Big step for mama, little step for LD

Or maybe it'll be hard on him too - we'll see. Since our house is going on the market this weekend and we have to move in one month, mama needs some time to:

1) run errands that i've wanted to do for over a year (trade in books, sell cd's, and many many more things)

2) get the house perfectly clean and some things packed for showings

3) find a new house and do research on areas there

4) pictures printed and organized

5) get in 7 more geocaches (lol) so i can break that 200 mark (i can do that in 1 focused hour i think)

6) return the pair of pants we ordered for LD's birthday (yeah, i think it's too late for this one but we'll see)

6) breathe...need i say more....

sooooooo, i finally did it. I called the school/church for toddlers and have him enrolled for two mornings a week just for the month of april. That's a whopping 8 hours a week of free time! People! This is huge. That may not sound like much to you (unless you have a really really boring job lol) but that's huge because as a mother it takes you a lot longer to do things than it used to. Running errands ends up being running one errand only to return home exhausted.

I'm scared to leave him but it's really needed. I said that six months ago and it's even truer today. Funny tidbit of the day...LD is now calling me Daddy. I used to be momma but that's also his word for nursing and since i'm weaning him i've been saying "no momma now" so he quit calling me momma lol. It's funny that he's calling me daddy though. It'll pass i'm sure and i'll go back to being momma. I hope!

tangents

tangent: off on or at a tangent, digressing suddenly from one course of action or thought and turning to another.

I might be obsessive compulsive. I get hooked on something and then stick to it but i ironically also always have about 5 different projects going on at once. Case in point. In an effort to reduce what we move to NJ i've been cleaning and organizing etc. Well, i'm about 6 months behind with magazine reading so the last two nights while LD slept and husband was in Puerto Rico i've been skimming them...that's about 20 issues or so. Through this reading i've come up with some conclusions:

1. I believe that Israel is going to attack Iran in the next month. Some may call this a conspiracy theory but i'd put some money down on it. I imagine it'll play out just like in Lebanon (which the US has proven to have had a hand in) with Bush saying "well um, (scratches his wrinkly forehead) we're talking with so and so and trying to find a resolution" - meanwhile bombs drop. It won't last long because Iran is tough and they will be able to protect themselves so it won't turn into a war because Israel isn't dumb enough to go on the ground and fight there. (this is where my head imagines what else might happen:)Iran might strike back and then the US will "have" to get involved. Bush will get impeached, Cheney will be the ugly face i have to wake up to every day with his head hung over, his evil heart speading the same hate as Bush.

2. The world is pretty jacked up right now. So many people are so misguided. It's very sad to me to see people with such strong faith in the wrong things.

Okay, so that's one thing i've been doing.

tangent #2: The other things i have going on over here is scrapbooking and eid cards. A friend here got me into scrapbooking although i'm limiting it to: (1) each child will have two books, 1 for the first two years and then another which i will start and they will finish (2) my wedding and honeymoon, and (3) my trip to Europe in which i backpacked for 3 1/2 months...i never look at those pictures and there's too many so a scrapbook will be perfect. I kept a journal over there so it'll be nice to put all this stuff in one place and look at every so often because i never look at it now. That trip changed my life. I was engaged and that ended, i lost my religion there and found a new one, and in general just woke up and did a lot of changing in the years after.

tangent #3: Because of the scrapbooking, i've been forced to go through my digital photos. I'm pretty happy with the progress...i've done 6 months of pictures...LD's first six months of life. Boy that'll make you want another baby. :-)

tangent #4: Eid cards came from scrapbooking. I want to send out eid cards next year and i imagine others do too so i'm in the process of making a bunch to send and to sell. This spawned a new idea to me...islamic arts and crafts for the modern muslim. I have a ton of ideas and will share when i get things rolling - probably after the move. I'm hoping other muslim/ahs will join me with the crafting.

tangent #5: We head to NJ soon to start looking for a house. Good news about all this is that my husband won't be travelling like he has been - since we've been married he's been away 3/4 of the time - so this will be a nice change. His last trip is this week in PR and next week and then no more. The only thing is the only chance i get to do my work (freelance writing, crafting, etc) is when he is gone because i'll really crank the midnight oil while he's gone. I don't know where i'll fit work in now.

Hmmmm, what other tangents do i have?

tangent #6: Oh, Atlanta is yellow right now. There are two or so weeks every spring here where a layer of yellow dust covers the city. Our lake looks like a toxic dump and everything is glowing yellow - it's pretty freaky...but the result of pollen. It'll rain one of these days and wash it all away but that's a very surreal day too because the streets will be running with yellow water. Really freaky looking. I'll post a picture tomorrow.

Okay, off to new tangents. :-)

oop, i got one more...

tangent #7: We are trying to shove all our tourism/sightseeing/backpacking plans that we had for the next few years into a few weekends so our weekends have been jampacked. We are utilizing every weekend very effectively. Today is the aquarium and i'm hoping to do a CNN tour sometime soon during the week too.

nothing sadder...

There's nothing sadder than watching your son try to become friends with an innocent looking three year old girl only to watch her throw a handful of bark on him and tell him to leave her alone. He takes that as a cue that she wants to fill the truck she is playing up with bark and he desperately wants to help her so fills his hands with bark, walks over, and tries to dump it in but she throws another handful of bark at him and says "leave me alone." He gets another handful and tries to throw it in the dumptruck since she won't let him near it and it lands all over her pretty little dress. I was a little happy but made him apologize anyway.

Poor kid tried to make friends with the big kids at the playground today but they wanted nothing to do with him. And when it was snacktime, the older kids took his crackers and left him with none. So sad. He's so friendly and loving and to see his feelings hurt, standing there crying, not understanding why the older kids were mean to him broke my heart today. This is a new playgroup with most kids older than him. He's used to being the cool kid and the oldest.

On the flipside, the little kids adored him, he had a blast on the slide and on the plastic castle, and had fun with the sweet older boy who let him follow him around and even waited for him when he fell behind.

hot

It's been so hot lately. 90's all weekend. LD has been wearing shorts and at night we need the air conditioner on. It's amazing how early summer comes to Georgia. I wonder what it's like in NJ now.

I guess i'll find out soon enough. Finally got an official offer regarding hubby's promotion and he starts that position may 1st so i guess we'll be moving around then. Exciting times. I like moving...it's like a blank canvas where everything is new. I love change.

That's it for me. Boring snorning eh?

Hometown Baghdad

I saw Hometown Baghdad on Spilt Milk's blog. There's 5 videos so far but many more to come. Interesting.

Woolie Bullies

This is hilarious! I love the ba ba black sheep at the end.

Woolie Bullies

Husband's fobby moment

f.o.b. = fresh off the boat

I'm going through some, what's the word for it, oh yeah, crap junk, of my husband's. A box of misc golf tees, old watches, old glasses, travel kits from every international airline known to man, old this, old that and then I come across a daytimer/address book/notebook from 1985 and I ask, "Can i write down the numbers from this and throw it out?" He grabbed it and with a hurt look on his face said, "Noooooo, I came to America with this book." Toooooooooo funny. He then went on to explain how to Pakistani's, these little diary books are very important. Okay dear husband, you can keep your book.

Moving

We have to move in one month apparently but the uppers still haven't told my husband exactly what the details are. We're going crazy in limbo...don't want to start working on selling our house until we know etc. My husband isn't looking forward to the move because he loves Atlanta. I've never loved Atlanta. I don't think I ever really liked it either but oddly it's home now and I don't want to go either.

Some things make me really want to leave...crime here is bigtime...there are no truly safe areas or parks. You simply cannot go to a park with your child during daytime hours here. It's just not safe to go alone. I find that extremely sad and very confining. I look forward to being able to walk in the open again and take my son to a park so he can play without worrying about getting held up. Now there's been a rash of crimes at a Whole Foods in a very nice area and also the two nicest malls here. These guys are holding up moms and the case at Whole Foods, put a gun to a 9 month pregnant woman as she got her son into his car seat. It's just too much crime here.

I don't love, or necessarily like New Jersey either. I am looking forward to hanging out with friends that I already have there, except one of them is moving away. Darnit, i scared her off. ;-)

I'm not looking forward to that stick up the butt attitude northerners tend to have. It might by better than the i-really-don't-give-a-damn attitude of the South. I long to go back West or at least mid-West. The West is the best.

There are some things I'll miss about the icky sticky South:

- Savannah, Charleston, Tennessee, Florida as easy weekend getaways.
- The History. You can't turn a corner without seeing some sign of history. Architecture too. Southern homes are beautiful. Manicured lawns, mansions with rolling green hills, etc. You just feel the history here in southern drawls, rebeliousness and general red neckiedness.
- The International Farmers Market that is open 365 days a year - this is the big one for me.... I LOVE this place. I really don't know what I'm going to do without it. I'd take a picture for you but they don't allow photography - guess because there would be so many people in there taking pictures. Here's a link about it: http://www.dekalbfarmersmarket.com/
- Zack and Amber of Procrastination (link to the right). We've become good friends since we met in blogland a few years ago. Since then, we've both had kids who have become best friends. LD really likes their daughter and it's sad to split them up. Last weekend he sat next to her, put his arm around her and started twirling her hair. Too cute. Amber also knits and we have that in common. Also, we all go hiking and geocaching. Love that stuff. And they are Muslim. It's rare we have much in common with other Muslims in this way. We are casual and it's nice to have friends that you don't have to impress or compete with nor get judged by. A rarity. We'll miss you guys!
- The lack of snow. I miss snow but i know once i'm back in it with a kid or maybe even kids later on, it's gonna be a pain. I haven't been in snow for 3 years.
- My back yard. A nice little lake with a woodsy area...complete with ducks, geese, squirrels, a large owl, cranes, turtles, and beavers. All this and we are in the city not the burbs.

Getting rid of paint...

I've posted this before but wanted to put it out there again as i needed the information again and remember what i went through to find this info out the first time...

To dispose of paint (you cannot throw it away - it is toxic and poisonous to the environment...i'm not saying this because i am a treehugger although i am, but it's actually illegal to throw it away)...

To get rid of it via the trash....
1. Buy from a auto part store a product called "oil dry" - it looks like kitty litter.
2. Mix that into the various cans of paint and leave it alone until it turns to solid form and dries out (leave the lid off).
3. It should turn clay like - now you can toss it out.

Having it disposed of professionally costs a couple hundred dollars and many cities sadly don't offer the service.

PS. If you have full cans - Habitat for Humanity will accept donations. Also, for other items you may need to dispose of earth911.com has some tips.

Cell phone recycling and donation

Cell Phone Recycling

Cell phones that are too old to be refurbished or reused should go to a recycling center to keep poisonous mercury, lead and other dangerous toxins from harming the environment. Batteries, plastics, and other components will be disposed of according to EPA guidelines.
Stores such as Radio Shack, Best Buy, Office Depot and Staples offer mobile phone recycling centers, where you can simply toss your unwanted mobile phone into their in-store "recycling bin."

Exchanging your old cell phone when you upgrade is the easiest way to recycle, but if you have a mobile phone or two in a drawer at home, Call 2 Recycle can give you the location of your nearest cell phone recycling center.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Cell Phone Donation

Using a padded envelope, you can mail your unwanted cell phone to The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, which collects and distributes working cell phones to victims of domestic violence so that they may call 911 for help in emergencies.
Phones For Life gives seniors a lifeline by providing them with a 911-capable working mobile phone, enabling them to call for emergency help should they suffer an accident or emergency. Their drop-off locations are in a number of states, or you can donate your mobile phone by mail.
Donate A Phone and Call to Collect have partnered to accept cell phones at convenient locations throughout your state; refurbishing and distributing the cell phones to domestic violence shelters in need.
More information about cell phone recycling and donation is available from The Recycling Alliance, Charitable Recycling, Collective Good and Wireless Recycling.


*** I know the Whole Foods here accepts them...yours might too.

Busy busy busy

Now that I know we are moving. We have the relocation package and my husband hasn't even received his official job assignment. I guess he better not say no lol. Anyway, I'm going to be organizing, recycling and other household improvements and organization so will be posting some useful information as i find it....hope some others can benefit from my research...

Eyeglass donation

Good for the environment and good for others....clipped from www.charityguide.org (lots of useful information).

Donating your old eyeglasses can save someone in a developing nation from unemployment. With the price of glasses exceeding three months' average salary in some African countries, donated eyeglasses are the only feasible way to bring sight to many visually impaired. These recycled glasses can be the difference between a blacksmith continuing his work or closing up shop, or the factor that enables a woman to support herself by doing embroidery rather than becoming destitute.

You can make a huge difference in someone's life simply by donating your unworn eyeglasses and spreading the word to others. Groups such as the Lions Club can recycle eyeglasses for as little as 8 cents each. But they cannot do it without your help.

Donate your old eyeglasses and sunglasses to help people with eyesight difficulties worldwide. (Sunglasses can be non-prescription. They are needed in countries near the equator to help protect people's eyes from sun damage.) Collection facilities include Goodwill Industries stores, LensCrafters stores, and Lions Club drop boxes.

Items also can be sent in padded envelopes or boxes to:
New Eyes for the Needy549 Millburn AvenueP.O. Box 332Short Hills, NJ 07078
E-mail ten friends who wear glasses to see if they have old pairs that could be recycled for people with eyesight problems. Collect them for donation.

Check with lost and found departments in hotels, stores, police stations, and mortuaries for unclaimed glasses that could be donated.

ego

On my flight to Puerto Rico, the lady sitting next to me was reading a book i had reviewed. Curious to what other reviewers had said (i never check sadly...just too busy) I peeked at the back cover and lo and behold, there was my quote. It's about the 4th or 5th book that has requoeted me. I really like that. Of course it's not my name, only the publication but I know and it makes me feel a couple inches taller...not that I need any more heighth lol but you know what i mean.

Knitting for Charity

I'm sure these apply to crocheting as well...

Binky Patrol: www.binkypatrol.org - distributes blankets to children and teens in need.

Care Wear: www.hood.edu - provides clothing for premature and low-birth-weight babies.

Craft Yarn Council: www.craftyarncouncil.com - runs both the warm up america program (afghans for people in need) and the Caps for Kids program (provides needy children with hats and other accessories).

Cubs for Kids: www.cubsforkids.com - every December, distributes gift-wrapped teddy bears dressed in hand-knit outfits to children at homeless shelters.

Ellie's Angels: www.elliesangels.com - provides blankets for the terminally ill.

Helping Hands Foundation: www.needleartsmentoring.org - a mentoring program fostering community and creativity through the act of adults teaching young people to knit.

House of Dreams: www.kittydream.org - a no-kill, free-roam cat shelter - accepts hand knits for the annual Pretty Kitty Holiday Craft Bazaar fund-raiser as well as donations of cat beds for the animals at the shelter.

Hugs for Homeless Animals: www.h4ha.org - Runs the Snuggles Project, which provides blankets for shelter animals as they wait for adoption.

Precious Pals: www.tkga.com - Distributes stuffed animals dressed in hand-knit outfits to police departments, which are then given to children in crisis.

Project Linus: www.projectlinus.org - provides blankets to children who are ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need.

Woolworks: www.woolworks.org - has an extensive state by state list of charitable organizations that accept knitted donations.

List taken from the book "Knits from the Heart: Quick Projects for Generous Giving"

Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting

Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting Exhibition in NY

I knew it

I knew once i saw those flowers on the trees, my nose was doomed. LD and I started sneezing yesterday and today i woke up with a sore throat, itchy eyes, heavy head and general icky feeling. I never knew what allergies were in Colorado. When they said the pollen index I always wondered why they did that. Well now i know because i just can't hack the pollen here. Maybe it's because it's everywhere and flying around in the air. Misery is to behold me for the next two weeks i know. I'm glad I finished my book review and got it sent off. Now it's time to focus on the move and catch up everything else. Looked through the Puerto Rico pics just now too and was amazed at some of the shots I got. Will post those hopefully today or Monday.

Spring

Spring is definately here. I keep seeing blogs of snow posts but here in the South it's warm and almost summer. The trees have flowers now and soon my nose will be itchy swollen and dry. I hate Spring. I used to love it but in Atlanta it means that for 2-3 weeks i'll be sneezing, red and itchy eyed, and will end up with a terrible sinus cold. LD started sneezing yesterday. I'm sure i'm soon to follow. BUT it could be worse, i could be buried in snow. I guess that's next year. Yup, we're moving from the sticky icky South to the cold wet North. That'll be a whole nother post.

Vacations

Vacations aren't really vacations with toddlers. The scenery was definately better and it was nice to have someone clean up the "house" mid-day but travel with kids is just rough.

Some souvenirs we came back with: a toddler who wants to spit on everything and everyone he sees. I have no clue where this came from but it's gotten extremely bad - probably because it bugs us so much and he loves that. We also came back with the word no firmly pursed on his mouth. Everything is no, no, no, no, nay, nay, no! Sigh. I need a vacation. A real one - toddler free.

Pictures coming soon.

Postcard

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28118272@N00/5600573/ ....from my last trip here.