The newest member of the Sattin family. Just a little bitty thing still but I can’t possibly hide it anymore. 

Can’t really hide that basket of dirty laundry in the background either, can I?  

So this is what’s kept me away. This and the morning sickness (which, by the way, sucks if you didn’t know already), and the fact that Dash still wants to be held all day in spite of me having to run to the bathroom every so often.  

We’re really excited to be welcoming a new baby into our family and I’m looking forward to the months leading up to the big day. I love being pregnant (minus the sick) so I plan to make the most of these few months. Not just going through all of Dash’s clothes and other goods that can be reused, but also just enjoying it. Enjoying the belly. Enjoying the way it seems to make everyone smile around me. I love that! 

And also enjoying being a family of three for as long as that lasts. I think Dash will be a splendid big brother, though it does make me a little sad that he won’t remember this time when we were just three. 

And a special note to the Dad before his second Father’s Day… you’re an amazing father with so much love for our little Dash. We are both so lucky to have you. 

Now get ready to do it again! Next year there will be two! 

Happy Father’s Day to all.

Mom’s Day 2008 was simple, delicious, and all-around lovely.

We hosted a Mother’s Brunch (attendees: my parents and Neil’s granny) chock full of cinnamon swirl french toast, asparagus frittata, bacon, fruit salad, bloody marys, and strong, strong coffee. We all ate a lot, talked a lot, and just enjoyed the sunny Sunday morning.

Dash wandered off after brunch and played by himself for a while (something he doesn’t do for more than, say, 10 minutes usually). I sat back and listened to him talking to himself and to his toys and was reminded of how much I adore him and how lucky I am to have him in my life.

When he was done playing, he helped Neil and my dad assemble an Ikea shelf that has been sitting around since our big trip there a month or so ago. Showing some true skill, he put one dowel after another in the holes. Kind of amazing to see.

While the men put the shelves up, we ladies and Dash took a walk down the street. Walks with Granny are done at a slower pace, and I figured it would be a short one. There are bad knees and general old age to contend with after all. And maybe it was the french toast, who can say, but she decided to make it all the way down our street and up the big hill. Probably just under a mile in total. I was so proud of her for pushing past what would have been her normal stopping point, and so pleased to be holding her hand the whole way. My maternal and paternal grands all passed away years ago, so to have a grandmother in my life again has been such a blessing. I love to hear her stories of momhood (when she had her babies, a nurse from the hospital came home with her for a week to help out, imagine that!) and tales from years ago (summer vacations with friends in the Poconos, ironing every single piece of clothing every single time it came out of the wash for years and years and years… hmm, that must be why she suggested I iron my cloth napkins for the next breakfast she comes over for).
Anyway, it was a lovely multi-generational walk with Granny, my mom, me, and Dash. So many mothers in one place, it felt powerful.

Oh, and gifts! I’ll add some photos of these soon, but for now just the descriptions. Neil had a great photo of him and Dash taken and printed out for me. It’s wonderful and makes me tear up. Must be framed. And… he bought me cable tv. I hear most of America has had this “cable” for decades now, but we’ve been getting by on rabbit ears and a whole lot of patience. Good god, I can’t believe we’ve lasted this long. The cable lady came this afternoon and we’re now the proud owners of some 30-odd stations (odd might be a key word, actually) of sports, shopping, and a few miscellaneous channels from the next package up that snuck their way in. Spike network anyone?
I was luxuriating out on the porch with a book while she hooked us up and when I came in to see the results, our rabbit ears were mysteriously nowhere to be found. Do you suppose she confiscated them? She was probably mortified to see them and thought she might do us a favor and just have them put down for us. Thank you cable lady.

My third and most creative gift was from my mom. She’s gotten into making altered books lately though I didn’t expect to ever receive one. Well, she made a lovely themed book (theme= me) with page after page of things that I like to do or read or eat, and one final page about being a mom with a photo of Dash as a baby-baby. Thanks Mom. I love it.

Hope you all had a nice Mother’s Day too.

I am so excited that it’s finally the weekend. The sun is shining (still a bit cool, though I’m willing to overlook that), the birds are tweeting, and the daffodils are in full bloom. Neil is working regular hours again and we were just invited to Granny’s on Sunday for boiled dinner. Sounds good so far, huh?

So what are you all doing this weekend? For me (us) it’s early-morning Pilates (while Dash and Daddy have quality coffee shop time or maybe a walk about town) followed by an afternoon at Camp Ketcha in Scarborough. It’s their annual May Day Family Festival featuring pony rides (!), face painting, pizza eating, and music for the whole family lovingly played by my dear husband.

Come on out if you’re going to be in the area. It promises to be sunny and slightly warm (it’s maine in spring, what do you expect?) and there will be ponies! Ponies, people!

Sunday, what I’d really like to do is get started with our garden. We put in some lasagna beds about three weeks ago and while we wait for them to settle and prepare for planting, it’s time to get a head start on the seedlings. Tomatoes, peppers, artichokes, sunflowers, lettuce, blueberries, basil…. I can’t remember the entire list but it’s FULL. Maybe even too full for the space we have to work with!

With that list, it’s off to our local gardening center and maybe a call to Johnny’s to get things started.

Now to figure out how to keep three cats and a curious child away from the rows of growing seedlings…

Aside from putting them at table height (which will keep Dash away but not the cats), any other suggestions? I have some plant-loving kitties here.

I am a coin collector, of sorts.

No, not the kind who has binders of neatly categorized coins from all over the world and all through time, but rather the kind who sees a dime on the ground, and everything stops until I get that coin in my possession.
And any coins that I find around the house (wallet, washing maching, etc.) are immediately pooled together with a satisfying clink that only money on money makes.

When I was little, I had one of those tootsie roll banks that I saved my money in. I didn’t save much (if you ask my mom) but I did manage to build a tiny nest egg with my allowance. And on Saturdays, when the allowance payment came through, I (displaying my virgoan tendencies) would dump all the change out, line them up like little soldiers, and one-by-one, count them all up again.

And all this from someone who can’t do math to save her life.

I haven’t done the counting part in a long time (and you’ll be pleased to know that I no longer line the coins up before counting them) and what with the new year and all, I decided it’s time. A new tradition is born! I will start each new year with a wealth of spare change!

So I spent some time on Saturday, painstakingly counting out change by two’s. By the way, it’s hard to stop counting in two’s once you do it for an hour or so.

I expected about $50 and would have been happy with $20.

I counted over $100 and nearly pooped my pants.

Not really. It’s just a figure of speach.

So exciting! And convenient, since someone I know has a birthday coming up.

That’s how I’m feeling right now. Date night is good for the soul, I tell ya. We had a really good meal, good wine, ran into all kinds of old friends, and totally managed to avoid talking about Dash. I think the only time he came up was when other people asked about him. (Don’t worry little guy, it’s not like we forgot about you. Just having some much needed adult time/conversation.)

And it’s this good feeling that I’ve been holding on to and has kept me from getting totally pissed off at the 47 neighbors who have been out with leaf blowers all weekend long. Seriously people. How lazy are you? Unless you’re very old or physically cannot rake you do not need a leaf blower.* You need a rake. That’s all.

*unless of course you, my lovely readers, have a leaf blower. in that case, i applaud your efficiency.