SingleWorkingMama

Tomorrow, I’m going to Boston.

Life has been freakishly busy lately, and I am getting away from it all to visit my brother and sister-in-law.

I’d be dishonest if I said this killer trip isn’t a self-imposed distraction.

My kids are going out of state for a week-long vacation with their dad. It’s the first time I’ve ever been away from them for an entire week.

This morning was tough, for me. As my SuperManny arrived, the kids said goodbye to me not too differently than they do on a usual day. Yes, we acknowledged that we’d miss each other, and little Boo hung on a little longer than usual, but it wasn’t dramatic.

Whew. That was probably good for me.

I’m excited they get to go on a fun trip and know they’ll have a great time. But, I WILL miss them terribly, and came close to tears as I left.

On the bright side, I am THRILLED to be going to Boston. I’m not going to think about anything other than things that will benefit me personally.

I get to spend time with my Bro and SIL, which I don’t get to do often.

I get to see the sights.

I get to spend some time exploring the city solo while they work.

I get to actually think about my readers, and how this site can be helpful to them.

I get to read a book in Boston.

I get to visit a knitting boutique near Harvard. I’m going to buy some funky Boston yarn and make some funky thing with it for a souvenir!

I get to eat Chowdah.

I get to take 8 million pictures.

Yeah – you get the theme… Me, me, me.

Oh – one more thing: I am going to engage perfect strangers in passing conversation, and report back on it, with pictures and/or video.

One of the rites of parenting passage is when your oldest child begins the tooth loss process.

When the baby is born, you have all of the gross stuff that comes along with it… Diapers, boogers, barf and other unexpected surprises can be disconcerting, but I got used to all of it very quickly.

I wasn’t prepared for the wiggly, cockeyed, flapping baby teeth that sometimes hang on for days, unwilling to come out despite valiant efforts including dental floss, kleenex and sticky or dense foods to chomp on.

Drue had a pretty easy time of her bottom teeth, but her first top front tooth started to look like it was bucking out a bit last week. We laughed all weekend long about it, and every so often she’d allow me to try some other technique I heard about from my Facebook friends.

Last night she decided to write a song about it, which I (of course) put out on YouTube right away.

This morning, it finally popped out when she bit into some Cinnamon Toast Crunch. The tooth fairy paid a visit while I was at work, and apparently left her a note with her $1.

It said “Drue – Congratulations on the tooth! Saw your song on YouTube… Loved it! Love, The Toothfairy.”

I just love how technology has given yet another avenue of communication to our holiday/special event heroes.

I’m a designer, and I haven’t had much time to do any fun personal design work lately. I’ve been thinking about it a lot, though, and today set up a Cafepress.com store, the SingleWorkinMama Shop!

This is the flagship design.

I’m breaking out this post from my old blog. Enjoy!

Picture it: The Fourth of July, 2008. A beautiful day, I decided to wear one of my favorite “kick-about” outfits, a strapless number I bought at Target in Florida last summer. I did some yard work, and after the kids got picked up for their camping trip, threw on a sleeveless white button down top to wear out on errands.

My first stop was at Kwik Trip. I got out of the car, pumped gas, went in, putzed around and browsed through their surprising selection of junk food, soda and candy, and then made my way to the Nectar of the Gods station. (Coffee, of course. Hawaiian Chocolate Macadamia Nut, to be exact. Ahhhh…) As I pumped the lifeblood into my Karuba mug (CHEAP REFILLS!) I saw a clerk walk behind the station and I saw him glance at me. I noticed his eyes lingered for a moment below my neckline, and he abruptly walked away. I looked down and WHOA, NELLY – my dress was below the bustline, and I do mean BELOW.

Fireworks went off in my head as I tried to maintain calm, although I think I actually let out an exclamation. I fixed the order of things, just in time to see the aforementioned clerk summon a female employee into the back room, where I heard an explosive burst of laughter. It is important to note that I had coverage, but that coverage was nude-colored. So, I am not sure what the clerk saw or thought he saw!

Imagine the delight of the poor people who had to work this national holiday, as they undoubtedly gathered around the surveillance tape at shift change.

“And how many did stare?

Laugh bombs bursting in air…

Made me think of the night

that my top was still there…”

Hello, my friends!

I’ve started to have a select few regular visitors, and that is incredibly exciting to me. Whether it is because you find humor in my daily bumbling, can relate to me in some random way, or just need to know that someone else is in a similar situation to yours, I love it.

Having said that, I have been absent from one of the loves of my life – my blog – for the past several days!

I caught a bug, which was *not* the swine flu. It made me tired. I was cranky. I started a few posts and then slapped myself because they were just plain cranky, and I am not a Debbie Downer. My computer(s) probably think I’ve been acting distant and detached, and I have.

While on my unpaid sabbatical, I thought a lot about my life, my family, my job, my financial situation, and things I can do to improve in all areas. I did some gardening, baffled some chipmunks from chowing down on my bird feeder, painted a bird house, took some naps, took some pictures of the kids and the yard and even managed to do a little knitting. It was all very cathartic.

I haven’t gone away, and nor do I plan to. As some of you may have noticed, I have been taking a “rolling” approach to the look and feel of my site. I now have a logo and am close (just not *quite* there) to colors I find pleasing. I have been working on some fun T-Shirt designs and will (very soon) be unveiling a store on CafePress for anyone who wants to sport a little sass.

There you have it: I took a few days, rested and relaxed, and have bounced back to near-normal! So, read on, my friends! Read on…