Interesting Times

I think we may have a home run

mamallama — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:12:24 GMT

I used to play softball, for about six years I played softball. It is the only competitive sport I enjoy playing, baseball being the only competitive sport I enjoy watching. Today there were two boys in my neighborhood pretending to play a game, so I asked if I could take a swing. They said yeah and I took my stance. I got a weird look from the boy pitching. He pitched the ball, a very, very soft, light ball, definitely a toy, made to go not too far or break any windows. The pitch was high and wide but I tipped it and it went pretty far for how light it was. Then came a good pitch, right down the middle, a little bit fast, a pitch I was happy to slug as far as I could. That felt good and the look on the boys faces was even better than hitting the ball itself. "Wow!" they both said in unison as the ball hit the ground across the small field, over the road, almost hitting the adjacent house. He came back for more, giving me two more good pitches. Makes me want to join a team but that would mean actually getting in shape ;) Maybe when Anaya is a bit older, it could be fun.

Guess where I'm writing from?

mamallama — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 05:21:21 GMT

Yep, you guessed it, I am writing you from my new laptop! I am getting used to typing on this keyboard and am enjoying sitting on my couch watching a movie while typing this. We are making a lot of space saving changes, downsizing everything which is fantastic in my point of view. My mom likes to bring tons of stuff for Anaya and myself whenever she comes. We have become inundated with things. For a while before becoming a mom I lived with just what I could fit on my back or maybe a small car. I am not used to having so many things to deal with and it can be a bit overwhelming. The need to downsize is one of things I love about moving. I hope though, that Portland is a place we can call home for many years to come. I am ready to be settled for a while.

So I buy a laptop...

mamallama — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 04:17:54 GMT

I decided to buy a laptop, a used laptop. I go see an older one, it needs some upgrade but seems to be in good condition. I wanted something i could play around with and learn on, I want to be able to fix my own laptop and do upgrades and stuff myself. Well what do you know? I get the damn thing home and what do I have? The blue screen of death saying "STOP: c0000221 {Bad Image Checksum} The image urlmon.dll is possibly corrupt. the header checksum does not match the computed checksum." What the hell does that mean? I tried to google it but it's all totally confusing to me! I have no recovery disk which seems to be what I need. Well, I guess I'm getting dumped straight away into learning. I can't really focus much attention on this right now because of the impending move but i did say I wanted to learn. So anyway, anyone have any ideas?

Do you ever have a day...

mamallama — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 05:36:12 GMT

where having made it this far just blows your mind? Today I went through some of Anaya's preemie clothes. I needed to consolidate some boxes and Anaya wanted some clothes for her doll. I stopped and breathed in the memory of holding someone who didn't weigh much more than a sack of flour. I remember nurses so gently turning her, almost afraid they would break her but I knew from the moment she was born with a cry, that this little girl was tough. She took a tumble today, hitting the pavement with a loud smack and my friend I was standing with cringed and moved towards her. I stood stock still as she stood herself up, shook off, and took off running again. People have said from day one, how scary it must have been but fear never entered into it for me. My daughter will be two in less than three months. Nearly two years have passed since I was in that hospital bed being told that if Anaya wasn't born right then we would both die. I'm not sure if it was Lily's strength that kept me from being afraid, or if it was the immense amounts of pain or if there was just an understanding but I wasn't scared. I still cannot believe that we have made it this far, I wonder if I ever will or if her existence will forever be surreal to me. Our bond took some time to build but there is one thing I know more than anything, I love this little girl more than I could have ever possibly imagined.

Finally

mamallama — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 02:00:51 GMT

We are finally into size 3T shoes. Up until this point it has been near impossible to find her shoes because all of the good brands don't come in sizes smaller than three. Finally, sheesh!

Why do they have to make it so complicated?

mamallama — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 21:56:10 GMT

Holy freaking cow! I just spent three hours revising and making our parenting plan acceptable to the court so that i can submit it next week. My brain hurts, as soon as Anaya wakes up she and I are going outside, far, far away from this monster we call the computer!

They say it's your birthday...

mamallama — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:41:13 GMT

Well it's my birthday too! Or it was yesterday anyway. What could be better than good company, good music and good drinks? We went to go see a local band, Bad Mitten Orchestra, they were awesome! http://www.myspace.com/badmittenmusic I felt incredibly honored because my hermit friends who NEVER come into town actually made it. Plus my friend Ben from Port Townsend, WA was here. And Lily, Anaya's Fairy Godmother, came too. We ate, we drank, we danced, and talked, I love my friends. :)

Some I missed...

mamallama — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:27:10 GMT

I forgot to add some of her words, she's just saying so many I can't keep up with her! Yucky (yu-ee), light (she's been saying this for a while), uh-oh (a new addition in the last few days), and go. Luckily we do not have no or mine yet! Oh yeah, we also have diaper (die-die), outside (ous-eye), Jahve (my friend's son's name). I know that there are still a couple I am missing!

Word Explosion!

mamallama — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 06:57:19 GMT

Miss Anaya is talking up a storm. Let's see... We've got clock, she said this one when she fist started talking but hasn't said it in probably 7 months. This one often sounds inappropriate, yikes! We've got eye, teeth, cheek (teek), toes, shoes (suess), feet, socks, down (dow), more, banana (nana), strawberry (brawberry, flower (fwow-er), bubbles, phone, nose, fish (shi-shi), water (waeer or whyyyy), bottle (baba or nigh-nigh), food (foo), balloon (boon), ball. Nigh-nigh is also a separate thing, she often puts her dolls to bed with whatever is closest for a blanket, pillows, towels, my clothes :) Of course we've still got the old ones, mama, cat, doggy, duck. Somewhere in the range of 30 words, it's amazing how quickly it happens! She is making animal noises too now, neigh, woof-woof, meow, caw(sounds more like rawr but it's actually pretty close to what the crows do!), occasionally we have moo or a quack. We often get rawrs for other animals, she likes to rawr when she sees sheep, big cats, bears, monkeys, and a bunch of others. We also get the occasional motor sound which can be pretty funny as they seem to happen randomly. She loves to make the kissy sound now too! She recognizes one color, blue. We haven't had much time lately to focus on colors but we try here and there. We also play with counting but she has no interest to really try yet.

That's it, it's done

mamallama — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 21:39:27 GMT

On Friday Anaya and I headed up to see our apartment (it is almost exactly a mirror image of my friends) We put down our deposit and it will be ours the first of August. However I will still be in school so our official move-out date is August 15. I'm so excited!!! I still have a lot to do, packing, cleaning, school work and work-work. I have one set of finals this week and another set on August 14. No official mid-terms, thank the gods! I am ready for this move to happen, ready to be settled in our new place, planning chickens and gardens and maybe even bunnies for meat. Food is so expensive these days why not raise our own?

Spider

mamallama — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 05:57:14 GMT

Whew! I just removed a pretty large spider from my house and I am beginning to wonder if it was a Hobo spider. The Hobo spider causes many similar problems to the Brown Recluse and looks very similar too. We don't have Brown Recluses here in Oregon (thank the gods, their bites are BAD!) It is speculated Hobo Spiders were introduced by a shipping vessel some time in the 1800's from England. They have slowly been spreading out and like moist, cool climates. They have made it to Northern California to Utah to Alaska and it is also speculated that they could make it all the way to the East Coast. Anaya's dad got bitten by a Hobo Spider once. It caused a pustule to form on his leg and when he finally went to the doctor it had eaten away the tissue inside of his leg. There was a huge crevasse, amazing and disgusting. I never used to be afraid of spiders but since I had Anaya I certainly am! It seems to have become a visceral reaction that I have not had before. I have a few like this now, like some body shift has happened and now I react by pure instinct where I had no fear before. I can feel the difference all over my body. Maybe I should have caught the spider in a jar to study it more closely but I was too afraid. It was hard enough to take my eyes away to grab a cup and index card to put it outside. Oh well, hopefully there won't be a next time

The Story of Stuff

mamallama — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 20:39:16 GMT

Thanks Fey. Check it out, this is something we all need to see! http://www.storyofstuff.com/

Summer

mamallama — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 20:19:30 GMT

Despite all the trials of late, life has been so much fun. It's summer so Anaya and I get to go to the river several times a week. Another fun activity we have been doing is going to the local salt water pool, Tamarack. We have also been visiting our friend Adrienne and playing her huge backyard. Anaya has an entourage of neighborhood kids who love to play with her and follow her around so we spend a great deal of time walking around the block. It is so nice to be able to get outside everyday, to get some sun and feel a warm breeze and no rain. I personally love the rain but it was hindering Anaya's outside playtime. Next year we will be able to go outside more in the rain because she is sturdier on her feet and she will also be able to fit rain boots, a luxury we had to do without this past winter because of her tiny feet. We are getting our fill of Eugene outdoors as we prepare for the next leg of this journey of life.

Preparations

mamallama — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 19:02:52 GMT

I have done everything to make this transition to Portland go smoothly. Now I let go because there is little more that I can do besides wait and prepare my home for the move. Anaya's father has told me that he will take me to court and stop me from going. He might be able to postpone it, but he cannot stop this move. I tried to tell him that he would not be losing visitation time and in fact he would be gaining some because the holidays would become overnights instead of just day visits because of travel issues, he just yelled and wouldn't listen. I am doing my best to make this go smoothly, now I just have to wait for him to come to his senses. I will have more job opportunities, more school opportunities in Portland and because of his current inability to help us AT ALL, that is especially important. It has become evident of late that he has the desire to control me and be "in charge". That became most clear when he threatened to try and have me thrown in jail for visiting California and then not visiting her when he had the chance after we got home. He told me that I was keeping him form Anaya, it just so happens on the one weekend that we plan on going to visit my family he wants to see her, even though he has not visited her in almost five months. His allegations that I am trying to keep Anaya from him are not true, we both agreed to the guidelines set down in mediation, we signed the papers. He has not been following those and that is the reason he has not seen her for nearly five months. I would love for him to get his act together and actually get to spend some time with her. I would love for her to get to know her father, and I would love some time off. I am in no way saying that I am perfect but what I am saying is that I am trying to make decisions based on what is in Anaya's best interest. I have been her sole provider for her whole life and that is my job. So hopefully a court battle will not ensue, hopefully he will read my proposed parenting plan and make some suggestions so we can come away with an agreement that suits all of our best interests. I want this move to go smoothly, I want it to be a joyous occasion instead of one filled with frustration and fear. It is such a fun and beautiful thing to be able to explore a new city, to have a backyard for Anaya to roam in. I get a shiver of excitement just thinking about it.

Portland

mamallama — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:00:36 GMT

That's it, the decision has been made. Anaya and I are moving to Portland in the middle of August. We already have a place set up in NE, very close in and close to Alberta Street. We will have a yard and a beautiful two bedroom apartment with wood floors and even a claw foot tub. We will be just a few blocks from a nice park and a natural foods store. Hooray for walking to the grocery! I will be continuing my schooling at PCC. And one of the best things is we will be living next to my dear friend Emily who just found out she is pregnant! So in about 8 months there will be a little baby right next door, I can get my new baby fill and I won't even have to go through the whole pregnancy bit ;)

Phew!

mamallama — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 05:20:58 GMT

She gave me an A, yes, she gave me an A! In case you are confused, see my last post.

The tension, it will kill me

mamallama — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 04:19:36 GMT

I took two finals today. I knew I would kick ass on one and the other, well let's just say I didn't really study. Okay, I didn't study AT ALL. I knew I would do okay, I was there for all the classes pretty much so I had a decent idea of what to expect. I freaking Aced the thing, I got a 92. My teacher is going out of town so she graded fast. I seriously almost pissed myself I was so happy. Then I counted up my scores in the class and I have a 89.3%. I was totally prepared for a B in the class but no, I had to go be on the cusp so now I'm sitting here biting my nails going, "Will she bump me up? She did say that if you were on the cusp and you had made it to all the classes and participated she would bump you up. Am I close enough to the cusp to be bumped up? Did she hear any of the snarky comments I made about her? Did she notice I was doing math homework during one class? I think she likes me though, is that enough to bump me up?" You know, kind of freaking out about something that I have NO CONTROL OVER WHATSOEVER! I need some beer, no what I need is some freaking tequila.

I just had the most delicious breakfast burrito of my entire life!

mamallama — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:52:08 GMT

Okay, here goes... Fried eggs, cream cheese, Enoki mushrooms lightly sauteed in a tiny bit of olive oil, alfalfa sprouts, and avocado all wrapped up in a burrito sized tortilla. YUM!

Binkies

mamallama — Fri, 23 May 2008 02:23:35 GMT

How does one kid lose every single binky she has in three days? There were six of them. Arrrghhhh!!!!

What are they teaching in French schools?

mamallama — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:19:29 GMT

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=42xykzW27Q4

Fail Blog

mamallama — Wed, 14 May 2008 04:06:35 GMT

For those of you who haven't seen it...

What a sweet day!

mamallama — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:43:37 GMT

I took pictures of flowers as my mothers day gift. Anaya and I had breakfast a a local bakery, yummy bagel with eggs, cheese and spinach. Then we came home an walked around the block maybe a gazillion times. A short nap for both of us and then up again to the playground and grocery. It was beautiful out and I got to lavish in how wonderful it feels to be a mom.

Holy Teeth Batman!!!

mamallama — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 17:47:54 GMT

So over the past several months Anaya has been hinting that she *might* be getting molars. Restless nights, drooling and the like. Well, all of a sudden in the past two weeks six teeth have sprouted up, yes SIX! Two molars on the bottom, two molars on the top and her canines on the top. That brings the grand total to... 16!

Are you kidding me? it's almost May!

mamallama — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 14:55:15 GMT

So we got 2+ inches of snow last night. I am so glad I covered my plants! I've got some broccoli and some spinach started and they would've been none too happy.

Teeth, teeth, teeth

mamallama — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:17:39 GMT

So we now have two molars, that puts us up to a total of 10 teeth. We also have four more on the way, two eye teeth and two molars. Holy cow kid!