Bags by AnnieG. Apron Winner
I dear! I forgot to draw a winner for the Bags by AnnieG. apron giveaway. I have no one to blame but myself, and maybe too many late nights up feeding the baby. Thanks to the wonderful reader who reminded me this morning.
The lucky winner is Tina. (I sent you an email.)
There’ll be another giveaway coming in a couple days. This time something for those summer babies out there.
I’m Awake…I Think
I’m still here, really I am! I didn’t mean to go almost a whole week with out posting.
Where does all the time go?
Between feeding Wade, changing Wade, feeding him again and sleeping whenever I can the days get away from me.
Even though I’m up half the night.
Then there’s David who needs attention once in a while. And the endless pile of laundry.
It has been nice to have Dave home more now that he’s self-employed again. He keeps David entertained when he can, and usually gets up with the boys in the morning so I can sleep a couple more hours. I’d be a walking zombie if it weren’t for that extra sleep each day.
Wade doesn’t seem to understand that Mommie doesn’t like working third shift.
During the day Wade sleeps for three hour stretches, wakes up to eat three or four ounces of formula , then goes back to sleep. At night he’s up every two hours and just snacks on a couple ounces here and there.
All the advice I got about straightening out his days and nights was the same. During the day put him in a bright room, and make lots of noise. So I kept Wade in the bassinet in the living room, and with David around the noise was no problem. He snoozed through it all, very peacefully.
In fact, all that seemed to result in was Wade only sleeping well if it was bright and noisy. I considered installing a TV in his bedroom, a flat screen on the wall right above the crib. SpongeBob seems to sooth him.
Instead I chucked the advice and started letting him sleep in his crib, in his room, all the time, in relative silence. The last couple nights he’s done better.
If it would quit storming I might actually get some sleep too. We had storms blow through two nights in a row. There aren’t any tornado sirens where we live out in the middle of nowhere, so we have one of those weather radios that sounds an alarm when there’s severe weather in the area. It went off five times Thursday night. Every time just as I was falling back to sleep.
I had a hard time weighing my desire to live against my desire to smash that weather radio.
Of course neither the storms nor the alarm bothered Wade, and he had his first good night.
Let’s see, in other news…
I’m working on losing the baby weight.
From Wade.
Once that’s gone I’ll work on the baby weight that’s still leftover from David.
Dave mowed a path through the field behind the house so I can walk for exercise. There aren’t any sidewalks out here, and I’m terrified to walk down our road because half-ton pick-up trucks fly by going 80 miles an hour.
Life is not slower in the country.
I took the dogs out back with me thinking they’d love it. By the time I was finished they were both lying on the porch waiting for me.
Lazy canines.
I’m still on the Sling and Swaddle Journy and twittering about it as @mom_25. We’re having a hard time though because Wade doesn’t care much for the sling or the Miracle blanket.
Twitter is proving to be great entertainment while I’m feeding Wade or holding him and praying that he goes back to sleep. You can find me on there as @mommiedaze also. It’s a lot easier to type 140 characters with one hand than it is to blog.
The one question I have is why are the rest of you people awake and on Twitter at 3 a.m. when you don’t have a baby keeping you up?
I really wonder what moms did before Twitter and blogging? This is why no one is watching soaps any more.
You can become a fan of Mommie Daze on Facebook now too. Why? Because all the cool kids are doing it, and I am nothing if not one of the cool kids.
O.K. I was never one of the cool kids, but be my fan anyway.
There will now be a brief pause as I get out my soapbox and climb up on it…
(Can you even buy soap in a box big enough to hold an adult these days?)
Finally, I have to mention Iran just for a minute. Yes, I’m not totally out of the loop. I do see the news once in a while.
It’s amazing to watch all that unfold, and hear the talk of revolution. It’s inspiring and makes me think this is how we should feel about democracy and freedom and choice. If only we were half that passionate in this country. I’m not talking about taking to the streets and rioting, but if we took a little more action when we were dissatisfied, well, maybe we could change some things too.
I’m just sayin’…
Save the Teddy Bear, Save the World
David watches Disney’s The Incredibles all the time, and loves Spiderman. It was no surprise when he came up with his own superhero alter-ego, Mad Magnet, last fall when he got his hands on a giant horseshoe magnet.
About a week after Wade was born, David called him The Wade-A-Nator one night. Then the next day he informed me that the Wade-A-Nator was sidekick to Mad Magnet.
It was so funny, I couldn’t resist egging him on. David did his own wardrobe, but I had to assist Wade a little.
A List Because I’m Too Tired for a Real Post
1. Wade was a month old on, uhm, well, I don’t remember which day exactly because I haven’t slept more than two hours in a row for a month, but it was sometime this week.
2. I’m 34 years old, but this week I feel like I’m 100. I think I’m too old for this. Wade if you’d been born 16 years ago I could have partied all night with you. Your 30-something Mommie needs to sleep.
3. Let’s get a couple things straight Wade. See that big, bright, yellow ball in the sky? That’s the sun. When you can see that, you are supposed to be awake. When it’s black outside, and there is no big, bright, yellow ball in the sky, you are supposed to be asleep. Capiche?
4. Dave and I survived the first week of him working from home again without killing each other.
5. My hormones are still wildly out of control from being pregnant. (I was blubbering into my soda for almost the entire hour and a half of Up.) I can not guarantee that domestic bliss will continue.
6. I took advantage of Dave being home more. The basement’s finally clean. Clear the calender for the garage next week, Honey. I don’t think we have the same idea about what “working from home” means.
7.I was trying to get to 10, but I can’t come up with anything else. I’m going to bed. I can get at least an hour in before Wade wakes up for the all-night feeding frenzy.
Because michigansucks.com Was Already Taken
I actually wrote this post on Saturday when I was a little cranky. I was also kind of angry. I didn’t hit the publish button right away.
Here’s some bloggy advice. If you write a post when you’re mad, refrigerate it over night before dishing it up. You might find once you’re chilled, that you really didn’t want to put that out there on the Word Wide Web forever.
I almost didn’t publish this at all. But while I’d like to hide behind my computer and pretend that I am always happy and at peace regardless of what life doles out, that wouldn’t be honest. I know we’re not the only ones this happened to this year. Maybe it will make somebody else feel better to know she’s not the only one who flipped out.
So here’s the edited, slightly less bitter version of my original post. But I had to keep the title, because, well, it’s just funny.
Warning: This post contains anger, sarcasm and even some political commentary you may not agree with.
Dave got laid off from his job at a Michigan auto parts supplier Friday. Surprised? No. It’s been touch and go for a while. GM filing for bankruptcy was the proverbial last nail in the coffin.
A big thank you goes out to the US Government, Financial Institutions, US Auto Makers and all the other morons who messed up our economy, and brought us to this point. And you know what? Republicans, Democrats — you’re all pretty much at fault.
This fiasco crosses party lines.
It wasn’t enough to make a disaster of the banking industry? You had to take an already messed up auto industry and screw it up even more?!
In Michigan we’re suffering the brunt of this. You can’t imagine the number of foreclosed homes and empty businesses. They say our unemployment rate will hit 20 percent before it’s all said and done. The population is shrinking because people are fleeing this black hole. We’ll be right behind them if any of the out-of-state job leads Dave has pan out.
To add insult to injury Michigan’s gas prices are the highest in the country right now.
I seriously looked to see if michigansucks.com was available, but someone else snapped it up already. And .net, and .org. Even michigansucks.wordpress.com is taken.
I guess I’m not the only one feeling that sentiment.
I listened to the press conference where the GM bigwigs tried to make it sound like everything was going to be fine. I got that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. The kind where you know things have irreparably changed for forever.
We’ve come to a crossroads in this country, and I’m really not sure we’ll ever be the same.
My generation will be the first to not do better than our parents. Even the depression era generation managed to pull it out in the end.
I also listened to Obama talk about how we all had to sacrifice. With what? Our jobs and financial well-being? So that the government can carry out it’s plan to fix the economy?
Government is not the answer. Letting them control every aspect of our economy, and relying on them to provide for us will not fix things. Only hardworking, individual Americans and good old-fashioned ingenuity will get us there. So how about the government stops tying the hands of business owners with ridiculous taxes and regulations?
Instead of “Take this job and shove it,” I say, “Take this government and shove it!” (O.K. I almost deleted that too, but again, just too funny.)
You want to talk about sacrifice? The owner of the company my husband worked for has done all he could for months to keep the doors open, and people working. I don’t know if you could find a better person to work for.
Which just makes this all the more sad.
We’re better off than a lot of people. We have a safety net to fall back on. Dave is back working full time for the family business. As long as it can survive in this lousy economy. Our biggest loss in all of this is our health insurance. Dave is self-employed again, and we can’t afford the hundreds of dollars a month private health insurance costs.
But that still doesn’t make me a proponent of nationalized health care.
Oh, Lord, please don’t let the government wreck that industry too!
Speaking of the Lord, I know he’ll take care of us and provide.
I’m just mad right now, and sometimes you just need to be mad for a while.
I’m pretty O.K. today.
But I still think Michigan sucks.
Just a little.
Girls Just Wanna Win Swag: Bags by AnnieG. Apron Giveaway
This week’s featured company is Bags by AnnieG. The store’s owner and designer AnnieG. specializes in creating vintage, shabby and retro style aprons, handbags, market bags and laundry bags for women and little girls. I asked Annie a few questions about her business.
What inspired you to design these products and start your own business?
I’ve loved sewing ever since I can remember. I got sidetracked for many years when I had to go to work and raise kids. About fifteen years ago I took a quilt class and fell in love with it. That’s where I learned to pay attention to detail! While learning to quilt, another class was being offered on fabric handbag making. I took it, loved it, and that was the beginning of my passion. I started my website thinking all I’d be offering would be handbags and totes. Well……….my shabby chic loving daughter bought me a book by Christina Strutt called Romantic Home Sewing. I made the classic apron that’s illustrated and then made a few more for my daughter to sell in her shop. Before I knew it, I was completely hooked by aprons and all they represent. Now aprons are by far the best seller on Bags By Annie G.
How do you fuel your creativity?
My creativity is fueled in so many ways, but primarily by memories of being in the kitchen as a little girl in the late 40’s and 50’s. Ours was a house filled with mostly women…..Mom, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt…and not one of them would think of doing anything in the kitchen without an apron on. I can remember almost every apron that was worn and that’s what I draw on when I’m creating a pattern for one of my vintage style aprons. I also get inspired by some of the terrific magazines that are out there now as well as books on the history of the apron in American culture.
What sets your store and products apart from the others out there?
I think what sets my products apart from others is, like I said before, the attention I pay to detail and the fact that not only are my creations pretty to look at, they are very practical and easy to care for, two things that are very important to today’s busy mom. Just a couple examples would be that I pre-wash all the fabrics and I do not use trims that will not hold up in a washer or dryer. I make every order as if I were making it for myself and I take a lot of pride in what I do.
Annie’s attention to detail is evident in one of her favorite aprons, The Blue Barefoot Roses Vintage Style Chef Apron.
The apron has simple classic lines that never go out of style. The pockets are lined, turned down, and finished off with vintage buttons. I use vintage buttons wherever possible for my aprons and my handbags. The neck and waist ties are plenty long to make this apron adaptable for most sizes and I’ve finished this project off with my signature bow on one of the neck ties. Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t make a fashion statement in the kitchen!
Win It!
Annie is giving away your choice of an apron from her shop to one lucky reader. To enter visit Bags by AnnieG., then come back here and leave a comment on this post with your favorite item (not mentioned above) from the store. The giveaway is open to internationally. Enter by Midnight June 16th.
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We Were Just Missing Alice and the Mad Hatter
Most of us have little bits and pieces that we’ve collected and held on to over the years; souvenirs, scrapbooks, an old favorite T-shirt. I’ve got a few boxes filled with things like that up in the attic. I guess I hold on to it all for sentimental reasons. I doubt my children will actually want the ticket stub from my first visit to the Sears Tower in six grade. Even though I’ve kept these things, most of them I could part with pretty easily if I had to.
One keepsake I have that I do cherish is the china tea set from my childhood. I don’t recall exactly what, but it was a reward for some skill I mastered. I remember going to the store with my mom to pick it out. I think I was about four, so it must be almost 30 years old. I’m kind of proud of the fact that after all these years the entire set is still intact, save one missing plastic spoon.
I keep it in a little cabinet on the wall. (O.K. That’s a little dusty, isn’t it? Good thing this isn’t a post about housekeeping.) I hoped to pass it on to my own daughter someday. Well, the daughter hasn’t come along yet, but David started begging me a year ago to play with it. I said no, of course terrified that he’d break it, and because I wasn’t sure boys should have tea parties.
David asked again the the other day to play with it. I was feeling a little guilty about the lack of attention he’s received since Wade arrived. I thought sitting down with him to have a tea party would be some good one on one time, and maybe a chance to teach a few table manners. It made his day when I told him he could play with my precious little dishes.
Tea parties with boys aren’t quiet the same as with girls. There were no dolls or teddy bears for guests. But we were joined by an imaginary E.T. And David’s idea of setting the table for tea was, in typical boy fashion, to initially line up all the little cups and plates in a neat row.
We sipped water, and string cheese was our main course.
David had fun pouring water from the little pot. We sat and talked. Mostly about E.T. I don’t know that he learned many manners, but he had a good time. And nothing got broken.
You can see above that the dog also joined us. She wanted in on the cheese action.
As we sat there with our little cups of water, I wondered if someday David and I wouldn’t sit again at the same table. Only he’d be grown, and we’d talk over mugs of steaming coffee. Perhaps Wade would join us too. The conversation might be about the antics of their own children.
For now the dishes are tucked away, safely back in their cabinet, waiting to come out again for another special day when David and I need to just slow down and talk over a cup of water.
