My great grandmother's 101st birthday is next week. 101 years is a really long time for anyone to be alive... I mean, really. Especially these days! I mean, back in the day people lived to be nearly 1000, but nowadays it just doesn't go like that... its just not the same world, but I digress.

My great grandmother, Honey, as I've always called her, has lived an extraordinarily long time. She's seen and done some awesome things in her time, some of which I'm sure none of us will ever know about. I'm pretty certain that over the course of an entire century you can get yourself into all sorts of fun trouble, and I sincerely hope that she did. Her actual name is Pearl, but my great grandfather called her "honey" as a term of endearment, and it stuck with the grandkids, so my mom and her brothers, and all of their kids, have always just called her that. I'd like to think its really a pretty fitting name, as she's a sweet old gal.

A few years ago we went to see her at her little house, a cute place on a shady street in a small Arkansas farming town... she sat us down in her den, the room I remembered as my great grandfather's, where pipe smoke lingered and fun little wooden peg-toys were tucked away for great grandkids such as myself... we sat with her and looked at pictures, and for the first time I saw her as she was at my age. Pictures of her, rather plain looking and small, so deeply in love with my great grandfather... pictures of her as a young mother, looking as scared yet strong as we all tend to look at that point... I was amazed.

I saw where her sauciness originated, where all of the ladies in my family have gotten it from... this is a woman who truly knew herself. I've never in my life heard of a woman like my Honey. She's been an avid garage saler since I've been around, and has always attended church on Sunday. She killed a snake at the age of 99 in the assisted living facility she lived in, by simply stepping on it. She's broken her hip more times than I can keep up with by doing things women in their late 90's should most definitely not be doing... washing windows, salsa dancing, chasing lawn boys... ok, I don't know for sure about the last two, but knowing her its entirely possible. She's never been afraid to live her life, and frankly, she's done it well for a very long time.

When I got pregnant we fought with names for quite a while... if we had a boy, we were planning on the name Avery Lee, a family name... combining both sides, but we couldn't think of a girl's name to save our lives. It was on a trip to see my great grandmother, the trip that we made specifically to tell her that we were pregnant (we were nervous as hell and couldn't seem to make that phone call) that we decided on a girl name... again combining both family names. Our daughter's middle name is Pearl. Since Bean-girl goes by both her first and middle name (think Southern and say it fast: like "Peggy Sue" or "Hannah Jo") we say and hear that name often. For the rest of her days, our daughter will carry her great-great grandmother with her, and that makes me so happy.

Honey died this afternoon, one week before her 101st birthday. This time last year I had a newborn but that didn't stop us from traveling across the state to see her for her 100th birthday bash. We took her a remote control car (for terrorizing the other assisted living facility residents) and some blackberry wine (like her daddy used to make) and a great great grand-baby that she enjoyed immensely, dare I say more than the car, wine, and birthday party. The sparkle in her eye when she held her is enough to bring tears to mine as I write this... I know I'll always remember it, and I hope Bean-girl will too. Rest in peace, honey... we miss you already.

I've always had this idea in my head of what Jazzercise must be like... I imagine women my mom's age and older bouncing around in front of a wall-sized mirror to upbeat 80's music wearing leotards and leg warmers... I know I'm not the only one.

There's been a Jazzercise center in Fayetteville for as long as I can remember. Its on the main drag in a tiny little shopping center. It just so happens that I go by it often, since its close to my mom's house. I was amused a couple of weeks ago that the sign out front said "this isn't your mom's Jazzercise". A week later my mom told me she'd gotten a pamphlet in the mail and that she was thinking about trying it out. I told her she should. When she asked if I wanted to go with her I didn't know what to say... on one hand it seemed like a good way to get me motivated to exercise, but it all seemed so... dorky. I also really figured it must be expensive, or at least, more than I'd want to pay to bounce around to 80's music with a room full of middle-aged sweaty gals.

She was determined to check it out, so the next time we talked she asked again, and this time threw in that she found out they have free childcare and that the first class is totally free. I really had no way out at that point, so I went.

From first glance around the room, I was utterly shocked. It seemed as though my original fears were unfounded... there was a huge range of ages and ethnicities and there were no leotards in sight! Plus, the dreaded mirror didn't exist! I was extremely relieved that I didn't have to watch myself shimmy and wobble for an entire hour. Its just a big open room with a stage at the front. The instructor does her thing on the stage, and you have the rest of the room to do yours. There's mats, exercise balls, and weights all there for the taking. The childcare room is full of toys and kids, and I was actually very impressed. Its clean and the kids have loads of stuff to play with.

My first class was awkward to say the least. I tripped over my own feet, bungled the moves like nobody's business, and felt as though my heart would absolutely explode by the time I left... but I really actually enjoyed it! In fact, my only concern at that point was the cost. Young parents, especially those that are small business owners, such as myself, don't have money floating around like maybe we'd like... in fact, most of the time we're budgeted pretty tight. I was very nervous about signing up to do something that wasn't just absolutely necessary. I was very glad to hear there's no contract and that the monthly fee was lower than anywhere else in town that offered aerobics classes. In fact, my initial fee of $50 and $40/month was discounted by $20 because of a handy coupon, so I was sold.

I've gone to 2 classes this week. Though I'm feeling a bit sore today, I'm so excited about this! Not only am I finally going to focus on getting in shape, I'm not paying an arm and a leg for it. Not to mention that I can't help but think that getting out of my comfort zone and dancing for an hour a day can't hurt anything at all... right? Right. Here's to looking good naked...

This weekend the family hit up a new natural parenting store here in Fayetteville. Our friends Olivia and her (8 month old) Calliope were in from out of town and we were anxious to check it out! I was very impressed with the shop, a very clean, inviting space... good place for Bean to run around and check things out, complete with toy shelves low enough for little hands, and some neat little wood play tables. They even had a baby cushion (which husband-pants swore was a dog bed) that I've just got to get for the house. Bean bounced around on it for quite a while.

Husband-pants was wowed by the awesome selection of organic cotton (Speeses) onesies with stellar designs (that were 40% off!) while Liv and I checked out the Moby Wraps, since we have matching ones and love them dearly... as I was contemplating grabbing a Moby-D I remembered that now that she can walk, the little one resists wrapping in a pretty serious way, so we decided against it.

I was able to check out some cloth diapers, which is good since we're still planning on moving more to cloth in the coming months. They had an example of all of the diapers they sell, plus little info sheets explaining what kind of diapers they were, so that you could examine them right. I was glad! I'll be the first one to admit I don't know nearly as much as I'd like to about cloth diapering, so it was nice to be able to explore like that. Husband-pants seemed to dig them, so maybe it won't be too hard to convince him to check them out at some point!!!

We even got to hear some lovely live tunes as we shopped, which of course set Bean-girl to dancing... really, she's a sucker for an acoustic guitar.


I found a cool local video showcasing the store and their organic cotton clothing... this shows their awesome diaper display, the wooden toy play sets, Moby wraps, as well as the shop and the owner, Bernice, who was super friendly when we stopped in.

Overall we were definitely impressed. Its not only nice to see a natural parenting store in the area, its excellent that their prices weren't outrageous and that they are selling really good quality stuff, while providing a kid-friendly environment. We (unfortunately) got out without buying anything this time but we'll definitely be going back soon... if you're in the area, you should check it out.


Terra Tots

21 W Mountain, Suite 227, Fayetteville AR

November 2005


February 2008

I will say I miss my hair... a lot. But that's about all.

Happy Birthday, Bean... your first year has been a great one!

Time for a proper update? I think so.

Sorry I've been gone for so long... I'm internet-less up in the woods! At first I enjoyed it... a good time to get my priorities back in order. (1. Kid 2. Work 3. Housework 4. Internet) I'm not going to say what order they were in before, but let's just say its been needing an overhaul. Truth be told, though, feeling disconnected really gets to you after a few days... and its definitely adding to the loneliness factor.

I'm stealing wireless in a nearby apartment complex while kiddo naps for a bit, and then I've got to work... I'm taking 12 kids to a church retreat in a different town this weekend... and bean girl is going with us (of course!) some people would say that's absolutely insane, and I would agree wholeheartedly with all of them. It will be an adventure to say the least... The jury is still out on whether or not I'll be traveling to visit husband-pants after that... I suppose it all depends on how exhausted we are.

Husband-pants loves his new job, and rightfully so! Its treated him well so far, especially today, when they sent him lovingly home (to the hotel) because of a fever. Turns out he has an upper respiratory infection... now sending him home because he's sick may not seem all that out of the ordinary to most, but his last job was not the same... if you were on your death bed, you better figure out a way to wheel it up to your cubicle. Missing work was a bigtime no-no. Anyhow, he's doing big things and feeling quite proud of himself... every time I talk to him he sounds like he's grown 10 feet... I'm not yet sure if that's because of the job, or just being in Texas.

Bean girl is really enjoying farm life. Our little cottage sits on a rather large working farm, complete with horses, chickens, some dogs and a few cats! Its really quite a treat for us, as its all fairly new! She's only flattened a chicken once, and for as many times as she's gone after them, I'd say that's pretty good... and he made it out ok... if not a little more cautious around fast-flying toddlers (as he should be!)

Planning the ever-important first birthday party has proved to be mighty time consuming... I'm enjoying it, though. I need to get everything set in stone this week, and I think I'll start to work on a Bean-sized tutu for the special day... all so much fun...

Anyhow, I'm sure the apartment-dwellers are starting to wonder about the car in the parking lot with the strange lady hunched over and trying to duck the sunlight... I'd hate to give the rent-a-cops reason to wake up Bean-girl, so we'll be going...

I promise we'll be back soon. In the meantime, send me lots of good thoughts and I'll do the same for you.

<3

There's really nothing worse in the world than an ugly baby... I mean, babies are supposed to be cute, cuddly little balls of joy... right? "Ugly baby" is an oxymoron in itself... except not. There are too many of the little buggers rolling, crawling, and toddling around right now to not believe its true. Ugly babies do exist, and its just down right wrong.

You have 3 categories of ugly babies, too. The first is the ugly baby belonging to the doting parents who would never think that their child is anything but a beautiful little creature they imagined for those 9 long months... I mean, they realize he's a little funny looking... sure his little nose is all squished, his eyes are just a tad crossed, and his head is still cone-shaped by the time he's mastered the art of crawling, but its just a phase... he'll grow in to it!

These are the parents who will inevitably send you 15,000 pictures of their little angel's 2 month photo shoot, where the kid really resembles a confused fur-challenged monkey.


The second category is the poor little guy whose parents realize the full extent of their kid's ugliness... but it can go two ways.

You've got the cool parents, who realizing it, play it off while hoping that kid will grow into his odd features... and hey, if he doesn't, at least he'll have a great sense of humor

But there are those parents, who realizing their adorable little sunshine princess sortof looks like a bulldog, put some serious work into making her look absolutely frilly every time she's out of the house... bows, ruffles, the works... the overcompensation is ridiculous, but you can't just cover a turd with chocolate and call it a treat.


The last group, and this is, in my opinion, the unluckiest of them all, are the kids whose parents are in complete and total denial that their kid is ugly... these are the kids that have it the worst because at some point in their lives they're going to see a baby picture and realize "damn! i was one ugly little kid!" and that sucks... every ugly baby should at least be a little prepared for it! We won't even go into the appearance of the parents on this one, just expect tons of pictures around Christmas time, and try your best not to show them off to friends and family like you're pointing out toothless carnys at the county fair... unfortunately, that's frowned upon no matter how crazy that kid looks.


The only good thing is that most ugly babies, at least the ones I've seen, don't go on to be ugly kids, or ugly adults... now I'm not saying that there aren't plenty of ugly people out there, it can definitely happen... but an ugly baby is not necessarily doomed... but what would I know? I've got very limited experience with such things... even covered in peaches my kid is freaking adorable...