Utter Failures

Jeremy and I have been together for 12 years now and married for nine of those years. In that time, we've gotten to know each other really well. We can pretty well predict how the other will respond to a given situation. We generally know how the other feels. We can walk in a store and be able to point out what the other person will like and won't like. That's how it (*usually) is NOW. However. It wasn't always that way. Let me tell you a little tale. Once upon a time, when Jeremy and I were first dating and getting to know each other, it so happened that Jeremy's birthday was fast approaching. I was unsure what to get him. On this particular day, we had gone to a store and were browsing in the video game area. One of the displays had a new game out: Ninjabread Man! Now... (narrator chuckles) You and I both know that this game doesn't look that amazing when compared to, say, Legend of Zelda, God of War, Final Fantasy, or any other game that I knew Jerem...

Before I write this blog post, I want to say a few things. By its nature, this post is exclusive. It is about one thing and not about other things. But it is not meant to say that one thing is better than another. It's just not about all those things. All of us who are parents are doing the best we can. I respect and admire those who choose to stay home with their little ones full-time. You're doing hard work, and it's a great thing.  I see a lot of posts from parents who stay home with their children talking about how they love it and it's the best thing. They can't imagine not doing that. Wonderful! I see posts that get shared that extol staying home full-time with your children. That's great, too.  But this post is specifically for the mom who works full-time outside the home. I don't see much for those of us who do that, so this is for us. I know "working mom" is a bit of a misnomer since all moms are working moms, but for clarity's s...

I haven't blogged here in a long time. Why? Well, a couple of reasons. One, I have been busy and tired. Like, more tired than I think I've ever been. Not an "I stayed up too late" kind of tired but an ongoing state of being low on fuel kind of tired. Not that I'm complaining. On the contrary, I have more joy than ever. But, you know, the kind of joy that's messy and tired and running around like a crazy person... that kind of joy! =)  Here's my stream-of-consciousness update of what's been going on. We recently welcomed our second little one to the family: Sebastian Kai. Sebastian is a name we've always liked, and "Bastian" is the main character from The Neverending Story. Also, "Bast" is my favorite character from The Kingkiller Chronicles (he's a fae, and he's -- forgive my language -- badass). Alice and Sebastian -- both our kids have literary first names. Kai is also a name from a book series we both love (The Bloo...