Volunteering

Image courtesy of rescue.org

As I wrote yesterday, I'm in limbo at the moment after finishing the Crown Phoenix series. For the past few months, I've spent most of my days inside at my computer to write the book and edit it.

After a while, the solitude of that life becomes normal. After all, people are moving around in my head and talking; their relationships and adventures became my version of human interactions, instead of shopping with friends or going to lunch.

Once the books was delivered to my editor, for a few months at least that little world is closed off to me. So today I sashayed to my kid's school, to put in a few hours of volunteer work. I thought it would be a good way to re-enter the Real World. Where you have to Talk and Stuff.

And so it proved. The other women working to prepare for a huge fundraising event were chatty and hardworking. They accepted that I had reappeared from my office after months of sequestering myself without questions or comments, and I can't tell you how happy that made me.

This woman is a god to me.

We had to do crafty, creative stuff. Yeah, I'm really BAD at that. I can't tell you how much I'm NOT the scrapbooking mom, the decorating wife, the flower arranging lady. If you want a room to look thrown together, as if someone unloaded a moving van right in the center of the floor, I'm your gal. When it comes to decorating, I just don't have that gene.

One mom, who is a genius with that kind of stuff, came to my rescue. She was able to move one thing in the lumpy projects I put together and make them look like breathtaking pieces of art.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to different forms of creativity or talent. Some can organize like there is no tomorrow (I cannot.) Some can paint or make music. Some can put kids instantly at ease, start long conversations with strangers, make friends easily, or bake incredible cakes.

My own little talent is creating imaginary worlds, and it is neither worse nor better than any other form or creativity. It is what it is - I just know that it's there in my brain, and that's that.

Would I trade it in for the ability to make my house look like a magazine shoot or effortlessly organize my life?

Well, no. But I will stand next to that mom who can whip those projects into shape.

Hello! I'm Allie!

I'm part of The Reintroduce Myself blogfest, so today I'm posting a short blog about me and my little corner of the world.

At Fresh Pot (of TEA, people) I like to feature online creativity. I've had jewelry-makers, photographers, and artists on, showcasing their work and inspirations. Of course, I also invite writers on  and review books, both traditionally published and Indie.

I intersperse all the creative deliciousness of my guests with blogs about being a mom (like the fact that my kid nearly missed the bus this morning because she couldn't decide which M&M Lipsmacker to use). 

I've been known to post a recipe or two, like this one for my uncles famous carrot soup. Plus, if you have been looking for how to make Fuller's Walnut Cake, search no further. I've got your back.

Today I'm also celebrating 100,000 hits, so grab a beverage and join the party! 

I'm delighted to be in the blogfest with some of my favorite bloggers, including Krista McLaughlin, Hart Johnson, and Stephen Swartz. There are loads of other cool-looking blogs at the Linky Links, found at the bottom of this page. Best believe I'll be checking them out. After all, how can I resist a blog called One Magic Bean Buyer?

Hello to the browsers and new readers!

The Past Two Weeks

Here is, in a nutshell, what my life has been like over the past few weeks:

AD: Ah, some free time. I'm going to write my Indie Exchange Blog and do some editing.
Kid: Mommy! I have to have jeggings ready for tomorrow! We have our Christmas show!

(mom goes to do extra load of laundry.)

AD: OK, forget the blog. I'll do some editing for fifteen minutes.
Kid: I'm hungry.

(edit is abandoned.)

Later -

AD: Excellent! A fresh new day. I'm going to try and edit ten pages of the job that's been on hold for a month.
Husband: We have to go and pick up Poppy from the hospital NOW.

(Work is abandoned.)

Later -

AD: OK, I've got an entire day to myself. I'm going to get all my wrapping done in two hours and bang out a buttload of work.

Seven Hours Later -

AD: ERMERGERD I've been wrapping for seven hours and I'm still not done *insert loud raspberry* And did I send Christmas cards? Well, did I?

Two Days Before Christmas -

AD: Baking! Wrapping! Cooking! Cleaning! Certainly not writing or blogging!

Two Days After Christmas -

AD: Still baking and cleaning, and now entertaining! Still not writing!

*****

If anyone has a map to lead me out of this crazed wilderness for next year's holiday season, I will pay and also give you a pedicure.

One Thing a Kindle Can't Do

The other day I had an online chat with a few of my favorite moms. We bemoaned the fact that our kids didn't read as much as we used to when we were kids, thus proving that yes, I am really old now.


I notice that my daughter does tend to read if - and this is very important - if I myself pick up a book in her presence. At the moment that book is Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson, so it is a damn heavy book to pick up.

As with swimming, and I bet with riding her bike at last, if Mom does it then Kid will, too. So I just have to learn to step away from the laptop and the iPad and the iPhone and the iPod and read, read, read. Those flipping pages seems to waft some magical gas in Kid's direction and before you know it, she is reading Missy, An Abandoned Kitten. She goes for books about cute animals, and yes, diabetics are not allowed to read that story. Or even look at the cover.


Here's the thing. If I were reading Quicksilver on my Kindle, which would be much more convenient and lighter, and I think it would relieve my back pain too, then my kid would not KNOW that I was reading. It would look like I was on just another device.

And, let's face it, a Kindle does more than showcase books. You can surf the Internet, play games... I had someone tell me that they use their Kindle for everything except books. I'm not judging, just saying.


As I and countless others have said, Kindles are great, but print rocks too. A print book does nothing but lie there and be a book. You can't text from it, set up a soundtrack or play Temple Run. And isn't that fantastic, in a minimalist sort of way? 


I love my Kindle (which I host on my iPad) but it can't smell like parchment and old leather. It can't make that riffling sound as I look for my place. It's techie and cool, but it's not magic. 


Yet.

Singleton Mom

My husband and I had a very hard time getting pregnant. Like many couples, parenthood was something to work towards, not an easy phase that simply happened. And when I say work, by that I mean: lose any shred of dignity and endure dreadful medical procedures. I'll spare you the deets, but giving myself shots in the stomach was the easy part of the process.

NOOOOOOOOOOOO

Therefore, to become a mom at all was a miracle. My one little child is a true gift.


HOWEVER! 


Being a mom of just one is a challenge at times. Sure, I don't have to break up sibling fights or worry about favoritism. I do have to try and stop myself from letting her be a spoiled only child, though. Sure, it would be so easy to give in to the latest demand (Monster High Doll, Penguin Club, Bieber CD) just to stop the tantrum in the store. Plus, if I gave in, then the couples who have never had children or who long since forgot what it is like would stop judging me in their heads.


I can read their minds, you know, as they look at me and shake their head in the store. Here's exactly what they are thinking: "Oh. My. Goodness. Look at that terrible mom. Can't she control her child? She just needs to learn how to discipline."

Just give her the Monster High Doll already! Or, invest in the future and don't...

You know why I can read their minds? Because PK* I used to think that too.


Also, I am the main source of entertainment for my little only child. I can be elbows deep in a bucket of suds as I scrub a bathroom floor** and my daughter will come in and say, "Hey, mommy! Want to play Raccoon Glitter Hunt with me?"


Well, of course I want to play Raccoon Glitter Hunt! Just as soon as I clean the house, do the laundry, wash the dishes, and make dinner! Be right there!

Yeah!

So, that makes the PLAYDATE (insert heavenly choir sound here) a very, very special thing for the singleton kid. She loves playdates. Adores them. As soon as she steps off the bus I can already see her lips forming the words, "Can I have a playdate with Hummina? Can Whoosis come over?"


I'd love to have Whoosis*** over, but then I start thinking of the dirty floors (remember **) and the laundry, dishes, etc etc 


Sweetie, you little miracle child you, isn't it time you invented a nice imaginary friend? 


That's good parenting if I tell my daughter that, right?




*Pre Kid
**Doesn't happen all that often.
***Plus, honestly, between you and me, Whoosis can be a kind of a pain in the ass.

Eye Pins, Anyone?

Today I have to deal with my least favorite tasks of all, those of the administrative variety. It's not just bill payments and bank transfers - I'm talking passports here.


The passport application for my kid is already in, and that was bad enough. I had to drive to the place with unwilling kid in tow, arrive a few minutes late, discover I didn't have all the necessary documents, send husband home to get those documents, and fill out forms.


Yes, I'm a hot mess. Yes, I started getting itchy at this point.

Another hot mess. Fistbump!

Here's the thing: I HAVE a passport for my kid that is perfectly fine. It doesn't expire until well after the trip. But because some tools people out there are kidnappers, now it's suspicious to travel with a passport that will expire in a few months. Hence the rush.


Plus, kids need a new passport each time. You can't just renew their passport. Noooooo, you have to start from scratch with a whole new application.


Did the "man" at the "place" explain any of this to me on the phone when I set up the appointment? 

NOPE

Well, I can't blame him. It was my responsibility, to be fair. But I like to play passive-aggressive, especially when I have to send out my husband on a useless errand for forms that I should have had in the first place. It's Wife Prerogative; I'm sorry, husbands out there, but it just is. Your own fault, by the way, husbands - after all, we wives have to, HAVE TO, avoid the dreaded Eye Roll.


I filled out the forms and got the picture taken at last. At this point the "man" in the "place" said, "Oh, you don't need to order expedited service. It will arrive in plenty of time."


But it hasn't, see. He was wrong, wrong, wrong. So now I have to find those forms that I had a few weeks ago to go back into the system and up the service to expedited, like I wanted in the first place. 


I know, I know - I need a little 

with my 

WHINE

Enjoy your day. Send good thoughts my way that I find those forms. And include some eye pins, wouldja?