the best thing

todayy i realized that cate smiles when you smile at her. i thought it was random before. apparently jill thought so too. wooo discoveries! 

she was really fussy this afternoon so i put her in the stroller and walked a couple blocks to central market, assuming that would put her to sleep.. not the case. she wasn't very happy in the car seat, so i just carried her around in one arm and pushed the stroller as we walked around the store. 

this leads us to megan's learning experience #489: you really do question a lot, and you do care what other people think. i've been watching tons of bringing home baby on TLC this week (and i admit, i sometimes watch it when i'm not taking care of a baby) and the moms are always commenting on how they're afraid they're doing things wrong. old megan used to think 'when i have a baby, i'll follow my instincts and who cares what anyone else thinks.' ..but i do care. 

tomorrow is our last long day together, so i'm going to try to soak up all of the cries (though there aren't very many at all), burps, and especially smiles. and we're making molten chocolate lava cake. who wouldn't smile about that. 

day 25 of yoga! 

23

today was the best day. at the top of the list, stacy and drew came over to visit, and he said 'cheese,' apparently for the first time. totally nailed the 'ch'. it also gave me a new appreciation for why moms don't want two kids under two years old. it definitely took two of us to wrangle them. but it was so much fun, and stacy hasn't gotten to hold a little baby in a long time. she was beaming.

at a close second, cate was a very smiley girl for a few minutes this afternoon and it erased hours of scowling from my memory. she's generally very easy to please, but she makes the funniest facial expressions with furrowed eyebrows when she isn't sure about something.

it's been nice to have some quality time with a baby. i need a good dose of baby holding every once in a while to remind myself:
i love babies
i don't want my own baby right now
motherhood is hard

i didn't fully appreciate how difficult it is to put on makeup and get dressed or take a shower while you're watching a baby. even if they're sleeping, you're spending that time catching up on all of the general stuff you have to do while you have a free minute. i'm usually the kind of person who jumps out of bed and immediately gets dressed and puts my makeup on. in the last two days, i haven't gotten dressed or done much of anything else until at least 11.

and tonight in yoga, sam, one of my favorite teachers, taught us how to correctly do L pose. i have tried and failed many times, but tonight i did it threeee times! and i felt totally fine. it was a yoga miracle.

[photo from here]

but sam is a testament to what a good teacher can accomplish just based on quality explanations. the reason i couldn't do it in the past (aside from general lack of core/arm strength) was that i didn't know how to do it the right way. she spent the whole hour and a half teaching us to plug in our arms and squeeze our legs.. so then by the time we got to the pose, it was relatively easy. typically when an instructor tries to get a class to do L pose, 1/2 of the people can get up. tonight, i think all of us did it. 

23 days!

odd duck

this week i'm watching jill and zach's baby, cate, while jill goes back to work. i sent her photo updates throughout the day.

she was really good all day. the biggest hurdle was figuring out to open and close the stroller. i never did figure out how to close it.

we stayed in the house all day today, but i think tomorrow we might go on a field trip.

tonight on no reservations, anthony bourdain went to a food trailer in austin called odd duck. the food looked delicious. i feel like i've been missing out.

garden 2011 part 1

faj and i went to home depot this evening to pick out vegetables for the garden. it was a questionable idea to go without majjy (she was busy and not at home), but i think we did pretty well. we bought mostly the same things as last year, plus a few tomatoes, minus the things that immediately died (coughcauliflowercough). 

 basil is so pretty.

last year was more fun to plant because all of us were helping (that was march 28, by the way.)

tonight jeff took 10 pictures and went somewhere. dad went inside to watch the rest of a basketball game. to be fair, we only had one pair of gardening gloves, and faj has very delicate hands.

the sun went down and we laid the soaker hose out, gave everything a drink and said goodnight to the garden. i'll post pictures tomorrow so we can watch everything grow and grow!

miss you again

kid 1: which is the best popsicle?
kid 2: definitely watermelon
me: there are 4 watermelon popsicles. does everyone want one?
kid 3: no, watermelon is red. there's only 2.
kid 1: red is cherry
kid 3: no, red is watermelon
me: what is pink then?
kid 3: i don't know. but red is watermelon.
me: i like purple and blue
kid 1: what about green?
me: lime? lime is ok.
kid 3: green is not lime. orange is lemon. there is no lime.
me: i'm pretty sure orange is orange
kid 1: no, orange is lemon. ask our teacher. ask kid 2. everyone will tell you, orange is lemon

now. i've been trying to teach them that everything doesn't have to be so literal. and we joke about many things until whichever kid who is taking things too literally starts to joke with us. but that was not the case today. they were all being completely serious. unless they've mastered my dead pan.

at this point, i cut open an orange popsicle
me: kid 2, try this.
::kid 2 eats some:: ..yep, definitely lemon.
::megan, exasperated::

bare feet

spring is springin' around here! i missed the boat on pictures of the bradford pears in bloom. i'll make up for it in crepe myrtles. but now a bunch of trees are turning from bright green into apple green and it is beautiful. even the ugly trees in the neighbor's yard.

 and the bush with the white flowers is having its moment of glory.

 don't they look like little bouquets?

 mutti sent maj a box of omaha steaks for her birthday.. and jeff and i had fun rediscovering dry ice.

 we thought maybe if we added dish soap to the water, the smoke from the dry ice would fill up the bubbles as they floated.. but that didn't end up happening at all. jeff had fun playing in it though.

 jeff is a really good person. he often doesn't have two nickels to rub together.. but the other day he was downtown taking pictures and this homeless man called him over.
man: hey, you! were you walking around with a camera two weeks ago? an older camera?
jeff: yeah..
man: you gave my friend two dollars for the bus, and it made her day. she was able to get home that night.

'round here

it's majjy's birthday! we went to a steakhouse, of all places. i had chicken fried steak that was edging its way off the plate. 

so my camera is at matt's and my car is in the shop. the combination of those makes for a veeeerry dull blog. thank goodness i can borrow jeff's car while i don't have one. went to super early yoga this morning ("super early" in my world is 9am) before he got up, and he dropped me off & picked me up from preschool. no fun though. please cross your fingers for my little car.

day 15 of yoga today!

fog again

today was the first truly hot day of the year. i've been trying to wait until monday when it's officially spring before i switched out my clothes from winter to summer, but today was the day.

winter:
summer:

there's nothing like packing away your clothes and not looking at them for 6 months to make you love them all over again. i can't wait to wear the watermelon dress.

(watermelon dress at taipei zoo with allen)

and this picture is of spring trees in bloom downtown last week

your poor bones

day 11 of the yoga challenge. i opted for the sweaty class tonight instead of the relaxation class. even if you're pushed to the limit.. you can withstand almost anything if it only lasts an hour. sweat dripping down your back and off your chin? sure. now that i'm all clean and showered, it's almost like it never happened.

beautiful day in austin today. tomorrow i'm committed to taking pictures of some trees in bloom before they all leaf out.

hao jiu bu jian

hi! it's been a week! i wish i had interesting stories to tell about some kind of exciting vacation, but i was just house-sitting in austin.. too consumed with yoga and my book club book to blog. it's day 10 of the 40 day challenge. i kind of feel like i should just bring a sleeping bag with me to yoga because it feels like i live there.. but it's going well. went to a 9am class this morning and i was one of 3 people under the age of 60. no excuses this morning. 

 jeff and i made ina garten's 'jeffrey's roast chicken' (which glamour magazine.. i think.. renamed as engagement chicken) tonight. it was delicious and really juicy. she makes roast chicken for her husband every single friday. not sure if it was that good.

my best friend from 2nd-4th grade and her mom were in town early this week. my friend is in a movie (she played courtney) that was being shown at SXSW (a music/movie/tech showcase). it was interesting to see how both of us are just more evolved versions of ourselves as 8 year olds. she's still eclectic and dramatic. 

(jeff and i got a wild hair tonight and i convinced him to put on mascara to see how long his eyelashes looked. [hi dad!] he was amazed. for as death metal-y and bearded as jeff is, he's almost like a sister every once in a while. we painted his nails the other day as an anti-nail-biting measure.)

and this blurry photo is my proudest moment of the week. i spent $130 at the j. crew outlet, but i saaaved $98.68. watch out, coupon queen. 

crocodile pants

book club is reading the lonely polygamist by brady udall this month if you're looking for a good book. i'm 100 pages in and it has flownnn by. it's about a man, his 4 wives and their crazy household. so far, so good. it's light but interesting and well written.

we're also 4 days in to the 40 day yoga challenge. my thighs don't feel like it's only been 4 days.

landslide

after watching DVR'd glee this morning, maj and i were talking about how we like that show because they're handling all major teen topics and giving out information that kids may not otherwise hear. every time they talk about gay issues or sex ed or bullying.. for some reason i picture kids in houses from the '50s out in the middle of cornfields or down dirt roads, watching glee and reconsidering everything they thought about issues they may not have been able to put a name and face to in their actual lives. it seems like so many people with closed minds simply haven't had the opportunity to make decisions for themselves based on real life.

at least i hope that's what's happening all around the country as people consider issues like gay marriage or bullying or the ridiculousness of abstinence only education (like we have in texas.. the state with the highest teen pregnancy rate in the nation) through the lens of glee. it means so much more when you put human faces on those issues. and it points out the obvious--being gay is ok/confusing/not a "lifestyle choice," abstinence only sex ed isn't realistic and it won't make kids consider things they "haven't ever considered" because it's all around them all the time, and bullying comes from fear.

anyway it's all to say bravo, glee. what a fantastic way to use a multi-million viewer venue.

on a lighter note, it's day 3 of the 40 day yoga challenge and i didn't get completely drenched in class tonight until the 30 minute mark, which is a personal victory. wednesday and thursday classes [with the cute teacher] in the hot room are the hardest of the week.

on my mind

[photo from smitten kitchen]
today i made deb's granola bars based on an ina recipe. mine didn't come together quite like that.. but they are so tasty. i added 1/2 c of toasted flax seed and used dried apricots and dried sour cherries for the fruit. so yum.

i took this picture quickly while stopped at a light and it isn't the best.. but the bradford pear trees are all in bloom right now, and they are so beautiful. i peeked at our old backyard while i drove by today and saw our trees in bloom hanging over the fence. i hope the new owners are loving them.

(these pictures are from last year)

peace beneath the city

there are some things you can only learn at preschool.

the 4 steps to turning into a strawberry:
1. red rash on your face
2. coughing fits
3. hysterical laughter
4. turn into a strawberry

..we also found out if you happen to have a boy who's turning into a strawberry in your midst, you can easily replace 'sam i am' with 'strawberry man' while reading green eggs and ham to make it a little more personal.

p.s. it's day 1 of the 40 day yoga challenge!

all things go

if we're being honest.. i've spent a lot of time lately feeling sorry for myself or feeling unhappy about where i am in life right now. it isn't ideal to be living at home, working at a couple of part time jobs, without a significant other, etc.

but after weekends like this, i realize i don't have a lot to be unhappy about.

on saturday, i volunteered from 8am - 10pm at 3 different things; the camp i worked at this summer, yoga, and the symphony. it was chaotic and tiring.. but rewarding to be helpful to the organizations, meet new people and accomplish a few things.

tonight i made dinner with three girls i've been friends with since i was 11. two of them are the people i've been friends with longest with out of everyone else i know. we had a great time catching up, cooking, laughing, complaining, solving the world's problems. even if the 20 or howevermany people who used to do fun things every week together in high school are no longer in austin, i'm lucky to still have the majority of them in my life, no matter how near or far they are.

so it's nights like these that i feel like i should be thankful for what i do have rather than be sad or worried about what i don't have. and that's all you can do.

jezebel

here's one reason why you should be jealous of me today:

 i got to hold baby cate for 2 hours while i chatted with jill. she is getting so big!

and one reason to be glad you aren't me: went to the cute instructor's yoga class again tonight, and he helped me get all the way into bow pose..

 

(yogabarn.net) 

but i was soo hot because of the heated room that even my wrists were sweaty. yuck. he has a whole gaggle of girls who flirt incessantly and get all swoony before/during/after class. i try to tell myself i won't be one of them, but i am. let's face it. i guess i'm even worse because i'm blogging about it. whatever keeps you motivated, right? ;) 4 days in a row!

head on the floor

have you ever had rhubarb? i hadn't. so when i saw it in the frozen fruit section of sprouts the other day, and then saw a recipe in ina's book for strawberry rhubarb crisp, i decided to try it out. it turned out beautifully and is deeeelicious. i love fruity crumble desserts for breakfast. this is the 'before' picture. the 'after' is all washed out and ugly.

for the last several months i've split the grocery shop into two sections.. sprouts for produce, HEB for everything else. sprouts is supposed to be like a farmers market. there's no makeup, no batteries, very limited organic cleaning and bath products. cheese is off the charts expensive, but produce is cheap, fresh and restocked daily. HEB is a normal grocery store.

this is what i got today at HEB for $40 (plus a container of breyer's vanilla bean ice cream i forgot to take out of the freezer for its closeup):

 and this is what i got at sprouts for $40:

boggles. my. mind.

lisztomania

do you remember when jeff and i went to buy matt some birthday tea at the tea place downtown and we were all excited about tim? the fancy dressin', tea drinking, scooter riding, gardening yoga instructor? turns outtt, he teaches at the studio i go to 3 times a week. his classes are late in the evenings, so i don't usually have the will to change clothes and drive down there.

i guess now that i've typed it out it doesn't seem like such a big deal. but it's interesting how things come together sometimes, isn't it?

while we're talking about yoga though.. for the last few weeks i've been wearing majjy's '80s yoga pants and it has been so much fun. it just makes you feel more jazzy when you're not wearing black or gray. (today a cashier in sprouts called out to me from 2 aisles away to tell me how much she loved them). but you can't buy interesting yoga pants anywhere. i keep thinking of these lavender and white patterned jammie pants from J Crew that would be so pretty as yoga pants. have you seen any with bright prints?

[athleta.com]
ok maybe not quite like that.