The Delaney and Waylon Diaries

Hello, I'm Slacker B.* Neglector.

Life, it is busy. But, so's yours right? Wah, wah, wah. Anyway, I figured I'd better jot some stuff down before I forget it. Here goes:

Delaney got into a verbal word war with a kid (a boy who was about 2-3 years older than she is) at the McDonald's play place the other day because the kid told her that Obama was evil (P.S. She wasn't wearing her Obama shirt at the time so I have no idea how the conversation came about.).  She stayed up in that play place and argued that, no, Obama most certainly is not evil ("RIGHT, mama?!!" she shouted down to me where I was feeding Way) and I think that by the time we left she had the kid convinced of Obama's good virtues.

Waylon turned 9 months yesterday. He's about 20 pounds and he cannot wait to be mobile. He's not crawling although he can get to where he wants to go by turning and bouncing around. He did learn to pull himself up to standing about a week ago and he seems to want to start cruising. God help me now. Delaney didn't walk until she was nearly 15 months old and I was quite happy about that. This boy wants to go and I get the impression that he's not gonna let some wimpy mama get in his way. The upside? I should start burning more calories soon by chasing him around.

Speaking of burning calories, I finally went back to the gym. I'd been putting it off mostly because I wasn't ready to drop Way there with a bunch of strangers (although I did that with Delaney when she was only six months) but also because I've been lazy busy. It feels good to move again, though. But Way is having a hard time of it. He screams the whole time I'm gone and then sobs all the way home ("HOW DARE YOU detach me from your body for a WHOLE 30 minutes?"). I wasn't prepared for his separation anxiety (Delaney never had any) and these days I can't set him down without a shriekfest ensuing so I was hesitant to take him to the gym. I'm hoping that the more we go the better he'll handle it and maybe one day I can actually attend a yoga class again. I've missed them terribly.

And, because I obviously have plenty of time on my hands (cough! ack! ahem!), I've joined the timesuck that is Facebook. I put it off for so long because I already had this blog as my online outlet but I'm having fun finding old friends there. So, if I'm not here , I'm here or here or here or here or here or here or here. Sheesh. My online life is overtaking my real life. It's time to step away from the computer. Um, maybe next week?

* B is for Blog.

Perfect

Sunday morning: windows open, sun streaming in, not 145 degrees outside for once and a cool breeze is blowing. Birds singing outside, "Tiny Dancer" playing inside. Daddy and Delaney on the couch playing Brain Quest. Me feeding Way banana oatmeal while he sticks his tongue out, a trick he learned yesterday and has played constantly ever since as if he just realized it was in his mouth (along with his eight cute teeth).

There are chores to be done, work piling up, children to bathe, grocery shopping to tackle. But for now, at 9am on Sunday, everything is perfect.

Voting Democrat and eating giraffes since 2007

Voting Democrat and eating giraffes since 2007,
originally uploaded by delaneydiariesmama.

If I'm not here...

then you'll find me here or here (damn that Twitter. It sucks me in and I never post here any more.) . Or I'm crying into my beer (oh, who am I kidding? it's chardonnay) about the fact that our old house hasn't sold, we're still paying two mortgages, the banks are tanking and my kids won't nap. Yes, my worries are in that order. Priorities much? On the upside I showered with a gecko today and DM'ed Rachel Maddow (the only woman on which Roger and I both have crushes).

Looking for that special snack?

Then check out my review of Yoplait Kids yogurt and enter to win a kids' cooler and a My First Brain Quest game courtesy of The Parent Bloggers Network and Yoplait!

Stand Up To Cancer

I had hoped to write a deep, thoughtful post about my experiences with cancer and how cancer sucks and how we all need to stand up to it. But, as we cancer survivors know, time is precious and right now there are other things I'd rather do. Here's the short version:

My aunt, my dad's sister, was diagnosed with uterine cancer in her 30s. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in her 40s. She was diagnosed with a different kind of breast cancer in her 50s. She lost both breasts, went through hell, survived it all and is an awesome inspiration to me.

Her mother, my beloved Nana, was diagnosed with lung cancer when she was 86. It was a swift and terrible illness that took her life and with it the chance for her to one day meet her great-grandchildren.

I was diagnosed with colon cancer at the ripe, young age of 26. I went through two surgeries but no adjuvant therapies and have been cancer free for ten years.

My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, in both breasts, when she was 60. She had a double mastectomy and no adjuvant therapies and is now, nine years later, cancer free.

We are a family of cancer survivors but, more importantly, we are cancer warriors. We fought valiantly against this devastating disease and so far we are winning. But not a day goes by that I don't experience a shiver of fear that my cancer will return or that I'll end up with yet another type to battle. And now that I have children the fear isn't about me and my own life, like it was back when I was 26, but it is for them and their lives. I don't want them to grow up without their mother. I don't want them to have to worry about their family history or experience the fear of fighting this disease themselves.

So, I'm standing up to cancer. I hope you will too. Watch Stand Up To Cancer tomorrow night, Friday, September 5, at 7:00 p.m. CDT.

(I guess I did have a longer post in me after all!)

(Thanks to Fire Mom for originally tipping me off to this.)