Happy Halloween everyone!  Keep yourself and your kiddos (and don’t forget your pets!) safe

We’re probably going to go trick or treating at the mall.

• http://www.halloween-safety.com/
• http://www.halloweenmagazine.com/play.html
• http://www.nsc.org/library/facts/halloween.htm
• http://www.redcross.org/services/hss/tips/october/octtips.html
• http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/features/mutts/blog/2007/10/spca_dogs_in_costume.html

Gasp! NaNoWriMo is just hours away!

Life is what you make of it, so if something sucks, deal with it, do something to change it, or, better yet, just go cry in a hole somewhere (more…)

Was it just me, or did anyone else’s nose swell and balloon out to the size of decent sized tomato complete with a matching hue while you were pregnant?

I don’t know exactly when it started, if my nose even went through various stages of plumpness or if one day it simply decided to distend itself, but by the time the beginning of my 10th (and I say TENTH because it lasts 10 months! =P) month rolled around, my nose pretty much dominated my face.  If you attempted to look at my eyes, my lips or at pretty much anything else in that vicinity, your eyes would, without fail, be drawn to the swollen mass of redness that was my nose.

While girlishly applying foundation to my face one day, my eyes zoned into my nose.  I remember squinting at my compact mirror, muttering something to myself about there not being enough light in the bedroom, and hoisting myself up off my thirty-something week pregnant butt to the bathroom.  According to my mother, her nose had simply inflated while she was pregnant with me, and so while I had been expecting it, I didn’t think it would be as pronounced as she described.  Boy, was that wishful thinking.

Now, the bathroom mirror does not lie.  It can’t, the light in there is far, far too bright.  Photographs (usually)  don’t lie either, and that’s why you will not find a close up of my fair visage (lol) from anytime during my pregnancy.  In retrospect, it was beyond silly of me, but for the first half of my pregnancy with littleQ I did not want my face to be the focal point of any photograph because I thought that it would look too swollen, then when the second half of my pregnancy rolled around, my face (my nose especially) really was swollen.

I cringe when I look at photographs from my baby shower, because, well, my nose, it wudn’t too purdy.  But I’ll also smile, because  I kinda do miss those days.  The sense of anticipation and new purpose that pregnancy gave me was amazing.  Simply knowing that I was carrying an itty-bitty life inside my tummy was just awe-inspiring.

Post-labor photographs show that my nose actually started to go down almost immediately.  By the time littleQ was 2 months old, my nose was returned to it’s original size.  Let’s face it though, after giving birth, our bodies are just different from how they used to be.

*This post was inspired by the CHBM Collaboration #49 - “When I was Pregnant…”*

Technorati Tags: infant, baby, mom, mommy, mother, motherhood, pregnancy, swollen, swollen nose, When I was Pregnant, chbm

I am über excited for NaNoWriMo to start, but I have to confess that I haven’t really had a chance to really sit down and brainstorm.  I also missed the kick-off party for NYC NaNoWriMo-ers tonight (boo me). 

Well, in the spirit of quantity over quality, I’ll just wing it most of the way

Any last minute ideas or suggestions?  Hell, even if it doesn’t make sense I’ll MAKE IT work. =P

Did you ever just wake up all ornery and really unable to pinpoint what it is that was pissing you off so much?  That happened to me last night at about 12:45 AM.  I felt like punching something… but there was really nothing for me to do except force myself to go back to sleep.

Alas, I ended up wasting my time watching silly people, who are  hiding behind the excuse of “this is just for fun yo,” in their crappy-to-semi-mediocre performances on YouTube in a vain attempt to be the ‘net’s next big thing.  I mean, There are plenty of random people on there who are talented (as well as plenty of random videos that are stupid but still entertaining, depending on the mood you’re in), but unfortunately, we can’t all be like Chris Crocker.

Technorati Tags: nanowrimo, national novel writing month, youtube, insomnia, internet, celebrity, celebrities

Today I decided to participate in the Saturday Special

~Ghostly Tell Tales~

1. Do you believe in ghosts, spirits, or the supernatural?:

    I believe that it’s entirely possible…. hehe

2. Have you ever had a supernatural experience?:

    Yes, but that is a story for another day.

3. What is your favorite horror film?

    My favorite horror film is 28 Days Later.

4. Finish this line: Dark is the night ____________.

“Dark is the night for all”

Technorati Tags: meme, Saturday, Saturday Special

Trust.  It’s such a simple word, but it’s meaning counts for so much.

Late last night, I fell asleep while pondering trust.  I woke up, and after brushing my teeth, my thoughts floated back to the issue.  Throughout the day, my thoughts have strayed back to it. 

I’ve become somewhat cynical about… well a lot of things, and when I let myself dwell on certain things, I tend to get down thinking about what would possibly compel a person to do something(or not do something), with consequences  that would surely crack the foundation of that relationship…. and then lie about it, effectively doubling the negative impact.

I’m pretty sure that everyone has been lied to at one point in their life, only to find out afterwards about the deceit; and I’m talking about all types of lying, whether it be flat out spoken untruth, lying by omission, or lying by feigned ignorance of an event or situation.  The goodness or badness of any such situation that would bring about the last form I mentioned would of course be relative to one’s mind set as well as one’s role, if any, in it.

It’s not that hard to pretend like there was never anything wrong.  What’s difficult is making yourself truly move past it without having to lie to yourself, because if it hurt you that much, it makes you think about everything that has been said to you, everything that’s been done.  It causes you to question every action and the truthfulness behind each utterance.  Even if you’ve decided to take a chance and "let bygones be bygones," sometimes that sliver of fear of being betrayed again emerges from the recesses of your subconscious and eats at your senses, hindering your attempts to let go and put that chapter behind you… completely.

I’m trying.  Seriously.

If I was a Japanese pop-culture inspired cartoon, I would not be an anime cartoon girl, or even a manga inspired cartoon girl-

This is what I would look like:

Oh, I would so kick ass as one of Gwen Stefani’s harajuku cartoon dolls.

->>> update — I made this @ HP’s Harajuku cartoon doll maker

Technorati Tags: harajuku, Harajuku Lovers, cartoon doll, Gwen Stefani, clothing, brand

I do have family over in California…. but thankfully they haven’t been in the danger zone… and I hope to all that is holy that they stay safe……….

I honestly am at a loss for the words that will best convey my feelings about the horrific fires in California.  I don’t know how I should express my feelings of sorrow for the tremendous losses and heartaches that our west coast neighbors must endure…. if you’re affected by this disaster… this letter’s to you.

Dear friend,

I just want you to know that there are people out there who care.  There are people out there who want to help you.  Although we can’t truly feel your pain, and although we can’t see things through your eyes and feel the effect that this devastation has had on you, I want you to know that there are those of us who want to help you get through this difficult time.

Even if you just need to vent a little, a shoulder to cry on, or a hug, we’re here.

You are not alone, and you will get through this, because there are people all over the country who want to help.

Okay, so this isn’t the most original TT ever, but here goes::

For this week’s Thursday Thirteen, here is a list of 13 things that are on, around, underneath and above my computer desk, some of which really don’t belong here.

1. RCA universal remote - Found it!
2. 8 fl oz bottle of Bath and Body Works Gardenia body lotion - Believe it or not, this is mrQ’s lotion, not mine. I prefer something with a less… overwhelming scent.
3. Huggies Extra Sensitive Fragrance-free lotion
4. mini tub of Vaseline
5. Metamucil - That really doesn’t belong here. :-O
6. Avent baby bottle cap
7. 2 Reese’s pieces wrappers - Hmm.. mrQ’s eating our supply of Halloween candy.
8. 8 oz container of Aveeno Baby fragrance free Daily Moisture Lotion - Besides Mustela, this is the best baby lotion ever.
9. teeny little 1/4 oz tub of Carmex - I feel that this is a skin care essential.
10. a bottle of contact lens multi-purpose solution.
11. littleQ’s little red slippers - tsinelas!-slippers in Tagalog
12. a Hallmark Gold Crown rewards card
13. And a whole shiznitload of mail, papers and post-its that I really must sort through.

If you have a Thursday Thirteen this week, be sure to leave me a comment so I can visit yours

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Technorati Tags: Thursday Thirteen, random, meme, computer desk, crap

I was stumbling around StumbleUpon, and I just had to share this — it’s a pianist playing the James Bond theme and a violinist playing Mozart…. and it sounds pretty darn good together.

Check out the video here.

Technorati Tags: mozart, james bond, music, fusion

Yesterday we went shopping for littleQ’s Halloween costume.  Yes, it was crowded, filled to the brim with screaming little monsters children and their stressed-out looking parents, but the picking of and the procuring of the actual costume was surprisingly (well I thought so) painless.

The line to pay however… that was a different story.

It never ceases to amaze me when these big chain party and Halloween stores (well, many, but not all) have more than 20 people on line to pay, and yet only have 1 out of 5 registers open with who seems the slowest and most inefficient cashier they have.   … And all this happens while at least 2 other "sales associates" are not doing something productive, like getting costumes for customers; they roam around the store pretending to work by systematically taking down and rearranging the same displays (which happen to be within 5 feet of each other) over and over and over again.  Yes, I saw you.

Why?!?!?  Where is your manager?!?!??!

Oh, and a quick note to the loud, audibly offensive man who cut the line:  You suck, and what sucks even more about you is the appalling way in which you maneuvered your potty-mouthed pre-pubescent daughters to slip in front of that poor woman who shook her head and pretty much stared painful, painful daggers in your direction while you pretended not to notice, because you knew that nobody was going to say anything to them or you, for fear of having their ears assailed by high-pitched, pseudo-toughguy accented excuses.  Yes, we saw, as did about 10 other people both in front of and behind the woman, all of whom just didn’t want to add to the stress that chain party stores like to put on their customers by not effectively allocating their staff by engaging in any sort of confrontation with you.

Anyhoooooo…

Guess what littleQ is going to be for Halloween?  It’s soooo awesome =) … too bad mrQ and I aren’t going to be dressing up, then we could go as an awesome family of ninjas.

Technorati Tags: Halloween, costume, party store, costume store, line cutters, annoying people, ninja

This morning I was angry and frustrated to the point of tears.

Remember I mentioned a work at home job that I was training for? Umm.. actually I don’t think I did.. I think it was included in one of the posts that I lost when I was updating and tweaking my blog.

Part of the training necessary for the position includes this telephone portion which basically includes going through a mock session. You also have to be in front of the computer. Two of these sessions are required, and I had both of them scheduled for today.

Now littleQ is not even two years old yet, so one can only imagine the amount of noise that this child is capable of. When he is awake, it is nonstop, whether it’s him babbling, laughing, whining or crying. For this reason, I specifically told mrQ that he would have to watch littleQ during so-and-so hours, and he would have to distract littleQ in another room and not the same room I was in, which of course is where the computer is.

Err… to make a long story short, I had to cut short one appointment, and I canceled the other (each session was scheduled at a different time, but with only one hour in between) for this part of the training… which I’m pretty sure has killed any confidence that my prospective employer had in my ability to do this job and not flake out. Yeah I’m about 99% sure my chances have flown out the window.

OH was I angry. I have to admit, a few tears of frustration did make their way down my cheeks, but I just sucked it up. What are you supposed to do, you know? Fighting… well more often than not that just leads to more fighting.

While I do feel it was super annoying of him to just sit there giving me the evil eye while letting littleQ climb my leg (and keep in mind he was almost screaming at this point because he didn’t understand that I was not on the phone with Grandma, and no, he could not babble incoherently to the nice lady who was assigned to my training for this session), mrQ was very, very sleepy (he doesn’t work the conventional "9-5")…. so whatever… I understand….

If you’ve read up to this point you’re wondering to yourself, "Well where is the connection to Sliding Doors?"

Okay so do you know about that movie? You know, the one with Gwyneth Paltrow? The one where they show two different paths of her life… all depending on her missing/catching a train…?

Anyhow.. I ended up taking littleQ to the park. Since mrQ obviously can’t take care of him while he’s asleep, and I had to cancel my appointments, I said to myself, it’s so nice outside, why should littleQ and I stay inside while I sulk? If I’m going to sulk I might as well go to the park so that littleQ can have some fun…. I’ll just sulk there.

As is customary in the park, I struck up a conversation with another mom, and she told me about a mommy and me playgroup that meets at one of the churches (there are FOUR Catholic churches within walking distance of our house) in the neighborhood. I couldn’t have been happier to find out about this.

See, I was really quite despondent because I honestly didn’t think there was a mommy and me class or playgroup in this general vicinity… no where super close at least. I was actually about to sign littleQ up for a Gymboree class, and in essence obligating myself to drive 30 minutes each way, for a SINGLE 45 minute class, just to get to one that wouldn’t require crossing a bridge and paying a toll to get to.. OR I could have signed up for in Manhattan.. but nah. Now that’s really a non-issue as there’s one right here woohoo!

So…. if I had gone through with the training sessions, I would most definitely have that position.

But I didn’t, and I found out about this amazing opportunity for littleQ to make friends with babies and toddlers around his age and for me to meet and socialize with other moms. I really can’t fathom how I would have found out about it otherwise… It’s possible that I would have found out about it, but I don’t even go to that church, and I honestly am not friends with even one other mom in our neighborhood who has a toddler age child.. so chances would have been quite slim (near nonexistent, actually).

So, while it would have been a truly wonderful opportunity to have that job, I really didn’t need it, and I think that between these two, the latter is much more rewarding for littleQ.. and as far as our priorities are concerned in this case… well.. how do I feel now about how it’s all turned out? … it’s all good. So a big thanks to my husband for being annoying this morning =P

One door closes, and another one opens.. to quote the first person who ever said that.

Okay, okay, so this really doesn’t have much in common with Sliding Doors… but you get the point, right?

Technorati Tags: opportunity, sliding doors, fate, chance, life, path, mommy and me, playgroup, baby, babies, toddler

Today my parents decided to be über nice and visit me, because I wasn’t going to be able to visit them this weekend.
My parents, littleQ and I went up to Bronxville, around Sarah Lawrence College, and we walked along the Bronx River Pathway, which runs alongside, you guessed it, the Bronx River.

I’d never walked along that pathway before, and it’s beautiful, especially with all the colors autumn brings.  The only thing that may ruin the ambience for nature enthusiasts is the noise that you can clearly hear from some parts of the pathway… especially if you’re on the western side of the river… the Bronx River Parkway is right there after all.  Nevertheless, it was a very relaxing stroll.

Grandma & Grandpa and littleQ in his stroller up ahead of me

A few more photographs I took today:

I shot these using my Nikon D50 that mrQ gave me for Mother’s Day in ‘06 =)

Technorati Tags: nature, photographs, autumn, fall, bronxville, bronx river

I just read such a heartbreaking article in the paper… My eyes were tearing up as I went through the article…

A little 8 month old boy was being pushed in a stroller by his grandmother, and yes, they were on the sidewalk. The little boy was run over by the driver of an SUV who was backing out of a cramped parking spot.

SUV Kills Baby in Stroller in Queens - NYDailyNews.com article

It’s so nonsensical and so unfair. They were on the sidewalk.. just where they’re supposed to be….

I can’t even imagine what the Distasio family is going through right now.

Please keep them in your thoughts and, if you’re so inclined, in your prayers as well.

This is a response to the Utterz.com topic of the day on Oct. 18, 2007, which is titled: "Birth Control in Middle School?" and was prompted by the decision of a school district to pass a measure that would allow middle school children to have access to prescription birth control without their parents’ permission.

Sure, this new measure would help the middle school children who have parents who don’t educate them early or point them to resources about sex, STDs, abstinence and other forms of birth control. Something that I think I forgot to mention is that just giving the kids access to birth control isn’t enough: I think that district also has to take steps to properly educate the children all about the contraceptives as well as the physiological and hormonal effects that taking contraceptives may have, as well as the psychological and emotional effects that having sex may have.. and I think this may even mean ongoing counseling for certain kids.

Being 13 is a whole world away from being 16. I would totally expect this for a high school, not a middle school. That said, it does make sense, because it’s true that kids are maturing, at least physically, earlier these days, and if their hormones are THAT strong, these kids WILL find a way to have sex — with or without the education or contraceptives.
__
If you found this on my blog, please leave a comment here, or at Utterz.com, where you can read and listen to other responses

Mobile post sent by kristina using Utterz.  Replies.

Technorati Tags: Portland school board, birth control, contraceptives, sex, utterz