Artemis

But I will be back to blogging and continuing my list soon hopefully, I started slacking when my regular internet access ceased. Stay tuned...

MISCELLANEOUS I have a cold, first of the season. It's not too bad, so let's hope it's the only cold of the season because I can deal with this. I've been way too busy lately. I'm over it. I need to start telling more people no. "No, I don't want to babysit. No, I don't want to dogsit." There. But they probably won't hear me on here. Granted, there are certain people I really enjoy babysitting and dogsitting for, but I just can't do this all the time anymore. I'm exhausted. Which is probably why I have a cold. I'm over being single. Not because I want to be in a relationship just to be in a relationship, but because I want companionship. How do I find that in Helena? I've tried online dating and blind dates without success. All my babysitting and dogsitting makes it hard to meet people. I have one really good friend in Helena. And she's moving to Japan in less than a month. Why do all the good ones have to live so stinking f...

LOCKS of LOVE I chopped off all my hair today. For the third time I will be donating it to Locks of Love . Not only does it make me feel good to donate to a good cause, I also love getting lots of different hair lengths in the time it takes to grow my hair out. Knowing that my hair goes to something for children really takes away all the anxiety of a drastic haircut. And getting the thank you card in the mail puts a smile on my face. It's such a little thing to do to make a big difference in someones life.

KISSES Greysen now gives kisses. It is so sweet. He grabs you with his little hands and pulls you in for an open-mouthed, slobbery wet one. He also gives hugs, just squeezes you tight with his face buried into your shoulder. I just love him so much. There is only one thing better than having one nephew... two nephews. I'm already in love with this new little man because with parents like his, I can already tell he'll be great. And it kills me a little to not see him grow inside his Mama's tummy. I can't wait until I can get kisses from both my sweet nephews.

JEJUNE The definition of jejune is lacking interest or significance. And that's what this entry is, it's jejune. I'm trying to learn some new words with this blogging challenge. I figure if I do, then at least this challenge did just that... it challenged me.

"I am who I am." This has become my mantra. I'm not sure when or how it started. At first, it was what I would force myself to say whenever I looked at myself in the mirror and thought down on myself, like "My pimples are terrible; my hair is so frizzy; I look fat." I always had this thought that people would think less of me or wouldn't like me because of these things and other things, like not having enough confidence in my photography, or not exercising in the right way, etc. By saying this, it was my way of saying that this is the person I am, my pimples, size, whatever, they don't define me and if people have a problem with it, too bad. It went from something I forced myself to say to something that became an automatic response to my negative thoughts. It's no longer what I was trying to be, it became who I am. By learning to be this person, it brought more confidence. Some people may not be able to see beyond my imperfect looks, some people m...

I love this guy. Another I post to come since I did have one planned until I saw this... this one is better anyway!

HAPPY I saw Greysen today, which makes me happy. I haven't spent more than an hour or two with him in the past 2 weeks because his family has been traveling a lot. HERETIC Apparently I'm a bit of a heretic. The definition is "anyone who does not conform to an established attitude, doctrine, or principle." It mostly has to do with religious topics, so it's particularly fitting right now. It don't see anything at all wrong with Muslims building a mosque near Ground Zero. Muslims died on 9/11 too, and not just the "bad guys." When I lived in Minneapolis, I took care of several Muslim children and they and their families were good people. Just as with any religion, there are good and bad. You can't let one small group that take things too far represent how most others in that religion are. In fact, Christians have started most wars and done a lot of bad things themselves in "the name of Jesus/God." And if it is disrespectful for Muslims to...

GREYSEN I saved the best G for last, the best G of my life (besides my dad, GARLAND). Greysen is a joy to be around. I know I'm biased because he is my nephew, but I have no doubt that even if he wasn't, he would still be my current favorite child (in about 5 months he will be tied as my favorite). For being the youngest of the nanny crew, you would think he'd be the hardest just because young babies typically demand more attention and time. Not this boy. He still gets tons of attention, but he is also perfectly content to sit in the Bumbo or lay on the floor for an hour watching all the other children. He takes it all in, smiles when it applies, talks when he has something to tell them and just sits happily. I don't think I've ever loved anyone more. And I can't wait to have another nephew or niece to love just as much as I love this little guy: Need I say more?

GIGI Gigi is the only girl in my nannying bunch, at least for 4 more days. Let me tell you, that girl is way smarter than any 20 month old should be. She doesn't talk much, but the things she knows is crazy. She understands words you wouldn't expect her to know (scared), even when you spell them out (outside). She knows what things will drive me nuts, so she does them (refusing to eat any of her food with a smirk on her face). She knows what her parents will let her get away with that I won't let her get away with, so she'll do those things the second her mom walks in the door (won't try to touch my cell phone all day, but grab it and refuse to give it back when her mom walks in the door). She's also very sweet, she loves her little friends and likes to take care of the babies. She is very obedient for her age, which makes my life easier. She says my name quite often and recently doesn't want to leave when her mom comes to get her. Which is sad, because I on...

FRIDAY I know, this seems like such an obvious choice for F. I tried to be more creative, but this Friday really couldn't come quickly enough or be more needed. I don't know why either because this was only a 4 day work week. I think I was expecting my 4 day weekend away in California to be more relaxing than it was and that I would think about work less than I did. I thought I would come back refreshed and ready to get back into my life. But I wasn't. I felt like I could have used 10 more days off. Not just from work, away from everything. And not away from the people in my life, that's not what I mean, but I just need more time away. I live by the schedule on my cell phone calendar, it dictates everything I do. If I shut off my phone for 2 seconds, I may miss someone needing to schedule something. When my friends ask me to do something or go with them somewhere for a weekend or to come visit them somewhere, I have to check my schedule and "squeeze" them in s...

EMERSON First off, let me say I love Emerson. I've been taking care of him since he was 2 months old and next week he'll be 8 months. He is getting cuter all the time and has the perfect little cue ball head. He's started clapping today when I say "YAY!", which I love. He has the cutest little personality... when he's happy. That's the thing, Emerson is, as his own mother says, high maintenance. Actually, I think particular is a good word for him. He wants things when he wants them only in the way he wants them. And if his wishes aren't met, he well, cries. Sometimes a lot of the day and that really hard cry like someone just pinched him (no, I didn't pinch him, I swear). To be honest, he's kind of like me in that sense. I cry when I'm sad, happy, mad, frustrated, excited, surprised... for every emotion really. Emerson is like that too. Lately, it's been because he's frustrated. He's decided that he wants to learn to crawl, sit ...

DYLAN Dylan was the last of my kiddos to be added to the mix. He hasn't been here too long and he only comes part time, so I feel like I'm just starting to really know him. At almost 17 months old, he is definitely one of my most energetic. All the kids love him, especially Greysen who watches his every move and Bennett who copies everything Dylan does. Probably my favorite thing about Dylan is that he's a copier. Sometimes he copies actions and sometimes words, but he always gets sounds down-pat. And not just sounds humans make, sounds animals make. Like when Ellie (my parents' dog) whines, Dylan whines. When Ellie barks, Dylan barks. Once when I babysat, his cat came out to taunt him. He had been scratched pretty bad that day by her, so when the cat came near, Dylan hissed at her. Clearly what he had heard when he was being attacked by the cat hours before. It was hilarious. He's been a nice addition to our crew.

CAMERA A couple weekends ago I got to use a nice digital camera. I can't remember the last time that I took so many photographs and it felt great. I don't take as many photos as I used to because I have a film camera, which I still love, but finding a place to develop and print the photos isn't as easy as it used to be. With camera in hand, I remembered quickly that photography really is my passion, what I love doing more than pretty much anything. It was 5 years ago this summer that I attended photography school and left with a Certificate of Professional Photography. And after that weekend with a borrowed camera, I fully intend on making use of that certificate. So next step is, as soon as financially possible, to buy my own digital camera, spend time getting to know it, then restart my photographic journey. It was a long time coming and I'm glad I was reminded of what I really want to do with my life.

BENNETT As a nanny, you always hope that you make some sort of impact on the child's life. It's easier to see it when the child is older, but when they are a baby, you just never really know. Bennett was the first I started to care for in my nanny share over 8 months ago. At 11 months old, he is a ball of energy and still as sweet and adorable as ever. He doesn't like it when Mom or Dad leave, but he still smiles when he sees me and gives me kisses and hugs throughout the day and laughs uncontrollably when I chase him. Those things would have been enough to know I'm making some sort of impact on his life. But the icing on the cake: he's trying to say my name. It started a few days ago, when he would say "Mama" I'd say "Cassie" and we went back and forth. Then he managed a "Ca" a few times. Two days ago, he said "Ca-da" twice and then would giggle when I applauded him. Since then, there have been many varitions, but always...

ABSENT I have been absent from the blogging world for awhile. So as a way to get myself to post on a more regular basis, I am going follow my sister's lead in the blogging challenge that she does with her friends. I am going to write a post for each letter of the alphabet. Will I finish this by the end of the month like the challenge intends? No. But this will finally give me something to write about. So here I start with A.

I suck at this blogging business. I think about it often and I even have notes written down about what I want to blog about since I no longer have a computer at home. But it never amounts to anything but thinking. Maybe it's time this blog came to an end, it's not like anyone checks it anymore. Yet, I'll keep it up in hopes that one day I will feel really inspired and start blogging a lot more often. So keep checking periodically, I may surprise you one day! In the meantime, check out my sweet nephew's blog, Sweet Baby Grey . It will entertain you until my consistent return.

Finding inspiration to blog hasn't been going so well for me. However, I've been writing this entry in my head for awhile, out of pure annoyance. And another thing was just witnessed to make this entry happen. I've lived in, surprisingly, a lot of places for being a North Dakota girl. I don't feel all that accomplished in my life until I think about how many places I've lived. In the past 11 years of my life, I've lived in 6 cities in 4 different states (ND, CT, MN & MT). And really, 5 of those 6 cities in 4 different states have come in the past 5 years. So, with living in the Northeast, the Midwest, a big city in the Midwest and now a Western mountain state, I feel like I know some of the niceness in the US. And to top it off, after various trips in my lifetime that include NY(NYC and Long Island), FL, NJ, VT, CA, WA, OK, SC and GA and with driving through, many, many more states, I have a grasp on niceness. Let me just start, I expected more from MT peopl...

I'm once again a nanny. I know, it's not necessarily what I want to do for the rest of my life, but I enjoy it nonetheless and, not to sound conceited, I know I'm good at it, so what the hell. Right now it is starting off fairly easy, one 5 month old baby boy B who's pretty laid back, but loves to be held all day (that's kind of a new found joy of his). Then I'll add in another boy one afternoon a week starting next week, 10 month old D. Then there is 1 month old baby boy E that may start at the end of this month or next month sometime. And now there may possibly be a 13 month old girl G joining the mix (finally a girl!). And last, but certainly not least, my nephew will join the mix after he is born in March, probably not until June or so to be exact. So my good old relaxed days of one are about to fade (before you think I'm crazy, all but B will be part-time for now). But the more baby's I have, the more interesting stories I will have to share. Not th...