** Blue Moon Mama **

We’re having a lovely weekend. Not really doing much of anything, just hanging around the house and spending time together. Which in my opinion is the best way to spend a weekend! We did take a couple of hours yesterday to go to the Chesterfield County fair. It was so tiny compared to fairs I’ve gone to in Missouri and California but it was still fun because Nora had never been to one before. She was quite tired yesterday and very serious but she enjoyed people watching. I was surprised to see so many people feeding their young babies junk food. Maybe we are over-cautious but we don’t give Nora any adult foods. She eats organic baby food or mashed fresh fruits & veggies that I make, an occasional organic teething biscuit and her formula. I watched parents feeding babies smaller than Nora cotton candy, soda, and ice cream amongst other things. I guess I’m over sensitive to these things because I was raised on junk food and southern fried foods and have a serious weight problem because of my unhealthy eating habits. I don’t want to start my daughter off on a path of unhealthy eating. And hopefully I’ll break my own bad eating habits along the way! My husband has always been thin and able to eat anything he wants but he too wants to keep Nora away from junk food while she’s little. Mainly because he wants to lessen her chances of getting cavities from sweets. Oh well, to each his own. I’m definitely not the parenting police . Lots of people eat unhealthy foods sometimes but are still healthy overall. I guess finding a middle ground is the best way. But I’m still not giving my 8 month old ice cream and Pepsi, lol.She’s not going to be able to blame me when she’s older and has cavities .

Soraya tagged me with a few questions so here are the answers. I love doing these things!

1. Are you a dog person or a cat person? Both? Neither? WE got our first dog just a month before I got pregnant last year. Kaylie is a beautiful and good natured dog but I have to admit I’m really not a dog person. They are just too high maintenance for me. I grew up having lots of cats and cats are soooo much easier. You don’t have to walk them or wash them. They don’t need tons of attention yet they can be very affectionate and are wonderful to snuggle when you’re feeling down. So I guess I’d be more of a cat person. My favorite pet was my husband’s horse More to Come which I was lucky enough to share with him for the first years of our marriage before she died.

2. If you could spend a week anywhere in the world, where would it be? What would you do? This is such a hard question! There are so many places I want to see and things I want to do. Normally I’d choose the British Isles, probably Scotland if I had to narrow it down and I’d spend the time going to ancient sites, churches, castles and taking photos. But right now being exhausted most of the time caring for an active baby I’d chose some place relaxing and tropical. My fantasy vacation would be to some gorgeous beach resort (maybe Fiji?) where they spoil you rotten. I’d have a hut on the beach, maybe even in the water with a glass floor to look down at the fish. No phone, no tv, no internet. Lots of beach time. Massages. Spa treatments. Tons of romantic time with the hubby and maybe an occasional foray into town to see a bit of a different culture and take photos. It would be cool if there were an art retreat going on too. Oh and since this is a dream I’d have the perfect beach body and sunbathe/skinny dip in the nude at my own private waterfall. LOL

3. What is your fave home cooked meal? Hmm, I’m really not a cook so my choices of favorite home cooked meals are limited. I guess I’d have to say my boneless barbeque spare ribs with home made mashed potatoes, corn on the cob and warm rolls.

4. Your perfect evening is… Livingroom lit by a silver candelabra (which I no longer have ;( ), music playing maybe Andrea Boccelli or Ella Fitzgerald, reading a book while laying my head in my hubby’s lap, later curling up with blankets and pillows on the floor in our pjs with Nora and watching an old movie or musical or some fantasy movie. Going to bed and spooning.

5. If you could be anyone in history for one day, who would you pick and why? There’s a million great answers I could give to this but I’m going to go with my initial gut reaction and say Ekaterina Gordeeva in 1994 on the day & night of her gold medal win in pairs figure skating with her (now deceased) husband Sergei Grinkov. Why? Because I was a huge figure skating fan and I’d love to know what it feels like to give such an amazing performance, to glide and flow and fly across the ice in the arms of your greatest love and to achieve a life long dream that you’ve worked years for. I’d just love to know what it feels like to move like that and to be the best in the world at something.She was a hero of mine both for her career and for how she handled tragedy and having to rebuild her life after her husband’s death.

6. A quality you admire most in others…? Least…? Most admired would be true kindness, empahty and open heartedness. I saw some silly show recently with hidden cameras and they set someone up to pretend to be homeless and crying near a sidewalk. The pretend homeless person was also a bit intimidating looking, acting a bit crazy and not wearing shoes. Lots of people walked by and ignored him. A few stopped to ask if they could help. One woman in particular really touched me because she was genuinely upset for this person. She was nearly in tears of sympathy because the other person seemed so upset. She ran to her car to get a cell phone for them and ended up having an asthma attack because she was so concerned. You just don’t see that sort of kindness and empathy much any more. Most of us, even if we feel a deep empathy rarely act on it. We’ve become too gaurded, too protected and walled off. As for least admired trait it would be meanness. Saying deliberately cruel or humiliating things to someone weaker than you are.

7. The scariest thing about ageing… Scariest thing about aging for me is worrying about losing my husband. Obviously one of us will die first and I hate the thought of being without him or vice versa. The thing I dread the most about aging is getting tons of wrinkles on my face or a saggy jaw . I’m a bit vain about having decent skin and recently found the first wrinkle under my eye. I get depressed just thinking about it!

8. At the end of your life, what is the one thing you will regret never having tried? I can’t think o any big dream that I’d deeply regret not accomplishing. I’d kind of like to be published or have my photos sold in some chain i admire like Anthropologie or Urban Outfitters or Ikea. I totally want to sell out, lol. I’d regret it if I’m not able to travel more and see the places I’ve dreamed of. My biggest regret is something I can’t do anything about, it’s that I wasted my twenties and didn’t really live them. But all you can do is move forward.

Great questions Soraya!!