100 things

I have enjoyed reading the “100 things” posts on other people’s blogs so much that I have finally decided to create my own. Not sure if it will rank up there as amusing and interesting, but I’m curious to see if I can come up with those 100 things.

1. I am 35 years old.
2. I am finally a mom
3. Which is not something I ever thought I would “finally” want to do
4. Until I met my husband
5. And I couldn’t wait to have a family with him
6. Then we found out we were infertile (unexplained)
7. IVF #1 worked for us
8. Three transferred, one took, one live baby resulted
9. I am very lucky indeed
10. I have a Ph.D. (neuroscience)
11. I work as a writer
12. I am not trained as a writer
13. I hated writing in high school with a passion
14. I mostly write about science
15. Except when I blog
16. I love to sing
17. I am a Sweet Adeline
18. No, I am not 80 years old (see age above)
19. I sing baritone (that part is driving me wiiiiiiiiyyld)
20. Crap, I’m only on #20
21. I like to make quilts
22. I have no time to make quilts (or complete other hobbies)
23. I taught myself to knit two years ago
24. I have completed two scarves (see #22)
25. I make beaded jewelry
26. I have not beaded in a while (see #22)
27. I enjoy hiking
28. Yes, see #22 again
29. I enjoy making complicated desserts like baklava
30. I suck at making cookies
31. I lived in West Lafayette, IN for five years
32. Go Boilers!
33. Then I lived in Los Angeles, CA for six years
34. Go Bruins!
35. Now I am back in my hometown
36. I spent a summer in Austin, TX while in high school
37. I did research for 8 weeks at the university
38. Yes, I am that nerdy
39. And I have never, in my life, seen so many roaches
40. I shivered while writing that one
41. I have an unnatural fear of insects and spiders
42. I’m getting better at not shrieking like a little girl when I see them
43. But I shriek inside
44. I have been to 30 states plus DC
45. My son has already been to 13 states plus DC
46. I did not leave the continent until 2004
47. I went to Italy
48. I want to go back
49. I love coffee
50. I love tea
51. I love the java jive and it loves me
52. I have red hair
53. Yes, it is natural
54. I used to hate it, but now I love it
55. I wish I could wear it very short
56. But I have found a good enough style for now
57. It used to be very, very long
58. My husband loved it, but it gave me a headache
59. Ibuprofen is the only pain killer that works for me
60. It was the thing I missed most when pregnant
61. Ok, except for sushi- I missed that, too
62. I love to play games
63. Current favorite board game: Blockus
64. Current favorite RPG: Hackmaster
65. I hate to gamble
66. But I am in a Powerball pool at work
67. I like medical and criminal TV shows
68. I don’t have cable TV
69. Therefore choices are limited
70. I also love PBS
71. Antiques Roadshow!
72. Britcoms!
73. I love to watch snow falling
74. And then go out walking in it
75. I hate windy days
76. My favorite season is autumn
77. If I had to skip a season? Summer.
78. I can’t take the hot weather
79. Which made living in LA (see #33) a bit of a drag
80. I am definitely a dog person
81. And besides, I am allergic to cats
82. I think that rats make wonderful pets (really!)
83. But I am also allergic to rats (so sad)
84. I am terrible with fish
85. I once killed an entire pond full while housesitting
86. Ooops!
87. I am also bad with plants
88. I have the proverbial “brown thumb”
89. Want me to watch your fish and plants?
90. I didn’t think so
91. I have a tattoo
92. A lizard on my stomach
93. Yes, it hurt
94. No, I don’t regret getting it
95. And it survived the pregnancy- yay!
96. I love 80’s music
97. But I listen to most everything
98. Except rap and country
99. Are you bored now?
100. Me too- let's go have some coffee!

I am such a whiner

I got home last night and on my doorstep was a package. I had completely forgotten that a friend had offered to send me a bunch of her son's old clothes, and I am all about the hand-me-downs...especially since Gabe is growing like a weed. So, I began to dig through the box and realized that she has not only sent me more than enough to get him through the rest of the warm weather but a ton of stuff for the winter, too. All nice. All name brand (I'm not a label person, but they do tend to wash well and last longer). And I realized that her sending me this stuff gave me one less thing to worry about.

And it also made me realize that I'm a big whiner. I sit here complaining that I don't have enough time to clean and can't afford someone to do it for me. And there are people out there who don't have enough money to put food on the table.

Sometimes it takes a good slap in the head to put life in perspective.

Bah!

Honestly, it seems like I just wrote a post yesterday, but when I noticed that the date on the last post was a month ago, I freaked a little. And it dawned on me that I'm not quite sure exactly what I've done with that last month. Not in the alcohol-induced-blackout-but-hey-that-must-have-been-a-hell-of-a-party sense but more in the vacations-and-piles-of-deadlines-make-you-crazy sense.

A week ago I started considering that I might want to hire someone to clean my house. It's one of those things that seems to get pushed aside until we see tumbleweeds of dog hair rolling by as we traverse the halls. Then it dawned on me that we really can't afford the extra expense. We don't live extravagently, really. We rarely, very rarely, go out to eat. We haven't been to a movie in two years. Our outings to the symphony are on tickets given by friends who can't make a performance. You get the idea. Our indulgences in life? Good cheese. Books. I haven't bought clothes in ages because I'm just now getting back into the smaller sizes. I have a whole freakin' wardrobe in my closet just waiting for me. Where exactly am I going to cut back to be able to have a little extra? Would I be willing to give things up for the extra time I would gain from a cleaning person? You bet. I'm just not quite sure what else there is to cut. (And for those who are thinking, "you said you took a vacation- that's an extra," the vacation was a car trip to see my in-laws. Not exactly Club Med.)

The solution for now? Revamp the household budget to look for the "extras" that are surely lurking around and eliminate them. Continue working on the homemade Christmas presents I've already started (don't hate me, I know it's only August). Make some extra jewelry and other niceties to possibly peddle for the holiday season.

And for the hairballs? Get a Swif*fer.