Sarcasm in a Skirt

Maddie Moo

jenbshaw — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 14:33:47 +0000

There aren’t enough words to say how much you’re missed.

So today I will hold your memory close in my heart.

I will think about your mom and dad who ache for you every day.

I’ll speak of you today to anyone who will listen, to tell them of the greatness they are missing.

Help us remember Maddie and donate to the charity that her parents set up in her name.

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Chase – 10 Months

jenbshaw — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 14:24:54 +0000

Chaser,

Another month is in the books. They seem to be rolling right along lately. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t sit down and wonder where all the time went. How did we get to this point?

Nights have been a challenge this month. In a way it’s frustrating because I can’t pinpoint the reason for your interrupted sleep. Could it be teeth? Is it a growth spurt? Are you having nightmares? Sometimes I think you squirm yourself into a sitting position and just can’t figure out how to get laid back down. The part that makes all the middle of the night cries tolerable is that all it takes to calm you down is a bottle and a little snuggle time with me. I was afraid that you were past the stage of letting me rock you to sleep, it’s been nice to have a little of that back.

This month has given me my first moments of true anxiety where you are concerned. I am terrified that I’m going to completely ruin you as far as food is concerned. I happen to be an extremely picky eater. I’m sure someday you’ll join your dad in making fun of me for it. You just really aren’t all that keen on any “grown-up” food yet. Some people give me a hard time because you aren’t eating more regular food but I’m going to continue to let you set your own pace, just as you have with everything else. You’ll get there in your own time.

You’re crawling like a champ and are rarely content to sit still for long, even if your trips are just back and forth across the living room. Even though you aren’t going far you don’t like to leave your toys behind so you’ve taken to carrying them in your mouth. Since this method of transportation is fairly limiting you have a sudden fondness for your smaller toys. Someday I’m sure you’ll be thrilled to hear about how your dad tried to train you to retrieve like a duck dog. Thrilled. I’m sure.

I realized this month that I made the right decision to stay at home with you. Going to work every day and leaving you with someone else has been pretty rough. I miss hanging out with you all day. I miss afternoon nap time when we snuggle together in my bed. I’m excited to be done working so that we can start enjoying our afternoons together again, especially now that the weather is nice enough to be outside.

Until next month.

Love Mama

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Yes you CAN have organized closets.

jenbshaw — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 03:30:18 +0000

Let say that there is an emergency and I need my husband to pack a bag for me. Yes, it’s a BIG emergency, clearly. I can honestly say that I could direct him to nearly every article of clothing that I own. For those of you who have husbands you know exactly how big of a deal this is. Most of the time they can’t find the remote under a throw pillow or the ketchup behind the milk.

Suffice it to say I have my closet organized. I’m pretty sure it is only slightly below military standards. I’m going to share some pictures with as long as you promise not to judge me on the lack of grown up clothes I own.

Here is closet #1. (did I forget to mention that I have two closets, more on that later)

Here is closet #2 (The previous owners took out the bathtub and put in a closet, LOVE them for that)

So now that you’ve seen my closets, here is my list of pointers for organizing YOURS.

1. Hang as much as possible.
I know that it takes up more space but it makes staying organized considerably easier. The exception to this rule is sweatshirts and heavy sweaters, pajamas and if you please, jeans. I hang most of my lightweight sweaters but it is important to use the right kind of hanger, padded lingerie hangers work great. *Ahem* Yes those are my bras hanging up in the second picture. Look it works better for me than keeping them in a drawer.

2. Separate clothes by type.
This will make it easier to find exactly what you are looking for without searching. In closet #1 I have my clothes separated into 4 categories; dressy shirts, cardigans, casual shirts and pants/skirts. I hang things so that everything faces towards the center. If you want to be really particular like me I keep the dressy shirts and pants by color, the cardigans by weight and the casual shirts by sleeve length and weight. Closet #2 holds my massive collection of camisoles and tank tops, sweatshirts, t-shirts and pajamas.

3. Use all available space.
This includes floors, back walls and doors. The only thing I really don’t like about my closets is that I can’t utilize the back of the doors. I make up for it by using the back of my bedroom door. I also have hooks hanging on the back wall of one closet. I use these hooks for belts, scarves and yes my good bras.

Other tips:
1. If you have room, I highly suggest a laundry sorter. I tend to do a load of laundry every now and then as opposed to all at once so it really saves time to have it all presorted.
2. Hanging canvas shelves are great for pajamas. The shelves can be sort of small and everyday clothes can get wrinkled, use them for pajamas and presto no worrying about wrinkles.
3. You don’t need an expensive closet organizer that is hard to install. In my last apartment I bought a closet rod, two lengths of chain and some s-hooks and made my own double rod system. All told it cost about $10.
4. My BEST piece of advice. Make your husband keep his junk in the guest room. As you can see I’ve done my best to employ my organizing methods in his area, it is obviously less effective with him in control but I’m pretty proud of him for making an effort.

I realize that everyone’s space is different and everyone has different needs and styles so go ahead and ask me your toughest organizing questions. I would love to see pictures of your spaces and give you my advice. Shoot me an email jenbshaw(at)gmail(dot)com.

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Mabel’s Labels BlogHer ‘10 Contest

jenbshaw — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 03:06:04 +0000

The following is my entry into Mabel’s Labels BlogHer ‘10 contest. We were asked to write a post on our blog in response to the following hypothetical situation:

Electrical storms are going to wipe out the Internet (perhaps forever). You have one day left to write about your passions: what do you want to say to the blogosphere in 300 words or less?

Enjoy!

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I enjoy scrapbooking, I could spend hours buried in a good book, I think I’m even becoming a decent writer. All of those hobbies pale in comparison to my true passion, organizing.

I’ve only just begun to share this passion with my “blogosphere” friends. My long time friends are well accustomed to my OCD ways.

I remember the very first organizational tool I ever used, an opaque purple caboodle with a glitter finish that only a little girl could truly appreciate. I spent hours carefully arranging all of my make-up only to decide later that it was much better suited to my massive hoard of Barbie accessories. It gave me an incredible thrill to be able to instantly show my mom that I didn’t in fact have a hundred pairs of Barbie shoes.

In my college years I used my organizing skills to squirrel away more than double the amount of clothes and trinkets into my dorm room than any of the other girls on my floor.

My love of organizing kicked into full gear when I finally moved out on my own. Having an entire apartment that I could arrange any way I liked was for me the equivalent of letting a 7 year-old loose in a candy store. I had a kitchen, bathroom, living room and closets all to myself. The only downside to this new found freedom was that organizing supplies can be COSTLY.

These days I get my “thrills” helping my friends and family get their lives organized. Whether it is helping a friend get her clothes in order or helping her get a handle on her overflowing inbox. My goal is to someday be the person that people seek out to help them get organized.

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Post tags: Mabel’s Labels BlogHer ‘10 Contest, organizing

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My Chaos is Organized

jenbshaw — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 03:45:00 +0000

My name is Jen, and I’m an obsessive organizer.

(crowd mumbles…hi Jen)

It’s true, I love to organize, I live to organize things. After poking a little fun at me people usually start to ask me how I organize certain areas of my home. It is my firm belief that you can have a perfectly organized home WITHOUT being Martha Stewart, WITHOUT having your house look like it was ripped from the pages of Good Housekeeping and WITHOUT spending a fortune. A good friend of mine told me that I should turn it into a blog series wherein I share my best organizing tips. So without further ado….

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It’s a proven fact that nearly all women love jewelry. From the time we are little girls we are drawn to things that sparkle and shine. Problems can occur however when it starts to accumulate. Earrings get lost, necklaces get into knotted tangles, favorite pieces are stashed away and forgotten. I have devised a solution that works for me based on ideas I gathered from various magazines and websites.

Here is a photo of my “jewelry corner”

I know, I know, I have a lot of necklaces. The only way I would ever be able to keep them all in rotation is to see them all. I made this board myself for about $15. It is just a bulletin board covered with fabric that matches my bedroom decor. I have my necklaces sorted by like kind, all the long strands together, all the pendants together, all the short beaded ones together, you get the idea. Other variations of this idea include painted cork board or using decorative doorknobs as hangers.

Moving on to the jewelry boxes.

As you can see I have two, and yes, one is in fact a Tinkerbell music box. I keep my rather tiny collection of rings in it. The other jewelry box is actually a hand carved piece that was brought back from Afghanistan by my cousin. I keep my vast collection of watches in the top section and my earrings in the bottom drawer.

This is the earring drawer.

Confession time. I have a total of 6 holes between my two ears and I hardly ever wear earrings. On the off chance that I decide to trouble with them I like to be able to find the exact pair I’m looking for in a hurry. I keep them all separated by type in the lids of jewelry boxes. It makes it easy to find matches when there are only several pairs in each lid.

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I want to know what your organizing questions are! Send me your problem areas and I will help you organize them without trying to Martha Stewart you. Also I will send a prize of some sort to the person who comes up with the best name for this feature. Help me out here people. Email me at jen (at) sarcasminaskirt (dot) com.

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Chase – 9 months

jenbshaw — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 04:25:17 +0000

Chaser

It’s hard to believe that another whole month has passed, at the same time I hardly recognize the boy from last month’s letter. This month I watched even more of your babyness slip away from me. You are changing so fast that it frightens me sometimes. I’m terrified that I’m going to miss something or let a moment pass me by. Pictures of you are filling up every available corner of my computer. I’m trying to take more videos of you but you are still somewhat hypnotized by my flip camera.

You are no longer my toothless wonder as your top two teeth have come in and are starting to make their way down. One of your bottom teeth has made it’s triumphant escape with the other shortly behind it. This has not been a pleasant process…for either of us. Apparently your teeth only hurt at night which in turn is causing my teeth to hurt because when I’m overly tired I clench my jaw. I can only hope that this is over quickly and that there will be a break before the next teeth come in.

As I predicted you have learned to crawl. It only took you a matter of days to figure it out once you got up on your hands and knees. Your days of lying contently on your back are most definitely over. Your attention span is that of a gnat which leads to lots of going back and forth and spinning round and round as your eye catches the next thing you feel you must get your hands on. The current object of your affection is Kitty. For a cat with a general bad attitude towards children trying to touch her, she is very patient with you. She will sit several feet away from you and tolerate your squeals as you scoot across the room towards her. She waits until you have reached her and gotten a light touch before she runs off. I find it awfully kind of her to let you have just a little fun before she zips away.

It eats at me that this month, the month that you have changed the most, is the month that I have been most absent. I took a temporary part-time job at my former office to try to make a little extra money. I was so concerned about how you would react because you had reached the point where you were slightly wary of strangers and cried if I left the room. I was more than a little nervous about how this would work. I prepared myself for day one to be a battle. I won’t deny that I was a little heartbroken when not a tear was shed as I left you in a stranger’s arms. The adjustment has been much more difficult on me than you. I worry about the time I’m not spending with you but I know that both of us are probably better for it. Every day I come home and the second you spot me your whole face lights up and you giggle while you stretch out your arms. That alone is enough to wipe away any hurt that my day has given me.

Looking ahead at the coming months I realize that all to soon I will be planning birthday parties and waiting for those first precious steps. I continue to be reminded every day just what a true miracle you are. I love each and every part of you from your little blond curls to your little monkey toes.

All my heart
Mama

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Weekly Winners, Jan 24-30

jenbshaw — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:02:22 +0000

Well once again a whole week has gone by and I’ve failed to post anything besides my monthly letter to my son (that I had to FORCE myself to write). Actually it’s been almost a MONTH since I’ve written anything. Eeep! I’m working on it I swear. Until then enjoy this weeks round up of Project 365 pictures, then hit up Lotus over at her place for everyone else’s weekly winners.

Baby laughs...better than belly laughs

Playing with long exposures

If I get out of the bath so do my toys

Can't get enough baby laughs

Obsessed with monster clothes

Yoga baby sleeps

Family heirloom

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Chase – 8 Months

jenbshaw — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:08:59 +0000

Chaser

Last week you hit the 8 month mark, and I know I have said it every month but WHERE did the time go. When did you stop being a baby and start growing into a toddler. Everyday it seems that another little piece of your baby-ness slips away. You no longer want to be held when you are sleeping, in fact you usually won’t go to sleep if you are being held. I’ve spent a lot of time in the past few weeks sneaking into your room at night to watch you sleep. You still look like my baby when you are curled up and sleeping.

You are so much like me when you sleep. You rarely fall asleep and stay that way, it takes several tries every night and a few rounds of music. You seem to have the same sleep twitches that I have and they frequently wake you up. You usually start the night swaddled in a blanket but you always manage to wiggle out of it in your tossing and turning. It never fails, I lay you in the middle of your crib every night and less than an hour later you wake up and when I go to investigate I find you stuck in a corner with your blanket stuck and binky lost. We go through this straightening out routine at least 3 or 4 times a night. I have absolutely *no* idea where you would get that from.

I’ve been prodding you for weeks now to start sitting up on your own and now that you’ve finally got the hang of it you have NO interest in anything but being on your tummy. Figures. You lay on your stomach and wiggle with all your might just trying to figure out how to move. You can spin in circles and occasionally you scoot backwards, which really just pisses you off because you end up further away from your toys. I figure you’ll be crawling by the time I write next months letter. However I was also sure that you would have teeth by now but alas you are still my little toothless wonder.

I’m going back to work today, just part time and only temporary for now, but I’m so nervous I could cry. I probably will cry when I drop you off at the sitter’s today. I know that this will be good for both of us, just like I know we need the money. I know that you will enjoy being around another little boy. I also know that spending a little time away from me will be good for you. Lately you cry whenever I walk away from you or leave you with someone else, even your dad. I’m sure the time apart will be good for both of us and I’m sure it will make me a better mom when we are together. I’m just afraid I’ll miss something big and I know it will make me sad the first time you don’t cry when I leave you.

Looks like this month there will be a lot of changes for both of us.

Love Mama

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Weekly Winners: Jan 17-23

jenbshaw — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 23:35:40 +0000

Here are my week’s pictures from project 365. Enjoy.

Head over to Lotus‘ place to check out everyone else.

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Weekly Winners: Jan 10-16

jenbshaw — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 17:49:50 +0000

Wow I just realized that this is my third post for Weekly Winners with NOTHING in between. I’ve got some stuff in the works I just need to find a few minutes to organize my thoughts and polish them up. Anyway here are my shots from Project 365 for the week.

Mimosas on the beach with friends

On the flight home

Serious bed-head

A boy and his tractor

His best imitation of @barefootfoodie

Something pretty

A taste of lime

Go visit Lotus for the rest of the weekly winners.

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