1, 2, 3's

Well, it's that time again... tax preparation season. All I can say is thank god for inventing accountants. I used to do my taxes on my own and after all of the events of this past year... moving from MD to VA, selling investments to buy our new house, etc. I am so grateful that we have assistance - even of the paid variety!

Part of the reason is that I've come to realize that I now lack the ability to count past 10 - or maybe I can make it to 20 (after all most Sesame Street episodes feature a number of the day between 10 and 20 and I'm not ashamed to admit that I watch enough Sesame Street to know that!). I spend most of my days counting only to 3 for Jonah - how many trees do you see, how many grapes are left in the bowl, etc. So when our accountant and I spoke today and she started talking about fair market values (albeit in the form of an acronym - FMV), reinvested dividends, and capital gains and losses I found myself totally overwhelmed. Ahhhhhhhhh!

I've come to realize that being a mommy - really a parent of any variety - means starting your education all over again from scratch. Frankly, I'm looking forward to learning how to add, multiply and such again. And yes, dad, I remember that 9 times 7 is 63 and vice versa - thanks for grilling that one into my head! So let the counting begin and accountants beware... I will be back on your level in about 15-20 years.

Who's That?

I used to call my grandmother "who's that?" - she lived across the country in California and I didn't see her very often, but spoke with her on the phone often. My parents would hand me the phone and tell me that Grandma was on the other line - in response I would always say "who's that?" and it stuck.

It makes me think about how interesting our name choices are when we are able to pick what we would like to be called... for example Jonah has a Nonnie and Papi, a Grandma Red and Pika, and a Nana and Pop (lucky boy gets 3 sets of grandparents!). No one is simply Grandma and Grandpa.

Now that Jonah and his toddler friends are starting to speak (whether we understand them or not is another thing...) I struggle with what I would like to be called by his friends and what Jonah should call my adult friends. Am I Auntie Laura, Mrs. Harwin, Ms. Laura, or some other alternative? It almost becomes a question of identity! At the same time that I want to respect tradition and instill respect in younger generations by requesting to be called Mrs. Harwin, I struggle with my personal comfort with a more casual attitude and being referred to as Auntie Laura or Ms. Laura. And of course, now that I am an aunt to Jonah's Cousin Max, I can't seem to get comfortable with the idea of being anyone else's auntie. So I have chosen to be called Ms. Laura.

Of course when I run into a childhood friend's mother at the grocery store and call them Mrs. Last Name I will begin to question this all over again! I guess only time will tell.

ahhh... the "forgotten" blog...

Dearest blog followers,

I apologize. I have been remiss in my updates, but with good reason: holiday travels, a series of meetings, playing nurse to a husband and son who were feeling a little under-the-weather, and most importantly a babysitter on winter break from college! All of which has me out of my "usual" habits and re-evaluating how to spend my so-called free time.

We had a busy holiday season visiting family and seeing a few friends at the Outback Bowl in FL. The trip (I call them trips now and not vacations because they certainly aren't restful!) was fun and exhausting. When we returned to MD, I decided to hole up for a while and recharge. When I was revved up and ready to go I finally reached out to my friends in the area and am now back on the play date and lunch date circuit. Jonah and I have been running around the metro area catching up with both of our friends from near and far and have been having a blast seeing everyone!

Luckily, my dearest husband has been home more these last few weeks and I've been able to better balance a few minutes each day to do some usual "me" activities like showering and working out. :-) Which means I am having to re-evaluate how to spend my weekly afternoons off (aka babysitter Wednesdays which are back in full swing now that American University's winter break is over - phew!)... I am almost done with the requisite errand running and doctor appointments and have found myself wandering aimlessly through stores looking for things to buy and not finding anything I can justify spending the money on! Then I remembered this blog... my own personal mommy-therapy. So today, I came home a little early and managed to sneak into the office without being seen by Jonah.

I'm finding that I do spend countless hours thinking about what to write on here, but then by the time I finally get to sit down at the computer with 15 minutes or more to focus I seem to have lost all those ideas. I think I need to start a "blog" to keep up with my blogging! It's amazing how much my mind wanders more now than it did before I had a baby. Perhaps my next entry will be a stream of consciousness note... wouldn't that be insightful! That's it, I'm going to pull out an old blank journal and make use of it to keep track of my thoughts for my mommy-life-crisis therapy/blog sessions. Finally, a New Year's resolution I can keep up with! (I hope!)

With sincere gratitude for your patience,

Laura