Getting Pantsed

I arrived home from Vegas a few hours ago and have been in a death grip by the 2.5 year old.

When Mom goes away, death grips are administered for a good week upon her return. They tend to pant me when their little hands grip my sweats…but other than that, they are usually harmless.

So basically I was pulled from the almost surreal whirlwind that was BlogWorld Expo and total concentration on Photrade.com and the social media community ( feeling like I can’t even say my “bloggy” friends anymore) and given no transition time to even unpack before I was laying my daughter down in her bed and pulling her hands from her pull-up because she fell asleep grabbing her crotch.

Some women have a hard time shutting off the Madonna and turning into the whore, not me. I have a hard time shutting off the Hillary and turning into Mrs. Cleaver. One minute I’m conquering the world, and the next I’m under a bunk bed frantically trying to retrieve a lost Elmo.

I wonder if my decision to stay at home with the kids wasn’t only for the benefits, but because I have a hard time focusing and concentrating on them and ANYTHING else…be it work or otherwise. They scatter my head. They scatter just about everything…but also my head…and I also wonder if I’m capable of doing anything SMALL. For those who know me…it’s balls out all the time, and I go big or go home. Queen goes big. I’m not content with a little gig here or there, I launch companies, found virtual conferences, host “firsts” and create waves. Waves that leave little ones grabbing for the side of the boat from the wake.

As they get older and I work more, I find myself throwing myself into projects and neglecting my Mom role and then throwing myself into MOM and neglecting my projects. It’s a constant battle that results in death grips on a crazy, laptop carrying lady, pants to her ankles, towing kids.

Balancing work and home sucks. Balancing with pants around your ankles sucks. Of course my mind automatically wanders to more family friendly companies, conferences (thanks for the babysitting BlogHer) and a good kick in the ass of the attitudes of some professionals and colleagues I know…god knows I love me a good Queen smack down…but all of that sounds like another project for another time.

Right now I’m tired. I really need to pull up my pants, release the death grip on these sweats, and get us all some sleep. Maybe tomorrow I’ll activate my world domination plan while I knit and read blogs.

BlogWorld Expo

BlogHer Co-founder Jory Des Jardins, MEEEEE, Photrade’s Krista Neher in Las Vegas, NV at BlogWorld Expo!!!!!

My Favorite BlogHer video-YOU are in it

Ok, this one is my favorite. Go watch.

http://blogher.org/video-green-beans-twist

Viva Las Vegas

Andy and Krista and Jim are responsible for my packing tonight. I’m off to Las Vegas for Blog World Expo to tout Photrade.com and um…my boobs?  Nah. Just Photrade and some Queen of Spain and Queen’s Bedroom.

That means the inlaws flew in tonight and the kids are excited/freaking out that Mommy is leaving AGAIN.

I’m kinda freaking out too. Lots going on around here and those stresses tend to rub off on the kiddo’s more than I realized. 🙁

However, as the Kaiser says…”if you stayed home every time something was going on…you would NEVER leave.” And as much as it PAINS me to admit it…he’s right.

So I’m off to Las Vegas, Nevada and the sin that awaits. Or the blogging that awaits. One of the two, I’m guessing it will be blogging…I’m bringing my knitting, does that make me lame? or old?

BlogHer’s First Video Blog

…and yes, I’m in it.

My project is unveiled and rocking over at BlogHer. We brought you Turkey last week..and STUFFING this week…more to come, of course.

I can’t tell you how much fun I had filming these…so many great women around….and food, did I mention THE FOOD?

And We Went Wee Wee WEE…

…all the way home.

We’re back in hazy Southern California where my minivan is blasting ash out of it’s air conditioning.

The town seems back to normal, but you can tell something just isn’t right. The kids are home and happy, but an occasional cough from my son tells me the air is still unclean.

I know I tend to take extreme measures to solve a problem sometimes, but this entire episode really has me wondering if living in this place isn’t shortening all of our life spans. I’m having trouble, as a mother, saying “well, the job is here” in the same breath as “he coughs until he vomits and begins to wheeze.”

I don’t have a solution, other than to lobby Hollywood to move its special fx and digital animation to say…Cheyenne, Wyoming, where I hear the air is perfect.

Or to become the breadwinner.

Who wants to hire me?

Ladies and Gentlemen…Introducing…

My new project.

I hope you like it.

http://blogher.org/easy-holiday-turkey

Talk with the animals

Princess Peanut is in “I will be a vet when I grow up” phase and I may have to sell her to the gypsies.

I remember doing this when I was young, but I think I was like 11, not 2. So my obsessions were a bit more grounded…like collecting stuffed dogs or say, getting really excited at a stable. HRH PP Punk as Fuck isn’t nearly as reasonable in her ripe old toddler years.

So she tends to ride a stuffed horse on a stick wherever we go.

That means it comes in the van. It is ridden through the grocery store, target, home depot, the pharmacy. And of course, in true toddler fashion, when it suits her to NOT be riding the horse, I get to carry it. You know, carry the big horse head on a stick through a crowded store along with whatever I’m buying. Superfun.

The horse also has it’s own spot at the kitchen table and bowls of feed are demanded for the stuffed and impaled creature.

Now I’m sure you’re thinking…well you could say “no” but I think we all know that we pick our battles with these schizophrenic little people and when the whole horse thing started it did not seem like a large issue, so off we went to the store with “Racing Stripes” in the his own seat in the momvan.

Yeah, she named it after that movie with a very young Hayden Panettiere and it makes me feel creepy to see her all grown up and boobie now.

Anyway none of this would be too too too hard on me if it weren’t for my boneheaded move rushing out the door from our wildfire threatened home in smoky Cali agreeing that “Racing Stripes” could stay home.

Yeah, I know. But it DID take her like 7 days to realize the damn thing wasn’t here in Florida.

Now she’s a scorned woman and we’re all just getting out of her way.

She tried riding my parent’s pool noodle around the house but quickly realized it was a poor substitute.

She tried riding Maggie, my parents 120lbs golden. Maggie wasn’t really happy with that idea.

So now she’s determined to whine and cry until we’re home in California…you know, very late tonight. We’re on about day 4 of “Mommy we have to go home NOW and get him.” Not in that simple sentence back there kinda way either. It’s usually followed by a good 20 minutes of face down to the floor pouting, crying, and screaming.

She has also packed one of the carry-ons with an elmo and a sock and tried to wheel it out the front door. Apparently she was going to just take matters into her own hands and walk her sassy little self back to California because that damn mother of hers refused to hop a plane early.

So I’ve emailed her father and phoned him (gotta double up here) to make sure that DAMN horse is in the back seat of the van when he picks us up from LAX. If he forgets (entirely possible) maybe the Count and I can take a cab home and Daddy and daughter can discuss Racing Stripe’s failure to show on the hour ride home.