Kathleen Lolley

Ever feel like you are living in a fairy tale world? Where tiny owls dance in the moonlight and sparrows pilot airplanes? No? Fine.

But she does. And this is what makes her cooler than you.



http://www.lolleyland.com/new.html

Going to Kentucky, going to the fair

I don't like being dirty. I'm not a big fan of dirt. Nor am I a big fan of large groupings of people, some covered in dirt. However, my son's happiness is of utmost importance to me, so when I heard tales of a demolition derby that was to be at the county fair I knew I would have to curb my enthusiasm for the event and take Brae to see this.

I'm such a good mom. He loved it.

Eat, Drink and be Married

Another one of my best friends ties the knot this September and in preparation for the dismal day we celebrated with an engagement party.

Any event that involves dressing up, free food and (most importantly) free booze, has me hooked. This reason alone is why I am a frequent wedding attendee. I love weddings and cannot fathom the protest that comes from some people. Ahem, mom.

So at this pre-wedding festivity we gorged on catered spaghetti, ziti and salad from Olive Garden. A delicious Riesling punch was concocted by my pal Sarah, and I indulged myself in much of it, accompanied by some chocolate chip cookies. And as always, I have the pictures to prove it.

Peqino Crafts

Confession: I am obsessed with http://www.etsy.com/

In fact, were I not crammed into a room with a toddler who inhabits about 3/4 of it with his piles on unused toys, I would adorn my house with finds from there. Take for instance this gem...



I don't know what I would do with it. But this girl remindes me of myself.

Anyway, here is the store that you must check out:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=63336

I am reminded why Brae is an only child

You know, there are actually moments when I'm snuggling on the couch with Brae and he's twirling his tiny fingers around my hair and kissing me on the cheek, when I think you know, this kid thing is pretty cool. I could get me a few more of these and snuggle on them the all time.

And then there are nights like last night that SNAP me back into this child rearing reality.

I should preface this by saying that Brae was an excellent sleeper. He slept through the night at about 5 months and always went to bed right on time without so much as a peep. His father and I were all, "Hey, we crafted an excellent baby. Look at him sleeping all peaceful like. What are people bitching about all the time? This is cake!"

Fast forward to present day, where I'm now in charge of wrangling a nocturnal toddler into a bed that we share (because you know, that toddler bed that's two feet away from us is much, much too far and you never know what could happen if Brae would roll over in the night and not bump into warm flesh. That is just too much for his sensitive composure to handle, TOO MUCH!.)

So yes, he puts up a fight every night. We have practiced this little scenario time and time again so that we have a nice little script running:

"Hey bud, its time to get in bed, do you have to pee-pee?"

"I'm not sleepy, I want to stay up with yooooooooou"

"Well sorry, but it's bed time, so c'mere and lets tuck you in."

"I SAID IM NOT SLEEPY! NO MOM, NOOOOOOOOOOOOO"

"HEY! YOU WANNA GO IN TIME OUT AND THEN GO TO BED?!!"

"Nooooooooooooooo............"

"Goodnight baby, I love you."

"Mommy?"

"Yes, pickle?"

"I gots to go potty......"

So this is our script that we run off of every night. And if it's not the potty, it's a glass of water, or another stuffed animal, or some crackers, or a pony, a bottle of Mad Dog 20/20 and a Playboy.

This kid is insufferable.

Last night was the same drill, except that this particular night, ooh, I was in for an ADDED BONUS of a 1 am wake-up call in which Brae sat straight up in bed, declared that he was ready to get up and "mommy whyyyyyy do we have to sleep when we are not tired?"

"Because if you don't sleep so mommy can sleep she is going to get up in the morning and make a breakfast smoothie of all your crayons and colored pencils and then serve it to you with a side of stuffed animal omelet."

So I lay there and listened to him gabble on and on about how tired he was NOT, until the Lord intervened and he collapsed onto his pillow exhausted.

This morning I woke the kid up. He rubbed his eyes, heaved a heavy sigh and said,

"Mommy, I'm just SO sleepy."

I threw my slipper at him.

The Snart

Having lived in FL for 99.5% of my life, I feel like I may at times be missing out on some joys that surely only a cooler climate could bring. For instance, the opportunity to wear this hat

Do you remember in middle school when all the girls were going through puberty and some of the more unfortunate girls, who must not have had a very prominant and honest mother in their lives, did not catch on to the 'training bra' craze and rather bobbled about in their oversized tee shirts all pointish and such?

And you were far to shy and polite to ever inform them that they looked like they had torpedos projecting from their chest and perhaps needed a light cloth apparatus to reign them in?

I'm so glad someone finally conceptualized that into an acessory.

He is quick

The daycare conversation between Brae and his afternoon teacher

"Brae, it's time to go potty"

"I don't have to potty"

"Everyone has to potty when they wake up from their naps. If you want to go outside, you need to try and potty"

"I SAID I DON'T HAVE TO POTTY!!!!!!"

"What did you just say to Mrs. V?!"

"I said, uh..... 'no problem I'm on my way to the potty'......"

Setting the obvious disrespect aside (we're working on it!) this exchange is slightly comical. I mean, he is witty.

Now, if I could just get him from making penis proclamations in public, we would be well set on our path towards social acceptance.

One step at a time.

So, here we are.

I feel as though this first post requires some sort of introduction from me. Although, I must admit, I am terrible at detailing myself. Similar to the point in an interview where the prospective employer asks, "So tell me a little bit about yourself", I will inevitably stumble through my sentences an attempt to extract the redeeming and attractive qualities of my life that would make me a good hire. If you've ever been on an interview, you know what I'm talking about.

So, lets bypass all those awkward introductory sentences and jump right into the meat of my life.

I'm a 24-year-old single mother and the purpose and intent of this blog is to detail my screwy and winding path throughout single parenthood. My son is a 3 year old energetic ball of terror and delight woven throughout one body. The only child I've had the pleasure of meeting that makes you want to ring his scrawny little neck and plaster him with kisses all at the same time. I've come to the conclusion that this is a survival instinct for all toddlers, to maintain the perfect and delicate balance of complete annoyance and utter adorableness. If not for straddling this great divide, no child would make it to 4 years, I'm convinced.

I'm also a working mother. Underpaid no doubt, but working all the same. I won't go into the specifics of my job, because lets face it- there are crazy people out there, but I will say that I work in child welfare for a non-profit agency. I love the concept of my job, working in social services has always been a top career choice for me. Unfortunately, that sector of employment is notoriously underpaid. So I have reached a decision that a career change will have to be made in the next few years if I want to continue to, you know, eat.

I'd love to go to graduate school. I'm a nerd that thrives on education. I really do. I enjoy learning. It's okay. I wear my horned rimmed spectacles well. Only finding a program in a school that I want is turning out to be far more complicated than I ever could have imagined. So as I peruse website after website I become more uncertain and discouraged.

I guess I should tell you that I live with my parents. Yes, I KNOW. I moved in with them when I left my soon to be ex-husband and we just sort of stuck there. It's been 6 months. I have already arrived at and passed the date I originally set for my departure and I find myself making excuses to stay here longer. Not that I really could have vacated their house in my current state anyway because I'm in the middle of a divorce. Not a particularly nasty divorce, but a financially and emotionally draining divorce all the same.

In fact, I have a meeting today in which I believe I will hire this attorney. I've spoken with three attorneys and this one, this one is the lucky pick.

Now, knowing what you now know. Would you hire me?