7 Quick Takes Friday: Aftermath of the Early Bird Drug

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Somehow, it's always Friday when I just happen to wake up early.  I wonder, at the end of my blogging "career" just how many of these Quick Takes posts will end up mentioning how I'm usually a night owl and like to sleep in, but just happened to wake up early and stay up this morning.  And how many will end up mentioning that the neighbors are having a garage sale.  But yeah, they do host an inordinate number of garage sales each summer. 

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Speaking of being up early on a Friday and the neighbors having a garage sale, I JUST bestowed the 25-cent Thomas the Tank Engine toy to my delighted little boy this past Tuesday.  Guess it only took 2 months...  And he was only momentarily delighted because it was his consolation prize - literally - as he was undergoing some skin testing to rule out a few additional food allergies.  At least they didn't have to do a blood test.  He's been enjoying it fully since then, so I have no regrets.

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Did I mention I got up early today??  I'm always so excessively energetic when I do that.  I got a whole lot of gardening done this morning between 6 and 8 am, it's not even funny.  Too bad I didn't have an early bird morning two weeks ago when I came into possession of the plants that finally got put into the ground this morning.

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After the productivity explosion came breakfast, and after breakfast, the sloth.  Oh yes, I was busy, but I wasn't getting anything important or Idunno, beneficial to my family accomplished.  I was fighting with Picasa trying to get my blog header in order.  Then, when that was finally a success, I had to revamp my color schemes because my label links disappeared into the new background.  But I do like it - feels a little less rough around the edges. 

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I told myself I was going to write these Quick Takes as little breaks during my weekly checkbook balancing.  Hmm, maybe I should actually start that...

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Only 2 Takes left - better get a Silver Lining in here somewhere.  Ah yes, the sale of Mom and Dad's cabin, now finally final.  The cabin on a river with shipping freighters going by, with the gazebo and a pontoon boat moored just offshore - the one place I've stayed that felt peaceful - like a real vacation, regardless of what else was going on.  (Not sure how much the distinct lack of cell phone reception plays into this - perhaps quite a bit.)  It's no longer in their possession, and thus no longer accessible to us for beautiful, quiet, lazy summer weekends away.  But here's the Silver Lining - no more worry over mortgages or maintenance or troublesome neighbors for my parents, and many many happy memories for our family, including first boat rides, babies in life preservers, bonfires, and a gleefully infamous mud-fight along the shore during our courtship (talk about twitterpation!)

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Time for random adorableness, courtesy of our last (final, never happening again, waah!) trip to the cabin.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

7 Quick Takes Friday: Veni Sancte Spiritus!

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Maybe I need to rethink the timing of my Quick Takes posts.  The first thing on my mind is always how tired I am, or whether the coffee has kicked in yet, or how strange it is if I'm feeling more awake than usual.  This also leads me to question just how much sleep my body may need to function regularly and what it is I'm doing to short-circuit that.  My 2-year old never wanders around asking for coffee or letting me know just how sleepy he is.  (Wait, he did ask me to "lay down" this morning - which, after some questioning, ultimately translated to wanting to snuggle.)  Maybe it's something in the water.

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Vaccines have been on my mind a lot lately.  And the last thing I want to do is spark a big online debate/controversy about it (Who am I kidding?  It's not like I have a huge readership!)  But I am trying to get to the bottom of whether or not I think they're safe enough for me to entrust my children's health to.  At one time in my life, it seemed like the only people who didn't have their children vaccinated were a little strange, maybe a little fanatical.  Now the people I meet with this viewpoint don't seem so crazy.  I don't think they changed.  I did.  Now I just need to sort out the facts in my mind and come to a conclusion (with my husband's full cooperation, of course).  The question of morality also comes into play, considering the media in which many vaccines are developed.  Surely this is an issue every pro-lifer must take note of.
It would seem that in a debate like this, there are only a few possibilities.  One or both sides are misinformed, manipulating for the sake of money or power, or the two sides haven't figured out quite where the line is between their belief sets, where maybe both are on to something.  So many sources of information are completely one-sided and sometimes even self-contradictory. 

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I just had to go extract my son (the one who's always asking me to put his sister back down for a nap the very second they're both up in the morning) from the very same Pack'n'Play that his sister was already occupying.  The very same Pack'n'Play that she was admitted to for the sake of happy and separate play space.  Why are toddlers so fickle?!

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Between the vaccine deliberations and our new toothpaste, I can't decide whether I'm getting all crunchy (am I even using the term correctly?) or completely paranoid.  Not that anyone would suggest that a chemical-y lifestyle is ideal, but how far is too far and how much is ok?  For instance, if I really think soda is not good for my body, why am I still drinking the stuff?  What is an opinion worth, if you don't do anything about it in regards to the way you live your life?

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On the lighter side, I may actually be getting somewhere with my gardening, which has taken over my life since Mother's Day weekend.  That's what happens when your version of celebrating Mother's Day is going plant shopping with your mother and daughter and buying a ton of bare-root plants that you have not yet prepared garden space for.  Hey, it was fun!  And I'm decidedly blessed to have a husband that is ok with me spending so much time on gardening while (sort of) neglecting the inside of the house.  Love you, hubby!

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I love how my son loves books (and he even has good taste!), but if I have to read The Little Engine That Could, or Animal Strike at the Zoo 30 more times today, I may go nuts.  Or at least on strike myself.  It's kind of funny to have conversations (with other adults, that is) that end up with you quoting entire sections of children's stories.  It's almost like a crazy party trick or something, except it leaves your audience a little in question of your sanity.  C'mon, it's impressive, considering half the time I can't remember my own birth-date!  Maybe we can expand my little guys repertoire.  Or if nothing else, we'll just hide the books in question for a few days until he latches on to another title.

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This weekend is Pentecost - come Holy Spirit!  Considering the list above, I have many things to pray to the Spirit and ask for wisdom and peace.  Speaking of, check out Pray More Novenas - we've been doing one to the Holy Spirit that ends tomorrow.  It's a great way to work a few more devotions into your pray life without a lot of advance planning (always great for me)! 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

7 Quick Takes Friday: A little cheese with this whine, anyone?

It wasn't my intention to be all whiny and annoying, but I guess that's what happens when you're low on sleep, everyone in the family has had a cold over the past week, and you didn't get to see your Grandma again as a result...

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Babies definitely grow too fast.  Even when they're still "little" they can get so big, and when they're getting "bigger" mine is learning to mobilize WAY too quickly.  But who can tell an almost 8 month old that she's not allowed to start pulling up?  She is not at all satisfied with this whole slow-motion crawling deal.  That was so 2 weeks ago.

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I am far too easily distracted from normal, everyday duties.  My husband put laundry in the washer yesterday before he left from work.  It took me until mid-afternoon to realize the huge laundry pile from our Mother's Day weekend trip was no longer sitting by the basement door.  And no worries, I did get it into the dryer before it started to get all mildew-y, but this morning my poor husband was digging around for a work shirt, at which point I had to sleepily apologize for not getting the laundry upstairs.  Yeah, still sitting in the dryer.  Poor guy.

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There has yet to be invented a facial tissue soft enough for babies' noses.  Or maybe babies are genetically predisposed to fighting a nose-wiping tooth and nail.  Either way, in the end, no one's happy but baby's nose is slightly less snotty.  At least my 2-year old is learning to be cooperative on this front.

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I am not the chipper early bird I was last time I wrote a Quick-Takes, but I am still up before at least one of my kids.  (Looking back at that post, I'm now wondering what kind of crazy person wrote it - and if she was on drugs.  And what kind they were.)  He's taken to sleep til nearly 9 o'clock most mornings the last couple of weeks.  At least when we're at home.  Sleeping anywhere else requires earlier wake up times in toddler world.  But still, God Bless You, Dr. Weissbluth!  Forgive me for ever doubting you!  Now you just need to come up with a softer facial tissue, or an extinction program for nose-wiping fits.

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I'm coming to think that "Quick-Takes" is a misnomer.  Nothing is ever quick when you have two munchkins running around.  In fact, this has been interrupted so many times that the munchkinette is already back in bed for nap #1 and the coffee is starting to kick in.

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Bare-root perennials have a startlingly higher survival rate when you get them into the ground right away.  I know, it's amazing, right?  Why couldn't I understand this last year?

Just for fun, I'm going to use #6 for a little bragging about my formerly delinquent magnolia.  Isn't Miss Jane beautiful this year?

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Now it's obvious the coffee is kicking in - and I didn't think caffeine affected me.  Haha!  To end on a cheerier note, the sun is out again today, and we're looking at a third day of gardening this week.  It's amazing how much exercise gardening can be - I feel toned already!  Today, we conquer the new compost bin!  Whee!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!