So, I have this book that I am promoting and I finally did some recon work on it, since I am home with a sick kiddo and I found myself a few new places:
Mama by Trade - Here's a WAHM who recommends my book.
Charleston Gazette - A mention in the Sunday column - yippee!
Kenton County Library - Why I never thought to see if my book was in the library was beyond me!
And if you were wondering, I am narcissistic - why do you ask? LOL
I'm going to apologize right off the bat here if this is a little jumbled. My kids are in a non-listening phase this week and it's frying my brain. Consider yourself warned.
My kids are SO loud. They talk loud, play loud and yell even louder. It's seriously getting to the point where I want to walk around my house wearing earplugs. I even went to far as to get my sons hearing tested to make sure he didn't have hearing damage.
My daughter walks around being a monster and apparently to be a monster, you have to growl at the top of your lungs. The top of her lungs are obvioiusly bigger than her, because when she yells you can hear her at the end of the driveway. She also screams during her bath, because this is when I comb her curly hair. I am still surprised no one has called the police because of how she screams. Half the time I'm not even touching her - she just really, really likes the sound of her voice.
When people call me, they mistake it for the zoo because my kids yelling comes across at the same tones as howler monkeys. Funny, I don't there is really that much of a difference between the two.
In the rare times I get to drive by myself, I don't even listen to music anymore. I just shut the windows, crank the air down (and actually point it on me for a change) and just enjoy the quiet. It seems to take about 10 minutes or so before my ears stop ringing.
Wow. Where do I even start? The party was SO much fun! We were running late as usual, but we were able to get everything set up before the guests arrived. I didn't get to eat anything but that's OK.
Justin had a cake made with a photo of my book on it (he can be so thoughtful!). It was supposed to be a surprise, but he was too excited and had to tell me.
Here is a picture of the cake:
My friends are so nice! Several of them gave me congratulations cards which really threw me off. I guess it really made me feel good for them to brag about me. I mean, Justin is proud and brags, but it is pretty cool when your friends do it too.
One thing that I was really happy about was that all the raffle prizes supported work at home moms. Since I am a WAHM it was nice that I received so much support from other WAHM's.
Justin was the book pimp. He took care of all the book sales, putting bookmarks in the books, putting the Autographed Copy stickers on the books, and making sure I signed the books. There were a few times he got to be a pain, making sure I mingled. I felt like I was speed dating. He would come over and say "Alana, can you please make sure you move to some of the other tables?"
One of the brightest points was when a couple that I didn't know showed up. They saw one of my news stints, saved the date and came down to get a book and get it signed. I sat with them for a few minutes while they asked me for adv ice about being an at home mom and while I talked about the kids and what I went through. I was SO honored that they made plans based on ME.
OK, I am SOOOOOOO excited!!!
Tonight is my Mom's Night Out, which will celebrate the official launch of my book. All of the gifts I have were donated by work at home moms so it is neat that I was able to get some really neat prizes and support WAHM's as well.
I will post about the event later today. Toodles!
This morning I had the pleasure of appearing on Fox 10's Arizona Morning show. What fun!
I have had two media appearances in two weeks, and what stikes me as so funny is how nervous I am before the event and how I am fine once I get started. At least this time I didn't feel like I was going to faint.
Here I am standing in the entryway - I know it's not the best photo, but it's better than nothing!
Before going on, I got to meet the host who would be interviewing me - Jenn Burgess. She was such a sweetie! I felt totally at ease once we started talking. Luckily my husband went with me and even got to sit on the set while I was on.
And how cool was it to be on the set of the news? I am always amazed at how the finished product looks, because when you see the set it is very open. It's also interesting to me that the news anchors are just walking around all over the place, chatting it up just like anyone would while at a job. Then on air, they just do their thing. It's so cool.
Overall the interview went well. I have a pic that my husband took with the camera phone that I will post later today. So, other than being about 15 minutes late due to traffic, it was a very fun experience that I hope to repeat often.
I'm not really too sure what brought this to my attention, but I recently noticed that I am not that into decorating. Despite the popularity of shows like Trading Spaces, I do not feel that overwhelming urge to decorate like so many millions of Americans.
Actually, I do remember. My husband was out of town this weekend, and since he went with his best friend, his wife stayed the night at our house. She is pregnant and had a fainting spell the day before, so it was probably best that she wasn't left home alone.
Anyway, their house is like a model home. Not just because it's clean, but because it literally looks like a model with all the decorative painting, the matching decor, etc. As I was running around the house, furiously cleaning everything visible to the naked eye, all I could think about was how embarrased I was. This is not something that would normally bother me. I mean, I have had 5 big parties at the house with no worries. This time I felt very weird about it.
Now, she has never said anything, but when you go from her house with her color coordinated everything to mine, with its white walls and no theme what-so-ever (unless you count the toy motif), then there is a noticable difference.
So maybe I'm not as domestically challenged as I think. I mean, sure, I still hate cleaning, hate laundry and double hate cooking, but I made a meal that we could actually eat.
What sparked this, you say? Well, it was very simple. My husband was out of town, so I knew if I cooked something that needed to be tossed, he wouldn't be there to heckle me. My kids could still complain, but I'm so used to that already that it's no big deal.
Here's what makes this event (and yes, it IS an event when I cook) even more spectacular. I didn't use a recipe. Yup - I flew by the seat of my pants and used instinct. I hope I didn't use that all up.
I threw some chicken breasts in a crock pot, along with pepper, salt, Italian seasoning, water and boullion and let it go. Now, I still used good old Rice a Roni for the side dish, but it's the main dish that I have th emost trouble with.
Needless to say, I am veyr proud of myself and plan to try this again someday. Just not today...
I am such a terrible mother.
My daughter, let's call her Crazy Hair or CH for short, has a bit of trouble listening. She always has. Actually, there are many days that I truly wonder if she is a spawn of the devil. But I digress...
Today was her final dance class. The class is for kids ages 2 1/2 - 4. In my rush to have her in something social, I put her in. I have often felt guilty for not having her around other kids, since she has never been in childcare. My son was, and did wonderfully, but that's because the woman who watched him was just like me and we are now really, really good friends. I digress, again.
So, we have all been sick, so she has missed the past two weeks of class. I wasn't really too concerned, since she doesn't seem to understand the concept of dance (at least formally). I have always been a firm believer of not worrying about how the child was performing as long as they were having fun.
For example, when we are at soccer and my son doesn't make a goal, that's ok. I am just happy that he is now on the same end of the field as the ball. You see, there have been several games where he was at one end of the field and the kids (and the ball) were at the other. I even remember yelling to him "Hey, quit smelling the grass and go run with the kids!" Not something you say everyday.
I knew I was in trouble when we walked into dance class this morning and all the moms had their video cameras and digital cameras. The other little girls had their cute little pigtails done up extra nice and I thought "OK, what the hell did I miss this time?" I was just happy that she let me comb her hair before we left.
Now, I didn't know this, of course, but apparently at the end of any series of dance classes, there is a performance. Great. Well, I didn't get the memo, and since I am not a Stepford mom, I had no idea that this was normal protocol.
I then called my husband to see if he was in the area to come watch. He wasn't, which was good. This way only one of us had to be embarrased.
It takes a lot for my kids to embarrass me. They can throw a temper tantrum in the middle of a crowded store and I won't bat an eye. I know this is the teacher in me, but it didn't help me this morning.
As soon as class began, CH stopped listening. The pressure was on. There was an ENTIRE WALL of SUV moms poised with cameras. Then there was me, my son and the camera on my Palm Pilot. Now, for some reason that my husband and I can't explain, our daughter actually gets shy when she is in a group of people and the attention is on her. We can't figure this out, especially since she is such a ham.
So, the music began and the teacher pried CH off of my leg and over to the grou p of girsl. As I waited for the carnage to begin, I began to get a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. it turns out, this was a result of knowing that your child, while cute, would be THE ONE. You know what I am talking about. THE ONE is the one who doesn't listen and isn't necessarily bad, just auditorilly challenged.
So, the music is going and my daughter had to be led by the teacher, which was par for the course. She had done this every time. But while the other girls were pointing, my daughter was galloping. When they sasheyed, she plopped. When they kicked, she ran.
I could hear the other moms whispering and I just wanted to melt. I did think about leaving class, not because of my own embarrasment, but because the teacher had to continually say things to my daughter. Did she have to say anything to the other girls? Of course not. I even had to threaten her with a time out because she wouldn't go over to her teacher.
Why was my daughter the only one not listening? Her behavior half the time is terrible. We are going to have a dip in the tile where her time out spot is, since she is there so often. I try to redirect her behavior and all it does is redirect the recipient of her behavior.
I am pretty sure every grey hair I have is directly related to her. I hate days like this. They are so depressing. They always make me wonder if I did the right thing by staying home with them. Maybe she wouldn't act like this if she were in childcare. Who knows? Bleh.
Who knew?
I was reading about the Mommycast deal with Dixie and I stumbled across a post about the Red Spoon Diaries. It's about a woman who worked for Betty Crocker as an editor and couldn't cook (how funny is that?). She decided to learn to cook and blog about it.
First of all, she is my hero for writing about this. I, in no way, shape, or form, would EVER do this unless I was being paid for it. Because I know how much I get made fun of in my own home, I have no reason to open up that can of worms with the general public, at least not without monetary compensation.
Second, each listing has a tally of recipes made and kitchen (mis)adventures to date. How cool is that? Readers could actually keep track of her mistakes. I wonder if there were any bets on this. Maybe I'm thinking about how my own family would handle this situation...
Now, because this is a bit older, I had to wade backwards to get to the actual posts. While slogging backwards, I wanted to know the following:
Once I finally found the beginning, I was a little disappointed. She had cooking tools in her kitchen I have never even heard of. I know she works for the cookbook company, but still - I was bummed.
Either way, this is a great read for those who are challenged in the kitchen. Maybe I should start my own challenge - one that includes making recipes with kids afoot? I may have to make this happen. It would be really interesting, don't you think? :)
My husband, bless his soul, knows that being domestic is not my strong suit. In fact, I am so domestically challenged that he is getting a cleaning service to come in once a month to do all the stuff I hate to do.
I can't believe it took him so long. I've been putting this crap off for months and he obviously isn't going to do it, so it has come time to pay someone else to do it.
I don't really need that much help, except with the bathrooms, the floors, the baseboards and...well, you get the idea. I hate cleaning and I don't have the time to keep up with the mess that comes with working at home around the kids. I have tried, but something always has to suffer. Hmmm, scrub behind the toilets or get work done? Not much of a choice...well, actually, that one might be a toss up. How about this - Wash the floors or play with the kids? There. That one is a little more obvious.
So, in a few short weeks, I will have a lady come in to do the tasks that I hate to do. The funny thing is that I will probably do a light clean before the cleaning lady comes, just so she can't see how bad things usually are, which is silly, since her job is to clean up after people who are too sloppy to do it for themselves.
Maybe I will actually go against this trend. Maybe I can be proud that I don't do floors or deep clean my bathrooms on a regular basis. I shall take pride in my filth! On second thought, maybe I will do a quick Swiffer run before she comes....
SIDE note: Swiffers are the best investment on the planet. I LOVE the one that you use to spray the floor and then throw the pad away. I would love to personally thank them, after I make a quick Swiffer run over my floors... Now, if they only mad something to clean the rest of the bathroom...
