mamajoan | Entries tagged with clothes

Successfully acquired shoes. May not manage to break them in by tomorrow night. Wore them home; somewhat painful, not too bad. alas.

Days worked this week: 4
Lunches eaten on workdays this week: 4
Free lunches eaten on workdays this week: 3
Workdays remaining this week: 1
Free lunches expected remaining this week: 1
Total free lunches this week: 4/5
Free lunches expected next week: 3/5

ok, gotta go scare up some dinner, more later perhaps

Current Mood: rushed

The other day I received a very gentle and non-hostile request to
cut down on my non-work-related Internet use while at work, so you
will be seeing less of me here, I guess. At least until I start getting
more rest on a regular basis and thus have any energy for posting at
night. Which hopefully will occur sometime before Ruthie starts
kindergarten. (Oh my god. If Ruthie is still waking to nurse every 2 hours at
night in kindergarten, I will shoot myself.) alas.

BTW, that was in the context of an informal 6-month review (six months since I was made
permanent here) which was otherwise quite glowing. Everyone loves me and is happy
with my work etc., so yay for that.

Also, you should pity me because I have to go shoe shopping today at lunch. I realize
that for many chicks, if they wrote the previous sentence it would be facetious, but not me. I hate shoe
shopping. But I need shoes for our company party tomorrow night. (I mentioned the party,
right? It's at some kind of hot nightspot in the city. There will be a DJ. We have been
encouraged to submit our song requests. Yikes.) I went down into the basement
the other night and looked in my "someday I'll wear it again" box, and found a dress that I don't wear because it doesn't
allow any boobular access, but that fits well and will be appropriate for the party. But I need shoes to go with it. So, shopping. sigh.
This is the last line that the lynx LJ posting client gives me, so I guess this is the end of the post.

Current Mood: grumpy

1. At lunchtime I thought of some more words that Ruthie says, so now the list is up to 98 -- and make that an even hundred if I count Boots/boots and mouse/mouse as separate words. wahoo. And yes, I have this list in a text file, separated out by category. And yes, I am Geek Mama, why did you ask?

2. Also I meant to mention here that my company is having a beginning-of-year party (aka a "we don't want to have a Christmas Party because that's not PC, so we'll have it in January and call it the 2008 kickoff" party) a week from tomorrow. At some kind of club in Boston, with food and alcohol and a DJ. This will be both fun and horrifying in equal measures, you mark my words. Anyway, the real point is that I have to find something to wear. Ye Gods! This is not going to be pretty.

3. I actually got quite a bit of cleaning done -- for me, anyway -- in the last few days of my vacation. And although it's a little disheartening (I need eleven days of vacation in order to get one or two full days' worth of cleaning in), it's also motivating. I can really see/feel how much better I feel when the place starts to get a bit less cluttered. And the more I think about it and read books/blogs about decluttering and "simple living," the more I can see that all the stuff cluttering up my space is, well, not stuff that I can bear to part with, but certainly stuff that I could stick in a box in my basement and not have to deal with. I know that's not quite in the spirit of "simple living," but it's the solution that would/will work for me. Of course, I'll hate myself for it if/when I move out, but ah well.

Anyway, the point being that I'm both motivated to do more, and lacking in energy for same; and, as always, unwilling to do too much housework that involves ignoring/neglecting the kids. Yes, I get them involved as much as I can, but they lose interest way too soon. ;) Still, it's a work in progress and we'll just see whether it actually goes anywhere.

oops, gotta run, more later.

Current Mood: dorky

The kids' new coats from Land's End arrived yesterday and they are pretty awesome. Both kids seem to like them too although of course they're a little stiff (the coats, not the kids ;) ) and quite big (intentional) and thus will take some getting used to. Still, they seem to be a hit, so yay. I'll try to get pictures if possible.

I'd type more but we're kind of in the middle of stuff. uh, which is a nice way of saying the kids don't give me any more uninterrupted time than this. I've just typed the last three paragraphs with Isaac saying over and over "are you done? are you done? you are done right now!" in one ear and Ruthie whining wordlessly in the other. better go. lol

Current Mood: pleased
Current Location: home
Current Music: are you done? are you done? are you done?

Ruthie's teeth have been appearing in very odd ways. The typical pattern is the bottom front two teeth first, then the top front two, and then they fill out in sequence from front to back of the mouth. Well, Ruthie got the bottom and top front two, then the next two on top ... and then a bunch of rear teeth (molars). Leaving her with gaps on all four sides. Then she got another one in front bottom, so now she has four on top and three on bottom, and one or two in the back on each side. It is weird. I feel like Isaac had all his teeth by this age, but I can't say for sure, but I'm pretty sure. So it's funny because Ruthie got her first two teeth long before the age where Isaac had gotten his, but then she slowed way down and now is "behind." Plus it makes her mouth look pretty funny. Plus she's not able to eat some things as well because of the gaps -- like carrots for example. But whatever! I'm sure it will all straighten out eventually.

Isaac is allowed to eat one piece of Halloween candy per day, and of course, he always wants to eat it first thing in the morning. I allow this, because I don't want to get into a "you have to eat healthy food before you can have candy" thing. So now we have gotten into the unfortunate situation where I'll say "Let's go have breakfast" and Ruthie runs into the kitchen yelling "Dandy! Dandy!" (which is how she says candy). *facepalm*

Incidentally, I have given Ruthie a few tries of various types of chocolate candy and she hasn't really cared for any of them. Is this my child??

In Isaac news, it has been four nights since his immunizations and he has burst into tears each night when taking off his shirt/sweater to get ready for bed. He claims that it hurts, and will hold his arm gingerly against his side and insist that I take his shirt off for him. Certainly some of this is end-of-day tiredness, but I think it is also still a bit sore. (Also I think he's a little phobic about removing his band-aids. The first day, when one of them had halfway come off, I pulled it off the rest of the way and it hurt him and now he's anxious about that. I have to promise not to remove a band-aid before he'll let me take his shirt off.) The one shoulder does look a teeny bit red, but not too bad. I'm not all that worried because throughout the day he's using the arm perfectly normally. Still, if he continues to freak out at undressing time for many more days, it might be something to mention to the doctor. We're seeing her again on Wednesday when we take Ruthie for her checkup. (and yes, Ruthie will be getting shots too, of which she is blissfully unaware!)

Land's End is having a sale on outerwear through today, so last night I blew $140 on winter coats for the kids. If you can believe it, I have actually NEVER bought a winter coat for either of them. We've been so lucky with hand-me-downs! So I figured now that I have a little extra money, it's a good time to buy them each a really good quality, warm coat that will take them through the coldest parts of winter and hopefully last at least two winters -- maybe three in Isaac's case. They also need hats and boots (and Ruthie needs mittens) but I'll get those somewhere locally for cheaper. A high-quality, expensive hat or mitten is not quite as important as a coat.

Our weekend was nice. I got to hold a 4-month-old baby at

gosling and

ceo's birthday party. Then she started making that little "want to nurse" noise that babies make, and I got all nostalgic (and handed her back to her mom ;) ). Ruthie still makes a toddler version of that noise, but when accompanied by firmly yanking at the hem of my shirt, it's not quite as cute. ;) We also spent some time with other friends on Sunday and did some all-important grocery shopping. whee. ;)

Current Mood: busy

My mom had her back surgery this morning. The doctor called me afterward and said it all went fine -- exactly as expected. That's good to know. She should be ready for phone calls this afternoon, and I'll call and find out whether she's up for visitors or not. Then tomorrow I'll be going to pick her up from the hospital and take her home; and she has a friend lined up to stay the night in case she needs anything.

whew, so that's a relief. Not that I really thought anything would go wrong, but you never know.

In other news, I know I have mentioned how awesome LibraryThing is. But if the idea of entering in all the books you own is daunting (and believe me I understand that -- but personally I found it fascinating and addictive -- call me weird; or maybe call me a closet librarian ;) ), maybe you'd care to join up for the free unpublished books? ;) They have an "Early Reviewers" program whereby they send you free copies of books that are about to be published or have been published fairly recently. They strongly encourage you to write reviews of these books, and writing a review increases your chances of snagging a book from the next round -- but they don't police the content of your review, and if you don't review, it's not like they demand the book back or anything.

Anyway, so I have apparently been selected to receive a copy of Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving into Liquid War by Pepe Escobar. It sounds interesting, although probably damn depressing too. ;) I certainly look forward to receiving and reading it.

In clothing news, yesterday I stopped into the Gap (there's a Gap in the building where I work and I often walk through it on the way out) and tried on several pairs of super-comfy sweatpants. But alas, the Mediums were just the tiniest bit too tight for office-appropriateness, and the Larges were just the tiniest bit too loose. :( I was bummin'. I tried to talk myself into buying a Medium on the theory that I had my period and thus was bloated so they wouldn't be too tight in another week -- but I wasn't buying it, even from myself. ;) Snif. Oh well, the hunt for properly-fitting pants continues.

In Ruthie news, she has grown very attached over the past couple of months to a teddy bear, which is a blue Beanie Baby with a peace sign on his chest. We call him Peace Bear. She carries him everywhere, chews on his nose a lot, gets mad if you try to take him away at mealtime, and sleeps with him as her comfort object at daycare. Apparently all the other toddlers know that Peace Bear is Ruthie's bear, and if they find him lying around, they grab him and run over to give him back to her. :) Anyway, so I went on ebay looking for a spare Peace Bear (everyone says you should have an extra of your child's comfort object, just in case) and discovered that apparently they are quite popular/common. I scored another one for $5 including shipping. It arrived yesterday. When I first took it out of the package to show Ruthie, she looked very confused, LOL, but then she grabbed it and put both of them into her toy shopping cart and pushed them around for a while. This morning she found the grocery cart again, still with the two Peace Bears in it. She picked up the new one, snuggled him for a moment, put him back, picked up the old one, snuggled him for a moment, and carried him around. :) My plan is to let her play with the new one until he's approximately as beat-up as the old one, and then put one of them away in a drawer somewhere as backup in case of Peace-Bear-related emergency.

In related news, the other day when Ruthie was pushing the grocery cart around and got it stuck in a corner, I said, "do you need some help?" and she said "peez!" ♥ Isaac's 4 and I'm still trying to get him to say "please" unprompted. LOL!!

Current Mood: hopeful

Mmmmm. Did I mention yet how much I love delicata squash? Also, squash is fun to say. I'm just sayin'.

I am giving serious thought to renaming my journal 'mamajoan'. I just don't really feel any connection to the name 'chlaal' any more. (Since I know someone will ask, here's a link to a post wherein I explain the meaning, origin, and pronunciation of 'chlaal'.) On the other hand, will I come to regret choosing a name that defines me only through my kids? Must ponder. In my copious free pondering time, of course.

In other redefining-myself news, I've been pining for Stacey and Clinton of "What Not to Wear." I feel like my wardrobe needs a total overhaul and I don't have the money, but more importantly, the know-how to do it. I'm frustrated with my current dearth of pants that fit properly, and with how hard it is to find ones that do. Apparently I'm a weird shape with my belly-pooch and my wide hips and short legs. Jeans seem to come in "just the tiniest bit too tight to be comfortable" and "will sag halfway off my butt" and nothing else. I just wish I had some clue of what kinds of styles I should be buying, and then I could find one place that had those, and I could buy a bunch of them in different colors, and then there I would be. You know? But of course, part of my problem is the utter lack of time for trying things on. Last night I actually left chorus rehearsal an hour early to sneak some jeans-shopping time...tried on five pairs and none of them fit. I ended up buying two sweaters even though I had walked in saying "I'm not going to look at anything except pants." SIGH.

Anyway...just another thing that's on my mind. Stupid clothes. Stupid body. Stupid culture insisting that I cover up the stupid body with stupid clothes. ;)

In totally unrelated news, I tried buying some bubblegum on the theory that the reason I always get the munchies at the office is just my mouth needing something to do. That didn't work out. I chewed for a bit, blew a few bubbles, then my tongue got tired (insert boring lewd joke here) and I tossed the gum and got some pretzels. heh. mmm, pretzels.

( update on the preschool situation )

Are my posts the boringest ever? Srsly? Is my life the boringest ever? Discuss. If you're still awake, that is.