Fa-hoo Fo-reys

I'm honestly impressed I got that far into the month (if you ignore my late start) without missing a day.  It as thoroughly inevitable that I would forget a day.  But considering my typical frequency, anyone reading this should know what to expect.  So I'm just not gonna apologize too much.

Today I led the congregational hymns, did the special musical number in sacrament, and did music in Primary with the kids during the last two hours.  Sort of felt like a one-woman show.  Which is all the more impressive when I know we don't lack for musicians in our ward (ok, more so than we used to, but we're still much more blessed than most places given the large music school nearby).  The end result is that I have no voice.  So instead of going to stake choir practice tonight and singing Christmas music, which I would love to do more than most things, I am blogging.

Really though, I love Christmas carols more than any other music (which I feel is truly saying something).  If I ever lost my mind and dove back into academia for a doctorate in music-related things (like I would qualify for anything else...), I would try to incorporate Christmas music into my dissertation.  No idea if that would be possible but it's currently a moot point because no.  I need a looooong break from academia.  But seriously, I collect caroling books.  I get excited about good 4-part arrangements.  And I dream that I'll have one more son and he and the Monkey Bug will together be able to handle any men's parts I throw at them.  Last year (or maybe the year before?  I don't remember?), I sat down and scribed out the vocal parts to Welcome Christmas from How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  Because they aren't available anywhere (I looked).  And because I've always wanted to carol it.  Of course, now that the sister and I have started having our children, it'll probably be 10 years before I get the chance.  But whatever, we might need those 10 years to find and befriend a bass to sing that low.

Meanwhile I suppose I'll go practice piano because I still have to prove to the people giving me a degree that I'm capable of memorizing a cheesy little piece and spitting it back to them.  I just might get sidetracked by some carols.

And for your Sunday enjoyment, his church duds:

Interaction

I find myself getting on the F-book less and less.  People are always arguing and posting things I disagree with but there's no point in mentioning that I disagree because I don't want to argue.  All I wants is to know what is up with the people I care about who live far away from me and who I would lose all contact with except for the convenience of the technology that is the F-book.  Unlike the people who complain about people posting life accomplishments/milestones/travesties, I want to know who is getting married, who is having a baby (after years of infertility, some of them!), who is moving somewhere exotic that I can both envy and pity, who needs extra prayers because they lost a job/got a horrible diagnosis/lost a loved one/are simply having a terrible time with life.  (I take praying for people by name seriously, which can mess with my and the husband's brain sometimes as we try to remember everybody every night.)

But people posting things about how awful other people are makes me grumpy.  And people fighting over politics makes me want to punch the screen.  That said, I can't imagine how the Obamas think they are raising a generation to their end of the political spectrum by messing with kids' school lunches.  Every time I see what kids are being offered at school, or an article about it, all I can think is, "Michelle should not be surprised when, over the next ten years the newest voters all go Republican because kids still blame her for starving during middle/high school."

Still, as tempted as I've been, I can't quite quit the F-book.  I've lived in too many different places and have friends/family that I care about deeply scattered much too far to keep track of any other way.  Although if I were blessed to have stayed in one place since high school, with the vast majority of my family and friends still nearby, I think I could do it.  Face to face interaction is so much better.

Speaking of which, here is the cutest face to face interaction I saw today:

(Daddy is jumping out from the bathroom to scare us.)

Golden Monkey

Apparently when I'm sick I'm too brain-addled to think to take pictures.  So here is a video I managed to take... yesterday:

He has long conversations with that little golden monkey.  Most of which sound quite frustrated.  I don't know exactly what that monkey did to him, but it's the one he always focuses on.  I've been tempted to cut it off and give it to him, but then I'm afraid he'll be sad it's not there to talk to/rant at anymore.  So I secretly film his conversations instead.

Sick day dos

My immune system continues to give in to the monsters attacking my throat/sinuses, leaving me even more boring than usual.  I did not put on real clothes all day.  The only reason Monkey Bug ever got real clothes was because he eventually pooped through his pajamas and I was forced to act responsible.  I managed to send a few emails.  That concludes all my accomplishments.

Because breastfeeding comes with a whole bunch of medicinal restrictions and because I'm not a huge fan of going to see my ObGyn (I don't have a gen practitioner currently), I decided to try out the whole homeopathic (I first typed that as "homeopathetic - a Freudian slip, perhaps) turmeric-in-honey thing.   I don't know if it has helped, but boy does it taste awful.  In case you were wondering.  Even if it cures me (which I'm not sure I'll be able to tell because it's not acting fast enough), I'm not sure I can give it credit.  *insert gagging noise here*

Sick day

I have razor blades living in my throat, so I get extra props for managing/remembering to do this today.

Monkey Bug also got his shots yesterday and I know I'm not the only mother out there who thinks the day after shots is always worse than the day of.  Meanwhile, he is a tall, weighty kid with a smallish head.  Who likes to suck on his toes:

Blankity blanket

As for sewing projects, I clearly didn't get much done today.  But I'm in the process of making a bunch of baby blankets.  I can post a pic of the one that I've already given away, but the others will have to wait until they've been gifted.

My grandma made me a few of these flannel blankets - just one layer (although she sent multiples - one layer and two layer are a really nice weight.  Plus super easy because you just narrow hem the edges and do a decorative stitch.  Voila.  Baby blanket in under 30.

I also went insane and made my own piping today for a different blanket. (Actually it wasn't so much insanity as they didn't have enough premade in the color I needed at the store.) I then proceeded to discover that I am definitely not talented enenough to take short cuts like inserting the piping between the layers and sewing the layers at the same time. 1 1/2 hours later, that mess was fixed. Once I give away the result, I shall post a picture of it.

Sunday

First of all, this micro-suit makes me want to buy my son a fedora, possibly a little fake machine gun, and put '30s gangster slang in captions under the picture:

Second of all, my job at church is to do music with the kids, which is pretty much the best job out there.  But it's like pulling nails to find people to commit to substitute for me so on days like today when I feel like crap, I find that I'd rather go to the effort of just dragging myself to church than find someone who will take care of my job for me.  And so we did the Move Cube.  Which is essentially a giant cube that they can roll like a die and it has things like "spin around," "jump up," "high five," "move right/left," etc. on each side.  And we "moved" every time we sang something in the song that was a blessing.  It was a great quick idea, albeit a not very well-thought-out one, since of course I had to lead said moving.  Oops.  The third time somebody rolled "jump up," I made him do it again.  Even though he's 3.