tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63604999959723983792024-03-06T03:48:03.922-05:00The SAHMnambulistStay-At-Home-Mother. Sleepwalker.
So Not Your Mother's Mommy Blog.Emily Guy Birkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07936113655259874086noreply@blogger.comBlogger374125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360499995972398379.post-17269041520760763462020-09-16T08:44:00.005-04:002020-09-16T08:44:37.261-04:00September 13 at 13 Minutes to Midnight 20202019201820172016201520142013Emily Guy Birkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07936113655259874086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360499995972398379.post-6757565419407634992020-08-31T13:04:00.001-04:002020-08-31T13:04:20.500-04:00August 31 at 6:17 a.m.20202019201820172016201520142013201220112010Emily Guy Birkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07936113655259874086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360499995972398379.post-51308304856709309802018-11-12T22:15:00.002-05:002018-11-12T22:15:35.863-05:00What I Read in OctoberIt's entirely possible that I will not hit my arbitrary reading goal for 2018. I set myself the goal of reading 52 books this year--one book a week--and my reading pace is not exactly keeping up. Between getting the creeping (and lingering...and lingering...and lingering...) crud in October, just after my husband came down with pneumonia, and my inability to turn my brain off enough to immerse Emily Guy Birkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07936113655259874086noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360499995972398379.post-65265332408130961292018-10-31T10:44:00.000-04:002018-10-31T17:11:46.040-04:00Feel the Fear and Do It AnywayWhen I was an anxious teenager my mother taught me that bravery had nothing to do with feeling fearless. Bravery was when you felt the fear, and did whatever it was anyway.
This lesson came when I was terrified of learning to drive. There was so much that could go wrong behind the wheel, and a part of me wanted to forgo driving altogether to avoid the possible consequences.
Mom made sure that Emily Guy Birkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07936113655259874086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360499995972398379.post-72462113685481724122018-10-08T23:36:00.001-04:002018-10-11T10:51:56.736-04:00What I Read: July Through September
I have not been keeping up with my What I Read posts, in part because I had a real emotional (and reading) rut in early August. Honestly, I've been getting worn down by the state of the world lately, and even running away into a good book seemed beyond my ability to focus.
Despite the national horrors of the last couple of weeks, I am finally feeling more like myself. My favorite cousin got Emily Guy Birkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07936113655259874086noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360499995972398379.post-34198420674762170172018-09-15T11:24:00.004-04:002018-09-15T11:24:55.914-04:0013 Minutes to Midnight on September 13
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Emily Guy Birkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07936113655259874086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360499995972398379.post-38022671173011345652018-08-31T15:33:00.000-04:002018-08-31T15:33:26.129-04:00August 31 at 6:17 a.m.
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Emily Guy Birkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07936113655259874086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360499995972398379.post-83174922355237878892018-07-09T22:24:00.000-04:002018-07-10T08:59:52.835-04:00What I Read in June
LO has inherited both my love for reading and the inability to hear anyone coming while reading, resulting in many startled glances, such as this one.
June was...tough. There was just so much bad news in the world and so many heartbreaks and horrors, and I wish I could have spent more time lost in a good book.
June also coincided with one of my regular book ruts. I get these fairlyEmily Guy Birkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07936113655259874086noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360499995972398379.post-63426166423037146442018-05-31T22:10:00.001-04:002018-05-31T22:11:08.181-04:00What I Read in MayI'm happy to report that my eye is basically de-wonkified at this point, although my vision still gets somewhat blurred after a long day at the computer or if I'm super tired. According to my neuro-ophthalmologist (I've got my own personal neuro-ophthalmologist!), I may end up enjoying blurry vision when I get stressed, overheated, or tired for quite some time.
This meant that though I was able Emily Guy Birkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07936113655259874086noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360499995972398379.post-12371344007887349072018-04-30T22:33:00.002-04:002018-05-20T12:15:49.418-04:00What I Read in March and April
You know how they say that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb?
Yeah, my March was not so much like that.
It came in like everything was peachy keen and went out like chaos was descending. Specifically, the end of March saw me having my right eye go randomly wonky.
Per BB, "Why are you 'tending to be a pirate, Mommy?"
I started having blurry vision on March 31. By April Emily Guy Birkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07936113655259874086noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360499995972398379.post-24263637186897689022018-04-27T13:20:00.000-04:002018-04-27T13:20:53.652-04:00Like a Chair of Bowlies
Books are traditional for the first anniversary. Sarah’s gift to Jonathan is blank, although she has written a hidden message in lemon juice on every fifth page. Jonathan spends 20 minutes excavating the paperbacks and library books from beneath the couch and in between the Morris chair and the wall. He piles the discarded books in a tower before Sarah.
“Have you
finished any of these?” he Emily Guy Birkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07936113655259874086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360499995972398379.post-8857603316828048392018-03-01T15:31:00.004-05:002018-03-01T15:36:35.623-05:00What I Read in February
The family that reads together...
My reading slowed down a little in February, as I hit one of my regular reading slumps. Still, I got through another five titles, meaning I've read 18 books thus far in 2018. Only 34 to go to reach my annual goal.
I'm kind of psyched that all 18 of these titles have been authored by women. I've been wondering if I could keep the streak going and read only Emily Guy Birkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07936113655259874086noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360499995972398379.post-54190662822606977242018-01-31T22:09:00.001-05:002018-01-31T22:09:39.535-05:00What I Read in January
I have been a reading machine so far in 2018. While many who know me might claim I'm always a reading machine...
Exhibit A
In point of fact, I am an inveterate re-reader and much of my reading machinery is taken up with revisiting old friends who must get tired of me reading them.
2018, on the other hand, has been 4 1/2 weeks of reading new works non-stop. I have read, thus far in 2018, 13Emily Guy Birkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07936113655259874086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360499995972398379.post-37929394913328826872017-09-19T09:58:00.004-04:002017-09-19T09:59:11.797-04:0013 Minutes to Midnight on September 13
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Eventually, he'll be awake at 11:47 at night.Emily Guy Birkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07936113655259874086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360499995972398379.post-78474769871924989382017-08-31T12:58:00.000-04:002017-08-31T12:58:12.447-04:00August 31 at 6:17 a.m.
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Emily Guy Birkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07936113655259874086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360499995972398379.post-8872834677443735772017-07-06T12:55:00.000-04:002017-07-06T12:55:01.422-04:00How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love (When I) Bomb
A Treatise on Perfectionism
My dear friend Erika wrote on Independence Day that she would be declaring independence from a bad habit that was not serving her or her family well. She asked us what we would each declare independence from, and I responded that I was letting go of perfection this year because I was tired of being paralyzed by perfectionism.
Another friend asked me how I was Emily Guy Birkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07936113655259874086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360499995972398379.post-7895815933285525132017-06-15T18:56:00.001-04:002017-06-16T10:35:39.824-04:00So Effing What?At about this time last year, I went through a marathon X-Files viewing, revisiting the greatest alien-themed love story ever told (and realizing that Fox Mulder is kind of a dick, sadly).
Though I'd never seen it during the original airing, I was delighted to be introduced to the mediocre-yet-hilarious (and very very 90s-rific) episode Syzygy. It's the story of two 17-year-old girls, who for Emily Guy Birkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07936113655259874086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360499995972398379.post-51891076706501125002016-09-14T15:50:00.002-04:002016-09-14T15:50:32.584-04:0013 Minutes to Midnight on September 13
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Emily Guy Birkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07936113655259874086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360499995972398379.post-8716800896905607862016-09-01T11:59:00.004-04:002016-09-01T11:59:56.251-04:00August 31 at 6:17 am
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Emily Guy Birkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07936113655259874086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360499995972398379.post-3233379438906243142016-05-27T08:04:00.002-04:002018-01-27T16:14:18.243-05:00Gillian Anderson as Bond Is Just Like Heaven
Earlier this week, fans jumped on the idea of casting Gillian Anderson as the next Bond. Whether she would be Jane Bond, Dana Bond (my personal suggestion as a nice hat tip to the series that made her a star), or James Bond, since the only reason James is a masculine name is because we have decided it is so, I have never been so excited about a pop culture rumor in my life.
Just consideringEmily Guy Birkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07936113655259874086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360499995972398379.post-30273575786054712016-05-25T12:06:00.002-04:002016-05-25T12:06:30.478-04:00The Structure of Insomnia
There are four acts to a sleepless night.
During Act I, you still feel a sense of calm and optimism. Sure, you have not been able to fall asleep in your first 10, 20, 45, 90 minutes of lying in bed, staring at your ceiling fan as it squeaks through its endless air-stirring repetitions. But the night is long, and your rest will come. You know you can still sleep well and awake refreshed with Emily Guy Birkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07936113655259874086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360499995972398379.post-34486989903919691432016-04-22T10:37:00.001-04:002017-03-17T17:35:28.026-04:00Passover, Prince, and Immortality
By Scott Penner (Flickr: Prince) via Wikimedia Commons
We lost another immortal yesterday. Another icon of my MTV childhood gone far too soon. He joins Bowie in making 2016 a damn hard year for music.
Prince died the day before Passover begins, which strikes me and my weird thought processes as important. I was just telling my rabbi the other day that I consider the Passover seder to be a Emily Guy Birkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07936113655259874086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360499995972398379.post-29985259706331241672015-11-20T09:06:00.001-05:002015-11-20T09:18:55.011-05:00Opus and the Great Green RoomLO and BB tend to cycle through favorite books. For a long while, LO requested Katy and the Big Snow every night. Some weeks, it's The Cat in the Hat. For an interminable several months, BB wanted only the inane Thomas the Tank Engine books.
But over and over again, both LO and BB return to Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, with pictures by Clement Hurd.
Before he died, my father and Emily Guy Birkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07936113655259874086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360499995972398379.post-4915929940039945702015-09-29T21:39:00.000-04:002015-09-29T21:39:03.648-04:00August 31 and September 13August 31 at 6:17 am
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Emily Guy Birkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07936113655259874086noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360499995972398379.post-14103882856585562482015-09-11T14:13:00.001-04:002015-09-11T14:13:59.446-04:00Picture DayYesterday was picture day at the boys' school.
Pictured: LO's 2013 photo disaster
I have long since given up on trying to dress the children up for their school pictures, as you can see from LO's terrible 2013 photo shoot. (To be fair, I gave birth that day, but still).
However, J and I hoped that the kids could at least have better hair this year. To that end, we got out the comb before Emily Guy Birkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07936113655259874086noreply@blogger.com0