You Know Who You Are

Dear Friend Who Lives Halfway Around the World and Must Have Had Your Baby By Now But Hasn't Emailed or Called,

I totally understand how busy you must be with a new baby! I really really do! You probably barely have time for a shower, let alone get on email and send me the news and pictures I'm so deperate for. But I need to know you are okay and that the baby is okay! I will even be happy with a short email without a picture! Just give me some news of you!

I see on my analytics that someone from the country and city where you live checked my blog yesterday, and it was not a new visitor. I don't usually get visits from that country other than you. So I think that maybe you had a chance to hop online, and maybe you even opened my blog! I can only hope that you got my email begging for an update. And yet, no reply.

I am dying to know how you are, how the baby is, that everything is okay, that you are doing alright. I'm so worried that something bad happened and that's why I haven't heard from you!

Is your mom there with you? I tried their house, but apparently they have a new number. I've looked it up, and I'll try to call it tonight. Hopefully your dad will be there and give me an update.

But if you happen to see this, please please please email me and let me know that everything is good. Hard, I'm absolutely certain, but good.

Your loving and oldest (in length of time known, not age) friend,
caramama

The Truth About Sarah Palin

I hope that Sarah Palin doesn't mind that I'm about to reveal her secret identity. She must have known when she went into something as public as politics that we would eventually find out.

Sarah Palin is really... Wonder Woman!!

I mean it! Have you seen her? Look at this picture of her! It's so obvious!

When McCain's speech kept getting interrupted by protestors last night, I kept waiting for her to go off to a corner, whip those glasses off and spin around a few times to make her hair tumble down and her leotard appear!

Here is my proof:
1. There is apparently some speculating that Palin's glasses are fake (and a commenter on that link realized the truth too!) and always seems to wear her hair up JUST LIKE WONDER WOMAN.
2. She flew from Texas to Alaska while in labor. I don't care if it wasn't active labor, that is freaking amazing!
3. I once saw her flying in her invisible plane. See? Absolute proof.

I don't care if they say they have researched her completely and know all there is to know and that there are no surprises. Unless they know her secret identity, they don't know everything!

And I'm not the only one who thinks so... Google it yourself!
Disclaimer: None of these links reflect my political beliefs nor my feelings about Sarah Palin other than the fact that I know she's really Wonder Woman.

Going Out Clothes

When I was getting ready to go out to dinner and drinks with DC Area people, I searched through my entire closet for something good to wear. Last time, when we met at the zoo, I wore shorts, a t-shirt and a baseball hat. This time, I wanted to show that I can look good. I really do know how to dress to go out on the town!

But as I looked through my closet, I could not find The Perfect Thing. During this search (and multiple trying on of different shirts, I had the following conversation with my dear husband:

caramama: Why don't I have any cute "going out" shirts anymore?
Londo: Because you grew out of them and didn't buy anymore because you are a mom now and don't wear those clothes anymore.
cm: Silent and glaring.
L: I mean, because they were old and you just haven't had time to replace them.

I like the second answer better, even if the first is more true.

DC Area Dinner Out Wrap Up

Saturday night, I had the pleasure of getting together with some bloggers and Ask Moxie commenters (Hi Zaimah!) and their spouses. We met in Bethesda, just outside of DC, for dinner, drinks, desert, and a lot of good conversation. I really liked the restaurant, which was a nice restaurant that was also very child friendly (not that I brought my child, but it's a good thing to note for future evenings out). However, I LOVED the company.

Hedra was able to capture a lot of how I felt in her post about the meet up, but I'll go into it from my perspective. What struck me the most was that I felt like I didn't have to put on any sort facade. Not that I do much of that IRL anyway, but these people have read my ramblings on my site and in comments on their sites or others. These people have a pretty good knowledge of how I parent and what I think about, well, everything. They know that I'm a bit of hippy, that I have an adorable and fussy daughter who I love so much, that I'm completely in love with my husband.

And I know about most of them. I know how old their children are, what their parent styles are, what causes are near and dear to them. So there we were, knowing each other even though this was only the second time I'd met most of them in person, and the first time meeting another. No need for all that small talk to over come uncomfortable feeling-each-other-out BS. Just straight to talk about nipple rings, pooping on potties and turkish baths. Hehe.

In addition to the eight adults who made it, Zaimah brought her 4 month old, who was adorable and so quiet and easy! He was just great at the table with a bunch of adults. Also, she let me hold him for a while, which was heaven and reminded me once again that I can't wait to have another.

As hedra said in her post about it, I felt like I could have just hung out for hours longer with these people. In fact at the end of the night, we started talking about when and where the next meet up would be. It's definitely going to be someplace where we can all chat with each other even with our kids there, which was really missing from the zoo. I have tentatively suggested a BBQ at my house for early October. We will also have to have another adult night out, because it was nice to go out in the evening with other adults, even if we did mostly talk about the kids.

Thanks for everyone who made it. I hope you all had as good a time as I did. I also hope to see you all again soon and to see those who couldn't make it this time. Let me know if you have ideas for where and when!

Question of the Week: Phobias

I'm temporarily sitting on the fourth floor of the client site where I work, rather than The Basement. I could deal with the cubicle, the lack of windows, the mildew, and even the mice. I could not, however, continue to deal with the roaches bigger than my thumb. There were not everywhere (that we know of), but when one was dead or dying we would see it. I did my best to avoid seeing them, and I tried to live in my bubble world where they didn't exist. But every time I walked into the building, my heart rate would go up. With every step down into The Basement, my stress levels would rise. The whole time I was working in my cube, I felt like I was living in Code Orange, with all the anxiety that goes along with that. I kept my feet tucked in my chair all day and avoided going to the bathroom for as long as possible.

You see, I have entomophobia, a fear of insects. I don't mean that I don't like icky bugs. I don't mean that I think bugs are gross and I'd rather not be around them. I mean that I freak out when I see a large bug with a panic attack, with my fight-or-flight response in full on flight mode. In the way that people are claustrophobic or terrified of heights of flying or whatever, that is how I am with bugs.

So instead of living in a constant state of anxiety, especially while trying to get pregnant, I laid it out to my boss and she got me a temporary place to stay on the fourth floor. Unfortunately, my approval to sit here ends soon, but until someone makes me move, I'm planning on being right here. Its either that, or, I don't know, switch projects I guess. Or maybe get approval to work from home, but that's harder to do than sit on another floor.

The definition of phobia is an irrational fear of something which you are compelled to avoid. That's right folks, I understand that it is completely irrational. The bugs can't hurt me. I get it. How silly of me. I'll just not be scared anymore. No problem.

Except it doesn't work that way, does it? We all have things we dislike, but when they verge on or become phobias, there is very little that helps. There is treatment, but I know what the treatment likely would be, and I don't want anything to do with that, thankyouverymuch.

I mean, we do all have dislikes, fears and phobias, right? Come on, people. Make me feel better by answering the Question of the Week:

What is your major dislike/fear/phobia?

Come on, you can tell me!

And people? Please do not at all imply that there are bugs on the fourth floor. I don't care if there are, as long as I don't see them or know about it, then I can live in my bubble world happily. Thanks!

Betchfest Rant

At the request of anonymous, the Betchfest Rant has been removed. She appreciated all of the supportive comments and is taking them to heart, but she was concerned that the mentioned party might find it.

Happy Labor Day!

I hope everyone in the U.S. is having a nice day off! Although we all know that once you have kids, you never exactly get a day off. Just like you never get to sleep in anymore. But for those of us who work or have partners who work, it's usually a nice change of pace.

I'm postponing this week's Question of the Week until tomorrow both because of the holiday and because I want to give everyone a chance to comment on the Betchfest rant by anonymous that I'm hosting. So please, go give anonymous some love, and have a great Labor Day.

*The Betchfest Rant has been removed by anonymous's request.