Owner: T with Honey URL:http://twithhoney.wordpress.com/ Join Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2007 16:34:04 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: As the mother of a two year old with a full time software job I need all the sleep I can get. This is where I dump those pesky thoughts that keep me up at night. Site statistics:Click here
Tag, I’m It 2007-07-12 02:57:26 Aimee tagged me for the High School meme and without any further delay here it is.
1. Who was your best friend?
I had quite a few really close friends, but the two I spent the most time with and that know the darkest secrets about me from those years are BJ and Sam.
2. Did you play any sports?
Field hockey, baby! Although I must admit I was one of the worst players on the team. I also wanted to play basketball but after spending the fall with those girls I just couldn’t stand the thought of spending the winter with them too.
3. What kind of car did you drive?
1986 Ford Taurus. Only to be replaced after college when the transmission was about to die with another Ford Taurus - couldn’t beat the “Recent College Graduate”, “Ford Loyal Owner”, “$1000 as long as you can drive it to our Dealership” and “0.1% Financing” rebates and promotions.
4. It’s Friday night. Where were you?
Fall - playing in the pep band at football gam
WFMW: Saying ‘Bye-Bye’ to Toys 2007-07-11 09:06:02 Around the time Princess turned 1 year old we were getting frustrated trying to find new toys that would keep her occupied at home. It seemed that she loved every toy in the store, but once we got it home it would get thrown on the pile with the rest of her toys to collect dust.
So one day I tried a new trick. I would hand her a toy at the store and let her play with it for a little as I walked around looking for toddler silverware or where they had the cases of diapers on display this week. After a little while I would wander back to the place where the toy came from and say, “It is time for the toy to go back. Can you say bye-bye to the toy?”
If she happily said “bye-bye” and handed me the toy it would go back on the shelf. I didn’t waste my money on another toy she wouldn’t play with AND she had been happily occupied while I hunted down the cases of her brand of diaper, found a sales associate to climb up a ladder and move all the size 4 cas Read more:lsquo
Monday Morning Coffee 2007-07-09 10:23:56 I saw these over at 2nd Cup of Coffee
and couldn’t resist.
First, my addiction:
I am 63% Addicted to Coffee
Next, my style:
You are a Black Coffee
At your best, you are: low maintenance, friendly, and adaptable
At your worst, you are: cheap and angsty
You drink coffee when: you can get your hands on it
Your caffeine addiction level: high
What Kind of Coffee Are You?
Good thing I cut myself down to only one cup per day!
Read more:Monday
, Monday Morning
, Morning
Small town, Big on respect 2007-07-05 11:53:20 Yesterday to celebrate Independence Day our small family attended a 4th of July parade in small town America. We found a spot along the parade route with about 10 minutes to spare. Princess was exhausted because the parade coincided with what is usually nap time, but she didn’t want to miss out on all the candy they would be giving out!
After quite a wait - things in small town America seldom start on time - we could hear the sirens of a police motorcycle in the distance. The parade had begun! Princess covered her ears as the motorcycle and its noisy siren drove past us. Then quiet descended upon the street. And I saw something amazing. It looked as if someone had started ‘The Wave’ and it was slowly making its way towards us. But once standing, people remained standing. And no one was raising their arms up in the air. Some had even put their right hand over their heart.
The residents and visitors to small town America, from seniors to toddlers, we Read more:respect
, Small
Team Whymommy 2007-07-03 10:39:07 I discovered Toddler Planet right around the time Whymommy first detected something was wrong. Then I cleared out my browser history due to performance issues and couldn’t remember the name of her blog. I kept her in my thoughts and prayers but didn’t know the outcome of her tests.
Yesterday I saw the Team Whymommy button while blog surfing. After clicking on that button my eyes teared up as I rediscovered that blog. Whymommy is the mother of a 2 year old and an almost 6 month old. And she found out 7 days ago that she has inflammatory breast cancer (IBC).
Within days of posting this news on her blog the ‘Internets’ formed Team Whymommy. Their purpose, and now mine is to build a Wall of Support for Whymommy.
On her blog I found this small request:
“As I’m just beginning my fight against breast cancer, I am particularly sensitive right now and need positive comments and wishes of strength only right now. No pity here!”
Let her know that she i
The difference Honey makes 2007-06-30 08:31:15 I don’t know how single mothers of little children do it. I’m guessing that after constantly having to do it all on their own they manage to work out a rhythm that keeps life humming along somewhat smoothly. But jumping in on my own when Honey has to go out of town… well, it’s not pretty but I’m managing. Single mothers… I salute you!!
But lately I’ve been running the “One Man Down Routine” (h/t Aimee for giving me a name for this phenomenon in a comment!!). Here’s a comparison of what a work day is like with Honey and what it is like without Honey.
The Morning
With Honey: One of us lets the hunting-trained dog out and puts food in the dog bowls while the other jumps in the shower. Then whoever is out of the shower or furthest along in getting dressed answers Princess’s call when she wakes up. Once an adult is dressed and ready that person heads downstairs and starts breakfast. Eventually we all converge on the breakfast tab Read more:difference
, makes
I have some of the best friends 2007-06-28 21:56:30 I had a wonderful surprise waiting for me in my Inbox tonight. My awesome friend Meg got an itch to play with Photoshop and decided to make this beautiful new banner for my blog. Isn’t it beautiful? Thank you, Meg!!!!
And I loved her description for the colors she chose: “when I think of tea and honey and think warm colors….and so that’s what I used!”
Do you like it? Would you be willing to help me thank my wonderful friend?
Yes? Cool! Then go visit The Misadventures of Mom and leave a comment to let her know that the new banner on T with Honey is just mah-velous.
Business trip behavior 2007-06-28 13:46:33 Honey went out of town for a business trip and Princess is finding her own way of dealing with his absence. I think her goal is to drive me completely cuckoo so I’ll give up on trying to get anything done, quit my job and stay home with her 24/7 to make up for his not being here. Its a tempting proposition, but this isn’t a post about why I work outside the home. I’ll save that for another day.
The first morning sans-Daddy was such a treat! She was very clingy and employed various stall tactics throughout the morning. For example, in the middle of getting dressed she decided it was the perfect time to “pick two books” for me to read to her. Umm, no sweetie. “Its time to get dressed. Mommy has to go to work and you have to go to school.” My feeble attempt to get her back on task prompted the turning of all stuffed animals in the room toward the wall. Why? Because they were watching her, and , well its just too creepy to have Read more:Business
WFMW - Block ice in the cooler 2007-06-27 09:03:47 Most of my life when my family went camping or took off on a day trip to the beach we would make or buy bags of cubed ice to put in the cooler
. By the end of the day the ice had melted and the stuff at the bottom of the cooler was floating in a few inches of water. Do you have any idea how disgusting it is to pull out a package of ground beef that has been drowned in ice water? It takes someone with a lot of inner strength and a strong constitution to reach into that pink ice water and fish out the ingredients for dinner.
On top of the ‘gross’ and ‘unsanitary’ factors when we went camping for extended weekends or an entire week we had to buy new ice every day. That starts to add up and cut into the extra cash for marshmallows or candy at the camp store.
This past weekend we took Princess camping for the first time (she loved it!) and I tried something new. A few days before our camping trip I made ice in some old plastic beverage containers. I used old
Interacting with interactive shows 2007-06-26 15:41:44 Many of today’s TV programs for kids have interactive aspects. Elmo’s World asks kids “What is Elmo thinking about today?” Little Einsteins wants you to “pat, pat, pat” and help Rocket “Blast Off!!!” Mickey Mouse Clubhouse asks the kids to participate all throughout the show.
Ever since Princess started watching these shows our house has been mostly unresponsive. Occasionally, Honey and I can be heard yelling out “Oh, Tootles!” along with Mickey Mouse and Friends. But Princess sits there like a zombie. Face forward. Eyes fixed on the screen. Mouth shut.
The other weekend Princess was watching TV as Honey and I tackled the weekly chore of cleaning the house. I was dusting in the room where she was watching TV when Mickey Mouse Clubhouse came on. The show started up. I was singing along with the theme song, “M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E” as I removed the dust from the bookshelves. Princess just sat there stari
Love is in the daycare 2007-07-13 21:36:06 She’s only 2 years old and she already has an admirer. A boy in her class, Prince Charming has a crush on my Princess.
The other morning as we walked into her classroom I could hear the bright and cheerful voice of Ms. K. “Look, Charming! Princess is here.” I looked over and there stood Charming staring at my curly headed beauty with a big grin on his face.
Just as my brain was starting to put the pieces together Ms. K spoke again. “Charming has a crush on Princess. Don’t you, Charming?”
Right on cue Charming turned beet red and, biting his lower lip he dove behind the cots in embarrassment. I gave him an understanding smile and then left the poor boy alone. Princess smiled and cheerfully said “Hi” to Charming but I could see that the feelings aren’t mutual. She was more interested in helping me fill out her day sheet by drawing circles all over it.
If boys are already crushing on my daughter what are the teenage years
WFMW: A Natural Lift 2007-07-17 23:18:11 Strange side effect of going to the gym: my boobs are getting perkier. It’s like a natural version of a push-up bra.
I use the chest press machine at 40 pounds and after one month there was a noticeable change in my chest area. Things are looking bigger and sagging less. Granted they haven’t grown. After weaning Princess my bust shrank until I barely needed an A cup, but by developing muscle behind ‘the girls’ they now have a better, more supportive base to set upon. They’re a full, perky looking A cup now!
If you can’t go to the gym/don’t have access to a chest press machine then you can do some push-ups instead. For best results do 2 sets of 10 every other day. Even if you can’t manage to do 10 push-ups (I still can’t) make 2 attempts at doing as many as you can twice a day until reaching the goal of 2 sets of 10 push-ups.
What are some of the other benefits of the ‘natural lift’ approach?
The change is gradual Read more:Natural
The Ultimate Bath Toy 2007-07-16 21:14:23 Most of the time Princess must be content with washing her pony or her baby doll during bath time. Tonight she got to play with the Ultimate
Bath Toy.
We had gone swimming before dinner while it was in the low 80s outside. As we got out of the pool for dinner I told Princess that we would go back into the pool when we were finished.
In the half hour it took to eat dinner and dessert it had dropped almost 10 degrees outside. That didn’t matter to Princess. Mommy said she could go back in the pool after dinner. Now that she had her cake she wanted back into that pool. Princess definitely has her priorities straight.
As I stepped on to the deck I immediately realized that the air temperature had dropped enough that there was no way I was getting back into that pool tonight. Honey, having more insulation on his body than I do on mine, graciously offered to swim with her for 5 minutes. They jumped in and started splashing around. After 3 minutes Princess’s teeth were cha
No such thing as Anonymous 2007-07-20 09:30:33 Have you been writing your blog thinking that you could stay Anonymous? Or have you posted a comment thinking you could say something and no one would ever be able to trace it to you?
Well, you’re only fooling yourself. That’s why on my blog I aim a little more toward plausible deniability instead of true anonymity.
Honey found this article that does a little myth busting in the realm of online anonymity
It is a good read and has some information out there for any non-technical bloggers that may want to know a little more about how people can figure out who you are from your writing. Since my meeting this morning was canceled I decided to put some of this to the test.
First the article has a link to a Gender Guesser. You put in a sample of the person’s writing and it uses style and word usage to figure out the author’s gender. First I grabbed the text from my post Small town, Big on respect. The verdict: Male for both Informal and Formal writing.
In the in
A funny thing happened at the dinner table 2007-07-26 00:10:28 I’m sitting here at the family room table eating dinner with my family while simultaneously working. Princess and Honey have just finished their food and are starting to work on some clementines for dessert. I have about 5 bites of my stuffed chicken breast left when Honey starts the following conversation.
H: I discovered a flaw in my grill today.
T: Oh.
H: Yeah. If you take the skillet and put it on the shelf and then close the lid the shelf will tip down like so. (as he tips his hand from horizontal to more like a 30 degree angle)
T: Mmmhmmm. type, click, type, bite
H: And then when you open the grill the skillet will slide off…
T: chew, chew, crunch
H: And it will fall on the ground…
T: glare at Honey
H: And the chicken will fall on the ground.
T: spit out bite of chicken to see if I can figure out what piece of outdoor debris I just bit into
H: But I rinsed it off. And it has been cooking over really high heat so anything it may have picked up would b
Why I went back to work - Part I 2007-07-25 07:55:33 Part 1 - Maternity leave is not long enough
Dear Princess,
You were 11 weeks old and we had just returned from our Mothers’ Day trip to PA. It was our last week home together before I had to go back to work.
And I was a wreck.
Back when you were 6 weeks old I started to think about what I would do when the FMLA guaranteed maternity leave time was up. The US Government required my employeer to give me 12 weeks off after you were born. After that time they would have to take me back. Or as I saw it, after that time I would have to turn the care of you over to a total stranger and start working again or stay home with you and say goodbye to my job.
When you were 6 weeks old I was neck high in post partum depression and crazy hormones. I couldn’t even say the words ‘day care’. Ever time I tried it came out like this, “Day ay ay wah!” Back then I told Honey that it would be his job to look into day care. I couldn’t even say the words
More than a t-shirt 2007-07-24 09:07:42 One of the things I love about living with a two year old is the way that toddlers can transform something ordinary into the extraordinary. This weekend is was one of my old t-shirts.
My creative side must not be getting enough of an outlet at work because I am attracted to all the sewing projects I have seen on other blogs. One of the tutorials I’m thinking of trying turns a man’s dress shirt into a toddler dress. So I hit up our “donation” pile of clothing to see what old shirts Honey had taken out of his closet.
While digging through all our gently used clothing I not only found dress shirts that are just waiting to be transformed into sun dresses, I had also found some old t-shirts to convert into comfy shorts for her to wear under those dresses.
I took my cache downstairs to start planning and measuring against my daughter’s frame. First, one of the dress shirts. I held it up to her and confirmed that it had enough material for the job and that
Why I went back to work - Part II 2007-07-26 21:33:35 Part II - The Choice
Dear Princess,
You were 11.5 weeks old and I was facing the end of maternity leave. It was Wednesday which meant I had 3 days to get you enrolled in an infant program or I would be writing my letter of resignation. I had put the decision in God’s hands but I also knew that I had to work with him. So I started to call day care centers in our area. Suprisingly the 2 centers that were at the top of this list we made before you were born had immediate openings in their infant programs! I made appointments to tour the centers over the next two days.
We visited the first center that afternoon. The teachers were experienced and had been with the center for many years. The infants in their care were all happy and using baby signs, a definite plus in our book since we planned on using baby signs with you. The walls were covered with art projects. It was bright and cheerful and filled with happy children.
There were some things I just wasn’t crazy
Found: Pictures of recalled Fisher-Price toys 2007-08-02 10:13:36 Fisher-Price is recalling a large number of Nickelodeon (Dora, Blues Clues, etc) and Sesame Street (Elmo and Friends) toys which could contain lead paint. The list of toys on the recall notice that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission was completely overwhelming. We have a TON of Sesame Street related toys! I realize that the recall only applies to toys purchased after May 1, 2007 and I think all of the ones Princess has were purchase before then, but there was one sentence on the Fisher-Price web site that stuck in my brain.
“Paint on some of these products COULD contain lead in excess of permissible levels.”
Does that mean there are acceptable levels of lead other than, you know, um, ZERO!?
As I scanned the list some of the product names sounded like they could be one of the toys in our house or even ones the kids play with at day care. I figured that my evening would be spent going through all the toys in our house with a printout in one hand as Read more:Fisher
, Pictures
, recalled
WFMW: parenting theme 2007-08-01 06:50:04 Here’s a little something my parents learned the hard way. When giving a toddler instructions be very explicit and don’t assume anything. They really don’t know any better until you tell them.
So, if you are going to teach your child how to build a campfire be sure to teach them where they can and cannot build a campfire at the same time.
As I mentioned in this post I learned how to build a campfire at the early age of 3 years old. During a camping trip my dad showed me how to arrange the materials and light it on fire. It was a simple recipe and similar enough to building with blocks that I mastered it quickly.
Crumple up a newspaper for the base
Stack the twigs around the newspaper to build a teepee
Layer bigger sticks around the teepee to build a cabin
Strike a match and set the newspaper on fire
I LOVED making these buildings and setting them on fire! It was a toddler dream come true.
After a weekend of sleeping in a tent and building campfires we went
Where did the Care Bears go? 2007-08-03 11:53:43 My complete aversion to getting up in the middle of the night means that overnight Princess still wears training paints otherwise known as pull-ups.
Yes, she’s perfectly capable of holding it until morning and she usually wakes up completely dry. Yes, she will wake up in the middle of the night to ask to go potty. The problem for me is that you have to take her to the potty AS SOON AS SHE WAKES UP. Taking enough time to get the blood flowing in my arms again so I can feel my glasses as I blindly grope around the night stand and so I can actually see as I walk to her room instead of walking on the dogs or crashing into walls, well, that’s just not an option.
The other day we found ourselves at Target to buy the next month’s stock of disposable, absorbent, fairly leak-proof underwear. Princess likes Care Bears
and the store brand diapers and training pants have Care Bears on them.
At least they DID have Care Bears on them.
When we pulled one out at bed time Prince
WFMW: Press’n Seal Chair Protector 2007-08-07 23:30:02 About to do a messy craft project with your child? Something like finger painting or dying Easter eggs?
Are the chairs they are about to sit on to do said project cloth instead of some hard, easily washable surfact?
Have no fear! Just pull out your GLAD Press
’n Seal® Wrap and create your own instant chair protector. Simply lay down strips of this magical material across the areas of the chair that need mess-proofing and voile instant chair protection. Be sure to wrap around to the back or bottom of the chair and overlap sheets as you go and spills will pool on top of the wrap or simply roll off onto the floor. The Press’n Seal® will stick to the surface of your chair, protecting it from paint, dye, marker and glitter glue. This versatile wrap will stay sealed to the surface of that chair even against the twitchiest of toddler tushies. Just beware of curious fingers that may try to pry at the edges.
When your project is complete the Press’n Seal® covering wil Read more:Chair
For me? Really? 2007-08-06 17:09:51 Aimee at The Mother Load has awarded me with the Blogger Reflection Award.
Here is what Aimee had to say about me:
T and I go way back. I mean all the way back to first grade. Talk about old school . . . I love to read T’s accounts of life with Honey and Princess, but what I like best are the posts where she talks about our grade school experiences. It’s nice to know that all that crazy stuff really happened and it’s not just me.
After reading both her kind words and the award description I feel so unworthy. All I can say is , thank you my dear sweet friend! It’s all your fault due to your fine example. After all, it was reading The Mother Load and following link after link from Aimee’s blog to other great blogs that sucked me in inspired me to create a blog of my own.
The reason for the title of this award is because this award should make you reflect on five bloggers who have been an encouragement, a source of love, impacted you in some way, and have
I called but your phone wasn’t there 2007-08-06 12:17:47 Here is an email I just sent to Honey:
Dear Honey,
This morning I had to run back home and get Princess’s blankets for nap time. I realized that they weren’t in the car right after driving through the toll booth. As I drove down the on ramp I grabbed my cell phone
and quickly tried to catch you while you were still in our neighborhood. I still couldn’t see our minivan in my rear view mirror at the toll plaza so I was hopeful. Then it happened. I was sent directly to voice mail. Alas you did not have your phone with you so I had to drive all the way to the next exit, turn around and come back home. After an additional charge on the Easy Pass and a little over 10 minutes I was finally headed back in the right direction with all of our stuff.
There were at least 4 times I tried to call you last week but either you didn’t have your cell phone with you or you didn’t have it turned on. Each time it was for something small and unimportant. Yet each time I thought
Menu Recap Monday 2007-08-06 09:58:27 There’s a little thing in the blogosphere called Menu Plan Monday
. The purpose of this carnival/meme/whatever is to plan all your meals for the coming week.
I used to do menu planning back when I had the shorter commute and thus was responsible for getting dinner on the table. It was so much easier at the end of the work day to get home and know exactly what to make for dinner without having to think about it. Then when my convenient-and-close-to-home office location got closed and Honey had the shorter commute and took over dinner duties again I got sick of fielding phone calls asking “what do you want for dinner?” A grumpy reply of “food” or “I don’t care” wasn’t helping to strengthen the bonds of our marriage.
But lately we’ve just been winging it. I made it home before Honey one night last week and found myself standing in the kitchen wondering what the heck I should make for dinner. It took me over 10 minutes to dec Read more:Recap
Mommy didn’t play fair 2007-08-10 15:38:34 This past spring I decided to make the drive to day care into a little piece of Mommy
-Princess bonding time by singing songs together. After a few months of trying to think of a different song that Princess knows just so I don’t have to sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star for the tenth time I decided I’d grab one of the children’s songs CDs from home and stick it in my car.
For the next week or two Princess was content to listen to me sing along with Disney: The Best of Silly Songs.
Then she realized that she knows one of the songs. We got into the car and as I was pulling out of the driveway a little voice chimes in “Want bumblebee song.”
OK, no problem. I use the little button on my steering wheel, find the requested song and sing along.
“I caught a little baby bumblebee. Boy, won’t Mickey be surprised to see. I caught a little baby bumblebee. Eee youch! It stung me.”
From the back seat there was giggling followed by “
I rock! You rock! 2007-08-09 09:55:39 You’re not going to believe this, well, at least I can’t believe it. I am so psyched. What Works for Us has awarded me with the Rockin’ Girl Blogger! She thinks I rock!!
Thank you. Thankyouverymuch.
Not only does this award come with a little bit of pink bling for my blog I get to nominate some other chicks who rock my world.
Jenn @ I Serve The Queens - I love reading about her life with the queens and the raw emotion she puts out there. Her dreams for a better world keep me coming back for more. And then there are the all-adds-up posts which have got to be some of the best political commentary I have ever seen - original, funny and oh, so true.
Meg @ FriedOkra - This is a relatively new blog for me but I love the way she writes and the stories she tells. Her latest multi part drama relaying the love story of how she and her hubby got together had me on the edge of my office chair as if I was reading a soap opera. I was hooked!
Canape @ Don’t Take the
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