A Wee Weenie Post
I like to think that I’m one tough mother. I’m pretty humble about most things. I get embarrassed by compliments. I downplay accomplishments. But I’ll tell anyone who will listen, or anyone who won’t (“Gigi, quit drinking the pool water!”), that I have an abnormally high tolerance for pain. I base this on a few key events in my life: I once took a hit off of a helium tank when I was eight, blacked out... Read More
That’s Knot Funny
I love being a stay-at-home mom. I really do. But some days, I feel like my brain is eating itself. And it’s severely malnourished. It doesn’t help that Lulu woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I am all for letting my children have a sense of control and a sense of identity. But there was no sense behind Lulu’s complaint at 7 a.m. that she didn’t want a Princess pullup, she wanted a Dora pullup. Okay, I’ll... Read More
Totally Quoteable
The day was totally quotable. During the morning workout: Gigi: “You want your abs to burn like a fire!” She’s right. Someone should card her for that six pack. When I discovered that someone had unfurled an entire roll of toilet paper and asked who did it: Lulu: “I did it! But the lady comes to clean our house…” Oooh, why I oughta…. After I asked Gigi why she had the DVD player remote outside: Gigi:... Read More
Domestic Goddess
We are playing a bit of a waiting game here. I keep pacing the yard waiting for those little baby robins to hatch. Unfortunately watching paint dry waiting for birds to hatch is about all I had energy for Monday. Luckily, I was not alone in my exhaustion. There really is no better place to take a breather than a slab of concrete. I settled for the couch. It’s a pretty unnerving feeling to wake up in the middle of the afternoon when you... Read More
Pea Mail: On Being Social
The weekend has officially caught up to me, and so has my inbox. So rather than make a healthier vegan granola for you this morning, I thought I’d answer a question that was asked of me several times over the weekend. It’s not, “Why is your child eating the butter balls of my plate like they are gumdrops?” (this happened at the wedding reception and it was Lulu. She likes butter more than Paula Deen). The question instead... Read More
Say “Cheese”…and “I Do!”
My cheeks hurt from smiling. My feet hurt from dancing (or maybe just dancing in three-inch wedge heels I hadn’t quite broken in). My ego hurts from negative comments realizing that my “come hither” look looks more like “go away.” I’m not sure we could have packed another thing into our Saturday and if we had, I’m not sure I’d be alive to tell about it. Up first, Photo Shoot #1: The Farmer’s... Read More
Carefree and Sugar-free
For as much as I complain, or at least “make light” of gigantic feet, gigantic carpet stains of an organic nature, and gigantic traffic tickets, it’s a sweet life. We had to leave for a few hours while two women cleaned our house. We suffered through pedicures… …and smoothies. I kind of wanted to do my happy dance in Jamba Juice too. Something about Shakira and Gigi. It’s true: the hips, in fact, do not... Read More
I Admit
I have a few disclosures to make. This morning Gigi was simultaneously asking me to get her a snack, pick out her clothes, fix her hair and read to her. Exasperated, I said, “Geeg! I can only do one thing at a time!” Lulu then piped up, “Gigi, Mommy has two hands…not fourteen!” I admit she may have gotten that from me. Our lofty goals for the day included cleaning the house, finding some shoes to wear for some book... Read More
A Little Appreciation
I love our backyard. It started out as a rocky, overgrown field that was a home to a huge cherry tree and a few moles. Unfortunately, there were no survivors. Pea Daddy worked hard over the last six years of our lives to turn it into a sanctuary. I really should tell him I appreciate it more often. It’s so easy to complain about the way he folds towels. It’s so hard to say thank you. Thank you for the flowers. Thank you for... Read More
Old, New, Borrowed, Blue
I truly can’t remember if on my wedding day I had “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue…” This post has a bit of everything to make up for it. It also is a good opportunity to congratulate both Janetha and Kalin on their nuptials this past weekend. Love you, girls! I’m not exactly traditional, so I’m going to start with the borrowed. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,... Read More
Whales, Trains and Mexican Meals
Welcome to my office. I spent a lot of time in there this weekend. I hope one day, I’ll look be able to look back at “my office” and laugh. Hopefully that day I will own a chair. I’m just proud that I’m still able to sit on the floor like I have since I was Lulu’s age, knees spread and bottom on the ground. I must be doing something right. When I did venture out of my workspace, it was to attend a whale-themed... Read More
What You Don’t See
Not everything you see here on Peas and Thank You is exactly what goes on behind-the-scenes. I don’t whip up vegan cookies everyday, and the happenstance hodgepodge of ingredients doesn’t always just turn out to be the best thing I’ve ever tasted. I don’t throw together chickpeas, kale, shitaki mushrooms and dulse and have my children and husband licking their plates and pounding the table shouting, “More! More! More!” ... Read More
Lighten Up
You may find this hard to believe, but I’m actually far more laid back than I used to be. I think Pea Daddy just gave himself whiplash nodding his head so hard in agreement. Yet I hope that for every day I take a breath on this Earth, that I’m always a work in progress. I still have a long way to go. Today’s moment when I checked myself was when Lulu cried out, “Uh oh…I got Spaghetti O’s on my blankie!” You’d... Read More
I Don’t Think We Otter
I am a hair’s breadth from being a total pushover. And the girls know it. A shot of exhaustion from the weekend’s activities, with a jigger of maternal guilt from spending most of the day writing yesterday, topped off with a splash of insecurity about the belief that my children are having a happy, albeit not exactly conventional childhood was just the cocktail Gigi and Lulu needed to serve up to have me saying, “Oh…alright!”... Read More
Secrets Don’t Make Friends, but Giveaways Do
I hate to keep secrets from you guys. But how does that saying go? “Why buy the charming, hilarious, almost finished meat-free memoir cookbook when you can have the recipes for free?” So in exchange for my relentless teasing, I have another giveaway for you. I’m just going to make you wait for it first while looking at pictures of recipes that I can’t give you. Yesterday we hosted a birthday barbecue for Pea Daddy with... Read More
Job Opening
I think my husband should start looking for a new housewife. I am a hasbeen. For starters, despite the fact that I spent almost four hours cleaning my house yesterday, I hired a professional to do my dirty work. What kind of housewife hires a cleaning service? A housewife that wants her shower whiter than Moby in January, whiter than a weekend in the Hamptons with Muffy and Preston Vanderhausen, whiter than me the summer I decided Jergens... Read More
In Twos
Happy Birthday Cleaning Day Jelly Face Jamba Snack Welcome Home Local Berries Double Fisting Semi-homemade Birthday Shortcake By Request Predictable Gifts Questionable Taste The Proposal No Competition Grrrr Rrrow Good Night Read More
Hopes, Dreams and Ice Cream
A mother has hopes and dreams for her children. I hope they never run out of every last square of toilet paper in the house in the middle of the night and are left hobbling over to the Kleenex box half-asleep, only to find that it’s empty too. I dream that they find a way to express themselves without judgment, and that it never hurts to be exactly who they are. I hope they build their dreams from the ground up, even if it is starting their... Read More
Weekend Casualties
This post was almost a casualty of the long weekend. I’m just warning you, I may go Kevorkian on it midway through. I’m surprised yesterday didn’t kill Joey Chestnut. He ate 54 hot dogs in 10 minutes at the annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. That’s 5.4 hot dogs per minute. That’s almost eating a single hot dog per 10 seconds. He didn’t beat his record though of 68 hot dogs in 10 minutes. And... Read More
Red, White and Blah
You may recall that the 4th of July is not my favorite holiday. It’s loud. It’s stinky. It’s 10:30 pm and my children are still awake because apparently lighting off illegal fireworks late at night instantly makes the male genitalia double in size. Still, I guess it’s better than a finger in your eye. Barely. Our holiday was very low key. The main event: a trip to Lowe’s. Really there is no better day to... Read More
I’m Whimsical!
I’ve had a sack of millet in my pantry for a month. I bought it on a whim after reading The Kind Diet. I also bought a lot of collard greens, ume plum vinegar and some nori sheets. Those weren’t so lucky. Whims explain a lot of underutilized belongings of mine, like oil paints, juicers, knitting needles and yarn, and the very large, very nice guitar in my very cluttered closet. I could still learn. I’ve got nothing but... Read More
