Party in the Pond, Unplugged

Welcome, welcome, come on in, the water's fine! I'm Mary, otherwise known as FishyGirl, and I think I'm probably the original FishyGirl, but there are others out there. I'm fine with that, just want you to know who you're talking to. I'm mother to four rascally little guppies under the age of 9, and they keep me dashing about. Trout is my oldest, at 8, and she loves science, ballet, and getting as creative as possible in her messes. Little Man is 6, and he's a sweet, kind soul who's a little accident prone, but if you need someone creatively mechanically inclined, he's your guy. Sunny is a pistol. She turns 4 on Saturday, has the gift of gab, and is quite precocious in her language, not to mention mischief making. My little Nemo is 16 months old, and though we are just now starting to see his personality emerge, he's kind and loving and busy. Very busy. BigDaddyFish brings home the salmon to keep us fed, clothed, and housed. We all have a good sense of humor, which is good, because if we didn't, we'd cry. A lot.

We live in a cramped 3 bedroom townhouse in the Maryland side of the DC burbs. We are currently getting our house ready to sell, so that we can move into a bigger house and Nemo can finally move into someone else's room to sleep, rather than in the bed with BDF and me. So, in honor of that, today, we are having this party unplugged. No tv! No movies! No music! Why, you ask? Well, this is why:

This is what the living room looks like right now. Notice the filthy, disgusting carpet. We've had that carpet for 9 years. Nine years of kids and juice and dirt and potty training and a dog with kidney disease will destroy a carpet. About 2 years ago it started stinking horribly every time we steam cleaned it, so we stopped doing it, instead intending to replace the floor when we moved. We're having a party for Sunny here on Saturday, so BDF wanted it done this week. Thank you Empire Today, for having next day service.

So sorry about the lack of electronic entertainment, but there's plenty to witness around here. Sunny made some salad for you, and I've made up some salsa dip. You can find out more about breastfeeding, if you're interested, since I've been doing it forever for the better part of the last 8.5 years. You can find out all kinds of crazy things my kids have done and continue to do on a daily basis. We love to laugh at ourselves.

We aren't without our serious moments, though. I've talked about my struggles with postpartum depression and the issues surrounding the breast cancer of my grandmother, the multiple myeloma of my grandfather, and their subsequent losses, as well as the loss of other people. I'm quite open about the effects of losing my mother when I was 15 and she was only 37, to a heart attack.

I love comments, so let me know you stopped by! I hope you have fun and I'm looking forward to seeing you at your place. New to the party? Head on over to 5 Minutes for Mom and find out all about the Ultimate Blog Party 2008.

And watch this space - I just may live-blog the carpet installation once they show up. At the very least, I'll update when the new carpet is done.

Thanks for swimming by - ya'all come back soon, now.

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Updated to add: AACCCKKK! I forgot about the prizes! They are offering a ton of awesome prizes with something for everyone, everything from cash to gift cards to amazon and target to all kinds of fun stuff. My favorite three are these:

#76 - Aren't these custom tutus from Lily Cait just gorgeous?

#103 - LEGO is giving away free legos in Pink - my kids would just love these.

#137 - The Soft Landing is giving away a set of BPA-free sippy cups - safe and adorable.

There are so many awesome prizes, some of which I have already - if I win and my top three are gone, any of these would be great: 11, 14, 18, 29, 34, 39, 47, 54, 55, 59, 60, 61, 63, 80, 82, 93, 96, 117, 119, 138, 140, and 141, in no particular order at all. Be sure to check out the whole list to find out how you can win them, too!

Comments

[Plucky Moms]

Just stopping by for the blog party! Great Blog!

I'd love for you to stop by Plucky Moms :)

[Agincourtdb]

That picture makes it look like you're moving. More so than actually being here and looking at it, for some reason.

[Felicity]

I am there at the party... party hearty.. take care and don't be a stranger...

[Deborah]

I'm inviting you to party with me!

Win some chocolate from my-sister-in-law and I...we blog about CHOCOLATE...me from Australia...and her from Michigan. Here's the link: http://thechocolistas.blogspot.com/2008/03/ultimate-blog-party-2008.html

What am I doing in Australia? I married an Aussie...and moved to Brisbane, leaving my family and friends and all the right-side-of-the-road drivers in America.

Win a handmade pocket place mat from my blog Comfort Joy Designs. Here's the link:
http://comfortjoydesigns.blogspot.com/2008/03/ultimate-blog-party-2008.html

Want to know more about life in Australia? Visit my A Cup of Joy site where I keep up with my family and friends in America. Here's the link:
http://acupofjoy.wordpress.com/

Happy Partying!

[JoLynn Braley]

Hi FishyGirl, I'm stopping by from the Blog Party. That's cool that you're getting new carpet, especially after the history you've given us of what it's been through (lol) - that's a great idea to document it in a video and post it here!

Have a swimmingly good time with the Party!! :)

[hokgardner]

I'm envious of the new carpet. Our room is the only one in the house with carpet, and I would love to get new stuff. The current carpet is dingy and an ugly color to boot. Plus, there's nothing like new flooring to make a house look like a whole new place!