Ka-chow!

School

2011-04-11T06:07:00.000-05:00

I've pretty much been "chubby" my whole life, and that pretty much made my entire school experience, from kindergarten to Bachelors degree, miserable. A fat chick is a target. Everyone seems to be okay with that. Additionally, or maybe in part because of always being a target, I've always been somewhat socially awkward, and that led to me periodically getting in trouble at school. I talked a lot. My attention wandered. I corrected teachers. I talked a lot. I also had a lot of problems with anxiety. Stomach problems. Recurring nightmares. Etc. So, while I do have a (small) handful of not-miserable memories of school, for the most part I look back and ... shudder.

When Seth started kindergarten last fall, I had high hopes that his school experiences would be better. That his memories of it would someday be happier. After all, he's a good looking kid who is not chubby. Smart, sweet, funny. And when we first met his teacher, we were all enthusiastic about the school year. She's experienced and involved, and from everything we'd heard about her, her kids all loved her and they learn a lot from her.

This past Friday, Seth got in a fair amount of trouble at school. Her notes are sometimes vague, and he sometimes acts like he's not quite sure why he got in trouble (which is counterproductive, if you ask me). Brian and I have been after Seth for a while now to not get in trouble anymore at school, and a couple nights last week he wasn't allowed to watch television or play with his DS, because of it. But on Friday, he cried at school. He got in trouble for forgetting to do something...and I'm sorry, but forgetting something is not a behavioral problem (if it were, I'd be in Leavenworth by now), and then he cried in class, and then he got in trouble two more times. In the note she sent home, she actually made fun of him for "bawling like a baby" ... at least, that was our perception of it. We both found it pretty unprofessional of a teacher to make a remark like that, in any case. So Seth didn't get in more trouble at home for that, as we could both tell he'd stressed himself out enough over it (hence the crying).

Last night as I was getting Seth ready for bed, and he realized it was a school night again, he started telling me his stomach hurt. "If I throw up tonight, I won't have to go to school tomorrow, right?" This made me so sad, I can barely articulate it. That's how it started for me...seventeen years of daily torture and nonstop anxiety. It is now my mission to keep it from happening to him. I wish I knew where to start.

Softball Practice

2011-04-06T21:13:00.000-05:00

OMG, why do boys eat dirt?!? Why? Why did he do it again this year? I sat there in my red chair outside the field and didn't know whether to go sit in the car and beat my head against the dashboard, or climb the fence and go all King Kong on him. And seriously, softball dads who are standing around the field? Pay attention to other kids besides your own kids. Specifically, the one in right field who is EATING DIRT. Looks like he could use a little of your attention, ya know?!?

Deep breath.

Okay. Besides the whole "eat dirt and embarrass my mother (she's the one sitting over there in the red chair)" sketch he performed for everyone, he did pretty well. Threw the ball, caught the ball, hit the ball. The actual softball stuff, not embarrassing. Second practice, Friday night. Oh, and his team is named the Holden Hitmen. As I told my sister, somewhere a Zarrelli ancestor is smiling.

Laughter

2011-04-06T14:13:00.002-05:00

Having found a new blog yesterday (http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/) and having, further, laughed my ass off while reading said blog, I've been giving some thought to all the things that make me laugh, and why. I don't mean to get all Aristotelian on you or anything, I just have a, shall we say, eclectic sense of humor, and lots of stuff makes me laugh. Here are a few of those things, in no particular order:

Friends outtakes. Specifically, the ones involving Ross, a couch going up a narrow stairway, and a set of bagpipes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQicfUjVVqU&feature=related
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C1rfr495sY

The moat scene in The Pink Panther Strikes Again. Just humming the music from this makes me giggle. "Swine moat!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyLCkbyYfis
(sorry, this clip has an ad in front, I hate that)

This, from History of the World, Part I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2skwoHvw-3w

Damn near anything in Young Frankenstein, but especially this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu1DMSqTLyk

Monty Python's sketch The Fish-slapping Dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhJQp-q1Y1s
and
The Semaphore Version of Wuthering Heights
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91_jymgH8QY

These twin boys, talking to each other.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JmA2ClUvUY

This website:
http://www.damnyouautocorrect.com/
and this one, tho he doesn't update it anymore:
http://mil-millington.com/
(btw, Mil's a tremendously nice guy, we've exchanged several email messages over the past few years)

And, of course, a lot of stuff Seth says and does. Yesterday he told me he had "fifty-five pounds of love" for me.

Oh, and why do these things make me laugh? They're just frickin' funny!

Absence

2011-04-05T12:45:00.002-05:00

I see it's been well over a year that I've written a blog entry. As I suspected from the first, my ability to maintain a blog...not to mention my overall interest in doing so...dwindled over time. Plus, once you get used to Facebook, blogs seem superfluous. Especially when you're as lazy as I am. So, an update. Or, shall we say, a series of updates.

Seth
Seth's in kindergarten now, and is doing well...except for that all-important "listens and follows directions" category. The kindergarten grade report at Seth's school is a simple series of Ys and Ns, Y being yes, this student has mastered this specific item, and N being no, your kid obviously should have attended a preschool. Thus far, Seth's grade report has been 99% Y and 1% N. Apparently, he doesn't like being told what to do anymore than I did. Acorn...tree. He's wearing glasses now. My little Clark Kent. He's done very well with them so far. Knows how to handle them, how to take care of them. Knock on wood, this pair will last a good long while. He's been taking piano lessons since this past October. His instructor says he's done very well. And yet he bitches and moans *every day* about practicing, says he HATES it. And I say, no one I've bought a $500 piano for gets to quit until they're 18. So there. We've got him signed up for machine-pitch softball this year, and practice begins this week. Last summer he played tee-ball, which was slow and boring, and to which I no longer wanted to be subjected. I mean, Seth. Seth didn't want to do it anymore. Brian took him to Chuck Gard's house a couple weeks ago to practice hitting, and said he did surprisingly well, so we're not worried about his skills. Just everyone's level of interest.

Us
We have a trip to Disney World planned for June, after school is out. We're driving down in the new Pilot, and spending four days there before driving back. Three days at DW, one (possibly) at the Kennedy Space Center. I'm in full-on planning mode, of course. We're also hoping to make it to Chicago again for Labor Day weekend this year, to stay at Hotel Arnold and see our good friends James and Kristal...not to mention Gabriella and the new baby (due in May). Brian is still at Billy Goat, and I am still at SH3. This means we haven't won PowerBall yet. Other than that, I don't know what to tell you. Life goes on.

Seventy-four

2010-02-15T11:15:00.001-06:00

President's Day. Or is it Presidents' Day? The important thing here is I get the day off work, so I don't really care where you put the apostrophe.

Another crap weather day so I'm staying home, which was not the kind of day I had in mind. I just don't like driving on slick or snowy roads if I can possibly avoid it. And since I'm all about avoidance, here I sit. I haven't even started doing laundry, I'm just...sitting. Reading. Goofing around with Seth.

Not too much going on these days. Brian and I spent this past Saturday night up in Kansas City. We got a room at the Westin Crown Center, went to the Nelson for a couple hours, and then had supper at Figlio's on the plaza. (The Spaghetti Diavolo was more diavolo than I remembered. Whew!) Seth stayed with Brian's folks overnight, and he had a good time too. Brian had roses delivered to the hotel room, when we walked in I was surprised with them. At first I didn't realize what he'd done, I just thought maybe the hotel had them in the room for Valentine's Day. And I'll be honest, when he first said that he'd had them sent...I wasn't sure whether to believe him or not. But while he's something of a bullshit artist, he's not a liar, so I finally believed him. And I certainly brought them home with me.

I've really been wishing I were in New Orleans lately. You know I've been there three times, right? Last time was for our honeymoon. But lately...I don't know what it is. I just REALLY want to get back there. It's probably that it's Mardi Gras week and the Saints just won the Super Bowl and I just read a book about it and watched The Big Easy again, so it's on my mind. In the air. But we sure don't have much of a travel budget this year. I got a good deal through PriceLine for the hotel room this weekend, and my dad is letting use some of his timeshare points for a long weekend in Arkansas at the end of May, but beyond that we're homebound this year. And Seth starts kindergarten in August so from here on out our travel plans will be defined and limited by his school schedule. But, man...beignet at Cafe du Monde. Brunch at The Court of Two Sisters. Hurricanes on Bourbon St. That music. That SMELL. I want to go back!!!!!

Anyway. Looks like it's lunch time. Seth will be out here any minute looking for a turkey sammich. Best go get ready for that.

Seventy-three

2009-12-13T08:00:00.000-06:00

Long overdue for an update, I see. Sorry, Facebook is easier.

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat.... Our tree is up, the stockings are hung, the lights are up outside. And it's coooold. Almost done with the shopping, but need to start the wrapping today. I think we're going to see Brian's grandmother today, take her her gift and visit for a while. We were at Anne-Marie's last night, making cookies and candy and just hanging out. Had some wine, the first I've had in AGES. Expected to get buzzed and then have a headache, but neither occurred. I'm guessing it has something to do with body weight. :oP

We've got a new front door in and almost finished, Brian is going to finish up the trim and whatnot today, if he's feeling up to it. He wasn't feeling very good yesterday or last night, flu-like symptoms. The old door was letting so much air blow through we might as well have left it open. We went ahead and bought the new door so we could get the tax credit. And because it's purty.

Seventy-two

2009-09-09T21:18:00.000-05:00

Chicago
Labor Day weekend, 2009

Saturday: rode the train (Seth loved it), got to Chicago a half-hour ahead of schedule (everybody loved that), had a steak dinner at Hotel Arnold (yum), watched a movie when the kids went to bed (by Grabthar's hammer!).

Sunday: went to church (and did NOT burst into flames), lunch at Cafe Arnold (on the house), afternoon at the Museum of Science & Industry (rock star parking!), deep-dish pizza at Moretti's (topping compromise reached after some intense--but bipartisan--negotiations), Settlers of Cataan until 1:30 am (guess who won).

Monday: breakfast at McArnold's (Seth finagled some waffles), packed the bags and stashed them in a locker at Union Station (with fingerprint scanning! on a luggage locker!!), walked to Michigan Avenue (OMG my feet hurt), saw the Oprah brouhaha (she shut down two blocks of Michigan Avenue for her show), found the LEGO store (spent some money in the LEGO store), homed in on the Girardelli chocolate store ("Would you like a free sample?" "What do YOU think?"), caught the bus back to Union Station (oh thank god), arrived in KC on time. And tired.

Thanks again to James and Kristal for being such great hosts. Gabriella is beautiful and you make great parents ... and you're great friends as well. We miss you but it's nice to have such a cool place to go visit now.

Seventy-one

2009-07-05T17:37:00.000-05:00

Am returned home from a nice, long weekend at Lake of the Ozarks; specifically, Ben and Karla's place near Laurie, MO; more specifically, near mile marker 43. Due to issues I won't go into in any great detail (let's just say the closer I am to a bathroom at night the better off I am), we decided to find a hotel room for the four of us (Brian, Seth, Lacey, and I), but we spent the rest of our time (not sleeping) at Ben and Karla's place. Actually, that's not entirely accurate. Brian and Lacey each spent large chunks of time taking naps sprawled across various horizontal surfaces. Seth and I, not so much.

We drove down Friday and beat everyone else there, so we unloaded the groceries, scoped out the situation, determined there was no possible way I could navigate the stairs at night without killing myself, and went and found a hotel room. Went back to the house to find Karla and Erlan in residence, and Scott and Jenni Harvey parking and setting up their pop-up camper. Ben and Chip and Nicholas showed up shortly thereafter and we got the party started.

Saturday we swam and went out on the boat and some people rode the inner tube (main channel!) (not me) and we "parked" in a cove and had some lunch and swam some more off the boat, and then went back to the house (where we found Ben's sister Amy waiting for us) and cleaned up a little and ate a big supper (excellent burgers, Amy!) and then we went out on the boat to see the fireworks. Seth fell asleep on the way out. We found a spot, were waiting for the fireworks to commence, realized a storm was moving in, and turned and headed for the house. At which time we decided that cowardice was the better part of valor (or however that goes) and we pulled the boat tarp out and no sooner had we done so than all hell broke loose and we got RAINED on. But we were covered up and Ben got us home none the worse for wear. And yes, Seth slept through all of it. One thing to note: today Seth was brave enough to "swim" on his own. He was wearing a life-vest and pretty much *couldn't* sink, but finally let go of Daddy and struck out on his own. He was very brave and VERY proud of himself...and now, of course, we'll have to watch him a thousand times closer when we're anywhere near a large body of water. Now that he thinks he's unsinkable.

Today, Brian and Lacey decided to try a little fishing near our hotel room (we had a dock right outside our door, basically), but didn't catch anything so it was short-lived. We headed back over to Ben and Karla's where we had a big breakfast (excellent eggs, Amy!) and then pretty much just sat around and visited until it was time to leave. Brian helped Scott and Ben a little down on the dock, trying to fix one of the boat lifts. Seth and Erlan played together a lot ("We caught six roly-polys!") and we had some lunch and then headed home. Oh, yeah, also, this morning we stopped at little roadside park that we found between our hotel room and the road back to Ben and Karla's house, that turned out to be a little roadside park I was at, oh, maybe about twenty-five years ago. Has a little memorial to Zach Wheat (baseball player)...and we had gone down many moons ago with my dad so he could visit with Wheat's grandson (or whoever). Kind of a coincidence, I guess.

In any case, we had a good weekend and are looking forward to going again sometime. Oh, and uh...I forgot to take my camera. So if I can finagle some pics out of Karla, I'll try and remember to get something posted sometime. Otherwise, you're just going to have to take my word for it.

Seventy

2009-06-19T21:45:00.000-05:00

Seems as tho I just haven't had much time to write on the blog lately. For those desiring a few trip details...Myrtle Beach was nice, but it ain't no Key West! We did have some excellent seafood at a buffet called Captain George's, and we spent some very fun and relaxing days at the beach. Excellent body surfing and wave jumping opportunities. Going out just past the breakers and riding waves makes me happier and more relaxed than just about anything else in the world. It's a true wonder that I live in the middle of the country and not on the edge of it somewhere. I must really love Brian!

Back at home and at work now, of course. Time marches on. I'd love to say we have some great Fourth of July plans approaching, but we do not. We might hook up with some folks we know whose son Seth goes to preschool with our son Seth, they're pretty cool. We chatted with them today at the ice cream social at the preschool and due to Joe's work and all the hay mowing/raking/baling about to commence they never seem to be able to make firm plans for anything in June or July either, so even if the guys are out in a field somewhere, Cindy and I and the two Seths may manage to make a day of it. Sparklers may even be involved at some point. (Yes, the metal ones! Dammit, we're mollycoddling these kids!!!)

Did you know I found out there's a Target right down the street from my office? I love Target. If Brian were paying more attention, the words "I'm going to Target today" would send a cold chill down his spine. They make more money off of my impulse purchases than I care to discuss. ("Hm. These flip-flops are only five dollars. I'm wearing flip-flops today, and I have four or five more pair at home, all rather similar. But these are only five dollars. I must have them!") (True story.)

I also love The Penguins of Madagascar right now, it is hands down my favorite new TV show this year. Seth's too. The new episode "Needle Point" is one of the funniest cartoons I've ever seen, I laughed my ass off. Tom McGrath is a comic genius, I am absolutely in love with his voice and comic timing (he's Skipper). In the movie Madagascar II, when he's in labor negotiations with the chimps, who are demanding paid maternity leave, and he goes "Maternity leave?" (then looks under the table for a moment, and pops his head back up) "You're all males!" leaves me gasping for breath every time.

Too much information? I was afraid of that...

Sixty-nine

2009-06-11T19:20:00.000-05:00

Myrtle Beach (June 2009)

Sixty-eight

2009-05-02T21:13:00.000-05:00

We went to Worlds of Fun today, the weather cooperated and our friends Jim and Trisha Williams were there, from St. Louis, with their kids Sydney and Jake. Syd sang in a choir competition this morning (still waiting to hear how her group did) and then they spent the rest of the day at WoF. Seth really enjoyed himself, I think. We spent the first part of the visit in the Camp Snoopy area, with the rides for the little kids. There's a little roller coaster there, the Wacky Worm. Seth rode it six times! Snoopy and Lucy came out to see the little kids but Seth wouldn't go near them (truly his mother's son!). Then we hooked up with Jim and Trisha and had some lunch (four slices of pizza, three fountain drinks, and one water = $38), and then split up and rode some other rides. Brian and I did manage to ride the Mamba while Seth went with Lacey and Trisha. We also rode the Octopus, since Seth was big enough if we accompanied him. The ride I really thought he'd enjoy, Le Taxitour, he hated. Go figure. Then shortly before we left, we found a little "theatre" where the Peanuts characters shared a little stage with any kids there and they sang and played some games. Seth finally agreed to share some space with adults in furry costumes, it was very cute.

In any case, we all had a good time and it was GREAT to see the Williams family again, however brief. Hopefully we'll see them again before another year goes by.

Sixty-seven

2009-04-26T18:55:00.001-05:00

There is a duck who has made a nest under the edge of a large round hay bale, one of the many that's currently in our yard. Her feathers are about the same color as the hay, except for a flash of white and green. I almost missed seeing her, she was very well tucked away. I didn't get too close, I didn't want to scare her or frighten her away. Of course, now I will worry about her and her eggs. We have dogs and cats roaming around, after all. I'm going to pretend it's the same duck that I found in our basement last year (or was that two years ago?) as that makes the story better. She was so happy that we got her out without hurting her that she decided to come back and lay her eggs nearby.

An update on my cousin Alan's condition: he is alert, can eat solid foods, recognizes his family, and can speak (tho with some slurring). I haven't heard any update on his paralysis, so I have no idea if that will improve or if he'll remain partially paralyzed. Still don't know much about strokes, even tho I watched my Grandmother essentially disappear before our eyes when she had her first one. Or maybe that's why. I think I tend to avoid the topic.

We still have two kittens, Mama cat has relocated them to one of the smaller sheds now. The female has long hair, white with black and orange thrown in. I've been calling her Fluffernutter. The male has shorter hair, white with black and gray spots/stripes. Tried calling him KitKat but it hasn't stuck, will try coming up with something else. Have a feeling they'll end up being my outside cat family.

Another weekend flown past, very little to show for it. Didn't even really get to sleep in, either day. The wind woke me this morning. I really, Really, REALLY hate spring/summer storms, and am already sick to death of the wind. It just will not let up.

Sixty-six

2009-04-21T19:33:00.000-05:00

Waiting to hear what's going on back east tonight; apparently my cousin Alan suffered a "significant stroke" today. He's about 44, 45 yrs old, too young for this. His older brother, my cousin Rocky, died in 2001, and their father, my Uncle Butch, died just a couple years ago. Not sure what is going on with that branch of the Zarrelli family but I don't like it!!

Other updates...we're looking forward to getting to meet Gabriella Arnold later this week. James and Kristal are in MO for a week (well, Kristal and Ella are, anyway) so we're meeting up with them on Thursday evening so that we can visit with all three of them before James leaves for work commitments.

[I bought a new book I'm thoroughly enjoying right now, Michael Palin's Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years. I don't know what it is about diaries or journals, but I find them fascinating, and here's a very funny guy talking about a very interesting topic during a very interesting period of time.

We bought the movie Bolt recently for Seth. I'd had three or four people talk about how funny it is, especially the hamster, Rhino. I was underwhelmed, to say the least. The pigeons in that movie were funnier than Rhino, and that's not really saying much. I much prefer the penguins and King Julian in the Madagascar movies. And the fact that I'm arguing the merits of one set of animated characters over another is really peculiar, anyway...

What else. Uh...I finally got some "girl time" this past weekend with Wendy and Karla. We met up in Lee's Summit for lunch and some power shopping. It was much needed, appreciated, and enjoyed. We're next hoping to get together in May at Wendy and Andy's for a splash-in-the-creek day followed by a campfire and cookout. That's, uh, not just for the girls, by the way, that's for all of us. :o)

Some pics from Easter.

Sixty-five

2009-03-22T20:10:00.000-05:00

Party Pics

Sixty-four

2009-03-17T18:46:00.000-05:00

Gorgeous day, eighty degrees fahrenheit, March 17. Great for the drunks out in Westport tonight! Now, those were the days. Start drinking at 9:00 am, wind down around ... oh, 2:00 am. I'll bet Jenny's out there right now. All the single ladies, put your hands up!

We're having a party for Lacey's birthday this weekend, incredibly hard to believe she's turning 16. I've known her half her life now. The first time I met her was in a parking lot, I was meeting Brian and Lacey for Red Friday, and I pulled into the lot and parked and turned the ignition off and turned to open my door...and she was already standing at my window, checking me out. Funny kid. Good kid. Argues like a barrister, but good.

Seth is sitting across from me right now with dirty knees and a big scrape/bruise on his forehead (faceplant on the playground at preschool), checking for toe-jam. When we got home he jumped right in his jeep and cruised around the yard for about half an hour. Totally happy. That thing was worth every penny.

My rash is nearly gone, I'm happy to report. Just nearly.

Sixty-three

2009-03-14T19:05:00.000-05:00

Spent a good part of my morning at urgent care again. Last night I started getting a rash on my chest and arms and face, and this morning it was everywhere, and my face was swollen. Got a steroid shot and a prescrip for prednizone, and some antihistamines. It has maybe started to go down a little, but not much. I have NO idea what's going on, an allergic reaction to something, but god knows what. I can't think of anything I did differently yesterday, didn't use any new soaps or lotions, didn't eat anything new or unusual.

Looks like MU just won the Big 12 championship. Woot! So much for the Baylor bandwagon. I read earlier that the arena wasn't even a third full, and scalpers couldn't get $10 for tickets. That's kind of ugly.

I downloaded the new U2 album over a week ago and still haven't listened to it. I don't know why not. AND, I don't even know what it's called or what any of the songs are. (When asked, I always say U2 is my favorite rock band. Does this now disqualify me from being able to say that...at least with a straight face?)

I'm sitting here typing this and watching Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey undressing each other. If that doesn't make you want to kill yourself I don't know what will.

Sixty-two

2009-03-13T04:58:00.000-05:00

Another Friday rolls around. This time last week I was unconscious, I was SO sick last Friday. Dr said viral bronchitis but I don't think it could have been that. I've had bronchitis before and this wasn't anything like that. In any case, I feel better now.

My very good friends James and Kristal had their baby this week, Gabriella Jean. She'll be called Ella, I believe, and not Gabby, thank goodness. :o) Seth is very interested in her, we got to have lunch with them around the holidays and Seth thought the whole "she has a baby in her belly" thing was fascinating, so now that she's "out" he asks about her a lot. The inevitable questions are bubbling around in that active little brain of his, I'm sure.

MU won their basketball game last night, apparently. KU and KState both lost yesterday. Funny. Even funnier -- I don't care!!

Random pictures to follow...

Sixty-one

2009-02-24T12:29:00.001-06:00

What? Where have I been? Oh, you know. Job. Husband. Kid. Freelance work. A house to keep up with.

We bought another cow this past weekend. What? Yeah, “another cow.” Now we’re up to three cows. We bought the first two around the holidays. Lucy and Ethel. The new cow is Roseanne. She has a heifer calf, her name is Darlene. What? Yeah, yeah. Television names. You noticed. Lucy and Ethel are both pregnant. If Lucy has a bull-calf, just guess what his name is going to be.

Uh…we’re starting with the prep for the Myrtle Beach trip. Seth is already talking about what he’ll wear. We priced airline tickets and discovered it was WAAAAY cheaper to fly to Charlotte than directly to Myrtle Beach. So we'll rent a car (we would have anyway) and drive down to the beach, it's about three, three and a half hours. For an old hand at car-trips like myself, that's a cake-walk.

Seth. Seth is good. I am finding, however, that the Fours are definitely worse than the Twos or the Threes. And when you’re dealing with a smart Four, you’re really in trouble. I don’t have any specific stories to pass along today, just suffice it to say he's got a huge vocabulary and he knows how to use it. He also knows how to use charm and dissimulation.

Also, in case anyone else was wondering but had never bothered to really find out, I just read a little about why February only has 28 days. Probably at some point in my youth we studied this topic, but I didn't retain the info. So...

When the Roman calendar was first created, it was established to keep track of the agricultural cycles of planting and harvesting. There were, initially, only ten months, March to December. But a guy named Numa Pompilius decided, around 3000 years ago, that a calendar that basically overlooked one-sixth of the year didn't really make sense, so he decided that a year should have 355 days...approximately the length of twelve lunar cycles. Extra days ("leap" days) were added to keep the calendar roughly in tune with the seasons, and January and February were added then (to the end of the year). Since Romans considered that even numbers were unlucky, he made seven months 29 days long, and four months 31 days long.

But, it turned out he’d need one even-numbered month to make it come out to 355 days. So February was picked, since, at that time, it was the last month of the year, and was “assigned” only 28 days. It wasn’t until a long time later that Julius Ceasar reorganized the calendar, bumped it up to 365 days, and moved January and February to the beginning of the year.

Sixty

2008-12-17T11:55:00.000-06:00

Well, it's been a while. Too much "life" going on, I guess.

Seth's Christmas program at his preschool was Tuesday night, the roads were bad but since they didn't cancel we forged ahead. It was very cute. His class sang two songs, "Silent Night" and "Up on the Housetop." I'd post a video here but apparently they're both too big. Santa also put in an appearance. He and Seth had quite a conversation.

Otherwise, we've just been getting ready for the holidays. I'm pretty much done shopping, just a few little things left to finish it up. Work has been busy, have had to bring a lot of work home over the past couple months. But they've given us two nice bonuses this fall, so I can't complain about that. And just one more work day to go and then we have a nice break, I have off from the 23rd to January 2nd. Brian has that time off as well.

Tonight we're going up to Wendy and Andy's to have dinner and play cards and visit and spend the night, and then tomorrow we're doing Christmas with Uncle Phil and Mary, since they can't come up on Christmas day. Hopefully the 20% chance of light snow today stays 20% or below, and light as well.

Fifty-nine

2008-11-09T18:58:00.000-06:00

Key West

November 1-8, 2008

Saturday, November 1: Travel. Lots and lots and lots of travel. A hotel stay, then a shuttle from the hotel to the airport. Two flights. A four and a half hour drive from Ft Lauderdale to Key West. Oy!

Sunday, November 2: Drove around the Key, took in some sights. Stopped and parked near Mallory Square, immediately starting buying things and taking pictures. (In the new encyclopedia coming out early next year, there's a picture of us next to the entry for Hoosier Tourists.) I did snag some Key Lime Lotion that is really great, and we bought some Key Limeade that was really great ... sensing a theme, are we? We went to the Aquarium, where they had a touch tank that I was armpit deep in within seconds of sighting it. Crabs, starfish, urchins, sea cucumbers, etc. Had some lunch, stocked up on groceries for the week, and went back to the resort and hit the pool.

Monday, November 3: Brian found a half-day chartered fishing trip to join (the boat's name was the Captain Conch), whereon he caught a 20 lb barracuda. I do not have pictures of this yet, he took the waterproof disposable and we don't have it developed yet. He also caught another large fish, I think he said a big mackerel. While he was doing that, my mom and sister and Seth and I went to one of the small beaches on the south side of the Key. There was no surf, the water was almost completely still. For someone who grew up going "down the shore" to LBI, with sometimes monster breakers, it was weird. Almost eerie. There was also lots of broken glass, so I, of course, spent my time looking for and picking up and grousing about bits of glass so Seth wouldn't cut his feet. He spent all his time running around like a crazy man. He does love the beach!!

Tuesday, November 4: My mom and sister went their own way, so Brian and Seth and I went on a glass-bottom boat cruise, out to some coral reefs. A pod of bottle-nosed dolphins joined us and swam with the boat for a while, I was excited to see that...so naturally the battery in my camera died right about then. I got a small bit of video and a couple shots where you can sort of maybe kind of tell that they're dolphins. The cruise itself was very cool, we saw some beautiful fish and coral while we were out there. Then we walked down Duval St and had lunch at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville. Had our first conch fritters there (or, as Seth calls them, critters); they were quite good. Did not see Jimmy Buffett. After lunch, we bought some ice cream cones, bought some large matted prints from a professional photographer and had it shipped home, and then went to the Pirate Soul Museum, which is tres cool. Even the stuff you had to smell.

Oh, yeah, I went and found the house on Duncan St where Tennessee Williams lived. It's not a museum now or anything, just a private residence, so I just had Brian take a couple shots of me standing outside. I was dying to see the studio out back where he wrote but it's fenced and, of course, the yard is completely full of palm trees and other lush green things.

Also, Brian and my sister and I stayed up to follow election results and to hear the acceptance speech from Grant Park. I wept. I was so proud of this country!! (Missouri, not so much...) John McCain's speech was very gracious ... where was *that* guy during the election? The John McCain I liked a year ago finally showed up! I think if Obama had run against the *real* John McCain it would have been a tougher race.

Wednesday, November 5: The Big Day, the trip to the Dry Tortugas. Seventy miles west at 26 knots on choppy water ... Seth threw up before I could get him outside. Then two other people threw up. I thought maybe, just maybe, I would have to join them, but I stayed strong and did not ralph. Thank god, because the rest of the day was BEAUTIFUL! I have never seen water like that, so incredibly, perfectly blue. I could have put up a tent and stayed on that beach forever. Fort Jefferson was cool, also. Could use a few ghosts, some eerie noises in the dark corners would have spiced things up. But my god, the water.

I tried snorkeling. If anyone reading this knew me as a child, you know I used to enjoy swimming. Loved to swim underwater; I was like a seal. Then I hit puberty and inexplicably lost the ability to keep water from entering my head through my sinus cavity. And one summer wearing a nose clip around your Jersey cousins will permanently cure you of wearing a nose clip, so no more swimming underwater for Jennifer. Anyway ... I put on the mask, got the tube or whatever in my mouth correctly, put my head underwater ... and hyperventilated. WTF?!? So now I'm AFRAID of going underwater? When did that happen?

Also, the captain of the catamaran we rode out pulled Seth and me aside to show us what was quite probably the biggest fish I have ever seen or will ever see up close, a 300 lb grouper, one of five or six that hang around under the docks and boats there on the island. It was huge. The pictures I took don't do it justice, there's nothing really showing for scale.

We doped Seth up with some dramamine for the ride home, and he slept the entire way. We had supper at Finnegan's Wake (complete with authentic swearing Irishmen in the front bar! Fookin' this and fookin' that! It was great!) and then hit the hay, we were thoroughly worn out.

Thursday, November 6: More shopping in Mallory Square, and a visit to Mel Fisher's Maritime Museum. If you're into underwater archaeology (shut up, Anne-Marie) and shipwrecks and gold, Google this guy. He found the wreck of the Atocha and brought it all up. It's quite something. I wanted to see more gold, but what the hell, it was still cool. In one part of the exhibit you get to heft one of the gold ingots from the wreck. Heavy! Later in the evening we went back for sunset at Mallory Square, when lots of street performers and artisans and vendors set up shop. It was neat. Seth was being a pill, really whiny and grouchy, wouldn't even smile for the pictures with Captain Wasabi, a very nice pirate who didn't make us walk the plank or anything.

Friday, November 7: Our last full day on Key West. Because I'm me, we went for some more shopping. I caved and bought a replica coin from the Atocha; it's a replica, but it's made from a silver ingot that was on the Atocha, so it's *almost* real. It was authentically expensive, in any case. Brian and Seth and I went to a restaurant for lunch called the Conch Republic Seafood Co., and I fully and wholeheartedly recommend this restaurant to anyone going to Key West who wants a fantastic seafood meal. OMG!! I had a dish that was ravioli stuffed with crab meat, paired with seared jumbo shrimp, sun-dried tomatoes, and baby spinach, in a lemon-garlic-parmesan cream sauce. My basic reaction was "Holy Shit!" I also had a real mojito, which I *think* might have made the meal even better. :o) Later in the afternoon we went to our third beach, at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park on the west side of the Key. It was nice, but really rocky and full of shells. We traveled home the following day, landed at KCI around 10:00 pm, where it was SIXTY DEGREES COLDER than where we were all last week. That makes it rather harder to be glad to be home. Also, our furnace isn't working. Did I mention how cold it is here?

Fifty-eight

2008-10-26T12:35:00.000-05:00

Sheesh! I lost track of this blog, didn't realize how long it had been since I posted. Life does have a tendency to interrupt the fun!

Let's see...well, we attended the rally in KC for Barack Obama. It was very exciting, not least because there were more than 70,000 people there. I think I might have gotten a picture of his elbow, but I can't be sure. We got nowhere near him. I've decided not to be disappointed about it; I'm sure security was an issue, and it really was thrilling that so many people were there, and it was such a diverse -- and happy! -- crowd.

Yesterday we took Seth to the Homecoming Parade in Warrensburg, just for fun. Seth C. and his mom Cindy (from preschool) met us there and while we were pretty damn cold, we had a nice time. Seth learned really fast to stand there and hold out his bucket and be cute; he got a lot of candy that way.

Now, this week will be spent prepping for the Key West trip. We're spending Friday night at my Dad's up in the city, and he'll take us to the airport early (EARLY!!) Saturday a.m. to catch our 7:00 o'clock flight. We decided (okay, I decided) to ship our largest piece of luggage down there ahead of us, to avoid having it get lost. We no longer have a direct flight; Midwest Air so kindly cancelled many of their Florida flights and forced us onto an AirTran itinerary that now includes a connection in Atlanta. I have read NO positive reviews of AirTran's customer service or baggage handling skills, so we're sending our luggage down by UPS this week and hopefully the folks at the resort won't throw it in the ocean. I'm trying not to dwell on the whole luggage issue, tho. I'd rather be excited about the trip. I've told Seth about going on a glass-bottom boat cruise and he thinks that sounds pretty cool. We're also going to do a day cruise out to the Dry Tortugas, to see Fort Jefferson and some blue, blue water. Maybe we'll find some pirate treasure!

Fifty-seven

2008-10-04T15:35:00.001-05:00

We lost Dodge this weekend. Hit by a car.

Fifty-six

2008-09-27T12:16:00.000-05:00

Oh, damn. Damn, damn, damn!!!

Probably shouldn't put up a pic of him with a cig but it's one of my faves. Wow, am I going to miss him!

Fifty-five

2008-09-20T15:35:00.000-05:00

Week 3, and I just took Seth to his last swimming lesson in Warrensburg. I was discontent two weeks ago, the first day. Too many kids, not enough instructors, very little actually happening. Last week, slight improvement, willing to keep at it. Today, Seth almost drowned.

Have you ever thought about how things can happen in a "split-second"? Literally, a heartbeat. The blink of an eye. A blind eye on a disinterested swimming instructor who has too many kids in the pool and isn't getting paid enough to be there in the first place. Seth let go of the side of the pool and slipped under. Thankfully, luckily, I was watching him. I had a book in my hands, I hadn't been watching a moment or two earlier, I was reading. Trying to take advantage of five, ten minutes of Seth not tugging on my shirt, needing something. But I was watching then, and was immediately up, on my feet, running to the pool, yelling at the instructors. They finally saw him, noticed, got to him, and he was fine. I waited a minute to be sure he was okay, then sat back down. He finished the lesson, we drove home. It wasn't until we were in the car that I started shaking, feeling sick to my stomach, scared shitless. A split-second. A heartbeat.

What are they called...helicopter parents? Always hovering? I don't want to to be one of those...but it's moments like these where it's easy to see how it comes about, how the impulse is born. Who can you trust but yourself sometimes? Certainly not the Red Cross swimming instructors at the community center in Warrensburg, Missouri.

Fifty-four

2008-09-10T19:52:00.000-05:00

Is it just me, or do any of these things give anyone else a warm fuzzy?

Hot apple cider
Leaves changing to yellow, red, and orange
Getting to wear my favorite sweatshirt (a literal warm fuzzy...)
Hayrides and bonfires
Construction paper turkeys you make by tracing your hand
Five Little Pumpkins
Chili suppers and cakewalks
Making your own Halloween costume
Caramel apples
Buying school supplies (Trapper Keepers! 64-count box of Crayola Crayons! art gum erasers!)

The days and nights are getting cooler here in mid-Mo and I couldn't be happier. I love Autumn!! Love it!! And we're having a Welcome to Autumn party next month and I'm having so much fun planning it. Many of those things listed above will be featured. (Not the Trapper Keepers.)

And, show of hands -- who thinks I'm retarded for joining the PTO two years before Seth even starts kindergarten? I did it so I could start meeting other parents and getting to know the teachers. I'd also like to make myself useful and help out where it's needed, and I know teachers often need a hand with things. Brian expressed the opinion the other night that it's "weird" and basically a waste of my time. I'm curious what other people honestly think.

In other news...there really isn't any other news. Things at my job have finally slowed down to a normal pace. I'm now doing the work of one person, versus doing the work of five people, as has been happening the entire rest of the year. It has been psychotic there! But we're in the middle of a breather and I don't actively dread going in right now, so it's been nice.

And I've been trying to upload some pictures I took this past weekend but they won't. I'll try again later.

Fifty-three

2008-08-26T19:48:00.000-05:00

Nashville, August 2008

Saturday: LONG drive down. Seth did really well. Got checked in at the resort around 6:00 pm, went and had a mediocre steak dinner, and called it a night, we were too tired for much else. Seth thought it would be cool to sleep on the sofa bed ... but I woke up around 11:30 and Seth was in bed with me and Brian was on the sofa bed, unconscious, TV remote clutched in his fist. He really watches too much television.

Sunday: drove around near the resort, found the Aquarium ... and here I should confess that my internet research failed me; I thought it was a real aquarium ... it's a restaurant called the Aquarium ... just a bunch of fish tanks! I felt like an idiot! But, there's a place just across the mall from it called Sting-Ray Reef with a big tank full of sting-rays and small fish and sharks, and then some other tanks with other critters (snakes, toads, piranha). You can buy a little dish of shrimp and feed the sting-rays. Seth wasn't interested so I did it. They're so soft! We also rode a carousel there. 'Cause, you know. Sting-rays. Carousels. Naturally! At 2:00 pm we attended Backyardigans Live! at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in downtown Nashville. Seth really seemed to enjoy it. Brian only fell asleep once. At 5:15 pm, we boarded the General Jackson Showboat for a dinner cruise down the Cumberland River. We mostly had a nice time ... I'll just say that it was a long time to be on a boat with a three-year-old, and leave it at that. I did snap some pics of a big sculpture on the banks of the river near downtown, a Google search reveals its name is "Ghost Ballet of the East Bank Machineworks." Seth thought it was a roller-coaster.

Monday: we'd originally set this day aside for driving up to the Land Between the Lakes and being all outdoorsy and stuff. It rained pretty much all day, so we changed our plans. At 10:00, we went to the Adventure Science Center, which is WAY cool. Seth had a blast. The whole middle of the place is one big climber with slides here and there; you can climb all the way to the top of the building and look out over the city; really, really cool. Seth scaled it twice. There was a small dinosaur exhibit; too small, really, but Seth liked it. We went to a show about stars and planets in the planetarium that was pretty cool (and narrated by Luke Skywalker), and the slide in the Small Intestines part of the body exhibit makes a really loud fart sound when you hit the bottom ... another highlight for Seth. It takes so little to make him happy. We left a little after lunch time, went and had some lunch, and then laid around the room for a while until we lucked out and got a small break in the rain, so Seth could go swimming. (The indoor pool had been drained the day before; some hoosier guest broke glass in it so they had to drain it and clean it out.) While at the outdoor pool, Seth scared the crap out of us by just jumping in and going straight to the bottom. I had just gotten out of the big pool and gotten in the little pool, and no sooner had I done so than he got *out* of the little pool and tried to drown himself in the big pool. Brian was only four or five feet away but it took him a few seconds to get to him. Seth didn't act very upset afterwards, but Brian was pretty spooked by it. Of course, Brian was *already* traumatized ... the first thing he did was jump in the pool with his cell phone in the pocket of his swim trunks! He's still trying to get it dried out.

Tuesday: long drive home. Seth watched his movies most of the way, and Brian and I were so glad we'd found an audio book to listen to. We're not finished with it, it has thirteen discs!

In any case, it was nice to get away, and nice to get home. Seth was worn clean out, I got him to bed at 8:00 tonight, which is early, with no argument from him. I'm about to go to bed myself!

Fifty-two

2008-08-18T12:25:00.000-05:00

Answers

1. Working Girl
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark
3. The Philadelphia Story
4. Young Frankenstein
5. The Breakfast Club
6. The Big Easy
7. Moonstruck
8. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
9. The Quiet Man
10. The Pink Panther Strikes Again
11. Blazing Saddles
12. The Lion in Winter (probably one of the best screenplays ever written)
13. Indiscreet
14. History of the World Part I
15. Two Mules for Sister Sara

Fifty-one

2008-08-14T18:21:00.000-05:00

The other day, my sister and I texted each other back and forth for about an hour, just with movie quotes. I thought it might be fun to list some of my faves and see (if anyone's even reading this anymore) how many of them people recognized...

1. Six thousand dollars? It's not even leather!
2. It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage.
3. Dost thou have a washroom?
4. Ya little zipperneck!
5. Does Barry Manilow know you've been raiding his wardrobe?
6. Aw, man, now they're killing retards! (Then why ain't you dead?)
7. Old man, you give those dogs one more piece of my food, I'm gonna kick you 'til you're dead!
8. Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries!
9. He'll regret it to his dying day...if ever he lives that long.
10. Swine maid!
11. Somebody's going to have go back and get a shitload of dimes!
12. Eleanor, with one hand tied behind you.
13. How dare he make love to me and not be a married man!
14. Could you please step on the same foot at the same time! My tits are falling off!
15. Everybody's got a right to be a sucker once.

Fifty

2008-08-14T07:46:00.000-05:00

Just a short post to put up a few pictures taken recently. Still nothing much going on. We've added a jaunt to the Land Between the Lakes to the itinerary of our Nashville trip next week. Brian wants to go on a canoeing excursion, I want to take Seth to the planetarium, and we both apparently want to spend a lot more money on gas than originally planned.

Slim4Life update, in case anyone's wondering. I've lost about 36 lbs, and 12.5 inches total. I've almost hit my weight loss goal, and almost hit my jeans-size goal, so probably just a few more weeks to go. Three, maybe four. I had to cut nearly all carbs and dairy out of my diet, so I haven't had cheese or milk or pasta or good bread for a very, very ... very ... long time. Oddly, the thing I've missed the most is the milk. I only drink 1% milk, I never thought for a minute I would be told No Milk, but there you go. No Milk. (I do take calcium supplements.) Hopefully once I move out of the Weight Loss phase and into the Stabilization phase, I get my milk back. Right now, if they said you could have milk OR pasta, hands down it would be milk. And that surprises me.

So, pictures. The Darth Vader costume was very kindly given to me by a coworker, whose own kids have outgrown it. She heard about the lightsaber and appeared at work the next day with the Vader costume. Seth wears it a LOT, especially the cape and mask. He's even taken it to preschool a few times. What a weirdie! The other shots are just random.

Forty-nine

2008-08-03T09:29:00.001-05:00

Another long stretch between posts. Am I losing my enthusiasm? Or am I really just *that* boring?!? (That's a rhetorical question...)

Had lunch yesterday with my friend Jenny, whom I hadn't seen for some few months. It was really nice to just sit and talk with her for a while, get caught up. I'll admit I do spend some time every now and then wishing all my friends weren't so far away. Susan's up in the northland. Wendy and Karla are in Marshall. Kelly is in Florida. Trisha is in St. Louis. And I haven't made any friends in Holden, so there's absolutely no one local for me to talk to or hang out with. I know. Would I like some cheese with this whine?

What else. I already mentioned the Nashville jaunt. We've also now planned a week in Myrtle Beach for June 2009, so that's three trips to plan and look forward to. Nashville's just a couple weeks away now, I'm really looking forward to it. Even the Backyardigans thing!

Forty-eight

2008-07-18T11:42:00.001-05:00

I see that it's been a little while since I posted. I have been insanely busy at work, and have had little time for my witless meanderings.

Let's see...uh...I'm drawing a blank here. Oh, the reunion! I knew there was something I meant to talk about. I went to my 20th high school reunion last weekend, sort of. By which I mean, we got there too late for the event in the morning, attended the midday picnic (during which it rained), and then skipped the party/dance in the evening. We were having too nice a time at Wendy and Andy's house and decided to just stay put. Yes, for that I paid $50.

So how was it? It was underwhelming. Very low turnout, very unexciting. Very not worth $50.

What else. Brian and I have planned a long weekend in Nashville, we'll be there in late August, and we're taking Seth. I bought tickets to see Backyardigans Live!, which I'm sure Seth will enjoy very much, and Brian and I ... will not. :o) I can just barely stand the television show. We're not telling him about it, so if you read this, don't mention it to Seth, please!! We're also going to try and book a spot on a nature "cruise" on the Cumberland River, and have a big breakfast at the Loveless Cafe.

I'm lobbying for a date night this weekend, so we can go see The Dark Knight. I hear it's quite good.

Forty-seven

2008-07-05T09:10:00.001-05:00

We were in Marshall yesterday for a Fourth of July picnic. Brian, Seth, Lacey and I drove down and arrived at the park around 1:00 and went swimming at the "aquatic center" ... I guess they spent too much money on renovations to continue calling it a swimming pool. It's pretty nice, tho the water was a trifle chill. Seth's lips turn blue pretty quickly.

Headed over to the shelter close to 3:00, Margaret and Larry were already there and George and Dottie Bayne arrived shortly thereafter, about the same time as my cousin Tim. Mary Vale and Howard came a little later, and then George and Dottie's son Steve and his family (wife Katherine, kids Patrick, Danielle, and Julie) showed up around 5:00. We had burgers, dogs, all the usual fixin's , and a very nice time. Stayed for fireworks (a wee bit mediocre *and* behind a stand of trees), and got home around 11:30. A long day, but a good one.

Forty-six

2008-07-02T21:11:00.000-05:00

Oh, man, the last two days have been interesting.

Yesterday, Seth got the Jeep we bought him. I found this used battery-powered Jeep on Craigslist for $80, couldn't pass it up. Even has a new battery in it. My dad and his wife very kindly picked it up for us and brought it down last night. Seth *loves* it. So far he's made a lot of Nascar-laps around the yard (big circles going left) and he's run into the swing twice, but he loves it. Even ran the battery down already.

Today, I had to go to Target after work to do some shopping, and Seth.... Have I mentioned that he's been watching Star Wars? The original three films, I mean. Not the "prequels" which barely count. I don't even own those ridiculous movies. Anyway, he likes Luke and he talks a lot about how Darth Vader is his dad and how they fought and that Vader cut off Luke's hand. So we were in Target and they had some lightsabres on sale. So we spent the rest of the time in Target with him trailing along behind the grocery cart going "I am a Jedi!" and swinging a purple lightsabre around. I'm sure they were glad to see us leave.

Oh, I almost forgot. In the car on the way to Target, Seth told me it was okay to eat boogers because they're green like grapes. That sounds *distinctly* like something only someone with a Y chromosome could come up with. Or admit to.

Forty-five

2008-06-29T11:35:00.000-05:00

Not too much going on right now, hence the dearth of interesting blog entries this past week. My mother is planning a picnic at the park in Marshall for the 4th so Seth and I, at least, will be going up for that. If Brian isn't raking or baling hay, he and Lacey will come too. We took Seth to see Wall-E on Friday night, it was a very, VERY good movie, as was the little short that preceded it. For being a love story about a robot and a trash compactor, it was very affecting. Yes, I cried. Quite a bit, actually. I'm sure Seth thinks I'm a total loon.

Back to work tomorrow. At least it's a short week.

Forty-four

2008-06-23T12:31:00.001-05:00

“Some people see things that are and ask, Why? Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not? Some people have to go to work and don't have time for all that shit.”

I will miss this man.

Forty-three

2008-06-21T18:47:00.001-05:00

We had our first play date today! Seth C. from preschool came over with his mom, Cindy, and we had a very nice afternoon. A few small scuffles (no sharing of favorite toys, thank you very much!) and Seth C. wasn't too interested in the sprinkler after all, but we'll definitely get together again.

Forty-two

2008-06-19T21:04:00.001-05:00

Father's Day 2008

My daddy:

My baby-daddy:

My baby:

Best shot of the day:

Forty-one

2008-06-13T10:16:00.000-05:00

Here's how effed up I am this morning.

My morning snack is usually an apple, which is usually just tossed in my purse before I leave home. This morning, when I got to my desk, I unloaded a few things out of my purse rather hurriedly, as I was trying to dive right into all the work I had to deal with first thing this morning. Threw my purse under my desk and sat down to get started.

Maybe...fifteen minutes later, I was sitting here reading some instructions on a job ticket and reached over to my right, without looking, to use my computer mouse. Rolled it around on my desk for a minute waiting for the icon on the screen to roll so I could get to where I needed to go. Nothing happening. I bang the mouse on the desk a couple times ... hmm, doesn't sound like a piece of plastic. I look at my right hand ... I'm holding my apple!

Which, of course, doesn't work on the PC.

Forty

2008-06-10T19:51:00.000-05:00

Dodge gave me a bit of a scare this evening. I had noticed when I left for work this morning that he wasn't around, but didn't give it much thought. It was when Seth and I got home and he still wasn't around that I started to get a little scared. Since both Maggie and Boomer disappeared last fall I've been a little spooked, and got myself worked up a little about it by the time Brian got home. In the month or so that we've had Dodge, he's barely left the yard. (That I know of.)

So anyway, Seth and I both hollered for Dodge for about half an hour, to no avail. When Brian got home, we took the truck out in the pasture to check the fences and ponds in case he'd gotten hung up or stuck somewhere. No sign of him. We drove down the road to the nearest neighbor's ... and there he was, sitting out in front of their house, with their dog. Their *girl* dog. He could *totally* hear us yelling from there, I have no doubt of it. He was *blowing us off for a girl*!!!

I didn't think I'd have to put up with that until Seth hit junior high.

In other news, Seth was an Artiste this weekend. Originals for sale, prices starting very reasonably in the low 100s.

And...sometimes Seth falls asleep funny in his carseat...

Thirty-nine

2008-06-07T22:11:00.000-05:00

Okay. I just watched the trailer for Kevin Costner's new movie Swing Vote, and I felt compelled to get on here and write that no matter what movie he makes, no matter how much of an Actor he tries to be, whether it's light or dark or something kind of gray (or watery) ... if he, at any point in time in the film (or even on a show talking about the film), giggles, I will watch it. I have loved Costner since Silverado, wherein he giggled quite often, if memory serves, and have stood by him through thick and through thin. Waterworld bedamned. I like Kevin Costner and I will continue to watch his movies.

Let's just keep him giggling, tho, okay?

Thirty-eight

2008-06-07T15:47:00.000-05:00

Today was Seth's first swimming lesson. Before the lessons started, he decided to see how the water felt:

Then, when the lessons finally started, he was very brave about getting in the water, especially when Mama and Daddy weren't getting in with him. They did some very basic stuff, just some floating, kicking, going under a couple times, and jumping in. He wasn't too sure about floating on his back the first time, but was great on his second try. Now, only seven more to go!

Thirty-seven

2008-06-01T17:21:00.001-05:00

First Sprinkler Experience

Abandoned Kitten (later reunited with Mama Cat!)

Instead of "Blue Steel" he decided on "Shoot the Moon"

Thirty-six

2008-06-01T10:45:00.001-05:00

We went to see Eddie Izzard last night. He was spectacular! So, so funny. After the show, perhaps due to how many fans were milling around outside the back gates, he came out and talked to people, answered questions, let people take pictures. My sister, who worked for some time at the Uptown, said she'd never seen another artist do that, so his coolness factor just shot through the roof! I couldn't come up with a coherent question to ask so I didn't even bother trying to get his attention. I thought about asking if he was Minnie Driver's baby-daddy but figured that wouldn't go over so well. :o) I got his autograph a few years ago in Chicago so I didn't feel the urge to rush him. My friend took some good pictures, both of these here are courtesy of the talented Ms. Angie Steward, as big an Eddie fan as I am.

*cough* tiger

Thirty-five

2008-05-30T22:18:00.000-05:00

We lost one of our own yesterday. Harvey Korman passed away at the age of 81. I grew up watching Mel Brooks movies and the Carol Burnett Show so I feel a little like we lost one of the family in a way.

Faretheewell, Count de Money ("...de Monet, de Monet!") You will be missed.

Thirty-four

2008-05-29T14:38:00.001-05:00

“There is a luxury in self-dispraise:
And inward self-disparagement affords
To meditative spleen a grateful feast.”
--William Wordsworth

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about the concept of self-improvement. For those not aware (and if anyone's reading this thing anyway), I've been doing the "Slim4Life" weight loss program for about a month, and I have lost twenty-one pounds thus far. That in and of itself is improvement.

However. Man is not improved by weight loss alone. There are a lot of things about me that bug me, that could be improved upon.

For instance, I procrastinate. A lot. With just about everything. I have this mental block between point A (realizing I need to do something) and point B (actually getting up and doing it). I have a near-paralyzing fear of conflict. I don’t like fights, verbal or otherwise. I therefore don’t communicate very well with most of the people around me. This is not to say that I would primarly like to or need to be arguing with everyone I know, but that in those instances where I do need to speak up, speak my mind, put in my two cents' worth...I seldom do. Live and let live. Let sleeping dogs lie. Whatever. Experts now say that this could kill me, and I'm working on it. I started with Brian. I'm sure he was thrilled.

What else…. Well, there’s my utter inability to use a calculator correctly. I always miss a button, or read the numbers wrong, hit the AC button when I meant to hit the CE button. I don't know what it is. A lifelong struggle with numbers, in any case. Oh yeah. Lately I can’t seem to finish a book. Novels, sure, but all the nonfiction stuff I have laying around…can’t finish any of it. I think I’ve always done that, but it’s annoying me now. I buy a lot of books, it’s one of my few indulgences, and I’m starting to feel like I’m wasting a lot of money when I don’t read a book all the way through.

And, according to Brian, I
A) don’t smile enough; and
B) am a “terrible” housekeeper.
More things to work on.

PostScript: By the way, when I first got my packet of info from Slim4Life, there's a picture (stock photography) of Chris Jensen on the cover. He's eating watermelon, wearing his usual smile. The one Kugel used to give him crap about. I had to laugh. He still looks good!

Thirty-three

2008-05-26T19:30:00.000-05:00

My boys brought in some flowers for me tonight:

Just thought those were pretty. I love yellow roses.

Thirty-two

2008-05-24T21:44:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to marshall my thoughts here into something coherent. Brian and I went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull this evening, and I...

Okay, some backstory. I saw Raiders when I was eleven years old. My mom had to drag me there; Charlie Ferguson had told me there were tarantulas in Raiders so I had decided I didn't want to see it, but my mom saw it and knew I'd like it, so she took me. And man, was I hooked. Hooked on movies ... hooked on Harrison Ford. That movie opened my eyes about what a movie could do, what it could be like, what it SHOULD be like. Since then, biiiiiiiig Harrison Ford fan. I even forgave him for Six Days, Seven Nights. Yeah, really.

So was I looking forward to seeing this new Indiana Jones movie? Of course. Were my expectations really high? No, not really (Ebert's critique notwithstanding). Was I disappointed? Well...I liked about 50% of the film. I guess you could call that living up to low expectations.

When they stopped and took a breath and let Harrison act, I liked the movie. When they were careering along and things got really eye-rollingly goofy...they might as well have had a little image of George Lucas pop up in the corner of the screen, saying "This part was MY idea!" Seriously, that man should not have been allowed anywhere near this movie. Harrison should have knocked him unconscious with the handle of the bullwhip and told Steven to get on with things.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is a brilliant, beautiful film. People make mock when they find out I've seen it in the theater more than 40 times (yeah, really) but if you've seen it on the big screen, you know why I've seen it that many times. It's beautiful. The cinematography is stunning. From beginning to end. Stunning. The acting is perfect. The script...perfect. There isn't one thing I'd change about that movie. The next two were enjoyable. They have their merits. But compared to Raiders, they're shadows of what might have been. Hell, Last Crusade is a freakin' comic book compared to Raiders. I still do a slow burn when I think about what a buffoon they turned Marcus into. This fourth one...well...it had its moments. The scene with the quicksand? Loved it. Marion Ravenwood strolling back into Indy's life? Couldn't have been happier to see her. The kid? He was okay. He made me laugh a few times. Do I think he'll fit in the fedora? Hmmm...I think the right guy walked out wearing the fedora in the final scene.

Yes, I'll buy the DVD. I'll wait for the special edition, tho.

Thirty-one

2008-05-23T21:17:00.001-05:00

After a big spaghetti dinner...

Brian took Seth down to our smaller pond for his first fishing expedition!

Daddy - 2, Seth - 0!

Some tracks we found:

And a bird egg we found:

It was a fun evening!

Thirty

2008-05-18T21:52:00.000-05:00

With a nod to Erin...my own Four Four Four (uh...Four Four)

Four places I go over and over:
1. Work
2. Preschool
3. PriceChopper
4. Home

Four people who email me regularly:
1. Brian
2. My sister
3. Dana
4. Aunt Dot

Four favorite places to eat:
1. Slim4Life
2. Won't
3. Let Me
4. Eat

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. New Orleans
2. Long Beach Island
3. Key West (I'm assuming)
4. Anywhere but here, staring down the barrel of another Monday at work

Four TV shows I watch all the time ("all the time" being relative...I don't watch anything all the time, that would mean I *have* time, and if I did have time I'd be reading books instead):
1. Friends reruns
2. Ace of Cakes
3. How It's Made
4. House Hunters

Twenty-nine

2008-05-18T21:10:00.000-05:00

Fairly quiet weekend. Both my parents and my father's wife were here yesterday, and today I managed to get a lot done around the house, including cleaning the oven, which I hate doing. Seth and I were on our own for most of the day and I think we had a nice day together, the mood stayed pretty good all day long.

Seth is doing something kind of funny now, tho I think it's really heralding the advent of The Fib. Brian's been after him for some time now to stop sucking his thumb, and what Seth has really learned is just not to do it so much when Daddy is around. He certainly hasn't stopped sucking his thumb(s). What he's been doing lately is when he sees that Daddy has entered the room, he'll pull his thumb out of his mouth and say "Daddy, I'm not sucking my thumb!" Which, at that moment, is the literal truth. Brian will say, "But you were sucking your thumb," and Seth usually replies "But I'm not sucking my thumb now." There's no arguing with that, and he knows it. Tonight, Brian said "Your thumb is wet, I can see it from here." So...the *next* time it happened, Seth wiped his thumb off before he said anything. And of course, Brian and I laughed.

Tell me honestly...we're raising an evil genius, aren't we. Should we get him started in politics sooner, or later?

Twenty-eight

2008-05-13T19:45:00.000-05:00

Just a quick update. Dodge couldn't get neutered today; what we thought was just kennel cough is apparently a real-life upper respiratory infection (same thing??) so he's got to go on a round of antibiotics and then get neutered. Brian said they couldn't get him back in the kennel this morning when he dropped him off, which makes me feel terrible. I'm sure he's feeling totally rejected right now. I'm going to see if I can leave work early tomorrow to go spring him.

And these are just some funny pics from this weekend. The first thing I saw when I walked in the bedroom was this:

which appears to be a scene from The Thing from the Swamp. AAUUGGH! The alligator ate Lacey!

And then Seth!

And this was at Wal-Mart the other day. What a daredevil!

Oh, and I found my copy of My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes, I'm so excited!! I thought it was lost forever, stuck in that tear in the time-space continuum that Seth found when he was first walking. My Arbonne mascara is in there, I know it! (Mrs. Whatsit has probably used it up by now...)

AND, Seth slept in his new big-boy bed last night for the first time, we bought a twin bed yesterday and he seems to like it, slept in it last night with no argument, no wistful "Can I sleep in your bed?" instead. Everyone keep your fingers crossed that he continues to like his new bed!

Twenty-seven

2008-05-10T13:48:00.000-05:00

Meet Dodge, the newest member of the family. We picked him up at the shelter in Warrensburg this morning. Have to take him back Tuesday to get neutered, and I hope he doesn't think we're just rejecting him! He's a mix, Australian cattle dog and blue heeler, about 2 or 3 yrs old, they think. He was found out on Hwy 50, nearly got hit by a Dodge, hence the name. He's pretty smart, already knows some commands, so he was somebody's boy. Seth isn't too sure what to think yet, but I think they'll grow on each other. He really wants to play with Seth, but Seth doesn't know what to do when he runs toward him yet.

Twenty-six

2008-05-09T09:11:00.001-05:00

We got Seth signed up for swimming lessons last night, he starts in June and we go every Saturday for eight weeks. They're Level 1 Red Cross lessons; I'm just hoping he'll be comfortable and maybe a little more safe in the water afterward, so that it's not something I'm anxious about while we're in Key West. He's getting SO independent and I want him to be able to enjoy playing in the water without having Mom hover quite so much.

Mother's Day is this Sunday, I'm sure you're all aware. Brian invited his family over and we're grilling steaks; my family won't be there. Guess I'll be cleaning house all day tomorrow. What a treat.

Looks like the summer movie season is getting underway; I have a list of films I hope we manage to see - Indiana Jones IV, Kung Fu Panda, Wall-E, The X-Files, Dark Knight. Might I finally be emerging from my "gray period"? Just don't ask me if I watched this or that television show last night, I promise you I didn't. I don't have *any* shows anymore, nothing at all that I watch regularly. If I can catch an episode, I'll try to sit down for a Friends rerun, The Ace of Cakes, How It's Made, or the show on Travel Channel about digging for "treasure" where the goofy chick travels around digging for aquamarines or diamonds or whatever. That's actually something I'm interested in doing some day, dig for diamonds or pan for gold. As with everything else, that "some day" will be when Seth is older and can participate more. I have so many cool things I want to go do, but I want him to remember doing them!

Twenty-five

2008-05-06T11:26:00.000-05:00

“Betrayal is the only truth that sticks.” – Arthur Miller

We’re in kind of a bad situation here at work. Yesterday, one of the owners informed us that a coworker has been embezzling money (a LOT of money) from the company, that they confessed to it over the weekend and that they were, of course, no longer employed with us.

To say we were all shocked is something of an understatement. Flummoxed is also an applicable term here. This was someone we liked and trusted and this has totally blindsided us. I'm still having trouble coming to terms with it, a day later.

For me, the most upsetting thing has been that everything this person did while they were working here will now be called into question. Everything will seem suspicious in retrospect. And all the pleasant memories I have of this person will be completely overwhelmed by the betrayal. I could try to have an understanding of why they did what they did but I've decided not to give it that much thought. We have to repair the damage here and move on. I can only hope that this former coworker finds a way to straighten themselves out and repair the damage they've done to their family.

Twenty-four

2008-05-05T20:57:00.000-05:00

I keep forgetting to mention this, but on May 31 we are going to see this fabulous bloke

at the Uptown Theatre in KC. I am SO excited!! I've seen him live before, in Chicago for his tour Circle, even got an autograph outside the theatre after the show. And I have to say, much as I love our "executive transvestite" I prefer him as a manly man. He always wears the wrong shade of lipstick! I usually end up getting distracted and wanting to do a makeover on him.

Twenty-three

2008-05-05T18:41:00.000-05:00

Ode to My Gardener

If you know me well, you know I’m not really a “plant person." I don’t garden. I, sadly, have a Black Thumb. I can kill an air plant. It’s mysterious and disturbing and it was always thus. I have, amazingly, over the past couple years, managed to grow some basil in a pot on our front porch, but I attribute it solely to Brian’s presence on the property. Had it been left alone with only me, I’m sure the basil would not only have not grown well, but actually mutated into something with legs, and run for its life.

Brian, on the other hand, loves to plant and grow things and generally does a fine job of it. So I encourage this behavior, as one of us has to do it and it cannot, obviously, be me. Over the past few days, he’s done some planting and puttering around and I thought I’d give him a shout-out here on my blog; his props, as it were. He certainly deserves them.

Blueberry plants (two varieties) – I guess he just wanted blueberries. Let me amend that. He will eventually want a blueberry cobbler.

Celosia – we bought these at the Powell Garden plant sale the other night. Brian had just wanted the red, but I grabbed the yellow, too. Told him it could be our Chiefs garden display. These are annuals, so it will be a short-lived display. I hope the organization is suitably appreciative.

Coleus – again, I went off the map a little and got Brian to color coordinate. I thought the deep magenta went well with the dark green and the pinky-white varieties.

Chenille plant – I saw this in the mailing Powell Garden sent out a couple weeks ago, thought it was unusual and pretty. This was the last one at the sale, some woman was stockpiling them and we reached in and sniped the last one. I think it pissed her off a little, too. No bogarting!!

He also planted some vibernum (viburnum?) but I didn't get a picture.

As for the rest of the yard, we’ve got quite a bit going on. Big lilac bush, that unfortunately doesn’t bloom very successfully. Just a few at the very top of the bush, and not very vibrant. Too much shade?

Some roses. Some very unsuccessful hydrangea. Some hostas. I put some mint in a couple years ago and it died very quickly. Probably shouldn’t have handled it myself. Stupid black thumb.

Oh, and the outside cat, alternately called Petie and/or Puddy. Seth generally calls him Puddy the Cat. And then jumps on him. He's very sweet, tho unneutered, so I imagine we'll have small Puddy Cat replicas before too long. There is, of course, as is the nature of things, a female stray in the general vicinity of our house as well. She's had kittens here before.

Twenty-two

2008-05-03T15:31:00.001-05:00

Big day -- we got to meet Erlan today!! Seth was SO excited, he talked about it over and over last night, and when we got to Karla and Ben's house this morning he ran right in and started playing with Erlan.

We were VERY impressed with how calm and happy Erlan was. I was afraid he'd be shy or withdrawn with us, total strangers, but he's very chill and laid-back. Karla and Ben bonded with him very quickly and have given him so much love, I think it'll really help Erlan's transition to life in this country. What a lucky, lucky kid!!

I'm just so happy for Karla and Ben, there aren't even words. I foresee lots of trips between our house and theirs in our future!!

Twenty-one

2008-05-01T12:25:00.001-05:00

I just terrified myself by reading the news. I can’t decide if ignorance is bliss, or essentially criminal. Was everyone aware of what McCain's health care plan is? Go read about it, it'll scare the shit out of you if you have employer-provided benefits. I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t care if someone is Democrat or Republican, the problem is none of them have any realistic answers for solving any of our real problems. And we've gone so far down the rabbit hole that there may not BE any answers to our problems. I am truly, heart-breakingly terrified for Seth and his future on this planet. If he even has one.

I almost hope the Mayans were right, and things do change in December of 2012. We need something to happen, that’s for sure.

Twenty

2008-04-27T18:36:00.000-05:00

Batter up!

We took Seth to the Royals game today, versus the Toronto Blue Jays. I think we had a good time, tho Seth was pretty bewildered about why we all wanted to just sit there the whole time. I had to get up with him once for a long walk around the concourse.

He had a blue sno-cone.

We went to see Slugger (the Royals mascot) ... and this is as close as Seth would get to him.

And then after the game, we got to go down on the field and run the bases! That was Seth's favorite part.

Nineteen

2008-04-26T13:41:00.001-05:00

Well, it finally happened. Seth fell in the toilet. He's been standing up to pee the past few days, and doing a pretty good job, but this time he leaned too far forward and his stepstool slipped out from under his feet. Luckily I was walking into the room when it happened so I pulled him out right away. He was VERY upset, as you can imagine.

And no, I didn't laugh.

Not until he fell asleep.

Eighteen

2008-04-24T11:32:00.000-05:00

I have my first-ever sinus infection, yay me. I had possibly the worst headache of my life last night, did manage to fall asleep but had to have an ice pack on my head all night. Got a prescrip for Doxycycline yesterday -- I have to say, I hate taking meds where all the little warning labels on the bottle take up more room than the main label. TAKE WITH FOOD. You Should Avoid Prolonged or Excessive Exposure to Direct and/or Artificial Sunlight. DO NOT Take Dairy Products, Antacids, or Iron Preparations Within One Hour of This Medication. When Taking this Medication the Effectiveness of Birth Control Pills are Decreased. And, to cap it off, I told one of my coworkers I was taking Doxycycline and she immediately launched into an anecdote about how she took that once and it changed her personality and she had to quit taking it. Wha?!?

Got my new MP3 player last night, but due to volleyball, weather, and sinus infection issues, I have not yet had a chance to get it set up or load any music on it. It's wee, I'll probably lose it in my ginormous purse.

Tonight we go to Lacey's orchestra concert, which really means I'll get to hear about five minutes of music and then I'll spend the rest of the evening chasing Seth around Olathe East High School. Do you think it would raise any eyebrows if we duct taped him to the bleachers?

Seventeen

2008-04-19T21:19:00.000-05:00

Another fairly eventful day. If you consider shopping an event, I mean. Brian had his own agenda today, so Seth and I drove to Lee's Summit (I drove, he sat in the back and hollered at me most of the way), did a little shopping, and then met Susan and Baby Joe for lunch. He was born at the end of December and this was my first time seeing him. I stayed away while Seth and I traded viruses for three months -- made me feel like a terrible friend, but my motives were pure. I am happy to report that he's a very happy, laid-back little Buddha baby with some of the biggest baby blues I've ever seen.

I bought Seth a lot of stuff for summer, mostly shorts, a couple more t-shirts. One new pair of sneakers (Lightning McQueen, natch) and one new pair of sandals. A marked-down slicker from Old Navy. Found some nice towels on sale at Kohl's for $5 per, bought two. Uh...those are for me, not Seth. :o)

Also put together the toddler bed one of my coworkers gave us some time ago, Seth is sleeping in it now. I put pillows on the floor for when he falls out. Not if, when. It's pretty much a given that he will, he's a thrasher and a roller. I'm hoping he'll like this bed enough to not want to sleep with us very often, I just don't sleep when he's in with us. I always end up out on the couch. Probably part of his grand scheme.

What else. Oh yeah, I just bought (online) a Sony Walkman 4GB Video MP3 player, to replace the POS Sony Bean MP3 player I've had for a couple years now. I put up with it as long as I could. Major design flaws. I went to listen to something today on my way home while Seth was asleep, found the battery dead, again, nearly threw the damn thing out the window.

Sixteen

2008-04-13T18:50:00.000-05:00

We're home from Branson, what a weekend. Too cold and windy by far, but we still managed to have a pretty good time.

Let's see, what did we do...

We left Friday morning, after Brian dropped Seth off at preschool. We stopped at Lambert's Cafe south of Springfield for lunch, home of the "throwed rolls." It's a good thing this place has a gimmick; the food is pretty mediocre. And fattening. When we got to Branson, we stopped first at the Tourism Center on the north side of town to pick up our tickets for the train ride. While there, the guy helping us told us that if we listened to the "vacation ownership" sales pitch while at the resort, we'd get $80 cash back from the tourism center, so we said we'd do that. Then we went across the street to Kohl's and bought clothes. Ooh, and they have the coolest new shade of eye shadow now, "golden pink" or something. I bought some of that, too. And some Buzz Lightyear underpants for Seth.

We drove down and found the resort (Wyndham at the Meadows), about four miles south of the main drag, well away from the hillbilly theaters and traffic. Got checked in, found our room, unpacked, relaxed a little. Phone rings, it's someone from the resort saying they'll be in our building soon and can they come by and ask us how we like everything so far. Sure. Guy shows up about ten minutes later, asks us about three questions, gives us a certificate for a free steak dinner and a coupon book.

We left the resort and headed down to the fish hatchery and dam on Table Rock Lake. Because of all the water and flooding down there right now, they had all ten gates on the dam open, first time since 1963, I think someone said. It was pretty impressive. And windy as HELL. My hair was one massive snarl by the time we got out of there, I looked like a troll doll. Don't believe me?

After we fed a few fish at the hatchery, we left there and went to an outlet mall and bought more clothes. I know. It's not like we never see stores up here that have clothes in them. What can I tell you. After that we tooled around and decided to eat at a seafood place called Landry's, on the strip. It was also pretty mediocre, tho a little more high end than Lambert's. Good mood lighting, anyway. I had angel hair with shrimp and scallops and not a hint of garlic, which it sorely needed.

After supper, since we were both tired, we decided to rent a movie and call it a night. Drove around Branson looking for a place called Buster's, could not find it. At all. Decided to go to the Wal-Mart and buy a movie. Walked around calling out titles to each other, could never decide on one we both wanted, and ended up buying air freshener instead. I'll leave it to your fertile imaginations to figure out why Brian needed air freshener. He says he was only thinking of me.

Saturday. Got up, ate breakfast in the unit, went to the two-hour sales pitch. (Some of you who may be reading this...apologies. Yes, we gave them your names and numbers to call. You could get a free weekend at a nice resort, but if this upsets you, we are sorry! All you have to say is "No thanks" after all.) Afterwards, we found the restaurant where we could use the $30 certificate for the steak dinner and had a very good lunch (neither of us ordered steak, btw) that didn't quite cost $30. Naturally, it doesn't cover the gratuity, so our lunch ended up costing us about $8. Not too shabby. Then we drove down to the Landing, a fairly new shopping center on a branch of Lake Taneycomo on the other end of Branson, where we goofed around, shopped, and killed time until our train ride. We had bought tickets for the dinner "cruise" on the train, and we really enjoyed ourselves.

The one downside was the group sitting right across from us on the train, two older couples. One of the guys was a total blowhard who would not shut up. He was loud and stupid, two things I don't have much patience for. When they brought out the dinners his biggest concern was whether they'd bring him "some of that there Heinz 57 sauce" ... for his prime rib! Then, looking at his vegetables, he says, and I quote, "What are these orange things?" They were carrots. Another time, when the train was OBVIOUSLY going faster, he looks up and says, "I think we're picking up speed!" Thank you, Captain Obvious. I wouldn't have known it otherwise.

Let me amend myself; the other downside was that Branson is experiencing flooding right now, and on the train we went past a few spots that saddened me, homes underwater. I got some video of a lamp shade floating out on the lake.

After the train ride we returned to our room and called it a night. We get tired a lot earlier than we used to. This morning we checked out and drove home, stopping once at an antique shop on Highway 13, where I bought something and broke something (they didn't make me pay for it, very nice people). Got home around 2:30 and Seth seemed pretty happy to see us, as were we to see him. We missed him very much and I'm glad we're taking him on our next trip, to Key West in November.

Fifteen

2008-04-08T21:16:00.000-05:00

So a few days ago, Seth was goofing around, running back and forth, making a lot of noise. Typical day. I was sitting at the table looking through the mail, I think. All of a sudden I hear, "Once, doce, trece, catorce..." which, for those not in the know, are the numbers 11, 12, 13, and 14 in Spanish. Seth was counting in Spanish! I stopped him and asked him to count starting at one, and he did, he can count from one to (nearly) twenty in Spanish. He learned at preschool.

I, of course, figured it was just something they had memorized, for the most part, and wasn't at all sure he really knew he was counting. Until this weekend, when he tooted two times. He looked at me and said, "Dos toots!"

According to my sister, he's Pinky *and* the Brain.

Fourteen, addendum

2008-04-06T11:12:00.001-05:00

Oh, and Ben? I promise I'll make you and Erlan some fancy cupcakes!! :o)

Fourteen

2008-04-06T11:00:00.001-05:00

We had such a good day yesterday! We went to Wendy and Andy's house to play in their creek and have a campfire and roast hot dogs and make smores and climb trees and play with Logan and Cooper. Seth had a BLAST! (We enjoyed ourselves too, of course.) Once Karla and Ben are home with Erlan, I foresee lots of family fun with the boys out in the woods.

Lucky Thirteen

2008-03-30T20:55:00.000-05:00

Or, Alternatively, Jennifer Trying to Be Clever and Failing Miserably.

As usual.

What a long, busy week *that* was. I just moments ago got Seth to lay down for the night. Lie down? Lay down. Grammar Police! His new thing now is to give me about eight minutes and then call, utterly pathetically, "Mommy...I need you to take care of me!" Which is code for "I want to sleep in your bed and kick you in the kidneys all night." And my coworkers wonder why I shuffle around and yawn all day now.

We had company for lunch today, as previously mentioned. And yes, I got the house cleaned, and no, A-M, you're NOT company. And if you're not careful, you won't be for Quite Some Time. I cooked a brisket, as requested, and it was tough and disappointing. All the barbecue sauce in the world couldn't have helped that slab of meat. Bleah.

Where DID the rest of the weekend, go, tho? How is it already 9:00 pm on Sunday night? How can I POSSIBLY already have to go back to what I lovingly refer to as The Bog of Eternal Stench? I was on my way in the other day, headed west on College, and could see our building looming in the distance. On the radio, as tho through divine intervention, a song started playing ... "Highway to Hell." Singularly well-timed. God, I hate my job.

Twelve

2008-03-26T11:50:00.000-05:00

I just read an article about how women who repress their anger and don't have "fights" with their husbands really put their health at risk. They may as well have put my name in there somewhere, I'm a professional anger-represser. It's my thing, it's what I do. Obviously, it's going to kill me. So I just emailed Brian and told him I wouldn't do it anymore and did he prefer sudden, short explosions of rage, or calm "chats" about how we're making each other insane. And then I rattled off a few things he does that make me nuts. Simple stuff, like not getting the front door shut all the way, tracking mud through the house, and so on. No response yet. Probably pissed him off. :o)

Busy week here. Brian took three of the steers to Warrensburg this morning, and has a volleyball game tonight. He's taking Lacey to a concert on Friday night, her birthday present. Sunday we're having her birthday dinner at our house, so I'll be cleaning like a mad woman on Saturday. Occasional company is good, gets the house clean. :o)

Eleven

2008-03-20T21:02:00.000-05:00

The cupcakes for Seth's Easter party at preschool tomorrow turned out rather well, if I do say so myself. (Seth thinks they're pretty cool, too ... you can even see on the cupcake in the top left corner where he swiped some icing.) :o)

And here are just some recent photos.

Not a great picture, but you can see the tooth he chipped on Valentine's Day. No, not kissing some icky girl. He crashed into another kid in the cafeteria at preschool.

Seth and I were sitting at the table when I suddenly realized I was having a one-sided conversation with his rear end.

He fell asleep in the chair!

Ten

2008-03-19T11:50:00.000-05:00

I was getting Seth up this morning (which is pretty hard, most mornings, the kid likes to sleep!) and I always try to talk to him and get his brain moving a little, get him to enter into the conversation so he wakes up, and I usually ask him what he wants to wear, what he wants to eat, what color vitamin he wants, and so on. So I was asking him this morning what he wanted for breakfast, and he sat up and looked at me and said, "I want blueberry muffins." (We had them on Sunday.)

I said, "We don't have any left."

"You could go to the store and buy some more."
"No, I can't this morning, we don't have time."
"I could go with you."
"Not this morning, sweetie, we just don't have time."

He thinks about it for a second.

"Actually, Daddy could go!"

Never heard him use "actually" before. Plus, I like his logic. Made me laugh out loud. :o)

Nine

2008-03-18T11:02:00.000-05:00

Big weekend at our house -- Seth wore big-boy underpants! Of course, they're the tiniest, cutest little tighty-whities ever, nothing "big" about them. The venture was 95% successful, he had one accident all weekend. We were very proud.

He's also writing his name by himself now. It is just SO amazing, watching him grow and learn so much, every day. Brian, of course, is just waiting for him to be big enough to mow the lawn. :o)

What else. Plans are underway for our five-year anniversary weekend next month, and we're also already planning our days for when we'll be in Key West, in November. Dolphins and glass-bottomed boats are of primary interest. We're all really looking forward to that trip. Not least because it'll be November, and we'll be in Key West for a week.

Eight

2008-03-10T21:14:00.000-05:00

Jeez, three posts in one day. You'd think I had some free time or something. To which I say, Hardee Har Har.

Just popping back in to say I found a new singer I really like, Sara Bareilles, and her single "Love Song" is totally, um ... listenable. (How *does* a 37-year-old go on about a song without sounding like a 22-year-old?) Go to YouTube and watch "Sara Bareilles Love Song On The Radio For The First Time!!" It's fun, and genuine, and the song is really good. Great. Totally rad. Like, totally.

Seven

2008-03-10T16:06:00.001-05:00

I ask you...

Who here thinks it would be a good idea, after a full day of throwing up, to feed a three-year-old bacon and eggs for breakfast, and Chinese food for lunch?

I got a call after lunch today, "Seth had a relapse." No kidding! Bacon for breakfast? He threw up five times yesterday!!

Men. At least I wasn't there to clean it up.

Six

2008-03-10T11:28:00.000-05:00

At risk of seeming obsessed with this topic (among those who know me well, at any rate), I'm very excited to report that yesterday, we did not have to change a single diaper, Seth went on the "big boy" potty all day!! Of course, he's going for a new car, so he had some serious motivation. We did finish out the chart, so he knows we owe him that car now ... I bought it off eBay over the weekend and now we just have to see how patient he'll be with us while we're waiting for it to land in the mailbox.

I'd consider it an unqualified Good Day except that he was also sick all day, threw up four or five times. So it was also a Bad Day. Now I'm just waiting to see how long before I get sick, too. I consider it an Inevitability.

Five

2008-03-08T15:04:00.001-06:00

Brian had given me a gift certificate to a spa as a Valentine's Day gift this year, so this morning I dropped Seth off (with PopPop) at a recreational center and went and had a pedicure. I'm not going to lie -- I like getting pedicures. I like the massage chair and the little hot tub for your feet, and I like getting to lay there while someone else scrubs off all the dry skin and rubs lotion on and then paints my nails. (Just in case you weren't aware of how a pedicure plays out...)

But ... isn't there something self-indulgent and ridiculous about getting a pedicure? I mean, really. We got a foot spa as a wedding present. Brian would rub my back for me, if I asked. I got a pedicure set last year for my birthday, so I have the tools at hand. I have forty-leven different kinds of lotions here, and several tres chic colors of polish. I could *totally* give myself a pedicure ... that is, if I felt like having the polish on my toes look like a baboon put it on for me. That part I don't do very well. So is that enough to justify making the drive and forking over the $50 for the pedicure?

Enh. I'm not really trying to be philosophical here. I'll let you decide.

Four

2008-03-06T12:16:00.000-06:00

As I suspected, I don't have enough going on in my life to really maintain a blog in an interesting way. My days are long and filled mostly with work and household chores. I consider myself lucky if A) I can carve out twenty or thirty minutes an evening to sit down and read, and B) I have something interesting to read in the first place. I don't have a hobby ... how do you get one? If, at nearly forty years old, I don't have the remotest idea what I'm interested in or likely to be good at, how on EARTH do I find a new hobby? Or should I just hone the skills I have ... which are ... um ...

I read a lot.

Three

2008-03-03T12:15:00.000-06:00

So Saturday morning I was changing Seth's diaper, and noticed a red mark in the crease of his thigh. I said "Oh, here's a red mark" and without missing a beat, Seth said "Pancakes would make it feel better."

I think we're in trouble.

Two

2008-03-02T12:05:00.001-06:00

Just another quick post to put up some recent pictures.

Here, I had asked Seth to smile for me, so that I might have some pictures to put in the Valentines we were mailing to the grandparents. This is one of, let's say, eight or nine shots I took that evening. This was about as close as we got to a real smile. The Valentines went out sans photographs. I swear to god, he's Calvin. All he needs is a stuffed tiger.

Brian and Seth. My handsome boys. How'd I get so lucky?!?

Modeling the new hat and mittens we bought. May be the sole piece of evidence that we even owned this set ... he's certainly never agreed to put them on again. Why are toddlers so @#$%*& stubborn?!?

One

2008-03-02T11:35:00.000-06:00

Okay, so after reading Karla and Ben's most excellent adoption blog for the past few days, I've decided to give this a try myself. Seems *somewhat* narcissistic, as I don't have anything really relevant going on, like being across the world adopting a beautiful boy and wanting to share the experience with my family back home. As I type this, I'm sitting in my messy "office" in my messy house ... there's a theme developing here. Obviously, my time would be better spent getting up off my ass and straightening up the house. And vacuuming the front room. And folding some laundry. And ... a myriad of better things to do. But here I sit. Typing. Like anyone's going to give a damn.

I also need to get my chubby, lazy ass on the treadmill again. We're celebrating our five-year anniversary next month. I've got my 20 year high school reunion to go to this summer. And then we're going to Key West for a week in November. So I've got three excellent reasons -- aside from the painfully obvious one of how big I'm getting -- to get back in better shape again. But here I sit. Typing.

Some people are pro football players. I am a procrastinator.