Thursday, December 16

A Mommy’s Yuletide Lament

TWAS the week before Christmas,

And all through the house

There were piles of half-done things,

And I felt like a louse;

The presents were wrapped, I had filled all our wishes,

But I couldn’t be merry as I looked at the dishes.

The children were nestled in half-made up beds

While visions of Zhu Zhu pets danced in their heads;

And with me in my sweatpants and my kids with no socks

The only clean clothes were those wrapped in a box

At last I surrendered, and laid down amid the crap

The cleaning would wait — I just needed a nap

When out on the lawn arose such a clatter,

I yelled at my spouse, “What the f— is the matter?!”

I rolled over in bed and exclaimed in a fog

“She’s knocked over the trashcan, I can’t stand that dog!”

I pushed open the curtains as I tripped on a toy,

left by a careless three-foot-two-inch boy.

The moon and the haze from small city smog

Hid the midnight malfeasance of the neighborhood dog;

When what to my sleep-crusted eyes did appear,

But the neighbors new Prius

What a letdown this year!

The next day we all piled in the minivan, quick

It was on to the mall, for we must see St. Nick!

We would pay a small fortune, we would all dress in sweaters

To have pictures with Santa to include in our letters

But alas, curse my fortune!

It was too good to be true

For my two-year-old screamed till his face did turn blue

For old Santa was jolly, he was merry and fat

But my traumatized toddler would have none of that.

We’d carefully planned,

to visit all  that were living,

God I loved divorced parents,

It’s the gift that keeps on giving!

I’ve got 5 more days to complete all my baking,

My quest for a Snuggie, my merriment making.

And when it’s all over,

Amid mountains of trash

Representing the stores that now have all my cash

I’ll kiss both my children and recall their delight,

and it will all be worth it.

God I hope that I’m right.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

I found this posted on http://www.melephantintheroom.com/blog/

Monday, May 10

Happy Mother’s Day Mom

I designed this card and sent it to my mother this year.

I chose this saying because, as I raise my 4 children I understand and appreciate my mother more and more every day. As they say, being a mom is the hardest job you’ll ever love. With motherhood comes fear, anxiety , angst, but more than anything, deep and profound love. And it’s the love that gets you through, because, God knows, why else would anyone put up with it?  Mother Nature has a way of equipping us to actually enjoy all of the horrendous stuff. Think about it.  Pregnancy is horrible. We get moody, depressed, fat, we can’t sleep and then, to top it all off, we give birth. We suffer horrible indignities through the process yet STILL most mothers will say that the day they gave birth to their first child was the best day of their lives. That smell of a baby’s head makes all the rest of it disappear. And then, crazily enough, most of us turn around and do it all over again. And again.

As we raise these little guys for the first 5 years we are on a never ending treadmill of changing  diapers,  doing  laundry, wiping noses, picking up, cooking  and cleaning. And don’t even start me on how little we sleep. But the trusting eyes of an infant and the tight hugs of a toddler are worth every second of work
For the next 10 years we help these kids learn to read, ride a bike, and cross the street. We teach them manners and help them navigate their way around cliques and bullies all with the idea of getting them independent and ready to take on the world. Finally, after all of that work, we are  rewarded with rejection and ridicule from snidely teenagers. Yet, how does Mother Nature help us cope with this?  We are bursting with pride that they are becoming independent and growing into young adults. Are we martyrs? slaves? idiots? No, we’re just typical mothers, strong enough to take it. How do we get that strength? From love. Crazy, blind, foolish, adoring love. Mother Nature has it all figured out. That’s why it’s called MOTHER nature, she knows what she’s doing. And I, for one, thank God my mother loved me enough to put up with it all.

Thanks Mom. I get it…and I love you back.

Thursday, May 6

More Vintage 1950′s Style Invitations

Here are a few more invitations and greeting cards I’ve been designing. I am on a vintage kick at the moment. This is not the only look I will be offering on my site, I just become a little obsessed by things (see my previous posting called  ”Confessions of a Christmas Card Lunatic”). So today I am a lunatic for Vintage 1950′s style cards. Tomorrow, who knows, but I have plenty of ideas…

Hope you like them. As usual, contact me if you would like to order any of them before the site is launched.

Wednesday, April 28

Vintage Invitations with a 1950′s Retro Look

Vintage invitations are everywhere! I love the look of 1950′s ladies who look like they stepped out of their kitchens. I have a thing for vintage aprons anyway. Is that strange? I have about 15 of them, my sister and I give them to each other for Christmas. There is something so retro and comforting about them. When I’m wearing one, I feel like the world has stopped and my biggest worry suddenly becomes how to make a perfect pot of macaroni and cheese. It’s like I put on a supermom suit. So, I thought I would try to tackle making a series of invitations which evoke those same feelings. I wanted the invitations to say,  ”come to my house, relax, and step back to a simpler time.”

Here are a few I have come up with. This one has a bossy mom look:

And this one has the subservient mom look.
I hope you like them, you can order them from me directly. Click on Contact tab at the top for more details.

More are coming. This is a short post so  I can go back to designing them.