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Saturday, May 31, 2008
~~ 8:47 AM ~~ I am sorry for the lack of blog posts lately. This past week totally kicked my ass -- people I care about in and out of the hospital, various events at Alice's school, day trips, work crap, etc. etc. etc. I am behind in everything! This morning I finally caught up with my email; several of the lists I am on have been extraordinarily busy lately, and it's a real weight off my head to grind through the backlog. Next to focus on is work. Bleh. Comments () | link
Thursday, May 29, 2008 ~~ 10:09 PM ~~ Sammy will be 6 in 6 days!!! Comments () | link
Tuesday, May 27, 2008 ~~ 11:12 AM ~~ We're having some difficulties with the switch that controls the pump that pulls water out of our well today, so the kids and I are just going to spend the damn day out of the house so we don't have to deal with or even think about it. Bleh. So yeah, we're heading out to a local(ish) children's museum for the afternoon -- I owe them a visit there, because that's where we were planning to go the day I had to cancel everything and get an emergency root canal. In other (and semi-related) news, Sammy either has her first loose tooth, or a really severe cavity or something. I think it's the former, but it's really hurting her and she won't try to wiggle it or let me give it a good feel, so I can't be 100% sure it's not some kind of sudden-onset severe problem type thingy. It's the correct tooth for first loosey, though -- bottom center incisor. So even if it is some kind of dental mishap, it could just come out with no real repercussions. Soooo we're all dealing with that little crisis right now, because it hurts her to chew or bite, so she's only eating pudding and canned broth and crappy mac 'n' cheez and similar softy foods, and even getting her to eat those things is a battle. Girlfriend cannot afford to fast, though, so I have to be able to keep figuring out new mushy items to tempt her with. Oy. Comments () | link
Monday, May 26, 2008 ~~ 7:39 PM ~~ If you have a LiveJournal account, even one you don't use very often or hardly never at all, please read this post, and the comments on the post, and then go vote. Okay? Comments () | link
Saturday, May 24, 2008 ~~ 11:45 AM ~~ While I'm bragging on Alice, let me share what her teachers said about her at her graduation to Middle School on Wednesday. (I decided not to upload the video of the ceremony, due to concerns about privacy for the other kids and also concerns about the quality of the video itself.) First the intro, addressed to all three girls: Although it will be very sad for the Lower School, we're so proud and excited that you are moving on to the Middle School. All three of you have earned your wings to fly and become the best Middle Schoolers you can be.Then the part that was just for Alice: Alice. Our cute little Alice. You have been here at [school] since you were 5. I've had the pleasure of watching you grow in so many ways. When you started in the Lower School you were "our cute little Alice", and you will always be that to us. But you have also grown to be a cherished [school] community member who knows the importance and value of using your voice. You will be a wonderful addition to the Middle School and we look forward to continuing to watch you grow and blossom here at [school].*beam* Comments () | link
Friday, May 23, 2008 ~~ 6:00 PM ~~ Today has been a gray blur. I had really bad insomnia last night, which led to me sleeping past the time I should have automagically awakened and gotten the kids up for the day. But it didn't matter, because Alice woke up too sick to go to school anyway, so we had nowhere we needed to be. Still, we've been an ill-combined combo today:
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 ~~ 4:26 PM ~~ Today is a special day for Alice -- she was announced in her school's weekly All-School Meeting as a "graduating" Lower Schooler and officially welcomed into the Middle School. There was a very sweet ceremony* where her Lower School teachers talked about her (and the other two girls, both good friends of Alice's, who are also moving up to Middle School) and how special they are and how treasured they have been as Lower Schoolers, and they were all given flowers and chocolates and special fancy ribbon sashes with their names on them. It was so nice! * Which I video'd and will post later if I can figure out how to convert it from a gimungous AVI file... Alice really really loved being fussed over like that (of course), and for the whole rest of the school day people were giving them hugs and congratulations. So nice. In the car on the way home from school, Alice said that she and her two friends were talking and they decided that she is "the smart one, and the athletic one, because I can run the fastest and I'm the best climber..." It makes me so happy to hear her talk about herself like that. *beam* Comments () | link
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 ~~ 9:39 AM ~~ Okay, I am now going in today at 2 to get my toof done. This is good news for me because I had a really rough night and extra-strength Tylenol is not quite relieving the pain for me right now, but bad news for Sammy because we'd planned to go somewhere really fun with her best friend* this afternoon. Bummer. * Her best friend, who is moving away in a month or two... Comments () | link
Monday, May 19, 2008 ~~ 4:58 PM ~~ Whoosh, I am tired right now. We were out of the house all day -- went right from dropping Alice off at school to a LLL meeting, grabbed some lunch, took Sammy for a haircut, did a little shopping and bam, it was time to pick Alice up and head home. Sheesh. It was a fun day, though, and I bought some really cute clothes for me and the girls, and pretty colorful new frying pans so I can throw out my banged-up old semi-sticky ex-non-stick pans. Plus the nicest thing about today? Alice did her fifth-grade standardized testing... Testing at her school is totally and utterly optional, but Alice and I talked it over last week and she decided she wanted to try it, so we put her on the list. The testing was this morning and Alice said that it was "soooo much fun" and super easy. Yay for her!!! Comments () | link
Saturday, May 17, 2008 ~~ 8:20 AM ~~ Yesterday we mailed out the invitations to Sammy's 6th birthday party. We're having it at the same nice farm where we had Alice's 5th birthday party -- animals to pet, ponies to ride, and a nice time to be had (hopefully) by all. As long as we don't get a 100% invitation acceptance rate*, we'll be okay, but if everyone can come, we'll have to pay a little extra. Either way, you know, it's still a bargain, because a two-hour party that we don't have to clean up after is pretty much priceless. * And I can't believe we will, since we had to choose an off time for the party -- Friday evening. Surely someone will have a t-ball game or something... Comments () | link
Friday, May 16, 2008 ~~ 1:36 PM ~~ Okay, I just scheduled my root canal for the end of the month. The pain has not yet reached unbearable levels, but I'm sick of not being able to chew on that side after more than 18 months, and I'm at the point now where I'm taking OTC pain meds more nights than not, just to get the ache to go away so I can sleep. Enough, already. The next thing I need to think about is actually my glasses (which I forgot to add to yesterday's "I'm falling apart" list). My eyes have been bothering me in a low-key sort of way for the past few weeks; I think my prescription has changed again. I'm going to get the tooth done first, though, because I need to see how much of these constant headaches are from my eyes and how much is from my toof. Ugh. Comments () | link
Thursday, May 15, 2008 ~~ 11:16 AM ~~ I finally went ahead and scheduled my sleep studies today. It had become something of a joke to me, trying to figure out which thing I needed to schedule first:
So yeah, sleep studies in June (after school lets out, and on Friday nights two weeks apart so Anth doesn't have to juggle his work schedule or worry about how late the kids stay up without me there to help get them to sleep). Should be interesting. Comments () | link
Wednesday, May 14, 2008 ~~ 5:12 PM ~~ Hey, start saving your calories now -- tomorrow is apparently Free Junk Food Day: - Free Iced Coffee 10 am - 10 pm at Dunkin' Donuts - Free Southern Style Chicken Biscuit (breakfast) and/or Free Southern Style Chicken Sandwich (lunch/dinner) with the purchase of a medium or large drink at McDonald's Comments () | link
Tuesday, May 13, 2008 ~~ 12:01 PM ~~ Happy happy birthday today to the man who... - Knocks himself out at work all day to support us - Can always "rig something" to make it work - Changes the cat litter every week, even though it's always a mess and it's my freakin' cat anyway - Puts up with my depressive, repressive, overly-expressive and only-rarely-impressive ways - Is the most reasonable, patient, even-tempered, kind, calm, and sensible person I know - Fixes stuff around the house whenever it needs fixed - Is always willing to move his schedule around to accommodate my needs, whims, and desires - Says "put it in front of me and I'll eat it", but who also tells me the things I cook are yummy - Is the best damn Daddy, pool shooter, IT tech support guy and man I have ever met - Has been my best friend for more than half of my life. Happy 37th, Anth. You're in your "prime"* this year!! (Jokes for nerds, jokes for nerds!!) Comments () | link
Monday, May 12, 2008 ~~ 10:40 AM ~~ I'm sitting at a computer at the library, trying to sort through my work emails while some sort of "Parents of Active and Intensely Noisy Toddlers" support group (PAINT for short) meets all around me. A strong wind storm came through our area last night and knocked down some trees and power lines, so we came here (after hitting Cracker Barrel for breakfast and coffee) so I could access the internet and bask in some artificial light. Our house gets awfully dim and quiet when there's no power. PECO says that they expect to have us back on the grid by early afternoon, but I saw the place where the lines went down and it was a veritable welter of tree branches and electric cables, so I'm not entirely convinced that they will be able to deliver that quickly. I'm relieved to know that not much work has built up over the weekend, though. I was really really stressed as I drove here this morning, thinking that I would be in Big Trouble for not being able to edit webpages this morning, but it's looking like everything can wait 24 hours, so *whew*. The weather here is still highly unsettled; the gray cloudy sky and the wind tossing the trees around are making everything look vaguely end-of-the-worldish. The coffee I had at Cracker Barrel doesn't seem to have done the trick in terms of converting me from drowsy slugabed to perky and functional member of society, so I'm thinking maybe a Starbucks run is next on our agenda. I had a really nice Mother's Day yesterday, and I hope everyone else did, too!! Tomorrow is Anth's birthday, so we're still in celebration mode here. Please send vibes that we do get our power back on soon. Besides my addiction to the Internet, and my children's love for watching TV and not sitting around in the dark, we don't have running water when we don't have electricity, and I'd really like to be able to flush the toilet and/or get a shower sometime soon... Comments () | link
Saturday, May 10, 2008 ~~ 12:31 PM ~~ On Thursday, we went to the mall to buy sandals for Sammy. (Thanks to Amy for the suggestion of Land's End/Sears, by the way! I'd forgotten about that option, and they had exactly what we needed!) Each of the girls brought some of their allowance money, and Sammy spent $1.99 on a cheerleader's pom-pom at K-B Toys. Then she got buyer's remorse because she realized that it was only one pom-pom, not a pair. (This was completely obvious when she chose it, but for some reason the fact didn't really hit home until after the transaction was complete.) So yesterday we went back to the mall so she could spend some more of her allowance money on a second pom-pom. Now today Alice has decided that she wants pom-poms too, so we're going back to the mall this afternoon so she can spend some of her money on a pair. I. DON'T. LIKE. THE MALL. Why do I have to go there three days in a row?!? *grump* Comments () | link
Friday, May 09, 2008 ~~ 7:59 PM ~~ Anyone out there who has read the Horatio Hornblower books? Alice and I have been watching the A&E DVDs* together, and when she found out that they were based on books, she asked me to get one of them for her. Are they, like, readable in the sense of being gripping and entertaining and not like, you know, Moby Dick or anything? Alice is in 5th-ish grade and is often lazy about her book choices, but I suspect that she could very easily stretch herself to read on an early high school level if she chose/was inspired... * (Hooray for Ioan Gruffud! What a fine, strapping, and pleasant-looking young man!!) Comments () | link
Thursday, May 08, 2008 ~~ 9:27 AM ~~ Leila asked about the toe ring, and I'd actually kind of forgotten about the toe ring. *blush* My real toe ring snapped in half last year, so now I have a small collection of inferior rings, none of which are entirely comfortable to wear 24/7 like I wore the real one. I did put one on yesterday after Leila reminded me, but I'm not sure how long I'll keep it on. Today we have much shopping to do -- sandals for Sammy*, vitamins and frozen health-food waffles for school-morning breakfasts, granola bars for work-morning breakfasts, [redacted] and [expunged] for Anth's birthday on Tuesday, etc. etc. * The summer shoe issue this year is giving me some trouble... I told Alice that I wasn't going to buy her Birkenstocks this year, since she's probably going to hit her growth spurt this summer and outgrow at least one pair of shoes before August. (She's in size 3 now!!!) We got her some really nice shoes through Zappos, and I can't say enough about their customer service -- free shipping both ways, courtesy upgrades to overnight shipping, etc. etc. etc. And it's a good thing Zappos is so great, because I've so far ordered 4 pairs of sandals for Sammy (2 sizes each of 2 different styles) and will have to send them all back. I've therefore given up on trying to score a good mail order deal for her feet, and I'm biting the bullet and taking her to Stride Rite to be professionally fitted today. Comments () | link
Wednesday, May 07, 2008 ~~ 3:02 PM ~~ For those keeping track, the toenail polish is on. It's a bit of a late start this year, at least compared to how early I could have done this if I'd only gotten around to it any time in the past few weeks. It's been quite a while since I ditched my closed shoes for sandals. And speaking of milestones, Sammy's birthday is in four weeks. Yikes!! Comments () | link
Tuesday, May 06, 2008 ~~ 8:26 PM ~~ Sorry blogging's been light-to-nonexistent lately; things here are kind of off-kilter in a lot of smallish ways. We went to the zoo today, which was really nice, although now the kids are all tired and crazy and yelling and bouncing off of each other. I guess that's the price to pay. *sigh* Jeez, when's the last time I posted some pictures?!? Comments () | link
Sunday, May 04, 2008 ~~ 8:16 PM ~~ Good: Alice's recital is done (and she did great)! No more dress rehearsals! No more classes until September!! Woot!!! Bad: I have this tooth that I got crowned over a year ago because it was cracked and was extremely sensitive to cold. The process of getting the crown was hideously unpleasant, due to various cock-ups along the way. The worst part of it all was that it didn't help: the tooth with the crown on it is still just as sensitive to cold, to the point that most days I can't even breathe through my mouth because just the coolness of the air makes my tooth scream. Besides the temperature sensitivity, sometimes the tooth just hurts for a few days for no damn reason. It's doing that right now, and has been hurting for 2 or 3 days, and it's really really really hurting, to the point that I'm fantasizing about going and getting the freaking root canal done. It's putting me in a really pissy mood. Bleh. Comments () | link
Saturday, May 03, 2008 ~~ 10:28 PM ~~ New recipe up; we had this for dinner tonight and it was yum! Comments () | link
Friday, May 02, 2008 ~~ 2:24 PM ~~ I have a t-shirt that I really like, except that it is bright kelly green (what my mom used to call "golf green") and I'd strongly prefer to either fade it somewhat or make it darker in color (without completely destroying the picture thingy on the front). I'm toying with the idea of, like, a wash in semi-diluted bleach, or dying it with a weak solution of black or blue dye, or running it through a cycle with that Rit color remover junk... Does anyone have any experience with this, or other guidance for me? Comments () | link
Thursday, May 01, 2008 ~~ 6:19 PM ~~ By the way, this is what I did with my Alone Time when Sammy was in school with Alice: - Watched two Netflix DVDs - Caught up on work - Went to see Forgetting Sarah Marshall* - Went out for fajitas by myself, with a book - Shopped for Anth's birthday presents - Shopped for Sammy's birthday presents * It was very funny, and Jason Segel is very likeable. But Apatow movies tend to take me out of the narrative every time another 'Apatow actor' comes on screen and I have to go, "Oh yeah, he was that kid in Freaks and Geeks", or "Hey, there's that one guy from Superbad". It stops being a movie and starts being a game of "spot the guy". *shrug* Comments () | link
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