Going Amish

We all have that happy place we go to. Most of the time for me, it's in a book. I love to get away from it all while in the comfort of my reading nook. Sometimes though....you really do need to physically get away. Just for a break. Lately, it seems I need to do that STAT. My special escape is not too far of a drive away from my house, I can get to it in an hour and a half. It's quiet, relaxing, has some good eats, and great friendly people. Yup, we like to escape to Lancaster, PA, or Amish country.

I know, I know. You're saying right now: "You go Amish?" Yes, we really do. We've been going to Amish country for years now and when we want to disconnect from the world, that's the best place to do it. It's like a little slice of peace pie when you go there. Life runs at the speed of a buggy, the day starts very early, and winds down at dinner time. Perfect! And this is coming from a night owl, ok?

While we are still Englischers (non Amish) to the friends we've made there, we try to respect their rules, so we don't offend anyone. We put cell phones away, take no pictures of any kind, and try to dress in colors and styles that are close to what they would wear. The Amish ladies always laugh that they can't tell our girls apart from theirs, as they are barefoot in dresses and bonnets, running around with the rest of the children. I always find that to be a nice compliment...I mean, there are worse things to be than dirty right? A little Tide and a good scrubbing takes care of that.

Truth is, we hold a special place in our hearts for Amish country and our Amish friends. When Banshee was 5 or 6 months old, she couldn't keep any commercial baby food down, even though we'd gotten the go ahead from the pediatrician. We decided to get away from life back home and ended up in the old schoolhouse, with a baby that was vomiting everything and would go catatonic almost after. Some Amish lady friends saw Banshee's problem and made her some homemade baby food. It was the first meal that Banshee kept down, along with breast milk, and she got fat during that trip very fast. It was a godsend. So, after that, we religiously went up every weekend to the farms to get our groceries. It has been a routine/tradition ever since the girls have known, and a fun one for the Sailor, who had never been exposed to that culture before.

While we are there, we visit the farms and see what's new with life: at the Esh farm, there's a new calf and a new quilt finished, at the Lapp place the ice cream is ready to eat, the Fishers have a cookbook out now and the best pretzels ever, Mr. Stolzfus has some yummy bacon burgers out in the freezer, pop by Zook's fabrics and talk cloth diapers with some of the Amish mamas there(yup, I got them on the cloth train again. They'd gone the disposable route), and at Bluegate farm, the shoofly pie is ready to eat. Of course, a visit wouldn't be complete without stopping by a local playground, where we can play with the Amish children, I can read my book, Sailor can eat a whoopie pie, and we can watch everyone cruise by in their buggies for an end-of-day treat. It's a different kind of fun, you know?

I always feel refreshed after a trip there. Almost like the simplicity of things, helps my brain to run on actual time and not hyper speed.  I'm sure Banshee feels the same way! Some of our Amish friends always tell her its ok to not like being around people(how they interpret autism), because they don't much like being around lots of people either. I think she likes that she can go at her own speed there and not struggle to catch up, while Pixy just fits right in. She asks questions, makes friends, and bounces along as she always does. Sailor likes to turn off his "music brain" and talk about landscaping and the outdoors with folks there, something he loves to do. So, it is always nice to reboot that way.

This doesn't mean I haven't made an ass of myself while there. I've had a breeze come by and blow my skirt up over my head one time while walking. I fell off the porch of a farm with an armload of whoopie pies that ended up in my face. I lost my shoes (I've been doing this since childhood, don't ask why), in a field and ended up needing to get new ones before we left. Oh!! My personal favorite, I got stuck on top of a mule because my dress got tangled. Yup....sigh!! At least, I know how to laugh at myself and laugh along with others, even though its at my own expense. My little family just shakes their head and says: Mama's always doing crazy things like that. Thing is, they're right. I think Amish country, though different, reminds me a lot of life in Puerto Rico. I want my girls to know that feeling and way of life. I think it's great. Now, let me go warm up the truck for the trip up.

                               Do you have a getaway spot to reboot? Tell us all about it! :) 

Top Ten Mommy Student Experiences

I'm currently finishing my PhD in psychology. I'm actually finishing up my dissertation. The quick and dirty on that is that I've done a research study, gathered my data, written a large chunk of a book (which will end up about 200 pages), and now I'm finishing up my last two chapters. My first draft of my final two chapters was due last Friday. So what do you experience as a student Mommy?

1. You're working on your school work and the 3 year old comes in and finds a loose sheet of paper and grabs a marker. You can either give up and escort him out or risk him coloring something important. Either way, something bad is going to happen. There will be a tantrum if you try to uproot the child or you'll have a colored on study guide. You give up. For now.

2. It's easiest to do school work when the kids are in bed, for sure. But by 8:30 pm you're so tired because the 1 year old was up 4 times last night with a fever that you're more interested in sleep.

3. You lay in bed feeling guilty for not doing your homework tonight. 

4. You've broken 3 DVRs because you've overloaded them with your shows and kid shows. You intended to watch your shows but realize you're three weeks behind on The Glades and Perception and they've both ended for the summer.

5. You feel badly asking your significant other to watch the kids so you can work.

6. When you do take off to work you are barraged with calls of "Where's mommy? Mommmmmyyyy! Where arrrre you?"

7. Cooking dinner while reading a journal article seemed like a good idea at the time. Then you're frustrated, dinner's burned, the kids are screaming, "I wanna watch Mike the Knight!" and you're ordering pizza. And nobody got jack done.

8. Reading period. Now that's a joke. I took Advanced Inferential Statistics and wanted ball gags for everyone else and noise canceling headphones for myself. Instead you learn to skim while sitting on the toilet for 5 minutes until the small hand comes under the bathroom door. "Mommy?"

9. Cleaning involves running the vacuum on Saturday before the 1 year old's 11 am nap and the 3 year old's 1 pm nap. You are chased around the house by two dogs who decide to eat the vacuum and two little boys who cover their ears and cry. You vacuum around things rather than move them because really, who does that anyway? Every time you clean you think about how you should be studying and ponder hiring a cleaning service. Then you think about how you'd be embarrassed and feel the need to clean before the cleaner got there and really, that's just silly.

10. "Mommy you sit an watch Toy Story with me?" I can't today baby boy, Mommy has to do work. Guilt. Sadness. Remember, you're doing this to be a good role model and to provide for the Small People. So says your brain. But you still feel like crap.

Are you a Mommy or Daddy Student? What experiences have you had recently that I didn't put on the list?

That guy

Even though you're not asking for it, here's this Mama's daily advice: Be someone other than THAT guy.

C'mon, you know him! He is old, young, smart, dumb, tall, short, well-dressed, as dumb as a box of rocks, in a wife beater and/or in a business suit. Heck, he can even be a she!  Either way, they've  got that "screw you, here's to me" mentality. This makes their first name THAT and their last name GUY!

Wait...ummm....oh.....Yep! A visual has registered and you are now picturing that guy. (Hopefully its not you! LOL)

Part of the problem is that these people don't know when they're being 'that' much of a douchebag! 

"Why yes, I'd love for you to pull in to the only diesel tank in the gas station...when you're driving a Civic (Clearly not a Diesel engine). Never mind the 5 open gas pumps that you could've pulled into. But, no. You chose this one. And, this diesel that I'm driving, yeah, guess what?! It can't run on gas, which makes this pump (hmm...the one that you're at) our only source of fuel. So, yes, that IS a glare in my eye while I listen to a screaming baby is in the backseat while waiting for your...self. I'm disgusted that your mama didn't teach you how to be considerate and know what's going on around you. I'm disgusted that your lazy butt is even lazier than I thought!"

But, no that's not for you. You're better than that! Don't be that guy. 

Be the guy who waves on a two way road while an oncoming motorist passes you. Make them wonder "WTF? I wonder why they are so happy" Be the guy that takes a moment at the grocery store. A moment that notices that the guy behind you only has a handful of items. Do something nice, let him go before you so you don't keep him waiting with your overflowing cart. 

It's called kindness. Kill people with it. 

What We Learned This Week - September 8th Edition

Another day another dollar...what did you learn this week?

Robyn: 

1. I've learned about a gadget update: I receive deals via email for local stuff. This week, I opened my inbox to find a car seat swivel tray on sale. Are you thinking car seat for a child? That's what I thought! So they can sit quietly in the backseat and eat their happy meal while mommy is driving with hands at 10 and 2, playing her favorite tunes! Hold up, that's not what's going down...EVER! (Just trying to be real here) Seriously, But NO! This is a seat swivel tray that attaches to the cup holders, that the driver can vegetate off of while commuting. To the purchasers of such ridiculousness: Eat up Fatties. Nobody will be surprised if you drive off a cliff while texting from your swivel tray, either! SMH.

2. I've learned how much busier life can get in the matter of a week. I got a call with a really good job offer starting in a few weeks (which puts 3 out of 4 kids in daycare, and time for running errands on the weekends, and finishing up my degree next year...) teenage turd has extra curricular stuff 3 nights a week, husband is finishing his masters degree (2 nights a week), and T-Ball starts in 3 weeks for kinder turd. I guess that leaves one thing for me to do...put on my cape and rock this! 

3. Last but not least, I've learned to take time for myself. Even if it's while the baby is napping during the week (that 'sleep when the baby does' advice is not for me!) 30-45 minutes of Insanity has given me a huge burst of energy throughout the day. Plus, i notice that the floor needs to be swept while doing pushups! Right after, I am like jello going up the stairs. But, it's motivation to not be a dent in the couch while lactic acid is building up in my muscles (that's where soreness comes from) I push through the workout and hmm...the house has been cleaner and laundry has been done since Tuesday! Imagine that! Plus, a mani-pedi Sat morning totally went down! Ahhh(sigh of relief), clean house and polished toes...this mama's in total bliss!!!

Lisa:

1. The girls were having a hard time with this move. They were very sad about the old house, so we got them to help with packing things into the truck, so they could get some sense of closure. They said their goodbyes to the house this morning and are asleep now in their new room in the new house. Feels good to know just how resilient they are. 

2. It's ok to take a break. Part of being pregnant is getting easily exhausted and for me a huge problem. I feel like I don't do enough, that I could be doing more to help out, and I find myself on the brink of exhaustion. With everything going on here, I realized that I was doing a lot and I should take it easier. I took some breaks but still a managed to help a bit. Now, if I could only find a long-lasting cure for cankles!! Yeah right. 

3. Neighbors are interesting people! Our old neighbors, which were awesome, could barely say bye to us today as we loaded our last boxes into the truck. We didn't realize how good we'd been as neighbors, until half our block came to wish us good luck. It was intense to say the least! At the new house, we met the new neighbors en masse and they were wonderful! They even brought us a treat as a welcome to the neighborhood. It felt nice but overwhelming to be welcomed that warmly. Always a good thing to learn that there are still really good people around. Now, if I could just figure out their quirks, we're in business.

Liz:
1) I've learned that I can sometimes be a hypocrite. My completed dissertation was due Friday (a schedule that I created myself at the start of this quarter). I got it submitted Friday at 4:22 p.m. I busted butt working on it all this week (even though I did work on it for about 30 minutes a day for the two weeks before that). A former student heard that I had submitted it just under the wire and said, "Huh Liz, you always tell us not to procrastinate but..." And she's right. For most things I'm not a procrastinator but for some reason I'm just tired of this dissertation. I'm ready to be DONE.

2) Sage (14 months) is droppin' the science on us - this kid is spitting out words left and right like it's no 'thang. This past week? Chicken, Mickey (Mouse), dog, ball, go (used contextually correctly), down...that's all I can think of for now. It's amazing how different two children from the same household can be. Silas said "ball" at 12 months and that was it for a while. Child #2 has the advantage of having three role models for language (and behavior) rather than just the 2 that Child #1 had.

3) After going back to work full time (after a summer of teaching just two online classes) I've realized I cannot keep up the pace I had during the summer. Laundry, dishes, cooking, diaper laundry (including wool washing and lanolinizing), grocery shopping, cleaning...after working 40+ hours (many from home at night) is not as simple as it was during the summer. I feel badly, but I'm considering finding someone to come clean the house once a week. Why do I feel bad? For some reason I feel as if I should be able to cut it myself (those damned "shoulds").

4) I need a motivator. Our race got cancelled (the race Robyn and I were supposed to run next Saturday). I'm bummed. Now we need to find another one to register for. I have to say this has slightly decreased my motivation to go running and work out in general. Bummer.

What about you, what have you learned this week?

If You Give A Mom A Saturday...

If you had the whole day with no children, how ever would you entertain yourself?!

Liz:

Sleep late. Even if I woke up early I'd still loll in bed for another 30 minutes checking email, then I'd get up and go to Starbucks for a White Mocha and some vanilla bean scones. Then I'd slowly make my way around Target and Lush and buy fun Mommy things. I'd browse a bookstore. I'd get some lunch at Jimmy John's (love their sandwiches) and call Robyn to see if she was home. If she was I'd go hang with them for a bit. If they weren't, I'd probably go to a movie (a new Vin Diesel movie would be good) and have dinner at Alamo Draft House. Then I'd go to bed early. I. Am. A. Rockstar.

Robyn: 

Wake up early in the late springtime. (No, I'm not crazy!) I'd be the first in line at Michael Kors to browse, try on and buy the perfect bag. Then, I'd peruse around with my new buy and a tall skinny caramel latte with an extra shot of espresso. (Hell yes to caffiene if not BF'ing) From there, I'd go home, change into a tank top, jeans, a bandana and boots. Only to climb on the back of Mike's Harley. Id slap on some sunscreen and strap my helmet down. We'd ride around all afternoon into the early evening, stopping for beers at random dive bars to quench our thirst. Meeting our friends along the way, and stopping at The Salt Lick in Driftwood for some rockin' BBQ would top of my perfect day!

Lisa: have some time for uninterrupted reading. I don't want to get up to fix anyone a sandwich, or cleanup the latest mess. I just want to lose myself in a good book and enjoy the day that way. That would be the most perfect Saturday!! Ever.


Your turn!! Tell the Mamas what your idea of an awesome Saturday sans kids would be.