Friday, January 26, 2007

Friday Poetry

I've decided to try something new (attempting to update more frequently)

Friday (Japanese) Poetry!

This one by me:

「好きな時に休らい」
が若い子供のお母さん
へ言えない
でしょう

(No, it's not a Haiku.)

Translation:
suki na toki ni yasurai
ga wakai kodomo no okaasan
he ienai
deshou

[Rest whenever you like] <----(a lyric from a Japanese pop song I like)
is not something you can say
to the mother of a young child,
is it.

Maybe I'll try and keep this Friday poetry thing up.
Or - maybe I'll start scanning in some home-made art (by kids or me).

No worries, I'm not gettin' all artsy-fartsy. Just looking for other things to post besides news of Girl Scout cookies, rants on drivers in Minneapolis and /or the results of my colonoscopy (shudder). 'Cause really - I don't even want to know about those things.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Does this make me a bad mommy?

Every once in a while I'll hear a song that will actually bring back to mind a scent. Place. Person. Time. So strongly - so completely that it's nearly like time-travel. There's a Pet Shop Boys song that brings back Okinawa, 1987 and the scents of mint and my pink cotton bed spread perfectly.

There's an album Skalatitude by the UK ska band The Trojans that is the essence of summer for me. So strongly does it recall the feeling of summertime in Japan - riding in a Mini Rover with sun on my arms and sand on my feet and not a care in the world. I can practically taste the MOS genmai ice cream shake and smell the suntan lotion.

Occasionally a song I've never heard can ..affect.. me so much that I experience the same sort of thing - even while I have no former associations or memories connected with it.

This past weekend I was driving to church with only my youngest child in the minivan. The radio had been left on the channel I listen to most often on XM. It just happened that it was the weekend "countdown" of week's most popular international tunes.

This is the song that came on:
--------------------------------------------------------
Nelly Furtado/C. Martin "All Good Things (Come to an End)"

Honestly what will become of me
don't like reality It's way too clear to me
But really life is daily
We are what we don't see
Missed everything daydreaming

Chorus:
Flames to dustLovers to friends
Why do all good things come to an end
Flames to dustLovers to friends
Why do all good things come to an end
come to an end come to an
Why do all good things come to end?
come to an end come to an
Why do all good things come to an end?

Traveling I only stop at exits
Wondering if I'll stay Young and restless
Living this way I stress less
I want to pull away when the dream dies
The pain sets in and I don't cry
I only feel gravity and I wonder why

[Chorus]
Well the dogs were whistling a new tune
Barking at the new moon
Hoping it would come soon so that they could
Dogs were whistling a new tune
Barking at the new moon
Hoping it would come soon so that they could
Die die die die die

[Chorus]

Well the dogs were barking at a new moon
Whistling a new tune
Hoping it would come soon
And the sun was wondering
if it should stay away for a day
til the feeling went away
And the sky was falling on the clouds were dropping and
the rain forgot how to bring salvation
the dogs were barking at the new moon
Whistling a new tune
Hoping it would come soon so that they could die.
------------------------------------------------
This song could have been written by my 22 year old self. I have old journals filled with this theme: "I want to pull away when the dream dies" - running from everything, never slowing down to feel pain - even if it meant running to the other side of the planet.

Many, many failed relationships flashed before my eyes in a sad parade. I was no longer seeing the street I was driving on - I was a million miles away lost in memories. (Good thing there weren't too many people out on the roads on Sunday morning, eh?!)
I was completely silent lost in my thoughts. (Typically I chat with the kids when they're in the car with me.) It was five minutes of complete time and space travel. The faces of former loves and friends, the tears, the pains I caused and the hurts I felt - all flashed by and felt as real as a smack in the face.

When the song ended it took a few moments to realize where I was and what I was doing. Then, two thoughts arrived at once: "I must get this song on my iPod." and: "Poor Mr. Man! I've just been off in space and haven't said "boo" to him!"

Then I apologized to Mr. Man for zoning out - but no worries, he'd been sort of cat napping on his own. It wasn't until we pulled into the church parking lot and he started crying: "No church! No church!" that I really snapped back into mommy mode. Any sound of distress from my kids snaps me back to present and into full-on-mommy-mode in an instant.

Perhaps years from now I'll hear this song again and all it will call to mind is how fleeting it is that the kids are little - and how foolish I was to wallow in old memories when I could have been savoring a conversation with my littlest child who's just learning to talk. After all:
"But really life is daily / We are what we don't see / Missed everything daydreaming "

Friday, January 12, 2007

At Least I'm Consistent...

If there's one thing I'm good for - it's funny stories. And embarassing myself.
I'm nothing if not workplace inappropriate. In an effort to try and be witty I usually end up more like class clown and embarass myself frequently. It brings to mind something my father would say, exasperated with me, when I was younger: "Diarrhea of the brain causes run of the mouth."

Sadly, coupled with my inability to think first before opening my mouth is a wicked case of being my own worst critic. So, not only do I say stupid things..but then I kick myself for days over it. (Well, or hours. Really depends on how mortified I am.)

Today a co-worker stopped by for a band-aid because he'd heard I had some in my desk. On seeing his cut I went all maternal -- mommy-mode kicked in and I opened it and started to put it on his hand for him (when I should have just handed it over).... and then it happened I said (in my mommy voice) : "Awwww... want me to kiss your boo boo?"

Pardon me while I go kick myself for a while....

The Highest Praise

Just an observation.. but, I've discovered the nicest thing you can say to another mom (at least among the mothers I know) my age is: "Wow, you are a really busy lady!" It needs to be said with admiration for their hectic schedule - not a trace of sarcasm. Alternately, you could say (with LOADS of sarcasm) - "Sure, in all your spare time. Ha!"

At a Girl Scout meeting for my older daughter last month another woman who's helping with their spring camp-in event made a brief presentation. She works fulltime downtown like me, teaches an exercise class at the Y and had come directly, sweat soaked, from her class to her daughter's troop meeting to present on options for the event presentation the girls would do.
On chatting with her afterwards (and exchanging email addresses - and realizing we'd worked in adjoining buildings for much of the past 4 years) I said: "Wow, you are really busy. How d'you do it?" It's a rhetorical question - but I tell you, she absolutely smiled as wide as I've ever seen her smile - then quickly recovered with a sheepish shrug. Still, I could tell it was the ultimate compliment to the busy working mom.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Marking His Territory


Jan8th_kitchen_floor
Originally uploaded by Geeky Mama.
This is our kitchen floor. More specifically -- what you can't see (but it's there!) is a small, almost clear puddle (puddle? piddle?) on our kitchen floor.

Here's the scene. It's after dinner and hubby and I are clearing the table. Middle daughter has run off to play upstairs and Mr. Man, our 2.5 year old, is underfoot. We've just taken him out of his high chair and he's chatting with us in the kitchen as we clear the table and start cleaning up after dinner. (He's just gotten really talkative! It's that really fun stage where each day he can express himself a bit more - he learns new words almost daily.)

I'm at the sink rinsing dishes and then I hear this:

Hubby: "Uh, what are you doing?"
Mr. Man: "Peeing!"
Hubby: hysterical laughter

Mind you - he's still in diapers. But hubby turned around from loading the dishwasher to see Mr. Man shall we say.. assuming the pose. His stance was perfect.

The funny part is the EFFORT he had to go to. I mean - he's wearing a diaper after all. So he had to shove his pants and diaper down a bit .

We guess he's either marking his territory... or telling us he's ready for potty training.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Getting With the Program

I'm not big on New Years Resolutions. In fact, I'm generally not into New Years in the US at all. I personally prefer to celebrate Ohshogatsu (Japanese New Year).
So to all: "Akemashite Omedetou!" Welcome to the year of the boar. I like to call it the year of the inoshishi (Japanese wild boar) because that's much better than it being the year of the pig (buta) or year of pork. Not nearly as cute as saying: "inoshishi".

New Years in Japan is a flurry of activity at the end of the year - writing and sending Nengajou (New Years Greetings postcards), and cleaning up your house like crazy.. and gathering and cooking up a bunch of food (s'posed to prepare Osechi Ryoori) so that you don't have to do anything for the first few days of the New Year except watch TV, drink and eat.

In our house, we sorta did this. We cleaned up and organized the house a ton. I'm really pleased with the results. And I made a special Japanese meal for New Years Day. It didn't turn out perfectly - but it felt good to give it a try. And it made for nice leftovers for the dreaded first day back at work.

I have to say the closest I've ever come to thinking I might need some anti-depressant medication was on the eve of my return to work after 10+ consecutive days off at home with the kids. It was really hard to get back to the routine. This work week has felt sooooo lonnnnng and it's even a "short" week thanks to having Monday off!

Ne'ertheless - I'm getting back with the program. The lack of snow and warm temperatures sure helps. I don't feel sedentary or like staying in and keeping cozy when it's almost 50 degrees out. It's more like (late) spring around here!
Today I hit the gym for the first time in the new year - and I'm definitely back into the swing of things at work.

So. Back at it. Time to get with the program. Feeling refreshed and ready to be back at it.

Um.. so how long till summer?