Cardinals sparrows pigeons starlings cowbirds bluejays goldfinches grackles mourning doves and a downy woodpecker--so awesome! We worried that being right by the kids and so close to the house would make them scared but they still came, all day, and squirrels, too! This weekend we even had a pair of Mallard ducks, really wacky because we live in a suburb/urban area, right off a busy road, no lakes super nearby...but there they were, waddling around people's yards...so funny!

My pink hair washed out in ONE SHAMPOO, so I colored it brown. It is the only color (besides green, haha) that EVER stays in very well. It looks cool with the little bob/bangs and I guess it was the blond that was really buggin me. I might have to buy some of those little fun color strips and just take a break from the hairdying--I wish I knew the secret to this stuff, but in the meantime, I have to wash my hair so I have to be realistic : ( Maybe someday I will have dreadlocks and then they can be left colored and not washed!

It is a nice day and there is so much pettiness that can bring people down, but also so much beauty and simple goodness. the other night Mickey said at dinner how happy he was that he had arms and legs (!!) and I thought about the sincerity of a 7 year old just bursting out with that, and it lead to a wonderful conversation --not against quadriplegics, mind you-- but about how beyond blessed we all are just to not be dodging bombs, eating food at all, safe from the elements, alive period. good stuff.

There is a Woody Guthrie song that, from the first time I ever heard it, I had always intended on it being what I awoke to each morning. Some people might think it is "sad", but the message just jolts me with a really sensational and --I am at a loss for words--right and good feeling, and I think I am going to figure out a way to play it every morning for real. Coffee music, in my eternal quest to wake up before the kids and be a real live upright Mom....somedays it works, somedays well Charlie just wakes up too darn early! But anyways the song is called Dust Can't Kill Me and it is perfect. I will figure out how to embed songs into the blog and come back and pop it in here but for now, go check it out yourself, it rocks my world.

Also, my work decided to finally pay me and so all is well with our bank account, a lovely thing.

Pink is the new green

Oh, beloved HAIR, how long has it been since I have not discussed this very fab-u-lous subject? (air snaps) Too long.

I have been a fine and upstanding ashy-blonde laydee bob for a few months now, and well, it SUCKED! I felt like most folks would feel if their hair was pink--haha--only guessing here--but-slightly ashamed and embarrassed to be seen by folks we admire, looking like that? SO not me, such a weirdo statement, I really could barely look in the mirror it was getting all brassy and Mrs Bradyish... Eww eww eww. Plus the chick that cut my hair last time did not listen to me at all, big shock, so I am being so so serious when I proclaim that this DIY stuff is truly meant to be for me. So much creativity in my life has come out of feeling forced to do stuff myself--and I hope that down the line my dreams of creating clothing and films and a band or three will follow this same vein. Dissatisfsction with what is currently available, and inventing what I need for myself! Like recipes and fun hairdos right now, and down the line, who knows?

So the other night I meandered over to the Manic Panic website again, and started to look longingly at the rainbow-haired people, how awesome and happy they all looked! I freaked out and cut my hair in the bathroom and slapped all of Greta's hot pink semi-permanent color all over my newly cut hair, showered, cleaned the whole mess up, got dressed and came back to the family anew! They were loving it, and even though the pink isn't very bright at all, MAN do I feel better! Phew! I looked about 50 years old and it stunk. Bla. I shaved off the weird neck flap and cut the bangs that took me 7 months to grow out. SNIP! just like that...I love it. I am not trying to look like a kid, but looking like a granny dog isnt exactly what I was cool with, either. I feel cheerful and true to self now.

There are only a couple of people who hate when I have fun colored hair, and BOY do they hate it. I mean , H-A-T-E--but what can I say? They are in the vast minority, I rarely, rarely see them, and everysingle other person I ever meet, all of my friends, all of my kids, strangers, hairdressers, fashion-fun people, always tell me they like it...plus, the only person who I mega-seriously care about their opinion of how I look, my husband, LOVES it! So fooey. Anyone who actually gets morally worked up about this kind of stuff anyhow, probably needs to r-e-l-a-x and grab a jar of perspective, KWIM? I am sure they do their own things everyday to look and feel the way they want to, and this is what I do : )

I have always been under the impression that any haircolors under the pink/red spectrum are all wrong for me, but I must say that I am pleasantly surprised with how neutral this pink actually is. Given the fact that I have NO pink clothes whatsoever, the old worries about my head matching my clothes too much is no problem. I think I will stick with this for a while, maybe go brighter sometime soon.

Happy B-Day to meeeeeee

Today is my birthday! I am 33! Three was my favorite number my entire life so this one seems extra lucky. We are planning on a nice day out with the boys, parks and such, it is sunny and fifty! WOOHOO! Greta is at Girl scouting events, we miss her.

I got 2 fifty dollar checks and am going to FINALLY get stuff for the homeschool gym. I am not being a martyr-mommy, this is going to be very beneficial to me, much more so than a clever t shirt or whatnot. I am also going out with my mom and sister next week, super excited!

I love how no matter how old I get, when I see "April 3rd" written somewhere, I get a little thrill. I wrote a check dated 4/3 and got all giggly--is it just me, or does anyone else still do this?

Nag Champa makes soap?!

A few weeks ago, I ran into the health food store for some kind of nice new soap, (being pregnant and using daddy's blue man soap seems extra depressing somehow)and I found one little dusty box that really intrigued me. It was SOAP made by Nag Champa, my favorite incense that I buy by the boxfuls everytime I can. I was so excited to think of smelling like incense that I bought it.

I went home and took a bath, (something that always sounds so nice but always ends up being lame because our bathtub is little and weird and the water drains out and the hot water runs out before you want it to and your imagined luxury turns into weird cold beached whale badness. But I digress!) and while I was semi-lounging (freezing and sort of stuck) in the bathtub, looking over my darling little new soap box with the intriguing (Indian?) sayings on it, and I noticed that it was quaintly called Beauty Soap. How innocent, to call it that. No big promises, just beauty! So cute. Now, mind you, this was like month 6 of me having the worst acne of my entire life, not even acne, more like burnt red bumpy face, and this thought crossed my mind, what if I washed my face with the beauty soap? Would it burn and be horrible? I thought of all the gorgeous Indian ladies who never seem to have acne and went for it, strong fragrance and all.

The very next day my skin was WAY clearer. I took out all the facial cleansers with all of their shelf-life extending chemicals and preservatives and poisons and replaced them with the humble little tan bar of Nag Champa. I wash my face with it morning and night, as well as the rest of myself, and I love it. I do not even wear foundation anymore, just a couple of dabs of concealer over some of the alarmingly dark marks from some old zits, and I have just good old skin on my face now, not some rugburnt freak out. It was such a nice surprise, this special little soap. If and when I see them again, I am buying them all up for friends and our family. Cheers to Nag Champa soap!

5 more weeks

Well, about 5 more weeks of work, and the Curling Club will be closed, and life can get back to normal in time for the whirlwind that is a new baby! I am so glad.

I love my job, I really do. I love the people, I love pouring the drinks, I love making the popcorn and I even love doing the dishes in the big industrial 3 compartment sink (isn't it funny how cleaning at someone else's "house" is so different than your own?) and I love getting away from the house and the kids and having a car ride and listening to my Michigan Public Radio all the way there and all the way home.

But, as I have said before, having a household with no Mama is nothing to be taken lightly. Our routines and structures have all but been destroyed, and the toll this has taken upon our family has been hard to forsee and will be slow to rebuild. I am flattered, honored, and sometimes a bit overwhelmed to really realize how much I do and how much me being gone can mess stuff up--and this isn't some bit about a lackluster husband who pretends he doesn't know how to do stuff--Our Daddy cleans and cooks and runs a great, great ship, and we are eternally grateful for him...but its not the same as 2 adults. So we are looking forward to this all being done.

I have said this a million times, but it would be the perfect job if it went until about 9pm. Midnight is just too late, even if I wasn't pregnant. So, I will miss it and I won't. I plan on visiting often next year, and keeping the option open for working there in 2009....but certainly not 3 nights a week.

fake bare minerals

Do you know that makeup that has the big infomercial, the bare minerals? Well, now all the drugstore brands of makeup have a fake kind that is much cheaper and i got one--I got the Maybelline kind, and it is quite nice. Good "coverage" and just an overall skin-tone to the otherwise pale and blotchy warzone that is the 5 month pregnant face of a very sick and tired girl in February. I now could go out of doors and be looked upon in the daylight and not cause screams of horror.

So...I recommend it but have a sneaking suspicion that the kind on TV is better. Mine was 8 bucks and that one is 30 or something...but you do get this fabulous "kit" and all this stuff...ahhh informercials, how you seduce me.

best cards ever

Ok, alot of these are dirty. Dirrrrrrrty. So you have been warned! I didn't make em! (but I wish I did!)

But if you cant deal with pink lacy kinds of insincere stuff, or just have a twistedly hilarious someone in your life who would appreciate amazingly insane e-cards, then you must visit this website and start sending like a maniac. Heck, send some to me!

when will i change the name of this blog to simply, "hair"?

The shortest Ive ever ever had my hair--but I love it!
















The green really did come out, and I got a fun new head out of the whole (or)deal. I used very strong "bleach" powder with 40 level lightener, and then cut alot of it and then used a toner (#303D Clairol Professionals, Champagne Beige) with a 20 level developer. I spent about $11 on all this stuff, and couldn't help but grill Steve about what he thinks it would honestly cost to get my hair completely stripped, colored, toned, washed cut and styled at a salon. "More than eleven bucks?" was his wise guy guess and he was damn right!

Whats fun and really different about this hair-do is that it looks better when it is all lumpy bumpy and messy--I wash my hair at night now and sleep on it wet on purpose--then I use the large curling iron to turn the ends under on the big front part and that's it. I can part it on either side and throw a little barrette in or whatnot. I really like this, I think it is a good one i will stick with for a long time. Somehow I have stumbled upon a look that can have me be "socially acceptable" (eyes roll but true) and still not feel like gross old soul-less random sheeple.

:)

I like makeovers...alot...

I'm gonna try for short blonde hair. I am gonna cut it as short as possible with still looking edgy or cool or whatever not looking like a spinster or a dude will involve. Hopefully cutting off all the hair that simply will not bleach out will be a great start. Once it is cute and blonde and healthy, I will feel alot better about things right now. Then if I want to do like a little pink streak or something (colors in the red-pink spectrum don't have the staying power of the greens and blues) I will do that but not my whole head.

I think it will be a good thing.

I like to switch things around, ALOT. My house, my hair, I really really get a kick out of makeovers, re-do's, but after about 3 weeks or so, the thrill is gone, or I am "used to it" or sick of it, or ready to try something better, newer, more exciting, convinced that the newest idea will be THE awesomest!

I have from time to time, worried about this part of my character: Whoa, doesn't that sound like those people who jump from lover to lover, who get involved in crazy pyramid schemes, who gamble all their money away, who do impulsive things to their own grave detriment?

I'll give a small armchair shrink nod to this momentary assessment but just as quickly I can refute it. I find great, great comfort, wonderful security and deepest love and pride in my 16 year relationship with my husband, in my daily devotion to my children whom I have homeschooled from the get-go, in my commitment to persuing my passion for helping people and my persuit of midwifery...and the idea of gambling makes me shudder....Ihave never been to the casino and I never want to...I just really like art, and I really like creating, and I really really am an astheticist who is very moved and influenced by the way things look. Period. It isnt about vanity--I go grocery shopping in polka dot pajamas, I dont know, I cant think of any examples right now, but this certainly isnt about being vain...

My idea of a fantastic weekend is cutting off my hair, or anybodys hair....coloring it three different shades, and switching around several rooms completely stripping them and replacing everything---and painting!!! I adore painting and if I could afford it, I would either hire painters twice a year to completely repaint my house, or use the money to hire babysitters so I could do it myself :)

So, I like to re do stuff. Sometimes I get it right and it is something I can live with, and sometimes I do makeovers and changes that are a bit harder to undo than I anticipated, like green hairdye over blue hairdye over green hairdye over highlights.

always learning, always creating....hopefully posting new hair pics soon enough...

MamaJoy

I would like to start off this article with a blanket apology to anyone whom my tastes may clash so harshly with your own that you mat feel personally offended. These are MY hang-ups, and they truly do not apply to others. I found thousands of celebrity short hairstyles that looked awesome but gave me the cold chills when i thought about myself having them.

So, ummm, Im a beauty schizophrenic and I hate my green hair now. It is yellowy and minty and freaky. I cannot deal with how much it fades when I wash it, yet how much it wont bleach out when I try. I am pissed off, frankly--my sense of bravado with the haircoloring has taken a ego-blow. I cant get with why or what the #$%ing deal is with this color not coming out when I wanted it to. Being trapped against my will is not my favorite sensation, and I feel annoyed, sad, freaked out about this.

So, do I bore you or amuse you with why I want the green to go byebye? Well, it was great, and it made me feel really adorable and fun. and now, well, I feel weird and like it isnt me right now, and like the people who "dont get" radical color would have no problem understanding, I feel like I am meeting alot of people and traveling in circles right now where what was once fun and adorable and kool is now limiting and depressing and even embarrassing. I swear I am not depressed! It just isnt working for me right now. the color doesnt stay bright, it doesnt go with my maternity clothes, I am just done with it. I dont feel righteous and different and empowered, I feel trapped and like I need a hat. This isnt about wanting anyone to write and say "your hair is great! dont do it!" this is about me needing to get this bleached out professionally and just chill out for a bit.

SO

I am going to need to talk to one of my friends who actually works at a salon and talk about gettting this taken out professionally, hopefully for a babysitting barter and not real money ; )and I know I am gonna have to go short. This is the thing: and the thing where I might make someone sad or whatever, I never EVER want boy hair. No spanky no spunky, it is my nightmare, it symbolizes to me the ultimate thing like that Saturday Night Live sketch of M.O.M. jeans---and it is seriously something Steve and I discussed as our little pre-marriage stuff; for him, no moustache, no mailman socks or tighty whiteys, for me it was no "Sandy Duncan" hair, no trousers/slacks/brown pantyhose scary powdery perfume, you know....

so, how to get through this quickly and painlessly? Tons of barrettes, etc I suppose. I R E A L L Y dont want to be fat pregnant lady with the pin-head. Repeat. this is my hang up but man o man it is a big one.

Here are a couple of cool chicks i found online who have short hair that I could deal with owning. I wish i could pull a Britney and just shave it off, but again, I am just not feeling very punk rock lately, just kind of want to have simple normal hair and not deal with this right now. Sigh.

Rainbow of beautiful, (HAPPY) hair

In a better world, Pantene commericals would feature women in slow motion, under bright lights, whipping and flipping and twirling their hair, their soft and shiny hair....but it wouldnt always be the long blonde curls...it would be long blue curls, long pink curls, short green spikes, glorious black dreads, vibrant orange stubble, bright grey bobs, silver white pin curls, neon red 'fros.....all soft and smelling of the lovely Pantene, all hairdos and haircolors making the woman who sported them feel HAPPY and COOL.

I love my hair and it has never, ever felt softer. It is shiny and nice, and yeah, I can and do whip it around when I think of it. TV is so ridiculous anyhow, why not something like this? I think it would be cool as hell.

No more secrets!

Happy New Year!

So, as you know, I am a bartender at a Curling Club. On December 21st we had, instead of regular Friday night curling, a sort of Holiday party/Potluck event. I have been thwarting the kids' begging me to come to my work for weeks now, mostly out of worry that it goes until Midnight, and them being tired/fussy and with me being there with our only car, there would be no "out", etc if someone freaked out. But for the party, I decided to bring Greta with me. She was SO excited!

We got there and she sat at the bar and had a pepsi with maraschino cherries in it while I set everything up-- lots of opening of fridges, setting up drinks, turning on the keg, prepping the kitchen/pantry, putting out all of the things on the bar, making the popcorn, etc. She brought paper and pen and did some of her drawings. I introduced her to anyone who came by, and they all seemed impressed and charmed by her and she was loving the spotlight ;) as she drew her dragons and goblins and eyeballs and rabbits and cats and people genuinely were asking her "did you draw that??" she was loving it.

Soon some of my real friends there came in, and were smitten with her. They couldnt believe she was TEN and wanted to take her out with them! They were cracking up at her sarcastic/witty observations, but, unlike some of the things she might have done last year to get a laugh, I didnt feel nervous that she would say anything "weird". she has got a good sense of what is outrageous enough to get a laugh but not so over the top as to put people off (a skill many adults do not have a good handle on I must say!)

Soon some of my friends took her away to play a fun board game called "Smarty Party" and that was about the last I saw of her all night! I kept mosey-ing over there to see if she was becoming "this little kid who is wrecking our game" and they were like NO SHE GOT US 5 POINTS DONT TAKE HER AWAY!! I was so proud and she was having a blast.

Now, I had not told anyone at work that I was pregnant yet--first I was just following the rules of etiquette that you dont go around announcing your embryo to any old person, because, lets face it, if you have a miscarriage, aka, "it doesn't work out", then it is all weird when they ask you how its going and you have to not cry and its all weird and sad. Well, that, and I think the timing was totally weird to get pregnant the millisecond I start a new job and wanted them to totally love me before I go busting out big news and possibly special requests, although I do not plan on needing any special requests, some people still do that for pregnant ladies, no carrying out the trash at midnight to the scary dumpster alone, etc.

Well, Greta was chitty chatting away with my three "closest" female friends at the club, and they were asking her "now, you have 2 sisters? 2 brothers?" and she said, "no, no, I have three brothers and Mama is pregnant and I hope it is a girl" and my face turned beet red and they just dropped their jaws and looked at me and I smiled and they all did the classic squealy "OH MY GOSH CONGRATULAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JOY! HOW FAR ALONG ARE YOU OH MY GOSH I WANNA HAVE A BIG FAMILY I AM SO JEALOUS THAT IS SO AWESOME YOU ARE SO LUCKY YOU LOOK SO GREAT BLABLABLABLA"

It was so neat to be that girl, like the ones on TV,where the response is 100% "hooray". I felt like I was in the convertible in the pageant, waving a cupped hand, the pregnant super star, just for once, so cheesy to admit, and so so fun. So Greta dropped the bomb for me, and the response was totally positive. It was actually perfect, as I was expecting Maternity clothes for xmas and they way they are cut, you go from looking a little chubby to very much pregnant, and I was getting to the point where I didnt know how or when to tell them and was stressing about it. I was told that I am not allowed to lift any kegs anymore (I never have had to yet, and they probably weigh less than Casey who I carry many times in the day but I appreciated it still) and was told that gossip spreads fast and that i dont have to worry about telling anyone now! Cool by me, I just wanted it to be out there so I could continue to do my job without carefully planning baggy shirts each night :)

I have been off work for almost 2 weeks and it has been NICE! I have gotten to put my children to bed each night, gotten a major wrangle on the laundry (not a single dirty thing in any hamper, lots of clean to fold) and been cooking nice dinners again, too. (Steve cooked last night, the best spaghetti ever known to humankind) I have been going to sleep around 10, and feeling humanish at 6 am when the first peeper wakes up.

I am happy to go back tonight, but still hate the hours. i am looking forward to seeing everyone and to being no longer concerned about secret-pregnancy. Phew. Greta wants to come back with me sometime soon, but we are trying to get them back on a more normal sleep schedule after the holidays, sickness and odd schedules keeping them up late and having differing wake times and such, it is a burden to have 3,4,5 different breakfast times!

Wish me luck as I start back up at work!