How de doo

I don't really have much to say; I just wanted to have one more post in the month of March than I've had the last couple of months.

Oh, and that bit about waiting awhile before we bought a car? We bought a car.

So Greg got a flat screen TV yesterday and a new car today. He's spoiled.

A good weekend

Friday night, we went shopping for a birthday gift for the party Allie would attend on Saturday (her best friend Sandra--movie and pizza) and we had Mexican food at Carlos O'Kellys. There's a Carlos O'Kellys in Decatur too, near where Greg's family lives. It's always busy. This restaurant is always only about half full.

Saturday, Greg went car shopping because we've been thinking about replacing his car now that it has over 90,000 miles on it. I took Allie to her party and then Julia and I hung out and partied like it was 1999. Then Greg came home, all fired up about buying a VW Rabbit. I wanted to see what they were like to drive and Greg wanted me to drive it too, so I went off to Madison and he handled picking Allie up at the theater. Later, I visited the bookstore alone (when was the last time I got to do that!) and then I brought KFC home for dinner. That was some nice variety compared to the deli chicken we usually get from the local Pick Your Nose.

Today, Greg and Julia went off to Madison and bought a new flat screen TV and two booster seats for her for our cars. We've decided to put off getting the car. Allie and I played games and partied like it was 2008. And then the four of us had the best time of the weekend. We went bowling.

Oh my goodness. I haven't been bowling since probably before Allie was born, and neither had Greg. Allie wanted to try it because she's been bowling on the Wii with Greg lately. She discovered it's a lot harder in real life. Julia actually got second place in our little contest behind Greg, thanks to a bowling ramp. And I think Greg got three or four strikes. It was fun and both girls really liked it. We're definitely going to have to go again.

Allie's spring break is over now and she's back to school tomorrow and we're back to our normal routine. Here comes another week--

The two extremes

Today at work, I was involved in the discipline of one employee and the firing of another due to a significant event that happened last week. Involving the fire department.

The first guy had a pretty normal reaction. He protested his innocence, then said other people had done the same thing and were they going to be disciplined too, then said the whole thing was a fucking joke and that he wasn't signing his fucking work violation. I've had more people than I can count have this reaction over the years. It doesn't phase me at all anymore.

I didn't have sweaty palms. My heart wasn't pounding. I wasn't worried about what I was going to say next and how he would react to it. I certainly didn't fear for my safety. That's partially because I felt in control and partially because in this case, his manager was also in the room and he's about 6' 5" and 300 lbs.

Regardless, the guy headed for the door, saying he was going back to work. I had to tell him to stop and that if he didn't sign the work violation, he was quitting. He stood in the doorway for a second, slammed the door closed, said fuck a few more times, and scrawled his signature. Then I told him he had to serve a one-day suspension. That didn't go over very well either.

Several profanities later, it was time to fire the other individual. He sat down, I told him we'd concluded our investigation, and told him the specific issues applying to him. He said that he agreed with the results of the investigation (in fact, he repeatedly said that he accepted responsibility) and then I told him that he was terminated. He said, "Thank you."

OK, now that's a first.

It wasn't as odd as it sounded. After he said thank you, he stood up and pushed past his manager to the door, saying he was leaving. We tried to talk to him about some of his belongings and some company items he needed to return but he took off. His manager followed him and about five minutes later, the employee stopped in my doorway while I was on the phone and dropped some company items on my desk. He seemed a little calmer.

I do think I'm going to remember this one however. I've had people cry (actually, lots of people cry). I've had people swear and pound on the table. I've sometimes warned my co-workers that if they hear sounds in my office that seem like trouble, they shouldn't be afraid to open the door to see what's happening (just a safety thing, it's never been necessary). I've had people laugh and then threaten me and the company (No, Mom. Not me bodily. Just say things like God is going to take care of me. Or that they know some day I'll pay. One guy asked me if I had children and then said he was asking because he didn't know how I could go home to them with what I had done to him on my conscience.) Lots of people threaten to sue.

This guy, he's the first one to say Thank You. But you know, I don't really think he meant it.

Ready for years of picnics

Today after work, my husband took our children to the grocery store to pick up a few things. He does this pretty frequently, much more frequently than I do, and I appreciate that. Usually, we have a running grocery list on the refrigerator door and he'll be sure to get those items. Greg does, however, really love to go up and down every single aisle in the store. I personally think that process is a colossal waste of time, which is one of the reasons we seldom go to the store together. If I know I don't need either baby food, diapers, or crackers and cookies, why head down that way and tempt myself. (The cookies, not the baby stuff.)

So Greg, Allie and Julia traipsed up and down the aisles today and Greg thought, "Hey, I bet we need ketchup. We always need ketchup." After all, the girls practically inhale ketchup, so this thought isn't too far-fetched.

However, when Greg picked up and purchased a large bottle of ketchup today (36 oz.), he neglected to remember that he took the girls to Sam's Club a few weeks ago. That day, he also thought, "Hey, I bet we need ketchup. We always need ketchup." As a result of Sam's Club supersizing, I now own a 36 oz. bottle of ketchup and 3 - 44 oz. bottles of ketchup.

That's 21 cups of ketchup. Plus what we have in the refrigerator. I'm looking for recipe ideas here, people. Anyone?

The first of many?

Julia told me her first lie tonight. We had been away for the weekend, visiting my family for Easter. When we came home, Allie and Julia opened the Easter cards that Nana sent them. She'd included a stick of gum in each one. Julia loves gum, especially since we only very rarely buy it.

I told her she could have the gum but that she needed to spit it out when it was time for her bath. As we were heading upstairs to do her bath, she looked at me with those wide blue eyes and said, Mommy, I spit out my gum. I put in my hand and then I put it in the garbage downstairs. And of course I believed her.

A few minutes later, as we were getting ready to get her into the tub, she stubbed her toe. She started to wail and I saw a piece of gum in her mouth. She'd lied to me.

I didn't even know what to say. Isn't four and a half too young for lying? I think Allie was about seven before we caught her in her first lie. I know, I know--different kids. But still.

Are we raising a liar?

The whole tooth

Allie lost another tooth last night, and this one without the hour of agony and crying beforehand. She lost her first bottom tooth before her fifth birthday and three years later, maybe that's actually getting better.

I think she knows that the tooth fairy's not real, because she asked to put her tooth in a small bowl by the side of her bed. Thank goodness, because believe me when I say that it isn't easy sliding your hand around under the pillow she's sleeping on, desperately trying to find a tooth that's about one third the size of a kernel of corn. And then I have to go back in and put the money underneath. She hasn't woken up during the operation yet, but maybe I'm worrying for nothing.

Last weekend, Allie asked if the Easter Bunny was real. Let's see--she already knows that my company put on the Easter Egg scramble we were on our way to at the time. She knows that her Auntie Pam puts out the eggs for the hunt at her house each year. And I think it's unlikely that at eight years old, she would believe that a bunny rabbit could deliver baskets around the world. So I told her that no, the Easter Bunny isn't real.

Greg yelled at me when I told him, but I really don't believe she still believed. How long am I supposed to lie about a rabbit? Allie started to ask more questions, but I told her we'd talk about it later, not in front of her sister, and it hasn't come up again. In the meantime, she's enjoying the candy she's already gotten for Easter and she's enjoying the two 50-cent pieces she got for this tooth. Maybe if I keep giving her chocolate, I won't have to answer any questions about Santa Claus.

A new game

Last night, Allie decided to play "9 1/2 Weeks" with her daddy. She didn't call it that, but Allie asked her dad to play a game and had him sit on the floor with a towel over his eyes while she fed him various substances to see if he could identify them.

He tried a grape, a peanut M&M, a piece of Kix cereal, a grape tomato, a Tic Tac, coffee (Allie was getting some help by this point), yogurt, a Girl Scout cookie, cream cheese, and finally a dill pickle. The pickle was what did Greg in. He didn't immediately identify what it was and something about it grossed him out, so he was done.

Julia, meanwhile, fell asleep on the couch again after dinner. She only sometimes naps now and her body is not necessarily still running strong by 6:30 p.m. or so. To say that she's crabby when you wake her up is an understatement. She hit Greg, who was only trying to be sure that she'd be able to sleep when it was bedtime.

And our family watched another couple of episodes of "How Clean Is Your House." Just another Thursday night in the Lee household.

Houston, Wii have a problem

Allie has been enjoying our new Wii, challenging her daddy to contests of bowling, tennis, and ping pong. Unfortunately, it's wrecking her life.

For the second evening, at bedtime, Allie came up the stairs from the basement crying. Actually bawling. Daddy won their contest.

We've worked for years to get our children to be good losers, but according to Allie, when you lose a competition on the Wii, a sign comes up that calls you a loser, and a face appears and makes a sad face at you.

So twice now at bedtime, she's been full of tears and with her face swollen and her nasal passages full of whatever and then she can't get to sleep. Last night, she was still awake at 10 p.m., now upset because she could see how late it was getting and she was worried about being tired in the morning. Somehow, she's gotten the idea that if she's tired in the morning, life as we know it will be over.

She gets out of bed repeatedly to tell us she's still awake. She cries and snuffles into tissues. She tries to count sheep or count her breaths and she practices Daddy's relaxation technique, none of which work. Last night, she said she couldn't stop thinking. She asked me to give her something else to think about. I told her to plan her next birthday party, from food to decorations to guests to cake and presents.

I'm guessing this means we can start planning on building a stable next January.

Trouble in paradise

Last night, Allie and Julia were playing a game with water. Those words don't usually strike trepidation into our hearts. They like to wash their collection of resin animal toys in the sink in the half bathroom, for example, and that's no problem. They like to play with their collection of Polly Pocket hot tub/pool accessories at the kitchen table (which is from Ikea) and that's no problem.

The problem last night was that Greg and I were chatting online with Dan and Kerry. Which means that we kept shushing the girls and asking if they could please play in another room than the one we were in. And they were playing with water, specifically containers of water in which they were washing Barbies and other little dolls. We paid them no attention whatsoever (fatal error).

This morning, I had an early meeting and Greg was getting the girls ready to leave the house. Right before they headed out, he realized that the dining room table had pools of water on it's surface. Yes, Marcia, the beautiful antique dining room table that you and your husband gave us had pools of water on the surface of the gorgeous wood. Pools that had been there since last night.

Fortunately, Greg saw the pools, dried off the table, and the only damage seems to be some lifting of the veneer at the center seam of the table. It could have been much worse. This does not mean that we are not going to kill our children later tonight.

We're taking them to tumbling class first. It's prepaid, after all.

Spring! Robins!

There were several robins fluttering around our yard today. The snow has melted away from the south side of the house, including where my tulips should come up in about a month. It's enough to give you hope for an eventual spring, even though it did snow a little this morning and there's still at least two feet of snow on the flat part of our front yard.

In other news, Greg and I had a fun conversation by Skype today with Dan and Kerry. They said they'd been to a St. Patrick's Day parade today (an early one, apparently) and they showed us the enormous helium balloons they purchased for their kids. (Not that I'm calling their kids spoiled or anything.)

Speaking of spoiled kids, Greg fulfilled an ambition that he's held for months this morning. He managed to be first in line at 6:15 a.m. at a local store and he bought a Wii when the store opened. Bowling has commenced!