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!
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Fifty-five
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.
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.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Fifty-four
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.
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.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Fifty-three
Nashville, August 2008
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.
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!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Fifty-two
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
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
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Fifty-one
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.
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
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.
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