Toothwhale

Life, March, Twenty Ten

We now know where Henry will go to kindergarten.

Harper is potty trained. Day, night, all the time.

Her third birthday is coming, and a pink princess bounce party is planned.

The master bathroom shower and tub renovation is coming along more slowly than we thought, but it is coming along.

My beloved, overworked canister vacuum has broken. Again.

What's your report?

Project 365: Week 9

I'm another year closer to my "Lordy, Lordy, Look Who's Forty!" newspaper ad. 

In an expression of empathy for me showing my age, Toothwhale the blog had a little work done by design doctor Nap Warden. Among other nips and tucks, you'll now find a Flickr button at the top of the left column. One click takes you to my Project 365 photo set.

If you use Flickr, I hope you'll add me as a contact. I'd enjoy seeing a few of the moments of your life.

I remember your whole life

My two have become fans of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the Peanuts gang. They watched Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown and they were hooked. Harper called the DVD of the 1975 special "the funny show," and when she learned I'd returned it to the library when it was due after a week, she cried and made me promise we'd check it out again. We didn't find that DVD on our next library trip, but we did find A Charlie Brown Valentine. They ate that up, too. Today was due day again, and in exchange for the Valentine specials, they picked out A Charlie Brown Christmas. In typical Henry fashion, he's been quoting lines. We've heard "good grief" a lot. Sometimes he quotes lines as if they're things from his own life. At dinner tonight, he paraphrased a line from the scene where Lucy is assigning parts in the Christmas play.

"Every Baby Jesus play I'm in, I always end up being the shepherd," he said.

I chuckled. "You've never been in a Baby Jesus play."

"Yes I have. You just don't remember," he said.

"I remember," I said.

"Even when I was two?" he asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Do you remember my whole life?" he asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Even when he was in your tummy?" Harper asked.

"Yes," I said.

Now Henry chuckled. "Are moms really, really, really smart?" he asked.

"Yes," I said.

"How do you know?" he asked.

We all were distracted then, and I didn't answer. If I had, I would have said, "I know." Oh, I know.

The line is from Shermy. He says, "Every Christmas it's the same: I always end up playing a shepherd."

Save the date and spread the word

If you're a blogger and you live in or near Nashville, you're cordially invited to join me for dinner on Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. at Bronte Bistro inside Davis-Kidd Booksellers at The Mall at Green Hills. If we've met in real life, please come. If we know each other only through social media, please come. If we're strangers who have blogging in common, by all means, please come.

A bloggy dinner gives us a chance to catch up with friends, meet new people, talk blogging with people who care, and maybe more. Maybe more? Well, yes. I'm thinking we also could use it as an opportunity to learn something. If there's something you'd like to hear more about, or there's something you'd be up for talking to us about, I'd like to know. If you like the idea of keeping it all free-flowing, please let me know that, too.

Although I won't be picking up everyone's dinner tab, I have reserved us a private room so that we can talk as noisily and visit as much as we please. I haven't eaten at Bronte Bistro before, but the menu looks fabulous and perfect for a casual gathering of girlfriends. Right now, I'm torn between ordering the homemade quiche with tossed greens and fruit and the alpine chicken pasta, a sophisticated mac and cheese with roasted red peppers and spinach.

Please save the date and spread the word. The room can seat 100, so there's plenty of space for everyone. 

Who: You, you blogging lady, you!

What: Spring Bloggy Dinner Thing

When: Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 6:30 p.m.

Where: Bronte Bistro, 2121 Green Hills Village Drive, Nashville, 37215

Why: It is social media, after all!

Send questions, suggestions, and RSVPs my way via e-mail at toothwhale AT gmail DOT com, or via Twitter @Toothwhale.

BlissDom '10: Who I met

The sessions were good. They were very good. The people were better. They were the best part of BlissDom.

I enjoyed every minute of time I spent talking again to bloggers I had met before. I'm so grateful for how the community of blogging women in Nashville has welcomed me.

I appreciated meeting everyone I hadn't met yet. Thank you for saying hello or for being kind when I did. I'm looking forward to seeing you all around this here blogosphere.

Some of the people I hadn't met before are women whose blogs I have been following for months. To see them in person and to talk to them about blogging and life -- even for a little while -- was like meeting celebrities and learning that they're really nice.

On Friday, I met Mary of Giving Up on Perfect. From the moment I found her blog, I've related to her posts about being a recovering perfectionist.

I talked a couple of times to Jennifer of Playgroups Are No Place for Children. I tried not to gush too much, but I'm pretty sure I failed there. I have laughed so often while visiting her blog, and to meet her was a thrill. Imagine how I felt when she told me she had noticed my cute shoes earlier that day.

I introduced myself to Lotus of I Am Lotus and she recognized Toothwhale from Twitter. I know she has a camera that's similar to mine, and I asked her for shooting tips. She showed me how to use the aperture priority and shutter speed priority settings on my camera and where to find some settings to help get the light right when photographing indoors. I'm a fan of her photos, especially her macro stuff, and it was completely cool of her to give me a tutorial. Thanks, Lotus!

On Saturday, I got to thank Kristen of We Are THAT Family for inspiring me to do themed Family Nights. She told me how her family also does What's the Beef? nights to give her older kids chances to talk freely about family rules that are giving them trouble.

I got to hug Rachel of A Southern Fairytale (whose Mouthwatering Mondays linky I've participated in a handful of times) and to talk to her about Texas, where she's from and where Jake and I lived for three years.

I also talked for a while to Michelle of Scribbit -- who came up to me to follow up on my introduction the night before. She sat down and got comfortable and talked to a few of us before she spoke on one panel and led another on Saturday afternoon. There even was a moment when Amy of Mom Advice (!) used my camera to take a picture of Michelle and me. Wow!

It really was something special being there.

And now, with that, I will try to hush about BlissDom. Try.