Self photography while nursing a baby.

I updated my post with what really happened.

Six weeks from today, my husband graduates and we move halfway across the country. Fortunately for me, the expected deployment isn’t happening, so I can look forward to this move with excitement and not dread.

As you might expect, the next few weeks will be just a little insane. It can’t be helped. One does not pack up an entire house and six small children and a dog without a certain degree of chaos: 360 degrees of chaos to be exact. No matter which direction I will turn, bedlam will be right there, guaranteed.

Could I resolve to exercise more? Eat better? Rest or relax? What’s the point? I know I won’t do it.

This month, I’m going to pray. A lot. Daily rosary. Daily Mass if my husband’s schedule permits. I need all the graces available to make this transition a pleasant one.

What is a New Month’s Resolution? Every month I look at where I need to focus my attention. Perhaps I’ve been procrastinating on certain chores. Perhaps I need to spend some extra time with one or more of the kids. Perhaps I’d like to try a new habit. New Month’s Resolutions are not grandiose plans to lose ten pounds or declutter the entire house or give up smoking (of course, I don’t smoke, but if I did, this would not be the venue in which I would give it up). New Month’s resolutions are short-term commitments; they are easily attained goals; they focus on what is needed right now, instead of what is best for a lifetime.

Do you have a new month’s resolution?

Tomorrow’s (projected) schedule:

530 am wake up, get dressed, leash dog, run 2 miles
woke up on time, but so did Mary: no run, just coffee
615 am pour coffee, collapse in sweaty heap
616 am fetch crying baby
700 am shower, get dressed
baby fell asleep about 715 am and I got in the shower then
800 am start telling kids they need to eat and get dressed
check
815 am kiss Bill goodbye
check
830 am hunt down children for lessons
check
1030 am organize children in mid-morning cleanup
at 10 am the packer called and asked if he could come early (like now), I declare recess to cheers
1045 am send the one child who hasn’t completed school work to bedroom to work
at 910 am I sent an easily distracted child to his room to do math
1100 greet Mr. Packing Company Guy, show him around my tidy home, point out things like 100 year old piano that weighs 750 pounds and has no working wheels
Mr. PCG was gone by 11 am, house was not at all tidy; I had to push toys aside and feared greatly that this man who was easily in his 70s would trip; he was unfazed by the piano (he’s not the one moving it!)
1130 am greet friends coming over for playdate, wonder how many more closets Mr. PCG has left to view
Bill got out of class early and got home a few minutes before friends showed up
1145 am shake hands with Mr. PCG, rush out door with a mixture of children leaving little ones at home with friend, go to Mass
took Bill with me to Mass
1200 pm bask in the relative quiet of Mass with no toddler
ha! Mary is babbling now, and loudly
1210 pm irritatingly note that Mass with five school-aged children is a lot of work too
Bill and I sat behind the five kids and could easily monitor and correct chit-chatting
1230 pm ask another friend over for lunch and playdate
check
1235 pm arrive home and note uncomfortable husband conversing with woman he found in his house when he came home from school
110 pm suddenly remember Katie has a doctor’s appointment and beg Bill to take her despite him not being done with his lunch
he knew, but lunch was rushed
300 pm greet Bill and Katie as they return, say goodbye to friends leaving, realize I haven’t even thought about dinner, panic
Well. Friend A left her kids and took car for an oil change. Bill and Katie came back. Friend B and her kids went home. Bill left for his own doctor’s appointment. Friend A called because she left her wallet at my house and couldn’t get back on post. I round up 10 children and load van to deliver wallet. At some point, my hairdresser called and asked if we could reschedule for 730 pm instead of tomorrow afternoon. Sure!
315 pm organize another pickup-the-house party, threaten slackers with no outside playtime
Upon return from delivering wallet, told kids they had to clean up before they could go out, nearly went deaf from the protests, but at least they had their friends to help them
420 pm round up children and have them don uniforms for baseball games, remember that I haven’t thought about dinner since 3 pm, panic more
this involved complete changes of clothing for all kids because they partook in a water gun fight
440 pm take everyone but Jenny to Fritz’s baseball game, Bill takes Jenny to their parent-child baseball class
we drove to Burger King first and ordered take-out
550 pm leave Fritz at game and take everybody else to Billy and Katie’s baseball game
at 530 it started to rain. The worst part is that Fritz’s game was only in the 2nd inning; had they completed the inning it would have counted, but now he has to make it up on Tuesday.
630 pm greet Bill, Fritz and Jenny at the game
Bill and Jenny met us at home around 545 pm
715 pm shepherd the starving children into the van, really panic
at this time, I left for my hair appointment, Peter opened the door and the dog escaped chasing a squirrel, got dog, got in car wondering how long I would feel guilty if I fled to Aruba
720 pm feed everyone PB&J and ice cream
750 pm scrub dirt off Peter, tell everyone to get ready for bed
Peter had a proper bath before I left
815 pm say prayers, nurse Mary to sleep
I returned home, prayers were done, everyone was ready for bed, I wash Mary up and get her in her PJs
910 pm blog about how inaccurate my prediction was
I did my other blog post first, Mary woke up and I nursed her again, then worked on this one

1015 pm go to bed

On Friday I received an email from Russell Goldman of ABC News. He had seen my blog entries about the HPV vaccine, and wanted to interview me for an article.

OK, I’m game, I thought, as I emailed my phone number.

A few minutes later, I was telling him my problem with the vaccine: that the government mandating its use without sufficient proof of its safety and for something that is only spread through sexual contact is wrong.

I don’t have a problem with a parent making that choice for their child (although I do fear that parents are overly trusting and ignorant of the risks, including death). I’m not saying my children will never receive the vaccine, and I can think of reasons why they should get it. My problem is with governmental interference and the use of my children as human lab rats.

After several minutes of making my point and sticking to it, Mr. Goldman thanked me for my time, but he admitted he was looking for someone who was basically just opposed to the vaccine because they felt it would encourage their children to have sex.

No kidding, I thought.

His article is here. He did manage to find a mother who could provide the quotes he wanted, so my voice of reason is missing. It reminds me of research papers in high school and college where I would blatantly ignore any literature that didn’t agree with my thesis and selectively quote those that did. In essence, the HPV vaccine is all good, and the only people who are opposed are religious nuts.

Now, that last sentence was sarcastic, but certainly somebody could quote me out of context to make it seem like I approve of the vaccine.

I had to run an errand in St. Joseph, Mo yesterday and dragged the kids away from the usual Saturday mid-day neighborhood happy hour where adults and kids alike were outside enjoying the pleasant weather. They were not excited to be leaving their friends to go to a museum for mandatory family fun. Heck, I didn’t want to go myself. But I wasn’t going to waste all that gas to get to St. Joe’s and not do something else while there.

We went to the Pony Express National Museum. It was great. Well, good. I wouldn’t build a major travel vacation around visiting it or even visiting St. Joseph’s, but it was worth the 45 minute drive, and Bill was happy to have four hours of peace and quiet.

Peter in the saddle.

Katie pumping water for the horses.

The kids at a relay station waiting for the mail.

Fritz in buckskin.

Billy in a coonskin cap.

Across the street at a playground they had this stagecoach. Katie is the horse, of course.

It cost $4 for adults and $2 per kid over age 7. In the bookstore, I picked up three books for kids, including two based-on-fact easy readers. Total cost for tour, books and one piece of candy per child for good behavior: $30.

Yesterday evening, I was putting on my coat, and Bill was buckling the baby in her seat when the phone rang. The restaurant where we had dinner reservations at 6 pm was calling to apologize, but the entire place had been booked for a private party, and they couldn’t accommodate us that night. Had this guy waited another minute to call us, we would have been out the door.

We went to the Kansas City Originals website to look for another restaurant. This website is great:

The Kansas City Originals exists to promote dining in local independent area restaurants, to provide diners with a unique local flavor and to raise awareness of independent restaurants both locally and nationally.

I totally dig that idea. When we traveled out here from Virginia last summer, we stopped at chain restaurant after chain restaurant. It was fine, because I needed to feed little children and didn’t need any extra stress related to noses turned up at the different ways individual chefs prepare similar dishes. McDonalds chicken nuggets in Ohio taste just like McDonalds chicken nuggets in Missouri.

But when we got to town, I pointed to the local Applebees and said, “We will never eat there.” And so far, we haven’t. We don’t go out often, but when we have, it has been to privately owned places (although we have done take out pizza and an occasional chicken nugget lunch at nationally known chains).

So, last night we picked another place and off we went. It is so nice to eat at a place that does not have a children’s menu. Mary was the only person in the joint under 25. She received lots and lots of attention, and behaved perfectly. She made me look like a fantastic mother. There was a pregnant woman dining nearby, and I really hope it’s not her first. She’ll be sadly mistaken that babies are really easy, and cry herself to sleep when her little one doesn’t sit nicely for twenty minutes quietly babbling a chorus of “uh-BUH-buh-buh” before settling down to discreetly nurse to sleep and allow herself to be placed on the upholstered bench next to mom.

Babies, by the way, kill the social life of a woman. I haven’t been hit on for ten years. If you are a single woman looking for love, do not take your little niece or nephew out in public.

But babies do wonders for men. I don’t know why it is, but single women flock to guys with babies. My husband, who is a dashing fellow, has been hit on more times in the last ten years than he ever was in his whole bachelor life. And the more children he has, the more attractive he becomes. Go figure.

Apparently, single gay men also are attracted to men with babies. I did not hear the man, who was obviously flirting with my husband, when he asked, “Yours?” If I had, I would have quickly said, “Oh, we’re just friends,” just to see if my husband could have scored a phone number. But Bill proudly admitted to being the father of six and ruined any fun.

All in all, it was a pleasant evening out. The house was trashed when we got home (why did I bother to straighten up before the babysitter came?), but everybody was happy.

Yesterday, I received the following comment on this old blog post:

We found a lump under my daughter’s chin on Tuesday. After 2 antibiotic shots and oral antibiotics the doctors have decided it may not be a swollen lymph node and have arranged for a CT scan. I was scouring the internet for info and found your blog. I found your words comforting and identified with your thought of only God can truly comfort you at a time like this..our husbands may try but that is too much to expect of one person. I pray our outcome is as positive as yours, but covet the prayers of your family and any other prayer warriors who read your blog for our 2 year old daughter, Sarah.

Please pray for little Sarah, and also for her family.