List #271: March Things

I used to think that I hated February . With it's dark days, cold nights, saccharine love, and basically all of the excuses in the world to hibernate and be as anti-social as you want. But more recently in my years, I truly don't enjoy March.

With the end of winter and beginning of spring March has the worst qualities of both seasons. It's indecisive and wet. The days are longer, but the temperature rarely treats you with warm evenings. It's too chilly or windy to sit on patios and it's about the time of year where I hate everything in my wardrobe. 

Basically? March sucks. 

But in the end, the month does tend to fly by pretty quickly. And now I can step on into April to enjoy all of its birthdays, sweet nights, and packed weekends. Sure, it will still be rainy and I'll curse my old rain boots every morning. But at least it's still April.

March had 31 days and this is what I did, or didn't do, with them:

• Watched a few hours worth of Practical Jokers (someone might have it on as I type this). 
• Become exasperated with one very needy cat.
• Hook our family on Masha and the Bear. We need more non-Russian seasons! 
• Daydreamed about young Harrison Ford.
• Drank a few tiki drinks.
• Didn't really drink a whole lot of wine.
• Went to bed far too early.
• Stayed up far too late.
• Battled with Gwynnie Bee.
• Spent a little too much on clothes.
• Sold my first few items on eBay.
• Started planning summer reading. 
• Ate too many nachos.
• Failed to sleep in.
• Took are of sick members of this household.
• Hated wearing tights.
• Loved wearing tights.
• Slowly made my way through a book.
• Woke up with nightmares. 
• Wished I was going on vacation.
• Had dinner and drinks with old friends.
• Missed old friends.
• Discussed hot celebrities with an old friend.
• Hid a whole bunch of Easter eggs.
• Ate Satellite wafters.
• Remind my mom that I don't like Neco Wafers (again).
• Cheered on the Penguins.
• Watched a lot less hockey than I would prefer.
• Designed some logos. 
• Cried? Probably.
• Desperately needed to get my hair cut.

I don't know what April is going to bring. But here's hoping I can get my haircut in the next week. 

List #270: Things My Cat May Be Chasing Around the House

By any definition, our house is not huge. But it is big. It is old. And it does have tons of nooks and crannies. The basement is a hodgepodge of rooms and is basically filled with (still) unpacked boxes, furniture we aren't using, and toys that a certain little boy has outgrown.

I make note of all these little details becuase when we moved into this house, the cat got weird. Fast.

He'll spend all evening in the basement, sometimes just sitting the third stair from the bottom, and then cry like crazy when we decide to head upstairs to bed.

He has poked a few holes in our screens and knocked over a few plants, cups, whatever else just happens to be in his way.

But more than anything, oh can the cat run in this house.

He often chooses to run and run and run and run when I'm home alone and basically my imagination runs wild (all thanks to the scars of finding a mice in my laundry in college. and one dead mouse in our house in early fall of this year). I made the husband put out mouse traps and with the exception of that one we haven't seen any evidence of mice in the house at all.

But still.

Here are the things I think the cat is chasing at any given time:

• Stink bugs
• Spiders
• This green stress ball we grabbed for free at the Home & Garden Show and that he's inexplicably obsessed with
• Matchbox cars
• Flies
• Mice
• Rubber bouncing balls
• Lids to things. 
• Plastic toy rings
• Beads
• The green sticks that go inside your Starbucks cup
• Pens
• Pencils

I'm heading to bed in a few minutes and he'll surely drive me bonkers with all of this chasing for at least another forty-five. Before he's up tomorrow at dawn with the birds. Which he seems to forget every day are on the outside of the house and no amount of force is going to will them inside. 

List #269: In a Year

When it's been almost a year since you wrote something for the internet to read. Or, more accurately, when it's been almost a year since you've written anything for anyone that doesn't frequent your library to read it can be a little intimidating to get back on track.

It wasn't that I didn't think about writing in the last 11 months. It's actually quite the opposite. I've thought about it a lot. Sat down on the couch with the laptop and thought up a hundred different things to say. But every single time I would think, "Who really wants to read that?" or even more frequently, "Why do you think you have the authority to write about that?"

And as I sit here writing something tonight, I'm not quite sure I have the answers to those questions. Those fears still haunt me.

My life is completely different than what it was when I first started this writing journey that I was having a hard time coming to grips with it all and still feeling like I had something to say.

But whatever. I'm still not sure I do have something to say. And daily life in this house is nothing short of hectic without much of a predictable schedule. Both of those things are challenges when I'm trying write.

But just like the 10 year-old me who sat up in her bedroom and filled wide-ruled notebooks with stories and notes, the 34 year-old me still needs to write. So here goes nothing.

Here's your crash course in what's been happening since we last met:

• We bought a house.
• My new communte is just minutes away from my library.
• I can go home for lunch every day that it's possible.
• That baby in my life turned into a preschooler.
• The boyfriend became my fiancé.   
• The fiancé became my husband.
• We went to the beach.
• We traveled to California.
• We joined some wine clubs.
• We drank a lot of wine.
• Family moved away.
• Friends moved away.
• We went to the beach again.
• Friends had babies.
• Medical things happened. 
• And then medical things happened again.
• I went to New York.
• I saw a taping of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
• I discovered that I really like dry wines.
• I loved being an unexpected mother.
• I struggled with being and unexpected mother.
• I still hate the word "step-parent."
• I wore a lot of dresses.
• And I wore jeans just once.
• We had parties at our new house.
• We still didn't get the hole in the ceiling of the spare room fixed.
• I raked a lot of leaves.
• We discovered a dead mouse in the house.
• I got caught in the rain.
• I tricked myself into stop biting my nails.
• All in all, it's been pretty quite.

And that, is why you leave for 11 months and how you feel like you've got a lot to say. 

List #268: Our House is a Very Fine House

It's been a  busy spring around here. A lot of birthdays to celebrate, occasions to attend, work has stepped into high gear, and we bought a house.

This our home now. Tucked behind some great, big evergreens and a backyard with enough room to play. A porch to read and grill on, and big windows to watch the rain. 

Before we got the keys in hand, our house really only owned by one family for over 50 years. Built in the 1930s, with a few additions along the way, it's where we are now chasing a toddler around and spending (not-so) lazy mornings together. It needs some tender love and care, obviously. Her bones are solid but old.

But you could say we are a bit in love. 

Here's what's been happening in the first few weeks of living here:

• We lost a cat.
• Then found a cat.
• Two refrigerators have been installed.
• Bamboo has started to really take root.
• Patio furniture was built. 
• An umbrella was assembled.
• Hot dogs have been grilled.
• Balls have been tossed over the porch.
• And fetched.
• Holidays have been celebrated
• Birthday gifts exchanged.
• A dining room set was inherited.
• Floors have been scrubbed.
• Walks have been taken.
• Walls painted.
• Beds have been broken in.
• Cable has been cut.
• Lots of Gordon Ramsey has been watched.
• Books are being read.
• Laundry (in a new machine) washed.
• Early bedtimes continue.

Just in case you were wondering what was happening over here. This is pretty much it. 

List #267: Reaons I Dislike April

There are a lot of good things that happen in April. Mostly some of the people I love the most were born this month. And I always enjoy celebrating the birthdays of loved ones. But I'm coming clean with a dirty little secret, I hate April. In fact, it might just be my least favorite month. 

April is the worst, here's why.

• April Showers. 
• Trying to remember to pack an umbrella nearly every day of the week.
• Always feeling sticky and damp.
• There are no good hair days in April.
• Long days and long nights filled with a lot of responsibility. 
• Never feeling comfortable after shedding winter layers.
• Not having the money to spend on an entire new wardrobe.
• No big trips happen in April.
• Sinuses. 
• Allergies.
• Cats going bonkers at nesting mourning doves outside bedroom and office windows.
• Breaking in flats.
• Blisters.
• Growing tired of hot drinks in the morning.
• Cold mornings that still require hot drinks.

Perhaps I'm just being a curmudgeon. But I'm going on record; spring is my least favorite season. It's moody and unpredictable. I'm over you April, I want the May flowers.

List #266: Things I Think About Before Getting up on an Early April Morning

I tend to wake up before my alarm goes off in the morning. And since I am the first one in our household to rise and take a shower and since the boyfriend works from home and since we typically go to bed at the same time, it's really one of the only parts of the day where I am alone with my thoughts. You can get a lot of thinking done between hitting the snooze bar a few times and stepping out of the shower.

• What day is it today?
• Why in the world does the cat take up more of the bed every single day.
• Oh, the toddler is the cutest (on those mornings he manages to make his way into our bed for extended sleep)
• Don't forget to do work-related things x, y and z. 
• What should I bring for lunch today.
• You know, if you got up just a smidgen earlier you could get a workout in.
• I really hope the cat doesn't wake up the toddler.
• You know, if you got up just a smidgen earlier you could read a chapter of your book.
• Ugh. I don't want to wear what I ironed last night.
• Do you think I could get on Jeopardy!
• Oh, the yinzers that call in to morning radio shows are special.
• Why aren't I on an honest-to-goodness spring break?
• "Unbreakable! They alive, damn it!"
• Assorted Taylor Swift lyrics.
• There are so many things to get done.
• Our house is entirely too cluttered.
• I really want to get back to crafting more.
• How many weeks until a vacation is near?
• I want to go on a shopping spree.
• Listen to the quiet.
• What was the boyfriend mumbling in his sleep? I want to tell him when he wakes up.
• Should I shave my legs today?
• I wonder what we'll get into this weekend.
• I wish I could go hang out with my Mom today.
• I should email X today.
• I should text X today.
• When is the boyfriend traveling again?
• I really should write more letters.
• Oh, I think I hear the toddler starting to wake up.
• I better hurry up.
• Ugh, why does the cat need to be petted as soon as I get out of the shower.
• Today better be a good day.

I'm really all over the place in the morning. It's the hardest time of day for me and just recently have I started to feel that we're really acing mornings...relatively speaking. Now that the toddler is getting older and doesn't full on meltdown when one of us leaves the room, it's not as stressful as it once was. But even getting up as early as I do has been an adjustment for this night owl. I don't know if I'll ever not be a whirl of emotion and though in the morning, but just having this little bit of time in-between the alarms and turning off the shower helps my mind rest, just a tiny tiny bit.

What about you, dear readers? What runs through your mind in the morning. 

List #265: Val the Writer

For the past few years, the one and only amazing Pittsburgh Blogger Alex from Everybody Loves You...has rallied the troops to put together one big blog swap. Just in time for April Fools Shenanigans. And this year's blog swap is bigger and better than ever! 40 bloggers are swapping their regular writing haunts and venturing over to different lands today for some fun. I'm writing over on Everybody Loves You...about what kind of fun you get into when you share custody of a toddler. And fittingly, the talented Val of Small Town Dad is writing about working from home as the guest post on Librarian's Lists & Letters.

Meet Small Town Dad from Beaver, PA

Val is a freelance writer who works from home. He's a super dad of two adorable children who loves his town, his typewriters, and his books. So you know, he's write up a librarian's alley. I'm in awe of how well can balance his life because mine feels like I'm jumping from one muddy puddle to the next.

Working From Home—A Love/Hate Relationship

I’ve had 15 jobs since graduating from college back in 1997. (That’s right, 15.) They told me you could do anything with an English major. And, boy, they weren’t kidding.

From hocking storm doors for a big-box retailer, to bussing tables for a flair-flaunting restaurant chain, to shipping truckloads of fireproof brick cross-country to line the interior of industrial cement kilns (I’m not kidding), I’ve done just about everything. And hated every single minute of it.

Through it all I’ve always maintained two goals that I wanted to reach before turning 40:

1. Make a million dollars
2. Work for myself

Since I’m sitting here writing this blog post and not off drinking margaritas on some secluded tropical island, you can probably guess I fell a little short of Goal No. 1. I did, however, achieve Goal No. 2 last June, when I set out on my own to become a stay-at-home-dad/freelance writer. And, I am happy to say, so far things are going rather well.

I haven’t lost my house yet.

Working from home is awesome! Sometimes. Other times, not so much. That said, the following lists detail some of the best and worst things about being a solo-preneur. Enjoy!

10 Things I Love About Working For Myself

• The coffee is always perfect (because I make it).
• Showering is optional.
• Afternoon naps are mandatory.
• I get to hear things like my son singing “Uptown Funk” while going #2 (true story).
• No emergency meetings (or any kind of meeting, for that matter).
• Four-hour workday (if that).
• Working (ahem) while watching “American Pickers”.
• No fear of the dreaded boss “pop-in”.
• Daily afternoon walk break to pick up my daughter from school.
• A 30-second commute.

10 Things I Hate About Working For Myself

• Distractions abound (my kids, the dishes, my kids, the laundry, my kids, etc.).
• There’s never any leftover office birthday cake.
• I have to actually pay for my own office supplies.
• The constant fear of a Nerf gun sneak attack.
• No Christmas bonus.
• The lack of water-cooler gossip.
• You only get paid if you actually work.
• I am my own I.T. Department.
• Custodial, too.
• Quite honestly, the benefits stink.

If you're interested in exploring the other 40! blogs you can can find them all linked below. It might take you more than just a lunch hour to read them all, but hopefully you'll discover something new! Many thanks again to Alex for putting this all together. Happy April Fool's Day!

The AP Collection

Lucy Quin

A Body of One's Own

Oh Honestly, Erin

Ya Jagoff

My Blog n'at

Josh’s World

Pennies, Pints, Pittsburgh

Beezus Kiddo

The Wheezy Runner

Lunges, Long Runs and Lattes

Sole for the Soul

Gardening in High Heels

The Fashionable Eye

The Steel Trap

30-Something therapy

Pittsburgh Happy Hour

Pittsburgh is Beautiful

Downtown Living

Crank Crank Revolution

Sean’s Ramblings

jelly jars

In Pursuit of Happiness

Red Pen Mama

Orange Chair Blog

Last Minute Panic

Emily Levenson

The Pittsburgh Mommy Blog

Pittsburgh Taste Buds

Don’t Forget to Eat

101 Achievements

Nicky D. Cooks

In Pursuit of Simple

The Almond Eater

Parmesan Princess

Yum Yum PGH

The Foodtasters

Small Town Dad

A Librarian’s Lists and Letters

everybody loves you…