Rayne of Terror

Arg

2011-08-21T09:11:00.003-05:00

I don't know what's up with Blogger, but I keep trying to publish Quinn's birthday post and Blogger won't post to the blog, but it does send the post to feed readers. I suspect it's because it contains photos. I've had trouble with uploading photos for months and since my posts are often photo heavy I quite posting.

Bob and I haven't been on vacation since 2003/2004 when we went to St. Petersberg, Florida for New Years. This summer we decided it was VERY important to take a vacation. Studies say people who don't vacation die sooner than those who do vacation. We dithered endlessly about what kind of vacation to take. We looked at going to Michigan and found it too expensive. We looked at St. Louis and found it too miserably hot. We looked at Wisconsin and decided it was too far of a drive to get to the good parts. We looked at the Wisconsin Dells and I had an anxious fit about keeping Quinn from drowning at endless water parks. We looked at Iowa and decided it was too much like Le Roy. We looked at Santa Clause, IN and decided we just weren't into it.

Ultimately we decided to either go to Indianapolis or Chicago. Since the Indianapolis Zoo is OUTRAGEOUSLY price and since we go to Chicago less often we decided on Chicago. So we booked a hotel downtown, checked out the CityPass versus GoChicago, decided we definitely wanted to ride a water taxi and visit the Lego store, and went.

OMG it was mostly stressful and awful with moments of okay. The very first night Bob had to carry Henry three city blocks to a bathroom while Henry cried and cried and the very last day I raced Quinn through a downstate Wal-mart with diarrhea dripping down his legs and into his shoes. Most of the times in between were that level of stress. Quinn screaming in restaurants, screaming on the El, flopping to the floor just about every place we went. Henry prefers to ask for crappy overprices plastic junk in various gift shops than enjoy the view from the top of the Willis Tower or the fish at the Shedd or the stars at Adler. The best time he had was the lego store because I had decided in advance I would get him a large Lego set and let him carefully consider every. single. box. of Legos in the store.

After the Shedd was a bust (Quinn had to be carried out of the dolphin show) we gave up on getting our $ worth out of the CityPass and just visited parks around Chicago. We met up with Leah and rode a water taxi to Chinatown and ate at the Moon Palace and played at the playground where the water taxi disembarked. That was by far the most enjoyable segment of the trip. Three adults to two kids makes everything easier.

One of my goals for going to Chicago was to let the boys see different people living different lives from our life in LeRoy and we did do that. Broadening minds is hard work! They rode the El at rush hour when we were packed elbow to armpit and also when we had the car completely to ourselves. We didn't drive the car for 5 whole days. We played in two parks where we were the only English speaking family. We ate tender delicious steamed dumplings and crab rangoon with real crab in it.

Leah let Bob and I go out on our own one evening and we chose to eat at Giordano's bc there is NO WAY the kids could eat in a restaurant that takes 1 1/2 hours. After splitting a spinach & sausage pizza and a pitcher of Goose Island, Bob opined that these are the salad years. I thought to myself, I don't like salad.

Birthday boy

2011-08-15T14:00:00.001-05:00

Quinn's last day as a one year old we drove Henry to camp, swung by the Law & Justice center to drop off my very first divorce judgment for the judge, dropped Bob off at work, swung by Krispy Kreme for pre-birthday donuts, and then went to McGraw Park for the rest of the morning.

Quinn's birthday was very low key. Bob and I aren't sure whether we're wise or lazy but our philosophy of children's birthdays is if he's too young to understand or care, then why make a fuss. So we went to Gibson City where Quinn got to sit in a JOHN DEERE TRACTOR THREE TIMES AND HONK THE HORN. Later he had a Dilly Bar and a long nap.

reflections on starting my career

2011-08-10T10:27:00.003-05:00

Now that I'm in a general practice office I see the limitations of starting practicing as an assistant attorney general in child support enforcement. The job was so narrow and my secretary so skilled that I learned very little except how to perform in court on the fly and write judgment orders. I thought child support would bolster me in doing divorce work, but it hasn't really. Plus I was practicing in TEENY TINY counties with one or two judges and a few helpful women in the clerk's office. Dealing with the Mc Lean County court system is far different and I find myself figuratively running into walls on the regular. It's frustrating to think I know what I'm doing and to be stopped short over and over again. I'm at the end of my first divorce case and I've realized just how much mentoring I still need even though I've been licensed FOUR YEARS. FOUR YEARS! I'm now relying heavily on the very, VERY generous help of experienced Bloomington attorneys each step of the way.

If I was giving advice to someone in my position in 2008 of leaving a clerkship and having two offers I would say, all else being relatively equal, take the job with more variety of tasks to learn.

Workin' Mom

2011-08-08T13:14:00.003-05:00

So I've been back at work for 20 weeks. I was hired by a solo here in LeRoy and now have a nice office downtown and am learning everything I can about a general rural law practice. Mostly I'm learning to do estate planning, real estate and divorce.

Things I've noticed about living and working in LeRoy:

The town has gotten much MUCH less anonymous, and I like that. I'm getting to know more people in the last 4 months than I met in the previous 6 years we've lived here.

The longer I have a 4 minute drive from home to work the f-a-r-t-h-e-r away Bloomington-Normal and Champaign-Urbana become. I'm far less likely to hop in the car on a whim to head "to town."

There are a few services LeRoy REALLY needs, like a great daycare facility and an ice cream place. Finding child care for Quinn was really difficult and we had to rely on word of mouth because no licensed child care provider in or near LeRoy has any opening. That was eye-opening. The Mexican restaurant didn't stay open very long and it would make a great spot for a full menu ice cream place.

2011-06-02T17:21:00.001-05:00

The Avett Brothers set at Summercamp.

2011-06-02T17:19:00.001-05:00

Search consent sign

2011-06-02T17:18:00.000-05:00

Nineteen months, 6 days

2011-03-19T20:39:00.003-05:00

Dear Quinn,

Today you are nineteen months and change.

Bobby and I decided to take you boys to the railway museum because you are obsessed with choo-choos. It's so cliche, but not any less cute. When we arrived in Monticello we headed downtown to see if we could ride the trains. We pulled up to the depot, saw that it was empty, and began to drive across town to the museum proper. You were increasingly frantic for choo-choos, choo-choos, but relaxed when we saw out first train.

More and more you want to be with Bobby and Bro-bro instead of me. I'm grateful for the break your boy-time gives me after dinner, but also sad to see you transition from baby to boy.

You are an adventurous child in a careful way. You rarely injure yourself, but if I turn my back for a second you are on top of the piano or the kitchen table. You are three feet tall and 34 pounds. This allows you to do amazing feats of toddler strength. You pull yourself up on stools, transfer to the kitchen counter, and retrieve play-doh and scissors from the highest heights.

First thing in the morning until last thing at night you ask to go-go. Now that spring weather has arrived I try to accomodate you. It was a long winter cooped up in the house trying not to spend money. Now we toss on our jackets and walk around the neighborhood after your nap and spend the rest of the afternoon in the driveway playing with your trike and scooters and balls.

Choo-choo! Choo-choo!

Sometimes toddlerhood hits you hard, but we spend so much time together that I am in tune with you and understand your beginning language skills very well. "Mee mee" means you either want me to sing Ode to Joy or you want to watch Youtube video of the muppets singing Ode to Joy. "Owie" means help. You like to count each person at dinner and say thank you for everyone coming home. You think anytime I make a phone call that I'm calling Nonnie and you call her on the toy phone daily.

We have a big change coming soon baby boy and I know this extremely close connection we have now will be short lived. As excited as I am to be practicing law again, I'm treasuring this time before everything changes.

Love you a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck,
Boobie

Tuesday morning playgroup

2011-02-10T11:28:00.003-06:00

One of my resolutions for this year was to make friends in LeRoy. I've made great friends in Bloomington and Champaign since we moved here 6 years ago, but haven't had any luck locally. So I am officially "Making an Effort".

Part of "Making an Effort" has been to engage with LeRoy people on teh Twitter and attend Tuesday morning playgroup at LeRoy Elementary School. Anyone can attend playgroup with their age five or younger child. Most of the children are 2-3 years old, but there are a few babies and a few preschoolers.

Playgroup is free and meets from 10-11 every Tuesday that school is in session. You just arrive at the front door and tell the office your last name and that you are there for playgroup. Playgroup meets in the basement and the stairs are 3/4 toward the rear of the school.

There are two parent educators who run playgroup, but mostly it's Ms. Jackie who is leading. Ms. Jackie is great with the children and is a resource for the parents. You can ask her ANYTHING about your child. She's super supportive and knowledgable.

I have been taking Quinn to playgroup since the beginning of the year and we both really enjoy it. I get a chance to talk to other adults (moms, dads, and grandparents attend) and Quinn gets to play with new toys. So far there have been between 4 and 16 children attending.

Do you want to see pictures of the fantastic playroom? Of course you do.

carefully, carefully

2011-02-08T13:20:00.002-06:00

starting down the path to hanging out my shingle as a solo lawyer tonight.

T-minus SIX!

2011-02-05T12:01:00.004-06:00

FIVE!

FOUR!

THREE!

TWO!

ONE!

BLAST OFF!

Henry's delicious birthday cake

2011-02-04T08:04:00.004-06:00

Sugar Mama Custom Cakes of Normal worked with me to design Henry's birthday cake. It is a Burn Fireblaze Beyblade cake. Not only did the cake look great, it tasted even better. It was three layers, chocolate, strawberry and vanilla. The cake was moist and flavorful and the buttercream icing was wonderful. The price was very reasonable, though Sugar Mama is SO busy I'm SURE she'll be raising her prices soon.

Healthful eating on a budget series

2011-01-31T20:47:00.002-06:00

In January and February I'm working with Chambanamoms.com on a frugal healthy grocery shopping and family cooking series. These posts are no fluff pieces, they are brick houses full of useful information on coupons, grocery shopping, bulk cooking, cooking for a family and a pinch of humor.

Week 1: Getting started

Week 2: Grocery shopping 101

Week 3: A meaty post and a meal plan!

There's a lot of good information in these posts, so please read them and leave a comment.

xoxo,
Rayne

Conversation with a 5 11/12 year old

2010-12-23T08:17:00.002-06:00

At the mega grocery store finishing our holiday food shopping. Small toys are dangling at 4 feet high every 10 paces or so.

Henry: Can I have that?

Me: Nope. Wait for Santa. That's the kind of thing Santa puts in your stocking.

Henry: Can I have that?

Me: No. Wait for Christmas.

Henry: How about that? Can I have that?

Me: No. Christmas is in three days. You'll have to wait for Santa.

Henry: Can I have that?

Me: No.

Henry: Can I have that?

Me: No.

Henry: Can I have that?

Me: Henry, let me tell you something. You are a pawn in a game between me and the grocery store. The game is to separate mommy from her money. They put those toys right there to make you ask me for them. It's like a Jedi mind trick and you are falling for it.

Henry: Oh.

Later...

Henry: How do I tell what they are trying to trick me into asking you for and something we need to buy?

Me: They usually put it at your eye level and it's a bright color.

Henry: Mom? I think you are being tricked into buying that celery. You should put it back.

Sheera, not the Princess of Power

2010-12-10T16:26:00.001-06:00

As I hung Christmas ornaments yesterday I was boiling with unexamined anger over this Facebook child abuse cartoon character meme. I picked out a white ornament with an early eighties date that said "Baby's First Christmas" and thought it was strange because neither of my siblings were born in the eighties. Who does this ornament refer to? It took me a few minutes, but I realized it was for my first cousin Sheera who lived with us when she was a toddler. I was Henry's age and Sheera was Quinn's age and I resented her for living with us. Having a reasonably happy family, I didn't know and couldn't conceive of a reason why she wasn't with her mom. I just wanted her to leave and eventually she did.

I have another first cousin a couple years older than me who I saw occassionally growing up. Jeremiah sometimes stayed with us, sometimes with my abusive Grandfather, and sometimes with his mother. They moved around a lot and Jeremiah created a skater badass persona for himself. Unbenownst to me, he endured unimaginable abuse. His mother's final act of child abuse was to kill herself so that he found her. [Edited: For over 20 years that was the truth as I knew it, but one of the benefits of writing is my mom let me know Jeremiah was sent to Arkansas shortly before his mother passed.] He was 14 as far as I can figure.

In an effort to save Jeremiah, Sheera's mother took him in to her small trailer home in rural Arkansas. He seemed to be making progress with family attention and therapy. But in the culminating act of several generations of abuse, in the summer of 1991, 16 year old Jeremiah murdered 10 year old Sheera. The details are here: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/ar-supreme-court/1155305.html

At the time Leah and I were visiting our Jones grandparents in Texas. We were flown to Arkansas for the funeral. It's a mind altering position to be the family of both the murder victim and child murderer. After nearly 20 years this is not something I think about often, but it was a traumatic and defining event in my life.

This child abuse cartoon meme strikes a lot of chords for me and they are the saddest and angriest of chords. Sheera's cartoon princess of power name provided no protection against abuse. And a meme to raise awareness without a call to action is a hollow thing indeed. No status that I saw included any information on what to do in case of child abuse.

If someone had called child protective services for Jeremiah 30 years ago, 25 years ago, the whole contour of our family could be different. Jeremiah is a 35ish year old man who has spent his entire adult life incarcerated. Sheera would be 29 this year.

************************************************************

In Illinois, call 1-800-25-ABUSE to make a report to DCFS. Nationally, you can call 1-800-4-A-CHILD.

If you feel moved to make a donation, I suggest googling crisis nursery plus your location. A crisis nursery seeks to prevent child abuse and neglect by providing emergency intervention, respite care and support to families in crisis.

Twelve months old

2010-09-09T10:45:00.003-05:00

Quinn is changing rapidly from a baby to a toddler. He is 90% an easy going little guy, but his opinions and desires are emerging. Words come and go and he mimcs a lot of words, like mug, but doesn't use them on his own yet. He is very expressive in other ways though and has no trouble making himself understood.

Quinn's first birthday

2010-08-19T10:13:00.004-05:00

Quinn turned one on Friday. It was a low key birthday because we're low key people and it's his first birthday. He doesn't know what's up. The night before I was feeling productive so I made ribs for dinner, mashed potatoes from home grown potatoes, and a lemon pie. His actual birthday wasn't a very good day because it's Friday and the end of a very hot week were we didn't leave the house at all. Fridays are really tough days for me when I'm an at home parent. The day after his birthday Mom brought cupcakes over and we had another celebratory dinner.

Quinn had his well baby appointment Monday and it was super. He is 32 inches tall and 30 lbs. He is at the very top of the height chart and WAY off the weight chart. All his skills are ahead of the curve now. He is walking skillfully. He can side step obstacles and carry objects. He is getting a longer memory and it shows in his activities. One day he carried stuffed animals from the living room to the kitchen and put them inside the cabinets. Another day he picked up shoes and put them in the shoe basket.

Preserving bell and jalapeno peppers

2010-07-30T16:17:00.005-05:00

This is my first year attempting to preserve peppers for winter. We ought to have a pepper farm they grown so well in our yard. This year we have 2 jalapeno , 12 bell peppers and 4 habanero plants. The jalapeno and bells are coming ripe at a terrific rate.

I am trying two methods of freezing peppers. The first is a no cook process. I washed about 8 bell peppers, removed the core and stem, and chopped into a small dice. I put the diced peppers in a gallon size Ziploc freezer bag and rolled as much air as possible out of the bag. I shook the bag around until the peppers were really flattened out. Then I put the bag into the freezer and every couple hours I took it out and sort of broke up the peppers so that when I need some it won't be a solid block of peppers.

The second process requires an oven or grill. I grilled the bell peppers, but used the oven for the jalapenos since I was concerned they may fall through the grill. The bell peppers roasted very fast on the grill, it took maybe 5-8 minutes per side and got nice and charred. We have an electric oven which I set to broil and then put the jalapenos on a cookie sheet. I set two timers going off at 5 minute intervals and I took the pan out and shook the peppers around every 5 minutes. The website I consulted said the peppers would only take 8-10 minutes per side. I did this for 25 minutes before deciding, eh, they must be done. The smell was delicious.

I put the peppers in a bowl with a lid to steam them and let it sit on the counter for an hour or so, then in the fridge for a couple hours. Basically until it was convenient for me to move to the next step of skinning them. Most of the websites I've looked at said use a paper bag, but I didn't have one handy. The bowl seemed to work fine.

Skinning the peppers is when it became clear that most of the peppers hadn't quite gotten roasted enough. The grilled peppers skin fell right off, but the broiled peppers usually had one side that stuck. I should have left them in the over another 5-10 minutes. Make sure the peppers are good and black and charred and blistered before you take them off the heat!

SO. I had 40 cooled roasted peppers and I picked/rubbed the skin off (& removed stems) them and plopped them whole into a freezer bag. Again I squeezed as much air out of the bag as I could and then manipulated the bag until the peppers were in a single layer. They are now resting flat in the freezer and I'll try to break them apart like I did with the diced raw peppers, but I feel like that won't work as well since they are squishy.

Depressing news

2010-06-28T09:57:00.002-05:00

Inmate in nearby Pekin prison died in agony from untreated HIV, hepatitus, and cancer. He was given nothing more than Tylenol for the pain.

The New York Times says the D word and it's not the kind that can be fixed with pharmiceuticals.

Blueberry Gooseberry cobbler

2010-06-27T11:52:00.007-05:00

I created this recipe yesterday using my U Pick haul from Pontious Farms and it is DELICIOUS.

I picked 4 lbs of blueberries and 3/4 lb of gooseberries. I was interested in the gooseberries because my grandfather had a saying of martyrdom, "I'll pick the gooseberries." I had never had a gooseberry and my dad didn't even know they were real. It turns out it is a real chore to pick gooseberries because the plants are very low to the ground and absolutely COVERED in thorns.
.

Ingredients
For the cake:
Nonstick cooking spray
3 cups of flour - I used 2 cups all purpose and 1 cup whole wheat
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 T cinnamon
1/2 stick unsalted butter, room temp
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
3 cups fresh blueberries (roughly)
2 cups fresh gooseberries (roughly)

For the topping:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 t nutmeg
3/4 stick of unsalted butter, chilled & cubed

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the overn to 375 F. Spray a 9x13 inch glass baking pan with nonstrick spray and set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat 30 seconds. add 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat on low until incorporated an then add 1/3 of the milk and beat until incorporated. Repeat, alternating flour & milk until everything is combined. Scrape down the sides as needed. Gently stir in the berries and pour the batter into the baking dish. This is some thick batter. Don't worry. Gently spread it out around the pan with a spatula.

Smash together all the topping ingredients with a fork until it is crumb texture (or close enough for government work). Evenly sprinkle the topping onto the batter and bake for 40 minutes.

The resulting cobbler is very muffin-like with sweet blueberry spots and tart gooseberry spots and reaches peak deliciousness about 5 hours after taking it out of the oven.

Mary Lemanski CD release party contest!

2010-06-24T11:24:00.004-05:00

In the summer of 1996, Mary, Jennifer and I shared a little house near Millikin University. It was a quiet and pleasant place where everyone wiped the stove after using it. We watched a lot of black & white movies, worked our minimum wage jobs, ate couscous and tabouli (flavors Jennifer had brought back after a year in England), and mostly avoided drama.

Mary was a performance major and definitely influenced by the artists of that time, Tori Amos, Sonic Youth, and others. After graduation I lost touch with Mary. I knew vaguely what she was up to through the grapevine, making music, getting married, living in Arizona, but didn't see her again until her & Jennifer's 10th Millikin reunion that I tagged along to. We caught up, compared pictures of our kids, and reconnected via Facebook.

In Mary's spare time she has recorded, produced, and is now selling her first album. It is so exciting to see a long time friend make her dreams come true. Mary is putting a ton of effort into promoting her album. You can friend her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter, and listen to her songs on OurStage.com and ReverbNation. She has been covered by WomensRadio. This weekend she'll be having her CD release party in Springfield and in honor of all her hard working as a mama who doesn't let that stand in the way of her rock star dreams, I want to give away TWO copies of her album, Eclectic.

My favorite, as a woman who came of age in the 90s, is definitely the pop punk song, "Leave me out of it" and I think for Mary's next project she should front a suburban Chicago pop punk band.

So leave a comment and I'll randomly pick two winners of the CD. If you can't wait to hear Mary's music I know it can be purchased from CDBaby, iTunes, and Amazon.

They call it stormy Monday,

2010-06-21T08:19:00.001-05:00

but Tuesday's just the same.

What I'm reading

2010-06-18T08:14:00.002-05:00

Two blog posts that caught my attention today in a YES THAT manner:

Dawn writes about child care, poverty, women & children's rights.

Is being a nursing mother a "consumer decision" or a "reproductive right"?

Summer time

2010-06-05T10:05:00.001-05:00

Things are fine. I'm trying to balance a work from home opportunity that goes until the end of the month with being home with the two boys and school being out. So I'm not here and probably won't be until July.

Mothers' Day photoshoot

2010-05-05T08:17:00.004-05:00

I have a script that runs through my head, as most people do, and mine says Not Good Enough, Not Good Enough, Not Good Enough. I could enumerate the ways I and my life are not good enough, but it would bore you all and me terribly. For Mothers' Day I'm going to give myself the gift of turning off the script and thinking I Am Good Enough and this moment of this life is Practically Perfect.

Monday in the park with Henry

2010-04-26T13:43:00.003-05:00

Quinn's easy like Sunday morning

2010-04-25T21:38:00.005-05:00

Quinn is eight and a half months. He's eating a wide variety of food with gusto. He zips around, but not too fast, on his hands and knees. He's more cautious and more aware of his surroundings than Henry was at this age. If he bumps his head or takes a tumble he remembers and avoids it in the future. Quinn is not too interested in baby toys, but he would like to shred that magazine you're holding. Is it The Economist? All the better because the pages are so very thin and lovely to rip.

He's sleeping through the night. The whole night. In the crib. I am agog. This age is so enjoyable when I'm getting a full night of sleep. It makes me a teeny bit sad how I was unable to enjoy this part of Henry's life because he woke up every 45 minutes. Every night. For six straight weeks.

Henry says, "Mom, we need another baby. This one is getting more wiggly than snugly. More babies mean more love and snuggles."

Quinn, like Henry, is in transition. Quinn is rapidly moving towards toddlerhood. A couple weeks ago Quinn got visibly fat, roley poley, chunky monkey, like an eight month old should be. So fat that people were stopping me in the grocery store to admire my fat fat baby and tell me how fat fat fat he was. Old ladies would stop and say, my what a nice fat baby you have. It was odd. This week his legs grew. One day we were admiring my fat baby and the next day we were saying good g-d, look how long his legs are. Overnight his legs got long and leaner. So now he has roley poley arms and chins and these long, straight legs that are nearly ready for walking.

This ain't Ramona Quimby's kindergarten

2010-04-22T08:19:00.009-05:00

I met with some law school friends a couple weeks ago and they asked, "Where are the pictures of Henry?" Where ARE the pictures of Henry, my big kid? Well unless I bribe him for a photo shoot he's either running or without clothes. So my pictures are blurry or not for Internet consumption. Here's the best of April.

Henry plays so hard all the time. He is constantly setting up challenges for himself, meeting them, moving on to a harder physical challenge. This week he did the monkey bars so many times at school he came home with dime sized blisters on his palms. He is physically gifted, I think. He can swim for hours, diving over and over again. He can cross any set of monkey bars. He runs and bikes and scoots on the scooter with incredible speed. Bob and I are often left in the dust, slack jawed, asking could you do THAT as a kid?

Which brings us to kindergarten. Kindergarten registration, physicals, orientation, and classroom assignments are all popping up this month and into early May. Le Roy has a very good elementary school. I have only heard good things about the teachers, the classrooms are loaded with toys and tools, AFAIK the budget seems in good shape. Also there is daily PE plus two recess periods per day in Kindergarten. But that is only 50 minutes of playtime in a 6 1/2 hour day with a first grade curriculum. At orientation the teachers stressed that this is not kindergarten as we, the parents, knew it 20 years ago. Or 30 years ago for some of us. The only part of the curriculum that sounded fun to me is that science is taught through cooking.

I'm concerned about this big leap from PreK to kindergarten. I'm not concerned about the hours, but about the intensity of the hours. The teachers stressed red shirting if your child would be a young five in August who still naps. If a young five can't handle kindergarten and needs to be red shirted, how is that the appropriate curriculum for fives? Henry is really looking forward to kindergarten, but his knowledge of kindergarten is mainly from Ramona books. Orientation indicates this ain't gonna be Ramona Quimby's kindergarten.

Henry is in transition now. He is desperate to be both a big kid and a baby. He fumes if I accidentally call him little, but wants all the perks of being a baby. He wants Quinn to grow up and be his playmate NOW, but has no interest in playing baby games for more than a minute.

The nearly 5 year age gap is good for me, but I can see flaws for Henry, especially since we live in a neighborhood with few same aged playmates.

Gardening begins for the year

2010-04-01T10:07:00.003-05:00

Bob and Henry already planted peas and radishes and I'm trying to figure out what we're doing next. Today I'm using the University of Illinois Extension Vegetable Garden Guide for central Illinois. It looks like today would be a good day to plant asparagus, potato, lettuce, and spinach. Asparagus can grow in the same spot for 20 years, so it's important to choose a good area. I'm thinking I could fit 4 crowns in a 4x4 raised bed.

Easter Egg filling

2010-03-29T11:17:00.003-05:00

I have not filled plastic Easter eggs. The last two years we have dyed eggs and hid them for Henry, same as our parents did when Bob and I were children. Last year my cousin Marci hosted Easter dinner with a large egg hunt. We are going again this year and I plan to contribute some eggs. My assumption is you fill eggs with candy, but I knew others must change it up so I asked on Facebook and Twitter. Here's the rundown of non candy fillings for plastic Easter eggs.

The surprising #1 result is: MONEY! Change and bills all make it into Easter eggs.

Pinata toys
Pencil toppers
Balls
Frog jumpers
Legos
Matchbox cars
My Little Ponies
Playmobile
Littlest Pet Shop
Little People

Goldfish
Teddy Grahams
Froot Loops
Froot Snax
Marshmallows
Animal crackers
Yogos
Fruit rollups
Dried fruit
Popcorn
Peanuts

Arcade tickets redeemable for larger items like coloring books
Coupons for trips to the park, museum, or zoo
Homemade bath bombs
Movie tickets
Fortunes

Stickers
Stamps
Tattoos
Hair doodads
Nail polish
Chapstick
Sticker earrings
Whistles

I don't have the guts to watch it yet,

2010-03-23T05:40:00.002-05:00

but I felt like I did a good job and I heard from Sally she thought I did a good job. Here's my Lt. Governor presentation from Saturday.

Lt. Governor application comes to an end, and a beginning

2010-03-21T08:41:00.002-05:00

Yesterday the State Central Committee met in several spots around the state to allow the Lt. Governor applicants to make their cases. I was invited to speak in Springfield. I was the 12th applicant to arrive out of 15 or 16. At 1 p.m. the meeting began. There were 7 committee members and Jay Hoffman took the lead. On this panel I only knew one of the committee members, I heard some of the other folks I knew went to the Chicago meetings.

All the applicants took their three minute allotment of time seriously. Everyone had some notes and most people took the entire three minutes. It was so interesting to see what people presented as their greatest strengths to the committee. Some people emphasized their financial background, others their elected office history, and one man went on at length about the environmental benefits of not mowing his ditch.

There were four women and 11 or 12 men (I lost count). The professions of the four women were one doctor, two lawyers, and one 30 year legislative aide. The professions of the men (that I remember) included a DJ, a paint warehouse manager, several elected officials, a couple activists, and a couple unemployed men.

Each person stood at a podium and addressed the committee members and then answered a few questions. My three minutes went by SO quickly. I spent the first two minutes on my resume and wide geographical network in Illinois and the last minute on my social media involvement. I got the feeling that the social media part was lost on most or all the committee. But I engaged the committee members, I made them laugh, I raised their eyebrows. They were definitely interested in me and I felt great when I sat down.

After all the applicants spoke the committee took a 20 minute recess to make their selection of who would present their case to the entire central committee next weekend. Predictably, the only folks who were chosen were the state senator, the state representative, and Sheila Simon. I was a disappointed but not surprised.

At the end of the meeting each committee member talked about the process of slating the Lt. Governor. The final person to speak looked straight at me and said, "Some of you who were not selected today will be getting a call very soon from the party to run for state representative or state senate and we hope you don't say no."

Always looking for Henry's toys

2010-03-20T09:50:00.000-05:00

MOBILITY!

ppppppplllllllat!

2010-03-19T19:47:00.002-05:00

After a three month wait, mostly due to my dilly dallying, we finally had Quinn's Easter Seals evaluation for his "small" head. The physical therapist pronounced him practically perfect in every way and a downright advanced babe. The boys respond with a hearty, I told you so.

WICD 15 story on my Lieutenant Governor's application

2010-03-18T09:48:00.002-05:00

WICD 15 story on my Lieutenant Governor's application can be found here: WICD ABC 15. Unfortunately the video isn't up yet and I haven't seen it. BUT the fantastic news is that the story was also on in Springfield last night.

Other things I'm thinking about: I saw Ke$ha for the first time on Idol last night. Is that ... satire or what? I'm glad to see combat boots are back in style. I love a girl in a prom dress and combat boots.

Tonight: Rayne of Terror on WICD Channel 15 Newscast

2010-03-17T14:30:00.004-05:00

If you are a local reader (Champaign area) you will be able to see my interview about applying for the lieutenant governor's position with Kate of WICD at 5 and 6 tonight. Unfortunately LeRoy gets Peoria stations so I will have to wait to see it when WICD puts it on their website.

Tonight! Check it out!

Chambana Mom to Know

2010-03-11T08:28:00.004-06:00

I am learning so much from making my application for Lt. Governor. I thought I knew a lot about campaigns, but it's a whole different animal altogether to put your OWN name out there. I have only had positive feedback, but every time I open Capitol Fax's Lt. Governor posts I get a little queasy.

What doesn't make me queasy is this very nice interview by Chambanamoms.com. This morning, my friends Laura & Amy featured me as their Chambana Mom to Know.

Quinn says, "You sure about this, mom?"

How do you even spell Lieutenant?

2010-03-08T15:34:00.002-06:00

If you notice over to the left I've put a facebook badge up. Why? Well, on a whim I applied to be the democrat candidate for Illinois Lieutenant Governor. Why would I do that? Because I think the democrat ticket could use a downstate woman and at the time I looked at the applications there were no downstate women on the list. When I looked at many of the applicants' qualifications I realized I'm far more qualified than many of the folks who were nominating themselves.

From that point last week support for my application is increasing. I've had e-mails and tweets from friends, acquaintances, and strangers saying they'd vote for me. My sister and Millikin friend Jason have created and begun to promote a facebook fan page for me. Yesterday, I got a mention in the News Gazette.

As I understand the process, the state central committee will decide who the candidate will be. Who is the state central committee? Each congressional district has one committee man and one committee woman and those are the people who make up the state central committee. Each party has one. This could work in my favor as many state central committee members are also state senators or former state senators. I know and worked with both my district's committee man and woman at the state senate. I'll definitely be dropping each of them a line in the next few days to let them know about my application. So while I'm unknown to most, I'm not unknown to many of the people making the decision.

I'd really appreciate it, if you have a facebook profile, if you would fan my lieutenant governor application page. Thank you.

2010-03-02T11:36:00.003-06:00

Thank you for the instruction on embedding videos! I really appreciate it.

I signed Henry up for cheerleading this month because it's tumbling with yelling. I hope he likes it. I tried to talk him into swim lessons, but he's hesitant for some reason he can't or won't articulate. He's half fish anyway and is swimming and diving in the deep end without fear.

I've been showing him the fundamentals of basketball lately when we go to the gym and I wasn't sure if he was learning anything because he only seems to pay attention about a 1/3 of the time. But today there was another family in the gym and you should have seen him dribble and pass! After they left I told him how proud it made me to see him dribble the ball so strong and he told me that he was putting on a show for the other family.

We all went to Decatur this weekend for Senor DeVivo band practice and I took the boys to the Children's Museum of Illinois to mess around during the wait. It was nearly as good at the Children's Discovery Museum in Normal and since there were several completely different stations, we really had a good time.

Henry, 61 months

2010-02-27T10:23:00.002-06:00

A message to his Nonnie.

How do I embed YouTube videos?

Quinn, 6 months old

2010-02-20T18:10:00.003-06:00

I don't know why this tickled me so much, but it did. Quinn, 6 months, 24 pounds, does a belly flop.

Step 5: What interests you?

2010-02-18T08:03:00.002-06:00

Identify those things you enjoy so much you would do them for free.

Well these things certainly change over time, but over the past few years blog reading and participating in blog and social media communities has been the hobby I put the most time into. I adored writing Central Illinois Life and the exploring Henry and I did together to write it. I thought hyper local would be my niche, but I was put off enough to abruptly stop writing after being invited to a blogger day in Springfield and getting the distinct feeling I was being used. Plus, lawyering and parenting are two full time jobs and Central Illinois Life took A LOT of time. One of the things I loved about my AG job was traveling to the same counties repeatedly and in different seasons and finding out what was special in those small towns like Danville, Monticello, Sullivan and Shelbyville.

I love to write. I love being in the flow of well researched legal or historical writing.

I am extremely interested in state government. Even though I've been out of the political scene for 6 years I still keep up with Capitol Fax and enjoy talking state politics and government on twitter. Not so much national though.

Things I liked about my jobs prior to law school

2010-02-09T08:00:00.000-06:00

painter: The zen moment of painting a perfect edge with no tape. Quickly changing a room with color using a roller. Being alone.

paint seller: Creating the perfect color match by eye. Helping a customer find the wallpaper she loves. Chatting with the regulars.

theater hand: Running the spotlight and keeping it trained exactly on the right spot. Moving lights to match the diagram for the show. The commraderie of a well pulled off show.

office temp: Being alone and having lots of latitude on how to do my tasks.

State agency temp: Mastering a skill and being assigned a job no one else did. Being part of a team that was implementing a new important program (KidCare).

Senate Democratic Caucus: Being part of a politically like minded team. Working with elected officials. Brainstorming new laws. Having a really nice office with a couch for visitors. Figuring out compromises in legal language to get both sides to agree. Running a committee meeting behind the scenes. Writing a well received speech.

Campaign manager: Being involved with the community. Meeting a wide spectrum of people. Driving all over central IL.

January

2010-02-08T08:30:00.002-06:00

January was the second most terrible time I've had in my life. Better than when my child cousin was murdered by another child cousin, and worse than failing the bar exam. Some people can extract beauty from suffering, all I can say is, at least there wasn't a tornado.

Good morning, son.

2010-02-06T08:27:00.000-06:00

Henry at 5.5 month

2010-02-05T10:41:00.001-06:00

compare & contrast

Here's a story of a lovely baby

2010-02-04T16:25:00.004-06:00

Who had to stay at Bromenn for RSV

There were lots of babies there, with their mothers

The youngest ones were girls

Here's a story of a babe named Quinn Jimmy

Who was busy with two teeth of his own

He was really really bored at the hospital, so he got better and came home!

Snapgifts.com

2010-02-03T11:25:00.002-06:00

I try to be a good aunt to my brother's three children, but in reality I'm more a mediocre aunt. I haven't seen them in 7.5 years and now they are teens and a tween with their own busy lives and friends. The one thing I do every year is at least send Christmas presents, but this year I flaked and felt bad.

In my defense I have sent some spectacularly failed presents. Clothing 10 sizes too big, completely inappropriate books. Its hard to buy for people you don't know and becomes more daunting each year.

But in 2009 my two nieces joined Twitter, and all three got on Facebook, so I feel like I know them a little better now. I've been wanting to make it up lately and I figured out a cool way to do it. Last night I sat with Snapgifts.com open in one tab, the chamber of commerce dining guide for their small Idaho town open in another, and Twitter in a third. As I compared Snapgifts' national brand gift cards to the restaurants actually available to my nieces and nephew, I asked the eldest niece what her preferences were, Papa Murphy's or Pizza Hut, Pizza Hut or Domino's, Pizza Hut or Quizno's until I made a decision based on her preferences. In about 20 minutes, I was able to figure out and buy a gift card large enough for three teens to take 2 trips to Quizno's sub shop.

I know it will get used because teens eat food and newsflash! I asked her for her family's preferences.

Now what I REALLY wish would happen is that somehow Chambanamoms and Snapgifts could join forces to expand the offerings to my area.

But for now I'll rest on my aunt laurels until the next birthday rolls around.

obvious or brilliant?

2010-01-29T15:07:00.002-06:00

File under: things and are obvious and/or brilliant: I can't believe it took me this long to figure it out, BUT... I realized I can store occasional use bags, beach bags, diaper bags, gym bags, INSIDE our humongous suitcase instead of strewn about the floor of various closets.

Ta Da!

Hands and feet

2010-01-19T08:33:00.004-06:00

Five months old and grabbing everything in sight.

Criteria for career satisfaction

2010-01-18T10:37:00.003-06:00

Prioritize the list of important criteria for career satisfaction from most to least important.

Top Five:

Gives me freedom to work independently but nearby other compatible and courteous people, and where I don't feel restricted by excessive rules, structure, or inflexible operating procedures.

Is consistent with my strong, inner values, and is something I care deeply about and want to contribute my energy and talents to.

Lets me be adaptable yet committed; where I have a sense of purpose and am able to see and experience the actual results of my accomplishments.

Gives me an opportunity to experience inner growth and development within a context of work I feel is important.

Lets me handle problems promptly and simply, offering practical help.

Career satisfiers at work. Using a job that was satisfying, describe one or more situations in which the top three satisfiers were present.

At the senate I can think of two bills that were really satisfying to work on. The first was the bill to license massage therapists. The massage therapists and the doctors were at odds over one section of the bill and it seemed like the groups would not be able to compromise. During a long meeting, where the interest groups talked and and republican staffer and I listened, I was able to come up with a particular turn of phrase that satisfied both groups. That's the only law that bears my thumbprint.

I was also very satisfied with my work on the Illinois Grain Code re-write. It was a large undertaking, but agriculture lobbyists are some of the nicest men with whom I've ever worked. I don't remember any stress though it was a huge bill requiring lots of meetings and was in the spotlight because the grain insurance fund was belly up.

Over the nine months of work at the 4th Appellate Court I can only think of a couple instances where the top three satisfiers were NOT present. Though I particularly enjoyed working on a property tax opinion that was ultimately published.

Rayne of Terror's top blogs

2010-01-06T20:07:00.000-06:00

I subscribe to hundreds of blogs and I keep up with all of them while nursing Quinn and reading on my phone. These are the blogs that I consistently read first when my feed reader is full.

The Sandwich Life - In a passionate stream of conscious voice, Cynthia deals with many obstacles with grace and is so human.

Catch Her in the Wry - Her 60 years in 60 days series is fascinating.

Two Women Blogging - Dr. Jay is incomparable, I learn from her nearly every post.

Lag Liv - An interesting peek into managing a family sanely and working in big law.

Monkey in a Suit - Pee your pants funny alternating with one of the most ambitious women I've ever known.

Roger Ebert's Journal - Ebert's musings on his life are so thoughtful. Today's post was incredibly touching.

Penelope Trunk's Brazen Careerist - Trunk's posts on living and working with asperger's syndrome are eye opening.

American Family - She's a kindred spirit.

Swistle: Baby Names - Swistle loves baby naming and it comes through in her posts. I love baby naming too, even if the readers hate kre8ive Y placement. Quick Batman! There's a baby naming emergency!

I am doing the best that I can - Dawn takes people ON.

Indigo Girl - Linda is another kindred spirit and a twitter pal.

It's not all Mary Poppins - Lots of wisdom and humor about care giving and parenting. I look up to her.

Julia - Julia is so very nice and yet witty, I'm in awe of her.

Wheels on the Bus - Emily allows her humanity to show as she uses her blogs to puzzle through life's curve balls.

Honorable mention because your feed is dead as a doornail and I'm still grumpy that I missed out on feral November.

Gone Feral - The name says it all.

small strokes of brilliance

2010-01-06T19:23:00.002-06:00

1. Taking two preschoolers into a very cram packed toy store prior to Hannukah and Christmas I had the bright idea to give them my iPhone to take pictures of anything they wanted as a gift. ONE HUNDRED FIFTY photos later we left with everyone in great spirits and no discipline needed.

2. Holiday Peeps chopped with chocolate ice cream.

3. Buying Monopoly theme wine charms and using them for coffee cups on Christmas (nearly all our coffee cups are plain white).

4. Baby Quinn rarely gets a bottle, like 4-6 times in almost 5 months. He is just as sensitive about incoming teeth as Henry ever was, which is SUPER SENSITIVE. The standard ice teethers do more to ice down his cheeks than his gums. I took a bottle with the slowest nipple and filled it with crushed ice and a little water and let him go to town. He LOVES it and gets much relief for his gums.

Whoops!

2009-12-31T11:29:00.002-06:00

I had NO intention of going dead silent on you guys there. I have so many post ideas started in my head and so little time to get to them. What happened is that Bob replaced my 6 or 7 year old law school laptop with a lovely new Dell. So that meant moving everything over to the new computer and with 2 time consuming boys plus hosting Christmas, anything that couldn't be done on the phone had to be put off.

A week or two ago Babble came out with a list of the top 50 mommybloggers and I was so proud and happy to see Playgroups Are No Place for Children on the list. Jennifer rocks in person and in blogland. She works hard and earned that recognition. But there was a lot about the list that left me scratching my head. Like, how did a man get on the mommyblogger list? And why were there blogs on it that are nearly dead with disuse? Or how did a happy skippy I love my kids, I love fashion blog end up as one of the most controversial? Do the list writers even READ mommyblogs?

So I've been mentally compiling my own list and HOPE to have the time to put it together. Out of the 400+ feeds I subscribe to, if my Bloglines account was busting at the seams with new blog posts, which are the first 10-20 I would click on. THEN! Mom 101 put together her own list of mommyblogs that contacted her to be put on her list and I have gone through and commented on every blog on that list that allows comments over the last few days and I have found some great new material for my feed readers.

THEN! Leah suggested I do a list called "Mark all as read" and list the next 10-20 blogs I will unsubscribe to. What do you think? Interesting? Too mean? You'd be surprised at who I let go unread for long periods of time. Think horses and basset hounds.

RESOLUTIONS:
1. Give more structure to my week. I have set one task per day on my calendar, same task every week.
2. Bake bread.
3. Figure out my next career goal and start educating myself and earning some lines for my resume in that direction. (I'm already working on that quite a bit.) Actually, this is resolution #1 in importance.
4. Take up Bonsai.
5. Go to the gym 2x per week. One elliptical workout and one swimming workout per week.
6. Meal plan with an eye towards health and saving $.

AND that's enough, Quinn is waking. Have a great evening and stay safe, everyone!

Work related weaknesses

2009-12-09T11:44:00.005-06:00

1. Dislike of excessive rules and overly structured bureaucracy.

Example: I love working for the state. I love doing the people's business. I care a lot and do a good but not perfect job. I think Lisa Madigan is great, but the rules and the bureaucracy at the AGs office drove me up the wall. I suppose when you have an agency almost entirely made up of lawyers, you'll have that. But I've had 5 other gov't jobs and the only job that had such micromanaging rules as the AGs office was when I was a temp at KidCare and that I understood because there were a LOT of temps with various backgrounds coming and going. The 4th Appellate Ct also was made up of lots of lawyers and it wasn't that way.

2. Difficulty making logical decisions if they conflict with personal feelings.

Example: Speaking of clerking at the court, I wrote a tax opinion that ended up being published and I did an excellent job on it. The judges complemented how I could translate the tax law into plain English and that the opinion was well written, had good flow, and was completely understandable. BUT, the outcome was SO hard to write because it went against everything I personally felt about the situation. The legal outcome was clearly going in one direction only, but I looked and turned the situation over in my head and really tried to figure out how to make it come out in favor of the more sympathetic party.

3. Tendency to take negative feedback very personally.

Example: Yeah boy, we already talked about that.

***********************************************
This weekend I have a website review planned with a prize. It has to do with LAST MINUTE GIFTS! Oh My!

Work related Strengths

2009-12-09T11:30:00.004-06:00

Pick the three strongest work related strengths off the list in your type chapter and provide an example of each.

1. Ability to clearly assess current conditions and see what needs fixing.

Example: As the economy faltered last year and I noticed more and more noncustodial parents in a endless loop of court ordered job hunting I began to wonder what more I could do to get people working. Now all I HAD to do was make sure they reported to court every 5-6 weeks with records of applications for 5 jobs per week. I called every social service organization that might have a jobs component in all my counties to compile a list of places to refer job hunters. I specifically focused on employment for felons. I started including referrals to these agencies or not-for-profits in employment search orders until the parents returned telling me which places weren't any help and revised my list.

2. Loyalty to people and organizations you care deeply about.

Example: Lisa Madigan. She gave me my break into IL politics and gov't work with a letter. I was her press secretary at the Senate for about 18 months and she wrote a wonderful letter of recommendation for me for law school. When I left the Appellate Court I took the offer from the AGs office instead of the offer from the Peoria State's Attorney's office partly out of loyalty even though I was probably better suited for the ASA job. I'm always proud when I see her in the news, arguing in front of SCOTUS, or whatever.

3. Ability to welcome change and adapt well to new situations.

Example: When I first took the AG job I found the idea of appearing in front of 8 different judges intimidating. I thought it was impossible that I could learn the preferences of each court and change my style to suit each judge. But it wasn't impossible, in fact it was fun. Over the 14 months as an AG I think I appeared in front of 17 different judges and there was only one I couldn't figure out and performed badly in front of. It was like he was performing court in French. I won that case nonetheless. I found a sudden change of judge generally exhilarating.

Blindspots

2009-12-06T08:21:00.001-06:00

List the two blindspots which are most true for you and write one or two example of how that blindspot prevented you from accomplishing or achieving something you wanted.

1. Vulnerable to criticism of others because they tend to take feedback personally and become offended and discouraged.

Example: How about the time I went to lunch with the bureau chief after what I thought was a successful court call and he critiqued my performance and I was so offended and upset I stormed out of the restaurant. How about in high school when two senior swimmers were asked to watch and critique my flip turn and I shouted at them, "talk to me and not about me." Oh yes, this is a blindspot I fall into easily. Both times the reaction kept me from getting better at a skill I wanted to improve (court room demeanor, swimming fast).

2. ISFPs clearly see the needs of other people and work so excessively to fulfill those needs that they neglect themselves in the process.

Example: Hell, I'm doing this right now with Quinn. I take him everywhere with me. I am fulfilling his needs 23 hours and 50 minutes a day even though I don't HAVE to. I could pump, I could let him have some formula, I could make him sleep in his drop side crib. On second thought... With Henry I resented this, but with Quinn I realize he will only be an infant for a blink of an eye, so I'm enjoying it. I would like to go to the gym more often though and take advantage of the breast feeding to lose weight.

I also did that with a dear former bff to the point of neglecting my studies in exchange for obsessing about her problems. Look where that got me. FB friends only now.

I also NEED to write, but asking Bob for a couple hours on the weekend to go to a coffee shop and write is SO difficult for me.

Strengths

2009-12-05T09:39:00.003-06:00

"Do What You Are" introspection continued:

list the keywords or phrases from Chapter 3 which are most true and provide examples that demonstrate these qualities:

1. Modest and reserved, ISFPs are really tremendously warm and enthusiastic people but tend not to show that side of themselves except with people they know well.

Example: I tend to be a cheerleader for my friends and feel invested in their success. Even if I don't know much about the path they are on I try to ask tactful questions and google basic knowledge so I can cheer them on better. When Mrs. Chicken recently mentioned something about Decatur, I think my response was an enthusiastic YAY. And then, what can I do to help? When Jenni recently announced they received their I-171H, I googled it so I could say, "Congratulations" instead of "What does that mean?"

It takes a lot of effort for me to be warm to people I don't know well. Every so often I make an effort to complement acquaintances. I'm surprised when people I just meet are warm and seemingly affectionate.

I'm loyal too. I still cheer lead in my head for former friends. I'm happy for his or her success even if s/he doesn't want me in his or her life anymore. FB is good for that.

2. Patient, flexible and easy to get along with with little need to dominate or control others. Accepting of others behavior in a matter-of-fact way.

Example: I'm not easily irritated by life's little aggravations. I'm willing to change plans on the fly. I see via twitter and fb a lot of the internal judging and meanness that people think about other people, I also see that when I'm out with groups of women whose primary conversations are putting down strangers dress. I don't do that in my head.

At work I don't and never did blink an eye if a woman names 2 or 3 possible fathers in a paternity action. even though I can't personally fathom that.

3. Basically trusting and understanding, they need harmonious relationships in their lives.

Example: Primary example is my marriage, Bob and I get along REALLY well. We have had only 1 or 2 arguments in 8 years of marriage and 12 years together.

At court I figured parents in child support actions would tell me the truth mostly. But if I caught a parent flagrantly lying to me, they were going DOWN the next month.

Which phrases are NOT true about you?

Non-judgmental: I definitely have some lines that when crossed the judgment is harsh and I won't keep my mouth shut about it. I also enjoy it when my work in court puts bad parents in jail. I enjoy getting people put in jail on contempt very, VERY much. I'm dying to relate a tale out of school to you, but you know, ethics.

Good team member: It depends on the team. Team DeVivo, yes. Senate substantive staff, yes. IL Senate Democratic Fund, NO.

Christmas card outtakes

2009-12-04T08:24:00.002-06:00

The near miss photos!

INTJ -> ISFP

2009-12-02T14:29:00.005-06:00

How have I gone the last ten years thinking I was almost the complete opposite personality type? In high school I was a successful jack of all trades, except math. I lettered in academics, band, swimming, basketball, and art. For some reason which has been obscured by time, I decided senior year to major in history. At Millikin I think I was trained to perform as an INTJ and I hung with logical young men. I was really successful as a budding historian. 10 years out I can see the beginning of problems I would have repeatedly at work from age 22 to now. Difficulty in following through on longterm projects being one. Not being able to keep a consistently high attention to detail.

"Do what you are" includes really detailed portraits of each of the 8 personality types. If a test asks me do I prefer to think or feel, I'm going to answer think every time. But when given descriptions of that behavior, it turns out I'm the opposite of what I thought.

Introverted (obviously)
Sensing: the kind of information I naturally notice. Sensors trust their five senses to give accurate information, and trust their personal experience. Oriented to the present. Focus on what is real and concrete. Especially good at noticing and remembering a great many facts. When assembling things, sensors follow the directions. yep.
Feeling: How I make decisions. Feelers make decisions based on how much they care or what they feel is right. Value empathy and harmony. Are motivated by the desire to be appreciated. yeppers.
Perceiving: Preference for structure or spontaneity. This is the one area where I'm probably most in the middle of the spectrum. Perceivers are happiest when life is flexible. Prefer to leave options open. Judgers tend to have a neat desk (I do) where perceivers have piles (I do) where they let things get away from them, like deadlines. yep yep yep.

So I've been steadily narrowing my career (law) and bumping my head against the same issues which may be due to a personality mismatch to the jobs. INTJ and ENTJ make great lawyers. Lawyer is no where on the lists of great jobs for ISFP. So how can I make my education and my personality type work for me rather than against?

Navel, you will be gazed

2009-12-01T13:52:00.004-06:00

I'm supposed to be reading "Does this pregnancy make me look fat?" to review here, but the only reading I can do curremtly is on my iPhone Kindle app. I WANT to read it, but I would need 3 hands to read a real book or magazine while nursing the mighty Quinn. I spend a lot of time reading blogs and thinking about going back to work while nursing Quinn. So when Penelope Trunk suggested the best book to read on personality types and work is "Do What You Are" I checked if it was available for Kindle (yes) and bought it. I've only been reading a short time today, but it is blowing my mind.

I always test as a Meyer Briggs INTJ, but this book's descriptions have far more depth than the test questions and shows me I'm really a ISFP.

Once after college graduation but before law school I went to the Millikin career center for help. After extensive testing and an interview the counselor said the only job recomendation for someone like me was bonsai gardener. We laughed. I said, I'm thinking about going to law school and he said yes, go to law school.

In law school I realized I had streaks of anal perfectionism, but not like my friends. Look, I completely outlined one class for a final in six semesters. ONE. I can write beautiful legal prose, but chafe at restrictive citation forms.

My plan is to work through the major parts of the book here, navelgazing all the way, to discover what the next career step should be when I am comfortable putting the mighty Quinn in daycare.

Shriners

2009-11-20T06:57:00.002-06:00

Shriners are awesome. Who doesn't love Shriners? Men in little cars wearing fez hats. Children's hospitals. Shriners. Are. Awesome.

I was wishing Bob would become a Shriner when watching parades this summer and realized how elderly the central Illinois shriners look. Where are the Boomer ages shriners? How does one become a Shriner? Wikipedia states Shriners are a high level Masons. Okay, so how does one get their thirtysomething husband invited to become a Mason around here? Any thoughts?

Mt Laundry

2009-11-18T08:53:00.002-06:00

Most Sunday mornings find me at the same task, tossing the dirty laundry down the stairs. Our bedrooms are upstairs and our washer and dryer are off the kitchen in a little hallway to the garage. A couple times over the 11 years Bob and I have lived together I have attempted using hampers, but I'm the only one who uses them, so I gave up. So all week our dirty clothes pile on the floor upstairs and on Sunday I toss them down the stairs. First they heap by the front door. Then I kick and shove the heaps of clothes into the piano room for sorting. As I get clean loads I take the baskets upstairs and dump them onto either the guest bed or my bed. Then Sunday night Bob, Henry, and I fold and hang until the pile is put away. But I hardly ever get ALL the clothes clean and I'm always left with dirty clothes on the floor downstairs getting dirtier as we walk over them. I hate this. It's hard on the clothes, it makes the downstairs a mess, it's embarrassing to answer the door.

The recent posts about clearing out the clutter we moved with us to this house is ultimately about laundry. We have a small 4th unused bedroom. Well, not unused exactly because that's were all our crap is. Twenty year old magazines and an armload of Barbie and Ken dolls are just the beginning. I found 2 broken humidifiers, too small clothes, maternity clothes, law school stuff, 25 three ring binders, sentimental decorative items we haven't found a place to display, inbetweenie toys, you name it. And garbage. Once Bob pulled everything out of the room and I started picking through it I easily filled two 33 gallon garbage bags.

I think my dad got sick of walking over piles of clothes at my house too because earlier this year he offered to remodel the 4th bedroom into a real laundry room with all the trimmings. So while the blog has been quiet we have been busy. Dad has demolition complete and is now in the process of moving a wall and bringing water and gas to the room. I have picked out tile and paint and a decorative theme! Next I need to figure out the new linen closet configuration and the cabinetry and shelving which will go opposite the washer and dryer.

This is exciting stuff!

Eventually Bob's bathroom will expand by a couple feet and get a new layout and fixtures. As soon as the washer and dryer move upstairs I intend to put up tons of shelving in that area between the kitchen and garage for a pantry. We always have Sam's Club overflow with nowhere to put it except on top of our kitchen cabinets. Tell me that's not an attractive look!

We are the 3rd owners of this house and from what I hear from the neighbors, that room has never been used as a bedroom. I think having a beautiful 2d floor laundry and a bigger master bath will make this house more marketable should we ever pull up stakes.

pumpkin!

2009-11-10T19:06:00.002-06:00

Today I turned a pumpkin from our garden into bread, puree, and toasted seeds. There was no reason to think I couldn't do that, but I never have before, and I'm quite impressed with myself.

answer revealed

2009-11-09T12:30:00.002-06:00

My collection of Ken dolls!

This doll is the only one which increased in value since 1993. The others are pretty much all worth the same as they were at the time of purchase, $8-10.

I only have eyes

2009-11-08T13:53:00.002-06:00

for Q.

We've reached the responsive stage where Quinn and I can "chat." Poor Henry. The baby is so engrossing and fascinating it's difficult to make time for another round of Kid K'nex building rocket ships or hot wheels racing.

comfort food

2009-11-07T17:47:00.001-06:00

Kraft mac & cheese with a can of tuna mixed in.

Can I get a hells yeah?!?

unemployment

2009-11-06T08:32:00.003-06:00

Today is the day I was to return to the Attorney General's office, but I'm home. I began my 3rd first day as a stay at home parent (I've had two prior stents at home) as if it was my job. I got up at 7, showered, cooked a hearty breakfast of oatmeal (the 5 minute kind) and frozen strawberries from this summer, ate with Henry, practiced letters with Henry, and packed Bob lunch. Cooking at home and packing a lunch will be part of a shift to more frugalness. With two working professionals I did not pay any attention to how much I spent on food. I bought what I felt like, I didn't meal plan, and we ate out a lot. Sometimes we both ate out 3 meals a day! As you can guess that led to a lot of waste and inflated food spending.

So as part of staying home I need to plan & decide where the food money goes rather than by whim. You can help my leaving a comment with your favorite frugal blogs for me to add to my feed reader. Please and thank you!

Why did I decide to stay home again? First and foremost, the cost of daycare for 2, switching to formula, eating out, and gas would eat up my ENTIRE paycheck. But second, look at this face!

guessing game

2009-11-05T14:34:00.002-06:00

So if Bob has moved a Walgreens receipt and a dozen magazines from dorm to dorm and house to house for 18 years, guess what entirely useless collection I have done the same with for 16 years.

Answer revealed Monday morning.

In all fairness,

2009-11-04T09:14:00.002-06:00

attached to the reciept was a wax paper envelope containing the negative of Bob's senior picture, so I'm not throwing it away either. I'm tossing it into the unsorted photo box which contains a jumble of photographs and negatives from 1989 to 2004.

Henry woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I fixed it with scrambled eggs and peaches for breakfast.

one sided conversations with Bob, who is at work

2009-11-03T06:04:00.000-06:00

scene: me sorting and purging a mountain of stuff we moved wholesale from our Decatur attic 5 years ago without sorting and purging because at the time it was law school finals, I was 9 months pregnant, and my grandma died all in the same week we moved into this house.

"Babe, if I'm going to throw away an entire BOX of Frank Watson opposition research from 2002 (not even a decade old yet) I'm gonna ask something in return. Like pitching this Walgreens receipt from 1991 for 2 $0.25 candy bars. And yes, I realized you only saved the best issues of Musician from 1991 and 1992."

2009-11-02T14:04:00.001-06:00

J&J baby lotion multiplies like rabbits in my house. I swear I've only ever bought 2, but somehow I have 20 different bottles of the stuff.

Exhort

2009-11-01T12:27:00.002-06:00

I see and have seen for years exhortations to stop using IE by bloggers. What's it to you if I use IE?

Super Pumpkin!

2009-10-31T21:13:00.002-05:00

Super Pumpkin is a superhero of Henry's own design. His costume went over really well tonight. He was asked if he was the Great Pumpkin. He had an excellent time turning into a pumpkin icicle.

The poop tube begins to get a personality

2009-10-30T22:00:00.003-05:00

Just when you think you can't go on, the exhaustion is too much to bear, the cute personality turns on.

Little Miss Muffett

2009-10-13T05:21:00.002-05:00

When Henry was a baby I didn't understand burp cloths. Why did the books recommend all these flat cloth diapers? They weren't very handy. It turns out, it was because Henry DIDN'T spit up. Ever.

Quinn doesn't need burp cloths, he needs burp towels and burp blankets. Because even with a 3x3 cotton BLANKET artfully arranged on my shoulder and belly, it is guaranteed I will, at some point during the day, be showered with my very own special curds and whey.

6 week old photos

2009-10-01T12:31:00.003-05:00

Quinn is my chunky baby. Henry had some chub, but looking at same age pictures, Quinn is definitely a bigger boy. He eats all. the. time. Yesterday he nursed all day with few breaks until I broke out the sling and he finally slept. Last night he slept well and he's currently napping and I'm about to burst.

This week has been a comedy of errors. Henry is attending pm public preschool. We spend our mornings together having a slow start to most days. It's pleasant. Even though preschool is only 3 hours as opposed to the 9 hours a day he spent at Katie's Kids, he still claims to hate school and asks for home days all the time. On Tuesday
morning he was pressing me about under which circumstances would I let him stay home. We ran errands and played at a McDonald's playplace before heading back to Le Roy. When we left McDonalds he was surprisingly compliant compared to his recent behavior. When we arrived home to pick up his backpack he told me he wasn't feeling well and needed to stay home. I insisted he was faking and continued to insist he was faking when his teacher called to see if I would pick him up.

Tuesday night he proved me wrong by developing a wet AND crunchy cough and throwing up once.

Wednesday while Quinn was marathon nursing, Henry was climbing and laying all over me. I tried to keep him from coughing on or touching Quinn, but the ban just made it THAT much more tempting. All day I waited for my evening out in downtown Champaign with LBOTP and Leighann of Multi Minding Mom. Once or twice it crossed my mind that the 8:30 to 10 pm time frame seemed a wee late for a weeknight, but you know, those crazy Champaign bloggers only have to drive a few minutes anywhere. So I arrived in CU at 7:30 and went to Michaels to kill a little time. Then I drove to B. Lime and nursed Quinn in the car until 8:30ish. I saw friends leaving the store. How could that be when the start time wasn't for a few more minutes? So I slipped Quinn into the sling and ran across the street to see what was going on. Well what was going on was that it was OVER and people were leaving. My facebook invitation said 8:30-10 while the real time was 6:30 to 8. I was upset and pissed, for driving all that way for the evening to be over when I arrived.

I did have a tiny cupcake from Cakes on Walnut and got to meet Julia at Midwest Moms before everyone scattered. What a bummer.

I did join a few women at Farren's Pub which somewhat salvaged the evening. It was lovely to meet Amy of Larkin's Place and Belle Noelle. Amy is a powerhouse and Belle Noelle is incredibly funny.

Today we're just hanging out. Soon I'll unload the swag bags from last night and check out the products. I noticed 2 jugs of HE laundry detergent that I'll definitely use.

One month photos of Quinn

2009-09-30T15:11:00.001-05:00

My mom

2009-09-28T13:16:00.004-05:00

My mom has lost over 100 pounds since February when she had gastric bypass surgery. She is feeling great and writes about her weight loss progress at her own blog, At the Crossroads.

Here is a picture from October 2008

and one from last weekend showing her progress.

Random notes

2009-09-24T15:20:00.003-05:00

Henry's ortho appointment was fine. It turns out he is extremely hyper flexible and is at a greater risk for sports injuries. For now he can do any sport he wants, but when he's older and sports like soccer have more contact he'll need to stick to running and swimming sports and not contact sports and never ever ever play football. That's okay by me.

Woot Woot! Our small town is FINALLY getting a Mexican restaurant. I see Latino men walking over the interstate bridge ALL THE TIME and yet we have 2 pizza places and 2 truck stops. When Bob's sister and brother-in-law thought of buying a restaurant here 5 years ago we suggested a Mexican restaurant. I hope it's decent food.

Quinn is 6 weeks old today. He's starting to get a bit of an eating and sleeping schedule and his night sleep is consolidating. I'm doing my best to help him have good sleep habits right now, hoping to avoid the hell that was Henry's sleep from age 4 months to 18 months. No Cry Sleep Solution and Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child both pretty much say the same things about how to encourage good sleep at this age so I'm puuting Quinn down drowsy but awake once or twice a day.

Quinn has been smiling since he was born, but they have not lasted long enough to get a photo until now.

2009-09-17T07:17:00.002-05:00

I know some of you are waiting for the one month pictures I took and I have a very good reason for not posting them yet. Bob took my camera cord to work assuming the cords were interchangable, so I have a cord that doesn't work with my camera and have been hunting for the correct cord without luck. I should have it back today or tomorrow.

We are taking Henry to the ortho this morning because he's SO tall and flexible. We found out at his school physical he's 3 ft 11 inches. I knew he towered over his peers, but I guess he really towers over his peers. The family doctor wants him to be checked out by a specialist, but I predict he will be found perfectly fine and tall. He has 6'6" genes coming at him from both sides and he's mostly Dutch and the Dutch are the tallest people in the world.

Brothers

2009-08-31T14:15:00.003-05:00

Henry is beside himself with pride about having a brother. He is extremely helpful and wants to be very involved. He is so exuberant and loving that we have to remind him to be gentle quite a bit, but he's getting a lot better at that.

Today is your due date. It's my due date too, yeah.

2009-08-28T15:05:00.004-05:00

Today we were supposed to be doing this.

But instead we are hanging out doing this.

I had really high hopes for what this birth would be like. I had plans, oh did I have plans. Even though Henry's birth was essentially perfect, I was angry for a long time about how I was treated by my OB during delivery. I was admonished for making noise during delivery. I was cut when I told her I did not want that. I was offered pain meds over and over and over and when I finally took the IV stadol during transition the OB and nurse broke my water when I was completely out of it and couldn't do anything except say drunkenly, what's going on? I was yelled at for not getting an epidural. Then the next day the OB called me superwoman and bragged on me to the staff and my family Dr. Maybe I'm still a little angry.
So this time I planned well. I chose a wonderful OB whom all the hippie moms around here use. I loved him and I loved his empathetic midwife on staff even more. OB Wonderful offered the waterbirth early on in the pregnancy asking if I'd ever considered one because "They're really fun." I signed up. I saw both the OB and the midwife until I decided to stick with Midwife Empathy for the birth.

I did a lot more natural birth reading for this birth than I did with Henry's. I planned to lose control and go with the rushes and move around. I picked the right team or that kind of birth. I was really really looking forward to the experience, to the rush of power afterwards, to the quick recovery. It was going to be wonderful and special and joyous.

Things began to go awry in week 36 with my blood pressure but Quinn looked fine. At the 37 weeks appointment OB Wonderful and Midwife Empathy decided I needed to go straight to the hospital for a cesarean birth later that day. Quinn was breech, looked to be at least 8 lbs on the ultrasound, and his heart rate wasn't doing the regular accelerations and decelerations on the non-stress test like the week before. They decided together that Quinn was getting stressed and was big enough to deliver. Everything happened so quickly I wondered was I being steamrolled into this surgery that I did not want. I was very scared, having never had surgery or even a broken bone. I was
terrified of the spinal. I cried my way through the IV. I contracted my way through the afternoon, sad and scared. I broke down when I read and signed the consent for the anesthesia. The spinal was pretty much as bad as I thought it would be. I could feel every bit of it IN MY SPINE. It took two tries because I COULD FEEL EVERYTHING IN MY SPINE.

But through the whole process everyone at Bromenn was so kind and professional and OB Wonderful and Midwife Empathy were also so kind and professional. Once the anesthesia kicked in and I stopped vomiting and Bob came into the procedure room, it kind of became enjoyable. I was feeling warm and fuzzy, everything moved incredibly quickly, the anesthesiologist was chatty and witty, Quinn was almost 9 lbs and healthy, Bob was snapping away with the camera.

The following three days recovering at Bromenn were pleasant, the food was good, the nurses were kind, the pain was controlled well. Quinn was doing awesome. He took to nursing immediately and easily.

I am pretty much at peace with what happened. I'm not angry, even though it was a big disappointment to miss out on my water birth plans. I do wonder if my care was a tad conservative because of my profession or if how the birth unfolded was pretty standard for that set of circumstances.

***************************************************************
How about some big brother snaps to finish this post?

Henry, the pre-k hero, comes home on the bus now. He's so proud to ride the bus with the big kids. He sits with our 6th grade neighbor and his friends.

He looks so grown UP!

One week old

2009-08-21T20:20:00.001-05:00

Quinn, 3 days old

2009-08-19T17:56:00.000-05:00

2009-08-17T18:30:00.002-05:00

Writing from my phone again while Quinn naps on my chest. We are home. The cesarean birth went well after the spinal block was in and I stopped vomiting. It was kind of enjoyable because the sensations were SO alien. The anesthesiologist was chatty and kind. Everyone was very kind. Quinino James was born at 5:32 pm on Thursday and was 8 lbs 15 oz and 19 inches long. In my haze I thought everyone was saying 9 lbs 15 oz but Bob showed me a photo of Quinn on the scale. Quinn had some minor issues at first from the cesarean birth and being 15 days early, but he was doing great by 11 pm that same evening. I'm recovering well. Mentally I'm feeling much better than I expected after the huge shift in birth expectations and actual outcomes. The medical staff was so professional and kind and though things moved quickly from my morning midwife appt to the cesarean birth I don't feel railroaded into it. More later when I can spend some time at the computer.

If you aren't already, friend me on facebook Rayne Devivo or follow me on Twitter @devivo. I am able to
put up baby pics in both places from my phone.

In hospital

2009-08-13T13:30:00.002-05:00

Writing from my phone this afternoon. Quinn is breach and apparently was stressed today so I am in the hospital having a c section this afternoon. I'm terribly sad and scared. I've never had surgery before and am terrified of the epidural. I'm very very bummed.

37 weeks and 4 days

2009-08-11T16:08:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I returned to the Midwife for a follow up to Thursday's appointment. While my bloodwork came back perfectly normal on Friday, my Friday labs came back elevated. The OB and the Midwife consulted together and have decided I have pregnancy induced hypertension, not preeclampsia. I'm on bedrest for the remainder of the pregnancy and will have twice a week non stress tests to check on Quinn. I will also have weekly ultrasounds and weekly blood draws. As long as Quinn continues to be fine (he is A-Okay now) we will wait for spontaneous labor and I'll still be able to have a natural water birth. My blood pressure is still hovering in the 130/85 area which apparently is the low end of high and definitely high for me.

I'm passing the time reading, watching tv, doing laundry (very slowly and sitting down) and looking forward to the next midwife appointment. I can't lie, I am curious to see the ultrasound on Thursday since it's been 3 months since the last one. Overall, I feel fine. I'm short of breath, but that's because Quinn is riding super high and it's just that part of the pregnancy. With Henry I delivered at 38 weeks 5 days and I am hopeful that bedrest won't last too much longer. I actually feel better than I did at the end of Henry's pregnancy. My sciatic nerve was so incredibly painful that by 8 months I was crawling to bed at night. I haven't had any pain like that this time.

37 Weeks

2009-08-07T07:18:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was my 37 weeks appointment. My weight was fine, up 2ish pounds, which I found surprising because I was really good this last week. I ate several salads for meals, got in lots of iron, drank lots of water. Next my blood pressure was up to 130/86, but the woman taking my BP was a student nurse so I chalked that up to her blowing up the cuff way tighter than normal. Last week my BP was 102/70. The regular nurse said she'd take it again in a few minutes. Next was Quinn's heart tones, which were faster than normal, 160 where usually it's 140-145. Measurements jumped another 2 weeks in a one week period, the kid is up to the size of a 40 weeker. The regular nurse took my BP again, which was just as high while the student nurse poked my legs to see if there was swelling. I started to say, oh the swelling doesn't start until 4 pm, when I looked down to see my feet puffing out of my sandals.

I started to feel a little uh-oh about this turn of events because I've been reading pregnancy and infertility blogs a LONG time now, like 5 years, so I know a spike in blood pressure plus swelling equals not good. I sat in the examining room a long time waiting for the midwife (I was late to my appt, I don't usually have to wait anytime at all) and texting Bob about the BP, when in came three nurses and the midwife. I immediately knew it must be preeclampsia or something similar. And it is. The awesome blood drawing nurse was there to take two vials of blood for labs and the midwife talked about the various outcomes of the lab work and implications for the birth.

In the short term, I have to fill a jug of pee to take into the lab this morning so they can see how much protein I'm losing over 24 hours. It's inconvenient, but it's almost over, only 2 1/2 hours to go. I should hear back about the blood work this morning and the protein analysis this afternoon and then we'll know more about the severity of the situation. In the medium term, I'm on bedrest through my Monday Midwife appointment. Yesterday was nice because Bob and Henry were both home and they took care of me and entertained me, but today it will be a struggle of will power to not work in the garden or do laundry or process my dozen zucchinis strewn about the kitchen (with 6 more than need picked in the garden!).

According to Dr. Google, my few numbers that I know seem to indicate a mild case that will not be a problem with appropriate treatment until the birth. At first I was concerned I'd have to be induced this weekend, but that seems unlikely.

I am concerned about work and the piles of files left undone because I had NO expectation that I wouldn't be into work yesterday or today. The Midwife said I may have just bought myself bedrest until the birth and that would be very inconvenient for both my co-worker and my counties. I'll have to call HR and my supervisor today and let them know what's what. Maybe I'll be able to work from home a bit to get things squared away.

I'll update when I hear back from the midwife's office later today.

BlogHer the second

2009-08-03T14:54:00.004-05:00

The second session I attended Friday was the body image panel. I only went because Kate Harding was on the panel and I'm all fangirl about Kate Harding. I'm not particularly concerned about body image and raising children just yet. I'd rather talk about body image and the people who were actually in the room. Anyway, the moderator said she wanted the discussion to be interactive with the audience. I don't think the word interactive means what she thought it means because talk about hogging the microphone. By the end of the panel the other panelists were pointing out there were people who had their hands raised to speak for a long time and she STILL wouldn't give up the microphone. The conversation didn't really seem to have a directed point and I would have liked to hear a lot more from, obviously, Kate Harding and the woman sitting to her left who works with pregnant women who have recovered from eating disorders. SHE seemed like she had an interesting perspective to share.

Immediately afterward I felt like this had been a really powerful panel and needed much more time. But now that I'm a week and a half out I don't remember any striking take-away, unlike the letter to the editor panel.

36 weeks

2009-08-02T10:24:00.002-05:00

So the mighty Quinn either had a leap in growth in the last two weeks or the nurse measured differently. All her numbers were different. My blood pressure was 100/70, usually its 120/75, Quinn's heart rate was 125, usually it's 140-145, and my stomach measured 38 weeks when it has been measuring exactly to the week the whole pregnancy. I like my midwife more and more with each visit. She really listens and either has an excellent memory or takes copious notes after each visit.

I am getting quite uncomfortable. Quinn is riding high and people are still telling me they can't even tell I'm pregnant. Are you kidding? I look like the Venus of Willendorf here! I have to take a lot of breaks and am having trouble breathing. I can't wait until he drops, please drop soon, baby. Last week I had a three hour court date and the court room was packed for hours and SO hot. I was dripping sweat and standing in heels most of that time. Once it was finally over, I had been working on cases straight from 10 am to 2:15 without a break. The judge and staff took a 20 minute lunch break, but for me that was a chance to go out in the hallway and have "clients" yell at each other in front of me. I had to take a sick day the next day because I was WORN OUT.

I only have one more traveling court date with a 10+ case call. Then I might have 2 different single cases in counties that are within 30 minutes of home. I am both looking forward to being in the office all day so I can get everything squared away before my leave and dreading being in the office all day. I'm so used to only being there a couple days a week and my chair is very uncomfortable on 8 hour days. I'll try bringing in my physio-ball and use that for my desk chair.

We have set up the crib and purchased a new-to-us glider rocker. I have washed Henry's 0-3 month clothes and the crib linens. I've bought $100 of new stuff for Quinn, items I thought were too luxurious when Henry was a baby, like that French giraffe teething toy and a solid wood nursing stool and a second deluxe crib sheet. Although I am a person who wants to get rid of things after we're done using them, it IS pretty cool to be able to pull stuff out of the basement, check for recalls, and be done with it. While tons of drop side cribs were recalled in the last couple years, luckily Henry's crib was not. Bob installed a new ceiling fan in the nursery. Now if I can get the boxes and Henry's toys out of there, we'll be set.

Last night I sat in the rocker and told Quinn in a very loud voice, hey kiddo, I'm ready when you're ready!

BlogHer the first

2009-07-30T13:48:00.002-05:00

I only went to two seminars at BlogHer because that's all I could physically stand Friday and I left Saturday morning because of exhaustion.

The first seminar featured Katie Orenstein, creator of the Op Ed Project. Unfortunately, the time was not used well and I think we missed the meat of Ms. Orenstein's presentation, but fortunately what little we did get to hear completely left me hungry for more. The point of the project is to target and train women on how to use their expertise to write letters to the editor that get published hence joining public debate.

The women I sat with were mainly marketers or PR folks and they saw this as a new kind of elevator pitch. I think that missed the point. Most of the people in attendance write in a public forum, their blogs, and Ms. Orenstein wants us to distill our expertise and take our opinions to the newspapers, joining public debate and opinion. An elevator pitch doesn't go beyond a few people, a letter to the editor (in my area) can probably reach a good 20,000 folks.

I'd love to have the opportunity to take the full class and I'd especially love to bring this project to my university, law school, and women's bar associations.

34 weeks

2009-07-18T09:10:00.002-05:00

Only 4-8 weeks left until we meet baby Quinino! I have a ridiculously bad cold that has me up all night coughing and snotting, but other than that the pregnancy is going very well. I had some BH contractions a few weeks ago, but bought some belly bands at Target and that stopped the contractions. Baby is measuring the right size, his heartbeat is strong and consistently around 140, he moves a lot, and seems to be hanging out in the head down position for the last couple weeks. He still spins around, but no head over heels flip flops.

One of my biggest concerns has been my weight and I seem to have stopped gaining right around the 20 lb mark and I am super pleased. With Henry there was nothing I could do, including counting weight watcher points, to stop the weight from piling on.

My blood pressure and blood sugar have been right on the mark and I haven't had any swelling. I stopped wearing my wedding rings immediately when I found out I was pregnant but I could be wearing them without an issue now. I've been gardening and swimming this summer. There is nothing better than swimming, but it is so difficult to get out of the pool with all the gravity coming back to bear. I like swimming in the nearby lake better because I can inch my way out of the water.

I only have a couple more weeks of driving at work, which is a big relief. Most of my far-away counties are behind me now. I have to go to Danville 3 more times, Monticello and Clinton once more each.

I'm getting pretty uncomfortable overall, but there isn't anything to complain about. The weather has been lovely and cool most of this summer. I'm healthy, the baby is seemingly healthy, and I'm looking forward to being off work with my boys SO much. Henry will be going to preschool for less than 3 hours a day and that will be a big relief to him. 45 or more hours a week in daycare is just too much for him.

Looking grown up

2009-06-07T16:54:00.000-05:00

Craving!

2009-06-05T07:07:00.002-05:00

This pregnancy has been free of cravings until the last week. I used to think I no longer liked berries. It turns out I don't like store bought berries. We grow strawberries in our yard and they are heavenly. Last year Henry and I picked blueberries at White Heath and they were heavenly.

So last Tuesday I was driving through Amish country and saw a sign for strawberries. Since our strawberries aren't ready yet I stopped for a quart. Delicious. The three of us sat down and ate the entire quart in one sitting. I couldn't get those strawberries off my mind. Two days later I passed through Amish country again and rerouted my normal drive from Sullivan to home in order to buy strawberries. Like, re-routed going through Tuscola, Champaign then 45 more minutes home instead of going through Decatur all easy peasy.

I stopped at two Amish home with strawberry signs only to find out they were OUT of berries. North of Arthur I saw a produce stand and pulled a U to get back there. With all this stopping and going I had passed the same Amish buggy THREE times. Strawberries! Glorious plentiful strawberries! My plan was to buy 4 quarts, 2 for co-workers and 2 for me. But there was a discount for buying a whole flat. An entire flat of glorious strawberries for $24. 8 Quarts. I hemmed and hawed because my that's a lot of strawberries, but I bought them.

Over two nights I cleaned, quartered, and froze 6 quarts berries. Now I can't unfreeze them fast enough. I have eaten them plain by the bowl full. I have eaten an entire quart unaided in one day. I see my freezer stock is down to 3 more quart size ziplock bags and I feel a wee bit panicked. What if I can't get back to Amish country soon enough to get more berries. How long will this berry craving last? One more flat? Two more flats?

At "book club" this week a woman mentioned strawberries are very high in iron. I haven't been taking iron pills this pregnancy and at the last OB appt I mentioned I was tired and the OB said I should start supplementing with iron. Woo Hoo! SHall I tell him I've begun supplementing with strawberries instead?

Maternity leave

2009-06-04T06:24:00.003-05:00

Every time I have a bad day in court I think, at least I only have to come to this county one or two more times before maternity leave. I am looking forward to being home with my boys SO much. But the quandary is how much time to take. The AGs office gives new mothers 15 paid days off, plus you can take benefit time. I haven't accrued much benefit time after being there a year, Henry's sick days ate up a lot of it. Then I can take up to 6 months unpaid. So the dilemma is how much unpaid time can I afford to take and whether putting two children in daycare makes working the best financial decision for us. Without additional negotiations for discounts, our current daycare would cost $23K for the one year between the time Quinn is born and Henry goes to Kindergarten. Bob and I went to Millikin and it didn't cost any $23K!

I don't know very many working moms with two children who don't have a grandparent providing low cost daycare, so I'm trying to lunch with some acquaintances so I can pick their brains. If you have two kids in a daycare center I'd love to hear how you make it work.

Barrel roll baybee

2009-06-02T18:04:00.002-05:00

This fetus, our second son, moves so differently than Henry. Henry was a classic kicker, while Quinino does these gigantic barrel rolls that literally turn my stomach. I don't remember being able to see Henry's movements through my clothes at six months either and this boy leaves a wake in his path. I'm curious about his size, whether he's larger than Henry, and slightly worried about his cord. But what can I do besides not raise my arms over my head ;)

Big bubble fun

2009-06-01T19:19:00.002-05:00

One mixing bowl half filled with water and dishsoap. We tossed in one of those single packet drink flavors (that none of us liked) for color. Tossed in some rocks just because, then blew bubbles in the water with straws. Our bubble columns got a foot tall sometimes before the wind carried them away high over the house. Very exciting and much easier for a 4 year old than regular bubble blowing. Sturdy bubbles too.

2009-03-25T07:25:00.004-05:00

I am starting to be able to feel the baby move. It's different than with Henry. Henry was like a butterfly or bubbles and this baby does full barrel rolls.

I was given a HUGE bag of professional maernity clothes by one of my mom's co-workers. I'm talking like a 40 gallon garbage bag of clothes! So without even venturing out to the stores (THANK YOU!) I'm all set on clothing for quite awhile. I'll need some new shirts in the last tri-mester, but for now my closet is bursting with things I can wear to court.

What am I going to DO?

2009-03-15T14:09:00.002-05:00

OMFG! Lane Bryant no longer has maternity clothes online. Because why? Fatties do not have sex or get pregnant? WHERE am I going to find clothes for work!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!