Spiraling

Fall is here! There's that crisp little bite to the air in the mornings and evenings (while our mid-days are still hovering in the 70s-80s...). I still don't feel like the parent of a 1st grader. Daniel seems to be adapting fairly well to school, although I've gotten comments about how it seems to be a really long day. (Kindergarten was half-day.) We're still doing karate and considering Cub Scouts. And I'm finally getting to do a playgroup that is devoted to Ethan and not just a tagalong with his older brother event. In many ways we're rocking this new schedule. And yet...

What do you all do for, well... you? Don't get me wrong, I love my family dearly and wouldn't change a thing. H works his ass off so that I can be home with the kids. Between his work schedule and my spinning top household/kids schedule it often feels like we simply wave at each other before falling into bed at night. I'm wishing we could get to a movie or something that doesn't involve, say The Smurfs. And I find myself pondering the me that isn't attached to the labels we all have: daughter, sister, wife, mother... What fills you up, sparkles your rainbow, puts a Cheshire Cat grin on your face? I'm struggling to reconnect with that core of me a bit more of late. Lately it's involved some clandestine reading of my favorite fantasy authors, while swigging frozen lemonade. What do you do?

And could someone please come over and figure out where the clicker to my DVD player went when it vanished? Not sure if it's where the stray socks go, but it's been missing forever...

Discover Strange New Worlds...

My mother has always said that I could talk, almost before I could walk. In first grade they were bumping me up to second grade for reading because I had done everything they were working on already. By junior high I had burned through anything I had even remotely considered interesting in the school library. Books were always a good birthday gift, but people were hard-pressed to find something I hadn't already devoured.

Did I mention I like to read?

Fantasy is a particular favorite of mine, and so I was thrilled to be offered the chance to review Deborah Harkness' latest book: A Discovery of Witches through the Blogher.com Book Club. My review just went live today. Click the link above, and hop over and check it out!

Rambling

I learned to type on a real, honest-to-goodness typewriter. I'm occasionally finding it a bit disconcerting as I watch my 3.5 year old zoom around Noggin.com playing computer games with Diego or the Backyardigans. He's become pretty adept with the mouse, and even remembers where to click off and on various pages and how to print! There are so many things that I grew up with, that my kid may never see (except for Mommy reminiscing): Real LPs (heck, even cassette tapes), VHS (remember your first VCR?). The list goes on. Just another of those Mommy Moments where I wonder: Where has my baby gone?

Reading: Just finished The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry. A mystery set in Salem, MA about a woman with a gift - a seer - and her unique family. I have a soft spot for books set in familiar places, and Salem is a wonderful place to visit.

Listening: Free* by Jim's Big Ego. Erin introduced me to Boston's folk music scene, and JBE is a long-time favorite. They used to do a big Halloween show every year at Club Passim where audience and band members alike showed up in costume. Great music with a quirky sense of humor. Great fun!

Watching: Many shows are gone for the summer (LOST, Heroes) or gone for good (Battlestar Galactica, Terminator:TSCC). I've recently been enjoying In Plain Sight, and Burn Notice is back in early June - Yay!

Hoping to see: Pamela, my sci-fi partner in crime, and I are trying to carve time out of our schedules to get out to see the new Star Trek. It looks fabulous!

Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone!

Picking my battles

I try hard these days to be choosy about my battles with my increasingly opinionated preschooler. Issues involving safety are non-negotiable. You must take my hand in this parking lot, and crossing the street! But I try to let go of the fact that he finds a total of three shirts acceptable for wearing at the moment...

We were poring through the library yesterday which always involves videos and kids books, and an occasional item for Mommy too. It was a little disconcerting to have him emerge from the stacks with a Star Wars novel that you might find me reading on the beach. No amount of discussion could sway him from his opinion that this was his Star Wars book. I shrugged my shoulders, figuring What the heck? and checked the thing out. I figure he can have fun looking at the soldier on the cover until our next trip to the library.

I did get an odd look from the children's librarian later when he proudly showed his book off to her.