The long & short of it

How is it that a period of time can feel so long, and yet so short at the same time? Take January for instance. We have a lovely LCRA Wildflower calendar on our fridge and I was checking it out last night. It was so hard to believe that Max's 6 month check up was a mere 4 weeks ago - I swear it feels like at least twice as much time as passed since we took him to the doctor! And yet, I can hardly believe the month has flown so quickly. The first of Feb is literally around the corner (and completely booked already!). Pretty soon, Max's first birthday will be breathing down our neck - as if time wasn't passing quickly enough already.
So, in my New Year's post I said that I had the goal to read at least one book this year - maybe two. I'm proud to say I am a few chapters away from finishing my SECOND book. Woo Hoo! The first book I read was a Christmas gift from Chris: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/. What an amazing and inspiring book. Ms. Kingsolver can come across a little preachy in the beginning, but it's not a finger-shaking-you-have-to-do-this-or-you're-a-bad-human kind of preaching. It is more enlightening and informative, and the truths she reveals about our current food sources, and the tinkering we are doing with them, are truly terrifying. This book inspired me to get going on the planning for our garden this year. I was also inspired to try to grow heirloom varieties, so I visited the Victory Seed Company http://www.victoryseeds.com/ and bought seeds for 5 different kinds of tomatoes, some basil and sunflower. I plan to start all the seeds in the next couple of weeks with the intent to plant them in the garden mid-March. The book also talks about eating locally and in season. I have to say, now when I go to the grocery store, I am much more cognizant of where my food originated. Chris and I agreed that food grown in Mexico, while not local, probably consumed less of our earth's resources to travel to my local HEB, than did the produce from Oregon or California (you can justify anything can't you!). Sure is nice to live in a southern state & close to a country that has a long growing season. Incidentally, I find it interesting that HEB has begun listing the origin of the foods in produce & at the fish counter.
The second book I'm reading is On Her Trail by John Dickerson http://www.onhertrail.com/index.html. Chris and I listen to John on the Slate weekly pod-cast and attended the book signing last summer at Book People. It's an easy and pretty interesting read.

January pics

A Rose is a rose is a rose.....

I posted a while back about the strange rose that rooted itself in water and then produced a bloom. We cut the bloom, put it in water and then kind of forgot about it. Tonight, I go to throw it out and wouldn't you know IT has roots beginning to grow now too!

Here is a picture of the roots on the bloom.

And this is a picture of the roots that have grown on the original cut rose. I think it's time to plant!

Happy New Year!

I'm sitting here at the computer, enjoying a few blissful moments of "non mom time" as Chris puts Max to bed. The last few days have been pretty rough and I find myself feeling more "human" than "mom" as I get frustrated that the little one has woken up again. Poor Max. He had a cold through most of December, but it had gotten to the manageable stage. He wasn't too snot nosed, was able to breathe well, had a good appetite and wasn't too fussy. I think the extra days outside his schedule may have thrown him for a loop though & he kind of regressed. Now he is completely congested, isn't sleeping well at all (even when brought to bed with us which generally makes him sleep a bit better), and hasn't had much of an appetite. He even had his first fever on New Year's Eve [insert sound of a cork popping & party favors tooting]. So, tomorrow we are taking him to the doctors for the first time outside of his well-child check up schedule. I, myself, generally try not to take too many over the counter meds & really don't like to do a lot of pill popping, but man do I hope the doctor can give him something to help make him feel better. If I don't start getting some rest, I'm going to get sick again & then the whole cycle will start all over again.

Now that I'm done gritching, I will get on to my New Year's thoughts!

At the end of 2006, I had an idea of what to expect out of 2007. I knew we were going to have Max and that our world would change. I knew we would be moving to a new house at some point. As we embark on 2008, I have no idea what to expect! I don't have an overwhelming feeling that this will be a good year or a bad year -0f course there are things that could go very badly and things that can be great, but I don't have much of a sense of what and which way at this point. I generally try not to have New Year's resolutions because I think they suck and they set you up for failure because they just never pan out. Instead, I try to have New Year's goals and I make a list, albeit a mental one, of the things I want to accomplish or do in the new year. So, to put it in writing, here's my list for this year:

• We are going to create a will
• We are going to establish Max's college fund
• We expect to start working on child #2 (yep, I think I am officially certifiable at this point for even thinking about it)
• We are either going to go to Arizona or to a wedding in Florida to see family members who have not yet met Max
• We will get some official/professional pictures taken of Max
• Plant a "Max tree" in the back yard

I also have my "B" list of things I'd like to do, but won't feel like a failure if they don't get done:

• I'd like to start and finish two books (just two - that's all I ask!)
• I'd like to get some stuff in the house organized - book shelves, wall shelves, storage containers etc.
• I'd like to get the garage set up so that it's functional
• I'd like to set the garden for the spring & build a large compost bin

So, those are my goals for the year!

I hope this one is a great one for each and every one of you, and I hope each day brings something wonderful. Happy New Year