Bliss

I'm here y'all ... kinda! I am known to be a little indecisive (hence the "muddiness" of my blog name.) So, by the time I decided that I indeed could go to the Blissdom blogging conference here in Nashville (here in Nashville, people) it was sold out. Next year I will know better!
BUT, I was still able to get a cocktail party ticket (to the tune o' 50 bucks).
Last night, pre-party the options were this ... hubby and Little Man drive me to said party (40 minutes from my house) and kill time at the nearby Mall while I socialized, or me get a room at the hotel. I didn't want to spend that $ on a cocktail party and not get a cocktail, know what I am sayin'? And I am too paranoid to drive even after one. Little Man wanted to stay home and watch "Polar Express" and was NOT into the drive mommy adventure. I said "if I go by myself, I may spend the night at the hotel and I will miss you" he said "I will send you a picture so you can see me." Ha! Always thinkin'!
So...I mosied over, on my own, to the Opryland Hotel. The cocktail party was at a fairly new Vegas-style nightclub called Fuse. I ran into some Nashville bloggers who it was great to see. Then, Harry Connick Jr performed a few songs!! He sandwiched an appearance in between performances at the Grammies and the Superbowl. He was VERY cute, I mean ... talented! He looked out into the sea of 500 women bloggers and said "Damn, there are a lot of women here! Where were you all when I was in highschool?!" He also joked about how he thought there would be a lot of masculine women with facial hair there, claiming he had thought it was going to be a LOGGERS convention. (What a kidder!) He also said what an important group it was to play for and how much he respects strong women. Talked about his mom and his three daughters. Then, he said he has been married for twenty years. After everyone cheered for that he said "I didn't say that I don't cheat." Then he quickly added that he was just kidding as to not put any evil ideas into the heads of those shameless mommy-blogger hussies (hahahaha)
Then he talked about what a difference people, like bloggers, can make. His pet project is rebuilding New Orleans after Katrina and he shared how he has been involved in a housing project for musicians there. Then, with him on piano accompanied by two horn players and a drummer played several songs including "When The Saints Come Marching In" for his home team. They sounded great! Afterwards it was announced that we could "very quickly" go through the line for pictures, which I did. When they said very quickly they weren't joking! They made group pics with like 12 women at a time. I did quickly introduce myself to him though and he was very nice.
That was really great of him to come in for it, and really SMART to play somewhere where 500 women are going to tweet and blog about you!!
I checked in and then and crashed some kind of potato cookoff. It was very fun to be around and get to meet a few other bloggers, and chat with some that I already knew.
Then I came back to my room, all cozy and ready for sleep in this beautiful hotel when I heard a man outside my door yell "call the f-ing cops, call the f-ing cops" and knock into my door! I called the front desk who sent security, but apparantly it was just some drunks in a fight or something. It was over quickly, but my overactive imagination had me invisioning snipers in the hallways or something. Ugh!
Once that passed I got a good night's sleep. And though I wish I had gotten a ticket and was out mingling with the other women right now, and I miss my boys (in spite of the promised pic I was sent), I am thoroughly enjoying a cup of coffee here in the room by myself and the chance to write a full blog post uninterrupted ... ah, bliss!

Bots for Tots

We were quite excited to get a package the other day from my old playgroup friend/songstress and now children's clothing guru, Mackenzie Fairhead. She has created a line of clothing called Cal&Bram (named for her little cuties) "Where Petal Meets Metal". The tee-shirt she sent for Little Man to test out came in cute packaging, wrapped in plastic like a gift basket with a darling gift tag on it.

I loved the "operating instructions" for how to care for it.

It was an adorable 100% cotton, long sleeved shirt with the cutest hand-made felt applique robot lovingly attached. My l'il guy LOVED it. Bots are cool, y'all.
In case my fuzzy blackberry photos don't compute, go check out the site and get your kiddo their very own fabulous robotic wear! Visit http://www.calandbram.com

Through the eyes of a child

Saturday night the snow was just starting to fall along the Jersey Shore and we had been enjoying a dinner party for Nanny's birthday at "the farm." The kids were engrossed in a movie in another room while the adults were by the fire watching my late father-in-law's retirement video from several years ago. Little Man came bounding into the room, and, on the TV he saw his "Poppie" Though he was not yet three years old when his grandfather passed, the little guy has clear memories of him. He pointed to the set and asked,"Is that Heaven?"
How dear is that?

You can take the boy out of the country ...

We are visiting my in-laws in New Jersey this weekend. Little Man was very smitten with his big cousin tonight. (She is almost 6 1/2 to his just turned five) Here is the conversation I overheard ...

Her: "What do you want to play?"
Him: "You be the wife and I be the husband ... 'cause we are COUSINS!!!!"

Hmmmmmmmmm, I guess we DO sound like we are from Tennessee!!

Nothing but the tooth

We saw "Tooth Fairy" with Little Man on Sunday. Well, it was cute ... for five-year-olds. It was somewhat amusing to see Dwayne ("The Rock" Johnson) flit around in a fairy tutu. Now Little man says he knows everything about the tooth fairy, so, I suppose it was educational. Ha! There were some good (or bad, depending on your point of view) puns scattered throughout for adult's enjoyment (my personal favorite was the "fairy krishna's" at the airport) and there was a nice saccharine sweet ending. Like one review says, "just floss with a couple of good Pixar films afterwards and you should be just fine". All in all it was a fun family outing.

Away We Go

Last night Jim and I were looking for a good Saturday night movie to watch after Little Man was in bed. We stumbled across Away We Go, a 2009 comedy/drama directed by Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes and written by the husband-and-wife team of Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida. It starred that cutie, I mean, "good actor", John Krasinski from the Office, so I figured it was worth a watch. What a pleasant surprise. It was so well done. And, as a theater person, great acting gets me excited and there were some really good (and funny) performances in this film. Krasinsky was a slightly geeky, but sweet natured boyfriend to Maya Rudolph's character who gets pregnant, and they both find themselves wondering if they are f- ups because they are in their early thirties, pregnant and not truly settled yet.
Maya Rudolph (daughter of singer Minnie "Loving You" Ripperton and former Saturday Night Live cast member) gave a surprisingly straight and touching performance, particularly in the last scene. Kasinsky and Rudolph had a nice chemistry between them. I think most anyone would like this, unless you are prudish, then you will find the opening scene in, um, bad taste (couldn't resist).
But, I LOVED the cameo performances in this film. Catherine O'hara (Of Waiting For Guffman and various other Christopher Guest films) was hilarious as usual as Krasinsky's selfish mom who decided to move to Belgium with her husband (played by a dry-humoured Jeff Daniels) one month before their grandchild is born. This drives Krasinsky and Randolph to set out to find a home near loved ones. They visit an old co-worker of hers, played by Allison Janne, who is completely insane and extremely funny as well. As someone who has studied the virtues of attachment parenting, I howled during the scene where they visit Krasinsky's "cousin" played by Maggie Gyllenhaal. Rudolph misunderstands her name to be "Ellen", but it was "LN" for lactation nurse. They walk in to see her for the first time tandum nursing a big boy and an infant. She and her husband played by Josh Hamilton are absolutely hilarious, and the faux pas of the young couple bringing them a stroller as a gift had me literally laughing out loud.
Also, as one who has dealt with infertility and pondering adoption, I was touched by the storyline of their friends they visit in Montreal who have a housefull of adopted kids. Rudolph decides that she wants what that family has. But the heartbreak of infertility bubbles up and is beautifully portrayed in the words of Chris Messina's character and in the sadness on Melanie Lynskey's face. The storyline of a motherless little girl was intense as well.
I definitely recommend this film to anyone who is specifically interested in parenting or in fine films in general.

Freaky Friday

Taking an idea from buddy Michele at the Finding Trinity blog.
Yup, this is a day (or so) late, but we definitely did have a Freak-out (or freaky) Friday.
I got a call from Little Man's preschool in the middle of the day yesterday (never a good sign!) that he was freaking out and wanting to come home. It basically consisted of running through the Montessori preschool and yelling at the top of his lungs (with a big smile on his face) and saying he wanted to go home. Throwing work and saying he wanted to go home. Saying "I make bad choices and I go home" Not so fast, little mister. Had he come home he would have had a very not-so-fun day with no TV or fave toys. But, we all realized that the last thing we should do was cave and give him what he wanted, or else he would never forget it and always act out when he wants to go home. He apparantly got sat on, I mean, put in time-out multiple times until he eventually pulled himself together.
Later on that day another five-year-old boy got in trouble and got sent home. My son asked the teacher "Why he make bad choices and he get to go home?" "Because he DOESN'T want to go home!!"
Here is to a freakin' great Friday next week! :)