So I'm reading on the couch last night and the air conditioning starts lowering the temperature in the house so that it's more comfortable for us to sleep upstairs. I feel the cool air on the back of my neck and I decide to take out the green scrunchie holding my hair in a ponytail.
I want to make sure this scrunchie (my emergency purse scrunchie--it's a girl thing) gets back in my purse, so I balance the scrunchie on my knee until I finish the chapter, when I'll get up and put it away. I finish the chapter and my scrunchie is gone. I look around under my knee, under my butt, in the cracks between the couch cushions--no scrunchie. That's weird. I guess it'll turn up.
This morning, I get out of bed and on the floor between the bed and the door is my green scrunchie. Well, if the cats had to steal it to play with, at least they returned it dry!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Adventures in mini-golf (or field hockey, or whatever)
On Friday, Greg came home from work early and we decided to all go to see a movie. The second-run theater in Madison was still playing "Night at the Museum 2," so for $10, all four of us were in. Then we spent $11.50 on the biggest popcorn bucket I've ever seen and a matching soda. As Greg said, "I like a soda you can land a jet ski in."
So off we went to the movie, which was fine, except that Julia drank too much lemonade and she absolutely had to go to the bathroom during the climatic fight scene with the bad guy. Greg took her; thank you, honey! The movie itself was fine, but I liked the first one better (no surprise, there).
Afterward, we got some burgers at Burger King and then headed off to play mini-golf. It was a weird weather evening--it rained for a good part of the day but it had stopped by this time. Instead it was very, very humid, cool, and felt like it was misting, even though it wasn't actually doing anything rain-wise. As a result, we were the only family on our golf course.
The first hole required you to putt your golf ball into a tube, which took your ball down a steep hill and then hopefully near the hole and not into the water feature. Oops, so much for that hope. It became clear very quickly that it didn't make sense for us to keep score. Both the girls decided that it was easier to guide their golf balls to the hole with their clubs than to actually hit the ball. And none of us could seem to avoid the water features. And a couple of our balls didn't float, so we all ended up sticking our hands into ponds of dubious origin (we kept telling ourselves it was just rainwater).
On the third hole, Julia had to go the bathroom again, and then she had to go again on the fourteenth. When we tried to make her wait, that didn't work out. All in all, it was a funny, aggravating, frustrating, and hilarious family evening. Until we got home, bathed Julia, got the kids to bed, and Allie proceeded to throw up twice.
Just another fun night in the Lee household!
So off we went to the movie, which was fine, except that Julia drank too much lemonade and she absolutely had to go to the bathroom during the climatic fight scene with the bad guy. Greg took her; thank you, honey! The movie itself was fine, but I liked the first one better (no surprise, there).
Afterward, we got some burgers at Burger King and then headed off to play mini-golf. It was a weird weather evening--it rained for a good part of the day but it had stopped by this time. Instead it was very, very humid, cool, and felt like it was misting, even though it wasn't actually doing anything rain-wise. As a result, we were the only family on our golf course.
The first hole required you to putt your golf ball into a tube, which took your ball down a steep hill and then hopefully near the hole and not into the water feature. Oops, so much for that hope. It became clear very quickly that it didn't make sense for us to keep score. Both the girls decided that it was easier to guide their golf balls to the hole with their clubs than to actually hit the ball. And none of us could seem to avoid the water features. And a couple of our balls didn't float, so we all ended up sticking our hands into ponds of dubious origin (we kept telling ourselves it was just rainwater).
On the third hole, Julia had to go the bathroom again, and then she had to go again on the fourteenth. When we tried to make her wait, that didn't work out. All in all, it was a funny, aggravating, frustrating, and hilarious family evening. Until we got home, bathed Julia, got the kids to bed, and Allie proceeded to throw up twice.
Just another fun night in the Lee household!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Stormy weather
We had storms on Friday night, but nothing too dramatic. The worst of the weather traveled south of us. Since I've seen two tornadoes in my lifetime already, that was quite OK with me. The weird part is that hours after the storms passed, our power went out. As near as I can figure (since the backup battery is worn out in my bedside clock), the power went out around 2 or 3 a.m. and it came back on about 6 a.m.
No problem, right? If the power is going to go out, at least it's not during the evening, when you might be forced to think of something to do besides watch TV, or during the daytime, when you might be tempted to repeatedly open your refrigerator, even though you know that that means your food will start going bad that much faster. Or during the morning, when you can't help wondering how long the outage will last and what effect this will have on your plans for the day.
The problem however was Allie. Specifically, the fact that long ago, Allie's daddy trained her that in order to sleep, she needs to have white noise. He's bought her two different sound machines, though she usually uses a fan instead. Well, the fan quit. And Allie woke up. And Allie couldn't get back to sleep. Period.
That should be the end of that story, right? Allie couldn't sleep, but hey, she's 9 years old. She should be able to lie awake in bed until she drops off again, right? Oh, no. She called for me and asked for some kind of night light. In the dark, I fumbled for one of Greg's lanterns that has a night light function and a flashlight function. And I stumbled back to bed and fell asleep.
Then she called for me and said she couldn't sleep without white noise and I had to do something. I told her I wasn't working for the local utility this week and that she just needed to deal with it. Then I stumbled back to bed and fell asleep.
Then she called for me and said she just couldn't sleep. She asked if I would help her get batteries for her latest sound machine. Where was Greg during this drama, you may ask? He was downstairs, either sitting outside on the porch or napping on the couch. So I told her to go downstairs and ask him to help her. She had a flashlight, after all. I told her not to call me again.
Believe it or not, I had actually fallen asleep again when she called me again. Of course, idiot that I am, I was out of bed and stumbling down the hall before I really was awake. This time, she was holding her garbage can and saying that she thought she needed to throw up. I got her up and into the bathroom and nothing happened. Eventually, I told her that I didn't think she had a stomach bug, just that she was full of nerves from not sleeping. I made her get back into bed, gave her the warning-of-death, and went back to bed.
And that was the last time she called for me, though the power outage lasted another couple of hours. And now I'll refrain from telling you the story of how she's afraid now to ride her bike because she doesn't want to fall off and break another bone. It's hell raising an emotional child.
No problem, right? If the power is going to go out, at least it's not during the evening, when you might be forced to think of something to do besides watch TV, or during the daytime, when you might be tempted to repeatedly open your refrigerator, even though you know that that means your food will start going bad that much faster. Or during the morning, when you can't help wondering how long the outage will last and what effect this will have on your plans for the day.
The problem however was Allie. Specifically, the fact that long ago, Allie's daddy trained her that in order to sleep, she needs to have white noise. He's bought her two different sound machines, though she usually uses a fan instead. Well, the fan quit. And Allie woke up. And Allie couldn't get back to sleep. Period.
That should be the end of that story, right? Allie couldn't sleep, but hey, she's 9 years old. She should be able to lie awake in bed until she drops off again, right? Oh, no. She called for me and asked for some kind of night light. In the dark, I fumbled for one of Greg's lanterns that has a night light function and a flashlight function. And I stumbled back to bed and fell asleep.
Then she called for me and said she couldn't sleep without white noise and I had to do something. I told her I wasn't working for the local utility this week and that she just needed to deal with it. Then I stumbled back to bed and fell asleep.
Then she called for me and said she just couldn't sleep. She asked if I would help her get batteries for her latest sound machine. Where was Greg during this drama, you may ask? He was downstairs, either sitting outside on the porch or napping on the couch. So I told her to go downstairs and ask him to help her. She had a flashlight, after all. I told her not to call me again.
Believe it or not, I had actually fallen asleep again when she called me again. Of course, idiot that I am, I was out of bed and stumbling down the hall before I really was awake. This time, she was holding her garbage can and saying that she thought she needed to throw up. I got her up and into the bathroom and nothing happened. Eventually, I told her that I didn't think she had a stomach bug, just that she was full of nerves from not sleeping. I made her get back into bed, gave her the warning-of-death, and went back to bed.
And that was the last time she called for me, though the power outage lasted another couple of hours. And now I'll refrain from telling you the story of how she's afraid now to ride her bike because she doesn't want to fall off and break another bone. It's hell raising an emotional child.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
What's up
My daughter Allie has been away from home for almost two weeks now. Summer camp, of a sort, at Nanny and Papa's house. Shortly after Allie got her cast off, Julia, Allie and I went off to Illinois for what was expected to be six days--so the girls could enjoy my in-law's company and their in-ground pool. Trips to the zoo, children's museum, and shopping were also promised.
It turned out to be a delightful vacation, especially for Greg, who got to pretend he was back to being a bachelor. At the end of the six days, Allie asked if she could stay another four days or so. She wanted more time to work with her cousin Emily at learning to swim and she wanted exclusive time with her grandparents. So Julia and I came home and Allie stayed.
Then Allie asked if she could stay a little longer, and we agreed. So now it's been almost two weeks and we're not sure when she's coming home. It's supposed to be tomorrow, but that predicated on my father-in-law coming to Wisconsin to trout fish. Which he may not do if the weather predication stands as it is right now. I'd be willing to drive down to pick up Allie anytime. But does she want to come home? My mother-in-law said last night that she wants to adopt Allie. Allie's daddy said, "Hell, no."
In other news, Julia is eagerly looking forward to her 6th birthday next week. The two of us went shopping for birthday supplies and decorations the other day and she picked everything pink. That's better than a Barbie theme or something, I suppose, but my goodness. She's such a girl!
It turned out to be a delightful vacation, especially for Greg, who got to pretend he was back to being a bachelor. At the end of the six days, Allie asked if she could stay another four days or so. She wanted more time to work with her cousin Emily at learning to swim and she wanted exclusive time with her grandparents. So Julia and I came home and Allie stayed.
Then Allie asked if she could stay a little longer, and we agreed. So now it's been almost two weeks and we're not sure when she's coming home. It's supposed to be tomorrow, but that predicated on my father-in-law coming to Wisconsin to trout fish. Which he may not do if the weather predication stands as it is right now. I'd be willing to drive down to pick up Allie anytime. But does she want to come home? My mother-in-law said last night that she wants to adopt Allie. Allie's daddy said, "Hell, no."
In other news, Julia is eagerly looking forward to her 6th birthday next week. The two of us went shopping for birthday supplies and decorations the other day and she picked everything pink. That's better than a Barbie theme or something, I suppose, but my goodness. She's such a girl!
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
She's free
Allie got her cast off today, almost five weeks to the day after she fell off her scooter in the road in front of our neighbor's house and broke her leg. She pretty much had a cow while the physician's assistant did the cutting of the cast. She was almost hyperventilating.
Then she had to walk down the hall a bit to get an x-ray and at first, she wouldn't put any real weight on her left leg. It took some persuasion and some literal hand holding. Even tonight, when we went out to celebrate her freedom, she walks quite slowly and stiffly. I have high hopes for improvement over the next few days.
She doesn't have to go back to see the doctor again, unless things aren't looking up by four weeks from now. Hopefully, this little adventure is now past us.
We had cake tonight too to celebrate--the inscription says, "YAY, Allie!"
Then she had to walk down the hall a bit to get an x-ray and at first, she wouldn't put any real weight on her left leg. It took some persuasion and some literal hand holding. Even tonight, when we went out to celebrate her freedom, she walks quite slowly and stiffly. I have high hopes for improvement over the next few days.
She doesn't have to go back to see the doctor again, unless things aren't looking up by four weeks from now. Hopefully, this little adventure is now past us.
We had cake tonight too to celebrate--the inscription says, "YAY, Allie!"
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Allie's leg
The girls and I went to see Allie's orthopedist on Tuesday for a check on how her broken tibia is healing. Everything is coming along very well, except that she needs to be putting weight on her leg already and she basically won't, unless we firmly tell her to do so. By next Tuesday, we're supposed to take her crutches away. And on July 7th, they're cutting her cast off.
The entire visit last week for Allie's casting and this visit (combined) took approximately 30 minutes. And the bill came for her visit last week and it's $1400. That total doesn't include anything that happened in the emergency room of course, and I'm not sure that it includes the visit this week or the cutting off of her cast. Even if it was inclusive, that's a hell of a lot of money. After all, Allie's c-section birth 9 years ago ONLY cost $18,000.
I'm thinking Allie can start paying us back from her lemonade stand earnings next week. After all, how heartless would you have to be to pass by a kid selling lemonade who has a bright pink cast.
The entire visit last week for Allie's casting and this visit (combined) took approximately 30 minutes. And the bill came for her visit last week and it's $1400. That total doesn't include anything that happened in the emergency room of course, and I'm not sure that it includes the visit this week or the cutting off of her cast. Even if it was inclusive, that's a hell of a lot of money. After all, Allie's c-section birth 9 years ago ONLY cost $18,000.
I'm thinking Allie can start paying us back from her lemonade stand earnings next week. After all, how heartless would you have to be to pass by a kid selling lemonade who has a bright pink cast.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Julia's talking again
Last night, the ice cream truck went through our neighborhood. The girls were already in their pajamas, but Julia went out looking for the truck anyway, at least to the porch. Then Greg decided he was having an ice cream craving, so he ran to the store and bought some Push-Ups. Grape, orange, and raspberry sherbet in a tube, if you don't recall Push-Ups from childhood. Actually, they only used to have orange, but I guess some improvements in the last 30 years are likely.
The girls LOVED the Push-Ups. LOVED them, LOVED them, LOVED them. Today, I let them have Push-Ups after lunch and they asked for Push-Ups again after dinner. I won't let them eat them in the living room, so Julia put the chairs from our kitchenette right where the living room begins and the girls ate Push-Ups with relish.
Now it's a little after 8 p.m. and Julia came upstairs to ask me if she and Allie could have Push-Ups again. I asked her why she didn't ask her daddy (who is in the living room) and she said she did and he said no. I told her that was it then. She asked if she could have a Push-Up tomorrow and I said, maybe, if you eat a good lunch.
She said, Can I have one at breakfast time? I started laughing and asked if she was really wanting to have a Push-Up for breakfast. She smiled not so innocently and said, First cereal, then a Push-Up!
The girls LOVED the Push-Ups. LOVED them, LOVED them, LOVED them. Today, I let them have Push-Ups after lunch and they asked for Push-Ups again after dinner. I won't let them eat them in the living room, so Julia put the chairs from our kitchenette right where the living room begins and the girls ate Push-Ups with relish.
Now it's a little after 8 p.m. and Julia came upstairs to ask me if she and Allie could have Push-Ups again. I asked her why she didn't ask her daddy (who is in the living room) and she said she did and he said no. I told her that was it then. She asked if she could have a Push-Up tomorrow and I said, maybe, if you eat a good lunch.
She said, Can I have one at breakfast time? I started laughing and asked if she was really wanting to have a Push-Up for breakfast. She smiled not so innocently and said, First cereal, then a Push-Up!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
He's in trouble for this one
I'm watching a movie this afternoon with the girls. A nice, sanitized movie--rated G--about the Depression. Sanctioned by the people from American Girl.
Then the girl heroine, who is 10, confronts the bad guys in a physical situation. And my sweet, innocent 5-year-old yells at the TV, "Kick him in the ass!"
I'm going to kill my husband.
Then the girl heroine, who is 10, confronts the bad guys in a physical situation. And my sweet, innocent 5-year-old yells at the TV, "Kick him in the ass!"
I'm going to kill my husband.
Friday, June 12, 2009
School's out for summer
Today was the last day of kindergarten and 3rd grade, respectively, for Julia and Allie. They both made it through the school year successfully, so we'll have new grades to deal with next year. Thankfully, despite our school district reorganization, both girls will stay in the same elementary school next year, with most of the same staff. That's a good thing.
Allie spent her time this week at school in a wheelchair for ease of movement. She still had her splint on until late on Tuesday and she was very leery about bumping it, as well as pretty unsteady on her crutches. On Wednesday, the two of us went on her field trip to Little Norway. I pushed her around very rough and steep paths, but she got to see almost everything her classmates did. And because I drove her there and back, she didn't have to try to get on and off the school bus. I also brought her into school and picked her up from school every day this week (plus Julia and Jaden, the son of a friend). So I spent a lot of time on her and school this week, and now it's all over. School ended at 11:20 and now it's on to party time.
As soon as Allie heals up, that is.
She's fallen twice while on her crutches (without being hurt) and she cried last night when she started to tip over and she put more weight on her broken leg than she should have. We've been trying to encourage her to at least rest her foot on the ground, but she's pretty resistant. At her next doctor's appointment, on Tuesday, she'll have more x-rays and we'll be able to see what's up. The latest projection is that she'll have her cast for four weeks from last Tuesday and that no physical therapy or followup will be necessary.
Now she just needs to heal up so we can get on with our summer. Either that, or get a lot more comfortable on her crutches.
Allie spent her time this week at school in a wheelchair for ease of movement. She still had her splint on until late on Tuesday and she was very leery about bumping it, as well as pretty unsteady on her crutches. On Wednesday, the two of us went on her field trip to Little Norway. I pushed her around very rough and steep paths, but she got to see almost everything her classmates did. And because I drove her there and back, she didn't have to try to get on and off the school bus. I also brought her into school and picked her up from school every day this week (plus Julia and Jaden, the son of a friend). So I spent a lot of time on her and school this week, and now it's all over. School ended at 11:20 and now it's on to party time.
As soon as Allie heals up, that is.
She's fallen twice while on her crutches (without being hurt) and she cried last night when she started to tip over and she put more weight on her broken leg than she should have. We've been trying to encourage her to at least rest her foot on the ground, but she's pretty resistant. At her next doctor's appointment, on Tuesday, she'll have more x-rays and we'll be able to see what's up. The latest projection is that she'll have her cast for four weeks from last Tuesday and that no physical therapy or followup will be necessary.
Now she just needs to heal up so we can get on with our summer. Either that, or get a lot more comfortable on her crutches.
Friday, June 05, 2009
Allie update
Allie and all of us thank all of you who have made kind wishes for us in the last few days. Thank you sincerely! If you didn't already know, Allie broke her leg on Wednesday night.
Allie is doing well now. That first night was really rough. She couldn't sleep well to begin with because she usually sleeps on her side and the only way she was at all comfortable was on her back. She called me in every hour but one during the night, sometimes more than once per hour, mostly to adjust her leg but also for bathroom trips and more medicine. Sometimes she cried when I went to her. Then at 5 a.m., she wanted to get up for the day.
I settled her downstairs with everything she would need and tried to go back to sleep for one last half hour, and then Allie screamed for me from downstairs as she threw up what little breakfast she'd eaten. Her strong pain medication was upsetting her stomach. Yesterday was a long, painful day and all she kept down was a few crackers.
Today went better. She ate some melon and crackers in the morning, then was able to take her pain medicine more easily. That meant she felt better and so she ate a little more food. Eventually, I went outside to mow the grass and she sat on the porch and enjoyed the beautiful day. She could shift position a little more easily and she's starting to get the hang of her crutches, though her underarms and hands are now sore.
I spoke to her teacher yesterday and she's trying to work something out for Allie's field trip next week. We also have an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon on Tuesday morning, so hopefully that will be when she gets a hard cast. She wants pink, so I told her if all they have is white, we'll color it pink with highlighters before we let people write on it.
Tonight, I helped her take a shower and that made her feel more human. She only woke up twice last night, so maybe we'll get lucky again tonight. We're all tired. As Allie said, just three days ago, her life was flowing along and she had no idea what was just around the corner as far as pain.
Isn't that always the way it is.
Allie is doing well now. That first night was really rough. She couldn't sleep well to begin with because she usually sleeps on her side and the only way she was at all comfortable was on her back. She called me in every hour but one during the night, sometimes more than once per hour, mostly to adjust her leg but also for bathroom trips and more medicine. Sometimes she cried when I went to her. Then at 5 a.m., she wanted to get up for the day.
I settled her downstairs with everything she would need and tried to go back to sleep for one last half hour, and then Allie screamed for me from downstairs as she threw up what little breakfast she'd eaten. Her strong pain medication was upsetting her stomach. Yesterday was a long, painful day and all she kept down was a few crackers.
Today went better. She ate some melon and crackers in the morning, then was able to take her pain medicine more easily. That meant she felt better and so she ate a little more food. Eventually, I went outside to mow the grass and she sat on the porch and enjoyed the beautiful day. She could shift position a little more easily and she's starting to get the hang of her crutches, though her underarms and hands are now sore.
I spoke to her teacher yesterday and she's trying to work something out for Allie's field trip next week. We also have an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon on Tuesday morning, so hopefully that will be when she gets a hard cast. She wants pink, so I told her if all they have is white, we'll color it pink with highlighters before we let people write on it.
Tonight, I helped her take a shower and that made her feel more human. She only woke up twice last night, so maybe we'll get lucky again tonight. We're all tired. As Allie said, just three days ago, her life was flowing along and she had no idea what was just around the corner as far as pain.
Isn't that always the way it is.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Allie broke her leg tonight
Oh my god, do I wish I were kidding.
It started out like a pretty good evening. Greg is in Chicago on business until tomorrow evening, so the girls and I are on our own. We went to an informational meeting about Allie possibly playing a string instrument next school year (she's interested in the viola). Then we came home and I rushed Julia into the bathtub. Allie asked if she could play on her scooter outside for just a little while longer.
Her scooter is one of the old-fashioned kind, with a plate for the foot and a handle that you steer with. Completely manual. When Julia was out of the tub, I went outside to tell Allie it was time to come in. She was in the street (we live on a dead end, so that's OK), riding past our neighbor's house. She started back toward our driveway and I turned my back and went into the garage.
Then I heard her start screaming. She was crumpled in the street and she was just screaming about how much her leg hurt. I walked over, not sure how much she might be exaggerating (though really exaggeration like that would be more Julia's speed). I probed a little bit and she said it wasn't her foot or ankle, that the worst part was above the ankle. I tried to get her to stand with my support and that was a complete no go.
Our neighbor across the street saw us and asked it he could help. Between the two of us, we got her into the house, to the mudroom. He said if he and his wife could be of any help, like if I wanted to leave Julia with them while I took Allie in, they would be happy to watch her. I tried talking to Allie more and realized that we were definitely going to the hospital. I tried to call a friend to watch Julia and they weren't home, so I had to take our neighbors up on their very kind offer. Fortunately, they have girls too who occasionally play with our two and the wife is a teacher at Allie's school.
I'll spare you the rest of our ordeal, except that it involved X-rays that clearly show a spiral fracture of Allie's left tibia (that's the big bone in the lower leg) and a two-hour emergency room visit. I went over and got Julia from the neighbor's at 10:15 (BLESS THEM!) and she started crying because Allie and me were sweating and Allie was crying as she tried to use the bathroom and get into bed.
Did I mention we have a two-story house and our couch isn't really suitable to put Allie on? Unfortunately true. So now, an hour later, Julia is sleeping, finally, after crying for 10 or so minutes. Allie is sleeping, doped up on Tylenol with codeine and with her leg in a splint, propped up on pillows.
And I have a splitting headache and I know it's going to be a long night. And Greg is feeling guilty because he's not here. Boy, it will be nice to have him home to carry Allie. She weighs over 60 lbs. now, so I can steady her on her crutches but I can't lift her completely for long at all. She scooted up the steps on her butt, which was an endless excursion.
Tomorrow, we have to call Allie's pediatrician and the orthopedic surgeon. Allie said she's hoping for a pink cast that all of her friends can sign before school ends. She has 7 school days left, but she's going to miss at least the rest of this week. Next week is when all the fun field trips are scheduled, so those are probably off the table too. Sigh.
That poor girl! We all have such an ordeal ahead.
It started out like a pretty good evening. Greg is in Chicago on business until tomorrow evening, so the girls and I are on our own. We went to an informational meeting about Allie possibly playing a string instrument next school year (she's interested in the viola). Then we came home and I rushed Julia into the bathtub. Allie asked if she could play on her scooter outside for just a little while longer.
Her scooter is one of the old-fashioned kind, with a plate for the foot and a handle that you steer with. Completely manual. When Julia was out of the tub, I went outside to tell Allie it was time to come in. She was in the street (we live on a dead end, so that's OK), riding past our neighbor's house. She started back toward our driveway and I turned my back and went into the garage.
Then I heard her start screaming. She was crumpled in the street and she was just screaming about how much her leg hurt. I walked over, not sure how much she might be exaggerating (though really exaggeration like that would be more Julia's speed). I probed a little bit and she said it wasn't her foot or ankle, that the worst part was above the ankle. I tried to get her to stand with my support and that was a complete no go.
Our neighbor across the street saw us and asked it he could help. Between the two of us, we got her into the house, to the mudroom. He said if he and his wife could be of any help, like if I wanted to leave Julia with them while I took Allie in, they would be happy to watch her. I tried talking to Allie more and realized that we were definitely going to the hospital. I tried to call a friend to watch Julia and they weren't home, so I had to take our neighbors up on their very kind offer. Fortunately, they have girls too who occasionally play with our two and the wife is a teacher at Allie's school.
I'll spare you the rest of our ordeal, except that it involved X-rays that clearly show a spiral fracture of Allie's left tibia (that's the big bone in the lower leg) and a two-hour emergency room visit. I went over and got Julia from the neighbor's at 10:15 (BLESS THEM!) and she started crying because Allie and me were sweating and Allie was crying as she tried to use the bathroom and get into bed.
Did I mention we have a two-story house and our couch isn't really suitable to put Allie on? Unfortunately true. So now, an hour later, Julia is sleeping, finally, after crying for 10 or so minutes. Allie is sleeping, doped up on Tylenol with codeine and with her leg in a splint, propped up on pillows.
And I have a splitting headache and I know it's going to be a long night. And Greg is feeling guilty because he's not here. Boy, it will be nice to have him home to carry Allie. She weighs over 60 lbs. now, so I can steady her on her crutches but I can't lift her completely for long at all. She scooted up the steps on her butt, which was an endless excursion.
Tomorrow, we have to call Allie's pediatrician and the orthopedic surgeon. Allie said she's hoping for a pink cast that all of her friends can sign before school ends. She has 7 school days left, but she's going to miss at least the rest of this week. Next week is when all the fun field trips are scheduled, so those are probably off the table too. Sigh.
That poor girl! We all have such an ordeal ahead.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Sunday night
My family gets a breather now on massive amounts of outside activities, at least until next week.
Last week, Allie's Norwegian show went well, but she'll probably never think of it that way. Allie was one of four bellringers who performed the Westminster chimes at the start and middle of a Norwegian song about clocks. Each time the foursome rang the bells, they did the series of tones twice. The fourth time they did the tones, Allie, who had the task of ringing the first bell, didn't. It was just a momentary pause, rather sweet really, but she said it was humiliating. It'll probably end up being one of those things that still make her face flush in 30 years (witness me still remembering the time in first grade when I went to the board and worked a problem even though Mrs. Shallue hadn't called on me after all). And that's too bad.
Allie's 5k run was postponed until tomorrow because of thunderstorms. She's very worried about it. Today, she said that she wished she could painlessly break a bone so she didn't have to try to do it. And that's too bad and sad. She's putting too much pressure on herself.
Meanwhile, Julia is going for her master's degree in screeching at the top of her lungs when Allie does something she doesn't like or takes something from her. Of course, my response is always to yell at them both. There's gotta be a better way.
This afternoon, the three of us did have some fun. We went to the second of the weekend's two parades through downtown and very much enjoyed it. The parade lasted 1 1/2 hours and had (we counted) 16 live bands. That's a lot of music. There were also horses galore and no Shriners (that was my favorite part, no Shriners). Beautiful weather, if a little cool.
I didn't get any corn-on-the-cob this weekend, but I did donate blood on Friday. So that's 64 donations given over the last 25 years. A slow pace of donations, but hey--at this rate, I'll have given 16 gallons by the time I'm too old to donate anymore. That's a lot of blood if you picture it lined up in milk jugs. OK, scratch that thought--that's just gross.
Last week, Allie's Norwegian show went well, but she'll probably never think of it that way. Allie was one of four bellringers who performed the Westminster chimes at the start and middle of a Norwegian song about clocks. Each time the foursome rang the bells, they did the series of tones twice. The fourth time they did the tones, Allie, who had the task of ringing the first bell, didn't. It was just a momentary pause, rather sweet really, but she said it was humiliating. It'll probably end up being one of those things that still make her face flush in 30 years (witness me still remembering the time in first grade when I went to the board and worked a problem even though Mrs. Shallue hadn't called on me after all). And that's too bad.
Allie's 5k run was postponed until tomorrow because of thunderstorms. She's very worried about it. Today, she said that she wished she could painlessly break a bone so she didn't have to try to do it. And that's too bad and sad. She's putting too much pressure on herself.
Meanwhile, Julia is going for her master's degree in screeching at the top of her lungs when Allie does something she doesn't like or takes something from her. Of course, my response is always to yell at them both. There's gotta be a better way.
This afternoon, the three of us did have some fun. We went to the second of the weekend's two parades through downtown and very much enjoyed it. The parade lasted 1 1/2 hours and had (we counted) 16 live bands. That's a lot of music. There were also horses galore and no Shriners (that was my favorite part, no Shriners). Beautiful weather, if a little cool.
I didn't get any corn-on-the-cob this weekend, but I did donate blood on Friday. So that's 64 donations given over the last 25 years. A slow pace of donations, but hey--at this rate, I'll have given 16 gallons by the time I'm too old to donate anymore. That's a lot of blood if you picture it lined up in milk jugs. OK, scratch that thought--that's just gross.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Update
We have officially entered THE BUSY TIME as far as the kids are concerned. I think school's administrators, teachers, and parents group have all noticed that there is "only" a month left of school and so they're madly scheduling things every five minutes. Actually, every two days, but still. Add in a few birthday parties and it's quite the challenge.
This past weekend, Julia got to attend her first friend birthday party, which was held at the local bowling alley. She thought it was the awesomeist. These brave people invited her entire class of about 18 kids and there were 16 that made it. Julia's goal was to beat the bowling score of the birthday boy, and for the sake of it being his day, I'm pleased to report that he got an 80 and Julia got a 79.
Allie has been attending a course called "Girls on the Run" for the last eight weeks. It's a girls empowerment course coupled with running exercise, with the goal of completing a 5K race after 10 weeks. In her case, that race will be the Susan Komen Race for the Cure. This Wednesday, she's running a practice 5K on a neighborhood trail. You go, girl!
That same day is Julia's birthday. Not actually. Just at school. Her teacher sent home a note saying that she picks a date for kids whose real birthday is in the summer and that's the day that the class celebrates Julia. Oh, and if you want to, send cupcakes.
This Thursday, Allie is involved in a special program at the local senior center, celebrating Norwegian culture through song and dance. This town is overflowing with Norwegian descendants of the people who settled the place 100 years ago or so, so she's learning to be a Norwegian (even though she's half German and half Irish/English). Allie is a bell ringer and she's excited.
Friday, there's a local blood drive that I'll be sure to make it to. This donation will top off my 8th gallon of blood, which is 64 pints and 64 donations.
Also Friday, I have to bake a pie. This weekend is our community's biggest festival, Syttende Mai (Seventeen May - or the closest weekend to May 17th, which commemorates the day that Norway earned it's independence from Sweden way back when). What does that have to do with pie? Our local library holds a pie sale as a fundraiser and since I spend a lot of time using library services, I figure I can bake a pie.
And these are just this week's events for our family. What's on your schedule for the week?
This past weekend, Julia got to attend her first friend birthday party, which was held at the local bowling alley. She thought it was the awesomeist. These brave people invited her entire class of about 18 kids and there were 16 that made it. Julia's goal was to beat the bowling score of the birthday boy, and for the sake of it being his day, I'm pleased to report that he got an 80 and Julia got a 79.
Allie has been attending a course called "Girls on the Run" for the last eight weeks. It's a girls empowerment course coupled with running exercise, with the goal of completing a 5K race after 10 weeks. In her case, that race will be the Susan Komen Race for the Cure. This Wednesday, she's running a practice 5K on a neighborhood trail. You go, girl!
That same day is Julia's birthday. Not actually. Just at school. Her teacher sent home a note saying that she picks a date for kids whose real birthday is in the summer and that's the day that the class celebrates Julia. Oh, and if you want to, send cupcakes.
This Thursday, Allie is involved in a special program at the local senior center, celebrating Norwegian culture through song and dance. This town is overflowing with Norwegian descendants of the people who settled the place 100 years ago or so, so she's learning to be a Norwegian (even though she's half German and half Irish/English). Allie is a bell ringer and she's excited.
Friday, there's a local blood drive that I'll be sure to make it to. This donation will top off my 8th gallon of blood, which is 64 pints and 64 donations.
Also Friday, I have to bake a pie. This weekend is our community's biggest festival, Syttende Mai (Seventeen May - or the closest weekend to May 17th, which commemorates the day that Norway earned it's independence from Sweden way back when). What does that have to do with pie? Our local library holds a pie sale as a fundraiser and since I spend a lot of time using library services, I figure I can bake a pie.
And these are just this week's events for our family. What's on your schedule for the week?
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Toy story
I debated about whether to write this post, but decided that what I'm going to talk about is going to be emblazoned on my memory anyway, so I might as well write about it.
Last Saturday, Allie had a birthday party that started at 2:00 p.m. with a trip to Build-A-Bear, then included pizza and a sleepover. Sleepover being a relative term, since she said other girls woke her at 1:00 a.m., so they all ate ice cream. And when Allie got to sleep about 3:00 a.m., someone went around and woke everyone again. Anyway, this story is what happened with me and Julia while Allie was gone.
Late in the afternoon, Julia and I headed up to Madison to do a little shopping, maybe to visit the pet store, and to have dinner together, just the two of us. Greg was hibernating at home, enjoying not have any females around.
The first stop we made was Target. I needed to get some larger spring nightwear for Allie (a fact that was pointed out as we packed for her overnight) and a few other things. One of those things was toilet paper, which I found in a 20-pack and loaded into the cart. After picking up our other items, we headed for the toy section at Julia's urgings. She was riding in the basket of the cart and I indulged her as we traveled up and down nearly every aisle, looking at toys. We talked about things she liked as possibilities for her birthday list, her birthday being only about 3 months away now.
After literally almost 1/2 hour of looking at toys, I told Julia we needed to move on and check out, so we could get some dinner. Julia said no. She said she wanted me to buy her a princess set of some kind. I reminded her that I never said we were going to buy her any toys and reminded her that she had gotten a small toy just the day before, when we bought the gift Allie needed for her birthday party. She refused to leave the aisle, even when I walked away. I walked back and told her we were not going to buy any toys today and that it was time to leave. She wrapped her arms around the princess set and refused to leave the aisle. I walked away again, then told her that if she didn't come with me, our dinner plans were in serious jeopardy. She said no again.
I told Julia again that we were leaving and that now we weren't going out to eat. She whined about her princess set. I said we were now leaving the store and that if she didn't come with me, she was going to be going straight home and straight to bed. She still refused to come with me. I took her by the arm and pulled her over to the cart and she started saying (loudly, needless to say) that I was hurting her. I told her she WAS going to come with me and that I wouldn't hold her if she moved with me. She refused and walked back to the toy aisle.
I walked after her again and pulled her by the arm with me down the center aisle. I tried to pick her up and put her back in the cart and she kicked me. When I had to put her down (she weighs over 40 lbs. now), she ran away from me back toward the toy aisle. She walked back through a good chunk of the store as I abandoned our cart and followed her, threatening most of the way. I picked her up again and held her legs as I carried her back through the store. This is when I started regretting that I really wanted to purchase Allie's nightwear, since I was reluctant to just walk out of the store. In retrospect, I should have just left and gone back alone on Sunday.
Regardless, I eventually had to put her down and I kept hold of either her arm or her shirt as I pulled her through the store to the checkout. She was screaming all the way. Okay, maybe not screaming, but definitely a raised voice, saying I was hurting her and that she wanted to go back to the toy aisle because she didn't remember everything we had picked out. I got in her face and told her I was very disappointed in how she was behaving and that we were definitely leaving and that she was going home and to bed.
We got to the checkout and I heard someone behind me say, "This is why we're not having kids." I paid for our purchases and Julia trailed behind me, way behind me, as I took the cart back. I grabbed our one bag and the damned toilet paper pack and told her to get her coat on (it was maybe 50 degrees out and raining a little). She said no. I had to chase her to grab her arm and I told her fine, then she was going outside without her coat. I pulled her outside and when she screamed for her coat, I let go and tried to get her to put it on. She was still crying about not leaving yet, so I pulled her to the car, which thankfully was not too far away and made her get in. She started kicking and flailing at me as I tried to buckle her seatbelt and she knocked my glasses right off my face.
I had been angry before, needless to say, but that was it. I started crying and I told her that I couldn't believe how she was acting. She didn't say anything, but she stopped hitting me and I buckled her in. I got in the car and almost hit another car backing out because I was still crying. We started the 25-minute car ride home and I told her that I didn't want to talk to her at all because she had been so naughty. She started talking to herself, saying that she was a bad girl and had done really horrible things. I finally told her she wasn't a bad girl, but that she had done some very naughty things. She asked what was going to happen, if we were going to eat, and I told her we were going home.
When we got home, Greg took over, putting her in her room and telling her she wasn't getting any dinner. It was about 6:00 p.m. I didn't feel like talking to her at all or even looking at her. After about an hour, Greg let her out to eat just a peanut butter sandwich, then she went back in her room and eventually to bed. The next day, she didn't get to watch any TV or play with any of her neighborhood friends.
She says she's learned her lesson. I told her I don't think I'm ever going to take her into a toy store or toy section again. Greg and I talked about whether I should have spanked her, something I've never done, but I don't think it would have helped. She was wild. She wasn't listening to anything I said at all.
I've never had such a miserable episode with either of my kids before. And I hope to never again. Just thinking about it again makes me teary since I was so disappointed in how she acted. Julia is 5, almost 6, and she acted like she was 2. I'm just praying this isn't a new trend in our lives with her.
Last Saturday, Allie had a birthday party that started at 2:00 p.m. with a trip to Build-A-Bear, then included pizza and a sleepover. Sleepover being a relative term, since she said other girls woke her at 1:00 a.m., so they all ate ice cream. And when Allie got to sleep about 3:00 a.m., someone went around and woke everyone again. Anyway, this story is what happened with me and Julia while Allie was gone.
Late in the afternoon, Julia and I headed up to Madison to do a little shopping, maybe to visit the pet store, and to have dinner together, just the two of us. Greg was hibernating at home, enjoying not have any females around.
The first stop we made was Target. I needed to get some larger spring nightwear for Allie (a fact that was pointed out as we packed for her overnight) and a few other things. One of those things was toilet paper, which I found in a 20-pack and loaded into the cart. After picking up our other items, we headed for the toy section at Julia's urgings. She was riding in the basket of the cart and I indulged her as we traveled up and down nearly every aisle, looking at toys. We talked about things she liked as possibilities for her birthday list, her birthday being only about 3 months away now.
After literally almost 1/2 hour of looking at toys, I told Julia we needed to move on and check out, so we could get some dinner. Julia said no. She said she wanted me to buy her a princess set of some kind. I reminded her that I never said we were going to buy her any toys and reminded her that she had gotten a small toy just the day before, when we bought the gift Allie needed for her birthday party. She refused to leave the aisle, even when I walked away. I walked back and told her we were not going to buy any toys today and that it was time to leave. She wrapped her arms around the princess set and refused to leave the aisle. I walked away again, then told her that if she didn't come with me, our dinner plans were in serious jeopardy. She said no again.
I told Julia again that we were leaving and that now we weren't going out to eat. She whined about her princess set. I said we were now leaving the store and that if she didn't come with me, she was going to be going straight home and straight to bed. She still refused to come with me. I took her by the arm and pulled her over to the cart and she started saying (loudly, needless to say) that I was hurting her. I told her she WAS going to come with me and that I wouldn't hold her if she moved with me. She refused and walked back to the toy aisle.
I walked after her again and pulled her by the arm with me down the center aisle. I tried to pick her up and put her back in the cart and she kicked me. When I had to put her down (she weighs over 40 lbs. now), she ran away from me back toward the toy aisle. She walked back through a good chunk of the store as I abandoned our cart and followed her, threatening most of the way. I picked her up again and held her legs as I carried her back through the store. This is when I started regretting that I really wanted to purchase Allie's nightwear, since I was reluctant to just walk out of the store. In retrospect, I should have just left and gone back alone on Sunday.
Regardless, I eventually had to put her down and I kept hold of either her arm or her shirt as I pulled her through the store to the checkout. She was screaming all the way. Okay, maybe not screaming, but definitely a raised voice, saying I was hurting her and that she wanted to go back to the toy aisle because she didn't remember everything we had picked out. I got in her face and told her I was very disappointed in how she was behaving and that we were definitely leaving and that she was going home and to bed.
We got to the checkout and I heard someone behind me say, "This is why we're not having kids." I paid for our purchases and Julia trailed behind me, way behind me, as I took the cart back. I grabbed our one bag and the damned toilet paper pack and told her to get her coat on (it was maybe 50 degrees out and raining a little). She said no. I had to chase her to grab her arm and I told her fine, then she was going outside without her coat. I pulled her outside and when she screamed for her coat, I let go and tried to get her to put it on. She was still crying about not leaving yet, so I pulled her to the car, which thankfully was not too far away and made her get in. She started kicking and flailing at me as I tried to buckle her seatbelt and she knocked my glasses right off my face.
I had been angry before, needless to say, but that was it. I started crying and I told her that I couldn't believe how she was acting. She didn't say anything, but she stopped hitting me and I buckled her in. I got in the car and almost hit another car backing out because I was still crying. We started the 25-minute car ride home and I told her that I didn't want to talk to her at all because she had been so naughty. She started talking to herself, saying that she was a bad girl and had done really horrible things. I finally told her she wasn't a bad girl, but that she had done some very naughty things. She asked what was going to happen, if we were going to eat, and I told her we were going home.
When we got home, Greg took over, putting her in her room and telling her she wasn't getting any dinner. It was about 6:00 p.m. I didn't feel like talking to her at all or even looking at her. After about an hour, Greg let her out to eat just a peanut butter sandwich, then she went back in her room and eventually to bed. The next day, she didn't get to watch any TV or play with any of her neighborhood friends.
She says she's learned her lesson. I told her I don't think I'm ever going to take her into a toy store or toy section again. Greg and I talked about whether I should have spanked her, something I've never done, but I don't think it would have helped. She was wild. She wasn't listening to anything I said at all.
I've never had such a miserable episode with either of my kids before. And I hope to never again. Just thinking about it again makes me teary since I was so disappointed in how she acted. Julia is 5, almost 6, and she acted like she was 2. I'm just praying this isn't a new trend in our lives with her.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Summer in spring
The girls have been off school an awful lot lately. They had their week of spring break, then another day off for Easter, then Julia was off two days because of next year's kindergarteners, then they were off this Thursday afternoon and Friday for some dumb reason. And we compounded the situation by taking them out of school to take them to the Kalahari indoor water park. All in all, it's amazing that they're learning anything at all lately.
And they are learning. Allie is tackling some cool stuff in math--geometry, division, multiplication, even some basic algebra (though they don't call it that). She's also doing some bizarre and complicated words in spelling, including "miscellaneous," "accommodate," and "quadriceps." How many adults know how to spell miscellaneous? We all know we just abbreviate it. Meanwhile, Julia is plowing ahead with her sight reading words and she now likes to sit next to me while I read something and tell me the words she knows on the page.
And wonder of wonders. Last night, Julia found the book she checked out last October from the school library that had immediately gone missing into the miasma that is our household. We started getting late notices in November and the school hasn't allowed her to check out any additional books because they didn't get "Angelina in the Wings" back. I was seriously going to just pay the school for the book so she could have full library privileges again.
Yesterday, the girls played outside for a good chunk of the day and the temperature was over 80 degrees. Julia wanted to get out the swimming pool. I successfully restrained her. It is still just April, after all.
And they are learning. Allie is tackling some cool stuff in math--geometry, division, multiplication, even some basic algebra (though they don't call it that). She's also doing some bizarre and complicated words in spelling, including "miscellaneous," "accommodate," and "quadriceps." How many adults know how to spell miscellaneous? We all know we just abbreviate it. Meanwhile, Julia is plowing ahead with her sight reading words and she now likes to sit next to me while I read something and tell me the words she knows on the page.
And wonder of wonders. Last night, Julia found the book she checked out last October from the school library that had immediately gone missing into the miasma that is our household. We started getting late notices in November and the school hasn't allowed her to check out any additional books because they didn't get "Angelina in the Wings" back. I was seriously going to just pay the school for the book so she could have full library privileges again.
Yesterday, the girls played outside for a good chunk of the day and the temperature was over 80 degrees. Julia wanted to get out the swimming pool. I successfully restrained her. It is still just April, after all.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Spring
We were away for the weekend, celebrating a late Easter with my family. My sister Pam hosted the annual Easter Egg Hunt, which needless to say my girls love more than any Easter Egg Hunt ever devised because they only compete against each other. This year, Allie found 44 eggs full of candy and coins and Julia found 46.
The hunt took place after Pam's kitchen just about exploded from the pressure of all of the food that she and Jeff (and my parents too) prepared. I won't list it all; suffice it to say that the menu for the noon meal alone ran to about 20 items. I think she's trying to kill us all. Not that she was standing there with a firearm forcing us to eat to excess but hey, somehow we all did anyway.
Even the weather cooperated. The lakeshore of Wisconsin can be a chilly place at any time of the year but somehow the weather stayed warm enough that the girls just ran around in spring coats to find their eggs. We have photos of numerous years of egg hunts when they wore winter coats and boots because of all the snow in Pam's yard.
Ah, spring.
The hunt took place after Pam's kitchen just about exploded from the pressure of all of the food that she and Jeff (and my parents too) prepared. I won't list it all; suffice it to say that the menu for the noon meal alone ran to about 20 items. I think she's trying to kill us all. Not that she was standing there with a firearm forcing us to eat to excess but hey, somehow we all did anyway.
Even the weather cooperated. The lakeshore of Wisconsin can be a chilly place at any time of the year but somehow the weather stayed warm enough that the girls just ran around in spring coats to find their eggs. We have photos of numerous years of egg hunts when they wore winter coats and boots because of all the snow in Pam's yard.
Ah, spring.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Julia's day
This morning, Julia and me took Allie to school and Julia didn't say nyah-nyah about having a day off with her mom.
We went to the library in late morning and Julia played for half an hour on a library computer--various educational games including one where she manipulated a skeleton and its body organs. Then we went to McDonald's and because the weather was so beautiful, she got to play in the outside playland for almost an hour.
Afterwards, we went to the other side of town and walked the Yahara River Trail for about an hour. There were only people around right at the beginning of the trail, but we saw plenty of birds further in, including a very wary goose. There were a large number of tadpoles in the creek, fish in several places, a snake (which Julia was not interested in sticking around to watch further), and a whole bunch of turtles. Seriously, a really large number of turtles, sunning themselves on every log on the other side of the river tributary.
I probably wouldn't have even noticed them but for the fact that a whole mess of them plopped into the water at the same time. It happened in waves, just like turtle synchronized swimming. Bizarre and interesting.
Then we stopped off at a friend's house and Julia played with the kids there for about 1/2 hour. She was whipped by the time we got home; just in time for her sister to walk in from school. Poor Allie--tomorrow she's going to miss baking!
We went to the library in late morning and Julia played for half an hour on a library computer--various educational games including one where she manipulated a skeleton and its body organs. Then we went to McDonald's and because the weather was so beautiful, she got to play in the outside playland for almost an hour.
Afterwards, we went to the other side of town and walked the Yahara River Trail for about an hour. There were only people around right at the beginning of the trail, but we saw plenty of birds further in, including a very wary goose. There were a large number of tadpoles in the creek, fish in several places, a snake (which Julia was not interested in sticking around to watch further), and a whole bunch of turtles. Seriously, a really large number of turtles, sunning themselves on every log on the other side of the river tributary.
I probably wouldn't have even noticed them but for the fact that a whole mess of them plopped into the water at the same time. It happened in waves, just like turtle synchronized swimming. Bizarre and interesting.
Then we stopped off at a friend's house and Julia played with the kids there for about 1/2 hour. She was whipped by the time we got home; just in time for her sister to walk in from school. Poor Allie--tomorrow she's going to miss baking!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Back to normal
Or as normal as it gets around here . . .
On Monday, after a successful visit to Allie's classroom, me and the Hughes family spent a few minutes chatting with Julia's teacher while Amy and Evan explored Julia's classroom (unfortunately, she had had to go off to gym class). A short while later, we headed off to Chicago and the whole lot of Hugheses headed back to merry old England.
The trip to and from the airport went very smoothly for me despite persistent rain and I understand from Dan that their kids were pretty darn good on the long trip home. The family seems to have all recovered nicely from the brutal west-to-east time change since, per Dan's blog.
And so our family has returned to its normal routines. It's odd, we seem to have so much room in our refrigerator now, and not just because we're not cooling down numerous 2-liter bottles of Diet Coke. Allie and Julia talk about missing their short-term live-in playmates, but I think they'd secretly admit that they're OK with not having to share their toys with anyone other than each other again. Though they definitely miss the iPhones and their games.
Tomorrow and Friday, Julia is off of school because next year's kindergarteners are visiting her classroom. Allie still has to go though. I'll have to counsel Julia not to yell nyah-nyah out the window as we drop her sister off.
On Monday, after a successful visit to Allie's classroom, me and the Hughes family spent a few minutes chatting with Julia's teacher while Amy and Evan explored Julia's classroom (unfortunately, she had had to go off to gym class). A short while later, we headed off to Chicago and the whole lot of Hugheses headed back to merry old England.
The trip to and from the airport went very smoothly for me despite persistent rain and I understand from Dan that their kids were pretty darn good on the long trip home. The family seems to have all recovered nicely from the brutal west-to-east time change since, per Dan's blog.
And so our family has returned to its normal routines. It's odd, we seem to have so much room in our refrigerator now, and not just because we're not cooling down numerous 2-liter bottles of Diet Coke. Allie and Julia talk about missing their short-term live-in playmates, but I think they'd secretly admit that they're OK with not having to share their toys with anyone other than each other again. Though they definitely miss the iPhones and their games.
Tomorrow and Friday, Julia is off of school because next year's kindergarteners are visiting her classroom. Allie still has to go though. I'll have to counsel Julia not to yell nyah-nyah out the window as we drop her sister off.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Day 11 of 12
Well, the Hughes family is almost done with us. Tomorrow afternoon, I take the lot of them back to O'Hare and they fly back to England, probably never to darken our door again. Actually, that part is true; when next we meet their family, I'm thinking it'll be at a vacation destination (like Orlando) or we'll be headed to their part of the world again.
On Friday, our families did a nature walk and the kids got in some additional playground time. There was also a lake, into which both Hughes children managed to dip their shoes. Actually, Amy fell in when she lost her balance on the rock she was standing on. She wasn't hurt and she only got wet up to just above her ankles, but I figure the water temperature of Lake Kegonsa at this time of year is probably about 45 degrees. She didn't even complain--tough kid.
Yesterday, we went shopping again and had lunch at what we thought was a curiously empty Applebees, until we got our food and experienced lackadasial service, which made us understand why it was curiously empty. Then we checked out the zoo and straggled home, tired after another busy afternoon.
This afternoon, the Hughes are off having Easter dinner with some other web friends, so our house is strangely quiet. The Easter Bunny visited this morning and brought new toys and only a little chocolate (compliments of Dan and Kerry), so our kids aren't too hopped up on sugar.
Yet to come is a visit by the Hughes to Allie's classroom. I hope they don't feel too much on display as they answer goodness-only-knows what questions from a group of 9-year-olds. I wish them luck!
On Friday, our families did a nature walk and the kids got in some additional playground time. There was also a lake, into which both Hughes children managed to dip their shoes. Actually, Amy fell in when she lost her balance on the rock she was standing on. She wasn't hurt and she only got wet up to just above her ankles, but I figure the water temperature of Lake Kegonsa at this time of year is probably about 45 degrees. She didn't even complain--tough kid.
Yesterday, we went shopping again and had lunch at what we thought was a curiously empty Applebees, until we got our food and experienced lackadasial service, which made us understand why it was curiously empty. Then we checked out the zoo and straggled home, tired after another busy afternoon.
This afternoon, the Hughes are off having Easter dinner with some other web friends, so our house is strangely quiet. The Easter Bunny visited this morning and brought new toys and only a little chocolate (compliments of Dan and Kerry), so our kids aren't too hopped up on sugar.
Yet to come is a visit by the Hughes to Allie's classroom. I hope they don't feel too much on display as they answer goodness-only-knows what questions from a group of 9-year-olds. I wish them luck!
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Day 8 of 12
We've been doing our level best to wear out the Hughes family in the last few days. Our task has been made easier by the fact that Amy and Evan have been having some trouble sleeping, which unfortunately means that Dan and Kerry have been having trouble sleeping.
From the perspective of our having 9 and 5 year old children who are sleeping in their own beds and who therefore seldom wake us up at night anymore, we have sincere sympathy for the Hughes family.
Tuesday, we took our girls out of school for the day and the group of us headed off to the world's largest indoor water park, Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells. Needless to say, we were all exhausted after spending (count 'em) 7 1/2 hours enjoying their attractions.
Yesterday, the Hughes and I went to a nearby McDonald's indoor play land in the morning (Such excitement, huh? Well, their kids liked it!). After they made me a wonderful lunch at home, Greg took them off to an area dairy farm that offers tours. I'll let Dan or Greg tell you about that trip, or you can see the pictures when they are posted.
Then last night a friend of ours who has a business renting jumpies (or bouncy houses, as I have learned they're called in the U.K.) asked us all to come over and try out their brand new acquisitions. Which, needless to say, Kerry, Evan, Amy, Allie, Julia and I were happy to do. And yes, Kerry and I did get inside and jump around. It was a lot of fun.
Today, our girls went to school and the rest of us went off to Milwaukee, to the Milwaukee Public Museum and then to Cheesecake Factory for lunch. On the way back, Kerry and I did some quick shopping at the Johnson Creek Outlet Mall, and yes, Jeanette, Kerry found your Crocs.
We have more activities planned tomorrow. Our time together is going very quickly now, but we're having a really good time. At least my family is. And I think the Hughes family is. Hughes family, you are, aren't you?
From the perspective of our having 9 and 5 year old children who are sleeping in their own beds and who therefore seldom wake us up at night anymore, we have sincere sympathy for the Hughes family.
Tuesday, we took our girls out of school for the day and the group of us headed off to the world's largest indoor water park, Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells. Needless to say, we were all exhausted after spending (count 'em) 7 1/2 hours enjoying their attractions.
Yesterday, the Hughes and I went to a nearby McDonald's indoor play land in the morning (Such excitement, huh? Well, their kids liked it!). After they made me a wonderful lunch at home, Greg took them off to an area dairy farm that offers tours. I'll let Dan or Greg tell you about that trip, or you can see the pictures when they are posted.
Then last night a friend of ours who has a business renting jumpies (or bouncy houses, as I have learned they're called in the U.K.) asked us all to come over and try out their brand new acquisitions. Which, needless to say, Kerry, Evan, Amy, Allie, Julia and I were happy to do. And yes, Kerry and I did get inside and jump around. It was a lot of fun.
Today, our girls went to school and the rest of us went off to Milwaukee, to the Milwaukee Public Museum and then to Cheesecake Factory for lunch. On the way back, Kerry and I did some quick shopping at the Johnson Creek Outlet Mall, and yes, Jeanette, Kerry found your Crocs.
We have more activities planned tomorrow. Our time together is going very quickly now, but we're having a really good time. At least my family is. And I think the Hughes family is. Hughes family, you are, aren't you?
Monday, April 06, 2009
Day 5 of 12
Well, we've made it through Day number 5 of the Englishpeople's visit. Or should that be something like Britishers? Or U.K.ites?
Our kids went back to school today and the Hughes and I hung around the house this morning before going on an outing this afternoon. Actually, that's not at all true. Kerry, Amy, Evan and I hung around the house and Dan went wandering through our town for over two hours. Our city's population is about 12,500, so I think by now Dan has probably met everyone.
At lunchtime, we scooped up my husband and drove to Madison, where Dan and Greg each sweated buckets after they tried the hottest of hot wings at Quaker Steak and Lube. Men.
Then we did a little shopping before heading home. Amy and Evan got some time in at the park across the street from our house with their daddy, then they ran wild at an indoor playground at the mall. It was only in the high 30s for most of the day, which means what in Celsius--maybe 2 or something? It was also windy, so it felt really cold.
Tomorrow it's supposed to warm up slightly, then Wednesday and Thursday are supposed to be better, about 12 Celsius or about 50 degrees. Still not too warm, but at least the kids may be able to go about without mittens.
In other news, both sets of children are quickly picking up words and intonations from each other. That's a benefit of cross-cultural visits, new language for the rest of their lifetimes. Of course, it's English and English, but still.
Our kids went back to school today and the Hughes and I hung around the house this morning before going on an outing this afternoon. Actually, that's not at all true. Kerry, Amy, Evan and I hung around the house and Dan went wandering through our town for over two hours. Our city's population is about 12,500, so I think by now Dan has probably met everyone.
At lunchtime, we scooped up my husband and drove to Madison, where Dan and Greg each sweated buckets after they tried the hottest of hot wings at Quaker Steak and Lube. Men.
Then we did a little shopping before heading home. Amy and Evan got some time in at the park across the street from our house with their daddy, then they ran wild at an indoor playground at the mall. It was only in the high 30s for most of the day, which means what in Celsius--maybe 2 or something? It was also windy, so it felt really cold.
Tomorrow it's supposed to warm up slightly, then Wednesday and Thursday are supposed to be better, about 12 Celsius or about 50 degrees. Still not too warm, but at least the kids may be able to go about without mittens.
In other news, both sets of children are quickly picking up words and intonations from each other. That's a benefit of cross-cultural visits, new language for the rest of their lifetimes. Of course, it's English and English, but still.
Sunday, April 05, 2009
It's a blog war!
I know that I can't be as amusing as Dan in writing about our weekend activities, so I'll just wimp out and link to him instead.
And if Dan thought yesterday's activities were exciting, wait until we get to later today! The snow seems to be holding off so far (though the weather gurus are still projecting up to 5 inches), so our tentative plans for today include bowling.
How much more Wisconsin can you get than that. After all, until very recently we had the some kind of Bowling Hall of Fame in our glorious state. The news article I vaguely remember said they were moving because Wisconsin didn't offer enough tax breaks. So I guess my tax dollars aren't supporting bowling. How un-Wisconsinlike.
And if Dan thought yesterday's activities were exciting, wait until we get to later today! The snow seems to be holding off so far (though the weather gurus are still projecting up to 5 inches), so our tentative plans for today include bowling.
How much more Wisconsin can you get than that. After all, until very recently we had the some kind of Bowling Hall of Fame in our glorious state. The news article I vaguely remember said they were moving because Wisconsin didn't offer enough tax breaks. So I guess my tax dollars aren't supporting bowling. How un-Wisconsinlike.
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Day 3 of 12
The Hughes have arrived, en masse, and are currently occupying our finished basement. I don't think Amy had even seen as many pink toys as we own, outside of a toy store, so she was quite dazzled. Evan is young enough that he doesn't mind that most of our toys are pink, so he seems to be having fun too.
The kids are getting along quite well and Greg and I haven't found Dan or Kerry to be irritating yet. Of course, it's only the beginning of day 3. Stay tuned.
In actuality, the visit of our English friends is going quite smoothly so far and we've very pleased that they're here. Particularly since there's a winter storm coming later today and we could get as much as 7 inches of snow. Dan says he has never run a snowblower.
Oh, boy! He's very likely going to get the chance this weekend. The wonders of Wisconsin weather in the spring.
The kids are getting along quite well and Greg and I haven't found Dan or Kerry to be irritating yet. Of course, it's only the beginning of day 3. Stay tuned.
In actuality, the visit of our English friends is going quite smoothly so far and we've very pleased that they're here. Particularly since there's a winter storm coming later today and we could get as much as 7 inches of snow. Dan says he has never run a snowblower.
Oh, boy! He's very likely going to get the chance this weekend. The wonders of Wisconsin weather in the spring.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Brownies
That's what we ended up baking yesterday, after I did some cleaning. Today, I just need to finish the three bathrooms and yell at the girls until the living room is picked up and I think we're pretty much ready for the visit of the Hughes family tomorrow.
I hope they appreciate the new paint. Dang project took me almost four days and it was all for their benefit. Just theirs. Sheesh.
Other projects on the list for today--visits to the bank, post office, St. Vincent de Paul, library, laundromat (to wash some big comforters), grocery store and gas station. Goodness, I'd better get moving!
I hope they appreciate the new paint. Dang project took me almost four days and it was all for their benefit. Just theirs. Sheesh.
Other projects on the list for today--visits to the bank, post office, St. Vincent de Paul, library, laundromat (to wash some big comforters), grocery store and gas station. Goodness, I'd better get moving!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
See what you've been missing?
It is raining today and the girls and I are bored. We should bake something. That's what I normally do when I'm home and it's raining.
But alas. Our house is a messy disaster area (except for the basement, which Greg did his best to turn into a bed-and-breakfast by expending significant effort this past Sunday). So I must clean.
After all, we're excited that the British invasion is coming on Thursday for 12 days. And though we may be able to get away with a cursory cleaning for our normal house guests (who usually only stay 2-3 days and about whom I theorize therefore could not possibly have time to notice how dusty the tops of all of my picture frames are), these people will be sticking around long enough to notice all of our dust.
So I'd best stop procrastinating and get to the cleaning. Right after I surf the web for an hour or so.
But alas. Our house is a messy disaster area (except for the basement, which Greg did his best to turn into a bed-and-breakfast by expending significant effort this past Sunday). So I must clean.
After all, we're excited that the British invasion is coming on Thursday for 12 days. And though we may be able to get away with a cursory cleaning for our normal house guests (who usually only stay 2-3 days and about whom I theorize therefore could not possibly have time to notice how dusty the tops of all of my picture frames are), these people will be sticking around long enough to notice all of our dust.
So I'd best stop procrastinating and get to the cleaning. Right after I surf the web for an hour or so.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
I don't know
I don't know why I stopped blogging. Boredom with my life, I suppose. Winter depression, seasonal affective disorder, something. The fact is that I had not much going on in my life for the last few months, so what would I write. I'm not really depressed, I guess. I'm just not having all that much fun lately. Though there have been moments.
Regardless, I'm going to try some blogging again.
So I spent most of last week painting. We've been in our house for 10 years now. It was new when we moved in, all white walls of course. And after ten years, some areas weren't looking too good. I think the first room we ever painted was when we were expecting Allie. Then we did a bathroom, then Julia's room, then the dining room, then another bathroom. A few months ago, I painted the master bathroom and now last week, I painted our living room/kitchen/dinette, which is all one big space.
It was probably the least satisfying room we've painted because I went with off-white. In all of the other rooms, we've added some color. After literally almost four solid days of work, all I ended up with is walls that look like they did 10 years ago. But they do look good.
Unfortunately, the rooms we have left that have never been painted are our bedroom (which could use it but really isn't any kind of priority), the mudroom (which could use it but gets so beat up through use that it probably wouldn't look like we'd done anything about 10 minutes after the paint dried) and our foyer. And the foyer needs to be painted pretty badly. But. It's two stories high, with clerestory windows that I think we've cleaned twice in 10 years. And light fixtures that were probably pretty cheap 10 years ago and that I now dislike immensely. So I'm thinking if we ever get around to painting this area, it'll require scaffold rental and a head for heights. And money for new light fixtures.
In other words, it won't be happening soon. Which is just as well since I'm kind of painted-out at the moment.
Regardless, I'm going to try some blogging again.
So I spent most of last week painting. We've been in our house for 10 years now. It was new when we moved in, all white walls of course. And after ten years, some areas weren't looking too good. I think the first room we ever painted was when we were expecting Allie. Then we did a bathroom, then Julia's room, then the dining room, then another bathroom. A few months ago, I painted the master bathroom and now last week, I painted our living room/kitchen/dinette, which is all one big space.
It was probably the least satisfying room we've painted because I went with off-white. In all of the other rooms, we've added some color. After literally almost four solid days of work, all I ended up with is walls that look like they did 10 years ago. But they do look good.
Unfortunately, the rooms we have left that have never been painted are our bedroom (which could use it but really isn't any kind of priority), the mudroom (which could use it but gets so beat up through use that it probably wouldn't look like we'd done anything about 10 minutes after the paint dried) and our foyer. And the foyer needs to be painted pretty badly. But. It's two stories high, with clerestory windows that I think we've cleaned twice in 10 years. And light fixtures that were probably pretty cheap 10 years ago and that I now dislike immensely. So I'm thinking if we ever get around to painting this area, it'll require scaffold rental and a head for heights. And money for new light fixtures.
In other words, it won't be happening soon. Which is just as well since I'm kind of painted-out at the moment.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Home again
Well, we made it home from our latest travels last night and now, we're not going anywhere for the rest of the year! Except maybe to exchange some gifts. And to the grocery store. And the library, probably. And maybe to the Madison Children's Museum, if the girls are especially squirrely. But nowhere else!
The weekend before Christmas, we traveled to central Illinois to visit Greg's family. It was a wonderful visit, marred only by the intense cold and horrific wind we experienced driving back home. It was one of those trips where you have to hold the steering wheel at an angle for the entire time to try to counteract the sideways action of the wind, only to weave a bit when you go under a highway underpass and the wind is blocked. On top of that, there was blowing snow across the highway for the entire portion of the trip that took us across prairie.
Trust me, you haven't lived until you've driven three hours straight through with snow blowing across the freeway that's been flying for ten miles or so, there being nothing to stop the snow out there in mid-America. That trip was only topped by our adventure last night.
This weekend, we traveled to visit my family and to attend the 50th wedding anniversary party of my Aunt Carol and Uncle Jim. I was insistent that we were going to my party, since I'm ashamed to note how long it's been since I've seen these relatives. Let's put it this way; Julia was almost a newborn. I very much wanted my girls to meet the kids of my first cousin Ken (their second cousins).
So despite truly dense fog, we traveled about 1/2 hour north of my parents' house for the party, then drove home in really, really dense fog and darkness for almost three hours. We took the interstate again (a different interstate) because it seemed safer to not have all of those intersections to deal with. But it was bad, really bad. So bad that I didn't feel very comfortable unless I had someone's tail lights to follow. So bad that Greg suggested stopping at a hotel and going the rest of the way home in the morning.
But I persevered, and we made it to Milwaukee, where the fog dissipated. We ate some dinner, then drove the rest of the way home, about another hour. When we stopped to eat, the temperature was an amazing 49 degrees. By the time we pulled into our driveway, it was 34 degrees. We were very glad to see the house still standing and to be welcomed home by the cats (and a pile of dirt from a tipped over plant--hey, you had your holiday and they had theirs).
And now, it's home sweet home for us. Ahhhhhhhhhh.
The weekend before Christmas, we traveled to central Illinois to visit Greg's family. It was a wonderful visit, marred only by the intense cold and horrific wind we experienced driving back home. It was one of those trips where you have to hold the steering wheel at an angle for the entire time to try to counteract the sideways action of the wind, only to weave a bit when you go under a highway underpass and the wind is blocked. On top of that, there was blowing snow across the highway for the entire portion of the trip that took us across prairie.
Trust me, you haven't lived until you've driven three hours straight through with snow blowing across the freeway that's been flying for ten miles or so, there being nothing to stop the snow out there in mid-America. That trip was only topped by our adventure last night.
This weekend, we traveled to visit my family and to attend the 50th wedding anniversary party of my Aunt Carol and Uncle Jim. I was insistent that we were going to my party, since I'm ashamed to note how long it's been since I've seen these relatives. Let's put it this way; Julia was almost a newborn. I very much wanted my girls to meet the kids of my first cousin Ken (their second cousins).
So despite truly dense fog, we traveled about 1/2 hour north of my parents' house for the party, then drove home in really, really dense fog and darkness for almost three hours. We took the interstate again (a different interstate) because it seemed safer to not have all of those intersections to deal with. But it was bad, really bad. So bad that I didn't feel very comfortable unless I had someone's tail lights to follow. So bad that Greg suggested stopping at a hotel and going the rest of the way home in the morning.
But I persevered, and we made it to Milwaukee, where the fog dissipated. We ate some dinner, then drove the rest of the way home, about another hour. When we stopped to eat, the temperature was an amazing 49 degrees. By the time we pulled into our driveway, it was 34 degrees. We were very glad to see the house still standing and to be welcomed home by the cats (and a pile of dirt from a tipped over plant--hey, you had your holiday and they had theirs).
And now, it's home sweet home for us. Ahhhhhhhhhh.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Merry Christmas
"My favorite part was when we got to hold FIRE!" (A quote from Allie about going to church last night and having a section of the service that was lit by handheld candles in the congregation.)
I hope you and yours are having a wonderful holiday season. Merry Christmas!
I hope you and yours are having a wonderful holiday season. Merry Christmas!
Monday, December 15, 2008
Cold? Oh, yeah.
Yes, I'm reduced to blogging about the weather. Well, have patience. Yesterday, it was in the 40s and rained. This morning, it was 1 degree and very windy, wind chill of -10 or less. Surely that's worth at least a note.
In other news, we had a relatively quiet weekend. On Saturday morning, we got out of the house early and took the girls to see Santa at the mall. We love this particular Santa--his name is Tom something (I know because he's been featured in our area newspaper) and he has a real white beard and he always says, "Have a blessed holiday," as the girls hop off his lap.
Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures because the company that provides Santa decided to go hardball on not allowing any parent-taken photos. We've purchased the (incredibly overpriced) photo package in the past but chose not to this year. So no photo with Tom. Trust me, the girls looked adorable.
In other news, we had a relatively quiet weekend. On Saturday morning, we got out of the house early and took the girls to see Santa at the mall. We love this particular Santa--his name is Tom something (I know because he's been featured in our area newspaper) and he has a real white beard and he always says, "Have a blessed holiday," as the girls hop off his lap.
Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures because the company that provides Santa decided to go hardball on not allowing any parent-taken photos. We've purchased the (incredibly overpriced) photo package in the past but chose not to this year. So no photo with Tom. Trust me, the girls looked adorable.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Hah! Off the hook--
It snowed today. Actually it started snowing yesterday and it's not supposed to be done until tomorrow, but most of it landed today. So much, in fact, that the school district called it's first snow day. The girls were thrilled. I figure we got about 6 inches so far and it's wet, icy stuff.
So 4:00 came and I'm thinking, all right. Time to get outside and at least snow blow enough of the driveway so Greg can get his car in the garage. The snowplows have been busy, so there's a considerable pile of icy junk at the end of the drive.
The girls and I get bundled up (it's about 20 degrees out) and I get busy. OK, I successfully get the thing started (only two tries). I make one path down the driveway, gnaw away at the snowplow pile, gnaw some more, wrestle with the snowblower, gnaw some more, tilt it this way and that, gnaw some more and phew! Made it through to the street in one little place.
Okay. Now back the other way, gnaw, gnaw, gnaw (I'm shortening this process in prose, trust me, it took a lot longer)--and then through. Up to the garage. Back again, start gnawing when I get to the end of the driveway and the snowblower dies. I try restarting it by hand. No go. Haul the snowblower back up to the garage so I can plug it in and try the electric start. Nope. Gee, I wonder if it's out of gas. Oh look. It's out of gas.
About this time, our neighbor, Charles came over to see he could help. What a sweet man. He wondered if I could put in regular gas or if I needed a gas-oil mixture. Greg and I didn't cover this in our lesson the other day, so I send Allie in for the cordless phone and called him.
No, he says, you don't need a gas-oil mixture. And I just got gas the other day. Fill it with the gas in either of the two gas cans on the top storage shelf. Hmm, the top storage shelf that has just a big enough gap to fit two gas cans but is empty? Those imaginary gas cans?
Yes, he still has the gas cans in his trunk from the other day. And I get out of snowblowing for today. Aww. I'm so sad.
So 4:00 came and I'm thinking, all right. Time to get outside and at least snow blow enough of the driveway so Greg can get his car in the garage. The snowplows have been busy, so there's a considerable pile of icy junk at the end of the drive.
The girls and I get bundled up (it's about 20 degrees out) and I get busy. OK, I successfully get the thing started (only two tries). I make one path down the driveway, gnaw away at the snowplow pile, gnaw some more, wrestle with the snowblower, gnaw some more, tilt it this way and that, gnaw some more and phew! Made it through to the street in one little place.
Okay. Now back the other way, gnaw, gnaw, gnaw (I'm shortening this process in prose, trust me, it took a lot longer)--and then through. Up to the garage. Back again, start gnawing when I get to the end of the driveway and the snowblower dies. I try restarting it by hand. No go. Haul the snowblower back up to the garage so I can plug it in and try the electric start. Nope. Gee, I wonder if it's out of gas. Oh look. It's out of gas.
About this time, our neighbor, Charles came over to see he could help. What a sweet man. He wondered if I could put in regular gas or if I needed a gas-oil mixture. Greg and I didn't cover this in our lesson the other day, so I send Allie in for the cordless phone and called him.
No, he says, you don't need a gas-oil mixture. And I just got gas the other day. Fill it with the gas in either of the two gas cans on the top storage shelf. Hmm, the top storage shelf that has just a big enough gap to fit two gas cans but is empty? Those imaginary gas cans?
Yes, he still has the gas cans in his trunk from the other day. And I get out of snowblowing for today. Aww. I'm so sad.
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Snow queen
On Friday, Greg and I took the girls to a local production of the above-mentioned play. It was about 80 minutes long and featured all youth performers. Some of the singing we heard was quite good and there was an attempt made to entertain adults by including some references aimed at adult humor. Nonetheless, when Allie asked me afterward what my favorite part was, I said the end. Not the ending, the end. She got it after just a moment.
Yesterday, Greg taught me how to use our snowblower. It was cold and quite windy and we tackled the 3 or so new inches of snow in the driveway. Allie and Julia came outside with us to play but Julia only lasted about 5 minutes. She's such a fragile flower. I didn't really enjoy my lesson. That was partially because the wind blew a LOT of snow over my body and especially in my face. It was also because the snowblower is considerably heavier than the lawnmower and I found it tough to maneuver and turn around.
Then I blew snow off the sidewalk and didn't do a good enough job for Greg. While I was coming back down the block (and getting pummeled with an avalanche of light blowing snow from the chute and the wind), Greg took pity on me and showed me how to adjust the output. He went over the sidewalk again and we were done. At least yesterday, snowblowing doesn't take as long as lawn mowing, that's a good thing. And now I have a new skill for my resume.
Yesterday, Greg taught me how to use our snowblower. It was cold and quite windy and we tackled the 3 or so new inches of snow in the driveway. Allie and Julia came outside with us to play but Julia only lasted about 5 minutes. She's such a fragile flower. I didn't really enjoy my lesson. That was partially because the wind blew a LOT of snow over my body and especially in my face. It was also because the snowblower is considerably heavier than the lawnmower and I found it tough to maneuver and turn around.
Then I blew snow off the sidewalk and didn't do a good enough job for Greg. While I was coming back down the block (and getting pummeled with an avalanche of light blowing snow from the chute and the wind), Greg took pity on me and showed me how to adjust the output. He went over the sidewalk again and we were done. At least yesterday, snowblowing doesn't take as long as lawn mowing, that's a good thing. And now I have a new skill for my resume.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Snow and school
Yes, Dan, it has been snowing where we live. And snowing. And snowing. There was a Winter Weather Advisory yesterday because we were projected to get up to 5 inches of snow, but our eventual result was about three inches. Nonetheless, Greg got to use the snowblower. Oh, what fun. And today it got cold--I think the high was about 20 degrees. I went out to shovel a little leftover snow on the sidewalk and my hands (in thermal gloves) were quite numb in only about ten minutes. When will spring arrive, again?
This week at school, Julia is her class's Student of the Week (SOTW). This honor means that we had to come up with a box of things that are special to her so she could show them to her classmates, we had to make a poster with photos, and we were encouraged to bring a special treat for the class. Yep, it's all about the food. Yesterday afternoon, I made cupcakes and last night I frosted the cupcakes and the girls decorated them.
This was, by the way, the first year of SOTW celebrations where we actually made the special treat. For the last three years, we've bought cupcakes when Allie was honored. Now, I know why that was a good idea. Folks, there were enough sprinkles, nonpariels, candy pieces, and colored sugar on these things to light a neon sign. At my suggestion, the girls left two of the cupcakes plain, just frosting. And when two leftover cupcakes made their way home tonight, what were they? Yes, they were the two plain frosted cupcakes. Shows what I know about the tastes of kindergarteners.
I also went to Julia's class for a visit today. I brought two books from home to read aloud to her class, which went well. I tried to use my dramatic voices and ask a few questions along the way (did you know that 30 percent of kindergarteners have piggy banks?). It was fun, except that Julia cried for fifteen minutes when I had to go. Ah, the travails of school.
This week at school, Julia is her class's Student of the Week (SOTW). This honor means that we had to come up with a box of things that are special to her so she could show them to her classmates, we had to make a poster with photos, and we were encouraged to bring a special treat for the class. Yep, it's all about the food. Yesterday afternoon, I made cupcakes and last night I frosted the cupcakes and the girls decorated them.
This was, by the way, the first year of SOTW celebrations where we actually made the special treat. For the last three years, we've bought cupcakes when Allie was honored. Now, I know why that was a good idea. Folks, there were enough sprinkles, nonpariels, candy pieces, and colored sugar on these things to light a neon sign. At my suggestion, the girls left two of the cupcakes plain, just frosting. And when two leftover cupcakes made their way home tonight, what were they? Yes, they were the two plain frosted cupcakes. Shows what I know about the tastes of kindergarteners.
I also went to Julia's class for a visit today. I brought two books from home to read aloud to her class, which went well. I tried to use my dramatic voices and ask a few questions along the way (did you know that 30 percent of kindergarteners have piggy banks?). It was fun, except that Julia cried for fifteen minutes when I had to go. Ah, the travails of school.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Turkey hangover
Happy belated Thanksgiving! I hope your holiday was warm, talk-filled, food-filled, and overall much to be thankful for. That's what mine was.
We traveled to see my family this year. The girls enjoyed seeing their aunties, uncle, grandparents, and quasi-uncle. I made apple and pumpkin pies as my contribution to the meal and I only regret that I left the leftover pie at my sister's house. I'm thinking I might need to make another pumpkin pie this week for us.
The best part is that now we're home in our own beds and the girls are still off of school and Greg is still off of work for two more days. Yay for long weekends!
We traveled to see my family this year. The girls enjoyed seeing their aunties, uncle, grandparents, and quasi-uncle. I made apple and pumpkin pies as my contribution to the meal and I only regret that I left the leftover pie at my sister's house. I'm thinking I might need to make another pumpkin pie this week for us.
The best part is that now we're home in our own beds and the girls are still off of school and Greg is still off of work for two more days. Yay for long weekends!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
What was this--guesses welcome
On the weekends, we let Julia sleep in Allie's full-size bed with her and we let both girls stay up later than usual. The result is that they normally talk and giggle for awhile in bed and as a result, they sleep in the next morning until 8:00 or so, which is a wonderful side benefit for Greg and me.
Last night, I couldn't tell if Julia was covered with blankets or not when I went up to bed. I stepped into Allie's room and the floor creaked. Julia flopped her arm over in her sleep and it landed on Allie's shoulder. Allie pushed up on her elbow and leaned over the edge of her bed to look intently at the floor for about 30 seconds.
What she was doing and what she was looking at, I have no idea. I don't even know if her eyes were open since I was on the opposite side of the bed. She says she doesn't remember doing it. I'll remember for awhile because I stood there laughing silently at her for more than a minute.
Last night, I couldn't tell if Julia was covered with blankets or not when I went up to bed. I stepped into Allie's room and the floor creaked. Julia flopped her arm over in her sleep and it landed on Allie's shoulder. Allie pushed up on her elbow and leaned over the edge of her bed to look intently at the floor for about 30 seconds.
What she was doing and what she was looking at, I have no idea. I don't even know if her eyes were open since I was on the opposite side of the bed. She says she doesn't remember doing it. I'll remember for awhile because I stood there laughing silently at her for more than a minute.
Friday, November 21, 2008
My child left where?
This week Allie discovered that she likes bagels with cream cheese. I like bagels too, but we don't buy them very frequently; in fact I can't remember when I last bought some. The bagels were part of the special snacks provided by parents at school this week, and Allie didn't want to eat breakfast at home all week because of a provided breakfast also. What was the occasion?
Third grade was taking their "Wicky" tests--the tests that determine if our school system is meeting it's obligations under the No Child Left Behind law or act or whatever it's called. To make sure that Allie's grade does as well as they possibly can, the school system does some extraordinary things.
First, they have the entire second grade practice taking a week of the tests to smell out any problem areas (or problem children, I assume). During that week last year, every child was provided with a nutritious breakfast--just in case they didn't or don't get one at home, I guess. The mid-morning milk break was also special "nutritious" snacks; not just the normal crackers but also string cheese, yogurt, and fruit. They did the same thing this week, plus the school hallways were under special "quiet test time" rules.
I appreciate what they're trying to demonstrate here, I really do. I just think it's sad that they only go through these efforts to provide an extremely positive learning and testing environment for one week during the year.
We sent string cheese. Does that mean we did our part for education this week? This year?
Third grade was taking their "Wicky" tests--the tests that determine if our school system is meeting it's obligations under the No Child Left Behind law or act or whatever it's called. To make sure that Allie's grade does as well as they possibly can, the school system does some extraordinary things.
First, they have the entire second grade practice taking a week of the tests to smell out any problem areas (or problem children, I assume). During that week last year, every child was provided with a nutritious breakfast--just in case they didn't or don't get one at home, I guess. The mid-morning milk break was also special "nutritious" snacks; not just the normal crackers but also string cheese, yogurt, and fruit. They did the same thing this week, plus the school hallways were under special "quiet test time" rules.
I appreciate what they're trying to demonstrate here, I really do. I just think it's sad that they only go through these efforts to provide an extremely positive learning and testing environment for one week during the year.
We sent string cheese. Does that mean we did our part for education this week? This year?
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Warning to future buyers of any car I have owned in the last 11 years
Once upon a time, I diligently followed the service recommendations that came with my automobiles. I'd get oil changes done every 3,000 miles or so. I'd get the recommended 30,000 mile check done, and I'd keep on top of getting new windshield wipers and such. Then I'd trade my car in and buy another one. At about 50,000 miles or so.
Actually, I did used to do these things but those were the years when I did sales and put about 25,000 miles on my car each year and I got a monthly car allowance of several hundred dollars.
Then I quit sales and got married and started having kids and car maintenance slipped way, way to the bottom of my list of priorities. I read some things about frequency of oil changes and realized I was an idiot to spend so much money on them and I started going a lot longer between changes. A lot longer.
Umm. Well. Today I got my oil changed. I think I went about 13,000 miles on this batch of oil. Oops.
So if you ever buy a car that I've owned, this has been your public warning that the maintenance hasn't been the best. Oh, and I never wax my car anymore either.
Gotta go--the oil change place discovered that I have a screw embedded in one of my tires and I'm off to have it fixed. See, I take care of my tires. Kinda. Not really, but I'm taking care of this one.
Sigh.
Actually, I did used to do these things but those were the years when I did sales and put about 25,000 miles on my car each year and I got a monthly car allowance of several hundred dollars.
Then I quit sales and got married and started having kids and car maintenance slipped way, way to the bottom of my list of priorities. I read some things about frequency of oil changes and realized I was an idiot to spend so much money on them and I started going a lot longer between changes. A lot longer.
Umm. Well. Today I got my oil changed. I think I went about 13,000 miles on this batch of oil. Oops.
So if you ever buy a car that I've owned, this has been your public warning that the maintenance hasn't been the best. Oh, and I never wax my car anymore either.
Gotta go--the oil change place discovered that I have a screw embedded in one of my tires and I'm off to have it fixed. See, I take care of my tires. Kinda. Not really, but I'm taking care of this one.
Sigh.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Busted!
Allie lost another molar last night. I think that's about tooth number 10 that's she in the process of replacing. She'll be 9 in January and she lost her first tooth before age 5, so her dentist says she's on track, if running a little early.
She found her little pewter tooth fairy tooth holder (a long-ago gift from Lisa--thanks again, Lisa!) and put her tooth in place on her nightstand. I should find out where Lisa got this gift because if I could stop any parent from having to reach under a sleeping kid's pillow--but I digress.
Allie looked at me, then asked Julia to go away for a minute. I had a sinking feeling. Yep, she wanted to tell me confidentially that she saw me exchange her last tooth for cash. Dang! That night, she wasn't stirring when I went in her room, but she stirred right after I made the exchange. It was probably a month ago and she hadn't asked any questions until now, so I thought I was in the clear.
She's agreed to keep the tooth fairy secret for the sake of her sister. Her only condition was that she wanted to see the teeth I've been keeping. Why I've been keeping them, I don't know. Why she wanted to see them, I don't know.
But now we're conspirators together. I'm wondering when she's going to bring up Santa. And again, she's growing up too fast.
She found her little pewter tooth fairy tooth holder (a long-ago gift from Lisa--thanks again, Lisa!) and put her tooth in place on her nightstand. I should find out where Lisa got this gift because if I could stop any parent from having to reach under a sleeping kid's pillow--but I digress.
Allie looked at me, then asked Julia to go away for a minute. I had a sinking feeling. Yep, she wanted to tell me confidentially that she saw me exchange her last tooth for cash. Dang! That night, she wasn't stirring when I went in her room, but she stirred right after I made the exchange. It was probably a month ago and she hadn't asked any questions until now, so I thought I was in the clear.
She's agreed to keep the tooth fairy secret for the sake of her sister. Her only condition was that she wanted to see the teeth I've been keeping. Why I've been keeping them, I don't know. Why she wanted to see them, I don't know.
But now we're conspirators together. I'm wondering when she's going to bring up Santa. And again, she's growing up too fast.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
November blues
There's supposed to be a high of 37 degrees today and snow this afternoon. It's also going to snow tomorrow, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, according to the meteorological powers-that-be.
Why do people like autumn?
Why do people like autumn?
Friday, November 14, 2008
Can it be 500?
According to Blogger, this is my 500th post. I've actually written over 500, but I deleted a few a few months back because I changed my mind about how much I wanted to talk about work. So 500 official posts available for review. That's a lot of talking about my kids and the cats.
Ah, who am I kidding. I know that I have about 10 regular readers and I know who all of you are, so most of you only really care to hear about my kids. I'm OK with that.
So, because we didn't report before, we did have 277 kids for Halloween this year. It was unseasonably warm, so that was actually a lower total than I expected. Our two kids had a good time trick-or-treating with their dad and the Clausen family. All of the chocolate is gone now from their candy stashes. I wonder how that happened? Oh, come on, please. I'm home all day with big candy stashes and those little fun size Milky Ways are just staring at me. What would you do?
By the way, I'm somewhat surprised that I haven't actually gained any weight since I've not been working. I've lost about 10 lbs. instead, which is exactly the opposite of what I thought would occur when I have immediate access to food all day. Not that the candy vending machine at work was all that distant, but whatever.
OK, so that's about it for my 500th post. More of the same old, same old. 500 posts in almost 5 1/2 years. I'm not exactly publishing enough to set the world on fire, but I'm capturing some family moments for my kids someday. That's enough for me. Have a great weekend!
Ah, who am I kidding. I know that I have about 10 regular readers and I know who all of you are, so most of you only really care to hear about my kids. I'm OK with that.
So, because we didn't report before, we did have 277 kids for Halloween this year. It was unseasonably warm, so that was actually a lower total than I expected. Our two kids had a good time trick-or-treating with their dad and the Clausen family. All of the chocolate is gone now from their candy stashes. I wonder how that happened? Oh, come on, please. I'm home all day with big candy stashes and those little fun size Milky Ways are just staring at me. What would you do?
By the way, I'm somewhat surprised that I haven't actually gained any weight since I've not been working. I've lost about 10 lbs. instead, which is exactly the opposite of what I thought would occur when I have immediate access to food all day. Not that the candy vending machine at work was all that distant, but whatever.
OK, so that's about it for my 500th post. More of the same old, same old. 500 posts in almost 5 1/2 years. I'm not exactly publishing enough to set the world on fire, but I'm capturing some family moments for my kids someday. That's enough for me. Have a great weekend!
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Isn't puke fun.
Julia threw up at 4 a.m. this morning. And 7 a.m. and about 11:45 a.m.
I guess the benefit of having a five-year-old who's got a tummy bug is that she's not managed to make much of a mess throwing up. And since I'm not working, if she isn't well enough to go to school tomorrow, I'm obviously available to take care of her.
That's looking on the bright side of things, isn't it? Instead of me and Greg debating (fighting) over whose work for that day is more important?
Now we just have to hope that she's the only one in the family affected.
I guess the benefit of having a five-year-old who's got a tummy bug is that she's not managed to make much of a mess throwing up. And since I'm not working, if she isn't well enough to go to school tomorrow, I'm obviously available to take care of her.
That's looking on the bright side of things, isn't it? Instead of me and Greg debating (fighting) over whose work for that day is more important?
Now we just have to hope that she's the only one in the family affected.
Thursday, November 06, 2008
November already
We have a new president-elect, and I'm happy about who won.
I have a third interview tomorrow with a local company, so I'm pumped and a little nervous.
And the girls brought home their school pictures today. They both look adorable and older than their years. I told Greg on the phone that he wouldn't believe them when he saw them, especially Allie's. I said she looks about 20 years old.
Julia heard me and piped up, "And I look - - um, 14!"
I have a third interview tomorrow with a local company, so I'm pumped and a little nervous.
And the girls brought home their school pictures today. They both look adorable and older than their years. I told Greg on the phone that he wouldn't believe them when he saw them, especially Allie's. I said she looks about 20 years old.
Julia heard me and piped up, "And I look - - um, 14!"
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
What's goin' on
Nothing much, how 'bout you?
I took the girls to their Halloween dance last Friday--ah, the overwhelming joys of a grade school dance. The first 1/2 hour was horrible, the next 1/4 hour was tolerable, the next 1 hour was much better, and the last 1/4 hour was horrible.
After 10 minutes, I offered the girls a bribe of each their own fullsize candy bar if we could leave. Allie said yes, Julia said no, so we stayed.
In other news, yesterday it snowed. Yes, by god, it snowed. Big chunky flakes that melted when they hit the ground.
Thank goodness it only lasted about four minutes. Our snowblower is still in the shop and besides, it's October!
BTW, Happy Birthday to my sister, Claudette!
I took the girls to their Halloween dance last Friday--ah, the overwhelming joys of a grade school dance. The first 1/2 hour was horrible, the next 1/4 hour was tolerable, the next 1 hour was much better, and the last 1/4 hour was horrible.
After 10 minutes, I offered the girls a bribe of each their own fullsize candy bar if we could leave. Allie said yes, Julia said no, so we stayed.
In other news, yesterday it snowed. Yes, by god, it snowed. Big chunky flakes that melted when they hit the ground.
Thank goodness it only lasted about four minutes. Our snowblower is still in the shop and besides, it's October!
BTW, Happy Birthday to my sister, Claudette!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Not too full
Today is the 12th anniversary of the day that Greg and I married. Last night, I arranged for one of our exceedingly rare babysitter visits and we went out to dinner to commemorate and celebrate and all that.
We ate at a relatively new restaurant in Madison called Samba. It's one of those Brazilian meat restaurants. The kind where there's an amazing salad bar and then you turn over a disk (or in this case, hourglass type of thing) from red to green and men with large skewers of meat keep coming to your table and slicing off pieces and chunks for you until you turn your hourglass back to red. They had 8 different meats on the menu last night.
Barbecued chicken, flank steak, duck, lamb, tenderloin, sirloin steak, and so on. Greg and I joked during our meal that we should bring Dan and Kerry to try it if they come and visit again (bad joke, sorry Kerry--she's a vegetarian and I imagine that anyone who wasn't a dedicated meat eater would have been literally sickened by the skewers of meat walking around). But if you're a carnivore--mmmm, it was really good. And then they had these little rolls that tasted like Yorkshire puddings--it was quite an event, actually.
So 12 years ago today at this time (11:15 a.m.), I was at the beauty salon with my bridesmaids, getting our hair done.
At 12:15 or so, I was arriving at the church to get dressed for photos. A friend got sub sandwiches and no one ate them.
At 2:00? 3:00? (oh my god, I can't remember what time!) we got married.
At 5:00, we arrived at our reception and had a little popcorn from the popcorn machine. This was hours before my Uncle Jim, who had been doing a wonderful job helping us out by running the popcorn machine, got a little distracted by the amount of beer he'd drunk and forgot a bunch of popcorn and it smoked up the hall a little--not too bad.
At midnight, our feet sore from all the dancing we had done, we left the hall and discovered that our "friends" (I use the term lightly, at this point) had filled the interior of our car with those little circles you get when you 3-hole punch paper and the exterior of our car with written congratulations. We didn't have time to clean the interior before we left on our honeymoon, so we still had those little circles blowing around more than a week later. And more than six months later, I was still finding them when I vacuumed out my car.
It was a wonderful day and so many wonderful things have happened since. I love you, Gregory. Happy Anniversary!
We ate at a relatively new restaurant in Madison called Samba. It's one of those Brazilian meat restaurants. The kind where there's an amazing salad bar and then you turn over a disk (or in this case, hourglass type of thing) from red to green and men with large skewers of meat keep coming to your table and slicing off pieces and chunks for you until you turn your hourglass back to red. They had 8 different meats on the menu last night.
Barbecued chicken, flank steak, duck, lamb, tenderloin, sirloin steak, and so on. Greg and I joked during our meal that we should bring Dan and Kerry to try it if they come and visit again (bad joke, sorry Kerry--she's a vegetarian and I imagine that anyone who wasn't a dedicated meat eater would have been literally sickened by the skewers of meat walking around). But if you're a carnivore--mmmm, it was really good. And then they had these little rolls that tasted like Yorkshire puddings--it was quite an event, actually.
So 12 years ago today at this time (11:15 a.m.), I was at the beauty salon with my bridesmaids, getting our hair done.
At 12:15 or so, I was arriving at the church to get dressed for photos. A friend got sub sandwiches and no one ate them.
At 2:00? 3:00? (oh my god, I can't remember what time!) we got married.
At 5:00, we arrived at our reception and had a little popcorn from the popcorn machine. This was hours before my Uncle Jim, who had been doing a wonderful job helping us out by running the popcorn machine, got a little distracted by the amount of beer he'd drunk and forgot a bunch of popcorn and it smoked up the hall a little--not too bad.
At midnight, our feet sore from all the dancing we had done, we left the hall and discovered that our "friends" (I use the term lightly, at this point) had filled the interior of our car with those little circles you get when you 3-hole punch paper and the exterior of our car with written congratulations. We didn't have time to clean the interior before we left on our honeymoon, so we still had those little circles blowing around more than a week later. And more than six months later, I was still finding them when I vacuumed out my car.
It was a wonderful day and so many wonderful things have happened since. I love you, Gregory. Happy Anniversary!
Friday, October 17, 2008
Campfire songs
Last night, me and the girls went downtown to the senior center for a campfire sing-along. The logs were made of cardboard columns, wrapped with brown paper and decorated with squiggly lines. The fire was shapes cut out of orange and red paper, propped into the "logs." It was about 55 degrees outside, but I guess Allie's school didn't want to risk frostbite or something. So the sing-along was inside on the carpeted floor.
The music teacher, the principal, and a friend of the teacher had instruments and the 40 or so assembled kids and 30 or so assembled parents sang folk songs that the kids have been learning recently in class. I guess that's a good reason for being inside, so that people could read the song lyrics.
We weren't very good, but Allie liked it and Julia liked that they had cookies afterward. Gosh, it's only two months until the December All-School Sing--I guess I'll just have to bear the wait.
The music teacher, the principal, and a friend of the teacher had instruments and the 40 or so assembled kids and 30 or so assembled parents sang folk songs that the kids have been learning recently in class. I guess that's a good reason for being inside, so that people could read the song lyrics.
We weren't very good, but Allie liked it and Julia liked that they had cookies afterward. Gosh, it's only two months until the December All-School Sing--I guess I'll just have to bear the wait.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
A nice offer
We had guests this weekend, so we ran through a few pantry items and we hadn't yet had time to hit the grocery store to restock.
Allie: Mommy, we've been out of napkins for a few days now. Should I bring some home from school in my lunchbox?
She's studying up to be a petty thief in her spare time, I suppose. I declined the offer. Allie shouldn't consider stealing from her school until she's in college and she takes off with dormitory linens, right Greg?
Allie: Mommy, we've been out of napkins for a few days now. Should I bring some home from school in my lunchbox?
She's studying up to be a petty thief in her spare time, I suppose. I declined the offer. Allie shouldn't consider stealing from her school until she's in college and she takes off with dormitory linens, right Greg?
Monday, October 13, 2008
Raspberry picking
Raspberry picking this weekend was not as much fun as I remember it being when I was a kid. This weekend, it seemed that the berries were either well past ripe, not yet ripe, or non-existent. It was to the point that I stopped eating as I picked because I wasn't really getting enough raspberries to chew on and besides, if we didn't all start collecting them, we were never going to be able to fill our little berry container.
When I was a kid, my sisters and our neighborhood friends and I would go to the wild raspberry patch adjacent to "our" city park. We'd have to wear sweatshirts even in warm weather, and we'd pull up the hood and cinch it tight around our faces--because we were, no doubt about it, going to get eaten alive by mosquitoes as we picked.
Nonetheless, we girded our loins and braved the bugs because there were a lot of beautiful, ripe, delicious raspberries to be had. Mmmmm. Raspberries that were picked 20 minutes ago, smashed slightly and with a little sugar, over vanilla ice cream. Now that was good.
When I was a kid, my sisters and our neighborhood friends and I would go to the wild raspberry patch adjacent to "our" city park. We'd have to wear sweatshirts even in warm weather, and we'd pull up the hood and cinch it tight around our faces--because we were, no doubt about it, going to get eaten alive by mosquitoes as we picked.
Nonetheless, we girded our loins and braved the bugs because there were a lot of beautiful, ripe, delicious raspberries to be had. Mmmmm. Raspberries that were picked 20 minutes ago, smashed slightly and with a little sugar, over vanilla ice cream. Now that was good.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Allie's latest nightmare
I walked into your bedroom and there were millions of fans on high and I walked in your bathroom and saw Hello Kitty and she had killed Julia and she was covered in blood.
Amateur psychologists, feel free - - -
Amateur psychologists, feel free - - -
Thursday, October 09, 2008
I'm not sure how to title this
Greg was picked up by some co-workers today for a seminar they are all attending. Me and the girls stood at the dining room window, as usual, and waved goodbye. Two men that the girls don't normally see waved back in a puzzled but friendly way from the front seat of the car.
Allie: Who was that in the car picking up Daddy?
Me: I don't know for sure, but it looked like one of them was Daddy's boss.
Allie: Oh, I know him. He has a face with interesting hollows and stuff. Like his face is sucked in.
Me: Hmmm, OK.
Allie: I wonder what it would be like to have hollows in your face like that.
Julia: I wonder what it would be like to be a boy.
Allie: Well, for one thing, you would have a lot more stuff in your privates.
Allie: Who was that in the car picking up Daddy?
Me: I don't know for sure, but it looked like one of them was Daddy's boss.
Allie: Oh, I know him. He has a face with interesting hollows and stuff. Like his face is sucked in.
Me: Hmmm, OK.
Allie: I wonder what it would be like to have hollows in your face like that.
Julia: I wonder what it would be like to be a boy.
Allie: Well, for one thing, you would have a lot more stuff in your privates.
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Redo done
This week I painted our master bathroom. Instead of being a creamy white that the builder selected (with chipped areas on the exposed corner), it's now a light greenish grayish color called Boulder. I like it.
In the spirit of renovation, Greg and I decided to put up a new shower rod. It's one of those rods with an arc so that when you have a shower in the tub, you can keep the shower curtain from getting familiar with your private parts. I love it. It tends to feel a little too spacious, actually, after the years of close quarters, but I'll be happy to get used to it.
And since it's been 5 days now, my body parts don't ache anymore from the weird positioning required to paint a bathroom. On my knees, reaching behind a toilet in a confined area--not my favorite way to paint. Standing on a ladder with my neck arched in a weird angle--not my favorite position. But it was worth it.
Now we're thinking of tackling the living room and kitchen. Be still, my heart.
In the spirit of renovation, Greg and I decided to put up a new shower rod. It's one of those rods with an arc so that when you have a shower in the tub, you can keep the shower curtain from getting familiar with your private parts. I love it. It tends to feel a little too spacious, actually, after the years of close quarters, but I'll be happy to get used to it.
And since it's been 5 days now, my body parts don't ache anymore from the weird positioning required to paint a bathroom. On my knees, reaching behind a toilet in a confined area--not my favorite way to paint. Standing on a ladder with my neck arched in a weird angle--not my favorite position. But it was worth it.
Now we're thinking of tackling the living room and kitchen. Be still, my heart.
Friday, October 03, 2008
Anticipation
This morning, on the way to school, the girls started talking about Halloween. They're already looking forward to Halloween, in the way I imagine a heroin addict looks forward to his or her next fix. They weren't excited about their costumes or the adventure of Trick-or-Treating. Oh, no. They were focused on the CANDY!
OH MY GOD, THE CANDY . . . they said. They talked about chocolate and lollipops and SpongeBob marshmallow treats in the kind of tones that most people reserve for something they're drooling over. I didn't look back to see if any napkins were required. Then Allie spoke the words that brought the conversation to a place of horror.
"I hope we don't get any apples."
NO! NO! THE INHUMANITY!
Not that the girls have ever gotten an apple while Trick-or-Treating. That would be a pretty unlikely treat in these cautious days. And their tone of dread ignored the fact that Allie loves apples and in fact she had one for breakfast today.
I'll admit it. I loved the days when the girls would go Trick-or-Treating and then Greg and me (mostly me) got all of their chocolate treats because all they cared about was the fruity and chewy stuff. Now, Allie actually likes chocolate. Fortunately, I still have the power to forbid her to keep her candy in her room. That means after 8:15 or so--fair dibs!
OH MY GOD, THE CANDY . . . they said. They talked about chocolate and lollipops and SpongeBob marshmallow treats in the kind of tones that most people reserve for something they're drooling over. I didn't look back to see if any napkins were required. Then Allie spoke the words that brought the conversation to a place of horror.
"I hope we don't get any apples."
NO! NO! THE INHUMANITY!
Not that the girls have ever gotten an apple while Trick-or-Treating. That would be a pretty unlikely treat in these cautious days. And their tone of dread ignored the fact that Allie loves apples and in fact she had one for breakfast today.
I'll admit it. I loved the days when the girls would go Trick-or-Treating and then Greg and me (mostly me) got all of their chocolate treats because all they cared about was the fruity and chewy stuff. Now, Allie actually likes chocolate. Fortunately, I still have the power to forbid her to keep her candy in her room. That means after 8:15 or so--fair dibs!
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Snackin'
If your cats had the opportunity to get at some food other than their own, they'd take it, right? Like dogs, cats are pretty omnivorous. Cats chew on plants, bits of leftover breakfast cereal, tuna packages, carpeting (don't ask, but Rabies should have gotten drop kicked for that one).
So if your cat had the opportunity to get at a plateful of dinner that one of your kids (Julia) didn't finish, and that plate contained mushroom pork chops, au gratin potatoes, and broccoli, you wouldn't be surprised to see a piece of pork chop on the floor, would you?
Nope. It was broccoli.
Weird cats. Sneaky too. I was about four feet away with my back turned.
So if your cat had the opportunity to get at a plateful of dinner that one of your kids (Julia) didn't finish, and that plate contained mushroom pork chops, au gratin potatoes, and broccoli, you wouldn't be surprised to see a piece of pork chop on the floor, would you?
Nope. It was broccoli.
Weird cats. Sneaky too. I was about four feet away with my back turned.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
September's over
It was cold this morning. I mean really cold, for September. We were completely spoiled by the warm weather last week but now I do believe that it's autumn. The girls are in corduroys and long sleeved shirts again.
Time to put away their summer sleeveless dresses? Say it isn't so!
Time to put away their summer sleeveless dresses? Say it isn't so!
Monday, September 29, 2008
On the way home from the library
Allie: Mom, there's a fly stuck to my window.
Me: Open your window and shoo him out.
Allie: No, he's on the outside.
Me: OK, whatever.
Allie: He's hanging on. Why doesn't he go away?
Me: (not listening) Mmmm.
Julia: Maybe he's concentrating on pooping!
Me: Open your window and shoo him out.
Allie: No, he's on the outside.
Me: OK, whatever.
Allie: He's hanging on. Why doesn't he go away?
Me: (not listening) Mmmm.
Julia: Maybe he's concentrating on pooping!
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Dinnertime
Today is Sunday. I've been cooking a lot lately (since I have little else to do, or so Greg says) and so Greg hasn't had a chance lately to be creative in the kitchen, which is something he very much enjoys. It's just a shame that he lives with the three of us, because we are hopelessly pedestrian in our tastes in food. Nonetheless, he perseveres (sometimes) and today, he decided to make us an absolutely enormous pot of spaghetti, homemade tomato sauce, and meatballs. He wrote about it here. The tomato sauce was wonderful and Greg made both of his daughters take exactly one meatball on their plates to try.
Allie is pretty brave about trying new food and she tasted the meatball and ate the whole thing with most of her spaghetti. I cleaned my plate of all of the spaghetti, light sauce, and meatballs that I took. And then there was Julia. Julia has a bad habit of saying that her stomach hurts when she doesn't want to eat any more of her dinner (or any of it at all). We've been trying to work on this habit with her somewhat, so tonight she took another tack.
We insisted that she try one small piece off of her one small meatball. She ate it and didn't say it was yucky or any other comments about it's taste. She clearly didn't want to have to eat anything else on her plate however, so she tried something new. She reminded me that I made her a really big lunch for school on Friday, then said she was full from that.
Allie didn't understand why I was laughing.
Allie is pretty brave about trying new food and she tasted the meatball and ate the whole thing with most of her spaghetti. I cleaned my plate of all of the spaghetti, light sauce, and meatballs that I took. And then there was Julia. Julia has a bad habit of saying that her stomach hurts when she doesn't want to eat any more of her dinner (or any of it at all). We've been trying to work on this habit with her somewhat, so tonight she took another tack.
We insisted that she try one small piece off of her one small meatball. She ate it and didn't say it was yucky or any other comments about it's taste. She clearly didn't want to have to eat anything else on her plate however, so she tried something new. She reminded me that I made her a really big lunch for school on Friday, then said she was full from that.
Allie didn't understand why I was laughing.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Not so Great America
Back in the year of our nation's bicentennial, my family traveled several hours to a new and exciting attraction, the area's first amusement park, Marriott's Great America. To a kid who had never seen anything for rides and shows except the local carnival and a school field trip to a play, this was heady stuff. It was amazing. Everything was shiny and new and red, white and blue. We rode every ride possible in one day, despite the long lines. After all, adult admission had cost $6.95, so my parents wanted to make sure we got our money's worth. I still remember that we got red, white and blue frisbees to take home.
After that, I visited Great America occasionally, maybe two or three more times. Then, back in 1985 or so, I made my last excursion to Great America. I was with my college boyfriend and he compared every ride to King's Island Amusement Park in Ohio, which was the park he'd enjoyed in childhood. I had never been to Great America without my parents before, so we had a wonderful time, despite some budgetary restrictions. And then I didn't go back to Great America for 23 years.
I'm not really sure why. In the meantime, I visited Epcot in Florida for the first time (and then again), but amusement parks kind of took a back seat entertainment-wise. And then enough time passed that I had kids of my own. So my family visited all of the Orlando parks earlier this year and I finally made it to DisneyWorld for the first time. And that was shiny and sparkling and looking like new, very impressive, truly.
Then we had an opportunity to go to Great America. The girls were out of this world excited. After all, they know we're not going back to Disney anytime soon. We walked into the park and immediately headed for the double decker carousel that's the symbol of the park. All four of us climbed to the top level and Julia selected a beautiful white horse with a very elaborate mane and tail for her ride. I lifted her on and then took a step back and I noticed something disconcerting. The side of her horse, right where a little girl might pretend to stroke her steed's neck, was smeary with what looked like black grease.
I looked around a little more and felt nothing but dismay. The ride itself wasn't clean. And the railings definitely needed paint. And it was obvious that no one had swept bits of greenery off the indoor-outdoor carpet in a very long time (it's an outdoor carousel). I know, I know. I shouldn't expect this park to rise to Disney standards. Disney leads the world in that kind of thing. And it's the very end of the season for Great America. They'll be closed for the winter in another month and I'm sure they'll take the time to make everything shiny and sparkly before they reopen next summer. But it was definitely a let down. And it was like that everywhere, everywhere in the park.
The girls didn't notice. And the rides themselves were wonderful. There were still some things in exactly the same locations as I remembered, but there were lots of new things too. Greg got to fly on the Superman coaster, which he repeatedly said was all he cared about. The food was pretty gross, and about as expensive as you'd expect. The weather was wonderful and because it was a closed event, the lines were wonderfully short. And overall, we had a great, fabulous time.
But will we be back? I think overall I'd rather save my pennies for Disney.
After that, I visited Great America occasionally, maybe two or three more times. Then, back in 1985 or so, I made my last excursion to Great America. I was with my college boyfriend and he compared every ride to King's Island Amusement Park in Ohio, which was the park he'd enjoyed in childhood. I had never been to Great America without my parents before, so we had a wonderful time, despite some budgetary restrictions. And then I didn't go back to Great America for 23 years.
I'm not really sure why. In the meantime, I visited Epcot in Florida for the first time (and then again), but amusement parks kind of took a back seat entertainment-wise. And then enough time passed that I had kids of my own. So my family visited all of the Orlando parks earlier this year and I finally made it to DisneyWorld for the first time. And that was shiny and sparkling and looking like new, very impressive, truly.
Then we had an opportunity to go to Great America. The girls were out of this world excited. After all, they know we're not going back to Disney anytime soon. We walked into the park and immediately headed for the double decker carousel that's the symbol of the park. All four of us climbed to the top level and Julia selected a beautiful white horse with a very elaborate mane and tail for her ride. I lifted her on and then took a step back and I noticed something disconcerting. The side of her horse, right where a little girl might pretend to stroke her steed's neck, was smeary with what looked like black grease.
I looked around a little more and felt nothing but dismay. The ride itself wasn't clean. And the railings definitely needed paint. And it was obvious that no one had swept bits of greenery off the indoor-outdoor carpet in a very long time (it's an outdoor carousel). I know, I know. I shouldn't expect this park to rise to Disney standards. Disney leads the world in that kind of thing. And it's the very end of the season for Great America. They'll be closed for the winter in another month and I'm sure they'll take the time to make everything shiny and sparkly before they reopen next summer. But it was definitely a let down. And it was like that everywhere, everywhere in the park.
The girls didn't notice. And the rides themselves were wonderful. There were still some things in exactly the same locations as I remembered, but there were lots of new things too. Greg got to fly on the Superman coaster, which he repeatedly said was all he cared about. The food was pretty gross, and about as expensive as you'd expect. The weather was wonderful and because it was a closed event, the lines were wonderfully short. And overall, we had a great, fabulous time.
But will we be back? I think overall I'd rather save my pennies for Disney.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Cats and kids
This morning, I walked the kids to the bus stop for a ride to school. This is Allie's fourth year and she's never ridden the bus to school, ever. She has always gotten a ride from one of her parents. But eventually, I'll get a job. And it probably won't be in town like I had before. So the girls will probably have to ride the bus to school, or I would be dropping them off at school too early. Thus the test run.
Allie, not unexpectedly, thought she was going to throw up. She actually did throw up from nerves on the first day of school, so I took her feelings today in stride. The school hasn't called me requesting another set of clothes, so I'm assuming she made it OK. If things went well, I'm going to have the girls ride the bus tomorrow also and then I'll go back to driving them until I can no longer do that.
When I got home, there were pieces of chalk on the kitchen floor and a cat on top of the kitchen counter. Last night, one of the cats ate most of Julia's only piece of chalk. Stomach ache, I guess. I picked up the pieces and put them on the counter when I saw them and now Simon the cat had obviously been at them again. Our cats are so bold about getting on the counter after we've gone that I've, at least three times, come back into the house to grab something immediately after stepping out the door and caught a cat on the counter.
I yelled at Simon and he jumped down. I picked up the chalk again, threw more pieces in the garbage, and put the last little piece that was left inside Julia's chalkboard box. Then I turned back and I had two cats on the kitchen counter!
That's when I noticed that Allie's bug cage was on the counter, with the large fuzzy yellow caterpillar inside that she caught and made a home for last evening. Oh! I get it now. Damn cats. Get off the counter!
Allie, not unexpectedly, thought she was going to throw up. She actually did throw up from nerves on the first day of school, so I took her feelings today in stride. The school hasn't called me requesting another set of clothes, so I'm assuming she made it OK. If things went well, I'm going to have the girls ride the bus tomorrow also and then I'll go back to driving them until I can no longer do that.
When I got home, there were pieces of chalk on the kitchen floor and a cat on top of the kitchen counter. Last night, one of the cats ate most of Julia's only piece of chalk. Stomach ache, I guess. I picked up the pieces and put them on the counter when I saw them and now Simon the cat had obviously been at them again. Our cats are so bold about getting on the counter after we've gone that I've, at least three times, come back into the house to grab something immediately after stepping out the door and caught a cat on the counter.
I yelled at Simon and he jumped down. I picked up the chalk again, threw more pieces in the garbage, and put the last little piece that was left inside Julia's chalkboard box. Then I turned back and I had two cats on the kitchen counter!
That's when I noticed that Allie's bug cage was on the counter, with the large fuzzy yellow caterpillar inside that she caught and made a home for last evening. Oh! I get it now. Damn cats. Get off the counter!
Saturday, September 06, 2008
It figures
We had our hottest day of the entire year so far on Tuesday. It got to about 91 degrees or so, so of course we used the air conditioning, hopefully for the last time this year. At about 8 p.m., I thought, gosh, I'm overheated.
I looked at the thermostat and the air was running, so I disregarded my feeling (no, I'm too young for hot flashes). About an hour later, I thought, gosh, I'm overheated.
Crap. The air conditioning was supposedly running but there wasn't any cool air coming out. Greg braved the vicious mosquitoes around the back of the house and tried some things, but no go. It was still about 82 degrees outside, so we had an uncomfortable night.
The next morning, a cold front had come through and it was only 72 degrees outside. Regardless, I called the air conditioning repairman. He said we were smart--always nice to hear. He said people whose air conditioning fails at the end of the season often wait until spring warms up to call for service, and then they have 100 or so service calls ahead of them.
Gregory, it was a dual capacitor, not a flux capacitor. $140 and we're good to go. No DeLoreans in sight.
I looked at the thermostat and the air was running, so I disregarded my feeling (no, I'm too young for hot flashes). About an hour later, I thought, gosh, I'm overheated.
Crap. The air conditioning was supposedly running but there wasn't any cool air coming out. Greg braved the vicious mosquitoes around the back of the house and tried some things, but no go. It was still about 82 degrees outside, so we had an uncomfortable night.
The next morning, a cold front had come through and it was only 72 degrees outside. Regardless, I called the air conditioning repairman. He said we were smart--always nice to hear. He said people whose air conditioning fails at the end of the season often wait until spring warms up to call for service, and then they have 100 or so service calls ahead of them.
Gregory, it was a dual capacitor, not a flux capacitor. $140 and we're good to go. No DeLoreans in sight.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
School and essay questions
Allie went back to school today to start third grade. Julia starts kindergarten on Thursday, which I am frankly not at all ready for. And I'm the one doing an exam. I've decided to apply for a job with the State of Wisconsin and it requires a civil service exam of essay questions. It's only 3 questions, but each question has about 15 subsections, so I've been working on it all day.
Allie was so excited about school this morning that she threw up as we got in the car. Julia held her nose and complained while I bustled around getting Allie napkins and then emptying her "puke bucket" (as we so delicately call it--her carsickness bucket). She was fine in about two minutes--just nerves on an almost empty stomach.
I get to meet her bus in about 1/2 hour so I can hear all about her first day. How can it be September already!
Allie was so excited about school this morning that she threw up as we got in the car. Julia held her nose and complained while I bustled around getting Allie napkins and then emptying her "puke bucket" (as we so delicately call it--her carsickness bucket). She was fine in about two minutes--just nerves on an almost empty stomach.
I get to meet her bus in about 1/2 hour so I can hear all about her first day. How can it be September already!
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Julia's dream
This morning Julia told me:
"Mommy, I had the greatest dream last night. I dreamed that I was sleeping with Allie in her bed and Ava's kitty was outside the window but her feet weren't touching anything. And then I saw that a big dragon was holding her. Then (Barbie) Mariposa came and she hit the dragon and it went away and Ava's kitty was OK. That was the coolest dream ever."
"Mommy, I had the greatest dream last night. I dreamed that I was sleeping with Allie in her bed and Ava's kitty was outside the window but her feet weren't touching anything. And then I saw that a big dragon was holding her. Then (Barbie) Mariposa came and she hit the dragon and it went away and Ava's kitty was OK. That was the coolest dream ever."
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Request
"Mommy, can you please leave so we can play with the princess set?"
A request from Julia this morning upon arriving at daycare. The girls wave goodbye to me and they wanted to get it over with.
A request from Julia this morning upon arriving at daycare. The girls wave goodbye to me and they wanted to get it over with.
Monday, August 25, 2008
So not worth it
Greg and I went to the movies with the girls this weekend. Julia very much enjoys being contrary, so when Allie said she wanted to see the Star Wars clone movie, Julia immediately insisted she was not going to that and that she wanted to see Fly Me to the Moon. Julia's been taking this contrary tendency to the extreme lately, especially in regards to food choices. She never, ever wants the same thing for lunch that Allie does.
This is healthy assertion of her independence, right? Damn irritating healthy independence, but there you go.
So we went to the theater and Greg took Allie to the Star Wars movie while Julia and me went to the Fly movie, which was shown on an Imax screen in 3-D. Did I mention that it was $35.00 for the four of us? Yep, $22.50 just for me and Julia. And both movies sucked. Well, at least ours looked good. And Greg said Allie seemed entranced.
But overall? I think we should have gone to the (free) zoo again.
This is healthy assertion of her independence, right? Damn irritating healthy independence, but there you go.
So we went to the theater and Greg took Allie to the Star Wars movie while Julia and me went to the Fly movie, which was shown on an Imax screen in 3-D. Did I mention that it was $35.00 for the four of us? Yep, $22.50 just for me and Julia. And both movies sucked. Well, at least ours looked good. And Greg said Allie seemed entranced.
But overall? I think we should have gone to the (free) zoo again.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Greg's vacation
Greg's company has this wonderful program associated with work anniversaries. After you reach your 10th anniversary and at five-year intervals after that, if you take one entire Monday through Friday week off, you get an extra week off for free. Greg is now in the middle of his two-week "holiday."
We haven't killed each other yet.
We haven't killed each other yet.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Busy weekend
Allie had a friend for a sleepover this weekend, so we went to Ella's Deli for dinner on Friday night. The poor deprived child had never been there. It was carousel rides all around afterwards, then home. After a big breakfast on Saturday morning, we all went bowling, which was wonderful, especially since I got four strikes and Greg got none. It makes the Wii bowling defeat much less meaningful, trust me.
We had lunch out and delivered the friend to her home, then on Saturday afternoon, we bought school supplies for the girls. Needless to say, Allie's third grade requires a whole heck of a lot more supplies than Julia's kindergarten. Julia is showing just as much pride and excitement about her new backpack, crayons, and other items as she did about her birthday party supplies, which I can tell you is a considerable amount.
Yesterday, Allie went to a different friend's house for the afternoon and Greg talked online to Dan for quite awhile. Later I took the girls to the park and then Greg took them on a long bike ride. It's an awesome thing, now that Allie finally can ride without training wheels. Then Greg tried to teach them how to shoot baskets, which sounds like it was an interesting endeavor. After baths and watching some Olympics women's gymnastics in high def, it was bedtime.
I found out this morning that they were both trying to tumble and somersault on Allie's bed. Julia fell off. We heard the thud but she didn't cry--tough kid.
We had lunch out and delivered the friend to her home, then on Saturday afternoon, we bought school supplies for the girls. Needless to say, Allie's third grade requires a whole heck of a lot more supplies than Julia's kindergarten. Julia is showing just as much pride and excitement about her new backpack, crayons, and other items as she did about her birthday party supplies, which I can tell you is a considerable amount.
Yesterday, Allie went to a different friend's house for the afternoon and Greg talked online to Dan for quite awhile. Later I took the girls to the park and then Greg took them on a long bike ride. It's an awesome thing, now that Allie finally can ride without training wheels. Then Greg tried to teach them how to shoot baskets, which sounds like it was an interesting endeavor. After baths and watching some Olympics women's gymnastics in high def, it was bedtime.
I found out this morning that they were both trying to tumble and somersault on Allie's bed. Julia fell off. We heard the thud but she didn't cry--tough kid.
Friday, August 08, 2008
Summer
It's a beautiful day today. The sun is shining, the only clouds are big puffy white ones, it's not too hot so all of the windows are open, the birds are chirping, there's a light breeze . . . basically your stereotypical nice-as-possible summer day.
It's Friday. I hope you savor today for a few minutes and enjoy the coming summer weekend.
It's Friday. I hope you savor today for a few minutes and enjoy the coming summer weekend.
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Healthier
This morning, I heard a ruckus in the master bathroom that suggested a party was going on. I seriously didn't know what the heck was occurring, so I grabbed the cordless phone and headed upstairs, even though I suspected it was just the cats.
Oh, indeed. This morning, Greg was ready to take his four vitamin tablets and capsules when he realized that we were out of Dixie cups. He walked away and left the pills on the bathroom counter. It took the cats less than an hour to jump up and discover some small and yellow things that looked like fun to bat around. And so they did.
When I found them, Rabies was crouched over a fish oil capsule, licking it and batting it around the carpet. Simon had another capsule under his paw, I think vitamin E.
They've both gotten quite the boost to their metabolisms today!
Oh, indeed. This morning, Greg was ready to take his four vitamin tablets and capsules when he realized that we were out of Dixie cups. He walked away and left the pills on the bathroom counter. It took the cats less than an hour to jump up and discover some small and yellow things that looked like fun to bat around. And so they did.
When I found them, Rabies was crouched over a fish oil capsule, licking it and batting it around the carpet. Simon had another capsule under his paw, I think vitamin E.
They've both gotten quite the boost to their metabolisms today!
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Over
Just a really quick update because Blogger is going to be doing an update in four minutes. My interview went fine. It sounds like I'm one of four candidates under consideration. I should know something about a second (and possibly third) interview by the end of next week, maybe. I'll keep you posted.
Thanks again for your good wishes!
Thanks again for your good wishes!
Butterflies
A few days ago, I had my first mammogram. It was not fun. It was not godawful. It was one of those necessary evils of getting older, and I had put mine off a few years after I was supposed to have my first one.
Interviews are not fun. They aren't godawful. They're a necessary thing (I won't call them an evil). They're important. And despite my years of human resources experience, I have butterflies about today. Not great-big-leaping-in-the-stomach-fish, just butterflies.
Deep breath.
Interviews are not fun. They aren't godawful. They're a necessary thing (I won't call them an evil). They're important. And despite my years of human resources experience, I have butterflies about today. Not great-big-leaping-in-the-stomach-fish, just butterflies.
Deep breath.
Monday, August 04, 2008
Feeling uninspired
I don't know what it is. Now that I'm not working, I'm not very motivated for other things either. I did gear up last week and cleaned all three floors of our house. That actually takes much longer than you would think because before you can actually wipe something, you need to redistribute the three tons of crap that's on top of it. There was more stuff going up and down the stairs (to places that seemed more logical than the original locations) than a freight elevator should be asked to handle. There was an occasion to clean for (there usually has to be for this household to tidy up). Julia turned 5 on Wednesday and my family came for her birthday party on the weekend.
It was wonderful to have them visit and Julia got a ton of presents. She truly is spoiled rotten. My in-laws bought her (and Allie) all kinds of things the week before, then she got gifts from our daycare provider and her family, then she got a gift from us on her birthday, then she got more presents at her party. Quite the haul, it was. Where it's going to go, I have no idea. Actually, that's not true. Later this week or next week, this family is going to try to simplify. I want to open a closet door and have room to put something inside. After 10 years in this house, that's not the case right now. There'll be more on this project later.
In the meantime, I have to go shopping for interview clothes today. Yes, that does mean something. Wish me luck!
It was wonderful to have them visit and Julia got a ton of presents. She truly is spoiled rotten. My in-laws bought her (and Allie) all kinds of things the week before, then she got gifts from our daycare provider and her family, then she got a gift from us on her birthday, then she got more presents at her party. Quite the haul, it was. Where it's going to go, I have no idea. Actually, that's not true. Later this week or next week, this family is going to try to simplify. I want to open a closet door and have room to put something inside. After 10 years in this house, that's not the case right now. There'll be more on this project later.
In the meantime, I have to go shopping for interview clothes today. Yes, that does mean something. Wish me luck!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
I'm free
Yep, as of noon today, I'm unemployed. After one final "screw you" from the powers-that-be, of course.
If you're reading this, you've probably said wonderful things to me about how stupid my old employer was and is (oh, you have no idea how stupid, but yes, they are) and how you're sure that I'll land on my feet in a much better place (that would not be too hard) and how you wish me the best of luck always.
Thank you. I appreciate every one of those comments, and I thank you.
I'm free.
If you're reading this, you've probably said wonderful things to me about how stupid my old employer was and is (oh, you have no idea how stupid, but yes, they are) and how you're sure that I'll land on my feet in a much better place (that would not be too hard) and how you wish me the best of luck always.
Thank you. I appreciate every one of those comments, and I thank you.
I'm free.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Amazingly inspirational
For those of you who don't know, Greg and I are lucky to have wonderful friends who live in Yorkshire, England. Dan and Kerry are amazing people, though Dan is more than a bit bonkers. Why would I say such a thing?
I say such a thing because in about 5 hours (our time), Dan and nine of his friends are starting on a walk for charity that's going to take them 78 miles or so (mostly uphill, it looks like). They have a week, and I think you'll understand why I say Dan is crazy when I tell you that the first two days are 16 miles each (mostly uphill, did I say that?). Kerry has graciously volunteered for the task of schlepping the luggage around for all of these guys. Who says men pack light? Check this pile out.
Dan and his friends are taking on this amazing challenge (mostly uphill, did I say that?) to raise money for a charity run by a wonderful couple he knows after they suffered a tragedy and wanted to help others. They sound like terrific people. You can read Dan's further explanation and appeal here. This is a wonderful cause. Please, it's not too late to help by making a contribution. And if you just can't swing a contribution, please stop by Dan's website to check out their progress over the next week and to offer some words of encouragement. Please, about mile 31 of day 2 (of mostly uphill), they're going to need it.
Thank you!
I say such a thing because in about 5 hours (our time), Dan and nine of his friends are starting on a walk for charity that's going to take them 78 miles or so (mostly uphill, it looks like). They have a week, and I think you'll understand why I say Dan is crazy when I tell you that the first two days are 16 miles each (mostly uphill, did I say that?). Kerry has graciously volunteered for the task of schlepping the luggage around for all of these guys. Who says men pack light? Check this pile out.
Dan and his friends are taking on this amazing challenge (mostly uphill, did I say that?) to raise money for a charity run by a wonderful couple he knows after they suffered a tragedy and wanted to help others. They sound like terrific people. You can read Dan's further explanation and appeal here. This is a wonderful cause. Please, it's not too late to help by making a contribution. And if you just can't swing a contribution, please stop by Dan's website to check out their progress over the next week and to offer some words of encouragement. Please, about mile 31 of day 2 (of mostly uphill), they're going to need it.
Thank you!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
So what's up?
Well, I'm just about ready to start applying for work. There are three positions that I'm aware of that I want to submit my resume for, but that document needs "The Greg Stamp of Approval." Since Greg writes for a living, I value his opinion (and proofreading skills). Last night, he took a quick look at it and said something about widows and orphans. I don't know what that means, but I'm sure Greg will bring everyone together into families without much trouble.
At my current job, every day is kind of an ordeal. I have things to do, they're not bad things, but needless to say I've lost my heart for it. I just want them to let me go. They recognize the knowledge I have in my head and that they should try to get that stuff passed on, but the way they've asked me to do that . . . Without going into details, I'm so discouraged by recent decisions that I certainly recognize our "relationship" has come to an end. I can't quit, or I won't get unemployment. At this point, I'm thinking I'll be done by next week--or maybe even this Friday, who knows. Just let me go, people!
Greg is starting a campaign for me to be released and it has a slogan: FREE DEBBIE! FREE DEBBIE!
At my current job, every day is kind of an ordeal. I have things to do, they're not bad things, but needless to say I've lost my heart for it. I just want them to let me go. They recognize the knowledge I have in my head and that they should try to get that stuff passed on, but the way they've asked me to do that . . . Without going into details, I'm so discouraged by recent decisions that I certainly recognize our "relationship" has come to an end. I can't quit, or I won't get unemployment. At this point, I'm thinking I'll be done by next week--or maybe even this Friday, who knows. Just let me go, people!
Greg is starting a campaign for me to be released and it has a slogan: FREE DEBBIE! FREE DEBBIE!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Yay for breathing!
There's a letter to the editor in our local paper, talking about the victory the writer and others in our city have achieved. All of the full service restaurants in our town of 12,000 people are now smoke free. The writer says that he believes this is the first time a change like this has been accomplished in Wisconsin without having to pass a city ordinance.
Yay for Norm (the writer)! Yay for the other people who worked long and hard to get this completed. My family will no longer stink like cigarettes after eating Friday fish fry. We'll no longer have to try to explain to our girls that some people like to smoke right before and after they eat while they sit at the table next to us, even though, yes, they know it's going to kill them.
We'll probably have to walk through clouds of smoke to get in to the restaurant, but it's easier to hold my breath and hustle my kids through than to breathe it for an entire meal. Heck, we'll probably consider sticking around and ordering some of the delicious pie that a couple of our local restaurants are known for since we don't have to breathe other people's smoke.
Oops, opened a can of worms with that one. No, I'm not going into an obesity lecture (even for myself). I was kidding about the pie! Honest! One health issue at a time, people.
Yay for Norm (the writer)! Yay for the other people who worked long and hard to get this completed. My family will no longer stink like cigarettes after eating Friday fish fry. We'll no longer have to try to explain to our girls that some people like to smoke right before and after they eat while they sit at the table next to us, even though, yes, they know it's going to kill them.
We'll probably have to walk through clouds of smoke to get in to the restaurant, but it's easier to hold my breath and hustle my kids through than to breathe it for an entire meal. Heck, we'll probably consider sticking around and ordering some of the delicious pie that a couple of our local restaurants are known for since we don't have to breathe other people's smoke.
Oops, opened a can of worms with that one. No, I'm not going into an obesity lecture (even for myself). I was kidding about the pie! Honest! One health issue at a time, people.
Monday, July 07, 2008
Ugh! - - - Ahhhh!
Outside is just not a good place to be these days. What with the flaming chunks of firecrackers, the mosquitoes, the very high humidity, the mosquitoes, and the heat--it just seems prudent to spend time indoors.
So yesterday we took the kids to see Wall-E. Cute, very cute. Fortunately, our kids are old enough that when they ask questions during the movie, they whisper instead of holler. And fortunately, they stay in their seats, unlike a little boy next to us who went wandering around the aisle more than he sat down. And fortunately, our kids (meaning Julia) just cover their ears when there's loud noise, instead of scream at the top of their lungs, which is what the aforementioned boy did. Fortunately, the theater surround sound mostly drowned him out. Mostly.
We ate a little bit of popcorn and drank some lemonade and enjoyed the show. No mosquitoes. No humidity. And no heat (in fact, I had on flipflops and my toes were cold!). We should do this every night!
So yesterday we took the kids to see Wall-E. Cute, very cute. Fortunately, our kids are old enough that when they ask questions during the movie, they whisper instead of holler. And fortunately, they stay in their seats, unlike a little boy next to us who went wandering around the aisle more than he sat down. And fortunately, our kids (meaning Julia) just cover their ears when there's loud noise, instead of scream at the top of their lungs, which is what the aforementioned boy did. Fortunately, the theater surround sound mostly drowned him out. Mostly.
We ate a little bit of popcorn and drank some lemonade and enjoyed the show. No mosquitoes. No humidity. And no heat (in fact, I had on flipflops and my toes were cold!). We should do this every night!
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Our Independence Day
Allie wanted to go see the city fireworks. Julia wanted to go see the city fireworks. Greg wanted Allie to help him set off our fireworks in the driveway. Julia was supposed to watch but she only watched one or two before she came in, holding her hands over her ears. Allie watched all of it, but said that the smaller fireworks were boring. I was in and out of the house watching some of them and towards the end, Greg was lighting things, throwing them towards the road, and neither he nor Allie were even looking at them. Isn't that the point? All of us got completely eaten by mosquitos.
Then it came time to leave for the city fireworks. Julia had to change her clothes because she had on a sundress and it was only about 70 degrees outside. She started crying because her head got stuck and then she remembered that she apparently burned her fingers slightly on a hot sparkler. She was horribly tired anyway, so I suggested that she stay home with me. It was a measure of how tired she was that she thought about it and immediately said yes.
Julia went to sleep despite the noise outside and about 10:15, Greg and Allie came home. They banged on the window of the living room to try to scare me. When they came in, Allie immediately got into her pajamas and she went off to bed. For about 3 minutes. Then she came out on the landing and said plaintively, I don't want this night to end!
About that time, Greg and I realized that Simon the cat was missing. Greg looked all over the house and became convinced that Julia had let him out earlier when she was watching the fireworks in the driveway and holding the front door open. I suggested that Greg get some leaves off our catnip plant and see if that rousted him. I think the leaves from our catnip plant could entice a dead cat (yes, we do have cat visitors to our garden). Simon did not appear but Rabies had a great time. Greg went outside with a flashlight, risking intense mosquito attack, and I checked the house again. We both realized that if Simon had gotten out, the fireworks would scare him to death and he'd probably be long gone.
I went into the basement and opened the door to the storage room and behold! There was Simon, eager to get out and get upstairs to the catnip. Today, our plans are to go buy collars for the cats. There's a pet store in Madison that has cats, dogs, birds, ferrets, lizards, fish, spiders, snakes, hedgehogs, crabs, etc. It's like going to the zoo without getting eaten by mosquitos. Ah, summer in Wisconsin.
Then it came time to leave for the city fireworks. Julia had to change her clothes because she had on a sundress and it was only about 70 degrees outside. She started crying because her head got stuck and then she remembered that she apparently burned her fingers slightly on a hot sparkler. She was horribly tired anyway, so I suggested that she stay home with me. It was a measure of how tired she was that she thought about it and immediately said yes.
Julia went to sleep despite the noise outside and about 10:15, Greg and Allie came home. They banged on the window of the living room to try to scare me. When they came in, Allie immediately got into her pajamas and she went off to bed. For about 3 minutes. Then she came out on the landing and said plaintively, I don't want this night to end!
About that time, Greg and I realized that Simon the cat was missing. Greg looked all over the house and became convinced that Julia had let him out earlier when she was watching the fireworks in the driveway and holding the front door open. I suggested that Greg get some leaves off our catnip plant and see if that rousted him. I think the leaves from our catnip plant could entice a dead cat (yes, we do have cat visitors to our garden). Simon did not appear but Rabies had a great time. Greg went outside with a flashlight, risking intense mosquito attack, and I checked the house again. We both realized that if Simon had gotten out, the fireworks would scare him to death and he'd probably be long gone.
I went into the basement and opened the door to the storage room and behold! There was Simon, eager to get out and get upstairs to the catnip. Today, our plans are to go buy collars for the cats. There's a pet store in Madison that has cats, dogs, birds, ferrets, lizards, fish, spiders, snakes, hedgehogs, crabs, etc. It's like going to the zoo without getting eaten by mosquitos. Ah, summer in Wisconsin.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Now on TV
Tonight, my family watched a new show called "Baby Borrowers." The premise is that five teenage couples who all think they're ready to have a baby are given individual homes in a cul de sac and their own vehicles. Then they wear an Empathy belly pregnancy simulator thing for two days and then they get real babies. The infants ranged in age from six months to eleven months and the kids got them for three days and nights. After the first day, one of the kids stays home with the baby and the other goes to work outside the home (and believe me, there were fights over who got to leave). The real parents could watch 24-7 on surveillance cameras and a trained nanny stayed the entire time in the house, but the nannies were told not to comment or intervene unless the child was in physical danger.
In future shows, the kids are getting toddlers, then preteens, then teenagers, then senior citizens. It was pretty interesting stuff. Some of the kids were just completely overwhelmed. The couples would start arguing over who had to take care of "it." Yes, they called the baby, "It." In most cases, the real parents ended up popping in to either chastise the kids or give them a pep talk (mostly chastising). Two of the girls just stopped trying to take care of the babies. I've read reviews of the show, and apparently in a future episode, a nanny has to step in when one couple decides to leave a toddler alone in a house.
Allie and I had a good conversation while we watched. She ended up saying that she doesn't want to get a baby (yep, she said "get") until she's at least 38, like me. Oh, boy. I told her that she can have a baby when she's younger than 38. After all, I had Allie when I was 34 and I think I would have been ready by 28 or so (I'm a late bloomer!). But I think now she's going to be checking the parenting credentials of future boyfriends!
In future shows, the kids are getting toddlers, then preteens, then teenagers, then senior citizens. It was pretty interesting stuff. Some of the kids were just completely overwhelmed. The couples would start arguing over who had to take care of "it." Yes, they called the baby, "It." In most cases, the real parents ended up popping in to either chastise the kids or give them a pep talk (mostly chastising). Two of the girls just stopped trying to take care of the babies. I've read reviews of the show, and apparently in a future episode, a nanny has to step in when one couple decides to leave a toddler alone in a house.
Allie and I had a good conversation while we watched. She ended up saying that she doesn't want to get a baby (yep, she said "get") until she's at least 38, like me. Oh, boy. I told her that she can have a baby when she's younger than 38. After all, I had Allie when I was 34 and I think I would have been ready by 28 or so (I'm a late bloomer!). But I think now she's going to be checking the parenting credentials of future boyfriends!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)