Wednesday, September 8, 2010

The Compulsory Back to School Post


Can someone please tell me where my babies have gone?  Because I'm pretty sure it was just yesterday that I had a crazy 19 month old, a miniature newborn and hadn't slept in like, 647 days.  

Time does slow down when you're actually getting some sleep.  I definitely feel like things are marching by at a much more reasonable pace than they were when the girls were infants, but still-these childhood years go by way too fast.  I was a mix of excitement, sentimentality and pride, with a tiny dash of sadness thrown in for good measure today.  The Little One had made her way into my bed around six am for some snuggles, and at eight when I awoke for the day, I took my time getting out of bed.  Spent some time examining her thick, gorgeous, green eye framing eyelashes, her perfect little button nose, and stroking her baby soft hands.  Sigh.  Was I really ready to hand off this perfect little creation of mine to another set of hands, even just for 7.5 hours a week?  I wasn't sure how I felt.

The girls, however?  Nothing but stoked, baby.  Nothing but stoked.



Well, maybe a little more than stoked....can't forget about the side of puke.  I had pulled them out of the shower this morning, and had The Little One standing on my bed to have her Baby Magic lotion applied when she puked Cocoa Puffs everywhere.  Sweet.  She felt awfully warm so I was pretty sure she had Ebola or something and was going to miss her first day of school and why does this stuff always happen to us?  Imagine my surprise when an hour later she was stuffing her face with graham crackers and yogurt and assuring me she was "all better Mama!  I go to schoo-ool!"

Anxiety can be a crazy thing.  Alternatively, so can motivation.


So, with everyone happy and healthy, we all headed off to school-first stop, kindergarten.  The Curly Haired One was more than happy to line up with the rest of her class to await her teacher, and when it was time to file in, she did so with not even a glance back at me and the tears I were barely holding back not crying at all.


  

I knew she would rock it.  This girl loves school, and thrives on the socialization, responsibility, and learning that it brings.  She was more than ready for kindergarten.  Hell, girlfriend could probably take on college.  Lord knows she could run this house if she had to-I'm only here to keep CPS off our backs.  

I was decidedly more nervous about the next stop, at preschool.


The Little One had surprised me with a little bit of fear and hesitation at Meet the Teacher night.  Before that, I had never even considered that she would be anything but overwhelmingly excited to start school-we can thank her overachieving sister for that.  This little girl exceeded my expectations, however.


She sat right down with her teacher and a few other children at the drop off area and jumped into story time, being polite, participating, raising her hand and basically just being all around adorable.  I waited in the back of the room until it was time to line up and march to class just in case she needed me, but with a few waves and smiles and blown kisses, she chugga-chugga-choo-chooed off with the rest of the three year olds into the train room.


Le sigh.  It is so conflicting, not being needed at a time like this.  My soul swelled with pride, knowing that I am raising two independent, well adjusted little people.  My ego took a hit, however-I find myself getting so much of my self worth out of being needed by them-I am a mama.  It's my definition.  If they don't need me, then what good am I?

They do need me, though.  They need me to be waiting for them at the bus stop.  They need me to ask them how their day was, to give them a big hug and kiss, to tell them how proud I am for being such big girls today.  They need me to cook them a big dinner, and pour their juice into wine glasses to celebrate such a big milestone.  They need me to tuck their pajama-ed bottoms into bed, and wish them a deep night of sleep in preparation for another day of being strong, independent little people.

They'll always need me.
They better, damn it.
Cause I sure as hell need them.




Tuesday, September 7, 2010

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday


The Little One, Uncle Mikey (yes, they have two of those), and The Curly Haired One.

Apparently, falling asleep in the car runs in the family.  Only one of these slumbering people was influenced by "Rich and Rare" whiskey, however.  I'll let you guess which one it was.

*************************

Best. Comment. Ever.

I think it's pretty universal that we bloggers are of a narcissistic sort.  I think you have to be to write about your life on the internet, right?  Going along with that, we bloggers love comments.  Whether you love or hate what we have to say, comments are the validation that what you spend your time doing is touching people, is worthwhile.

One of my faithful commenters, Lauralee, is a dear woman that always takes the time out of her day to leave thoughtful and sweet messages on my posts.  She left this comment on my Wordless Wednesday post last week, and I was just tickled at how creative and thoughtful it was!

Mini Poem: No More Dualing Recliners
Our dualing recliners had to stop
when into them we did tiredly plop.
Poor Mommy did not get to celebrate
our new cease fire recliners nap date.
She was upstairs blow drying her pretty hair,
for Meet The Teacher Night, does that seem fair?
She was not able to enjoy her girly children which we are
because she was now late and had to quickly hurry to the car.
She was off in a mommy "Why can't I get to enjoy them now?" flash,
while we sleeped the sleep of the blessed, not batting even an eyelash.

I just wanted to take a moment to thank Lauralee and all of my readers and commenters for taking your time to share your thoughts and validate my work.  It means so much to me and I love you all very much!

Remember Me?


HI!  My name is Kisha.  You may not barely vaguely remember me as the author of this here blog.  I promise I'm not dead, dying, or afflicted by any diseases other than my normal insanity.  Apparently when you actually do this "life" and "mom" and "wife" thing the right way, it takes up a lot of your time.  Who knew?

So, what have I been doing when I haven't been here?

-Five members of my husband's family were kind enough to fly out here to Crazy Town Seattle to spend an extended Labor Day weekend with us.  Luckily, we have the space to accommodate everyone, so the Hotel De Floren was filled to capacity.  Highlights of their stay included a late night trip to the bar across the street from my house (which makes Wal-Mart look like Nordstrom's) in which one bar patron called another patron a scrotum; a 90th birthday party reception in a church basement; sneaking whiskey into said 90th birthday party reception; showing all my nice normal South Dakotan in-laws the famous Fremont Troll, and consuming ridiculous amounts of M&M's and Riesling.  I will be spending an hour on the elliptical daily for at least the rest of the week.

-In preparation for said in-law visit, I cleaned my house to a spit-shine.  Showroom quality.  It is unbelievable that A-I am so unorganized normally but can still manage to remember to breathe, B-I am capable of being extremely organized when I take my Ritalin when I really try, and C-how much I have improved from my Hoarders days, and how far I still have to go.  Side Note-is anyone else as excited/scared/intrigued as I am to watch tonight's season premiere of Hoarders?  Dude.  

-Last week contained two meet the teacher nights, and tomorrow is the big day.  First day of school for both girls-first year of preschool for The Little One, and kindergarten for the Curly Haired One.  I will drop them both off, come home and cry my eyes out, then realize that I have two hours of silence so I better stop blubbering and get to celebrating or drinking or dancing around naked or SOMETHING.  As hard as it is to let your kiddos go, this is the first taste of freedom I have had in over five years and I am going to savor it.

-Project No More Fluffy Girl is still going well.  I lost three pounds in three days last week during the cleaning exorcism of my house.  I was lackadaisical this weekend about my diet, but did not do anything I was ashamed of.  No binging, nothing ridiculous.  Just enjoyed myself in moderation.  I was so paranoid that going off plan, even just a bit would mean I would instantly gain everything back plus some.  Stepping on the scale this morning set me straight, though-I weighed exactly the same today as I did last week.  I truly think the key to my weight loss success is exercise and moderation.  As long as I'm working out, I can indulge in MODERATION and still do well.  More to come on the fluffy girl front later.

So, do tell....what have you all been up to?  How's life?  What do you think I should do with my two hours of freedom tomorrow afternoon?     

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Freebie Friday: The Linky Edition



Blog giveaways are so much fun!  Why do you think I host one some every week?  Not only is it a chance for you to win free stuff, they are an invaluable marketing tool to both blogs and the companies that are featured.  Because I am only one Kisha, and I only do one a handful of giveaways a week, I figured I would jazz up Freebie Friday a bit by hosting a giveaway linky.  So, if you are a blogger and are hosting a giveaway, link it up here!  And if you're a reader looking for great giveaways....have fun!!!!!

To appease my OCD and make the linky easy to read for everyone, please consider listing your giveaway in this format:

Blog Name-Giveaway Name-(Date Ending)



Tuesday, August 31, 2010

DiamondEarrings.org Review and Giveaway


I love sparkly things.

Particularly, diamonds.  They are my friends.  No matter the color of your clothes, the style of dress, the makeup or hair style you rock, diamonds always look good.  They are all that is holy and delicious about jewelry.

I only wear two pieces of jewelry on a daily basis.  My wedding ring set, and my diamond earrings.

I prefer diamond studs, princess cut, silver/white gold/platinum if Mr. Floren's feeling generous.

However, it's somewhat ridiculous to buy diamond earrings as frequently as I would like.  So, what's a bling lovin' mama to do?

    

Rock a big ol' pair of fakes.  If you get the good ones, and carry yourself with the air of "oh yes, honey, these are real...and they ARE SPECTACULAR!" everyone will be sure you spent the kids' college fund on a couple of pricey rocks.

Well, hello DiamondEarrings.org.....come be my friend.  The wonderful people at DiamondEarrings.org are GIVING AWAY pairs of simulated diamond earrings just like the ones shown above as an amazing promotion for their new site!  I was lucky enough to receive a pair, and let me tell you, I am quite pleased.  It takes a great pair of earrings to hold up next to the beauty that is my face, and they rock it.  All you have to do to get a pair of your own is to mention their web address, www.DiamondEarrings.org, somewhere on the web-your blog, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace, whatever-pay shipping and handling fee, and you will be sent a pair of these gorgeous baubles!

Or.....you could win a pair, absolutely free, from me.  ;)

The Giveaway:  One Pair of Simulated Diamond Earrings, set in sterling silver, and absolutely gorgeous.

Mandatory Entry:  Mention DiamondEarrings.org anywhere on the internet-send out a tweet on Twitter, post a link on Facebook, include it in your status update on Myspace, link to them in a random blog post-your choice.  Just leave me the link to the mention in a comment. (For example, the link to your tweet, the Facebook status update, the blog post URL, etc.)

Additional Entries:

-Vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs (just click here, you may do this once daily, just leave a comment for every vote)
-Follow me on Twitter
-"Like" In Through The Out Door on Facebook
-Subscribe to this blog via a reader, email, or Google Friend Connect (all choices available on the sidebar)

This giveaway will be open until Friday, September 10th, at 9:00 PM PST, to all residents of the US ages 18 and over.  A winner will be chosen by random number generator, notified by email, and posted shortly thereafter.  Have fun and good luck!

**FTC mandated disclosure: I was provided a pair of earrings to facilitate my review.  However, all opinions contained within this review are 100% my own and unbiased in any way.

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