Vi-ral video

Vi's new hit single, "Chickadee Song (Wonderful Day)"

Vi-isms

In the spirit of "I hope you're writing these cute things down," here are some of Vi's silly words of late:

Vi: Boo and Lellow make Geen!
Me: That's right! What do yellow and red make?
Vi: They make....I think it's....something liiiiike.....WE DON'T PUT PLAY-DOUGH IN OUR MOUTHS!!

Me: What do you want to dream about tonight?
Vi: Uuuummm.... I think.... my sleep is about....Pincesses....Kanga-Woos.... and Kickens. (Chickens)
Me: That sounds great! Can I come, too?
Vi: Yeah! (looks at me skeptically) Are you thinking about Pincesses? Kanga-woos? And Kickens?
Me: Yes, yes I am.
Vi: Okay. See you there. Good night. I luzz you. (kiss, kiss) I kiss you.

Vi: When I was really, really born? I came out of your belly and drank hot milk from your nipples. I was soooo cute! I was so born.

Vi: I going to the toy store, 'bye!
Me: Who are you going with?
Vi: My husband. He's 14 years old, and his name is Darrell.

Dan, reading On Market Street, where S is clearly for Shoes: S is for saxophones.
Vi: No, no, no, no, no. S is for Shoes. And for Stephanie, too.

Vi: NO! I DON'T WANT TO!
(Had to throw in a little bit of the temper tantrums she's dished out recently!)

Nonsense words: Boutique. Gleeky. Muggy.

Vi, drifting off to sleep: You my best friend, ezzer, ezzer.

While watching a folk musician perform in the park at Mill Creek, Vi sat and listened to every song, then brought the musician a stick or a leaf. After each song. He sweetly accepted each gift.

I told Vi how to distract Dan from his probing questions about his birthday present. She waves her hands in front of his face and says, "Bacon, bacon, bacon!"

She requests "big long noodles and chopsticks" at least once a week. Still eating a lacto-fruitarian diet, for the most part. Picking out her own clothes. Sleeping through the night. Only wearing diapers at night and at naptime.

Suddenly, she's almost three.

Rising up from the ashes?

Here we are. May in Maine. The lilacs are moments away from full-aromatic-bloom, much to my delight. The birds and wind chimes and giggling children are filling the sound waves with that pleasant sensation that yes, Summer is almost here.

Thank God, because this Spring SUCKED! :-) Two unemployed parents, trying to make ends meet. We did pretty well, considering. I mean, we didn't kill each other!

Dan started his new position with Hamilton Marine today. He'll be the head of the electrical department. He is happy to be back in the marine world, has seen a few favorite customers already, and enjoyed learning more about the company's values from the CEO today. We're hopeful this is a good fit and grateful for the opportunity!

I am gearing up with a few gigs. First, I'm working at daycare, handling the receivables on a barter basis. This is fun, rewarding, and a huge discount on our much-needed, much-appreciated child care. Second, I'm the business manager for a marketing firm which focuses on local, sustainable businesses' image, messaging and overall strategy. Third, I'm an account manager for a sales rep placement group, working to fill short-term sales projects with high-energy, highly-skilled sales professionals. Busy, busy!

Vi is still loving pre-school. We feel really fortunate to have such a wonderful team of people in our village. They truly love our kid and treat her with the respect and kindness we want her to, in turn, learn as a way of life.

Our garden is planted, well... mostly. We're still going to put in some zucchini and squash. Dan keeps adding raised beds. Our backyard will soon be one big garden! I'm looking forward to lots of tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, carrots, cucumbers, beets, peppers, beans, peas and herbs. The soil is amazing this year; it holds water and is so rich. Dan's been reading everything he can get his hands on - even making deliberate trips to the library - to expand his gardening skills and philosophies. You know how Dan is - a vat of information. Well, be prepared for lessons you didn't know you needed to learn on tomato roots...or something like that.

Spring has Sprung!

thursday morning:

We have little flowers starting to pop their green heads up out of the soil. Brave, they are. Leaving the warmth of their dirt-blankets, hoping for enough sunshine for nourishment to realize their goal of flower-dom.

That's how I feel right now, too. Full of hope for a brighter tomorrow. Dependent on faith that I will find a way to nourish my soul through my career. Colleagues tell me how brave I am. I say, I must be brave, because I'm terrified! This is either the stupidest or the smartest thing I've ever done, leaving my job before securing another.

I hope we don't have any late frosts.

thursday afternoon:

My friends, colleagues and associates are amazing. I am truly inspired and full of hope for my career. How lucky am I to be in a position where I can hold out for a dream job...at least for a couple of months, I can hold out! I have some time to myself, time to network, time to play, time to rest...I have given myself the gift of time! The possibilities seem endless.

thursday evening:

Dan: "I got laid off today."

thursday night:

I'm just holding onto hope, trying to stay positive, and hanging onto the faith that the sun will come out tomorrow.

Setting my Priorities

For those of you who have scratched your heads at my odd facebook status updates lately...here is my best attempt to explain what's going on.

When New Year's rolled around, I didn't bother making any real "resolutions." I did join a gym, as a gift from my brother, Dan. I decided that this would be the Year of Lindsay. No more aches and pains, no more weakness. Just me, doing something - anything - for myself, for once. I hadn't even made it INTO the gym once before the effects of this attitude change were bubbling to the surface.

When I looked at my life, I realized that there were a lot of things I could never change. If I wanted to find less stress, more balance, more peace, less pain...I needed to do SOMETHING different. Continuing on with everything in the exact same place and pattern was going to get me nowhere. (Ever read the definition for the word INSANITY?) I realized that the one thing I could change is my job.

(What's my job, you ask? I am the Senior Consultant at my family's bookkeeping and accounting firm. I do accounting work, business consulting, software training, and most of the firm's marketing. I function as the Accounting Department for my clients. It's a great job, I'm good at it, and I love my clients. It's just time for me to move on.)

So, very quickly, I let my stepfather/boss (or boss/stepfather, depending on the task at hand! Kudos to him for playing both roles so well) know that I needed to leave. We put a plan into motion for my last day to be Friday, February 26th.

Where am I going? Nowhere, yet. I have been, bit by bit, communicating with my contacts in the business community and trying to decide what I want to do, which direction I'm headed, what should my next step be? I'm thinking of preparing for the CPA exam, or taking the GMATs so I can start work on my MBA. I know that I want to be working with driven, dynamic people. I want to feel like I'm bettering my community. I need a workplace full of integrity. I'm looking at every opportunity and deciding if it has potential to be the next, best place for me. I can see myself as the Executive Director for a non-profit...someday! Getting from here to there...is a process I have yet to define.

The right job will support me in my priorities to:
1) Kiss my kid
2) Pay my bills
3) Feel fulfilled

I don't think it's asking too much. Do you?

Fun!

We finally made it to Peek-a-boo today. WOW - what a great place! There are several "dramatic play" rooms with themes like bugs & butterflies, baby dolls, musical instruments, and so on. Lots of doll houses. Indoor jungle gyms. Cozy book corners. A painting wall, a jumpy-jump, a kitchen...I mean, this is like the Children's Museum done right. They even have a "dining room," where families can eat whatever snacks they bring. I HIGHLY recommend this place for kids up through pre-k. Here's a link to their site for hours, calendar, etc.

http://www.peekaboocenter.com/index.php

Oh My God

Vi said, "Oh my God," last night.

Dan and I - eyes wide in disbelief - both replied, "Please say "Oh my goodness, Vi. We don't say "Oh my God in our family," almost in unison.

(Note to file: Dan and I said the same thing at the same time. Not a common occurence.)

She continued, "Oh my god, ohmygod, ohmygod!"

We continued, "Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness!"

On she went: "Oh my god, ohmygod, ohmygod!"

And us, again: "Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness!"

Then she said, "Oh my godnald, had a farm, E-I-E-I-OOOOOOOO!"

I just about wet my pants I was laughing so hard. She was just gearing up for Old MacDonald, and, well...wasn't enunciating as well as one might hope.

At least she's enjoying music, and not cursing like a pirate!

Why? What's THAT?

Vi has officially entered the very, very curious stage. She asks "Why?" about nearly everything.

Dan: Vi, please leave Riley's food where it is.
Vi: Why?
Dan: Because it's a big bin and it could spill and make a big mess.
Vi: Why?
Dan: I don't know why. That's just how it is. Did you hear my message?

And so on... We tried to go to a new indoor kids' gym today, Peek-a-boo. The whole way there, she was full of questions:
Vi: Where's the New Gym?
Me: It's i Westbrook.
Vi: Ooo-ooo-ooh!
(Moments pass)
Vi: Where's the New Gym?
Me (pointing): It's that way.
Vi: Why?
Me: Because that's where they decided to build it.
Vi: Why?
Me: I'm not sure.
Vi: Where's Adam & Dylan and Sass-a-lee?

And so on...

As I type this, she is having bedtime storytime with Dan. They are reading "Goodnight, Maine," which, all of you parents of toddlers know is NOT a very exciting book. Here's what I'm hearing:
Vi: What's that?
Dan: That is a mountain.
Vi: What's that?
Dan: That's another mountain.
Vi: What's that?
Dan: That's the moon.
Vi: What's that?
Dan: That's a tree.

I hope it's obvious to you that she KNOWS what these things are. It's just her way of stretching out story time and getting Dan wrapped more and more around her little finger. He answers so patiently and so sweetly - I love it. He is really good at bedtime, actually. I hear him keep himself calm, and use every tool in his possession to get her to sleep. She was pitching a major fit the other night, and I was so impressed with how he handled it! He said, "I hear you saying you're all done. It's bedtime, though, and I need you to get back in your bed." It's just really amazing to listen to the two of them talk.

One of Vi's current reading favorites is One Morning In Maine. She recites the first page by herself! "One morning in Maine, Sal woke up. She peeked over the covers, and excitedlymumblingunintelligiblewordstotakeupspaceuntilshecansay Going to Buck's Harbor!!!"

(Pause.)

"Where's Buck's Harbor?"

Chuck E Cheese

We went to Chuck E Cheese for the first time - it was pretty fun! The photo booths were, well, photo booths! It was a nice, blizzardy evening to do something active - indoors.

33!

It's my birthday! I'm 33! Hurray!

Happy Birthday, everyone! I hope it's a great day for all of you!

Preschool!

Vi starts pre-school next week! She is so excited, she keeps telling everyone. The classrooms all have animal names - right now, she's an Inchworm, and her preschool classroom is the Hoppy Frogs. She says, "I be a hoppy frog!!!" When she visited the classroom a couple of weeks ago, she walked in, threw her hands in the air and said, "I'm a hoppy frog!" (Her inchworm teacher almost cried. Oh, the tongue-in-cheek glare we got from her today when we told her Vi officially starts next week!)

I had a tour of the new classroom this morning, and saw their "Circle Time." The teachers are so great - they really work letters and counting into everything. They have mastered the art of combining play and learning - perfect for this age group. When wrapping up the tour with the director, I got weepy telling her how pleased we are with her teachers and facility. We talked about how happy and loving her employees are, how dedicated they are, and how Dan and I both feel so blessed to have a child care situation that is so closely aligned with our own values. She then got weepy, too, and said how sad she feels that not all children have this sort of a child care situation. And, how the world would be a better place if that weren't the case, and we paid more attention, gave more love, and showed our "little ones" how to be respectful, kind and loving.

*Sigh.*

I love our daycare.