Putting on Ears

My husband is the consummate deal finder. The man never pays full price for anything. He has literally bought something on sale with a coupon for more money off than the cost of the item and the grocery store actually had to give him money to buy it. So, when he found a primo deal on a Sony MP3 player I was game. After all, everyone else on the planet has one so shouldn't I jump on the bandwagon too? I rarely listen to music anymore; the radio is permanently dialed into NPR. But I miss cleaning house or driving along with a great tune playing. So, off he goes to the Sony store and buys me one. He brings it home and I dig into my rather meager CD collection to begin ripping CD's to download. I get them all synced to the MP3 and eagerly put on my headphones. It sounds great and I am really enjoying songs that I have missed like a good friend that I have not spoken too for a long time. I am jamming along (or as close to jamming as someone my age gets) and should be having a great time. But, I feel vaguely unsettled and can not put my finger on the reason why. Then it hits me like a bolt, I am missing "having ears." It has literally been years since I have been able to drown out the world. It is a mother's job to have ears at all times. At first it was to make sure my baby was not crying, then it was to make sure my toddler was not destroying the house, now it is to guard against monsters and other scary things that invade my preschoolers dreams. I had completely forgotten the luxury of oblivion, sweet oblivion. It was decision time, do I keep the earplugs in and get some much needed solitude or do I succumb to the responsibilities of motherhood and resume my sentry duties? Well, God bless my deal seeking husband... five years ago he got a great deal on a baby monitor that lights up when junior in in distress. I placed it smack dab in front on my keyboard, put on the headphones, cranked the tunes, and have been free to do gloriously mundane tasks like update my blog. Thanks honey.

Doin' a little holiday decorating...

I got sick of looking at the same ol', same ol' around here. So, I did a little redecorating for the holidays. We are going to see the world's best Santa and Mrs. Claus on Saturday so I will be back soon with some pics. Here is a little walk down memory lane until then.....