Commited to Sleep

Greetings to you! I am amazed that you have stuck with me in my time of … blog AFK. I do wish I was able to update you more then I did. The Spawn is very funny. It would have been great to document at least some of the struggles and funnies this last year. I have a moment so I am going to reflect on one thing I learned.

“Sleep when the baby sleeps.”

You hear this all the time. You must commit to the idea. COMMIT TO IT.

Baby sleeps you sleep.

No dishes. No kitchen cleaning. No bottles. No laundry. No vacuuming. No phone calls. No Warcraft. No anything.

You slap your head on the pillow and rest.

No email. No bills. No thank you cards. No blog writing.

Turn off your brain anyway you know how and sleep. The baby may only sleep for one hour and if you can stare at the ceiling for that time at least your body will rest. But maybe if you do it enough you can train your body to sleep.

Now some will say that is just not realistic. Things have to get done. Who is going to do it??

Need to let it go. Sleep.

I know it is hard. You will read everywhere people telling you the same thing. But you have to be committed to the idea and realize your rest is more important than those dishes sitting in the sink.

Sleep for your own sanity.

When you are doing the safety procedures on an airplane they tell you. “First put on your own oxygen mask, then help children or anyone else.” This is a safety procedure. Your sleep should be considered in the same way.

I remember (vaguely) the first week after giving birth. Husband figured out a three hour rotation for us to get sleep. I wish I remember it all. He pretty much gave himself 6 hours of sleep. I would then sleep 2-3 hours he would wake me to feed the baby (breastfeeding) then I would go back to sleep for 2-3 hours. Then I would get up and he would go asleep for 3 hours. Next I would sleep for 2-3 hours. Rotate as needed.

I was so grateful for him those first 72 hours. He figured a schedule out and everyone got sleep in. Even after that we worked house stuff in too.

Make sleep a priority.

When I went to visit my parents. I handed over The Spawn and passed out on a spare bed. I mean really... I was not who they wanted to see. So why should I sit and socialize when sleep was way more important.

Celebrate what sleep you do get.

A nurse told me that a new born is classified as “Sleeping through the night” when they sleep 4-5 hours through. Hold that moment when it happens. At about two months The Spawn started doing that. I was thrilled! I cannot tell you how less tired that made me to know there was a chance I would get 8 hours of sleep eventually.

Commit to the idea and know that your health and the babies health will be better for your commitment.

… then there is showering.

I Had a Double O

Got your attention??!!

In September, I was asked by The Double O Podcast to come on a special episode as a guest.

Episode 8: Parental Guidance Strongly Suggested, the main topic was parenting and playing World of Warcraft. I thought the guest were really insightful. The questions were poignant. I think we got to discuss some really helpful things.

The questions are coming from Oestrus and Ophelie both without children. I think that is a plus. They asked their questions from the point of view of someone outside looking in. The incite the guests gave were nice. Hearing the things the other guests were going through also helped me. You know "It's not only me." idea.

I tried not to talk a lot but Hydra always gets her words in. If you listen there is a point where I can tell Oestrus is really struggling with all the negatives you hear about child raising. I put it in WoW terms.

Paraphrasing...

In Warcraft you earn titles from your achievements: Kingslayer, Loremaster, Arena Master, etc. In life you also earn titles from achievements: Friend, Daughter, Son, Brother, Sister, Graduate, Artist, etc.

When you have a child you get more titles: Mother, Father, Mom, mommy, care taker, poop wiper, drool catcher, etc. But that doesn't make your other life achievements go away, they are just not he newest ones. Like in WoW that changes with time and you have to make an effort to select them.

Peekaboo Tiger Invitations

The Spawn will be turning one in September. Invites to her first birthday party went out and were received. (This is not even close to a Warcraft post so you can stop reading if that was what you were looking for.)

I looked at a lot of different stores both online and around town for the perfect invite cards. My crafty streak kept telling me “You can make them.” But I still searched... and searched.

I ended up making them.

Why all this effort? She doesn't care … actually she does. If given the choice she would want me to hand them to her so she can pull, chew, and rip apart all the paper.

I am doing this because one of the invites will go into her baby book. Maybe ending this year. Maybe starting the next. Either way, just like her Baby Shower invites her Aunt made, this will be represented.

And I will have made them. Additionally, in the future I may not have the time to make them and I do now.
I used a stamp to make the bamboo forest. I used rubber stamp scraps to make the stamps for the triangle stripes, four all together. The head was a circle punch. Muzzle was using the same circle punch and then reinserting the circle. Little nose was a heart punch.

The ears were the hardest. If I left them pointy (triangles) they looked to much like kitty cat ears. If I used round ears they looked like bear ears. Taking the face circle I cut them in half. The halves were then cut into thirds. After much frustration (I almost changed the tiger I was making) I freehand cut the points. All the free hand cutting made them all a bit different, but HYDRA Made!

After having all the head pieces cut out I then added all the stamped stripes. I tried a few different colors on the orange. I picked red. I used a stamp for the four side stripes and the top middle stripe. Then I used a narrower triangle to do the first and third top stripe. I used a third wide triangle for the inside ears.

I then put all head pieces together once the ink was dried.

I used take out chopsticks to apply glue to attach the ears and nose. To attach the muzzle to the head I used double sided sticky foam. (I had the foam from scraps of stamp assembly.)

I used additional foam to attach the head to the front of the card.

The tiger is now peaking through the forest!

I really wanted on the front of the card to have a #1. This will be the only time she will be one and I wanted it right there in front. I planned on making a tag.

Husband wanted the tiger to have a tail. (I should have known better then to ask.)

A tail and a tag with words was way more then I wanted to put on the card. Then there was brilliance.

Husband came up with making the TAIL be the 1.

We drew a couple. Since I had to free hand cut the tail we took that in consideration of the final choice. Using the outside straight cut as a guide for the inside width of the tail. They don’t have to be perfect because they are HAND Made, plus an invitee will only get one so they will not know there are differences.

I attached the tail with double stick tape. I placed them about where I thought the end of the tiger would be.

I lastly tied a red metallic string to finish the look. Now I tied the them initially on a scratch piece of card stock so I didn't mess up the cards I was making. Then slipped them onto the finished cards.
Ta Da.

The US Postal service did have issues with one and wanted more stamps. Which was convenient since I was seeing them the next day so I just handed them the invite.

Dear Mrs. Ratshag

aka @medievalnurse your husband, @Ratshag, messaged me over a year ago ... At the time I was naked ... actually my feet were naked.

I was debating buying these leopard printed flats. Totally cute. I was going to wear them to a party. But it was not like I NEEDED the shoes. They were just TOTALLY CUTE.

I let him talk me out of buying them...

I KNOW.

There was no reason that I let him other then timing. It is now a year latter and I am still THINKING of the shoes your husband helped convince me not to buy.

See these shoes...

My thought when I was in line to buy them...

“I better not talk to Ratters right now.”

I'm Beautiful

Typical conversation while meeting random people on the street.

[Random Person]: Ohhhh, How old is she?
[Hydra]: She is [insert appropriate age].
[RP]: She is so cute/beautiful.
[Hydra]: Thank you. Is she giving away free smiles?
[RP]: Yes she is! She looks just like you.
[Hydra] @ The Spawn: Wave bye-bye.
[Hydra] @ RP: Thank you. You have a great day.


This is an important interchange of information. Because did you notice something? The Warlock in me hears it EVERY time... Do you?

I was just called cute/beautiful by the RP.

You see it now? I will cut out all the unnecessary information for you.

RP: She is so cute/beautiful.
RP: She looks just like you.

When I was at my most exhausted this thought made me smile.

They Still Let Me

I have now been podcasting for over a year!

Fimlys still lets me record over on the Twisted Nether Blogcast. I realize I still say "Umm" way more then I intend too. BUT I say it a lot less then before. I hope people actually hear the difference.

Getting guests has been fun. It is a great fit for the time that I have. I can find 10 minutes occasionally to check out a blog. Also, if there is someone that you read, then let me know. I just stumble onto individuals now. I'm always looking!

Do email me. DOoo Eeet.

I have also learned that I don't have to agree with someone to still interview them... Or even know much about them. It is a discovery just as much for us as hosts as the listeners.

I wish the blogger's readers would send in more questions for them. I know it makes people feel good and it is such a small gesture for someone that may give you a momentary entertainment. To help encourage questions, I really try and be sure to put out a LIVE post for every guest the Thursday before the interview. This gives two days to see it and come up with questions.

The Spawn is finally getting a little more predictable. (Which is now in black and white so everything will change. /sigh) I am going to blog a little more, even if it is just about The Spawn. Keep an eye out for more posts (or not.)

Comic Conventions, Beach, and Wow

I’m on top of things, really, I am.

Yea, even I don’t believe that statement right now. If I was this would not be my first post in all of July! July would have passed us by and I would not even notice that I didn’t have an update.

The Spawn went to her first San Diego Comic Con this year. She completely enjoyed all the people. At the same time, she hated all the people. It was a bit overwhelming. The second day was much better for her. Here she is at the DC Comics booth checking out the DC comic app on the iPad.

She liked making the comic really small on the screen. Once it was tiny she tried to pick it up with her very strong pinching.

YES! That is an “Evil Baby” shirt The Spawn is wearing. You can pick it up here. If you don’t know about the Oblongs go find out. I met Angus Oblong at the Anaheim Comic Convention this year. You know this baby shirt was a MUST BUY NOW!!!

Not only have we been hitting comic conventions this month, but I think we went to a few different comic stores, in three different counties. (This is a new realization. … I don’t know how I feel about it yet.)

We also have been biking to get more active. The Spawn likes being in her trailer while riding. I got a hitch for Husband and my bike so we can switch off. We go out for a couple of hours. We try to do this before it gets too hot. I have a tendency to freak out about The Spawn’s hotness after a while.

The Spawn has also gone to the beach. She has eaten a lot of sand. I watch like watching her think. I am pretty sure I hear her say. “Maybe this stuff tastes different from the last stuff. Nope.” crawls a bit. “Maybe this stuff tastes different. Nope.” crawls a bit. “Maybe this stuff. Nope.” etc.

This makes for interesting diaper changes the next day.

On the WoW front…

The guild has split into two 10-mans. I’m not in either. I just cannot guarantee that I can be on when I am needed. A part of me is a little grumpy about this. But see above… for all the stuff I have been doing.

I am committed to at least start playing again, even if it is for only an hour. There was weeks there I was on Twisted Nether Blogcast more then I was playing the game. I’m working on changing that. And you can always hear me chat about WoW happenings there.

First thing was to do the quest chain to get my Panther Cub. I had no idea this was a quest item! I was upset I didn’t do it before Firelands came out. If you didn’t know it came out back in 4.1.

The next thing I am doing is finishing off questing in Twilight Highlands. I married off the dwarves but then stopped at helping the dragons. I was more interested in the political ties between the dwarves then the dragons. I am trudging through that, forcing myself to read the quest text. Well some of the time.