Living Room Olympics and Some Conversations with a Three-Year-Old

I haven’t posted much for over a week. I’ve been working on some other projects, and I guess blogging fell to the bottom of the list.

I just haven’t been feelin’ it either. Maybe it’s the realization that summer’s almost over. We’ve lost over an hour of daylight in the last month. I love those long summer evenings when the sun is out until 10 o’clock. Now that that they’re so quickly fading away, I feel like I have to squeeze every last drop out of what’s left of the sunshine and warm days. Remember the summers of your childhood that seemed to go on and on? If only time moved as slowly at 33 as it did at 13.

Or maybe it’s too many late nights watching the Olympics. I could not go to bed last night until I was sure Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh won the gold. And am I the only one who couldn’t hold back the tears a few nights ago when they cut away to Shawn Johnson’s mother sobbing in the stands after her little girl finally won a gold medal? I actually had to get up and get a Kleenex.

David’s been watching the Olympics with us. This is the first that’s he’s been old enough to really watch. He’s been especially fascinated with swimming and gymnastics.

“Who is that?”

“Michael Phelps.”

“What’s he doing?”

“Swimming in a race.”

“He goes fast.”

“He goes very fast. He’s won a lot of gold medals, because he’s the best swimmer in the world.”

“When I grow up I want to swim fast, and win a gold medal. But I have to bring my floatie.”

Watching women’s swimming David noticed that some of the swimmers we’re, well, a little more athletically built than others.

“Mommie are they all girls?”

“Yes, it’s women’s swimming.”

“Is that a girl?”

“Yes.”

“And that’s a girl?”

“Yes.”

“No. That’s a man.”

“No honey, they’re all girls.”

“She doesn’t look like a girl.”

“Well, it’s hard to tell when their hair is under those caps.”

“No. She just doesn’t look like a girl.”

Later during the same event:

“Mommie do you want to go there?”

“Yes, I think it would be fun to go to China.”

“No there. Do you want to go there.”

“Do you mean swim in that big pool?”

“Yeah.”

“That would be fun wouldn’t it?”

“You could swim with those other girls, and Daddy and I could watch you.”

“I’m pretty sure I’d break a world record. Slowest ever Olympic time in the women’s 200 meters.”

Then after watching the gymnastics vaulting competition David announced, “I have to learn how to do five somersaults and land on my feet!”

The next day he carried his old crib mattress out to the living room and placed it in front of the ottoman. He started doing flips off the ottoman on to the mattress.

“What on earth are you doing? You’re going to break your neck!”

“No I won’t. I have a mattress.”

“You could still get hurt.”

“But I have to practice landing on my feet.”

Well, next week launches us full swing into election season with the Democratic Convention starting on Monday, followed up by the Republican convention the week after. David should give me plenty to blog about after he watches some of that.

Remember this conversation about Barack Obama? David still doesn’t believe me.

Girl Talk: Does Your UPS Man Know what You Look Like without Your Make-up On?

I didn’t get Girl Talk posted last Thursday, because my parents were coming to visit, and I was knee deep in housework. Housework takes three times as long when you have a three-year-old boy going behind you un-doing everything you just picked up and straightened. Oy!

This week I’ve been hunkered down at home working on some other projects, and taking care of a sick husband.

So I haven’t gone out much the last few days except for a couple quick trips to the store to replenish the milk supply. Speaking of milk, did you ever think you’d see the day that a gallon of milk and a gallon of gas were roughly the same price? Are the milking machines running on Premium now or what?

When I’m just at home and have no plans to go out, I have to admit I don’t exactly take the time get gussied up. Don’t worry. I do shower regularly, and change my underwear. But I let my hair just air dry, and the most make-up that goes on is a pre-emptive layer of Oil of Olay. That always comes back to bite me when I do end having to run out of the house unexpectedly, or answer the door for the UPS man.

Anyhoo…

What I am taking the long way around to get to is this.

What’s the minimum amount of primping you’ll leave the house with? I have a few rules.

1. My hair must be combed and mostly laying right.

2. My clothes must be presentable. No ill-fitting or stained clothes, and absolutely no pajama pants. I can not stand it when I see people out shopping in their pjs, and yes, even their fuzzy slippers! Don’t they at least own some sweats and pair of flip-flops? Really!

3. Mascara. I can go out with out lipstick, eyeshadow, even foundation, but I just feel naked with out my Great Lash.

So how about you? What are your minimum requirements for leaving the confines of your house?

Talk to me Girls.

Princess Time Toys Giveaway

“UPDATED”

Betty N. is the winner of the Disney Princess 7-in-1 Game House from Princess Time Toys. Congratulations.

And I’m back!

I been over at The Chocolistas for a few days completely screwing up, uh — practicing my CSS skills for a few days. It’s still a little rough, but check it out and let me know what you think about the new look. I really have no clue what I’m doing when it comes to html, so I consider it a personal triumph every time it turns out mostly O.K.

Anyway, I stayed up way too late several nights working on The Chocolistas, and now I’m too tired to blog. So how about a new give way instead? This one’s for the kiddos.

Princess Time Toys Giveaway

Princess Time Toys is giving away one Disney Princess 7-in-1 Game House. It Includes Checkers, Bingo, Tic Tac Toe, Dominoes, Go Fish, Old Maid and Crazy Eights all inside an beautiful wooden table with a storage drawer.

Bloggers

To enter, register at Princess Time Toys, and write a review for one of the products on the site on your blog linking to Princess Time Toys. Please only review products you’ve actually used. Nothing there? Then post what you think or like about a particular product, and how you’d use it with your child to enrich his/her life. Make sure you leave a comment with the link to your post.

Non-Bloggers

Don’t have a blog? Register at Princess Time Toys and leave a comment here with your review or what you think or like about a particular product, and how you’d use it with your child to enrich his/her life.

Princess Time Toys honors your privacy and will NEVER send unsolicited mail or sell, give or rent your information. However, while registering, if you sign up for their newsletter, you’ll receive additional giveaway opportunities and discount codes!

The contest is open world wide.

Contest ends 11:59 P.M. August 24th.

The winner will be randomly drawn and contacted by email.

Girls Just Wanna Win Swag: Designs by Suzyn

The winner of the Mom Colors Bracelet from last week’s Girls Just Wanna Win Swag Giveaway is Sonya from Sonya’s Happenings.

This week I want you to meet Suzyn from Designs by Suzyn. She is a true artisan, creating one-of-a-kind designer jewelery from silver and semi-precious stones.

One look at Suzyn’s work tells you there is something special about it. “My jewelry is unique in the sense that every piece is different.  I pride myself on my designs.  My pieces are well thought out and made by hand.  I do not use molds to create my work,” she says.

When it comes to her creative process Suzyn says, “I am inspired by everything I see.  Sometimes I sketch a piece that I envision, but when I actually sit down to do the work, the piece takes on a life of its own and morphs into something completely different.”

Suzyn also has, “a very challenging job as an IT project manager for a large company,” and works as a real estate agent. “I find that jewelry making is my stress reliever,” she says.

Suzyn’s co-workers are, in part, why she opened her on-line store. “I decided to go into business because I have a large following at work. A lot of people buy my jewelry. I get stopped in stores, and on the street by people commenting on my unique jewelry.” Since people are always asking her where she sells her jewelry, she launched the website to direct customers to and to showcase her work.

Suzyn says she’s just getting started with the Designs by Suzyn site.  She has many more pieces to add, so be sure to come back again and see the rest of her gorgeous collection.

Win It!

Suzyn is offering a $25 gift certificate to one lucky reader good towards a purchase of $50 or more from Designs by Suzyn. To win visit Designs by Suzyn and leave a comment on THIS POST with what item you would like to purchase from the store with the gift certificate. Comments not following the rules will be disqualified.

Earn an extra entry by posting about this contest on your blog, and linking to this post and to Designs by Suzyn. If you do the extra credit, let me know by leaving a separate comment with the link to your post.

Bloggers and non-bloggers may enter. The contest is open internationally.

The contest will run until midnight EST August 20. I’ll randomly draw a winner, and announce it on the next edition of Girls Just Wanna Win Swag. The winner will also be contacted by email, and will have three days to reply. You can also check Prizey Fetch to see if you’ve won. If the winner does not reply in three days, another will be chosen.

Have a women-owned business you’d like featured in a Swag giveaway? Fill out the contact form in my sidebar and let me know.

I Guess I’m One of “Those” Moms Now

I really don’t want to be one of those moms who calls the doctor about every little sniffle.

When I noticed this morning that David had a cold it didn’t seem like much. But he woke up from his nap coughing and breathing hard. He said it hurt when he tried to take a deep breath.  I held him for a few minutes, and he cried and cried, saying he couldn’t breathe.

When David was about a year and a half old he had a bad cold that turned into a case of croup that was so serious we had to take him to the ER. After that his pediatrician told us it might be something that would happen often to David when he had a cold, and that it could be an indication that he was developing asthma.

I also waited too long to take David to the doctor once. He suffered three or four days with a double ear infection before we finally went. I felt terrible about that. I know how miserable and painful those are.

So I called the doctor’s office this afternoon and described David’s symptoms to a nurse. She told me to bring him in right away. I packed him in the car and drove the 45 minutes to the doctor. Well, usually it takes 45 minutes. I think I got there in 35 minutes today.

We started seeing this pediatrician when we lived closer to Grand Rapids. And all the doctors in the practice are so great I don’t want to switch. The distance isn’t a problem when we’re just going for check-ups and shots. Today I thought we’d never get there.

Of course by the time we got there David’s breathing was normal. The doctor checked him out. He said David just had a bad cold and a lot of congestion. His lungs were fine. He said everything probably drained into his throat and lungs while he was sleeping, and the coughing was just all of it clearing out. He didn’t even have a fever. I’m sure he had a fever this morning.

The doctor was very kind about it. He didn’t tell me I over-reacted or anything. But I felt silly bringing him all that way for a head cold. And since I didn’t have time to apply make-up, fix my hair or change my stained shirt, I looked silly too.

Well, what’s a mom to do? It could have been really serious. Thank goodness it was nothing. I’d rather feel silly at four in the afternoon than find myself racing a really sick kid to the ER at 3 a.m.