Owner: Chicken And Cheese URL:www.mychickencheese.com Join Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2007 20:54:56 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: An East Coast transplant learns to deal with life on the prairie, one ear of corn at a time, while raising her spirited preschooler, The Poo. Site statistics:Click here
On Grief 2007-02-23 00:51:00 I wrote this a few weeks ago and didn't post it because I felt, much like my sister, that I write too often of my lost father.
Then I received an email from a reader this past weekend. This woman told me how a post I wrote about my experience helped her cope with the anniversary of her father's death.
Later that evening, I read this in the introduction to 'The Best American Essays 1999":
"A Read more:Grief
Six Months 2007-02-02 16:15:00 I never expected to settle in the town in which I grew up. I said goodbye when I was 15, or so I thought. Coming back to Rochester after college filled me with regret.
I chafed against the notion that my dreams were evaporating. I hung out with my grade-school pals and watched with a wry eye as they married their high-school sweethearts and bought houses down the block from their parents.
Not Read more:Months
Departed 2006-12-27 23:13:00 For the first time in many days, I am quiet.
The Poo is napping in the nursery at my mother's house, a room established in a different home during different times for the then-infant girl who is now my five-year-old niece. Memories of those times at what we called "The Ponderosa" (with affectionate derision) seem like memories that should belong to another family.
My father was alive then, Read more:Departed
Reason No. 346 That I Hate Christmas: It Makes Me Sad 2006-11-29 06:15:00 The last Christmas
that my father was alive I was not with him. No one knew he would die the following August, but in my heart I knew it was terribly, dreadfully wrong for me to be away from him that year. At Thanksgiving he looked gaunt, and he and my mother were living in temporary housing in Minnesota while he prepared for an experimental surgery in February.
I wanted to give him something Read more:Reason
Overheard In The Middle Of The Night 2007-03-29 15:36:00 The Poo: Mommy, what ya doin'?
Mommy: I'm sitting in the rocking chair. Shhh. No talking.
********
The Poo: Mommy, what ya doin'?
Mommy: Shhhh. No talking. Go to sleep.
The Poo: Are you thinkin', Mommy? Are you thinkin' about meeeeee? Read more:Night
Of Monster Spray And Magic Safety Kisses 2007-03-28 14:18:00 A vivid imagination is both a blessing and a curse. As a child, I was convinced that Big Foot was going to break into my house through the window over my bed.
I had visions of a huge, hairy monster shattering the glass, sending shards raining down all over my cowering head, and for at least three years slept with stuffed animals stacked three deep on my back in an effort to stave off my most Read more:Monster
, Spray
, Magic
, Safety
, Kisses
Seven Songs 2007-03-30 17:19:00 If I close my eyes, the hum of the treadmills sounds like the Jubilee line, speeding me from Stanmore to St. John's Wood.
I can, just for a moment, smell the stale air flavored with old urine and ale.
My Walkman is turned up so I can hear the music over the noise of the train. I daydream about Ben Raines.
Ben Raines.
He is in my French class, and - most unfortunately - in my P.E. class. He Read more:Seven
She's No Slouch 2007-04-02 14:49:00 Being the mother of a high-energy toddler with a strong personality is a roller-coaster ride. Up one minute, trundling down a steep incline the next, heart always in your throat.
But she will grow out of it, I'd think to myself. These are the Terrible Twos. They won't last forever.
Then I read this post by Slouching Mom, about how her five-year-old is channeling a disgruntled, smelly old man
Dizzy Dreams 2007-04-01 15:27:00 Who wants to hear more about throwing up? I thought so. A friend of a friend e-mailed me to ask some questions pertaining to an article she’s writing about co-sleeping. While we have never overtly practiced co-sleeping, we have been tolerating Tacy’s occasional presence in our bed since moving here. Frankly, we’re too tired at 3 o’clock in the morning to have a rational discussion; it’s Read more:Dreams
Wherein I Get What's Coming To Me 2007-04-04 04:33:00 The worst spanking I ever got was for climbing out of the shower while my mother washed my hair.
Before you get all sanctimonious about corporal punishment, I should say that my memories of such physical consequences are very limited. But hey, it was the seventies. No one told my very young mother and father that hitting me could damage my psyche.
I recall that it was summer, and my father was
Daydreaming 2007-04-03 14:42:00 The first family vacation I remember started out as a disaster.
My parents were struggling financially, and we'd never been anywhere together as a family, except for trips to see my grandparents in Ohio. I was eight years old, my sister was four, and my baby brother was just two. The way my mother tells it, she railed and railed until my father gave in and planned a trip to Cape Cod, MA.
He
Twenty Questions 2007-04-04 21:14:00 Well, not exactly twenty. More like five questions.
But the irresistible ECR/Binky from 24/7 offered to grill me like a piece of meat, and how could I say no? She's young, smart and nubile. I was putty in her hands.
1. Where were you when the Challenger exploded?
Oy, I'm dating myself with this one. I was a freshman in high school, and I was in Fay's Drugstore in Rochester, NY, buying gum. It
A Brief Encounter 2007-04-07 04:10:00 They had nothing to say to each other.
The conference was over, and they stood in the cold, snowy afternoon not knowing how to say goodbye. He wore a huge, hand-knitted muffler around his neck, ridiculous in northern Virginia.
“Where in God’s name did he get that scarf?” she wondered to herself, longing to kiss him. He had the roughish good looks of a boy who had spent a year backpacking in Read more:Brief
, Encounter
Two Things I Love About Illinois 2007-04-06 16:22:00 I never really liked yogurt.
It was always a little too milky for me, the kid who hated milk. I feel sick just thinking about that little paper carton of warm milk foisted on me during lunchtime in grade school. Barf.
But then I moved to Illinois
and discovered this place. And their Black Cherry Lowfat Yogurt. It tastes like ice cream and even The Poo will share a cup with me if I have one for
Choosing His Religion 2007-04-05 18:58:00 I am Catholic, and a practicing member of a local parish here in Chambana. I haven't been to Mass very often since The Poo began competing with the priest for attention during the homily, but I do have a deep faith in God.
My feelings about the tenets of the church are less solid, and I disagree with Catholic doctrine on matters of reproductive rights and homosexuality, among others.
However, Read more:Religion
Isolation Nation 2007-04-09 20:44:00 During our weekly lunch date today, The Poo and I were approached by a well-groomed and attractive older woman seated nearby.
She turned to us as she zipped up her coat, taking in the ketchup-smeared face of my daughter and the bags under my eyes.
"How old is she?" the stranger asked. "She is so adorable!"
"Just about 28 months," I replied, an automatic smile on my face. "Thank you."
She Read more:Isolation
Not Ready For Prime Time 2007-04-09 01:33:00 The Poo and I braved below-freezing temperatures Saturday morning to attend the annual Champaign County Easter Egg hunt.
We had a surprise encounter with Cynthia of The Sandwich Life as we parked, proving that the line between real life and the blogosphere is very blurry indeed. Cynthia and her brood of boys parted ways with us soon after we arrived, as the hunt was divided into sections by age
Do You See What I See? 2007-04-10 22:26:00 We all want to see ourselves reflected in our children, even if we protest otherwise. It’s natural, primal, even. We procreate, after all, to live on for eternity in generations to come. When The Poo was born, she looked like most newborns, and resembled nothing more than a little old man. An irritated little old man. I wanted to find her beautiful; I found myself seeking reassurance that she was
Overheard In The Playroom 2007-04-12 22:20:00 Daddy: Poo, does daddy have another name?
The Poo: Yeah!
Daddy: What's my other name?
The Poo: Mr. Chicken!*
Daddy: That's right! Does Mommy have another name?
The Poo: Yeah!
Daddy: What's Mommy's other name?
The Poo: Mudder!
*Editor's Note: She actually said his real name, not Mr. Chicken.
An Open Letter To Chambana 2007-04-11 21:31:00 Dear Chambana,
Why all the hate? Is there a reason you are such a goddamn sourpuss?
This morning I woke to fabled spring showers, but not the kind of weather one anticipates with dread. It was wet, but it was warm and the flowers needed the rain. Right now it is sunny and 64, with a slight breeze off the prairie.
So why the fuckety-fuck was my my mother's flight cancelled? And why did that Read more:Letter
We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Programming ... 2007-04-14 13:29:00 My mother and sister talked me into going to the third circle of hell Disneyworld for a week, and I have a feeling my Internet time will be limited to quick email checks in between princesses, Mickey Mouse and Universal Studios.
So I am taking, as it were, a brief hiatus.
But in the meantime, I'm shamlessly asking you to consider voting for me for Best Parenting Blog. Before you get all huffy Read more:Programming
Who Knows How Long I've Loved You 2007-04-13 14:32:00 My Dearest,
I awoke that day to sheets of rain blowing against my bedroom window, but my happiness was not dampened. This was the day we would finally wed.
Before God we stood (and knelt, for what seemed like hours) and declared there was no other. For the first and last time in our lives, everyone we loved gathered around us and watched as we vowed to move through this life hand in hand.
Our
Falling Down On The Job 2007-04-17 03:31:00 I reached a new low point as a mother this evening when I fell on my ass in front of a restaurant full of diners at a swank Disney resort.
The Poo isn't traveling well and I am not dealing well with her temper tantrums. I so much want for her to have a good time and the fact of the matter is that in between one or two moments of wonderment, her Disney experience has been plain and simple Read more:Falling Down
Reading, Writing and Blogging: A Give-Away 2007-04-24 14:12:00 The love of language, words and stories are intertwined for me. I cannot pinpoint when I grew to understand that crafting beautiful sentences and sharing them with the world was a powerful gift, but looking back I can see that my inner life has always been centered around text - reading and writing it.
Reading
is an escape for me, and at the same time it is part of my study of a craft made up of Read more:Blogging
It's A Good Thing She's So Cute 2007-04-23 14:54:00 I'm reeling from Disneyworld and musing on its excesses, but thankful to be home in my untidy little house on the prairie. My mother left yesterday and 27 million time-outs later, The Poo and I are co-existing peacefully - for the moment.
I'm brewing a post about the excesses of America, viewed through the tired and overwhelmed lens of the mother of a two-year-old.
And last but not least - Read more:Thing
Spring Showers 2007-04-28 19:33:00 Thanks to the blogosphere, I no longer need to worry about having another child - I can live vicariously (dare I say, virtually) through the two lovely ladies about to burst with their second babies.
Christina and Liz have both been baptized by spit-up vomit poop tears sweat fire, and I know they're going to be fine.
But Tammie, you have only the foggiest idea of what is about to happen to you. Read more:Spring
, Showers
Bad Dreams 2007-04-27 14:00:00 I woke up this morning with my heart pounding, and when The Poo cried out for me I rushed to hold her instead of dragging myself from the warm bed reluctantly.
I have a mortal fear of tornadoes, and this is tornado season here in Illinois. Our real estate agent assured me that there hasn't been a tornado in this area in 30 years, but still my fear persists.
As a young woman I dreamt of Read more:Dreams
One Year 2007-04-26 14:00:00 A little over a year ago, I signed up for a Blogger account. I remember sitting on the sofa in our living room in Rochester, sun filtering through the dirty window and The Poo asleep in her crib.
During her naps I often felt unmoored; I'd wander the house picking up toys and examining the flaking paint on the gumwood trim. I dreamt of stripping the molding and restoring it to its 1909 glory,
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