Irish Daisy

So, I felt like there was something I needed to talk about after the frenzy of Halloween candy consumption and before the holiday season, with its stuffing, cookies, pies, sweets, and Bailey’s, is upon us. A two-month orgy of savory foods and delicious treats, followed by the self-imposed penance of a resolution and the resulting massive guilt if said resolution is not carried through. Here it is: Don’t go on a diet to feel better about how you look. Really, don’t. It doesn’t work anyway. I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t eat fruits and veggies, or exercise to avoid a blood clot in your leg. I’m not even saying dieting doesn’t work for weight loss – after all, we see success stories all the time in magazines. It’s just that dieting until you’re raging hangry because you just know you’ll feel better about your thighs, or belly, or butt if only you could fit into size 6 pants…yeah, that might not turn out like you think. Your…trouble spot will get smaller and the scale will show...

The dog died and our last reason for not doing something about our awful, disgusting carpet died with him. When we bought the house 12 years ago, we were informed the owner had installed the cheapest possible carpet to sell the place. It was indeed cheap, and crappy, and really light beige. But, you know, kids and dogs, and potty training, and chocolate milk, and juice, and muddy shoes… We just…let it ride…for more than a decade. Once, in a fit of exhaustion, I ripped the carpet out of the dining room, which was also the main traffic pattern in the house – path to the kitchen and all – because I couldn’t face the futile task of cleaning it one more time. We polished the slab, applied some sealer, and had a “designer” cement floor for a couple of years. The rest of the house was a scruffy calico of cheap oak veneer, tile, and fraying carpet mottled with stains. The stairs in particular were bad – both ugly and approaching official bio-hazard designation. I was repelled...

Sometimes dramatically changing your life changes who you are. Sometimes you get to the point where you hardly recognize yourself on the other side. I’d always imagined myself from a young age as a career woman who would set the corporate world on fire and accomplish remarkable things. I always planned for children, but I was going to stop at two, and make both halves of my life function in tandem – working and momming with equal fervor. The thought of deviating from this plan – having more kids, jumping off the career track, staying at home – was entirely alien. Dare I say, inconceivable. And I did it for a long time. I started work in corporate America right out of school. Climbing my way up, steadily advancing my career – not as rapidly as planned due to the constraints of marrying and procreating with someone who’s chosen vocation created rigid, inconvenient schedules – and generally making it work just like I’d mapped out decades ago. For 12 years, I was as passionate ...

Summer so far... There's been fighting, rebellion, assault, and occasional fun. Right now, Badger's not sure if her arm is strained or just a little broken from doing cartwheels down the big hill at the park. Yay...summer...so much fun.

Life is tricky – I mean, we’re all trying to get it right, and even figure out what right is. And obviously, that’s something different for each of us. And then it changes as we go along. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I have no idea what I’m even doing here. At various times in my life I felt sure about where I was going, and what I was doing. Now, I really have no idea whatsoever – I’m making this shit up as I go along. At the same time, I totally have to tell myself #firstworldproblems. Seriously, there is no part of me that doesn’t recognize how lucky and privileged I am. Not that I haven’t worked hard for what I have, including the time and space to try and figure out what the hell I want to do. Yeah, I’ve worked hard, but it helps when you start out in a good place. Meanwhile, here I am. Trying to figure out where I go from here. This blog has been a loose collection of stories from my perspective as a working mother – which is a stressful, hectic gig. And, that...