Library Book Sale - May 28, 2011

I managed to sneak out to the library book sale sans child for a whole half hour. Last time, the sale was kind of meh. This time it was great again. I had to come up with some rules, including:

• No buying of cookbooks just because they are pretty. I put back two gorgeous "brunch" cookbooks. Because pretty doesn't actually equal useful.
• No more vegetarian cookbooks unless they are specifically by a small group of authors I love. The one by the guy who developed the Gardenburger...back into the bin it went. Ditto the cookbook from a restaurant I'd never heard of. I have plenty of cookbooks. 
• No more rescuing books to give to people unless they are, again, from a very small select list of books. Twitch twitch.
• No more buying books I read and kinda liked. Especially if it's a work of fiction. I can visit these books over and over at the library, and I have a backlog of stuff to read that's filling my house as it is.

(You will also find that I broke these rules, but only a tiny bit.)

So. Here's what I did buy (red = 50 cents, blue = $1, green = $2, click the pictures to embiggen):

It's a book about a broken heart. And canning. CANNING. 

OK, so I bought this because it was a pretty cookbook, even though it's useless to me AS a cookbook. Rule broken. Yes. But it was 50 cents. And look at that wacky binding (metal staple things) and it was printed in 1964 in Japan. And LOOK:

You totally would have bought it too.

This is one of my favorite cookbooks. I own two copies and have made several recipes out of it and continue to do so on occasion. BUT I CAN'T FIND EITHER ONE OF THE COPIES I OWN. So for a dollar, I figured I could have it accessible again and then give it away once I find my copies.

I was 99% sure I didn't already own this and didn't want to pull out my iPod (it has a list on it). Natalie Goldberg hooray!

Looked cute and funny.

I took this out of the library a few months ago and didn't have time to read it. Now I will.

Say it with me - DAWWWWWWWW. (I love Mutts & have an autographed copy of another one of his books from when I met Patrick McDonnell at the Decatur Book Festival.)

Splurge of the day - a whole TWO DOLLARS - which I figured was OK since the other stuff was so cheap. And I just couldn't resist a book about MFK Fisher. LOVE. HER.

So you see? I was fairly restrained and behaved. I WAS. But now more books have to go out the door to make room for these. I have a pile...I just have to get rid of it.

You Know You Want It - The new Lady Gaga album for 99 cents - May 23, 2011

Short and sweet - here's my referral link and everything - Lady Gaga's new album is 99 cents today from Amazon. (And I will make a tiny tiny bit of money if you click that link, just so you know. TINY. But something.)

It's good. It's fun. It's frothy. It's ridiculous. And it's 99 cents. So clicky and get it.

Yes, I made a whole post to say this. I'm not going to bother to review it - you already either know or have preconceived notions about it. I'm losing my zinegirl indierock bandgroupie cred with every letter I type in this post. I DO NOT CARE.

Sometimes you just need to dance.

Thanks.

Hooray for the Alive! Expo!

Loot!

Not much more to say. I got half-price tickets to the Expo (not a difficult thing to do, I promise) and scored all this fun stuff (plus a bit more not shown). Favorite freebies - big bags of organic brown rice, boxes of organic granola, sample-sized Luna bars, a jar opener...and COUPONS. I also got suckered into a newspaper subscription, but it was a great deal AND I got back part of what I spent in the form of a Publix gift card so it was an even BETTER deal. Of course if I actually had gotten the paper this morning it would have been the BEST deal but...I'm sure it will work out tomorrow (I've already made calls/sent emails/gotten delightfully conflicting information).

This begins the last week of preschool before summer break. My brain kind of ends on Friday as well. Fun.

Your Choices Are Valid - May 19, 2011

I'll keep this short and sweet.

You - you, reading this right now, if you are female and in charge of some children - are very likely not the worst mother in the world, the most terrible mother in the world, or the biggest meaniepants mother in the world. I suspect that if you are reading this, you are probably a mother who loves her children deeply and dearly. And to that end, you make choices that reflect that love. Maybe the choices were very difficult. Maybe the choices were easy. Maybe the choices led to further complicated decisions. Maybe I don't agree with your choices. (I'm judgy! I'm sorry! But in the end who the hell am I anyway?) Maybe your mother-in-law doesn't agree with your choices. But in the end, your choices are made with love and concern. I know that, you know that. Own your choices. Stop talking about how you're a bad mom and worrying about random strangers and close personal family friends judging you and instead celebrate that you are a good mom. Start doing that today, OK?

I'll try to take my own advice too. Because I sure need to. The judging isn't going to go away - internally or externally. But today I'm going to try to make it all about LOVE.

I sound goopy. I've got to go yell at my cat for sitting on the kitchen table again...

Wordless Wednesday - May 18, 2011

Frozen bananas, a splash of almond milk, a handful of chocolate chips.

Yard Sale Post - May 17, 2011

I went to two different neighborhood yard sales two weeks ago but hadn't had a chance to take pictures for a post until now. (I know, I know, you are SO excited.)

I adore this Hello Kitty clock. $3.

The sushi book was 50 cents. The Street Gang book was part of a bigger purchase...

...these books were also part of the bigger purchase...

...and this one. The books plus the pictures of clothing below were $6 total.

That purple thing is a shrug. 

Yup. All the clothes and all the books for $6 total. Cuteness abounds. I'm particularly loving the skirt, which I hope the kid will wear in the fall.

A STUFFED PEEP. I was so excited to find him, and he was on the "Free" blanket!

$1, I think. Maybe 50 cents. It's lovely.

The Post You Get to See - May 16, 2011

This weekend we were able to get pictures of my daughter standing unassisted. I've never ever had a picture of her like that - with nothing around her, nobody around her. She's grinning and holding her hands together and she looks like any other kid - I believe if someone saw it without knowing the history, they'd just think I was taking a picture of her outfit or something, nothing extraordinary.

No, I'm not going to post it here - I still am not comfortable sharing pictures in such a public space - but trust me, it's awesome. I look at it and I smile and smile and smile.

She's only had her SMOs for two weeks, and she already can stand for a few seconds, where before the braces she could stand for maybe one or two seconds before falling. It took her a few short months to get the hang of her walker and now she zooms around in it. She's motivated and strong - I cannot wait to see what the next few months bring. She's also making more consonant sounds and every so often saying more words. I have always felt that for her, walking would come before talking. It's just a gut feeling based on nothing, but both are coming right along.

So there you have it - the positive post you get to see. Perhaps the other posts I've written over the weekend will surface in the future, but I decided to start off Monday with a cheer.

Thursday Rambles - May 12, 2011

• I have discovered banana "ice cream" and I think I am addicted - in the way that I get addicted and obsessed about something and make it 20 times in 2 weeks and then never again. Frozen bananas + Vitamix = a cold, creamy, delicious thing. I plan on adding chocolate next time. Or peanut butter. Or both. It's good. If you don't have a Vitamix, I'd cut the banana in small pieces before freezing, but my wonderblender did power through frozen halves with some sad sounds and then a triumphant whirr. I did add a bit of almond milk to help it along but I don't think it was necessary. I'll take a picture next time - I have one banana in the freezer right now but the rest that were in the house were not quite ripe enough. 
• This week Kroger had another "buy 10, get $5 off" sale that I both loved and hated. Loved because there was the potential for free+overage, hated because...10? Really? Just make everything be on sale, please. So first I drove to nearby Big Kroger. They didn't have any of the overage stuff - just empty sad gaps on the shelves. Next my entire family went on an adventure to Collegey Kroger (I just named it that, I'm sure the locals have a name for it). It had free WiFi and it stocked some faux seafood by Yves that I'd never seen before (verdict: good but pricey, I preferred the "shrimp" to the "tuna" and I'd buy again but I'd love if it was on sale/coupon when I did) but it didn't even have spaces on the shelves for the superdealios. Sigh. Today I walked to Baby Kroger for one last shot - no spaces on the shelves there either, but I bought 6 packages of Laughing Cow cheese and 4 boxes of Garden Delight pasta - the pasta was free after the deal and the Cow was $1.50/package - my favorite price to pay is $1/package but between the fact that this year they've only released $1/2 coupons and the sales haven't been as awesome, I figured $1.50 was pretty great. I wish the store stocked more flavors but I took what I could get. I also grabbed another container of almond milk - $1.99, found a bunch of 55 cent coupons at Big Kroger so yay - but I got unflavored, not vanilla. I'm sure I can manage to find many uses for it though.
• It's already in the 90s here. The NINETIES. It will cool off by the weekend but for now...too hot for May. Hrmph. But I'm trying to enjoy it. And to be happy that I have central A/C, a luxury I did not grow up with.
• I have actual paid work coming in now - writing AND editing. Hooray!
• I really don't like who wound up in the ANTM finals. I am ignoring AI almost completely. I read about the Voice but don't have time for it (am rooting for Frenchie and for a local-area woman who a friend sort of knows). Mostly my TV watching has slowed dramatically - which means my Internet surfing has increased. Ah well. 
• I'm reading Love You to Pieces right now. It's no My Baby Rides the Short Bus but it's OK.
• I've had moments of feeling alienated, again, from the special needs community, the CP community, and the parents-of-neurotypical-kids community lately, but I shall not dwell. I also have moments where I'm surrounded by good people, so it evens out. Sort of.
• My kid is kicking ass and taking names with her SMOs. That light twinkles at the end of that tunnel. I know she will stand and walk more soon. 5 seconds here, 10 seconds there, 2 steps, 3 steps. She's a determined kid. 
• Happy Thursday. 

Assumptions - May 1, 2011

On Wednesday, after a week-long battle with some sort of sinus/allergy/yuck nonsense, my sense of smell went poof. I didn't realize it was gone until I went to eat a REALLY HEALTHY SNACK [ahem, buffalo-wing flavored pretzel crisps] and thought, wow, this tastes super salty but it doesn't taste like it's supposed to. Suddenly it dawned on me that I couldn't smell even though I could breathe through my nose. I spent the next few hours freaking out, putting my face in a bag of coffee (nothing) and smelling my various candles and soaps (nada) and Googling (shockingly reassuring). When it didn't return by Friday morning (with brief moments where stuff did get through), I zipped over to the doctor, where I was reassured that it was nothing, was related to inflammation, and that it would improve soon. Thankfully it has.

It got me thinking about assumptions and taking things for granted. I have a nose, therefore I can smell. Suddenly it was gone. There are people who are born without the ability to smell and others who can't for whatever reason. And it's freaky - I couldn't smell my kid, I couldn't smell my food, I didn't know if something was burning or if the milk had gone bad. It's a huge deal.

People assume that all kids can do things. Because most kids can. Human beings have legs, feet, we walk upright. We are born, at around six months or so we sit up, at around a year or so we walk. I remember when I was still coming to terms with my daughter's diagnosis, a friend with a new baby (her second) noted, well, in three more months the baby will be sitting up and things will be easier... I used to think those milestones just magically happened too. And sometimes...they don't.

I try not to assume anything anymore. I try. I try really, really hard. When my sense of smell left, I didn't assume it would come back, and I didn't assume I would always have it. Now that I can sort of smell again, I breathe the spring air in deeply and enjoy what I smell in it. Now that my daughter is on the cusp of walking and talking - she gets her SMOs tomorrow! - I revel in these little things that she now can do. I don't know, though, if I *assume* she will be able to walk and talk. I trust that she will be able to after a long struggle, I just don't take it for granted that it will happen and I will be SO EXCITED when it does, rather than blase about her doing what human beings just...do. Perhaps this is why I get frustrated by those who sigh "Oh no, my 10-month old is pulling to standing. I am SOOOO in TROUBLE." Because they assume - likely rightfully - that their kid will then cruise and then stand and then walk. It's not a luxury I've ever had. And those who tell me to be careful what I wish for when I wish my child could talk clearly? Yeah. No. I wasn't able to assume she'd start talking and that by almost-four she'd be speaking full understandable sentences. I WANT her to talk now. And sometimes one assumes that life is a straight line and then...it's not. You think your kid is X and your kid turns out to be Y. It's not always about special needs or having an issue at birth. It's about life being unpredictable.

This is sort of a mixed up entry, and I'm not sure what I'm trying to say. But isn't that the beauty of blogging? Plus, I'm hushing that voice by pushing "Publish Post." If this post doesn't fully make sense, my next one will. I think. I hope.