Online Shopping For Refrigerators

Have you ever tried shopping for refrigerators online?  This is what it looks like:

This is a screen shot of my attempt to browse refrigerators on Sears.com

Do you see a problem with this picture?!  Which one do I click on?  They all look the same!  Not only that, but they are all called the same too:  "  Top Freezer Refrigerator".  I hope no one seriously expects me to click through all 34 of these ("only" 34, after I have narrowed down the choice based on size, volume and color).

Summertime, And The Living Is Easy

I have now officially joined the ranks of working moms.  Let the flood of guilt and contradicting emotions begin.

July 3rd

One of the biggest surprises of going back to work for me was to discover that going to work seems easier than staying at home and taking care of my baby.  It was hard for me to admit this realization to myself and even harder to reveal it to others.  But I am glad I did--it turned out that to many it was not surprising at all, and many others had similar feelings in my situation. 

At work I know exactly what I need to accomplish in order to get my job done.  If I do not know how to do something, at least I know whom to ask for help.  If a problem lingers, I escalate the issue, ask for more help, and otherwise try to approach the problem in a different way.  I have experience and a good amount of confidence in what I do.

At home I have to make multiple decisions per hour, each of which has a direct and significant impact on another individual, a little human being, who has but cannot clearly express his desires, fears or pain.  It is exhilarating to see Nat smile at me.  But when that smile turns into a frown, I find myself troubleshooting the worse "bug" of my life.  People say, "Mother knows best."  Oh how I wish I was one of "those" people for whom it is true.  

Swaddle Free

Sleeping on your back has become so passé.  That is what Nat seems to think.  You might think that too if you had to sleep on your back for three months straight with no ability to turn over.

Last night, about to be woken up for his 11:30 meal

Nat was not quite three months old when we first discovered him sleeping on his stomach.  The event sent us into a panic attach because we were still fully swaddling him for the night.  (If you don't understand why we would be worried, imagine yourself lying on your stomach with your arms tied to your sides.  And if that is not uncomfortable enough, imagine you have relatively little coordination or neck and shoulder strength...) 

Fast forward a couple of weeks.  After struggling through different variations of swadding, we decided to set the kid free and let him sleep without any blankets.  So far Nat has been found sleeping on his stomach every morning and by the end of almost every nap.

The Dupioni Quilt, Finally Finished

No, I did not just make this quilt from start to finish.  I did finally finished it in May after it languished in boxes, closets and suitcases for over 10 years.

(Read the story of this quilt here.)