Tuesday, January 1, 2008

MommyTime, Do You Really Drink Martinis?

Yes.

But not very often. In fact, probably about twice a year.

That's why I need this blog, you see. Because there are times when a mommy thinks, "a martini might make this spinning moment of toddler protest scream-fest a bit more bearable. And yet, my nice glass might get smashed, and the only martini ingredients in my house are olives -- but the only martinis I like are chocolate. And I'm not desperate enough to try to concoct a chocolate martini with garlic stuffed green olives..."

And so I write instead.

Once I even wrote about martinis.

But generally, I write about whatever I'm thinking about, which might be my toddler learning to talk or my preschooler's love of pirates, or might be the crazy story I just learned about how my town actually used to be called Podunk, or might be the bald tatooed dad at my gym, or might be pretty much anything else that flits through my head on a given day.

You will find a very wide range of topics here at Mommy's Martini. What you will rarely find, though, is short. I'm not so good at writing short.

So, that's the blog. As for getting to know me, here's a really useful list of details:

Since reading a Parents magazine article that offered clever derogatory descriptions of personality characteristics linked to birth order, Husband has periodically referred to me as “Bossyboots.” I may on rare occasions be the slightest bit bossy. But only when I actually do know what’s best for you.

I sew, but I can’t knit. I can make patterns, but I can’t draw. Go figure.

I’m a pretty good cook. Husband and I cooked all the food for our own wedding. There were 110 guests.

I have a PhD in English literature, and my other job is as a professor.

I think geometry and algebra are vitally important for everyone, even English majors, to master. Otherwise, how will you know how to make a sleeve pattern or scale up a recipe to feed 110 people at a buffet?

I love snow -- walking in it for hours, skiing on it, snowshoeing, listening to the soft hush of it falling. I can smell it in the air even before a storm hits, and I get giddy with anticipation. I never think we get enough snow in the winter.

In my alternative visions of my life (not that this version isn't great, mind you), I am one of the following:

- an Olympic ice-skater
- an architect who never has to do boring technical drawings but gets to design amazing things all the time
- a fabulously successful actress who is taken seriously and looks really great in cranberry- colored silk charmeuse

In my 20s, my roommate re-named me MacGuyver because I am the person you want to be shipwrecked with if you only have a ship’s mast, some twine, and a box of hardtack. I once repaired a spray bottle of cleaner with a toothpick, KrazyGlue, and a paper clip. Truly. We had clean windows for months afterwards.

Since then, I almost never do windows.

* * * * *

My wonderful sisters occasionally guest post here. There's MIQuilter, who has two cats, two dogs, and the most incredible talent at quilting you ever saw. Trust me, these are not your grandmother's quilts. And MultiplesMommy, who has a 6 year old and 2-year-old twins, and yet somehow retains a great sense of humor and a cleaner house than either of her older siblings. Go figure. You can read more about both of them here.
* * * * *



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5 comments:

Stacy (mama-om) said...

Hi!
I was trying to find a way to email you b/c I have a way for you to back-date posts w/o them showing up in your reader.

I did it a few weeks ago, and I turned off the feed for the time I published it. It doesn't go through, even when you turn the feed back on.

foolery said...

Inspiring as always. How do you do that? You must just think in complete, perfectly grammatical . . . oh GAHHHH I've even painted myself into a corner in a comment!

Anyway,

YOU MAKE ME WANT TO BE A BETTER WRITER. And mother. And crafter and exerciser and cook. But not a man.

Cheers!

-- Laurie

Kirk said...

Great blog! Sorry for contacting you through the comments, but I couldn't find an email address on your blog, and I wanted you to know about this great opportunity to help kids with your blog!

You and your blog readers could help thousands of public school kids by participating in the DonorsChoose.org Blogger Challenge, which starts on October 1. TechCrunch, BoingBoing, Engadget, BlogHer, Curbed, and many smaller bloggers are each creating challenge pages which list specific classroom requests in public schools--and then encouraging their readers to donate to those classroom requests. We hope you will consider participating, too.

During the last DonorsChoose.org Blogger Challenge, blog readers donated $420,000 toward classroom projects benefiting 75,000 students in low-income communities. This October, we're hoping to have an even bigger impact, and we keenly hope you will participate. Technorati is sponsoring the "generosity rankings" and Fortune magazine will be covering the bloggers whose readers help the most public school students. There is even a special Blogger Challenge leaderboard just for Mommy blogs!

All you would need to do is:

1. Pick a few classroom requests posted on DonorsChoose.org and add them to a challenge page which takes 1-2 minutes to set up. A quick glance at our search page...

http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/search.html?zone=0

...will show you the volume and variety of classroom needs from which to choose.

If you're pressed for time, just tell me the kinds of classroom requests (technology, arts, literature) that would speak most to your readers, and we'll set up a challenge page for you.

2. Do a post on October 1 encouraging your readers to donate to any of the classroom requests on your challenge page. Your readers can give as little as $5.

3. (Optional) Publish a widget which pulls in the classroom requests you have selected and shouts out to your blog readers who have donated to those requests. (Widgets will be available for download on Monday, and I can pass along some cool mockups if you’d like to see what they look like).

BACKGROUND ON THE CHARITY

DonorsChoose.org grew out of a high school in the Bronx where teachers saw their students going without the materials needed to learn. Our website provides an easy way for everyday people to address this problem. Public school teachers post project requests that range from a $100 classroom library, to a $600 digital projector, to a $1,000 trip to the zoo. People like you can choose which projects to fund and then get photos and thank-you letters from the classroom.

BACKGROUND ON THE 2008 DONORSCHOOSE.ORG BLOGGER CHALLENGE In October of 2007, bloggers competed to see who could rally the most support for public schools via DonorsChoose.org. Blog readers gave $420,000 to classroom projects benefiting 75,000 students in low-income communities. While A-list bloggers like Engadget and TechCrunch inspired great generosity, smaller blogs with really engaged readers generated even more!

The next DonorsChoose.org Blogger Challenge, running through the month of October, promises to have an even bigger impact. Technorati is sponsoring the rankings, and Fortune magazine is already committed to covering the event.

If you were to participate, we could help thousands more kids in public schools. I'd love to tell you more if you are interested.

Thank you for your consideration,
Kirk
kirk at donorschoose dot org

SuburbanCorrespondent said...

Nice to meet you!

Jeanne Elle said...

I like your blog! I just had to comment, because what you wrote about snow:

"I love snow -- walking in it for hours, skiing on it, snowshoeing, listening to the soft hush of it falling. I can smell it in the air even before a storm hits, and I get giddy with anticipation. I never think we get enough snow in the winter."

...is SO ME!!! I am THE person, out of everyone I know, who loves snow the most. I can SO relate :) lol

 

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