Thursday, June 18, 2009

eat pray love


A friend lent me this book months ago, and for some reason it just sat collecting dust on the bookshelf.
She really enjoyed it and assured me that I would too.
Then again my favourite gal at my favourite local book store steered me away from buying it calling it "quite self indulgent" and recommended some other fantastic books instead.
stay tuned for those.
I eventually got around to reading it (and am glad I borrowed not bought it)
There were some parts that I really enjoyed-ie. the Eat part.
Who doesn't like reading about eating gelato for breakfast in Italy?
and I guess I didn't mind the love part.
but maybe only because I was loving the fact that I was almost finished the book.
Don't get me wrong- I have nothing against praying- it's just that I had a really hard time relating to the thought of just taking a year to "find myself" and just eat...pray, practice yoga & meditation.
No responsibility, no relationships no family- nada.
At least not in your mid-thirties.
Don't know if I was envious of the author's freedom or felt a bit sorry for her.
Oh who am I kidding?...I was super jealous.
"Finding myself" these days consists of having a shower until the hot water runs out.
which sadly is around 6.5 minutes- seeing as I'm the last to get ready in the morning.
I might add that that "meditative" 6.5 minutes is often interrupted by a certain someone deciding to keep me company.
"hey momma- how ya doin in there? do you want my mermaid Goldie to play with? do ya? huh? huh?"
note to self: must get lock installed on bathroom door.
ommmm....
So needless to say I had a hard time identifying with Elizabeth and her journey of self discovery.
But I am glad I soldiered though and finished the book.
Like I said the Love part was nice.
Good to know there are some people out there who still get bladder infections from well...too much loving.
Oh the good ol' days.
Cranberry juice anyone?

Speaking of love...
Definitely going trough a bitter sweet stage with Lulu at the moment.
The sweet part being everything about her.
Her little voice, her tiny soft hands, her absolute and constant unconditional love for me.
The bitter part being that she just can't get enough of me.
"Momma, momma, mamma, mommy, mom, mommy, mama, mommy....."
NON stop all day long.
So no- no time to eat pray and "love" at least in the vertical sense.
I keep wondering if it's because she's an only child.
Or maybe it's just the stage she's in.
What ever it is- please tell me I'm not alone.
Anyone??..

oh and in addition to thousand or so times I hear "mama, mommy, mom" all day long, these are a few other gems I have to put down before they are no longer.
} "momma...ya know what?" said before every single thing she says all day long.
I'd say somewhere in the neighbourhood of 387 times a day- not that I'm counting.
me- "no what?" -"umhum?" - "no but I'm sure you're about to tell me.."
} "I'm not whiiiindinggggggggg" a.k.a. whining.
} " momma- who is Ord Jesus?"
} " I like your eye lashes mommy- they are so princessish"
Gotta love Maybelline.
} "mommy you have the softest whitest skin ever"
the soft part is great -the white part not so great seeing as I have been doing my best to camouflage my nearly translucent white legs with my sunless tanning lotion.
ah well at least she didn't start trying to trace the blue veins with her tiny soft fingers and say "momma, your legs are so soft white and blueish"

5 comments:

kurrabikid said...

My almost-4yo son whines all day some days (thankfully not every day) - drives me bonkers! I have no suggestions for you, I'm afraid (other than threats to throw favourite DVDs in the bin - that usually results in silence). Wish there was a secret. BTW, I adored Eat, Love, Pray.

karengreeners said...

I'm so glad you didn't like that book. I'll agree, it had a few nice moments (none to do with her), but otherwise, yes, SO indulgent. My friend and I refer to it as, Eat, Pray, Hurl.

Right now, Dove is the one in a needs-mama stage - totally clingy and although I do love it a lot from my 19-month old - so sweet and babyish still - it's kind of tough that she will not let anybody else do anything for her.

amanda said...

This is weird... my mom gave me Eat Pray Love a while ago and it's been sitting on my shelf collecting dust as well. Not sure I can relate... isn't that funny. Anywho, I've got a pile of others I'm working through - including Loving Frank (which I noticed on your "bookshelf") and Snowflower and the Secret Fan (which I think you recommended a while ago).

Yeah, Jack is the same way with being glued to my side. And the mommy mommy mommy mommy please please please please. Makes me want to get some ear plugs.

Tania said...

I never thought I'd get sick of being called momma until we went through one of those stages.

I started showering at night, just to enjoy showering again. The hair is hit and miss in the morning, but it's worth it.

musingwoman said...

My first son used to hang on me all day (I can't count the times I tried to make dinner with his arms wrapped round my legs crying mama).

There is hope, though. He's 25, now, and doesn't do that anymore.