Saying "Yes" Again

I've spent the better part of the last two years saying "No." No, I can't eat that - I'm pregnant. No, I can't attend that evening social event - the babies have to go to bed. No, I can't commit to attending those meetings regularly - my kids are always sick.

At first, saying "no" just seemed normal. I didn't really think much of it because I meant I was saying yes to other priorities. As an example, when I was pumping for the babies, saying "yes" to feeding them breast milk meant I had to say "no" to anything that disrupted my pumping schedule too much. No to going out to lunch. No to seeing a movie. No to leaving the house for more than a couple hours at a time. I wanted to provide milk for them as long as I could, so those "nos" weren't too tough to accept.

But other times, saying "no" was more grating. Since the twins were preemies, our doctor advised us to keep them away from germs as much as possible last winter. That meant we were basically quarantined in our house until April. They were also taking three naps a day most of the winter. So that led to an avalanche of "nos." No, we can't attend church. No, we don't take them to play groups. No, we never go anywhere or do anything more than shop at Kroger, and even then I'm hyper vigilant for anyone sneezing in our vicinty!!

I hadn't thought about all this until the other day when I was talking to a friend, and she mentioned how she has to say "no" to some things because of what she wants to prioritize. Then it hit me - I am able to say "yes" much more often now! This winter is so much different than last. The boys go to MDO twice a week and happily play in the nursery during church activities. I'm volunteering regularly in the community. Both DF and I are back to singing in the choir. The kids and I visit the zoo, parks, and lots of other germy places with just hand sanitizer to protect us. Sure, we still have a nap schedule to contend with, but that's fairly predictable these days. 

I'm looking for other things I can say "yes" to, so if you know of something local that I/the kids might like, let me know! 

The Uh-Oh Chorus

The boys' favorite word lately is "uh-oh." They have taken to saying it All. The. Time. I'm starting to wonder if toddlers can have OCD because anything that is out of place merits an "uh-oh!"

Take yesterday morning, for instance. I heard someone making noise in their bedroom so I went in to check on them. Gus was up; Gibson was fast asleep. Since only one kid was awake, I didn't go through all of the normal morning rituals. I just got Gus out of bed to change his diaper, after which he pointed and told me "uh-oh" about all of the following:

• The humidifier was in their room (I usually put it away in our bedroom when they get up)
• The sound machine was still plugged in (I have to unplug it and put the cord up or else they yank it down on their heads)
• Gibson was asleep
• The playroom doors were closed
• The light was not on in the kitchen

Good grief! They also like to say "uh-oh" about these things:

• The curtains are closed
• Any light is off
• Their shoes are on the floor, rather than put away in the cupboard
• They drop anything, whether accidentally or on purpose
• They spill something
• A door is open/closed when it shouldn't be

I'm glad to see they have developed such good attention to detail. Now I think we should work on being a little flexible with our environment...

Memphis Music Tour

As is my habit, I shall continue blogging about topics that bring us all together. (AKA I have nothing nice to say about politics these days.) Today, let's take a trip through some of the musical highlights of my fair city!

Before we get to the music, though, let me start with a preamble: when you visit to Memphis (or if you live here), I highly recommend that you make it a priority to see the National Civil Rights Museum. If you have more time after that, then soak up some Memphis music!

Graceland

The home and final resting place of Elvis Presley, Graceland is a major tourist draw for Memphis. In case you don't know, it has a big mansion, airplanes, and other Elvis stuff. I haven't actually been inside/on a tour, but DF has, so I asked him about it. He thinks that if you are an Elvis fan, or are just interested in Elvis, you would probably like it. But he does not recommend paying full price for admission. Try to find a coupon or something because even the cheapest ticket is nearly $40 for an adult! 

On the anniversaries of Elvis' birth and death, there are special events at Graceland that allow some level of free access. Also, you can see the house and planes from the street (at least you could last time I was there - there's construction going on these days that might have changed the scene). They have an extensive gift shop for all your Elvis memorabilia needs. I got a cool "Viva Las Vegas" water bottle that I managed to hold onto for more than a year before I lost it! (that's quite a record for me)

Sun Studio

Of all the Memphis music attractions, I'd say this one was my favorite. Sun Studio considers itself the birthplace of rock and roll. Many famous musicians, like Elvis and Johnny Cash, made records there. 

When you visit, small groups of people go on a guided tour. The guide tells you about all the exhibits of recording equipment and other items. (We did this tour a couple years ago so I've forgotten the details, but I still have a positive emotional memory of the experience.) You also get to actually go into the studio where history was made and stand on the spot with a microphone where so many famous people have stood!

Stax Museum of American Soul Music

This museum is gigantic! If you're really into soul music, you could easily spend 4+ hours there. It's a self-guided tour, after you watch an introductory video. Stax Records was a label started in the early 1960s by a brother-sister team. They bought an old theater and turned it into a recording studio. Although they didn't intentionally set out to break down racial barriers (the owners were white), they wound up recording a lot of Black artists and ushering in the birth of soul music. Many artists who recorded there were Memphis locals.

For a variety of reasons, the studio went out of business and was demolished in the 80s. But it's been rebuilt and is now a museum including such noteworthy items as Isaac Hayes' custom Cadillac :)

The drum set used when recording the instrumental hit, "Green Onions"

If you are in the neighborhood around lunchtime, check out the Four Way. Their turnip greens are delicious!

Rock 'n' Soul Museum

This was my least favorite of the museums - not because there's anything wrong with it, but just because it seems to repeat stuff you see/hear at other museums. So I guess that means if you're visiting Memphis briefly and only have time for one musical stop, this would be good.

I liked that they give you a personal audio device so that you can walk around the exhibits and listen to stories and musical recordings. As the name implies, you learn about the history of rock and soul music - in Memphis and beyond. 

Gibson Tour

Memphis is home to a Gibson guitar factory. I'll just mention this one briefly because it's also downtown, close to Rock 'n' Soul. We took the factory tour awhile back and, while it was interesting, I would only recommend it if you're really into guitars...or hand-crafted manufacturing.

Beale Street

You know the song "Walking in Memphis"? 

Then I'm walking in Memphis 
Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale

Before we moved here, I had no idea what that song even said. Now I know that Beale St. has a long and storied past. I can't really do it justice in this post. It was primarily an African-American part of town during the days of segregation. Now it's an integrated place to party, well-known for its live music and freely flowing alcohol. It's not really my scene these days, but if you're in town, you should at least walk by so you can say you've seen it.

A Day in the Life, Year 2

Last year, I got the idea to record a whole day's activities on the first Friday of January. It seemed like a good tradition, so I did it again yesterday. Since the boys are so much more active this year, I also recorded what they did. That made for a complicated log with three people, but I guess our lives are just kind of like that now!

I recorded the day as accurately as I could, and I didn't do anything special just because I was writing things down for posterity :)

12:00a everyone asleep (DF and I think that maybe we heard a kid crying at some point during the night, but it didn't go on very long so we didn't get up to check on anyone.)

6:25a DF's alarm goes off. I try to go back to sleep, but then I remember that snow had been predicted so I open Facebook to see what people are saying. Sounds like we have some flakes!

6:45a Get up and look out the window. Hmm, looks pretty slippery out there. Turn on TV to check the news and find that most schools in the area are closed. Too bad DF's office is still open! I tell him to drive carefully.

7:20a Boys get up. They seem semi-interested in observing the snow out the window. We have about an inch in the yard.

7:35a Breakfast time for kids. Gus drops his "spill-proof" cup and spills milk all over the floor, but I don't notice at first so it turns into a huge puddle. Oops!

8:00a I make coffee and eat breakfast while the boys play with the contents of the recycling bin. Fight breaks out over identical yogurt cups.

8:30a Get boys dressed, aka I wrestle two wriggling piglets into shirts, pants, sweatshirts, socks, and shoes.

Morning playtime includes: climb on little chairs to look out the window, fill up containers with blocks and dump them out (hilarious!), sing songs, and wipe snotty noses. I am teaching them to wipe their own noses - they are getting better at it!

I consider if I should take them outside to play in the snow. But after assessing our lack of kid-sized cold weather gear, the disadvantageous adult:child ratio, and the very high likelihood of screaming tantrums (either from cold, having to come inside, or both), I decide against it. Instead, I take pictures of them looking out the window longingly at the snow...

9:15a Snack time. I'm tired of sweeping up cracker crumbs, so I put them in their high chairs for snack in an attempt to contain the mess. They mostly crush up their crackers and fling them off their trays. Ha ha, good try, Mom! I want to eat a brownie, which means I give them some bites too. (I can't eat anything in front of them if I don't share it or they throw a fit.) They appreciate the brownie and do not toss it overboard.

9:30a Sesame Street is on. They sort of watch it, but mostly fight with their toy brooms. They like stomping along with Count to the "Number of the Day" song.

10:00a (Usually, this is when we'd go on an outing of some sort, like the zoo, park, grocery store, etc. Although they are 18 months old, it's still tough for them to stay up all morning. If I let them take a nap now, though, they might not take a second one, and that's just not a good plan for anyone.) Accept reality that we are going to stay home all day b/c I am not taking the risk of driving in this weather. Give them pacifiers to stop the squawking. Snuggle up on the couch to watch more TV. When they get bored of TV, they hop down and chase each other around the house. We build blocks. I try to teach them "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes," but they aren't grasping the concept of that song. Play tackle Mommy (I lay on the floor; they jump/crawl on me).

11:00a Lunch time. They don't seem very hungry as they mainly throw their sandwich pieces on the floor and spread yogurt all over their trays. Then Gibson wipes kiwi juice in his eye and starts screaming. I wonder how we are all going to last until nap time...

11:30a Mommy snack time. I turn on the Toddler Tunes music channel. Peace! The calm lasted literally 4 minutes until a tackling fight broke out.

12:00p We made it! Nap time! As I try to tuck them in, Gus gets burst of energy and runs back and forth giggling in his crib. But they fall asleep before too long.

Whenever it's nap time, I try to spring into action right away and get essential things done because I never know how long they are going to sleep. If I start to dawdle, an expected three-hour nap will turn into 1.5 and I'll be up a creek. So while they sleep, I do these things: wash my face/put in contacts (decide not to bother showering as I have no plans to leave the house), get dressed, eat lunch, clean up the remnants of boys' lunch, load/run dishwasher (which I can only do when they are asleep b/c they are obsessed with pushing the buttons on the dishwasher and I don't think it's good for the machine to be constantly switching from "temp boost" to "normal"...), fold some laundry, pick up toys, sweep the house, wonder if I hallucinated about mopping yesterday because the dining room floor looks rather dirty, put some chicken on to cook for boys, pay a bill online, check our online bank accounts to make sure there's no unusual activity, shop for reusable sandwich bags, send FB birthday greetings, try to borrow an e-book from the library but have to get on the waiting list, and check out another book (Half the Sky) instead to start reading.

DF gets home at 1:45p. His office closed early due to weather. He tells me about the adventures he had while driving in the snow and helping stranded motorists.

3:00p Boys wake up. What a nice, long nap! I think they were tired from MDO yesterday because they only slept an hour there.

3:20p Snack time followed by fighting over toys. Toys get sent to toy timeout (in the playpen). Boys do not approve of this consequence.

4:00p Boys knock over the coat rack and scare themselves. Much screaming follows. Guess we need to figure out a new barricade method...

4:30p Put pizza in the oven for dinner. Boys are fascinated when I turn on the oven light and spend most of the next half hour watching the pizza cook.

5:00p Dinner time. Gibson refuses to eat veggies, as usual. Gus eats some peas at least. I decide to live on the edge and feed the boys pizza along with their chicken, even though dairy doesn't always agree with them. (Note from the future: it turned out fine! No screaming gas incidents later that night!) I had meant to slice up some veggies for the parents, but I forget until we are nearly done eating. Oh well, there is tomato sauce on the pizza...

5:40p DF and I are sitting in the living room talking. I notice the boys are playing happily together and not fighting. I predict it will last 5 minutes, tops. Instead, they carry on nicely for 20 minutes! They come through the living room sometimes to say hi, then go back to playing elsewhere. The joy ends when they both try to wedge themselves into a too-small toy box and get stuck.

6:40p Getting sleepy, but it's not bedtime yet. (This is another time of day when we often take an outing to Target or Kroger, but the temperature is still below freezing and we don't want to venture out on icy roads.) Instead they get their pacifiers again and we turn on the TV.

7:00p Bedtime snack time, then they play with their brooms. Not really eating much snack.

7:30p Put on PJs. The boys help me carry some dirty clothes out to the washing machine, and I start a load of laundry. Then they eat more crackers and drink some water.

8:00p Time for bed. Brush teeth - we let them try to brush their own teeth, and then I finish them off, which they hate; read a story; sing a song. I forget to check their diapers until I've already tucked them in, so then I have to get them out of bed to change them. They seem confused about this aberration in the bedtime routine.

8:15p Lights out! I think they are asleep by 8:25p or so. I transfer laundry to dryer, unload/load dishwasher, clean off high chairs, debate sweeping again but decide it's not that bad. Have a snack and take an Emergen-C because my throat is scratchy. Then, it's time to relax. I check Facebook/Instagram, read some blogs and news sites. I sometimes play this phone game called Juice Jam, but I've been stuck on the same level for more than a week and it's too annoying so I decide to install a new game called Toy Blast. Seems fun enough.

10:00p Bedtime for Salmonista. Put away laundry and get myself ready for bed. Hope that the snow melts soon so we can escape the house tomorrow!