billy and all the other old souls

so i like me some billy joel. i fell in love with the piano man way back in high school and yes, it was waaaaay back (10 years to be exact). there is just something about his music that speaks to my inner old soul. i got to see him and elton john together in concert about 10 years ago...the dueling pianos and the guy who got busted for smoking pot in front of us really made it the best concert i've ever been to in my life. it's tough when your best concert experience peaks at 18...at least it didn't peak at say backstreet boys or somesuch nonsense (never saw them in concert. honest!) the only concert semi-regret was having to sit through no doubt opening up for U2. poor no doubt. why are they getting back together? does anyone have an answer to this?

the second best concert i've ever been to was the eagles. yeah, i know what you are thinking now. have i ever been to a concert for a group that actually was popular to my demographic? and to that i would say, yes, however the best concerts were the ones that were not birthed in my generation. no one has been able to hold a candle to these old dogs in my opinion. now i can bust-a-move to some bieber and a few others i am slightly embarrassed to say can be found on my ipod but HEY, don't judge, they's good exercisin' music.

but when it comes to what i want evelyn to grow up hearing, what she has already heard, will be a heavy layering of my main man, billy, and many of his cohorts. and if we don't keep their spirits alive for the next generation who will? so every day the house fills with the nostalgic sounds of billy, bobby, joni and we sing and dance the day away.

Things are okay with me these days
I got a good job, I got a good office
I got a new wife, got a new life
And the family is fine...

~ billy joel

mid may tastes best with a little bit of mo

i am thrilled to say that i can see the end of my medical transcription program and will be taking my final in july! *high five* the road has been long...the days have been long...it's all been excruciatingly long. as if my days aren't busy enough with just trying to keep up with evelyn and all the house work i try to cram in a workout and a significant amount of work 6 out of 7 days a week. it hasn't been easy, in fact it has probably been the hardest, most challenging stage of my life so far. i know there are a lot of people out there, men and women, who just don't believe the work load and time commitment - not to mention time management - of a stay-at-home-working-from-home mom. i know i didn't get it until i found myself knee deep in it. i love being able to stay home, i cherish the time i get to just hang out with mo and read her the same book about a million times in 8 minutes, change her dirty butt, hear her laugh, heck, make her laugh....but its also such a draining job in much more than just physical ways. but even though i find myself wiped and warped at the end of most days i'm always thankful. it's really hard not to be when i have so much and am blessed with so much.

sam and i often talk about the "days before evelyn" and how we miss this or that and just being able to pick up and go see a movie or out to eat somewhere and just linger and be. the days when you didn't worry about nap times and packing snacks and do we have a change of clothes or a pacifier are so long behind us the dust has almost made them disappear all together. and if i were offered the chance to go back i know i'd say no, knowing evelyn doesn't make me wish for those things but be glad that we had those things for as long as we did. i think we are better people because we got to know "us" before she came along and that has helped in ways we probably don't realize.

i know i probably don't know what hectic is since i only have one child. it seems in the "mother circles" that only having one child some how makes you a rookie. you can't run with the big dogs until you have childREN. i guess i'll report on that some day later on down the road. (NO i'm NOT pregnant)

marveling in the fact that it is mid may....the year is flying past us. evelyn is 14-months-old. i just can't believe how fast things change. here are some pictures of mo from today. she is so expressive, inquisitive, full-of-life, charming, whiny, smart little fair skinned beauty. and she makes every day better and worth feeling wiped out!

hangin' out on uncle dave's old bed. one of her fav hang-outs

i'm a little bit cuh-raaaazy

and a lil bit sweet

i climb on eeerrrrythang

look...i'm a spider monkey

wasn't kidding, i'm really a spider monkey

almost there....

wait for it...

success!

exhaustion...but only for 3 seconds

READ ME A BOOK OR I'LL DIE!!!!

Tracey Bianchi's Mom Connection

A review of Tracey Bianchi's book, Mom Connection.

Tracey Bianchi speaks to the mother at the forefront of her joy, her pain, her day-to-day of raising a child(ren) while confronting the ways in which the mother can feel a disconnect from people and life in general. The need for community and companionship for a new mother, and a veteran mother, is of great importance to maintain a healthy and connected sense of well-being. Bianchi brings to light, and realistically enlightens the reader, how to find, or re-find, that "mom connection" in the world of relationships beyond the front door of the home.

Questions such as, "who am I really and how do I make time for myself now that I am a mother," are real questions I have asked myself and I know other mother's have done the same. Bianchi offers great tips and advice to help the mother answer these questions and find the balance that is so very important between being a mother and an individual. Bianchi encourages the reader to grow relationships while helping restore the every exhausted mother to a place of sanity....and we all know how important sanity is as a mother. I am not always sane, my husband can attest to that, but Bianchi helps you to get out of your own way by giving you 5 mom-tested tips at the end of each chapter that offer great resources to tap into.

Bianchi really gets down to the core of what it is like to "feel alone" as a mother and how we shouldn't feel alone while also presenting ways to prevent and overcome this engulfing feeling. Bianchi's ideas and advice on the subject help bridge the "alone" gap into meaningful relationships. Her insight and humor are refreshing and encouraging. As a new mother myself I would recommend this book to mothers who feel they have a good host of support and to mothers who are feeling very alone. Everyone can get something out of this book.

I have one free copy to give away. If you are interested please let me know!