This is so very far away from the K-12 school I went to until fourth grade.  Not to mention, I was home schooled for Kindergarten so I have absolutely no idea how it used to work or is supposed to work.

We went with our local community school.  Just a few blocks (but across a busy street so there is busing) from our house.  I had thought going in to it that I would be one of those people who tries to work the system to get my kid into the cool, alternative hippy school by work.  What I realized is that in all of their push to be open and accepting, they seemed to have little room for other points of view.

Also, I am n0t nearly cool enough to have a kid there. When we visited the other dad touring with us was wearing skinny jeans, a v neck shirt, hoodie, work boots, had lots of product in his hair, a nose piercing, was carrying a trendy (expensive) European man purse and (I’m sure you saw this coming) was using his iPhone during the down time.  I’m pretty sure the only hipster cliche’ he was missing was facial hair.  I just don’t think he could grow it.  When we talked about where we lived (we live in the hood as far as most are concerned) he mentioned that ‘of course we weren’t in the zone’ for the school.  Except, kiss my ass hipster, yes, we are.  You’re not.  You’re in the rich people, awesome schools for everyone! zone.  Get your ass out of my zone.

The other thing I found disconcerting about this school was that a few minorities and low income students was being touted as “diversity”.  Like the liberals and the token ________ (insert something not white here).  I actually saw someone on FB go on and on about the socioeconomic diversity at the school.  Yeah, if you want real diversity, send your kid somewhere else, because it isn’t real there.

Wow, more bitter than I realized.

The community school is small, has a young energetic principal, teaching staff that has stood the test of time, and well, everyone in the office, the classrooms, etc, was kind and welcoming to my excited and talkative kid. Never underestimate the power of acknowledging someone’s kid.

Curiously, now that the form is submitted, what do you love/hate about your kid’s school?

M, it appears, will NOT clean her room.  She says she is cleaning, but she plays.  She is actively lying to our face about what she is doing.  She tries to stall, asking for something specific to clean up first, then still goes and plays.  She says something specific is put away when asked about it directly, when it is not.

We don’t have much time at home during the week where there isn’t something to be done.  Getting ready to go for the day, eating dinner (don’t get me started about how long it takes her to eat), getting ready for bed.  I know she wishes we had more time to play during the week, hell, we all do.  However, keeping her room clean is her only chore, and she isn’t doing it.  At nearly five, picking up her toys is something I know she can do, but lately it seems she just… can’t.

We’re thinking about seriously culling her toys.  My MIL gives toys like they’re candy, for every holiday (the woman damn near gives out gifts for flag day), and we aren’t much better, but something has to give.

Any ideas?

I need to make cake pops.  Cake pops will make me a better mom.  Cake pops will up the wow factor for impressing people at the potlucks at work, and everyone knows the best kind of sucking up is done with food.  Cake pops will make me popular, and pretty, and awesome, and…

Perhaps, I should have read some directions first on one of the six million blogs where people I assume I am at least as smart as have posted instructions.  Perhaps I should have bought Bakerella’s book instead of just watching the little teaser video her publishing company released on YouTube.  Perhaps I should have stuck to things I’m good at, like sewing and fixing computers.

I thought it would be a fun project.  Making something pink! and chocolate! and use up all of those crushed candy canes from the wildly successful holiday project of chocolate dipped pretzel rods.

Instead I learned the following lessons.

• It is not one box of cake mix and one can of frosting.  It is one box of cake mix and like a third of a can of frosting.
• If you use too much frosting, and…
• Make your balls too big, and… (hehe balls)
• Are unable to properly dip your giant balls, and… (giant balls! I must be like 12)
• As the cake balls come up to room temperature the extra gooey and viscous (good at least I can still use big words) cake & frosting mixture will find the weak links in the candy coating and ooze out like worms out of rotten apples.

I knew I should have used the red candy melts, then I could have the worm look was on purpose.

At least they still taste pretty good.

My hair doesn’t straighten well & I don’t feel like spending a ton of time on my hair is a good use of my time.  Sometimes though, I long for change.  Lots and lots of change.

Like say… Emma Watson change.

Except with a lot more gray hair, funky glasses, and well, I’m fat.

I had thought I would try this hair out again (I’ve done this before a couple of times) after I’d lost weight, but I just couldn’t wait.  I needed something.  I was at Target earlier this week looking at clothes and I kept gravitating to the baggy, plain, schlumpy (it is too a word) stuff.  I’ve lost somewhere in the 10 pound range (I’ve had to ease up on the aggressive following of the WW plan because of a kid who insists on giving up bottles at daycare in favor of an all night nursing party), and my pants are getting baggy, but not baggy enough to get new ones.  So I must resist the urge to just hid under longer hair and baggy clothes.

This hair was the kick in the ass I needed.  I suspect it still isn’t quite right.  Hair as curly as mine doesn’t just decide to succumb to its fate easily, and by the time I get my next trim it will have to get adjusted a little.  However, it is right enough.  Right enough for me to work at being presentable.  Wear the earrings I’ve collected (some of them are SO cool), put on a little makeup (yes, really), look like a girl instead of hiding.

It makes me want to get out and run, knowing that my hair won’t get in the way (our odd winter weather is helping my desire to get out too).

M was unsure, the intermediary hair cut (I had to have fixed to a proper pixie) shocked her, but she says she liked this one best.  I am unsure about how much gray (sorry Patti, SILVER), but I know if strong women like Eden Kennedy & Susan Wagner can pull it off, so can I.

So, what do you think? Swear I’m not fishing for compliments, I really want to know what people think.

Mulan is sporting a tube top dress made from the scraps of fabric I used to figure out how to use the gathering foot on my serger.   I am one step closer to M’s super twirly dress request becoming a reality, and definitely that much closer to making doll clothes for my niece’s AG doll and M’s collection of dolls & stuffies.

Figuring out how to use the gathering foot courtesy of this post.  Because even though it came with the serger, they gave no info on how to use it.

I am a child of the 70′s. I am a child of a super feminist mother who was herself raised by a single parent in the 50′s & 60′s.  My mom’s generation had to fight against the idea that women should be silent supporters of their husbands who didn’t work, didn’t voice opinions, and didn’t really matter beyond their ability to have children.

I am a woman who was given a boy’s name, not allowed to wear pink, not allowed to shave my legs, not allowed to be “girly”.   My hair was cut short (I have school pictures where if it weren’t for my pink & blue giant glasses you would think I was a boy), I never learned about makeup, never really learned to be a “girl”.

It took me years to realize that I look pretty good in a dark pink and that it was OK to like the way I looked and to show off my curves.

My view of the whole Princess vs. Anti-Princess is pretty skewed, I admit it.

Here’s the deal though.  We, as parents, are responsible for it getting this way.  This place where there is toy segregation.  We are the ones who only take our girls down the one aisle or discourage our boys from playing with dolls.  We ultimately control who spends the money.

Maybe you’re like me, wanting to make sure your girl gets what you didn’t get.  Maybe you’re really in to those girly things yourself.  Maybe you just don’t have the energy to fight the marketing machine because you’re too busy trying to support your family and sleep through the night. However, we have no one to blame but oursevlves.

You see though, its not that hard.  In the new Lego sets, the ones aimed at girls, there is an Inventor’s Workshop.  Disney, those lovely people who brought you the helpless princess of the 30′s though well, Jasmine (because Tiana and Rapunzel sort of kick ass), also have Tinkerbell who is, wait for it, a tinker, and inventor.  They aren’t as easy to find, but thanks to Stan Lee, the Marvel Universe is full of strong female characters. (though I challenge their new owner Disney to do a better job of licensing those characters)  In the DC Universe, there is Wonder Woman.  You can find not remotely pink Wonder Woman merchandise in everything from baby onesies, to Little People, to Polly Pocket.  For Christmas, my six year old niece picked out Wonder Woman shirts for my 6 month old, my four year old, and for me.  Yes, they are pink, but they have Wonder Woman on them!

Its easy to blame Lego for marketing to what so many girls seem to want, but that doesn’t mean that you have to buy in to it.  Buy the Inventor’s Workshop and then buy the Cars set with Tow Mater & Holly Shiftwell and while you’re at it, get the Millennium Falcon set too because that has all the best characters including Leia.  They can have a party in the tree house.  I always wanted a tree house.

By the way, if you go to the “girl” section of the Lego site, the pink stuff is only a fraction of what is there.  Yes, there are no ninjas in the girl section, but there are pirates.  Girl everywhere know pirates are better than ninjas.  Also, I would have killed when I was a kid for some girl lego people.  This set sort of rocks my world.

In good news I actually managed to make a dress I was proud to have M wear on Serge.  I figured out some stretch stitches on my regular machine, figured out how to use the funky nylon thread, and put it all together in a cute pink dress.  Pictures forthcoming.  Early morning pictures don’t turn out nearly how you want them to of course, so I’m hoping this weekend is better.

The laundry is out of the living room, now I just need to find a place for the baby bath tub.  Everything else, not so much.  So, lets try that again, this time with more feeling!

• Meal plan & shop to make February the month of not eating out as much, hoping to start a trend.
• Keep the kitchen table clean.  (This one won’t ever go away I think)
• Learn how to make gathers/ruffles on Serge.
• Make a dress for H.
• TAKE THE STUFF TO THE DAMN DONATION PLACE.  Or call Hoarders.

I went through my photos of my nursing bra conversions and realized that I didn’t get the right ones.  Good news, I need new bras, so I’ll be fixing that soon.  I have this goal of being big on Pinterest just once in my life.  Especially since there seems to be a lack of plus size sewing stuff out there.  Its good to have goals, right?

So, I resolved last night to weigh in this morning, and then start fresh.  If only my scale could agree on what I weigh.  Stupid uneven bathroom floor.  I’m down anywhere from .3 pounds to 1.4 pounds.  I went with 1.4 seeing as I was bloated from yet again having Chinese the day before I weighed in (this time at least it was at home, with lots of veggies).  So, not a complete loss.  I enjoyed my weekend.  I had fun with my kids.  I lost a little weight.  All is good.  I just won’t be making a habit of how I ate last weekend.

So, this week, start fresh. I’m starting fresh with Goals too.  I got two things done.  I cleaned up the basement and I bought thread for my serger (so much thread, some of it very expensive…).  The rest, not so much.

• 1.  Learn how to do more than one stitch type on my serger.(Dudes! I can Serge! And I don’t even mean a burly Russian guy! More on that later)
• 2.  Donate the damn crap already.  Before the house looks like an episode of hoarders (more than it already does in some select unnamed places)
• 3.  Keep the kitchen table clean (clear failure there….)
• 4.  Get the laundry out of the living room.
• 5.  Get frames & put up the new pictures of the girls at home and work.  (I have such cute kids!)

I clearly do not feel like a mommy blogger anymore, so expect to see my crafty things around here.  I’m planning on detailing my adventures with Serge (just decided, I’m naming it) but is there anything else you’ve seen me tweet/blog about you want to see?  The “make a bra a nursing bra” tutorial is coming very soon.

I want snow.  I want snow for the moisture, I want snow because M begs me to make a snow man, and there is nothing I can do.  I want snow because I’m not ready to go out and run yet and 52 degrees makes me wish I could go out and run. The song makes me want to go run.

One pound, five pounds of pressure on each knee.  I weighed in this morning.  (benefit of doing this at home, I weigh in buck naked in my own bathroom)  I’ve taken 15 pounds off each knee.  Three pounds is good.  Fifteen pounds off of each knee sounds better. I think I need to take off about 150 to be comfortable starting running again.  If I lose everything I want to, that is over 500 pounds of pressure off of each knee.

The key now is to try not to get cocky about it.  Try not to take this success and sabotage myself.  That would be too easy.  I’m still a little freaked out about my milk supply, even though things seem good there.  It helps, I am sure, that H has decided that she will eat a mix of apples, oatmeal and breast milk with the voracity she normally reserves for nursing.  Perhaps she supports me in my goals to get healthier.

Onward I go.

• Goal 1: Get all of the Christmas garbage out of the house.  – DONE!
• Goal 2: Plan healthy meals Monday-Friday. – DONE! Ate out twice, both times planned.
• Goal 3: Hang up my backpack & coat every day when I get home from work.  Score! Did this one too.
• Goal 4: If it isn’t too icy out go for a walk outside at least two times. – OK, failed at this.  I did go out and walk today with the girls however, so it was a start.
• Goal 5: Take a car load of stuff to donate.  I may try to do a 365 items purged goal this year. – Fail.  Next week, I swear!

Alright, things for next week.  I’m going to try to carry over goals I don’t complete.

• Goal 1: Buy thread for my serger so I can try it out.  Time to get over my fear of that thing.
• Goal 2: Clean up the basement for gaming next weekend (this one must be done, we’re having guests)
• Goal 3: Keep the kitchen table clean.  It is a dumping ground for stuff.  The stuff gets moved to the stairs for dinner, then back to the table for keeping.  Stupid cycle needs to stop.
• Goal 4: Take a car load of stuff to donate.  Second time’s a charm.  I need to mail off some stuff to a friend who just had twins, so I must get this done.
• Goal 5: Exercise! The Wii totally counts if we don’t continue to get unseasonably warm weather.
• Goal 6: Bonus goal: Pack breakfasts as well as lunches.

Reward:  All I can think of is food rewards.  Damn.  Any suggestions?