People

As rewarding as it is to stay home with kiddos, there is also a truth that it can be isolating.  After so many hours of only talking to children, I can sometimes feel myself going a bit batty.  It's as though one more whiny request will totally send me over the edge.  When this happens I find the best thing to do is get out and see other people.

I have my treasured group of Mama friends.  We've been together since Milo was just a wee one and it's been so wonderful to see the kids grow as friends.   The Mamas, too, have grown in friendships and it's these women I depend on to keep me going at times.  We chat online, we meet at parks, we invite one another into our homes for play dates and once a month or so we meet for drinks sans children.  Milo and I both count this group as some of our favorite people.

Today, in a bit of a departure from our usual routine, we went to local coffee shop and saw some of my former co-workers.  I had almost forgotten about the part of employment where you see the same people everyday, work in close quarters and get to know their good and bad sides.  It was such a treat to see a couple of these folks, catch up and remember this.

People need people, after all.

20 Months

Is it possible in only four more months, we'll be celebrating Milo's second birthday? Goodness, the second year is moving quickly. Milo is mostly just a joy to be around these days.

He seems to be picking up new words each day (I realize I have said this before, it is still happening and is even more pronounced this month). New favorite words are hummus (joy for Milo because I found a tahini-free brand at Trader Joe's) and house. In addition to nouns, he is also starting use more proper names so GG is officially G, Grandpa is Pa, Uncle Tony is T and Mama and Daddy continue to be Mama and Daddy. He knows Sam and Prada (even though she hasn't lived here in months, if I say Prada he says cat!) are cats and he also knows the names of the cats around the neighborhood.

He points out the various parts of his body such as facial features, feet, hands, etc. Slowly he is getting more coordinated. He can run quite quickly and often takes off down the sidewalk to collect handfuls of leaves. If I ask him to stand like a flamingo, he will lift one or the other leg. My little yogi regularly practices down dog, cat and cow poses with me. Not being much of a climber in the beginning, Milo is now getting more comfortable pulling himself up / off couches, play equipment and chairs.

We've been part of the same playgroup for a year now. Milo and the other boys have grown up together and it is so interesting to see how they went from ignoring one another, to playing side by side, to now starting to tune into each other. At the end of each meeting there is a period of waving, hugs, and bye byes which is so sweet. I'm glad Milo (and I) have these friends to learn, grow and share with.

Happy Hour for the Pregnant Girl

Upon entering the working world years ago, I came to treasure the magical time known as happy hour. Gathering with friends or co-workers at the end of a long working day quickly became my favorite way to spend the 5 - 7 p.m. time frame. We would catch-up, commiserate and gossip over pints of beer, glasses of a wine or fruity cosmos. A particularly tough week would call for an extra dirty gin martini and some extra half price appetizers.

Clearly, since the Olive has been on board, my happy hour time has decreased dramatically. Sure, when I need to make an appearance at a corporate event, I'll go and sip water and trade stories, but the happy hours with my friends have pretty much totally ceased. While I might miss the taste of a particular drink, it's not the alcohol itself I actually miss, but the time spent catching up and celebrating the end of another work week.

Luckily I have good friends and we have found a work around. Later this month, a couple of us will meet up for candle making and gossip (and they will have wine). Last night I met up with a friend for massages at a spa. We were able to catch up in our robes while sipping tea and then we both got all the kinks worked out. While I didn't leave with a buzz, I did leave very relaxed.

Weddings!

I love weddings (which is convenient because next month we'll be going to three weddings, three weekends in a row). It's always so great to see a couple taking that plunge and making those vows. Since we've been married, I also like to hear those vows again and mentally answer yes. The homily (or sermon) also usually geive some good take-away nuggets of truth. Yesterday, my good friend Nicole married Gavin. The Deacon performing the ceremony, highlighted the need for kindness in relationships. So simple, but so important.

The wedding day was rainy, but we made the best of it swapping the outdoor photo location for a bar (fitting for the couple!). Nicole looked beautiful and Gavin was a beaming bridegroom. It was a great day and it was an honor to be part of it.

Can't Worry About It

Even though you wouldn't believe me if you glanced into my closets, I'm not really a shopper. If an item of clothing fits, is cute and the price is right, I'll buy it. Because of this trait of mine, I was very happy when I found out I could wear the same dress in two weddings this September.

We had first picked out this dress for my friend's Nicole's wedding on September 12. Then it turned out Chris' brother is getting married September 27 and his fiancee needed a bridesmaid. I stepped up the plate (or the altar so to speak) and in chatting with her one night, she mentioned she was looking for brown dresses. I just casually said I had a cute brown bridesmaid dress. One thing led to another and now I'm wearing the same dress for both occasions.

So at first I was happy to wear the same dress to both weddings, but now things have taken a turn for the bad 1980s wedding because Chris' aunt just called to ask me about dyed shoes to match. Oh, the horror!

Big Weekend

It's going to be a busy weekend in the GK household. Actually, this usually one of my favorite weekends of the year. It will kick off tomorrow night with dinner out with a family dinner in honor of my Dad's (60th!) birthday and my parent's wedding anniversary. Things have been busy and we haven't all been together in a several weeks, so I'm looking forward to it.

Then Saturday afternoon, I'll go watch the Pride Parade with my brother. I think it is so important to support Pride events to be there for all my LGBT friends and family and the parade promises to be quite entertaining. I wonder if I can find a Love Makes a Family t-shirt or maybe one of these in time for Saturday. Should have planned better on that.

After the parade, we'll head over to ComFest. Oh, how I love ComFest. What's not to love about hippies and hipsters happily carrying babies in tie dye, sipping mugs of beer, signing petitions to free Tibet and shopping for funky handcrafted jewelry. There's cool music, too. And lots of great people watching. Did I mention the mugs of beer?

And then after the afternoon activities, we are going to get all dressed up for prom. Yes, prom! A friend is turning 30 and since she never went to her high school prom, she has decided to have a prom-themed birthday party, which in turn is themed A Night to Treasure. I'm actually really excited for prom. I'm wearing an old bridesmaid dress (from junior year of college, either I wasn't as thin then as I thought, or I'm not in as bad of shape as I think now). We're totally doing the prom thing, and I mean all of it. Getting a limo, drinking Zima with Jolly Ranchers, getting into a fight with that bitch who is wearing the same dress and keeps flirting with my boyfriend. Er, we'll do most of the prom things.

So wish me luck in keeping the energy up...I'm tired just writing out the plans!

New Beginnings

One of my sorority sisters from college is having a baby. Well, to be fair several of my sorority sisters have had babies, in fact at least one is working on baby number three. Today, however, I made the trip down to the Dayton area for a shower for one of those friends. I realize we're all about 30 years old, but it's strange for me to see this girl who I still think of as living in the dorm at the back of the quad as being all grown up and getting ready to be a mother. She's now set with all the onesies and burp clothes any new mom will need and I know she'll do a great job in her new role.

A trip to the Dayton area wouldn't be complete without a stop at Ikea! That place has gotten under my skin. It's fun, it's funky, it's inexpensive - what's not to love? Today we bought a new sink, faucet, counter thingie and medicine cabinet for the bathroom. I'm not sure when we'll begin that project, but at least we have the materials now. I'm so looking forward to the day our bathroom doesn't scream bad 80s decorating with lots of wood trim and yellow linoleum.

In the Stars?

Today is my mom's 60th birthday (happy birthday, Mom!). Yesterday was a friend's 28th birthday and tomorrow is another friend's 32nd birthday. Is it the universe conspiring to keep my credit card active so I earn more Thank You points? Or is it that I'm drawn to people at the tail-end of Pisces? Is there something this stubborn goat sees in the (mostly) easy-going nature of these people that makes me want to call them friends?

Do we seek out other Sun signs we get along with or do we notice these similarities later in the relationship? In high school, there most have been something about Libras because I was friends with more than a few. In college, late November birthdays were the rule. I usually make it a point to find out sun signs, but after reading several astrology books in high school I can usually guess the sun signs of most people pretty accurately. For example, I know Geminis and I don't usually mix well, but I typically feel at home in the presence of a Cancer. Again, is that because my Dad happens to be a Cancer or because Cancers are typically the keepers of the hearth and generally create an aura of belonging around them?

While I agree most of the daily horoscopes are written so generically that anyone who is so inclined can find meaning in them, I do think there is something about the stars and planets that signifies behavior. Also, if you have ever had a complete reading done on your date and time of birth as well as location, you know there is much more to astrology than just the sun sign. There are ascending and descending signs, different houses and scores of other factors. It's interesting to delve in at the more advanced level. My official horoscope says I am bound for great things after the age of 30. Since I am feeling a little lost career wise, I am hoping these great things soon come to pass. Or again, will I make great things happen because I think I am supposed to according to my horoscope? It's a cyclical web, but in the meantime, I'm going to pull out that official reading and see if there are any clues in there for where my greatness lies.

But before that, I am going to have a yummy dinner and fabulous night with the most important Pisces, Cancer, Aquarius and Virgo in my life.

A Winter Wonderland in March

Spring was coming, it was, it really was. I, prematurely it turns out, had flip flops on, it was warm and sunny last Monday. Even Mother Nature received the memo and bulbs were starting to peep up through the ground.

Then talk started of some snow to hit beginning Friday. This talk of snow soon turned into a melodrama of the Blizzard of 2008 with a special logo on the local news. Usually when there are stylized logos of storm warnings, I tune out. And so on Friday morning when it was cloudy, but clear of snow, I hopped into the Beetle to drive to work. From 8 a.m. to about 1:30 p.m., I was at a meeting in a hotel ballroom with no windows. When I pulled out of the hotel, I was surprised to see snow and not just a little snow, but enough snow to make the half block drive from the hotel to my office a little scary for me. Once at work, my car safely in the parking garage, an e-mail was sent saying we could leave early and to be careful on the roads. I decided my car wasn't going anywhere, so my friend B. and I headed to a bar for a snow day beer and then to catch the bus. At the bar, along the streets and then on the bus, there was a sense of excitement and community goodwill. It was fun and out of the normal for Columbus to have quite as much snow fall as this in March. I encountered the same sense of spirit on my walk through my neighborhood on Saturday afternoon. There is something about the first hours of a snowstorm that make me think PLAY, so we embraced that spirit for a few hours of sledding. And later still we had some friends over for pot roast, games and more wine than was probably acceptable for four people. But, hey, snow days are for celebrating.