Grumpalumpagus and a Giveaway

Posted on November 21, 2011 by NotoriousMLE

There are people in the world who like to volunteer. They cheerfully and willingly give up their time to good causes. I am not one of those people. Ocasionally though I get confused and sign up to help out with something. When the day comes to fulfill the commitment I always regret having signed up. Always.

It was in this begrudging spirit that I went to sell Christmas cards at my church gift fair yesterday. I was dreading it. You would think that selling cards for a company that employs young people orphaned in the Rwandan genocide and former-prostitutes who’ve escaped the trade would motivate me to show up bright-eyed and bushy tailed. It didn’t. I rolled in late, disheveled and rebellious.

Luckily there’s nothing though like 5 hours of talking up a program that gives people who’ve suffered immeasurable injustice the chance for decent living wages to turn your ridiculous heart around. Even a grumpalumpagus like me was swayed. By the end of the first hour I was heartened by how excited everybody was about the greeting cards. Little old ladies who watch their pennies religiously were excitedly planning who they would gift with their “special cards” and people I’ve seen every week at church but never talked to were throwing in extra donations to the cause.

And then they fed me lunch! A special “volunteers only” lunch served in the “serenity lounge” (Catholic school teachers breakroom). It was three different kinds of soup and homemade cornbread lovingly made by scratch by a retired chef from the congregation. By the end of the day my heart was filled with love and my belly was topped off with soup.

So I guess that’s why people like volunteering?

Still high off my foray into the world of “stuff good people do” I’d like to give away a pack of these super-awesome handmade greeting cards. Here’s the deal. Check out the company here and then leave a comment on this post telling me what you like about volunteering. I’ll anounce the winner the week after Thasnkgving.

Thirty-Two

Posted on September 22, 2011 by NotoriousMLE

My birthday was last week and my new age is only remarkable in that I am now the same age as my good imaginary friend Bridget Jones. Like her, I am still giggling like a schoolgirl with my girlfriends, falling off of gym equipment, eating too much dessert and in search of my “inner poise”. Quite frankly, it is impossible for me to imagine myself any other way.

#stripemania

Posted on June 11, 2011 by NotoriousMLE

Garbage Can in the Background=Extra Class

It’s come to my attention that bloggers are required to wear stripes at least once a week. I am an overachiever so I wore them twice.

The Bright Side

Posted on May 12, 2011 by NotoriousMLE

A lot of times my life is amazing, it’s full of adorable toddlers and tacos! Sometimes though life is not at all fun. I’d like to share some not-at-all-random examples:

You are being audited by the IRS.
Your plumbing backs up (again) spilling toxic sludge into your laundryroom. This toxic sludge evaporates and infiltrates your banking account somehow magically removing funds.
You are at the courthouse for multiple hours (again) to continue filing the never-ending adoption paperwork for a child that screamed from 6 pm-7pm the night previous.
The funding of your work project is best described as “unpredictable”

I know! You all are so jealous. :) You want to BE ME! I’m not saying all this stuff to whine (yes I am). I am saying it because blogging can give the impression that people have perfect lives which is not true for anybody. My life is blessed but it is not perfect. For every chocolate fest there is a disaster and somedays I just want to crawl under my desk, polish off a plate of cookies and hide like so…

Note: Picture dramatically staged for blogging purposes during my lunch hour. I do not actually sleep under my desk at work. I do eat cookies.

But ( I hope you knew there was a but!) even when life is feeling crappy, and your crapper is not complying there is always something to celebrate. A few more not-at-all-random examples.

You got Invisalign braces. (Cue the funeral march of your frankenteeth)
The comforter you’ve been wanting since for-ever from Anthropologie went on a magical sale and your put-upon husband agreed to the “too-bright” design.
Your child started sleeping thorugh the night again.
Your running Bay to Breakers this weekend with all your friends.
You received a Twitter DM from Rick Bayless congratulting you on being 1/2 way thorugh your cookbook project.

and oh yeah. Your friend completed her LAST round of chemo!

A solitude of space

Posted on February 10, 2011 by NotoriousMLE

There is a solitude of space
A solitude of sea
A solitude of death, but these
Society shall be
Compared with that profounder site
That polar privacy
A soul admitted to itself --
Finite infinity.-Emily Dickinson

I am a person who plays well with others. Friendly, outgoing and loud are all words that have been frequently deployed to describe me. Do you need someone to be your public speaker? Sure! Want me to facilitate a meeting? It would be my pleasure.

“People” is something I’m good at.

Except… I realize now that “people” kind of takes it out of me. I suspected this but I never truly knew it until I became a Mom. When you become a parent your whole life becomes “people”. A little person in the morning who shouts “Mama!” gaily at 6:30 am. A little person in the afternoon who screams inconsolably into your arms because he is so tired he’s lost his words. With a child you are almost never, ever alone and the second I lost my alone time I realized its importance.

Alone time is the white gallery wall that highlights the art. It’s the pause that helps you enjoy the symphony’s last minute. It’s the breath before the sigh. The pinch of salt that brings out the sweet.

In the rare moments I’m alone now I can physically feel my body re-setting. My shoulders relax, my heart thumps along slow and contented. I can feel myself becoming a person again. Humpty Dumpty, filling up the cracks and misplaced shell.

Two weeks ago we had the best time ever: playing in the snow with friends who are like family. Surrounded by his doting Tíos and Tías Elian’s eyes sparkled with joy and wonder. Relieved of the duty of caring for him alone Arnold and I relaxed sloppily: we enjoyed all of the freedom of not-parenting with none of the guilt.

It was bliss.

I notice though that Elian needs time to be alone. At some point his joy makes him manic, exhausted by fun he dissolves into tears. Two Fridays ago as I kissed away the tired I remembered again how important it is to spend time alone, no matter how much you enjoy the company of others. So on Saturday I stayed at the cabin with Elian while the others headed off to Emerald Bay.

I put him to sleep and happily sat down with a bag of chips and hot chocolate to read the afternoon away. I sat there alone in the stillness watching the waves and thought of my little one, sleeping in the other room, sighing in his sleep.

I thought about the ways he teaches me what I need through displaying his limits. His need to rest reminds me that I too am sometimes so very tired. His tears remind me that we all have to remember to temper our socialness with reprieves. It’s in teaching him that I learn in ways I couldn’t otherwise. He is like a mirror to my faults; with each tear he sheds I discover a crack in my own heart that needs repairing. So on Saturday we spent time together being alone. He in his crib, sleeping in a shaft of golden sun and me on the couch curled up with hot chocolate, chips and a good book.

Together in our solitude, we filled our souls and rested our bodies.

Breaking News

Posted on January 31, 2011 by NotoriousMLE

Me as a Snowman: Weary, slightly scared, yet triumphant!

I’ve been a bit neglectful of the blog and the Internet world in general lately but that’s because I’ve been working on a surprise side project: I went to the snow! OH wait, that wasn’t the side project, that was tomorrow’s post. Focus Senorita Notoriosa!

Okay.

The real deal is that I wrote a profile of local blogger Katie Swanberg which I entered in a local journalism contest. Even though I publish things on the internet all the time this was very scary. The SacPress is much more widely read than my blog so I felt much more exposed.

The submissions will be graded on many criteria and among them is community participation. So, pretty please as a favor to me. Would you mind hopping over to Sac Press, reading my article and perhaps leave a comment with your thoughts? You can click here to get there.

Snowlady MLE says thank you!