Wading through the normal stuff

Ever have the feeling you'd be off conquering the world if only you didn't have to get your sheets washed? I posted in my last blog how satisfying it is to get stuff done while M is asleep, and that's still true, but at the end of the day, it's not advancing the main things we (as a family) want to be up to as much as we would like. Right now, I'm figuring out what to get on the table for lunch all the while knowing that I could/should be doing something major while little one's asleep (geez! FINally!) and feeling good about the laundry hanging outside, but then, who cares about the laundry, really? It's not getting the preparations done for our trip, nor is it getting our finances straight, nor is it getting the myriad of thank-yous written. (If you're reading this, chances are I owe you one- a very long overdue one.) Heck, I even started to think about the blog I didn't write, the really cool idea I had around Mother's Day how the mysticism of mothers centers around how they are living, mobile, inter-dimensional portals... yeah, that one. The one that doesn't exist.


So, before I go any further, I'll pose a question and any moms or dads who are successfully up to stuff can feel free to answer, or anyone having to strike a balance to get things done (doesn't have to be family-related). What does it take, really, to keep the home fires burning and start to (or continue to) make your mark in the world without going crazy? What has worked for you?


(Feel free to say "I'm rowing that boat too!" and take in the responses as I will be!)


Off to go drain the gluten-free pasta for lunch... 


Important PS- So, I walk into Burke's office with a bowl of said pasta with other tasty things mixed in and he remarks "Ah, lunch magically appears!" In other words, "I would not have eaten lunch if this didn't show up! Thank you!" I retract any home-fire-bashing I just did- they are important and obviously appreciated.

Sublime Satisfaction

No one told me that being a parent would be this satisfying.


You think I mean the actual having of said child in my life? In truth, I expected that kind of satisfaction- and it's glorious, all right, down to the amazing diapers of late. (Did you know that broccoli florets look like confetti after 'processing'? I did not! But(t) enough on that topic.) No, I'm talking about the absolute satisfaction of anything accomplished while the little one is asleep. Need to perk up the drab chores of laundry and dishes? Save it for when she nods off. I swear I feel like some sort of chore savant with a perma-smirk on if Mademoiselle is snoozing. Even better are the things you just find yourself doing that really needed to be done. Today's feat was to clean up the various seeds and old leaves from the driveway, to which I added the absolute coup of having neighbors with a sawz-all (spelling?) to take out those nasty trees growing among the property line through our chain-link fence. I was even able to bind up all the branches and deposit them on the curb! And as I'm writing this, she's in her swing dozing off yet again! Now I've got a dilemma- what should I go accomplish now?

Wait, I thought *this* was going to be The Accidental Blogger title...

It just goes to show you how unfamiliar with the world of blogging. Of course, there are scores and scads of blogs that start just like this one- "I have NO clue what I'm doing here...". Heck, I'm even pretty sure someone else could be Wundermom (or at the very least, I'm clear I'm not the one and only Wundermom on the planet). They probably even have the same damn title.

So, what? What's there to say that has not already been said? There really is no way to tell unless I give this a shot. 

My experience with blogging has been in the form of Xanga posts back in, say, 2002. I haven't done it since because I was afraid I would get sucked in. Turns out this is a legitimate fear. As we speak/I write, I really need to get self and kid out the door for shopping before our dinner guest arrives and wonders why we're spending the evening staring wistfully at empty plates. (The non-dinner guest?) This certainly would never produce good blogging fodder.

So, a vignette to start us off and I'll be on my way- 7 month old in a generously-donated swing, twisting herself in her buckles, while a tired, neurotic Australian Shepherd dozes at the feet of the swing, merely waiting for me to get up out of this chair to see if he missed something, anything that otherwise needs to be attended to for our little Mademoiselle.

See you later. Or not.