in brief

Actually I prefer thongs-the really strappy ones with jewel encrusted crotches...
Seriously, I have been:
*mothering, feeding, chasing, diapering, rocking, carting around, wiping a nose, and babbling at a very busy and mobile 7 month old
*designing furniture-modern stuff that would fit better with our style and in our house-and any future house
*listing what needs to be finished up on this house to put it on the market
*sorta researching the US Virgin Islands, Hawaii, modern furniture making,travel trailers, digital cams, video cams
*missing Adeline
*getting over illness
*jonesing for ice tea
*hanging with April and Corvin
*washing diapers
*working my way through all the organization and packing away of all our stuff
*cooking
*trying to get this blog entry posted

Real Housewives???

There is a Bravo Tv series called "Real Housewives". I've seen a handful of episodes from each of their locations:Orange County, NY, Atlanta. First of all they are not housewives so much as they are society wives. Their numourous paid help include but aren't limited to nannies, housekeepers, assistants, stylists, chefs, and personal shoppers. I would classify a housewife as someone who actually takes responsibility of at least a few household duties if not all of them. What I've learned about these so called housewives is you don't need talent, smarts, or even beauty to be rich. And you don't need compassion, generosity, selflessness, or even kindness to have friends or people who want to be your friends.
I hope they are happy. I'm not sure that they are though because they spend a lot of time and money trying to impress other people. They constantly bitch about other people-especially the people they consider their friends. I'm sure they have some redeeming qualities-after all none of us are 100% good or bad. But the only one I've liked is Lisa Wu Hartwell and her husband Ed Hartwell. While I wouldn't classify her as a housewife she is not limited to society wife either. She works outside the home and her husband is her partner in most of her endeavors. Apart from that she seems to have likeable qualites such as kindness, honesty, and tact.
Its just tv. Lots of editing is done I'm sure. But from what I've seen I'm glad I'm not a society wife. I'm happy being a real housewife. Even if I eventually earn my own income I'll probably still be responsible for the household duties. I consider that work-the stuff I do to "earn" my keep. Its a great job really because I can stay in my PJ's if I want. The biggest part of my life though is being a mom. That often keeps me from my household "duties"-but I'm getting better-Even while nursing this awful cold I've managed to make dinner twice, creme brule, and cookies. Plus I've made a considerable dent in my big-ass project of organizing, packing away stuff we don't use often, and general cleaning up enough that the baby can crawl around without too many hazards.
So, yeah, being a mom. Seperate from being a housewife. I can't really consider being a mom as what I do to earn my keep. But I do think family is more important than work. I'm so glad I have the opportunity and support to be so involved with my kids. I'm looking forward to the days Josh can be home more and take a more active role in being a dad. He is a good dad and should get to spend more time being one instead of primarily being a provider. There is no word to describe how amazing it is to be a parent. I wish every parent out there could be appreciative of their kids-let their kids become, learn from them, live with them as equals, love them without wanting them to be their ideal of a perfect person. Imagine how much better society would be.
Well as my baby continues to snore away in the other room (she has a cold too) I'm going to try to get some of my housewifey things done so I can better enjoy my bigger better role of being a mom.

Fall 2008 snow storm