I love toys...

Why didn't they make this stuff when I was a kid? That's the Mighty World Search For The Lost Mummy Medium Theme Set! It comes with it's own archaeologists, mummy and everything you need for your own imaginary dig. The Mighty World also has Farmer's Market sets, a Florist Shop, a Special Operations unit, a Wilderness Camp set (which would go well with your Search for the Lost Mummy set.)























I'm such a dork.

Dear Starbucks....

Oh, what happened to us, Starbucks? We used to be such good friends. Here I am on my fourth wedding anniversary, and you were the one who got me through the wedding. Every morning you were waiting for me at Union Station, ready for me to haul myself to the museum. You even were there for me after the wedding with a Grande Caramel Macchiato as my reward for writing 3 thank you notes with good handwriting. But then things turned, and we aren't the same as we used to be. I expected better, and you turned away.

First, you jacked up your prices. Then you allowed people to use your tables as their personal office, causing those of us who wanted to have a conversation to be banished to the streets. Then you even tried to take away your yummy breakfast sandwiches until I protested. But this morning was our breaking point. You, Starbucks, have changed.

I understand that relationships change. They go through ups and downs, but this morning you weren't at all who I thought you were. You made me wait 15 minutes for you to get your act together. You ignored me when I begged for my drink 3 times. And then when my tall Caramel Macchiato was handed to me... you.... you.... gave me 1/3 of the cup full of foam!!! How could you?

You were sassy and mean. You took my money and left me with a half cup of crappy coffee. I have to leave you, Starbucks.

I have a confession to make.... I had an affair with a wonderful independent coffee shop in Western Maryland this past weekend. I don't regret it. I had a luscious venti (large) hot chocolate. Yeah, Indie actually spoke English. If I wanted a small, it wasn't a tall. If it was a medium, it wasn't a grande. And when I was handed my quite affordable drink, I received a smile and love that you never gave me.

Starbucks, we're done. Don't call me and don't send me freebies. You've disappointed me one too many times.

Suck it, Starbucks,

Me.

Who doesn't love ta-tas?

There are certain topics that come up in the Mommy Club. Once you have a munchkin, you are automatically a member whether you are a Stay-at-Home Mom or a Working Mom. Since I have two friends who are about to give birth, I've been thinking back to my own pregnancy and early months, as well as all of the absurd things that went along with it. One of the issues that comes up a lot is breastfeeding, and the issues that come up when you have to do it in public or at work. I struggled with this part of parenting, and ended up doing some pumping and a little formula. But then I read articles like this woman's experience and it makes me crazy.

Let's be honest, anyone how picks up a pregnancy or baby magazine is bombarded with the Breast is Best message, which medically is true. My issue is that even though the Federal Government wants women to breastfeed for the first 3 months, they don't legislate that a woman can do it anywhere she chooses. The states can legislate, as New York has done in 2002 (that's right, only 6 years ago), but most states have not:

N.Y. Civil Rights Law § 79-e (McKinney 2002) guarantees a mother the right to breastfeed her baby any place she has the right to be, public or private, even if the nipple is exposed during or incidental to breastfeeding.

As a result of not having a Federal law, people feel that it is their right to criticize and harass a woman who is simply feeding her child. People can't separate the sexy boobies from the actual baby feeding machines they actually are. So, breastfeeding mamas run into situations where people feel it is completely acceptable to give their opinions, tell them to cover up, or better yet- just do it at home. For any woman who is breastfeeding, there is a limit to how much milk your ta-ta's can handle before you really need to feed someone. That's like asking someone to drink 4 gallons of water and hold it. Plus, is a woman really expected to stay at home for a full 3 months? Or longer if she chooses to continues to breastfeed? Why don't we just banish her from the real world for having a kid? We want women to have babies, we just don't want to watch women to actually feed them.

If you do have funny and sassy comebacks for this issue, feel free to comment or go over to one of my favorite blogs: Thingamababy. He's running a contest for the best sassy comeback for stupid people who feel they can tell a breastfeeding mommy what to do.

Women can do this. Men can't.

As a few of my friends are heading into the home stretch... I must say well done!

I can't wait until Election Day....

This used to be my view from my old office. In many ways, I'm glad I don't have this view anymore. I now work for another part of a particular institution that will remain nameless, in an office... with no windows. Blah.

I spent most of the morning doing nothing but Human Resources hoo-ha. Performance evaluations, leave slips, etc. That's right, nothing actually job related. I just want all you taxpayers to know that.

A Brief Word on Being Pregnant in Washington, DC....

This picture was taken around January of 2007. Yes, I'm happy lookin' and about 7 months pregnant. What you don't see is how completely and physically exhausted I was at this point. I gained 65 lbs over the course of my pregnancy, even though I got sick every day for the first 4 months. I was also commuting (and still am) about 90 minutes each way, including a commuter train and 2 metro trains. But let me inform everyone that if you are going to get pregnant in the Washington, DC area, DO NOT expect anyone to offer you their seat.

I thought it was a one time thing or maybe people thought I was just sorta chubby. But by the time I was 8 months pregnant, with my belly hanging over a young woman's face one day, I would have thought a lightbulb would have gone off in someone's, anyone's, head. When the train jolted, my belly almost knocked her in the forehead... but still, no offer.

About a week later I was being crammed by a large crowd into a train at Union Station. I was starting to get freaked out because I could tell I was losing my balance. So I yelled, "Stop pushing, I'm 8 months pregnant!" I swear it was like the parting of the Red Sea. Suddenly, no one wanted to be near me. It was as if I was leaking amniotic fluid at that very moment.

So here I am, almost 2 years later, thinking back to those rude moments. I keep thinking back to them because the other day I was reading a letter in the Express (the Washington Post's metro paper) about a guy who offered his seat to a lovely pregnant woman, who said she was fine but she would stand, thank you very much. But before the guy could sit back down, another person snatched the seat!

This, my friends, is Washington, DC.

And that's why I live in Baltimore.

How Sadie got her name...

People love Sadie's name (or at least that's what they tell me to my face), and they always ask how we decided on it. Well, the story is more about what we decided what NOT to name her. Seeing all of the crazy names people were coming up with, we made some basic rules:

1. The name will not be an alcoholic drink- So Bailey and Brandy were definitely out.


3. The name will not be someone from the Real World or Road Rules challenge from MTV- As a result, Amaya, Cameron, Cory, Rachel, Ruthie, Robin, Kaia, Arissa, Brynne, Elka, Genesis, Montana and most definitely Trishelle... were all out.

The name will not be a season or month- Autumn, June, May, and April were therefore, out of the running.

After all that, we were walking through the mall one day and I said, "Sadie!" And Charlie agreed that we had never known a crazy wackjob Sadie, or a mean Sadie, and to be honest, neither of us knew anyone named Sadie. Then we had to find a nice middle name. This involved the "BLANK BLANK, cut that shit out!" test. Sadie Angelica rolled off the tongue easily.

So, Sadie Angelica was named.

Finally, my very own blog....

Many of you have been following Sadie's blog for awhile now, but I thought it was time to have my own blog. Sadie is teaching me a lot about layouts and HTML and Blogger Gadgets. So I thought I would finally put them to use.

So, why Indiana Joynes and the Temple of Motherhood? I used to be an archaeologist. I hate saying "used to", but I was and now I'm not. After getting my Master's degree at the University of Chicago, I eventually got a job in a museum and worked with lots of books, old artifacts, and cool stuff that only history nerds enjoy. Then the stork paid me and my husband a visit, and now I'm a mom. Once that happened, my whole career went crazy, and I haven't quite gotten a grip on it yet.

So, here I am. Indiana Joynes and the Temple of Motherhood.