Reasons Without Excuses

This week there's been a story in the Missoulian all about a young woman who broke her 7-week-old baby's leg by yanking on it in frustration.  Heather of 4+ months ago would have been ready to string her up like the rest of the people on Missoulian.com's discussion page.  The calls to "sterilize her" or "put her through what the baby went through" are fierce and loud.  And boy, do I understand that.  Very similar to this story from a couple years ago when a very mentally ill man killed a kitten in his home, only to go on and kill himself a few days later (you wouldn't believe the death threats that man recieved!).


Now, I'm not going to sit here and say that what these people did to innocent creatures is right.  It's not, very obviously these kinds of things hit "normal society" like a sucker-punch to the gut.  Makes us sick to our stomachs, and makes us want the wrath of God Almighty to smite these wicked agents of Satan.  OK...so maybe I'm over-dramatizing here, but from the reactions of a lot of people out there, I don't think I'm too far off.


The reason I'm posting about this is that prior to this event even happening, I had been debating about whether or not I wanted to deal with any serious topics on my site.  I told a friend the other day, "I can't decide if I should blog about my craft projects or about my postpartum depression."  As she responded, "Wow, those are pretty different".  And since I feel like perhaps that young mother may have been experiencing some battles with PPD herself (or some other problem), and I'm so tired of hearing about people not reaching out for help because of the social stigma's attached, I decided I have to speak out about my situation.

Have I Been Living Under a Rock?

Why haven't I been doing these things all along??? I'm annoyed, but onwards & upwards.

Ways I've saved money in the last week:

Free subscriptions to 3 magazines through moneysavingmom.com & mamapedia.com!
I discovered Amazon subscription service!
I crocheted my own pretty decorative scarf rather than buy a new one!
I bought household supplies on the cheap (and w/free shipping) at Alice.com!
I used scrap yarn to make some pretty, pretty headbands for my baby girl & her cousin Madison!

 

What Does a Busy Mom Read? Everything she can get her hands on...

That's right folks, by some miracle I have read more books since the onset of motherhood than I probably did all of my pregnancy.  How can this be, you ask? Well, it is quite simple.  While pregnant I planned a wedding, took several vacations out of town, planned a reception, painted/decorated a nursery, and got really fat and miserable and didn't feel like doing anything but whine (with the exception of the day before Ellie was born, more on that later). And then--I had 8 somewhat-leisurely weeks at home with my bundle of joy, and am nursing (which means I have a lot of "hands free" time), so I really have been able to pound them out.  Here's my post-delivery book list:

Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff

Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Catching Fire & Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (I read the 1st book in the trilogy, Hunger Games, in its entirety the day before Ellie was born--sitting in the rocking chair in her nursery, feeling supremely fat and grumpy, and telling my mom & hubby to stay the heck away from me).

Change of Heart by Jodi Picault

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Angel of Darkness by Caleb Carr

The Secrets of the Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg

**and countless American Baby, Oprah, Parenting & Real Simple magazines, and one National Geographic.

I'm now realizing that with the exception of Persuasion, I read some very dark, sad, scary stuff.  Definitely not intentional, but interesting to see the list in retrospect.  By far, my favorites were Angel of Darkness, Monsters of Templeton, and of course, Persuasion (love me some Jane Austen!).   The rest were excellent reads, for sure, but those three have stuck in my consciousness. 

I went on a short hiatus to catch up on all my magazines that had piled up, and picked up Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf.  Anyone out there read anything by her before?  I haven't, so I felt I should (much like The Great Gatsby that's still hanging over my head--that may be next).  I got about three pages in and realized I had no idea what was going on--it was like reading someone in a manic state.  I put it down in favor of the Baby Whisperer, but plan to pick it up and give it another try.

All of you out there--what are you reading?  Do you have any recommendations for me?

Day 2: Get with the plan, Stan!

I have a sleeping Ellaroo (as GP Tom calls her), a full cup of (decaf) coffee, and an hour until we need to leave the house, so I thought a blog entry was in order.  We do have a big day ahead of us so I'm thankful for a few minutes of peace.  First, we're heading to the Missoula County Library with a friend to experience "Tiny Tales"; a story, song and game hour for babies 0-3.  Can't wait to see Ellie in the midst of other children.  I don't pick her up or drop her off at daycare very often, so I don't really know what her interactions are there. 

Then we will hopefully have a nice nap before heading back to the Ronald McDonald House for a re-cap/debrief on last week's Red Shoe Ball.  I have a hunch that we raised a ton more money this year, and I'm very excited to hear about it. 

Tonight is also going to be our first night "on our own" without Daddy.  He is headed to Troy, MT after work today to go on a snowmobiling trip with his good buddy Neil.  We were thinking about going with him to visit the Newton family, but I had some other stuff to do this weekend (like visiting a travelling exhibit of European masterpieces by Renoir, etc. at UM's art museum with my pal Becky), so we're staying put.  Besides, we need to have a night alone sooner or later, right?  Eh...I got this.

Finally, I wanted to explain the impetus I had to start this blog, besides keeping in touch with everyone in a more "private" arena than FB.  Recently I came across a website called http://www.moneysavingmom.com./  It has all kinds of freebies, helpful "household management" tips, recipes, etc.  I started reading it and felt a certain "Call-to-Action" to maybe see if I can implement some of her stuff to make my life easier.  The biggest difference is that she is a S.A.H.M. (stay-at-home-mom, for those of you not in the know), and I'm a working mom.  But I still find there are a lot of helpful items that, if implemented, may help me save money, be more organized, and thus be a more relaxed and happy mama/wife/friend/employee.  However, because I'm so busy all the time, I'm starting to feel like it's going to take me a week or better to even start implementing her tools.  :)  I guess patience here will be the key. 
Thanks for stopping by, and please be sure to take my poll (on the left of the main page) to tell me what you'd like to hear about! 

Our First Post

Welcome to our Best Life blog!  Hope that this will be a way for us to communicate to our extended family and friends all over the country (and planet!).  More to come very soon.  Be sure to take my poll over on the left of the page.