Daylight Saving(s) Time

Daylight Saving Time snuck up on me again this year. I remember it being this huge news item in years past. This year it almost got by me completely. A random email from a friend that said “spring forward” at the end was the trigger event. Curious, I went to my home page, the SF Chron, and found NOTHING regarding the time change. So I went to my personal email home page and found NOTHING! You’d think they’d have this huge clock on their first page with something akin to

“The crazies in the world want to plunge the early morning risers into pitch black again. Change your clocks accordingly”

But no – nothing to clue me in. And I stopped my home delivery of the newspaper several months ago, after realizing we took it out of its plastic raincoat only to chuck it directly into our recycling bin nine times out of ten. (I still miss it occasionally, but not enough to warrant the waste – nor apparently, enough to go out and buy an individual one.)

So, off to google Daylight Savings Time and found that indeed, friend was right, I should spring forward my clocks. Also found that it is not Daylight SavingS time, but rather Daylight Saving Time, with a whole explanation why. I might have known that at one time, but really, who cares… we slept in until 9! Woo hoo! Sarcastic? Maybe a little.

Now I hear that next year, we will spend 8 months in DST and only 4 in ST, thanks to the brainiac in Washington signing some sort of legislation to allow us to become even more ridiculous than we already are. So why do we have ST at all? And if anyone can convince me of the benefit of this tradition we have of changing our clocks twice a year, I’d like to hear from you. And don't pull the farmer thing on me. You don't get extra sunshine by changing a clock.

Oh, and do you think the dogs sleep in on this end of the time change? ha. You don't have dogs.

Random musing

Why is it if you are slightly undressed, the eyes of people you pass will automatically be drawn to that part which is perhaps not dressed appropriately?

haaa - it's not at all as exciting as you think!

I had my SHOES off, walked down the hall, and no less than 3 people looked straight at my feet. Including the Fed Ex dude. Now, people don't typically look straight at my feet when I pass them. At least, I don't think they do. But take my shoes off and they're all agog. Maybe it's like the open zipper phenomena, where everyone is aware of it except the person in question...

At least my socks didn't have holes ... phew.

Rain, Rain, Go AWAY!

We are SOOO tired of wet weather. I am not alone in this. I think we all realize we are the biggest wimps in the world for complaining about a little rain (!), but geez - we do not live in the Pacific Northwest, nor the Rainforest, for that matter. Most of us picked this area and put up with the occasional earthquake for a reason!

Looking for the silver lining, I guess, I'm happy we didn't take a trip to Hawaii.

It's a tarnished silver lining.... this miserableness (is that a real word?) continues. (But isn't that l'il Ken just the quintessential weatherman???)

But DDD was here this week for spring break, and that was nice, even though she didn't get any of the sunshine I promised her.

I have a WHAT?

BK has been having some problems for a few months now after one particular hockey game where he either got tripped and fell (that DID happen, but it's not clearly the cause of this injury), or pulled/strained a muscle, or perhaps injured it getting thrown into the boards. Let me tell you, hockey is not a sport for wimps.

Anyway, we've been treating it like a sports injury, ice, ice, more ice, Advil, daily Advil, more ice, compression shorts etc. Doctor at annual exam said - good job, it's nothing torn or broken and not a chronic thing. He says it isn't getting worse, keep on keepin' on. 6 weeks later, he still can't get through an entire game without this leg giving out on him, he's skipped one tournament and a couple of practices, so on to the sports medicine doc we go.

So many big words! As my background is nursing, I do not cower from such things. In fact, I enjoy trying to remember them. But these ortho terms had my poor little brain pretty filled up. All I have now to remember is the physical therapy prescription, which unfortunately, doesn't measure up at all to the conversation.

Lumbar transitional vertebra by x-ray and grade 1 sport exam shows segmental instability and hemipelvis fixation. Needs core stability, glute recruitment, hip flexor training and strengthening.

Damn. Way too simple and clear. I wanted to share the ischial processes and the co-yadayada sacral mwah mwah doohickey angle that's more of an angle than it's supposed to be. It's pretty cool that he has this transitional verterbra which is part of his sacrum, but it wants to be a lumbar vertebra, so it tries, but then it's an extra and the rest of the lumbars don't really want its help at all. It doesn't really get in the way, but it can make things happen oddly. There were a very lot of really big words in that explanation. Reveling in my element, I vowed to relay each one when I got home.

But I have a 52 year old memory, and that means that I can more easily tell you what I ate at my grandma's house when I was three than what that physician really said. Or maybe it's because I've been translating physician-speak for so many years that, like another language, it goes in one ear and comes out the mouth in plain old English, and that's what the memory retains.

So bottom line is, some of his muscles in the down there region don't work the way they're supposed to. Some muscles rely on others to do the work while they sit around and knit. They need to be taught to work right and then he will have a wonderful hockey career.

So glad we invested in orthodontia.

LK warms up...eventually

I know you're all bursting at the seams wondering how the first visit with LK's biological father in two years went.

It was fine.

First impressions: This was the first time I'd seen him in non-grunge clothes. He wore khakis, a casual type of dress shirt (no tie, or I'd have seriously wondered what was going on) and black shoes that, while they weren't dress shoes, they were not brand new pimpy sneakers either. I used to marvel at how often he'd replace his sneakers. Having to buy shoes for 2 full & almost full size boys at the time, I knew what that costs. His shirt was not tucked in. That would have been along the lines of the tie, I think.

LK hung back, as predicted. She hadn't wanted to go, but rewards are wonderful things when you're 4. Once we got to the house, she grabbed my hand and would. not. let. go. Bio dad he did try to take her hand once and she high-tailed it back to us, so he smartly took the hint. We got a tour of the common rooms and then the backyard. They have a couple of chickens back there and a place to smoke (we stayed away from it).

She eventually warmed up and decided he could be trusted and we were not going anywhere without her, so they did some exploring of the weeds and bark back there for a while before going back in to play ping pong. She ran him around really well while we watched and cheered them on. They played with some Lincoln Logs and marbles before we called it a day. By then she conceded to have their picture taken with a smile on her face as well as his. All in all, a successful visit.

His first impression: that she looks a lot like her big sister. I brought pictures of the three of them at recent birthday parties and that was hard for him. But he says he's very grateful he can still see her, and that he's probably not ready to even attempt to see her siblings yet. He also says that he realizes now that he wasn't ready to give up his lifestyle back during all our court experiences, and that the kids were taken away for a reason. I hope he gets his life on track, and it stays there. It's a hard world out there for someone with his record.

Did we discuss the relationship here? Not really - she didn't ask anything. I signed in as "family", although that felt odd. Several of his housemates (this place houses up to 40 guys at a time) asked if she was his daughter, to which he answered "yes". That's probably the best way to handle it anyway for a 4 year old. There will be a time when she wonders how she can be our daughter AND his daughter, but she's not there yet.

And then we went to the Jungle.

Promises must be kept. 

Fáilte ar ais (Welcome Back)

I have a friend at work who has a goblin daily calendar. She also has an appropriately aged son. She shared this with us today.

"As with any holiday, the goblins celebrate this day and call it: SLITHERINGTIDE.

"Every year since the fifth century, on this day daring goblins try to smuggle snakes back into Ireland by secreting them on their persons in the most absurd places imagineable. Though never able to get the poor reptiles past customs, they never cease to enjoy trying."

I'd say Happy Slitheringtide to y'all, but I'm about as Irish as they come, without knowing anything at all about the country. So, Éireann go Brách (yes, I looked that up), and a very happy St. Patty's Day to ye.

incomplete thoughts

Fletcher sent me an email today with the subject line:

"in first and dropped into his seat against the"

... the WHAT????

I got another one from Isaac that says:

"cramp however, I do take into consideration that"

...that WHAT????

At least Marianna was considerate:

"or doubtful arsine"

Her subject makes no sense at all. At least I'm not hanging there trying to figure it out.

Alas, my fear of viruses and my lack of need to enlarge my penis prevents me from opening these wonders of modern email so I will never know the answers to my questions.

I know how to use my "report as spam" button as good as anyone else. Not like it does any good, but I use it.

eulogy for a cell phone

got this email from the DDD...

(gospel music plays in the background as the weeping woman comes to the podium,
hankerchief in hand. Soft spoken, she cries-)
Oh Cell phone.
You were a good cell phone. ne'er a strange noise or dropped call or false
signal. ne'er an inappropriate ring or buzz was heard from you. And yet, we
knew you would leave us- who knew it would be so soon. Our thoughts and
prayers are with you in that high tech heaven in the sky. Keep ringing that
happy tune "collide... do do do doo do... do do do doo do... finally find you
and I collide..." yes my friend. yes. we do collide, forever, in my mind.
cell phone de [DDD]
4/11/05- 3/10/06 RIP

Round 2

Weeellll - bio dad is back in the picture. Took a phone call the other day. He didn't give his name. Just said, "Hi B?" and then "How are you?" That was enough for me to recognize his voice, but it would have been nice if he'd announced himself. Note to self: Give name always. Last weekend, BIL mistook me for l'il sis (that's happened now with both sisters - think maybe we all sound alike???). I need to use my name, too.

Back to bio dad. He's out of jail, and in a rehab program again. I think this is part of his treatment - to contact people in his past. The last contact for me was nearly a year ago when he called from jail and asked for pictures. I obliged, making sure one or two pictures had his older two kids in them. I know the kids' family will not agree to visit with him, so pictures are the best I can do to bridge that issue. After some chit chat, where he asked among other things, if she was talking yet (she's FOUR - of course she's talking!), he mentioned that he could have visitors on Sundays from 1-3. So we're going to see him the weekend after next.

How to prepare LK for this??? What do we call him??? What's with the excessive punctuation? She wasn't even two the last time she saw him. I know she won't recognize him at all. So I've scoured the house for pictures of him to show her what he looks like before she sees him again. She knows a little boy with his same name, so we've taken to calling bio dad "Big A" and the little dude "Little A". But we're all grappling with whether we explain that he is her father or not - probably even Big A. This is a little tough - she doesn't quite get it that C & N are her brother and sister. She just knows there is something different and special about their relationship. They're not just friends. But it might feel a bit like being cousins. Hard to tell, since she can't really verbalize it yet. On the other hand, C & N both know she's their sister and sometimes talk about her as their sister. It's not any big dark secret, but I know she still doesn't really get it. So, if it comes up, I suppose we'll talk about the father thing, and she'll just find out she has two fathers. She's certainly not the only kid with more than one father... but it will be awkward. DH suggested we call him "Uncle A", but I'm not crazy about that. Feels too much like lying, or trying to hide it. So I think we'll just use his name and see what happens.

In the meantime, I'm looking for more pictures of him. Mostly they've included C & N, so that might help her understand that relationship as well. Who knows??? This adoption trip is just that. A real trip.

Good bye Doc docs

As kids grow, their vocabulary changes and cute little toddlerisms give way to adult language. I do realize I wouldn't want to hear a 40 year old woman saying she would like a doc doc, but it's always a little sad when little people grow out of those cute little words they hear.

LK: I would like a doc doc please.

me: OK. You and I will both get doc docs.

LK: Mommmmm, I SAID I would like a HHHHHot Doggg.

me: Ohhh, this makes me sad - I'm going to miss the doc docs.

LK: Mommmmm, you MEAN, HHHHot Doggggsss.

me: No, I'm going to miss you saying doc doc!

LK: You mean HHHHot Doggg.

me: Yep - that's just what I mean.


The only hope for the future is that now we get into mixed up sayings (oh yeah, that's me), goofed up song lyrics and the rest of that fun stuff. I was recently reminded of M at a similar age singing "He flies through the air with the greatest dummies. Sharing your man on the flying trapeze." Very comforting that the humor does not end.

But I really am going to miss the doc docs.

Hey - did you know the Olympics are over?

Yeah - well, me neither.
Maybe this every 2 year thing isn't such a good idea. I think we watched a hockey game or two, maybe some snowboarding and a bobsled.
The only thing I remember liking was the speed skating relay - how the hell do they do that crossing right in front of the guy thing and not knock anyone over? Bizzare, really.
But that's it. I think we won some gold medals, and some other guys did too.
Happy Olympics. See you again in 2010. or maybe 2008. or something.

never one to be accused

of being original, here is a slightly groovy thing where you guys get to choose some adjectives about l'il ol me, and we all get to see how we see me. It's a little restrictive, because I would have liked to have chosen a whole lot more nice things to say about me, but had to limit it to 6. So, they're a little off the wall, but it was amusing, so have a go!

Freakin' FREEZING!

Was my weekend in Boulder. With the weather outside some number of degrees below zero, my DDD's apartment had a broken furnace. My first night there was spent in a double bed, huddled with my daughter in an effort to stay sort of warm. My nose was kept under the covers so that the cold air would stop waking me up. JJJJEEEEZZZ, it was cold. Both roommate and mother (me) called the property management people in the morning to get them the hell out there! They finally delivered two space heaters, neither of which worked. Then one industrial strength space heater showed up, shortly AFTER the power came back on after an hour or so of an outage. This, strangely, bolstered our feelings that things were starting to look up and that our luck wasn't ALL bad. The carpenter covering for the property management people did manage to get the pilot lit and the furnace to stay on, but the apartment smelled so strongly of gas that I did not think we could stay the night. Fortunately, it dissipated enough by evening that we were all right. They are still not allowed to close the door to the heater.

The good news was that both Friday and Saturday night audiences really loved The Learned Ladies! DDD played Armande, and has proven herself pretty darn adept at this acting gig she's pursuing. She's got a nice flair for comedy, and has always been pretty striking on stage. She got these nice big, beautiful eyes (the rest of her's pretty good too). The costumes were very unique and striking, and while the set was simple, it was utilized very well. I was impressed. Unfortunately, her grandparents and aunt came to the Sunday matinee where the audience was just plain dead! What a difference a lively audience makes - the actors play off the audience reaction, which of course, gets the audience rewarded with even more enjoyable moments! Remember that, people, next time you are in an audience! Laugh it up! Enjoy! Appreciate! (unless it's a serious or sad drama, of course...) Let 'em know you're there!

So the double edge sword here is that when I go out to visit DDD while she's in a show, we don't get to spend a ton of time together, which is sad; but then, I get to see her in her element, which is just wonderful. We did manage some shopping time so she could replace her cold toes boots with something a little more appropriate. She always gets a few little goodies as well - a nice dinner or two, a tank of gas, some windshield wipers and the like. Being the good little credit card holders we are, we oblige these little luxuries. The sad part is that I realize just how much I really like her company and how much I've missed her these last 3 1/2 years.

My little great-niece had her second birthday while I was there as well - it was SO fun to see her and her little baby brother! Two little blondies - Adam still looks bald (he's only 3 months old, so duh...) and Nina still has just a little bit of hair, but it's in cute little curls at the nape of her neck. I just wanted to eat her up! I didn't get nearly enough of a baby fix, though, so I'm just going to have to go borrow my nephews a little this weekend. Can't believe littlest nephew is going to be a year old in a couple of weeks. It's gone by so fast...

So, for those of you bugging me to tell you how the weekend was - it was great, it was freakin' freezing, and it wasn't (and never is) long enough. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

template changes

Why the heck am I so inept at this stuff? I've been experimenting with trying to change my very old template with something I really liked, but then I lose stuff, it gets rearranged or just plain looks ugly. I'm generally pretty good at picking up on things, but this and photoshop elements has me looking for something other than a computer to work on.

In the meantime, as most of you who read this blog already know, my sister, Lunasea had a freak accident a week or so ago playing with her 3 year old which gave her a pretty significant head injury and landed her in the hospital for 3 days. Scared the bejeezus out of us. I got to spend the weekend with my nephews, which I love, but that is just not the best way to do it! I had planned to spend that weekend gathering and preparing stuff for Li'l K's birthday party, but I played with them instead.

Strangely enough, her birthday party came off pretty darn well in spite of all that. We had an "old fashioned" birthday party, at our home, with a music theme. We made shakers out of little playdoh containers and jingle bells with tongue depressors and bells, natch. And then had a marching band. We sang some songs (I played the guitar), played musical chairs (let me tell you, that is fun when your participants range in age from 2 - 8, with the majority being 3), ate some pizza and later, cupcakes. I had both my camera and the video camera out and available, but my DH completely missed the hint and I was a little too busy to remind him to pick one or both of them up and take some damn pictures!!! Good news - injured sister felt good enough to drive oldest nephew to the party and was snapping pictures here and there. THANK YOU!!!

Anyway, I was downright surprised at the comments about it. Many parents thought I should go into the birthday party business (can you say INSANE with me?). omg.

I made the mistake of telling LK that there wasn't enough time left in the party to open her presents (besides, how boring is THAT for kids???) so she decided she'd help everyone to leave. She suggested (nicely - sort of) that gee, she would get to open her presents after everyone left, so could everyone please leave now? Her message eventually got across to the minions and she was left to open gift after gift. And some very cool things she got! Clothes even! I never think to get clothes for kids - except, I suppose my own family and extended family. She really liked them, though!

My nephew told his mother that we have a beautiful bath tub. I hadn't exactly looked at it quite that way before. And when he spent the weekend here, I don't think he felt the same way about it - he really wanted to wash his hands in the kitchen instead of the bathtub and wasn't very happy about my insistence that I wasn't leaving the other two naked kids in the bathtub to go wash his hands in the kitchen. It was almost a melt-down moment, but he pretty much pulled it together. He's a trooper.

Other news: re: previous post, the timeline was changed again. Let's see, that first one came out on a Thursday, and by Monday, we had a new one. This one has our sites going live 9/2007. A pretty big jump from 2009. The clinical people are jumping for joy, the IT folks are freaked out! There's a lot to be done before then... But I'm not totally believing this timeline, as it only took them what, 3 days to change it this last time? I'm not holding my breath. This whole saga is going to need a whole new blog. But no - I can't figure out how to make time for this one! But suffice it to say at last count, I occupy 4 different positions. Simultaneously. One of them will have to win, but I just don't know what it will be. Some counts have 19 people reporting to me, some more, some less.

whatever...

New and exciting - I'm heading out to Boulder to see The Learned Ladies, starring (among others) my dear darling (and oldest) daughter. Leaving Friday - back Monday. FUN! FUN! FUN! She says the audiences have really enjoyed it and that it's really a fun production. Can't wait. After this closes, she goes straight into Richard III, her last production in her undergrad career. Letcha know how it goes next week.

3 yr old hide n seek

LK: OK, now you hide. Right here.
DH: OK. You count.
LK: One, two, three,..... fourteen, fourteen, sixteen, here I come.

2-3 seconds pass

LK: HA! I find you! OK, let's do it again, You hide. Right here.

frosted grumpy flakes

I was asked today if I had a bowl of frosted grumpy flakes this morning.

No. There was nothing sugar coated about my grumpy flakes. Nothing at all.

I do wish I could keep my grumpy flakes to myself, but I have to share them with everyone around me. They don't deserve it, generally. But I must have gotten a "VG" in sharing when I was in Kindergarten, and have maintained the skill all this time. (VG = Very Good - there were no "Excellent's", or I would have been insulted by the "VG")

The project I was hired for around 2 and 1/2 years ago has a new timeline. What was supposed to happen in 2006 and 7 is now scheduled for 3/2009. EARLIEST. Truth is, if I could maintain a level of busy-ness with projects that are really worthwhile in the meantime, I might not mind that much. But I've been pretty much doing the goofy things that others don't have time for, and it's just demoralizing. There's a reason they don't have time to do it.

But I digress. The thing that's really eating me is that we had some tasks to do so that a determination about when our facility fits in with other facilities in this timeline could be determined. We barely had forms in hand before the timeline is published with my facility dead last. The information from our site isn't even due until the end of next month. So these decisions were made, once again, without any input from us. That just makes me bring out the grumpy flakes more than anything else. And we are STILL being pressed to the deadline even though the information we will provide will pretty much be completely different by the time we get going on the project. So, we'll have to do it again. And *someone* will wonder why we did it so early in the first place.

I hate corporate life.

So, I had a birthday yesterday. I am obliged to have one every year, as I was not born on February 29. I used to LOVE birthdays, everyone's, not just my own. I don't remember when that stopped. Admittedly, I have passed most major milestones people pass in life, but hopefully, I've got a few left. Having a 3 year old in the house makes birthdays simply magical - so why am I so "bah humbug" about them lately?

My theories:

Once or twice, I had to bake my own birthday cake. And once, my whole family completely forgot about it. (I know, somebody call me a waahmbulance.)

I did not inherit the shopping gene from my mother the super-shopper, so I don't get to stores to see things I would necessarily like or like to buy others.

My DH doesn't have a shopping gene either - he doesn't really get into the whole buy presents for people thing, so I'm never quite sure if I'm going to get a gift or not. I don't want to look forward to a gift and be disappointed, but really, I don't require one, so it would be ok. But he will either cook dinner for me or we'll go out to dinner, so I'm always sure we'll eat. (I have stopped making my own cakes. I really don't need the extra calories...) Oh, but back to the DH - when he buys jewelry, people, he buys WONDERFUL jewelry!

DH, again, likes Christmas much better than birthdays, so "big" presents must happen at Christmas. I *was* always a birthday person, believing that celebrating the day someone important to you was born was a whole lot more special.

DH and I have birthdays two months apart. We sandwich 3 children, Thanksgiving, Christmas, nearly uncountable other relatives' birthdays inbetween. By the time we get to mine, I'm done! Now that we have little K, I have to stretch that to February (sandwiching in yet another 5-6 extended relatives). It's the ultimate effort to make it special for her, so I would just as soon skip mine.

I have somehow only gotten through to my oldest daughter that I really like cards and homemade stuff. She's good at it. Oldest son will get kind of extravagant with money he doesn't have, and younger one just doesn't remember.

*** Big K reminded me of this one - my birthday was ALWAYS during finals week (as it is for him right now), from Jr High clear through college. That shouldn't matter to me anymore because jeez, that was a hella long time ago, but when I think about it, that DID suck!


OK - now the good news. There were at least 3 people at work wishing me a happy birthday. One friend left a nice card, another brought me a card on Friday, just in case I was taking both Monday and Tuesday off! And my l'il sis and da boys came to have lunch with me and visit my work friends. She is a scrapper phenominal, and made me the greatest personalized Starbucks tumbler ever! (She made one for B for her birthday that I totally coveted and drooled over. I think she got the hint!) I got some roses and some walking shoes (which was really not expected because I got my iPod and speakers for Christmas!) and my big sis, who is always prompt about these things, sent a really cute jacket, tshirt and a RED appliance for my kitchen! (I am TOTALLY into red appliances these days). So lest you think I am not loved or am feeling sorry for myself, let me disavow you of that opinion. I am really one lucky sucker.

That said, I am still a birthday curmudgeon. But I'm giving myself one week before I get myself in gear to celebrate #4 for Missy K.

***Take My Advice, people - SUMMER birthdays are GOOD! Plan your children accordingly. That summer pregnancy won't last, but birthdays will!***

National De-Lurking Week?

I've read in many blogs now that it's national de-lurking week.

Whatever. Who makes up these terms? It's a little freaky out there in the blogosphere. (see - there's another one of those terms... scary!)

I can't imagine there are more than a handful of people who visit this site with any regularity, and I can't imagine why those handful do, frankly, except that some are related to me! I don't blogroll (yet another), or join any webrings (and more!) or anything. This is not a crafty, knitty (who used "knitty" before blogs?), political, witty, medical, even mommy, or any kind of blog, really... just a piece of a bunch of them, which I guess pretty much sums me up too.

I am amused at the searches leading to this site, though - "help with teenage stepdaughters" was last week's stumper.

Well - if you're out there and feel like saying Hi, it'd be nice. (Hey, I'm the one who will NEVER send your chain letter along, so I'm not gonna coerce anyone here...) I'm gonna be awfully surprised to get more than one or two comments. But let's just give it the old college try anyway. Hi all - anyone out there?

Why do guys get all the fun stuff?

ok manufacturers - get going on the female version of this! I got an iPod for Christmas and birthday (sometimes it DOESN'T suck to have a birthday close to Christmas) this year and I love it! 'course, pulling it out to share my videos and pictures might be a little interesting...

banned words and phrases

Lake Superior State (who'd have thunk?) put out their 2006 list of banned words and phrases. One of these days, "thunk" is going to be on it.

I keep forgetting, but I really want to submit "I can help who's next" to be banned. "I can help the next person in line"; "Next"; "Who's next?" - all viable alternatives. Even for a grammar and sentence structure shortcutter like myself, that sentence grates.

and btw - Happy New Year!

Strange things to do for strange reasons (a.k.a. confessions from a guilty person, and a little snitching, too)

1. I sometimes throw my candy wrapper away in someone else's garbage can.
(what I think/say)....because I'm just passing by and need somewhere to throw the garbage.
(confessing) .... so the cleaning team won't know I eat the darn stuff (or maybe how much)?

2. I scour the town to buy gas for 2 cents cheaper.
.... because I'm a smart consumer.
.... because I'm cheap. The irony of spending $1 to save $1 isn't lost on me, however that knowledge doesn't seem to stop the behaviour. Nor does it matter that I'll spend $1 anytime for nearly any kind of junk, but it's important to save that 2 cents x 17 gallons!
.... I won't, however, only fill my tank 1/3 full in order to make it to a town with cheaper gas. (DH will)

3. I count how many times my DH and I have dropped off or picked up little K during the week.
.... because I like that we share these duties.
.... I want to make sure I'm always at least one ahead. Keeps the balance tipped in my favor! for what? dunno.

4. I cut teeny little slivers of brownies from the pan instead of cutting out a square or rectangle piece.
.... because it tastes better that way!
.... so no one will know there isn't exactly as much as there was before. I don't think I'm really fooling anyone. The brownies have a strange way of shrinking that I don't think goes unnoticed.

5. I learned to like iced tea.
.... I wanted to drink less soda.
.... because it was the only drink with "refills" for quite a while. (see confession for #2) Now it's more a habit. I always order iced tea with my dinner. But at home, I drink milk.

6. DH has to buy the biggest drink and biggest popcorn when we go to movies.
.... it's the most economical (if you can use that word about theatre goodies) buy there.
.... because he can refill them for free! And he absolutely HAS to refill them, regardless of whether or not we really want more.

What are the little quirky things you do and rationalize to yourself?

politeness run amok

As my l'il sis and family are going to spend Christmas with his family up in the Northwest (where they'll be able to at least get together with my big sis & family too), we had our Christmas celebration last weekend at her house. Our 3 year olds are so incredibly different, but they do get along fine, thankfully! Mine goes around discovering toys she doesn't have and pretty well creating a toyful mess everywhere, but quietly and sometimes on her own. She also travels the house to find other treasures. L'il Sis' 3 year old wants to share his every thought with you (and he has a LOT of thoughts!). To help him in this matter, they have worked with him on "Excuse Me" rather than interrupting.

It's a good thought.

In reality, it's created this hilarious repetitive sequence where you will undoubtedly be chatting with someone and an insistent little "e'scuse me, E'scuse me, E'SCUSE ME!" comes along. So everyone stops and either listens to his wisdom (and this 3 year old does have some) or watches as he jumps or breakdances for our enjoyment. When he's done, we all congratulate him and go back to chatting. ...when a little insistent "e'scuse me, E'Scuse Me, E'SCUSE ME!" happens again. You get the picture. Actually, it's really not nearly as irritating as it might sound, though, because he truly is a funny kid. But it's clear there are some drawbacks to teaching politeness.

We tried getting him to add an "Auntie R" or "B" to his e'scuse mes, so we would know he was trying to get our attention, but it wasn't terribly important to him who responded, so that effort fell flat on its face.

Another drawback. When you call him now, he answers, "yah, what?" Which seems strange except... think of how you would respond to "e'scuse me, E'Scuse Me, E'SCUSE ME!". You'd respond, "Yes (or yeah), what?" He hears it all the time. Completely reasonable. Makes him sound a little like he's from Minnesota though - the "yah, what" has that drawn out "yaaaah" you hear up there. He also answers "yah, yah, yah" or "no, no, no" to Y/N questions. Put your best Minne-sewww-tan accent on for those and you've got it.

I wonder if it's a "first child" thing - my oldest used to do that kind of thing all the time. The others, not so much, although miss drama queen herself would just break out in song whenever she felt there was an audience available... kind of similar. But current 3 yr old would never dream of attracting everyone's attention to herself. Mostly personality, I think, but interesting just the same.

I love this age.

I'm surrounded by

GERMS!

Now normally, I'm not terribly germaphobic. I don't get terribly excited about germs. I think people who take great pains to avoid the little buggers generally get a whole lot sicker when they get caught by those microbial pests than those of us who just take normal precautions. There's something to be said for building immunity, I think. I don't even get all frantic when wee ones pick stuff up from the floor and immediately put it in their mouth. In fact, I sometimes have to remember that most people are not as laid back as I am about this stuff, and try to remind myself to act more concerned. I cheerfully watched my darling little nephew try to wrap his little mouth around a golfball without batting an eye until I saw the horrified look on my sister's face. "Oh yeah", I said, "He probably shouldn't do that." as I distract him with another ball and extract the nice sort of clean one from his grasp.

That said, my office is infested with coughs, raspy voices, sneezes and all around miserableness. As I do not have my Christmas shopping done yet, I do not appreciate this proximity with microbes. Like I'm not going to be surrounded by them every time I step into Wal-Mart. (just kidding - don't go walmart on me ok? BTW - Have you noticed that walmart can be used as a verb, sort of in place of the word "postal", which seems to have fallen out of favor, what with the crazies showing up more at fast food places and high schools instead of post offices these days. I digress, but actually, I'm interested to know if anyone really knows the definition of "going walmart". I can tell it's negative, but beyond that, I'm a little fuzzy.)

Back to the point. I think the nasty little buggers have figured it out so that I will stay nice and healthy right up until the holidays. Then, when I have a few days off, I'll get hit with the creeping crud and be flat on my back instead of enjoying the festivities. So - I figure I'd better party now, eat all the goodies and enjoy myself, cuz who knows what's coming. Yep, that's what I'm gonna do!

Tis the season!

btw - thanks to detstar for having a picture I could borrow! (I may not love those viruses, but I love Dr. Mario....)

If wishing could make it so...

1. I could write something and not have a much better way to say it the day after I've posted.

2. I would have the confidence to get my master's degree. I just don't know what I would do with it.

3. My children would all be sufficiently driven to success that I would not have to do the driving.

4. I would be able to work and still take in more foster children.

5. My kids would ALL find their niche and be truly happy in their lives.

6. I would have come up with an idea like Threadbared. (Congrats on the book offer, dudettes!)

7. My extended family would live in close enough proximity to see each other frequently, but not so close that it becomes a chore. There are really only 2 members of our family close by anymore, and while I'm thankful for them, that's just not enough!

8. I could find the way to let go of others' trials and challenges.

9. I would always know the right thing to do with teenagers.

10. I would make lots more wishes!

Quarter of a Century ago (warning, boring birth story coming)

This little boy was born. It was a chilly morning at the end of November. We had been doing a lot of walking, because that's what pregnant women like to do along with eating super spicy pizza, in the hopes that one of those old wives tales will actually work for them and get this whole whale episode of life over. Most women, after being pregnant for 9 months or more are REALLY ready to deal with labor, just for the ability to put those baby pounds down in an infant seat for an hour or so. I can't recall anyone that I knew wishing they could stay pregnant "just a little longer".

Anyway, I felt some contractions around noon, but didn't think much of it. They became regular around 6-8 pm and we alerted my sister, who was going to lend some support to this whole process, but we stayed home. And DH went to sleep. I still marvel at that. There was no sleep for me, however, and I just sat there all night timing those crazy sqeezy things happening to me. It took FOREVER for them to get closer than 5 minutes apart.

Went to the hospital finally around 5:30 am, after asking DH to please wake up. Nurse's name was Mony. ("Moan-y") She had a cohort, but all I can remember is that we called her Groan-y. I'm sure she had another name, but I sure don't remember it. We had our sack of important things, and we pulled the backgammon game out to pass some time. Moany and Groany decided that if I was comfortable enough to play backgammon, I was too comfortable to be there. OK - so I'm supposed to make noise or cry, or MOAN and GROAN??? (ha ha...) We were suitably chastised and put the damn game away. One or both of them attached the monitor and decided that I wasn't kidding about having contractions, so they let me stay. Back then, it was the thing to have "natural" childbirth - no drugs, no epidural, just really good lamaze techniques. So I focused on something, did my breathing, whatever and finally decided I would really appreciate one of those pain shots they'd offered me 20 times and my DH had politely and then not-so-politely refused. (at my request made when I was several days or maybe weeks pre-labor, so should never have been listened to, I should add...). Turns out they decided it was too close to delivery now, so no, you can't have anything anymore. What kind of logic is that? Am I going to pass it to my baby MORE right before I give birth than I would have a couple of hours prior?
So, after some pleading on my part, I got "1/2 a shot". Honey, a shot is a shot. But the 1/2 part is probably to be believed, because there was absolutely NO RELIEF from the damn thing. Really totally not worth the pain of the shot.

At 12:35 pm, our firstborn, M, joined the world. Bullet headed, but still obviously the most beautiful baby ever born. We got lucky and got the "family birthing center" so that all of us could stay together all night. (I really loved that part.) And the next day, we all went home. Again, back in the day of 24 hour stays. I liked that part too, I may be a nurse, but I truly hate hospitals and will always opt to go home early. I am a really crappy patient. Because I know best and I know that I know best. I'm quite sure it's mutual - they're pretty happy to see me gone, too.

Thus starts the next 25 years of joy, wonder, and a whole lot more than a few challenging times. But that's another post.

Happy Birthday, M. We love you.

Baby Fix

We spent a beautiful week with family in sunny Arizona. With an 8 week old and an 8 month old, even little K got her baby fix.

...and she LOVES babies.

There is so much to be thankful for this year.

My sisters and I have all had an addition to the family in one way or another. Yay for 2005.

Happy Thanksgiving 

I'm Just Wild About Harry

I am on disc 16 of 17 of the latest HP audio book. Yes, I've already read the book, but this guy reading it - he's incredible! Jim Dale has won a well earned Grammy for his work on this series. They're an enjoyable commute pasttime book after book. Every time a disc ends I groan. I mean, a loud "aaaawwww" (as in "aw shucks" y'know), whether there's someone to hear me or not. I just don't want it to be over because that means I'm one disc closer to being finished. Most books, this is a good thing - it means we're at the exciting part and soon to move on to something else. For some reason, I have a really hard time letting go of Harry. But very soon I will be done with this book. again.

The good news? The #4 movie (Goblet of Fire) opens on Friday! And since #4 is my favorite year/book so far, I am appropriately jazzed. Who knew I'd be a such an ardent fan of a "children's" series at my age? I realize 7 is a LOT of books to write, especially with lengths of 700 pages, but jeez - do you think we can convince Ms. Rowling to just keep on going?

Red paint dots

We all got "pictures" with globs of red acrylic paint on white paper on our nightstands yesterday. It was very sweet - she didn't announce it or anything. The pictures were just there. It wasn't a problem except for Mr. Teen's, whose picture dripped on other papers and the white rug. He has a bit of a pink spot there now. Wish I knew how she found that paint...

btw, regarding last post, big sis has one word for me. Hormones.

jeeez, I wish.

Sweet and Sour

Maybe it's timing, maybe it's my age, but I am a GRUMP today (and yesterday, too. and maybe even the day before that...). Thank heavens there are sweet things in my life (see most recent post from dear, darling, thoughtful, thankgodforjustabouteverythingexceptthatyearshewas15, daughter) because otherwise I'd rival Maxine for attitude.

Yesterday was an election day. My DH and I actually do NOT speak of whether or not we voted. It is the biggest secret ever - why? BECAUSE WE WANT THE OTHER ONE TO FORGET!! If we both vote, we pretty much always cancel each others' votes out. So it's 7 pm-ish when I vote, polls close at 8. I sign in and think "Yay - he hasn't signed yet, so he's probably forgotten". I do this sneakily when I know he's busily occupied elsewhere. There is no, "Bye, honey, I'm going to go vote." in this house.

Feeling smart and maybe even a little cocky, I exercise my right to tell our guv where to shove...well that's another story, or rhyme, maybe. Maybe even a country song... Anyway, I stick that little ballot into this tricky little machine that looks a hell of a lot like a scanner to me and beat it out of there like a bat out of hell. No thank you, I do NOT want a sticker saying "I voted" because that just might REMIND a certain someone that it is an election day and I. DO. NOT. WANT. TO. DO. THAT.

Later that evening, we've picked up a couple of pizzas to share at K's hockey playoffs and are lamenting the lack of parking places at the community center parking lot because, Hello, this is a polling place!, and I asked if he voted (knowing there is NO way on this earth he'll miss the hockey game to go run off and vote). But the answer is Yes. AAAAARRRGH! And I was SO CAREFUL! I told him I did, too. But he already knew, because of course, he has to sign in right below me.... I knew I should have kept my maiden name.

So we cancelled each others' votes out again. But the beauty is our dear guv got told where to shove it anyway. phew. Take that, you vote canceller, you!

Back to the grumpy stuff -

1. Why does every piece of clothing in the house HAVE to be freshly laundered and ready to wear EVERY DAY??? I think if you have enough clothes for a week, then you should only need to run the washer/dryer combo once a week. Daily laundering, besides being on the obsessive/compulsive side of normal, is a waste of water, soap and ecological resources. Weekly or even semi-weekly laundry - sensible, I think.

2. If you want to teach your child to do something, what SHOULDN'T you do? That which you want them to learn, right? Well, I've been on a campaign for a couple of months to get the teenager to learn that it takes just about 20 seconds to make a bed, and that he CAN, in fact, launder his own clothes in a satisfactory way. Two very good skills for a college bound kid to have. Sounds good, except that the bed frequently gets made in the teenager's absence (which is quite convenient if you're the kid), or if said teen has taken only 10 seconds on it and it looks a little shifty, sometime in the minute or two after child leaves for school, the bed transforms itself and looks amazingly nice. And strangely, the laundry basket for same teen is almost always mysteriously empty! Not that he doesn't contribute to the dirty laundry in this house because, oh my GOD the amount of laundry a teenager can produce is mind boggling - but these things fall into category of grump#1, where all dirty clothes MUST BE LAUNDERED IMMEDIATELY AND AVAILABLE TO WEAR AGAIN THE NEXT MINUTE BECAUSE I JUST DON'T KNOW WHY. I *swear* to you, we all have plenty of clean underwear.

3. The barking dog CANNOT get the hang of this move back to Standard Time. Why in the world do we have to monkey around with our clocks anyway? Off the subject... It's been a week or so now, and dog wakes up every morning between 5:30 and 6 and barks.
Dog: BARK! 5 second wait.
Dog: BARK! 5 second wait.
Dog: BARK! BARK! BARK!
Me: "SNICKERS, SHUT UP!"
5 minutes of quiet (just enough to get that dozing going)
Dog: BARK! 5 second wait.
Me: "That *&^^%# dog - I'm gonna kill her."
DH: "Go ahead. I won't tell anyone."
Dog: BARK! BARK!
Me: "SNICKERS, ***SHUT UP***! (can you tell I keep yelling louder - thereby waking not only me, but everyone in the house up)
Dog: BARK!
and I get up, mutter a lot, and go let the stupid animals outside. Meanwhile, I play a game or two of solitaire so that getting up so frikken early isn't a total loss.

I used to like dogs. I'm looking for someone to rescue a couple of beagles right now.

See - I'm grumpy. Leave me alone.

Wanna know how to

make your mother cry?

Call her and leave this message:

"Hi Mom. I've had a huge urge today to call you and tell you I love you. So I'm calling to tell you I love you! Love ya, B"

yep. sniffled all the way home.

Someone stole my idea!

Got this link from Amalah's blog -
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/story/330221p-281994c.html
I have oft lamented the look of the not-so-trim young things in those just-a-little-too-snug low-rise jeans, and have said the girls look a little like cupcakes or muffins spilling out over the jeans.

SOMEONE HEARD ME AND TOOK THE IDEA AS THEIR OWN!

Two people couldn't have come up with the same thing, could they?

Just for the record, I dislike the pants hanging off the boxered-butt a whole lot more. It amazes me to see a kid running across the street hanging onto his pants around his crotch so they don't fall down while he runs... Wait till they grow up and think back on THAT one! Parents, are you taking pictures??? Your grandchildren will LOVE you for it!

Glam up the breasts

Who knew? I've been doing it wrong all these years...

Milestones

My baby sister turned 40 yesterday. 40. pfff.

My sisters' birthdays have always had a more profound effect on me than my own. I've never gotten excited or bothered about any of the typical milestones. I didn't get a car on my 16th birthday, didn't even get a key. I didn't go out for drinks on my 21st birthday. In fact, my mother was in one of her silent angry modes and I got a box with an outfit in it shoved in my face without ceremony. My boyfriend was also angry at me and went to a party without me. If not for my little sister, who hadn't seen her 10th birthday yet, and to whom birthdays were still very important, I would have ignored that milestone completely. But that cute little face wanting more than anything else to sing "Happy Birthday" to me and see me blow out a candle remains etched in my mind as the one wonderful thing from that day.

25, a quarter of a century, was spent somewhere, doing something. Who knows. 30 was spent walking the floors all hours of the day/night with a little 2 week old screaming wiggly thing.

40 was a wonderful celebration with family in a beautiful setting near the beach in Santa Cruz, and 50 was spent in another celebration with sisters and niece getting my very first massage, facial and some other treatment with a fancy name. A wrap of some sort, I think. So it's not that they haven't been celebrated or special. It's just that other people get there before me, so it's really no big deal when I get there.

Older sister milestone birthdays are tough because it makes me realize and ponder the passage of time and it always amazes me that she's "so OLD" and looks so GOOD! And wherever she is, I know I'm headed there next! In reality, she hasn't even seen the top of the hill, let alone gone over to the other side. Numbers matter not.

Then there's baby sis. Every milestone is the end of something, and the realization that whatever milestone she hit, I hit it a VERY LONG TIME AGO! Maybe it's all part of the middle child thing, who knows - but I do know that my baby sister is in her 40s now and that's pretty weird. But it's been 40 well-lived years and I'm awfully happy the tumor my mother thought she had turned out to have red hair, dimples and a killer smile.

Happy birthday, "little girl" - Love you!!

spammers

some representative email subjects from today:
fw: seersucker cunning
fw: starfish synthesis
fw: ...
fw: carl cinnamon

Now admittedly, I'm an IT geek, so I know not to open these, but who in their right mind would respond to "seersucker cunning"? What could it be? How to wear seersucker surreptitiously? How to look especially smart whilst wearing seersucker? (Give up!) And supposedly, these things grab words from other emails in your box. Seersucker??? When have I last emailed about seersucker? OK, so NO. That's not it. And frankly, the seersucker and starfish subject lines make more sense than most of the ones I get, as far as normal words and grammar is concerned. (carl cinnamon????)
What I don't get is if these spammers want us to open their infected mail, why don't they just use real language and subjects that make sense? Until they wise up, I guess it's nice to have that heads up.

Sandtoy motoring anyone?!

have sticker, will travel

Apparently both dogs needed stickers.

Beware of 3 year olds bearing stickers.

Things I want to remember

"Whip-sops" turned into "lip-lops", but really means "lip gloss".

Using a "poof pick" to pick up her hotdog pieces and dip them in ketchup. (toothpick)

"a-b-c-d-e-f-g... h-i-h-i-a-b-c".

"Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are. Up up up up like a diamond in the sky...." (this never works cuz it throws the whole rhythm of the song off, but it doesn't stop her from trying.)

"doc dogs" - those things she picks up with her poof pick.

"ah-bah-lah" turns out is really an umbrella. That took days.
"grey groo" was playground. Ditto on the days. But both of those have been corrected by age...

every kind of meat is "chicken". Honest, we don't have it THAT much...

"When you finish your "pooter", we can play." ...spending way too much time reading blogs...

"OOOHHH, that's BEEE-YOU-TI-FUL" when shown her new bedroom quilt and pillows.

When she saw a "Wicked" poster and said - "Hey there's Bri-Bri!" (Wouldn't it be nice if someday that turned out to be true???!!!)

"Cheer-weeder!" omg cute.

sigh. they grow up way too fast...

rantings and ravings

Nothing makes me want to go buy an American Girl doll more than a group of religious zealots saying they're going to boycott them for supporting a cause. Now, the American Girl folks are not supporting the Columbian drug lords (oh my, here come a bunch of google hits), or assault rifle sales in Richmond. They gave some money to Girls Inc., a group serving hundreds of thousands of mostly latino and black young girls.
The protest is directed at an ongoing American Girl campaign in which proceeds from sales of a special "I Can" wristband help support educational and empowerment programs of Girls Inc., a national nonprofit organization that describes its mission as "inspiring girls to be strong, smart and bold."
Apparently that's a bad idea. Don't want any low income girls to actually think they're smart, strong and bold... no - better to have them shoot out dem babies and stay on state support. The real problem is that Girls Inc. supports contraception, the Roe vs. Wade ruling, and even offers support to those gals struggling with sexual orientation.
Now, this hits home a little. My little K was the third child born to a drug abusing, physically abused mother on her 20th birthday. What would her life have been if she'd not been placed in foster care immediately and eventually adopted? What about her mother who grew up in that environment encouraging drug use and pregnancies? If Girls Inc had been available to her, could she have perhaps made better decisions? maybe. maybe not. But that's a charity I'd have to think hard about NOT supporting! The good news is perhaps programs like this will actually benefit from these narrow minded boycotting campaigns.
Yep - I've never wanted to buy an American Girl doll before, thought they were a little overdone and kind of silly, but they sure as hell have my support now. Maybe they have a cute little latino gal I can give my little latino chica.
I'm going out to buy my "I CAN" wristband for now. Join me - maybe the huge spike in sales will send a very clear message to those who need that message sent.
...again and again.

makes a pretty good pirate.  

some scurvy bilge-rats if e're I saw some 

Late, not necessarily better

Took a break - I do that. Lots has happened - just busy stuff, nothing terribly earth shattering.
TLAP day was rousing success. I have some cool pics of people getting into the swing of things. I put lots of pirate decorations up, flags, skeleton pirate people, etc. Also provided on the walls, pirate vocabulary, so everyone could find a word or two to use (they did), and pirate jokes, some funny, some stupid, Pirate pick-up lines, which I had to turn facing the wall with a disclaimer on the other side so as not to offend any harassment-prone people. (sheesh) We had the requisite treasure chest full of candy and some borrow-if-you-want bandanas to really get involved. Everyone got a little pirate flag and an eyepatch at their desks in the morning. I recommend celebrating stuff like this - just for the fun factor - nothing else.

The following week we had "IT Week". There is no such thing, so we just picked a week and did it. (As opposed to TLAP day, which I did NOT make up.) We made project boards with interesting facts and stuff about what we do on them along with one whole board just for jokes.

We had the "new" equipment there for people to look at and play with, people to answer questions, and some raffle prizes. We visited the 3 main campuses of the hospital on different days for a few hours around lunch. An amazing number of people showed up to visit at our two larger facilities. Lots more than we expected filled out our "quiz" (all answers were on the boards) and entered the drawing. Again - a great success.

This was all great, but incredibly time consuming for yours truly, the ambassador of fun. I probably have some decent stories from the events, too, but who can remember?

In the meantime, my niece went and had her baby, a nice, healthy 8 pounder. He's beautiful - as expected from those two! First grandbaby on both sides, so I imagine this little guy won't be lacking for attention.

Also, Miss Theatre Major opened and closed a show in the time since I last wrote. She was in Seussical at CU. She was disappointed in her casting (bird girl), but it was still a fun show and she enjoyed it. Here's one of her renditions of some opening night fiascos...

"For the first number the entire cast is supposed to run up onto the stage which is covered in purple fun fur. I got up to the edge of the stage where the fun fur starts and my shoes slid out from under me. Did I fall? Sort of...
I tumbled to the ground, rolled back up, and kept running. I couldn't stop laughing for the rest of the first number.
My voice cracked on my solo line in Horton hears a Who. I do the "sold" stuff at the auction, but I was so mad at myself for messing up my first solo.
Then my shoe fell off of my foot (not very noticeably- phew!) in Amazing Mazie and I tried to discreetly put it back on.
I started laughing at J. C. (Vlad Vladikoff) and K. R. (as Yertle the judge turtle) onstage. I tried so hard not to, but you should have seen them. Last night was the first time they were in complete costume and I almost died trying to hold my laughter in.
The birds didn't have our complete costumes until last night. We had an addition of "wings" (pieces of fringe that connect to the back of our costume and our wrists) on the Final dress, and last night we had new tall headpieces added to our hats- mine is like a sprout of purple fuzzys about a foot off of my head. This may not seem like a big deal, but I cannot tell you how much of a difference these two things make. We kept getting stuck on scenery, mics, and each other with the wings. The most noticeable catch for me was on the bows when I went up to bow and my arm just stayed up by my head until I could figure out how to untangle my wing from my purple fuzzies (the director noticed this one... embarrassing!) There was more, but I think these were the funniest and most ridiculous things that happened last night."

I SO wish I could have seen that, but then I suppose I'd have had to make for the nearest water closet to avoid an uncomfortable scene - I tend to laugh a little too hysterically at other people's misfortunes. A nasty habit of mine... I am wondering, though - what's up with dress rehearsals these days? Having costumed a show or three myself, I know nothing's supposed to change after the last dress rehearsal, unless it's something like a shoe decoration or a minor piece of jewelry. Adding a headdress? yikes! I am jealous, though - hubby and youngest son went out there this weekend to see the show and visit. I keep talking about how nice it would be to win the lottery, but then I guess I'd really need to buy a ticket or two in order for that to happen.

Anything more will just have to wait. My brain is tired.

My Pirate Name

Remember, Monday is International Talk Like a Pirate Day!
I have several things planned for work, as I am officially the Ambassador of FUN there. (Well, at least one of them...)
What's your pirate name?
I have several:

Captain Morgan Vane:
Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. You tend to blend into the background occaisionally, but that's okay, because it's much easier to sneak up on people and disembowel them that way. Arr!

Bad-Rum Tess
No description, but really, is one needed?

Capn Elizabeth the Wicked Wench
Again, name with no description, but clearly, I am the captain sort.
*puffs up chest*

Wanna know more about Talk Like a Pirate day? I can't wait.

driver training

My teenager passed his written driving test today and walked out in proud receipt of three stapled together pieces of paper which say he can start practicing to drive. Through a very strange set of coincidences, I just sent this teenager off with a complete stranger in a powder blue mini cooper with decals ablaze. "Driversed.com" "Your complete driver training source" etc. etc.

Top Reasons to be Concerned:

1. My son is learning to drive in one of the smallest and easiest to crush vehicles on the road.

2. He is learning to drive with the handicap of not being able to see the action ahead for the ginormous SUV sure to be in front of him at all times.

3. I found the driving instructor on the INTERNET for god's sake.

4. The car is POWDER BLUE! What will his hockey pals say?

5. Until we adopted little K., this was my BABY! *teeny tears welling up*

6. Big K says, after his successful test results, "Do I HAVE to wait for the lesson to start? I want to practice first so I can impress the teacher." uh huh.

7. The 6 months countdown to the actual drivers test has officially started.

8. The car is POWDER BLUE! No one drives a powder blue car! Everyone will laugh at him!

9. The driving instructor answered his phone "Hello." Instead of "Your best Driving School ever, how can I help you?" or better yet, some secretary-like person saying, "Hello, Best Damn Driving School Ever, there are 14 eager callers ahead of you, will you please hold?"

10. This is my baby out there in a POWDER BLUE Mini, risking his life in the quest of this driver's license, unable to see anything, and getting older every day and every day is one day closer to when he dresses up and picks up his date for the prom, and then graduates and then goes off to college and then...

oh shut up.

Apolitical me

So is it my imagination or are things a little screwy? GW gets Roberts on the Supreme Court basically through the back door and then gives him the job of chief justice? And the rest of us are so focused on the devastation in the southeast that we're not even phased by this? AND he gets to appoint another justice as well. be afraid. be very afraid.

Opportunities

Little L. went to another foster home last week. A long term one.
This is the first time I've had to give a child up to non-family. Apparently, the judge saw some wisdom in releasing her 4 older sisters so they can be adopted by the foster family who has had them for the past 2 years, but letting little L have the benefit of trying to reunite with her mom but not her dad. Mom has not left Dad in the last 2 years of county run scrutiny, let alone the last 12. I don't know how that will change in the next 4 months, and in the meantime, little L's lost the opportunity to be adopted with her siblings. (although it could still happen sometime in the more distant future - my fingers are crossed!) But that's what the ruling was, and we couldn't continue the foster care arrangement with both of us working, so we did not get to place her directly with either an adoptive family or her mom. This is so not what we got into this deal for. But we know she got a good, healthy, stable and secure start. We know we got her to the point where she will sleep through the night on occasion, where she will smile when she hears my voice or sees my face. (The others had to work a little harder.) And that has to be enough. big sigh.

In comparison, my stealthy little one can't stay in bed for more than 2 hours straight - ANY night. And she wants Daddy to put her back to bed. Sucks to be the favorite at 11pm, 1,2,4&6am. I haven't figured out how to get her to just stay in bed and let herself fall back asleep when she wakes up. I know putting plastic spiders around will not work this time! I read somewhere that one family made a chart and every night the child stayed in bed was worth a sticker. After a certain amount of stickers, a trip to the zoo or some other fun place was awarded. Nice idea, but for the instant reward/consequence 3s, I'm not sure it will work just yet. I might try it anyway. In the meantime, I'm taking my opportunities when they show up. Watching "Nevergood" the other night ("Everwood" for the non-initiated - I just renamed it because I can't stand the main character. But for the record, the show itself is a kind of guilty pleasure and I do watch it more than not), Amy scoots herself onto her bed to be by herself for a while. She gets a phone call which she does not answer, and curls up. I know it's a solemn, even sad moment where she's thinking about her graduation and her mother's cancer which is progressing despite chemo, and my comment is "I bet she stays in her bed all night". Just seizing the opportunity, folks! Pan to Ephraim, who placed the unanswered phone call, sitting on his bed with his half packed backpack, and S. and K. both chime in (after delivering a shocked and appalled look at me after my comment) "I bet he stays in his bed all night, too." Guess they saw the opportunity.

Speaking of my stealth snuggler, there were a handful of times through the sleep deprived nights of little L where I'd wake up because my arm was asleep and look over to find a cute little head on my arm, or snuggled into the space between me and the edge of the bed. This was different from her barreling days when she'd run in and climb OVER me to sleep in the middle. She was definitely being sneaky. And she'd found that I might not wake up if she just climbed in and snuggled. Have to admit, she had a good plan. Not only was she able to sneak an hour or two in my bed before I'd wake up, I had a hell of a time telling her she had to go back to her own bed when she was snuggled so cute and sweet next to me. Truth is, we probably would just let her sleep with us as long as she needs if it weren't for her gymnastics and kick boxing nights which come far more often than the snuggly ones. Oh well - any and all ideas are welcome!
A Challenge and an Opportunity.

A Kid Gone Good 

A Kid Gone Good

We drove down to San Diego this last weekend for my niece's wedding. 4 adults and two car seats in a car that officially seats 8, but you'd never want to drive from San Fran to San Diego with 8 in the car. Anyway, the kids did pretty darn well for such a long trip, and most of the adults did too. I still can't figure out why my oldest (24) will always find something to be grumpy or unhappy about, and if it's not readily available, he'll go looking for it. But that's another post.
My niece is the same age as above grump-pot but has been such a ray of sunshine to me. She had some very rough years as a teen, resulting in a teen pregnancy with a young man who was soon to spend considerable time in jail. She was pretty well written off by her dad, my BIL. So she lived with her mom for a while, got her GED and started working. It wasn't long before she realized she wasn't going anywhere except her mom's without an education, so she pursued a college education at a state college with student loans and student family housing. Somehow, between toddler feedings and toys, she got to the point where she could transfer to a school where she could finish her degree in nursing. As I am a nurse, we chatted many times on her path to her BSN. All this time, she continued to make her education and her child her top priorities. I was impressed.
Somehow, she met a young man a year younger than she, but who accepted her completely, child and all. He must have been 18 or 19 at the time. Again, amazing, but I held little hope for the relationship. They proved me wrong. They have been each other's strength now for about 6 years. They have also had a child of their own.
My niece graduated from nursing school (apparently nothing derails this young woman) last May with two children and a bill or two to pay. She proceeded to get a job in Southern California and now works nights supporting the family.
She is almost 25, a new bride, and one of the strongest people I know. I'm so proud to be her aunt and godmother. The wedding was beautiful and I thank her mother, stepfather, MIL and FIL for hosting it for them. These are two kids who have been through some rough times and deserve some good. So happy they found each other, and that we were able to share some of that happiness.

I put on a John Mayer CD the other day while working. Looked back a couple of minutes later to see this. Coincidence? I think not. 

why fast food amuses me

Haven't been to McDonalds in maybe a year or so. But I'm between meetings yesterday, driving back from one hospital to the next and I pass one. I think, "S. had a nice looking salad from there - maybe I'll go through the drive-thru." There are only two cars in front of me, so I get to the crackling order speaker fairly quickly.

"How can I help you?", a young crackly voice says to me.

"I'd like a grilled chicken caesar salad, please." I crackle back at my hostess.

"What kind of dressing would you like with that?", she asks earnestly.

"Let's see.... ummm.... Caesar?", I reply in crackly confusion...

Is there a choice of dressings on a caesar salad? I thought it was implied in the name. So is she throwing me a trick question? What would the salad be if I said Thousand Island? An Exiled Caesar? But then, he did wear a toga and that crown of foliage... maybe that fits. But what about Ranch? A Good Ol' Boy Caesar? Besides conjuring up a really goofy image of a long deceased ruler, I have to say no - if the dressing's gone, then the Caesar part is gone too.

I spent the better part of a 1/2 hour chuckling at various combinations of salads and what they might be named.

And that's why fast food amuses me.

better late than never.... or not

See, this is why I was never a good diary person. Whole months would go by without my even wanting to open the darn thing. Then I'd be all over it for 3 days. So maybe I'm not much of a blogger person either.

Since the last flurry of activity, I have finished the HP book - liked it alot, but preferred both 4 & 5 to it. I loved the amount of action in those, and the fact that I'd be a quarter of the way through the book and it would feel like the end, and I'd know I had a whole lot more coming! It amazed me that the author could come up with those great stories and tell them so well, and still have more in store for me! Year 6 was still interesting and a little darker even than 5, but that, too, makes sense, seeing as Voldemort is gaining strength and the showdown is coming... da dum, da dum...

We also baptized our little 3 year old. We had to wait until the adoption was final, obviously, first, then we waited until our favorite priest was back from Mexico, and until my sister and niece could join us. Then we joined up with my incredibly cute nephew and had a joint ceremony. It was so nice. I thought she might freak out (being that she's 3 and all...), especially with the water part, but she watched Ben first, and didn't have a problem at all. The only disappointment is that her godmother, aka her older sis, couldn't be there. She was "stuck" in Colorado at the Shakespeare Festival. She tried to get clearance to come out, but she's in two shows and understudying a part in both her show and in yet a third one. They said no. But her two godfathers were there, aka her older brothers, and they filled the bill quite nicely. I borrowed my sister to stand in for my daughter and all went just wonderfully.

We also had a baby shower for my niece which also went quite well. I provided the house, tables, chairs, plates, etc and cake. Her other three aunts provided the food and entertainment. It seemed that everyone had a nice time. Niece looks absolutely fabulous - she's always been really striking anyway - but you know how they say there's that "glow"? Well, I never felt I ever had one, but she does. And she's a little sensitive about "how big she is". She's not really all THAT big, but she does look farther along than 7 months usually does. Everyone carries differently... I once met a mom picking up her son at my son's birthday party. She was wearing a pair of overalls, and I swear, if she looked 5 months pregnant, that was a stretch. She told me she was due in a week. And by golly, the next week a beautiful full term baby was born. I think she must have not had any other organs in there! Still can't figure out where she put it! Simply amazing. But I digress...

In the meantime, I have my own baby fix here - Little L was born on the 7/15, I picked her up at the hospital on the 17th, and have been a "new mom" again ever since. She's had a couple of really cranky nights, (mom-to-be niece was around for one of them, unfortunately) but by and large, she's been a decent sleeper. Those cranky nights will get you, though. I also realized there really is some value in that whole maternity leave thing. Most moms caring for a 3 week old don't have to go to the office the morning after a crankypants night. That's a good plan. I think when we take our next foster baby, I will not be working. Despite good intentions, the "unemployed" 1/2 of this couple just can't stay home to take care of her. I'm doing lots of telecommute days and various other creative forms of time management. Thank heavens for a flexible job and really great bosses.

Other news - youngest son (15 1/2) officially has his first girlfriend. Always cute. And he picked well, too - she's really sweet (and cute too). They've been friends for several years now ("secretly" harboring a crush on each other, both sets of parents have always thought), play roller hockey together, referee together, etc. I suppose it was inevitable. Kind of a Disney movie thing. He is showering a whole lot more, and chews gum too. hmmmm. The showering is definitely a bonus - if you know any hockey players, you'll know just what I mean. There's something about all that equipment - the smell just never quite comes out no matter what you do with it.

Have a great however long until the next time!

So the new HP book has been out for a whole day. I have my copy but I'm on [gasp] Chapter 2. I'm also as of yesterday, the foster mom to a newborn linebacker, so all of a sudden, my free time has taken a nose dive. So don't tell me the story - I'll get there - but just a little bit late.
 

watch what you land in

I'm a busy blogger lately! But had to share the headline of the day.

back to the 4th

Forgot to send this link out for the 4th, but it's still so freakin funny, here it is now. (actually, the whole site is worth visiting...) so, happy 4th y'all, 4 days late.

randomness

Strawberry Shortcake.

Neldam's in Oakland makes the best ever, but it's not available year round. This presents a problem for those of us born in the month of January. or December or February, for that matter. So instead, I choose shortcake to celebrate everyone else's birthday. Today, for example, we celebrated the birthday of a friend born on the 4th of July. Checked in with her hubby about her favorite cake (nice touch, we thought), found out she liked SS too. Super cool. Then asked if she liked anything better. He says "Yes, but I can't talk about that." Great comeback. Why can't I think of those?

I do - but twenty minutes later.

It's that same talent that has me conversing with myself. Not really with myself, with other people, just not when they're around. My Jeckyll/Hyde neighbor is one I've had numerous "conversations" with. My MIL, too. Those are always fun - they're usually about the right to choose, the various contradictions of the right-to-lifers who are gun-ho about the justness of our presence in Iraq, etc. One of my favorites is our beloved "W". Even though I don't consider myself a political expert in any way, I can come up with some good stuff about him. Regardless, I'm always quite erudite in these, and easily prove my points. Unfortunately, very rarely do my real life conversations mimic these fascinating mental/verbal jousts. It sure is a pleasure when they do, though. My l'il sis and her hubby (both psychologists) probably have a term for me, but I don't think I want to know what it is.

Why is it that when a baby falls asleep in your arms, there is nothing better in the world. They become an extension of you and are yours forever... until they wake up, or have to go home with their mom and dad.

When a house alarm goes off in the middle of the night, there is no freakin' way you can remember the damn code. And the infernal and incessant ringing just doesn't help the memory banks unfog. And did you know, the damn alarm can go off even when it's not armed? We found that out last night. Hint: get the key to the stupid box BEFORE this happens to you. They "usually don't leave the key" with the owner when they install the box. What??? Why the hell not? It's our box! Hint #2: check the transformer. Somehow the power to the alarm system is interrupted and it gets nasty mad when it doesn't get power. Now you know.

Mary Poppins 4 nights in a row is difficult, but tolerable. Pete's Dragon 4 nights in a row is enough to make you slit your throat.
Julie Andrews vs Helen Reddy - no contest.

Bubbles may be the world's most perfect toy.
And that makes the "Bubble Lady" a very cool person.

Have a great Friday, everyone.

child proofing - stage 3

I remember buying those little cabinet locks when my now 24 year old was a baby. That was the extent of my baby-proofing. Well, that and the rug that covered the fireplace hearth which had already caused a couple of stitches. That approach was sufficient for my first three kids.
This fourth one is crafty. ...and curious. She's been out of her crib now for well over a year because she'd climb out. Or maybe she'd jump out - we've seen her jump off the kitchen counter. We just know we'd hear a THUD and she'd come barrelling into our room sometime between midnight and 2. The crib got dismantled pretty quickly. She still comes into the room, but sometimes now, she sneaks instead of barrells. When this happens, she usually scares the bejeezus out of me. I prefer barrelling.

I've been suspicious that she's figured out the cabinet locks for a week or so. I've found little travel bottles of lotion in strange places. Yesterday afternoon, there was a peculiar smell from her - a pleasant one - but peculiar. I looked at all the available lotion containers - not it. Found the sunblock (she LOVES sunblock) - not it. I found some very nice smelling polish remover a while ago. She found it too - and put it ALL over. Then she tried to fix it by washing herself in the kitchen sink with dishwashing soap. It took about 5 rinsings to get that off. After that, she found a nice black marker behind locked doors, and now she needs another shower.

At three, she's not old enough for me to trust taking the damn locks off, but how to keep her out? Looking for good ideas!

In the meantime, if you want some of the more dangerous or permanently messy things in my house, you'll have to look WAY up. And it has to be a way up that is inaccessible by countertop of any kind. She's even gotten really good at using my step stool to reach. Which of course, I will need to use more and more now because I am still a shrimp.

My only idea so far is to buy a bunch of plastic spiders and put them in the cabinets I want to keep her out of. She has this incredible ability to see a spider at almost any distance. That might work.

colors

Can't tell if the little one's color blind, just not interested, or ornery. When you ask her what color something is, she'll get a little smirk on and say, kinda sing-songy,

"Not purple. Not red. Not orange. Not green." until she gets the color and you say "Yes, green."

Then she laughs.

I've been tagged

I don't know anything about tagging or being tagged, but I'm learning. I'm a fast learner. I'm also a good responder. Since Lunasea tagged me, and she's pretty much the only person who EVER comments on anything I blog, I feel compelled to respond. If there's only one person out there who loves me, I'm gonna do what she wants!
(but don't send me any chain mail - it WILL die with me. I'm also the kill-joy who looks up your urban hoax stories instead of sending them around again and lets you know they're fake. Maybe that's why there's only one person sharing the love out there... food for thought.)
So here goes:

Three screen names I've had: beastarzmom; hockeymom; rag722.

Three things you like about yourself: I am good at my job. I am not compulsive about anything. I am silly.

Three things I don't like about myself: I avoid confrontation too much. Procrastination. Really awful housekeeper.

Three parts of my heritage: Irish, English, miser.

Three things that scare me: Losing a child. Car accidents in my vicinity. Heights.

Three of your everyday essentials: Hugs. Underwear. E-mail.

Three things you are wearing right now: Sandals. Black pants. B/W sweater set. (oh, and underwear!)

Three of my favorite songs: What a Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong) Butterfly Kisses (Bob Carlisle) Because You Loved Me (Celine Dion - for the record, I pretty much can't stand the singer, but I LOVE the song...) gee - do I have to stop at 3?

Things I want in a relationship: Cooperation. Support. Trust.

Two truths and a lie: I have 21 nieces and nephews, as evenly divided as possible. A large part of my income goes to the University of Colorado right now. I love camping.

Three things I can't do without: Chocolate, apparently. Hugs. A "baby fix" from time to time.

Three places you want to go on vacation: Mexico. Bali. Italy.

Three things you just can't do: Jump into a swimming pool without holding my nose. Touch my toes. Develop a taste for coffee. (I don't even like the smell...)

Three kids names: hmmm - that I haven't used? How about Evan, Alan and Kate.

Things you want to do before you die: Get fabulous seats to watch my daughter on Broadway. Babysit my grandkids. Eat healthy.

Three celeb crushes: Denzel Washington. Tom Cruise (Katie - give it up!) OK, seriously - Robert Redford, Paul Newman.

Three people you want to know these things about: gee - this one just sounds so much like a chain letter, that I'll noodle on it some more before answering... If you want to be tagged - let me know - I'll gladly accommodate!

late entry:: Based on a Lunasea comment, I'm tagging kyknoord.

You're it.

ENOUGH ALREADY! 

Fame

Man - you put a little picture of Jerry Rice in your blog and you go from 1000 hits to 1400 overnight! What a gimmick. Sorry to those of you who thought you were actually going to get some information about him. tuff luck as they say. But Hi anyway - nice of you to drop by! Leave a comment and tell me why you're searching the big guy out... always curious.
But fame is fleeting. I'll be back to my 2 hits/week again pretty soon. That's what happens when you don't really have much to say!

Here's today's shot from the CC Times. That's more like it. 

Here's the mug shot from yesterday's Comcast. I think he deserves much better than that. 

It comes in Threes

My MIL has always held that deaths come in threes. If one person dies (celebrity, friend, extended family, neighbor), she's always on the lookout for the next two. Strangely, she pretty much always comes up with the other two somehow.
I just happened on the obituary page (don't ask - it's sad) and found that the voice of Tony the Tiger, Fred Flintstone and Frank Gorshin, who voiced untold numbers of characters all died recently. Where have I been???? I did not hear about any of these losses.
I'm starting to believe my MIL - it does come in threes.

Getting Old is Not for the Weak

We'll just try this and see if it works.
Comcast posted an article today about Jerry Rice signing with the Denver Broncos. Now, I'm a Jerry Rice fan - I loved the glory days with Montana and even Young. Now I'm thinking, Jerry - you're 42, you've got a shitload of money, it's time to GET A FREAKIN' LIFE! Love ya, man, and I'm proud of the "not gonna give up" attitude at Oakland, but move on. Seattle, and now Denver. A serious message is being sent and it's one you should listen to!
Oh, and who's idea was it to print a mug shot of the guy? I thought I was going to read a story about the 87 year old grandmother he just mugged.

OK. This is weird. I'm not kidding here - I JUST opened my Chinese Fortune Cookie and read:
"Depart not from the path which fate has you assigned."

I stand corrected.

the Guilt

How awful does it feel to shut a drawer and only after the drawer is just about closed, realize that your toddler's fingers are still in there? I know.

Great minds think alike and more foster fun

I was reading an article about the Bay to Breaker's race, and remarking how it's a little strange that the people you see running naked are never the people you wish you would see running naked. And there it was. My comment. In print. Credited to someone else who undoubtedly has the same incredibly pithy insight to these occasions as myself. It's a conundrum.

Other news - we have a new little foster daughter as of yesterday. Brooke is 10 months old and is super cute! Don't know how this happens. I'm pretty sure they don't have a list of foster homes for cute kids and a list for not-so-cute kids, but we have certainly gotten the cuties. She's got a great little temperament, and doesn't seem to be having a huge problem with the fact that we are all strangers here taking care of her. We don't know how long she'll be here, but we do know her mom was arrested. Beyond that... all conjecture. I hear from friends that we're such "great people" to do what we do, but I gotta tell you - the kids are SO sweet. We always get more than we give. These kids deserve so much more. They deserve parents who will watch them, make them smile and be there for them ALWAYS. We're only doing a little - a teeny bit - to keep these kids safe and happy. But every little bit helps, I guess.

The joy of older siblings

Aren't big brothers fun? Last night we had hysterics in the car.

Big K: Guess What?
Little K: What?
BK: Chicken butt.
both: hysterical laughter.

repeat this sequence about 150 times, alternating who gets to say "Chicken Butt" and you have our drive home from hockey last night. If the laughter hadn't been so genuine and tummy-aching, it would have been a whole lot more painful, but I'm just a little concerned about what we'll hear from the preschool teachers today. Not too many of the kids have a 15 year old brother to teach them cool tricks.