Stuff Lately: January

It's about 1 degree out and I'm on the couch with the lights low and The Smiths Pandora station on.  Tonight Brixton is attending his first sleepover at his BFF Thomas' house.  I'm going to a "Mom Prom" and my friend, "Thomas' Mom" has kindly allowed Brixton to stay the night (and she has a 2 month old baby...good people here...thanks, friend.)

I've never attended a Mom Prom, but I'm excited.  I'm dressing up.  The flat iron is going to be warmed up.  Makeup will be applied.  Spanx will be worn, as well as a red dress I bought almost two years ago in the hopes of having somewhere to wear it.

It's the first time it's being worn, which I think is a sad testament to the social status of my life.  Or just a fact of aging.

I considered applying fake eyelashes, but really, I have neither the time or the patience for that kind of Tom Foolery.  Or glue.  I don't have any eyelash glue and I'm not about to buy any.

Here's some other stuff that's been going on in January:

*We got some furry pets added to our family.  And then subtracted.  Long story and I'll probably write about it.

*I've gotten three chemical peels these past few months.  I wish I could say I look 16 again, but really I look 36 with the peeling skin of a snake.  I have one more to do.  What women won't do for the hope of looking even slightly younger.

* I got a new car.  A 2008 Volvo XC90.  I thought it would be a snow tank, but then we almost slid into the road and if there had been a car coming we would have been smashed.  Turns out the tires are bald.  Wah wah.  Still, I'm driving it forever.  The heated seats make my buns oh-so toasty on these cold, cold winter days.

*Our Christmas got extended by a few days when I volunteered to give up our seats home in return for flight vouchers.  Then a few more days when our flight home got cancelled.  Another post in progress. 

*We are continuing work on our new house.  So far, most of our funds have been sucked away by the discovery of iron bacteria contaminated water, which basically means that when you take a shower it smells like you are showering in blood. Yeah, that makes you feel so fresh and so clean.  Our water was rated unsatisfactory by the county health office--not the best feeling.  Luckily, iron bacteria doesn't hurt you, it just stinks.  Literally and all that. 

*While Brendan likes to spend his evenings riding his bikes in snow and extremely cold temperatures (I think he thrives a bit on almost dying on each ride of hypothermia), I have been enjoying cuddling up next to our fireplace (can't get enough of it) and binge watching "The Tudors."  I can't tell if I have a crush on Jonathon Rhys Meyers or King Henry VIII, who I have come to believe was a victim as much as anyone.  I have taken to curtsying (something it turns out I'm very good at) and saying, "Yes, majesty" when Brendan asks me something.  I think he's a bit confused about the whole thing, but it is really all that bad when your queen...ahem...wife, starts treating you like royalty?  I think not. 

 Well, off to drive Brixton to his first over-nighter.  I keep asking him if he's going to be ok, if he's going to be sad later tonight, but I honestly think I'm the one that will be doing most of the missing...

Why

I miss blogging.  What I really miss is wanting to blog.  I don't know where I lost the interest in it, since I've always loved writing, but maybe something about the whole "mommy blogging" world turned me off from it.

 One thing that really made me stop writing was a comment from a family member.  He told me (perhaps jokingly, but one of those "I'm joking, but I'm serious" jokes) that my blog was really not about Brixton anymore as the name (had) implied (Brixton Makes Three), but mostly about me.  Me me me.  It made me feel icky.  Narcissistic, self-important, full of myself.  Blogging is that--well, it can be--and often is. 

It's amazing, how even at 35 years old, you can still be shamed, however unwittingly. 

I think that's a big portion of why I haven't written for the past (almost) year.  It shook my confidence.  I don't know how to reconcile myself to this.  On one hand, yes my blog is about me--my life, the things that happen, my thoughts and opinions, pictures of what is going on here--and I love that.  I like sharing it with friends and family that are miles and miles (and oceans) away.  I like reading through it myself at times, it's a diary, a scrapbook if you will, of a very important time of my life.  On the other hand--I don't think I'm all that special.  I'm not especially beautiful or witty.  My child, while the pinnacle of gorgeous to my eyes, is probably average (ok, slightly above).  I don't live in a magical city where I am doing fabulous things all the time, wear amazingly fashionable clothes, have really anything that is brag-worthy. 

So is blogging a good way to express creativity and stay in touch with people, or just another social outlet for our egocentric and attention-craving generation?