jubyred

Who's Dirty?

Some of the, er, "more mature" ladies at The Circus were asked to participate in a photo shoot for Meyer's cleaning products. These photos were to appear in print, as smart phone applications, and as videos as part of the "Meyer's School For Boys" campaign. leave it to our students to make cleaning dirty.

From the website:

(click to view larger)

Pretty funny stuff.

 

 

  

 

Every Day

Did I mention that my kids love music?  It's one of those inherent things about children that I adore.  These scenes play out every single day in my house. 

This one is from Valentine's Day.  We were cleaning out some old costumes and GirlChild found some fake hair to really put her in the mood to rock out.  She's looking into a mirror in case there was any doubt.  I love the way she makes up words and has her rock-n-roll pronunciation.  And how she throws in a "Baby" every now and then.



Rock N Roll Valentine's Day from shannon cobourn on Vimeo.


And then there's yesterday.  I woke up Sunday morning to the drumming and singing.  They do this for hours.  This is four minutes and probably only remarkable if you are related to these children, but figured I'd post it anyway.  Again, I love her stream of consciousness lyrics and her made up rhyming words.  The drum solo is also particularly awesome.




Cobourn Family Band from shannon cobourn on Vimeo.

Day Four

So far, so good.  I could totally get used to this new gig.

The children went back to school this week and Drew went back to work.  So this has been my first real week of SAHMdom since Fall 2006.  It's like riding a bike, really.  I have managed to find my way back to yoga pants and the daily pony tail with great ease.  Only this time, it's like having a much better bike.

My work sitch has gotten a bit more complicated.  None of that has been as black and white as I was anticipating.  Basically, I wasn't laid off although it sort of seemed that way.  Instead, I was converted to a contract employee.  So work didn't exactly just disappear.  instead, I am still checking in regularly, checking voice mail, checking email.  It all comes through on my iphone all day long and, mostly feels like kind of an interruption to my day.

I certainly have the option of calling them up and saying "thanks, but no thanks" and just be done with it.  But I don't want to do that either.  Just because I'm not earning a salary, I have the opportunity to continue working and earn more commission on the placements I make.  I'd like to keep that option open.  No sense in burning bridges.  Plus, with the current state of the economy, I think they are sort of counting on me to do that.  What I can't commit to is 50 hours a work each week for no money.

They see this as a temporary arrangement.  As soon as the economy picks back up and agencies are hiring again, they intend to get everyone back to salaried jobs and everything proceeds as it did before.  The thing is, I'm not really interested in that.  This thing with work has allowed me to step back and take a look at what our life has been like for the past two years.  It has been barely managed chaos.  I knew it all along, but it has become abundantly clear with a bit more perspective.

My husband has been a champ about stepping up to fill in the gaps, but I am not married to a multi-tasker.  He'd readily admit to that.  His mind works in a completely linear fashion.  He starts one thing and continues with that until it's done.  Then he starts something else.  That means that a lot has fallen through the cracks.  We've been walking in the door with the kids trying to cram hours of stuff into the space on an hour and a half.  And important things get lost-dinner and catching up and reading and baths and snuggle time and all of it just can't be done if they are to actually get enough sleep so their little bodies aren't dragging all day.

Just this week, I've been able to get BoyChild from the bustop each day and do activities with him.  I can set him up with an apple and watch him do his homework.  He has clean clothes in his drawer each morning.  We can go to the playground and run and swing and I have time to hear about his day.  GirlChild can have her hair braided in the morning and there's time for her to sit on my lap and let me hold her silently for thirty minutes which is what she loves (me too).  These little things sound so obvious and mundane, but unless it was the weekend, they weren't happening much.  Most of my time was spent telling them to "hurry up" or "spit spot."  I am working on eliminating those phrases from my vocabulary unless completely necessary.

So even if my boss called me tomorrow and said, "Ok, never mind.  Come back and we'll pay you and it will all be like before," I would not be interested.  This is where I need to be. 

But after some back and forth with her, some conversations with Drew and much thought, I have decided to go into the office one day a week.  This will allow me to keep my foot in the door, to not feel guilty about what I'm not doing at home, to check in with my colleagues occasionally , and still use my brain a bit.  I'll wait until traffic dies down so it takes me a half an hour to get there instead of an hour and a half.  And since I'm contract, I can leave whenever I want to.  Drew can work from home those days so there's no difference in gas money or childcare. 

I'm hoping this will be the balance I've been craving.  Maybe. 

And the other days of the week, I am managing this house and this family, which I really think I'm good at.  I have been working out every day and eating clean.  I swear, this is gonna be the year I get hot.  The phone guy is coming out tomorrow to hook up our wireless Internet connection.  I have been on the phone with the insurance companies and our investment guy and have been calling moms to arrange play dates with BoyChild's friends.  I have sewn on his cub scout badges and am caught up on laundry.   I know, I know.  Yawn.  But it's this kind of stuff that totally gets me off. 

Movember

Looking for a good cause?  Into the 'stash?

My pal Nick is goin' all Burt Reynolds for Men's Health.  Join us in supporting him here.

Scary Stuff

This was the first year that BoyChild requested to be something scary.  Mission accomplished, I think. 

I spent a month convincing GirlChild that a ladybug was THE costume of the season.  Who wants to be a boring ole princess or fairy like every other four year old girl?  That's not unique.  But a ladybug.  Now, that is special.  Oh, and I had already bought the costume and didn't have to sew anything.

 

More Babies

They say weddings and babies come in waves, but I must admit, I'm a little afraid to drink the water in my neighborhood considering the number of babies on the way.  Just a couple weeks after the last baby shower, here's another with even more preggos in attendance.  Congratulations to Brooke and the little pink bundle cookin' in the oven.  And kudos to her for her Grace among some (highly entertaining) mother-in-law jabs.

How many pregnant women are in this picture?  Four?  Five?  I lost count.

  

In Uniform

When I was in first grade at a Catholic school, once a week several of the girls came to school dressed in their Brownie uniforms.  I wanted to be a Brownie with little fringed elastic bands to hold up my knee socks and the little brown sash with my patches sewn to them.  My mother told me that when we moved, she'd arrange it.  And she did.  Not only did she get the pertinant information, she was troop leader.  While other troops made oatmeal to earn their cooking badges, my mom taught us to make fetuccini alfredo.  While other girls ran and did sit ups for their fitness badges, my mom taught us how to belly dance.  Needless to say, I loved it.  I never went any further than that one year, but I have very fond memories of singing songs and crafting puppets and being part of a very cool club.

With that memory in mind, I enrolled BoyChild in Cub Scouts.  Admittedly, I have some issues with the organization.  But I approach it as I do church.  I believe in the individual power of its members to make of it what they will.  Change comes from within.  So, you show up and participate and take the very best from it and be open and honest and willing to listen.  And you expect the same from them.  That being said, I like the emphasis on service and family.  Each Monday, it is an opportunity for him to be a BOY with no guilt over wanting to yell and scream and run and be silly.  His two best friends and classmates are in his pack and he is loving it.

Last night, he earned his first badge as a Tiger Cub, the Bobcat badge which he received for memorizing his Scout promise and the Laws of the Pack.  Once he "does a good deed" (my choice), I get to sew the patch on his shirt in the appropriate place. 

Penis Envy

I have never once wished I was a man.  Not even for one little second.  When boys would say, "Yeah but you have to deal with childbirth and having periods and makeup and all that stuff,"  I'd just shrug my shoulders and say "Yeah, but you have that thing on your body just hanging there."   I have always really been happy with my gender.

But then I saw this handy dandy product and now, well, it got me thinking of all those times in college drinking beer out in the woods, fearful I'd pee on my feet. Maybe it IS better to have a penis?  Maybe I've really been missing out all these years?  Perhaps standing up while peeing is really where-it's-at.

Nah. 

Vizualizar

My company is heavily involved in alternative forms of marketing (which aren't even 'alternative' anymore) both on our side, to promote our company, and because we work primarily with advertising agencies who get paid a lot of money to come up with these campaigns.  As a result, I get to see a lot of cool ad stuff.

Here's the link being passed around the office today.  Some cool viral marketing.  I'm guessing my bilingual husband can translate it for me. 

1. Type your first name on the first line

2. Type your last name on the 2nd line

3. Skip email address

4. Click on "Vizualizar" and see what happens.

How do they do that?

Dum Dum Dee Dum

Last weekend, we got to attend the reception for Nick and Audrey who tied the knot in the backyard earlier that morning, surrounded by family.  Their 2 year old son, Roman, was the best man.

I've known Nick since before I could drink legally and he's seen me through some nasty times.  I couldn't be happier for the three of them. They've been a real family for years now, so this doesn't change a lot, except it was a beautiful way to acknowledge that and share it with them. 

Audrey was a vision, flitting around the party like a fairy (a really tall fairy), champagne in her hand, smiling non stop.  Here they are below, after Audrey nailed Nick in the face with cake.