I really get the phrase “Behind every great man is a great woman”.  By no means am I implying that either my husband or I are “great”, but the fact is that men, married men and especially those with families, get where they are because some woman was crazy enough to take care of business so that he could succeed.

My husband has been busy with some sideline work that is very important in building a post-retirement career. Even though retirement is nearly 10 years away the field he is going in takes work in establishing your credentials and connections in the field. He has had some very lucrative doors open to him to really put him in an excellent position to become very successful in this field. Yeah!  But where does that leave me?  I work full time, Mom full time, wife full time… but I never think of being ‘me’ full time. Like many other mothers the needs of my child, my husband, my house, and even my pets frequently take priority of needs of myself. Some time I am just going to have to climb to the top of the hill and scream “what about me!?!?”

till then..

So no one expects me to be Supermom, but yet they do. Sigh

So I’ve been plunking around other blogs, mostly centered around food (mmmmmm!) and craft type stuff for my daughter. I figure one of these days that I will actually have the time to try some of the recipes or projects that people have posted.  I actually did a basic tutu for my daughter– and I have to say, that besides the length, it turned out pretty darn cute. Now if she would only play with it.

I guess that has me thinking, just how many toys is too many toys when it comes to a toddler?   Fortunately (or unfortunately?) my family, including the in-laws, aren’t big on showering her with toys every time they see her. Her mother is a different story. I totally cannot resist getting her a new something every time I am out and about. Whether it’s a new bow for her hair, a book from the used book store, or a ‘must-have’ from the toy store, I’m am always laden down with some new goody.  This has been a real pain because my house is starting to feel heavy from all the stuff I have accumulated over the years.  I’m not a pack-rat by any means and I am all about throwing stuff away, but moving from the “hmm, I might use that” or “but it’s sooo cute” to “Bye-bye” is quite a leap.

I was a good girl though; I took a box of my old books from college to the bookstore to resell and go $40. Granted that is a small fraction of what I paid for them, I will take it all the same.  The sad part is is that they only took about half of the books so this means I still have a small pile to get rid of. Mantra:  I WILL HAVE A GARAGE SALE….I WILL HAVE A GARAGE SALE.

My darling daughter story for the day:

My husband and I went to pick up my daughter from daycare and my husband was nice enough to bring me down a scone from a class he was taking that day; he put the scone in the pannier on the stroller.  My daughter comes running out to the lobby and immediately grabs a package of crackers the daycare has stashed in a basket, she then starts to toss it into the pannier and sees the scone .. “mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm” she says. Needless to say that package of crackers was quickly forgotten. And I had to share the scone. damn.

First a little about the name of my blog. I am not a jet setter so “life in the fast lane” was definitely out. I’m a TypeA personality so “life in the slow lane” didn’t fit the bill either. I thought about “life in the bicycle lane” (more or less a take on the plethora of those popping up around Portland) but it would have been a misnomer since I haven’t been on a bike in ages (and the thighs to prove it). 

The parking strip… that little plot of land that is an island off the coast of your home.  I can stand in my parking strip and look at my house and even though it’s my house it feels so foreign; it doesn’t look at all like I think it looks like when I’m standing inside. I think that is what this blog/journal is all about- taking that step outside and re-looking at life.