Category Archives: Ordinary Life

Ordinary Life, Parenting, Tuberous Sclerosis

“You’ll feel more rested if you get up at the same time every day.” LIES!

August 8, 2013 Rebecca Gaunt 1 Comment

I’m having a terrible time keeping up with the blog now that I’m doing some other writing for meager pay to support my eBay habit. I’m trying, I swear! If I could just become a morning person, I could get so much more done. But almost 17 months of consistently getting up at 8 a.m. and I still can’t function properly until 10. Grover taunts me every morning with his chipper, go-getter attitude.

The big news is that Connor just started crawling the other day while we were in Blowing Rock, NC with my parents. He’s not doing it consistently, still doing a lot of commando crawling, but at least we know he can do it now. We are very excited. The cats are not. He’s also now demanding far too much attention after having Chris’ parents stay with us for the half a week leading up to the trip, and then another half week with my parents.

I think Connor would really enjoy having pet ducks in our backyard. Chris disagrees. — I think Connor would really enjoy having pet ducks from Blowing Rock in our backyard. Chris disagrees.

Meeting the giant doggie at Mast General Store in Boone, NC.

He also just added aquatic therapy to his regimen.

We are so loving how attentive he is to what is going on around him these days. He had a delightful meeting with the Chick-fil-A cow recently, and also cheered up some not-so-enthusiastic waitstaff at Texas Roadhouse during their obligatory hourly line dance. His clapping and enthusiasm had the embarrassed, Man-I-really-need-the-money staff smiling.

I like ladies. I like music. This is some sweet line dancing.

We had an appointment with his neurologist this morning and I requested we try name brand seizure meds (Trileptal and Keppra), in place of the generics since we continue to have breakthrough seizures. Many people swear by them as generics can vary in potency so much, so I’m hoping it makes the difference. I’m sure insurance will be delighted. But after they just sent me the private info of three people by accident…well, let’s just approve it, seeee (in gangster voice).

In other awesome news, as Connor was approved for the Katie Beckett Medicaid Deeming Waiver, we were then also able to apply for HIPP. which is a Medicaid program that helps pay your private insurance premiums in cases of serious health issues, as it is in their better interest to make sure you keep you private insurance, than lose it and resort to full Medicaid. We were approved, and this allows us a lot more income to put towards any other needs we want to meet for him. And my wine. I’m so thankful that Connor’s Early Intervention program people have been so good at making us aware of these programs. So if you have a kid in EI, make sure you have applied for Katie Beckett, and if you have done that, make sure you apply for HIPP (I don’t know what the variation is from state-to-state. I know we are lucky that such services are easily attainable here in Ga compared to what I hear about some other states, particularly in the midwest).

As for the house, I kid you not, we told our realtor toward the end of the month that we were taking it off the market July 31. We finally got an offer on July 27. So this house is under contract and we are under contract on our new house, as well. We will finally have a room we can dedicate to Connor’s mess–I mean, toys.

Don't feel bad! You've been a good house. — Don’t feel bad! You’ve been a good house.

I swear this has been the most humid Georgia summer of all time, but others have told me I’m insane and it’s always this bad. At any rate, I’m ready for fall and to wear my new scarf that my sister-in-law Donna made for me from Chris’ old shirts.

The King of Izod has some extra space in his closet now.

Also, two events I want to make sure TSC families are aware of in the area:

On Saturday September 8, we are having a family bowling event. Cost is $10 per person, which includes shoes and unlimited bowling. Food will be provided. Details here.

On Thursday October 10, we are having an educational meeting on financial planning for your children with special needs. Details here.

Ordinary Life, Parenting, Tuberous Sclerosis, Uncategorized

There’s even room for a beer fridge on the porch!

June 25, 2013 Rebecca Gaunt 1 Comment

So that neighbor I told you about? The one the put his house up for sale? They got a contingent offer of some sort. So I’m annoyed they got one first, but at least they are now out of the running. Plus, according to my realtor, they aren’t set to close until the end of July. At least if they accepted a lowball offer, and I have no idea if they did, it won’t affect our comps. I’ll be curious to see what they get though. We attempted a walk through with our realtor, but when we got there, there was a note that said not to enter without showing instructions. Uncertain what that meant, and if there was an alarm, we didn’t go in as we were unable to get the realtor on the phone (the house is empty). I can tell you there is a lot of rotten wood on the porch.

In the meantime, we continue to have plenty of showings, but no luck yet. I’m starting to hate the Autumn Lake neighborhood near us which shares our floor plan, and has a ton of homes on the market. I know one of our weekend viewers bought one over there because it had a master on main. She didn’t even know she wanted that until she saw it. It was otherwise very similar. Stupid, stupid Autumn Lake.

We’ve had three people come back for repeat showings. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. One of those was also this weekend. We were in her top 3…number 3 of course. She ended up choosing a house on a lake even though at the original showing, she was so afraid of snakes coming up, that she wouldn’t even go in the back. Well, alrighty then.

We went house hunting yesterday for the first time and of course I fell in love with a house. It has everything I want, though the price requires some negotiation. So far, I have been the chill one about having the house on the market, while Chris has been very antsy and agitated. Now I’m irritated. Let’s move this along already. I WANT that house. It’s more space, a screened in porch, and all the upgrades I could want.

In happier news, Connor is crushing it–life, I mean. He just got himself into a sitting position on his own for the first time a little bit ago. He’s babbling mamamamama, too. His newfound mobility has proven to be quite the life adjustment for us. I know everyone goes through this, but we’ve had 15 months to develop lazy habits about where we could set him down. Now his new hobby is hurtling himself off furniture. First it was the couch, which startled him, but he was okay. Then he made it off our bed, landed in a sitting position, and thought it was hilarious. But then it was the changing table, and while he wasn’t hurt, I think he scared the crap out of himself. I know I certainly stopped breathing when I heard the thunk. All I did was turn away to grab a diaper! So now I have to keep reminding myself that he cannot be left on anything at all even for a second.

I’m also excited that after years of trying to have kids, my friends Giovana and Damien are down in Colombia to pick up their son David. More on that when they return in 5-8 weeks…

Gio and Damien's mustache-themed baby shower. — Gio and Damien’s mustache-themed baby shower.

Ordinary Life, Parenting

To Quote Ice Cube, “It Was A Good Day!”

June 5, 2013 Rebecca Gaunt 1 Comment

Yesterday was a pretty good day. We had our first buyers come through and check out the house. A man came with his realtor in the afternoon, and he brought his wife back in the evening. Even if they don’t buy, that feels like a good start. We had another guy come through today. I got the impression he might be single, as Chris was when he bought the home, so GOOOOOO bachelor pad! I had intended to leave, as the realtor said she would call when they were on the way, but she didn’t and he blocked me in. Connor and I hung out in the 180 degree Georgia heat in the meantime. Fingers crossed. Making the bed AND sweating. Somebody come buy this house!

Yesterday was also a good day because Connor did something new. He has been able to roll over for quite some time. But he really only uses it to get off his stomach, which he doesn’t tolerate for very long. He can actually scoot backwards on his belly, but I have to block him in to keep him from rolling over. Well, yesterday. for the first time, Connor rolled back to front. I’m not sure how long I stared at him before I processed that it really happened. Chris finally turned to me and said, “Did he just…” Then he began to scoot backwards. A voluntary attempt to be mobile! Score!

I just attempted to do some physical therapy with Connor, but he refused to cooperate and would just collapse in every position. I swear he smirked at me, too. He definitely knows how to play us. He knows we are way too tired at 3 a.m. to parent properly, so he puts up a fuss and gets to snuggle into bed with us. He always smiles real big the second we set him down.

I really want to shower after today’s sauna session, but I’m afraid another realtor will call…

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Ordinary Life, Parenting, Tuberous Sclerosis

Anybody Want to Buy a House?

June 4, 2013 Rebecca Gaunt Leave a comment

Connor had a good report from the physical therapist today. She was excited to hear he is pivoting in the sitting position, and he was also much more cooperative in making transitions. We’re at a point where he can maintain a crawling position, rock back and forth in it, and reach out for objects, but he needs assistance getting into it. He’s getting better at sitting back down on his own. He can also maintain a standing position, but needs assistance transitioning into that position as well.

Working on his physical therapy just got a whole lot more aggravating since we put the house on the market this weekend. Decluttering the house meant moving all his PT equipment into the garage. Making myself do PT with him is already hard enough–not because I don’t love spending time with him–but because therapy isn’t exactly what you envision doing with your child when you decide to have one. Going to get something from the garage really shouldn’t be that big of a deal, but that’s me. Not to mention, my attention span has become so awful that a million things distract me on the way and I forget what I wanted.

I spent a good portion of today cleaning scuffs off walls and doors and trying to turn the shower floor back to a non-vomit inducing color. Plan of attack for the shower: Chris laid a coat of Comet with bleach on it at 6 a.m. and every so often I run some water and re-cover the surface. Twelve hours of this should do the trick, right? This is pretty much the last resort.

A couple did a drive-by on the house and I got down on all fours ninja-style to watch them watch the house. My life is pretty exciting.

Yesterday we got so carried away working on the house, that changing Connor’s diaper slipped our mind for an extended period of time. It wasn’t until he was bouncing in his jumperoo, and the downward motion would cause a cascade of urine to gush out onto the floor from his drenched diaper. I’ve always been grateful that the state of his diaper has never been a source for fussing, but I’m realizing that with my easily side-tracked state of mind, it would actually be beneficial if he’d give me the heads up once in a while. Yes, I really just blamed my baby for over-wetting his diaper.

I’m very rarely seeing any seizures with eye movement, but we’re seeing 1-2 a day in which he slumps down, turns his head to side, puckers out his lips and stares. They last 10-20 seconds, and he snaps right out of it.

Fingers crossed we start getting people looking at the house soon. I really hate making the bed for nothing…

Since I didn’t post much during May due to hosting so many guest bloggers, here are some highlights from the past month:

We went to Florida to visit Chris’s parents.

Connor went on the swings for the first time. The swing was hot so I finally got to prove to Chris that it IS good to keep “crap” in the trunk.

Connor rode up in the cart for the first time.

We watched Cousin Cody play baseball.

We had coffee and watched trains with my parents in downtown Norcross.

Seriously, it’s making me sad that nobody is entering my giveaway. You don’t want to make me sad, do you?

Ordinary Life, Parenting

Reckless Driving, Extortion and Mugshots…No, This is Not a Confession

June 3, 2013 Rebecca Gaunt 5 Comments

I know I love Connor more than I ever realized I could love anyone, but I never really processed that whole “Mama Bear” thing until yesterday. We were headed to a cookout at a friend’s house, when a car turned left directly in front of us. I was sitting in the back with Connor, but I just happened to look up as it turned and registered with horror that there was no way to avoid it. Yet, somehow Chris maneuvered the car around it; I really don’t know how. But that wasn’t the end of it. Avoiding it forced him to jerk the wheel so hard that we began to fishtail all over the road. It was nothing short of a miracle that there were no cars around us. We jerked back and forth so hard, so many times, that I thought for sure we were going to end up on our side at least. Apparently, I managed to rocket off an extraordinary number of expletives as I screamed and bashed my ankle into the door. I just kept looking over at Connor and thinking, No! Not with him in the car!

And what was Connor doing as his mother screamed words I will one day likely punish him for repeating? Laughing. Laughing hysterically. To him, this was even better than our bumpy landing on Delta.

Then I felt this insane rage. And I knew that if I knew who the creep was that had just caused this, I would hunt him down and cause a lot of pain…and very likely end up getting my photo taken in police precinct.

So it’s a good thing I didn’t know who it was because those mugshots are the herpes of the Internet. Something else that annoys me besides the idiot drivers of Atlanta? People who find ways to make money screwing people over. I’m really disgusted by these websites that are extorting people by publishing their mugshots and then charging exorbitant amounts to remove them. These sites have made themselves very search engine friendly, and there is a fairly good chance that if they get your mugshot, it’s coming up real high, if not first in the search results for your name. I have no sympathy for anyone convicted of a violent crime, but I do have a problem with the fact that I know people who made a dumb mistake a decade ago or more, in their late teens, or early 20s, moved on with their lives, and then years later, BAM. These sites pop up and there is your past, right along with your Linked In profile. I know people who got busted for drinking or minor possession when they were 19 or 20, moved on with their lives, and then a few years later as the Internet invaded every aspect of our lives, mistakes that aren’t a reflection of who they are now are on display for any potential employer, client, date…anyone. But for an ungodly amount of money, you can get it removed.

Yes, mugshots are a matter of public record. Yes, in this day and age, they will inevitably end up on the Internet posing risks to future employment. Yes, you made a choice to break the law and must bear the consequences. But no, some creep shouldn’t get to profit by going out of their way to make sure that mugshot ends up on page 1 of the Google search results and extorting money from those people to take it down.

And you can stop Googling me in another window as you read this post. No, I really don’t have one. I’ve never even been arrested (thank you, random guy at that party in Charleston back in 2000, who signaled me with seconds to spare that the cops were raiding the party, giving me time to walk away from my little red Solo cup. Without you, I too could be extorted for daring to have a beer in college at the age of 20). No, I have no mugshot to call my own, I just run hard with former criminals who got pulled over more than 10 years ago after taking a drink on their 20th birthday, or got caught with some weed when they were 18. These people are all adults now, and the fact that they have a mugshot is not a reflection of who they are. Just dumb things they did a lifetime ago. And it doesn’t stop there. The mugshots of people who were found not guilty or had charges dropped are there too. Did you walk out of Macy’s with a purse you didn’t pay for when you were a senior in high school because you felt pressured to look cool? Better start saving to pay off the extortionist twelve years later as you desperately hunt for a job, and wonder with every rejection if it’s because that picture is the first thing that comes up next to your name, all because some scheming loser knows his SEO.

Look, if it were murderers, rapists, basically anyone that had committed a crime against another person, I probably wouldn’t care. No, I definitely wouldn’t care. But it makes me sick that there are people allowed to get rich off the youthful mistakes of others.

On a completely unrelated note, I posted a giveaway here to try and win a free skincare regiment that retails at $70. All you have to do is leave a comment on that post (and it would be nice to “like” my Mixed Up Mommy Facebook page, too, but we all know I’m far too lazy to scroll through all those names to verify) and I will enter you to win. I mean, I’m no Huffington Post…you do have a shot.

Ordinary Life

Whatever happened to quality?

April 28, 2013 Rebecca Gaunt Leave a comment

You know what I’m getting really sick of? Every time I buy something with a moving part, or that plugs in, or takes battery, I get hit up at the register to buy a warranty. You want me to buy a warranty on a battery-operated toy? This is a consumer trend that has gotten out of control, and it leaves the manufacturers with no responsibility to provide a quality product, because Hey! You didn’t buy the warranty! Sorry. Can’t help you.

When did it become the norm that we have to spend more money to hold anyone responsible for the quality of their products? I’m sick of standing at registers having to make a spilt second decision that leaves me feeling screwed over no matter what I choose. Look, some things I get. Cars, computers…extremely complicated products with tons of moving parts in which something can go wrong. That being said, I think that if something goes wrong that is clearly a manufacturer issue within the first couple years, I don’t think you should need an expensive warranty to get that fixed. But a vibrating infant chair? I should not feel pressured to buy a stupid warranty.

And clothes. Oh, how I’m sick of the low-quality that has become the norm with clothes. I’ve lost count of the pairs of pants in which the hem has fallen out in the first couple wears. Express and NY&Co, I’m talking to you. I’ve given you an extensive portion of my income over the years, so I don’t appreciate that I have had to staple my hems back in more than once at work. Ann Taylor Loft, I adore your clothing, but I already returned one shirt within a week for getting holes in it, (I will give you props for just letting me swap it out no questions asked), and now I have another shirt, only in its second season of being worn that is getting holes along the seam of the sleeve.

I’m tired of buttons popping off my coats and shirts because manufacturers were too cheap to use the appropriate amount of thread. I’m sick of following washing directions and having my clothes look nubby after a handful of washes.

I just bought this shirt at TJ Maxx maybe three weeks ago. The first time I washed it, a thread pulled and ruched the side of the shirt. I was able to fix it. The second time it looked like this:

A little out of my realm of expertise this time. Look, I got the shirt for $12. I don’t expect to pass it on to my grandchildren. But two wears? Six dollars per wear is not economical. I’ve also misplaced the receipt. So now I have to go out of my way to TJ Maxx to see if they will even deign to give me store credit. I put the photo on both the designer’s Facebook page and TJ Maxx’s page. TJ Maxx referred me to their customer service number, even though I just wanted to know if it was worth my time to drive out to the store given the circumstances of no receipt and it being worn. So far no response from the designer Lily White. I mean, look, these things are bound to happen. The problem is that it is happening too frequently. Maybe I should expect this of a $12 shirt at TJ Maxx. But those $80 Express pants? I think not. (Update: Went to TJ Maxx today 5/1/13 and explained what happened to cashier. After making it clear via her facial expressions and body language that she could give a crap, I was told that unless I could find the same shirt on the racks, there was nothing that could be done. So I searched and searched and finally found one with the same design, different pattern, equal price. With the same, “give a crap” attitude I was given store credit. I acknowledge having worn it and misplacing the receipt complicates things, but an employee who fakes not being annoyed and offering an apology goes a long way. Since that didn’t happen, I will return to redeem my store credit, but after that, this impulse shopper will shop elsewhere.)

It’s time for all these companies to stop treating their customers like crap.

Ordinary Life, Parenting

Oops! I Passed on Too Much Pretty in My DNA.

April 19, 2013 Rebecca Gaunt 2 Comments

Connor has never been mistaken for a girl. Even when he barely had any hair and wore onesies that were up for debate. But suddenly in the last few weeks:

At Kroger: How old is she?

At Antique Store: She sure has some rosy cheeks.

On Internet: What a beautiful little girl.

In Some Other Place: What’s her name?

This has happened nine or ten times recently. Well, he is the prettiest baby ever. That’s not his fault. The long wispy tendrils curling over his ears and starting to climb down his collar…those aren’t his fault either. They’re mine. I always thought moms that couldn’t bring themselves to cut their kids’ hair were overly-emotional weirdos. And then his first birthday, when I said I’d cut his hair, rolled around. Apparently the same disease that makes me call things “foody food”, “milky milk”, and “sleepy sleeps” has invaded my ability to be the indifferent badass that once thought the following were good ideas:

I’m lying. I still think they are.

Nonetheless, Chris seemed uncomfortable with the dichotomy of having always been told Connor looks exactly like him and now constantly hearing about how adorable his daughter is. Plus, I feel really awkward correcting people. So here it is. Connor’s first haircut, two days before he turns 13 months.

Before:

After:

Let me help you with that. I love sharp objects.

Maybe this toy will distract you from grabbing for the scissors.

It's gonna take two of you to stop me from getting that razor. — It’s gonna take two of you to stop me from getting that razor.

Can I say, "That's hot!" Or will I have to pay royalties to Paris Hilton? — Can I say, “That’s hot!” Or will I have to pay royalties to Paris Hilton?

Ordinary Life, Parenting, Things to Do Around Atlanta, Tuberous Sclerosis

Tanglewood Farms…and serious matters, too.

April 15, 2013 Rebecca Gaunt Leave a comment

Does anyone know how long the ear-shattering shrieking phase lasts? Asking for a friend.

Connor is continuing to do well. Since mastering sitting at the beginning of January he has increased his range of reach around him, and pulls himself back to sitting from positions from which he would have toppled right over not so long ago. His flexibility is frankly disturbing. But when one wants toes, one will have them.

If assisted into a crawling position he can maintain it and lift an arm to reach for a toy. He can also hold himself in a standing position. The key is to now help him achieve these positions independently. Oh, and move while in them. My lower back longs for the day.

The good news is that we still haven’t seen any eye-rolling seizures since February 10. The bad news is that I suspect he may be having occasional absence seizures upon waking. I’ve counted maybe 6 or 7 instances in which shortly after waking up, he purses his lips tightly and stares off to the side. They aren’t very long–maybe 20 seconds or so. They don’t seem to have any lingering effect on him, but it’s still frustrating. We get these little windows of no seizures, and then something changes. We see the neurologist again on the 24th so we’ll discuss it then. Of course, this is much better than what was going on before.

As I mentioned, his current mode of communication is high-pitched shrieking. It’s kind of funny until he keeps it up for half an hour. Or we’re in a restaurant. He’s otherwise so well behaved in public, but his love of his own voice shattered some mimosa glasses at brunch the other day. Hear it for yourself. But don’t click that at work. People will think you are seriously weird. And then watch this just because it’s funny to see how much he loves seeing himself.

I’m having trouble gathering my sarcastic thoughts since I’ve been watching CNN coverage of the bombing at the Boston Marathon all day, so here are some happy pictures of our trip to Tanglewood Farms, an awesome petting zoo of miniature animals in Canton, Georgia.

The only downfall of the weekend was that Connor exhibited some signs of allergies. After we had been at the farm for a bit, he began to rub his face into us again, and his eyes seemed itchy. This also happened the day before at a friends birthday party. Pollen? Like Daddy? Orrrr….

was it the pony at the party? Pollen or farm animals? Pollen counts were at record highs (or so I’m told. Pollen only affects me as far as irritating me by getting all over my car and porch rocking chairs). Time will tell…

Video Recording Of Boston Marathon Explosion (997now.cbslocal.com)
Boston Marathon bombing kills 2, injures over 130 (conservativeread.com)

Ordinary Life, Parenting

The Axis of Medical Evil, the Board of Education and Gordon Ramsay would totally love my shoe collection.

April 6, 2013 Rebecca Gaunt 1 Comment

The weirdest thing happened when I called Boston Children’s Hospital to schedule Connor’s MRI for August when we will be up there for the TSC study again. An actual person answered the phone, and he immediately scheduled the test.

It was surreal. I dialed. Someone answered. Things were accomplished.

Meanwhile, I’m still waiting for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite to return a message I left with the medical records department 2.5 weeks ago. So my list of CHOA departments that don’t return phone calls is now:

1. Scottish Rite EEG (note: call was returned after I recruited neuro office to get involved)

2. Emory-CHOA billing (note: call was returned over a month later once I wrote a letter of complaint and sent a copy to every single board member including the CEO)

3. Scottish Rite Medical Records (note: pending)

The reason I was calling them is that I recently submitted my application for Katie Beckett Medicaid, which, if approved, will help pick up costs of Connor’s medical care not covered by insurance. I’ve submitted 8 metric tons of paperwork, only (I hope) minus his surgery discharge papers. Those must have been accidentally thrown away. I don’t know if the board is going to want proof from the hospital (even though the neurology notes make plenty of reference to it, but it’s government after all) so as a precaution, I sent in a medical records request. None of the check off boxes described what I needed so I tried to explain what I was looking for. They don’t provide the records until they figure out what printing it will cost and then they send you a bill. Apparently the department thinks I need the whole 200 something pages and they want to charge me over $100 for it. So I called to clarify that all I need is a couple pages pertaining to the surgery and I’m not paying $100 for it. The discharge papers were like six pages for God’s sakes. That was 2.5 weeks ago. I hate CHOA and their unprofessional business ethic.

A couple companies that deserve a positive shout out so that I can offer contrast: Level 4 prosthetics. Connor recently got a cranial remolding helmet (a more detailed blog to come on that). At his initial screening, it appeared to be covered and we paid the uncovered 20 percent portion. Fast forward a few weeks and I arrive home today from one of Connor’s helmet follow-up appointments to find a denial from United Healthcare. Say what now? You want us to pay for this $3,000 helmet? So I freak and contact all his doctors and physical therapist to get proof of necessity, and then I call Level 4, who I should have called first. They’re already on the appeal for me. Good stuff. Thank you! And United Healthcare, my child is adorable in his helmet, but I assure you it’s not just a fun accessory.

The other company is AquaTots of Kennesaw. I became nervous that I would soon be doing time for homicide due to parents who think they get to save the limited dressing rooms for their swimmers, so I expressed my dissatisfaction. They were very quick to respond and remedy the situation. And now the mom who thinks it’s okay to let her children leave their cars in front of entrances where other customers can fall and hurt themselves walks the earth safely again (until she once again almost simultaneously paralyzes me and makes me change my kid on the floor, then all bets are off).

So these are my days. Doing Connor stuff, trying to get into some freelance writing and watching Roseanne reruns. I feel like I should miss working more, but I don’t. Probably because by the time I left, my teaching to do list had changed so drastically.

Sample To Do List 2005

1. Lesson plans for next week

2. Copy 2nd grade newsletter

3. pull center materials

4. choose new read aloud novel

5. try not to turn beet red, break out in hives and pass out from anxiety when undergoing mandatory teaching observations

Sample To Do List 2012

1. Some random excel sheet with random meaningless data to be submitted to someone who will never even read it, assigned 5 minutes ago, due now

2. see #1

3. see #2

4. Collect elevendy bajillion weeks worth of data so a student can receive services, but probably not

5. Attend a committee meeting

6. see #5

7. see #6

8. see #7

9. ~~figure out what you’re teaching tomorrow.~~ Somebody wants another excel sheet with data due in 5 minutes

10. try not to turn beet red, break out in hives and pass out from anxiety because it’s a work day

And all for less pay every year. Hey, I get it. There’s no money to be had. Just be ready to see more of this stuff on school property if you don’t want to pay people in the education profession:

I won’t say where I took this recent photo. I might need them to hire me one day.

What I do miss is how hilarious some of those kids can be. I received texts from a former co-worker the other day. She teaches students now that I taught a couple years ago in first grade. They told her that my “shoes haunted them.” My heels were like two feet tall, and they always watched out for me because they were afraid I would topple over. If I’d known I would have based my compare/contrast lessons on heels vs. wedges.

I also decided to start pursuing my original plan to make some of Connor’s food myself. I have the little baby blender/steamer combo, but I’ve only used it for pretty basic stuff. I decided to finally make one of the recipes from the little booklet that came with it. Hey, why not? Connor eats EVERYTHING. I mean EVERYTHING. This was the result:

I used to be disgusted by moms drinking and eating after their kids, but the other day I found myself fighting the urge not to eat half his spaghetti and meat sauce. Then I let him drink out of my water bottle. But I also realized he has 50 percent of my DNA. That means it’s half my saliva. So that’s okay, right? Is that what these moms have known all along that I didn’t understand? Or should I just go out and buy some mom jeans now?

Despite the failure of my foray into baby chefery, I am still happy because winter is finally rolling out and warm days have come. I leave you with photos of my little Gordon Ramsay in a good mood enjoying the weather.

Only a ball pit until it's warm enough to become a swimming pool! — Only a ball pit until it’s warm enough to become a swimming pool!

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Ordinary Life, Parenting

Connor’s birthday party: You will throw up from cuteness overload. Consider yourself warned.

March 25, 2013 Rebecca Gaunt 9 Comments

I should clarify my title refers purely to Connor, not my decorating skills. But first, the decorations. It was a zoo theme, so I had Connor’s kazillion stuffed animals spread everywhere. I’m actually just realizing how much stuff I forgot to photograph, but that’s okay because I have so many awesome pics of Connor I don’t even care.

Please note that my initial plan for the aquatic zone of the zoo involved using Connor’s baby bathtub as an actual pond. However, I discovered that none of his ducks have the remotest interest in floating upright, so I felt a pool of water containing what would appear to be a bunch of costumed dead ducks might not achieve the ambience I was aiming for.

The cake by Claudia Arizabaleta:

Lego candles. Oh yeah.

And the outfit. Oh yes. The outfit. Do you know what I am?

I’m a lemur. Mom almost bought me a panda costume, but then she saw the lemur. Lemur=random. Lemur=you dressed your kid as a what? So here I am.

But frankly, life as a lemur is hot and sweaty, so I did have to rock a second outfit for part of the party. But Mommy is proud because I learned that one must suffer to look good.

Give me cake!

Then I blew out some candles and took my first taste of cake. It was alright, but I don’t know why my mother is so obsessed with it. It’s no bottle of milk. But she did just sneak off to the kitchen to get more, so I guess it will grow on me.