Shake, rattle, and roll

I have a bunch of posts up at my Examiner gig, including today's review of a local Denver music class that I highly recommend for kids under five.

Check out Teaching kids to love music, one kazoo at a time.


Also, I just removed the Intense Debate comment thingy that I had around for a little while. It was fabulous, but I think it was preventing people from seeing this blog. Kinda the opposite of what I want. So, please let me know if the blog works for you or not.

Hope all is well with you. Wackiness will ensue quite soon.

Words and letters to accompany photographic documents

Really. It takes effort to come over here and scribble some doodles. Let's try to pepper this mother up with some randomness and pictorials. Yeah?



Amos is growing and growing, and talking and talking. Latest words/phrases:

"Oh, my!"
"Oh, man!" (which sometimes sounds like, "Oh, ma'am!")
"Oh, boy!"
"Oh, no!" (And many other phrases starting with "Oh!")
"Get out!" (Thank you, Chef Gordon Ramsey.)
"It's true!" (Apparently, I say this a lot. Amos says something more like, "M'rue!")



Latest words:

pickle
diaper
monkey (monk-monk)
apple
toe
foot
baby (Ding dang, he melts me when he says this.)




And here is the monk-monk with Mama and Dad in February.

Alrighty. That's enough cuteness for today.

I hold these boobs to be self-evident

So, there is a great boob controversy swirling the Internets. You might call it Boobgate. I couldn't help but become a little involved.

I wrote about it over there in the Denver Motherhood Examiner. I hope you'll throw out an opinion or two or five.

See this lovely lady for the story behind the story.


Also, I'm diggin' my new comment system supplied by IntenseDebate. Do you like it?

And upon further reflection...

So, I may have left out a few details in that last missive. There are other reasons that I've disappeared as of late.

Anyone who stops by on a frequent basis may remember that at this time last year, I was knee-deep in family tragedy. At this exact date last year, I was tending to my father in the hospital, still thinking that he might pull a miracle or two. I was taking care of Amos, my dad, my mom, and getting through whatever other family squabbles popped up in the midst of it.

Did I take care of myself? Fairly debatable.

If you're not a frequent reader, I'll spoil the surprise for you: my dad died. In a bad way. Like, really bad.

And then my mom died. Ah, but that's another anniversary for another juicy month to come.

So, I'm not so sure how to handle this anniversary. The problem is that it isn't just one day to be sad. It's a month-long trudge toward a final end, and each day of that month was just some other form of misery. Sometimes, I will be having a great time out with Amos or with Phil tagging along, and it suddenly strikes me that I definitely was not feeling happy this time last year. And then I think, "Well, how do you feel about that?" I don't have an answer. Sometimes, I feel like I truly deserve a bit of happiness and movin' on from the past, and other times... well, let's just say that misery loves company.

The grieving process is a strange, strange entity. I know not myself some days. Other days, I'm perfectly fine.

Sometimes I wonder if the past is written upon my face. Like the grizzled, old cowboys who've seen a thing or two, or folks who've survived some tragic accident. Is it there? Can you see beyond that smile or smirk or behind a comment about the weather? So often, I feel like I'm masquerading as a normal person.

For the most part, I'm an incredibly happy gal. I have the most incredible kid. My partner is the best man I've ever known. I've lost weight. I've met a lot of people who put a smile on my face. I'm writing more than ever (yes, I know, it isn't here, but I'm trying).

I've come to realize that avoiding writing something on the ol' binky is like avoiding my past. This is, after all, where I shared all of that news. Avoiding this blog has somehow helped to take the bitter taste out of my mouth.

More changes are coming, I'm sure of it. I'm looking forward to the future more than ever. I dare say that somewhere in the middle of that grizzled, rode-hard facade of mine, there is a twinkle in my eye.

Let me know if you see it.

Still alive and kicking

I apologize for the disappearing act. Has it really been over a month since I posted here? Yowza.

Things have changed, lives have changed, and my focus has changed. But, I'm working on some ideas. I promise to come back here and give the ol' binky a dusting. I'm gonna shake it up, yo.

Anyhoo, I haven't actually fallen into a crack. I work every day (or almost) on my new gig at Examiner.com. They moved me (promoted? that's how I feel about it, anyway) from being the Denver Highlands Mom Examiner (which covered just an area of Denver), to the Denver Motherhood Examiner. So, now, I examine your mother. While she visits Denver.

No. Wait...

Haha. Er.

Actually, it gives me wider berth to talk about all kinds of nonsense. I hope you'll stop by to see whatever tickles my fancy on any particular day. I'm talking about issues that affect moms, women, and parenting. I cover local parks and businesses. One of the more fun aspects is that I have pretty cool giveaways going on. Head over to snag some tickets to Disney on Ice!

So, expect more silliness, seriousness, guffaws, doodads, and other whimsy to start showing up again on the ol' binky.


I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!