Heathen Family Revival: meme

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Thursday, December 31, 2009

Year End Dip into the Deep End of Self-Absorption

Here is the obligatory year-end questionnaire that you've all been waiting for. Some of my links have pretty photos and some of them just direct you to re-read my greatest literary triumphs.

Ahem, this is an exercise in egomania after all.

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
    I had a brain fracturing double ear infection and I photographed a wedding.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
   I don't make resolutions, but I did manage to FAIL at Project 365 and still take more photos than
   I ever have before. I just didn't do it everyday.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
   Yes, two friends birthed babies this year. Here's one.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Our dear friend's baby boy Liam died.
5. What countries did you visit?
Does watching Love Actually a dozen times count as a tip to London?
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
     Sweet Baby Jesus I would like to have my own car again!
7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Standing in the bitter February cold to say goodbye to Liam. Seeing my best friend get married and
    getting tears in my camera's view finder.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Becoming a better photographer. See!
9. What was your biggest failure?
   Wii Fit.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
   Oh boy! 2009 was second only to 2005 for pain and suffering.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Hmmm, that's a toss-up between the sewing machine and the camera.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
We were all very well behaved considering the turbulence.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
The vast right-wing/ evangelical hate machine, Obama haters, etc.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Food and gas.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
   My new camera and Christmas.
16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
The song from Vi's dance recital and her own mash-up of the Annie soundtrack.
Tomorrow, the Chorus Only Edition from Kelly on Vimeo.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? same
b) thinner or fatter? thinner, maybe I'm just delusional
c) richer or poorer? just as poor as ever
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Playing with Violet, walking outside.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Idle internet wandering.
20. How did you spend Christmas?
At home with my two favorite people, sleep deprived and over-stimulated.
21. Did you fall in love in 2009?
I fell in love with my life this year. Watching the financial world crumble and people's lives tumble
    as a result, I became truly aware of just how lucky I am. I am living my dream. It is imperfect and
    messy and cash poor, but it is all I have ever want or need.
22. What was your favorite TV program?
The Daily Show and The Soup are always there, but I can't get enough 30 Rock and Modern Family.
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Who has the energy to hate?
24. What was the best book you read?
Read? I sort of stopped reading in 2009. Oh, wait. The Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed was pretty
    awesome.
25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
The Mother Goose Rocks collection. The Mulberry Bush song by Gwen Stufunny is sweeeeet!
26. What did you want and get?
Almost everything I asked for. Some say I am spoiled, but I never ask for more than is possible.
27. What did you want and not get?
I really need either a boob job or a personal brassiere seamstress.
28. What was your favorite film of this year?
500 Days of Summer
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
33. I ate some cupcakes and celebrated 9 years of marriage.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
My own FREAKIN' car. Really, it's my only complaint.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
I would say that I was dressed more often in 2009 than I was in 2008 and by dressed I mean wearing
    a bra and non-elastic waist pants.
32. What kept you sane?
   Making things.
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
   I guess I could have taken a bite out of Hugh Jackman or Daniel Radcliff (he's legal now!).
34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Health care. Grrrr, hissssssss. I don't wanna talk about it.
35. Who did you miss?
My sister and her kids. My Dad.
36. Who was the best new person you met?
   We met a whole new fabulous family, who then introduced us to more fabulous new people. It was
    a banner year for making friends.
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
NEVER take vicodin or bactrim, unless you enjoy vomiting. NEVER give a 4 year old unfettered
access to glitter. Potato peels WILL sprout anywhere.
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger...
    Sure, it's cheesy and cliche, but it's true. I don't believe in regret, but I do wish I had been more
    present sometimes. I need to remember to live in the moment.

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Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Enough About You...

...Let's talk about me.

Nonlinear Girl tagged me for a meme and sucked me into actually participating by putting into words all of my own weird, adolescent fears about... memes, which incidentally did not exist when I was a teenager and should therefore not carry any high school angst and yet they do.

I'm rambling.

The rules are: post 10 honest things about yourself and tag 7 people to do the same. I'm only tagging 3, because I am a non-conformist.

1. I sometimes worry myself into a lather about whether or not my daughter will do something important with her life, because I feel like I have failed to do this in my own. What is "something important"? I don't know. I feel like being a mother IS important, but it's only one (albeit ginormous) stage in a woman's life and I am scrambling to find something to do once the full-time part of this gig is up. I'll always be a mother, but at some point I'll no longer be needed for 24 hour shifts. I just want Violet to see me do something, anything. I am her first role model.

2. I am desperately tired of my acne and my oily face and pretending like it doesn't bother me. I've stopped trying to fix it and that usually works, right? Once you let go of a problem it solves itself, but my skin is not playing along. Grrrrr.

3. I am a terrible housekeeper. Sure, the laundry is under control and the dishes are done, but don't look at my ceiling fans. I have layers of hairy dust on every surface higher than my reach. I'm only 5'5". You do the math.

4. I'm going to steal this one from my meme sponsor. When my daughter gets really needy I just want to run away. At bedtime, I am so touched out that I can't wait to get Violet to take a long bath. This feeling, this involuntary resentment is one of the many reasons I have for limiting our family to one child. I just don't think I have enough for two.

5. I am photographing a friend's wedding this month. It's small and casual, but I felt like I REALLY needed to have a professional (looking) camera. I want to be taken seriously. I feel better now that I have a "real" camera, even if it hasn't improved my photos that much (yet).

6. I don't like my mother, but I try my hardest to be kind, just in case my own daughter ends up feeling the same way. Karma, she is a bitch.

7. I am afraid of my daughter's uni-brow. I don't want her to be wrapped up in her looks or feel bad about her appearance, but it will have to be dealt with someday. She will have to learn to pluck or wax or shave. I want her to have a healthy attitude about it and that's a hard sell. "Here Honey, let me show you how to get rid of this completely superficial imperfection that has no bearing on your worth as a human being." Sometimes, I Photoshop it and then I feel really awful.

8. I suffer from creative tunnel vision. When I get stuck on a project or a certain craft, I forget about everything else. Right now, I am obsessed with photography, so my cooking has really suffered. I just don't care about making tasty food or devoting time to meal planning.

9. I am a binger and purger of stuff. I will accumulate fabric and yarn or clothes and shoes and then in a fit of clutter induced rage, I throw it all away. Well, I donate it away, really.

10. I don't really like memes, but when the invitation comes wrapped in a compliment that strokes the most vain parts of my ego, I cannot resist.

There you go. Here is a random photo of Violet not eating her lunch. Take it as a Thank you and a nod to what I would normally post today, Wardrobe Wednesday.

Your turn:

Secret Mom Thoughts
Feet Off the Table
Becky

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Monday, March 9, 2009

You Like Me! You Really Like Me!

I got a Smoking Typewriter Award from SheShe today. It goes well with the smoke pouring out of my largely non-functional ears. Here it is:

Now, this award does not come without responsibilities. I must link back to the person who gave me the award (thanks Alesia) and I must Google my own name.

Here is what the internet thinks of me:

1. A website devoted to all people and organizations named Kelly. Sadly, I think someone is merely holding this domain name, waiting for some desperate Kelly to come along and pay a million dollars for www.Kelly.com. I believe I speak for my people when I say, "No Thank You Blog Squatter!"

2. Kelly likes to move it move it.

3. Kelly likes to make things with her hands and she spends a lot of time on schoolwork for her doctorate.
*Don't I sound fantastic?

4. Kelly likes to skin kittens alive with fire.

*I swear I do NOT actually do this.

5. Kelly likes to craft. A lot.
*Okay. You got me there internet.

6. Kelly likes to wear a lot of clothes at once. Also, a lot of jewelry. Also, sometimes her style makes no aesthetic sense at all, thus leaving the audience to wonder a. did she get dressed in the dark again? b. is she color-blind? c. or maybe just really drunk?
*This Kelly sounds like a lot of fun. Tomorrow I will wear three pairs of sweat pants at once and all of Violet's play jewelry. Then I will go to Wal-Mart. Will anyone notice?

Now, I will pass the torch to a few other bloggers, who may or may not have smoke coming out of their typewriters.

MommaBear
Feet Off The Table
Such Lovely Freckles
Shady Lady

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Friday, January 23, 2009

Hair of the Blog: Clean Shaven

Those of you looking for high brow entertainment and thoughtful posts on the issues of our time, should probably look away. This and that should keep you busy while I attend to some hirsute business. I'm participating in a friendly little competition to see who can produce the gnarliest, hairiest legs by February 13. Click the on the hairy pits to your right if you'd like to play along or just investigate our lunacy.

Now. Down to business. My freshly shaved leg.

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Monday, January 5, 2009

Five Questions...

Michelle insisted on asking me a few questions (okay, I begged her to interview me).
Be careful what you wish for. These questions were harder than I thought they'd be.

1. What is your best memory? Why do you think it has stuck with you all these years?
This is really hard to answer. If you ask me again in a month or a year, I will tell you something different. Right now, I am remembering the spring and summer of 1995. I was living with my Grandparents. My mother had created a toxic environment around me in my teen years and when I left it was like breathing for the first time. I looked at the boyfriend and said, "I don't need you anymore." I broke up with him (he makes an appearance in #3) and I started to become myself. I stopped caring what other people thought of me. I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. I was getting the hell outta Dodge in September and I just had fun for 6 whole months. I never felt so free. When I finally got to my dorm room in the fall of '95, I said to myself, "I never want this to end!" I knew it was it was the best time of my life and I made the most of it.

2. Have you ever had a recurring nightmare? What was it and why do you think you kept having that nightmare? (In other words, did you analyse yourself?)
When I was about 5-6 years old I had a dream about being put through a series of ringers and gears and pulleys. It was like a cartoon. It wasn't really scary, but it would sometimes make me feel strange. I was being extruded into shapes or flattened like a pancake. The feeling of the dream was what stuck with me. I could feel myself being squished, but it didn't hurt. Why? I was different and constantly being molded into something less like myself. Ooh, sudden brainwave! I would also dream about my mother falling apart like a 3-dimensional puzzle and I would have to put her back together again. That one is pretty much self explanatory. My mom has always been a mess.

3. It's (however many years ago) and you just had sex for the first time ever. What went through your mind?
Ugh! I felt awful. It was 1993. I was 16. He was my first boyfriend and he was two years older than me. I never thought he was cute. I remember struggling for something reciprocal to say when he would tell me I was beautiful. Um, you're persistent? Punctual? I was more attracted to the attention he gave me and I became co-dependent. My mom and second husband had recently divorced and I was a lonely kid. So, one night before play practice he got carried away and I didn't know how to say NO. I was embarrassed and he took my feverish cheeks to be a sign of passion. The whole debacle made me late for rehearsal and I felt like everyone's eyes were on me when I walked in the door. It was like they could see what had happened. The boy bought me McNuggets, because I must have been "hungry after that workout." Ahh, I was not the confident, together lady you see today. I dated him for nearly two years.

4. What have you dreamed of doing? Why haven't you done it?
I want to live in New York City. I have my whole life. I was too afraid when I was younger. I felt like I missed my opportunity to do it when I stayed in Ohio for college. Now, it's all about finances and family and reality, bah! We have a whole support system here for Violet and that's more important than my dream of riding the subway while doing the NY Times crossword puzzle and walking to my Greenwich village loft after an afternoon in Central Park.

5. Since high school, what experience or event has changed you the most? Describe the experience and how have you changed.
Motherhood has changed me the most. I don't know if I can even begin to express what it has done to me. I was a selfish, lazy, time waster before I had Violet. I can remember laying around for days on end, letting dishes pile up and trash overflow, all the while complaining about how bored I was. I'm a believer in constructive boredom, but I never seemed to capitalize on it when I was just me. Then, we had to really work hard to conceive and I started to grow up, FAST. I was so excited to have a baby and yet the reality of pregnancy nearly broke my heart. It was nothing like the vivid dreams I had had where my body seemed to be filled with warm, ambient light and joy shot out of every pore. Vomit shot out of my mouth instead. I wanted to die, everyday, for four months. My co-workers treated me like a science experiment. I could hear the irritation in their voices when I needed help lifting something (I worked in a used book store). I was reprimanded for taking too many sick days and for snacking on the job. The snacking was not against the rules, but apparently I was encouraging a specific, over-weight, depressive staffer to snack instead of work. All of these people who had been my friends for years, suddenly looked right through me, like I was a ghost. It was a sad initiation into the Mommy Club, but it made me realize how shallow my friendships had been up until that point in my life. I had to find a new tribe and that's not easy to do when you are confined to Mommytown. I did it though and I am much happier for it. I walked through fire and came out on the other side a different person.

Whew! That was a mental workout! Thanks Michelle. Who's next?

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Monday, December 29, 2008

Me. Right. Now.

It isn't pretty folks, but I believe in authenticity and there are rules to follow.

1) Take a picture of yourself right NOW!
2) DON’T change your clothes, DON’T fix your hair… Just take a picture.
3) Post that picture with NO editing.
4) Post these instructions with your picture.
5)Tag 10 people to do this..

Magpie didn't tag anyone and neither will I. Play if you like and let me know if you did. I want to see who walks around the house on a Monday night looking like they are heading for a photo shoot and who looks like me. Warts and all!

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New Year's Quiz

I don't do the resolution thing, but I do enjoy a good retrospective when the New Year dawns.
All & Sundry posted this questionnaire and asked us all to play along. C'mon you know you wanna!

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?
    Potty trained my child and weaned her too.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
    I don't make resolutions.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
    My friend Heather had boy/girl twins in November.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Uncles, an aunt, my best friend's mother.
5. What countries did you visit?
Does Detroit count as a foreign country?
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
I want for nothing... except maybe a cheeseburger...and some fries
7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
    The day our car got it's windows smashed was pretty memorable.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
   Starting a blog.
9. What was your biggest failure?
   Vegan pumpkin pie.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Oh, I had the usual sinus infections and Mother related stress fatigue.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
My new digital camera and a continuous ink supply system and Obama paper dolls.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
The voters of this weird, wonderful country.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
My mother's during her summer visit.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Food and shelter.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Violet's birthday and Christmas.
16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
Tomorrow, as sung by daughter.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder?
    Happier
b) thinner or fatter?
    Thinner
c) richer or poorer?
    It's so low-class to talk about money... let's talk about how much space is in my wallet.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
   Playing
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
    Lying in bed with a sinus headache.
20. How did you spend Christmas?
    Blissfully. At home.
21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
I fall in love with my husband at least once a week and my daughter makes me swoon daily.
22. What was your favorite TV program?
   30Rock is tied with the Daily Show.
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I don't waste time with hate.
24. What was the best book you read?
The Case for Make Believe.(Okay, I can't remember what else I read)
25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
   Alison Kraus and Robert Plant.
26. What did you want and get?
   A Bamboo tablet.
27. What did you want and not get?
   Alabama Stitch
28. What was your favorite film of this year?
   Wall-E and Religulous
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
   I turned 32 and I can't remember anything else about it.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
   Hiring a maid.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Thrift store chic.
32. What kept you sane?
   The internet and my blog.
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
   Barack Obama
34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Our educational system pisses me of daily.
35. Who did you miss?
The annual onslaught of X-Mas Cards makes me miss a bunch of people.
36. Who was the best new person you met?
   Twin newborns Evangeline and Liam.
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
   This too shall pass and it will pass too quickly.
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
   The sun'll come out tomorrow. So you gotta hang on 'til tomorrow. Come what may.

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BlogHer Mom Blog Search (Dads too)

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Year End Dip into the Deep End of Self-Absorption

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Enough About You...

Monday, March 9, 2009

You Like Me! You Really Like Me!

Friday, January 23, 2009

Hair of the Blog: Clean Shaven

Monday, January 5, 2009

Five Questions...

Monday, December 29, 2008

Me. Right. Now.

New Year's Quiz

Wardrobe Wednesday-ers

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