A Busy Time and A Good Read

I'm not writing a lot for the next month or so. Besides the usual onslaught of life, chores, homeschooling, and pregnancy, we have family in town (parked in an RV behind my house), we just spend almost a week working up at Breitenbush, and now we are getting ready for our week out at the Oregon Country Fair.

I posted some pictures from Fair last year - it's always a mad thing to prepare for. Six days of camping, wandering, partying, parenting, and other mayhem. It's the week that most of our plans and goals revolve around every year. I can't wait to get out there, get my wings on, and have a blast.

In other news, the blogging conversation continues. A while ago, MommyMan wrote about his son's desire to wear a dress and I responded. I was completely thrilled to read a recent post from the MommyMan, in which his son dons a dress and feels fabulous - as all kids should, regardless of the clothing they wear. It's a great post and I will certainly admit to getting all choaked up while reading it.

I guess it ties into our trip to Country Fair...if only because I have to remember to get Brother-Bug's new green taffeta dancing & cocktail dress clean for the weekend...

Don't Apologize

One of the side consequences of always having our phones in our pockets is the inevitable apology when a call is missed. And, while it may be a trivial thing, it truly drives me a little nuts.


"Sorry I missed your call - I was helping my child _____ (learn to read, wash their hair, or ???)" 

Please don't apologize to me! You have called me back. You have voice mail. I am not more important that the job you are doing, the walk you are taking, the child you are parenting... And I wouldn't want to be. Instead, tell me how your day has been and what you have been up to. If I called you and you are my friend, I love you and your life and want to hear about how when I called you had just managed to sit down for the first time all day, with a good book, and nothing was getting you up... and I want to know how the book is. Or that your child was trying to swallow your house key. Or other details of your day and life...

But don't apologize for having a full, rich life that doesn't always get to the phone.

Do you apologize? Am I way off base here?

Preserve Us

Everything is ripe all at once. Peaches on Sunday, now tomatoes, Chantrelles, and applesauce in the next week. If I miss some of my regular posts it's because of a canning onslaught taking over my kitchen.




Keep your eye of the Canning Count in the sidebar there if you want to know what I'm up to...

Daily Haiku: October 8th

For my Husband:

I can't occupy
anywhere at this time of year.
My canning pot's full.

Busy Days

Things are keeping me busy.

1) I went ahead and got the iPhone. I'm enjoying the experience so far - especially being able to take my internet with me and catch up on off moments. I also like that I can share lists and calendars and stuff with my husband's phone. Maybe soon we can stop talking altogether!! But the set up and transition to the phone has been lengthy - and continues to be. I still need to do contacts and music and all kinds of stuff. And get the app for blogging from my phone...

2) My dad and his wife roll into town tomorrow! This is exciting. They are staying in their RV, parked next to our house for a month or two this summer. Brother-Bug is beyond excited - next door grandparents!!! But it also means we had to do a bunch of yard work and clean up and other preparations. Crazy times.

Brother-Bug at Faire last year.

3) Finally, and most time-sucking of all, we are getting ready for Oregon Country Faire. This means making flowered hats, pirate coats, a gnome, a wagon frame, buying a tent... the list goes on and on. But it is the family vacation, the yearly party of delight, mayhem, and excess, and the event we count down to all year long.

All this to say, I'm not online a lot now, despite the smartphone. I'm busy. I'm giving a gnome a skin graft (don't ask).

Sister-Bug, 3-months old at last Faire and already trying her wings!

Go! Go! Go! No...Slow Down.

We all do it. Every Mom, everywhere. We are so busy. We process so much. And yet... We don't need to do it all. There is, in fact, no way we will ever do it all. This has been a topic on a couple of other Mommy-blogs I read. We are so busy.

Mom-101 has two eloquent posts here and here. Hat's off to gainfully employed moms - I don't know how they do it. When I look at my week, I can't imagine trying to squeeze in a job as well! Oig.

Over at The Happiest Mom she writes about the importance of the "mom-reboot" and questions how important some of our tasks are. I love her frank writing style and go back there for post after post. I am strongly hinting that my "kids" get me her new book, The Happiest Mom, for Mother's Day.

This has given me a lot to think about. My thoughts on this are many and scattered - not at all ready for a post just yet. But it's in the works. But I need to prioritize...