I've been feeling pretty damned good lately.
I talked about it over on my writing blog (because one bit is writing/editing related and just the tiniest bit spicy), so let me encourage you to go check it out, because I whine and bitch and moan enough, and sometimes, it's good to just share some happy: http://everyworldneedslove.blogspot.com/2013/08/i-haz-happee.html
Showing posts with label happy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label happy. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Monday, January 21, 2013
Con Report
You guys. You guys. MarsCon was fantastic. I don't even know where to begin.
I got to dress in costumes and wear snarky t-shirts, and I got lots of compliments on both. On Friday, I was Doctor Who. On Saturday, I wore a shirt that read, "Huge tracts of land," and that night, I put my corset on over that shirt, to emphasize, y'know... my tracts of land. Sunday, I wore my favorite writing shirt, which reads, "You're just jealous that the voices talk to me." And I got to see a lot (a lot) of other really amazing costumes and funny t-shirts and a couple of scarves that were basically works of art.
I got to listen to some great filk and otherwise geek-related music. I may need to start growing my geek-rock library, because despite not having actually heard the song played, I've had Mikey Mason's "Best Game Ever" stuck in my head for three days, and Danny Birt played a song called "Silent Letter Blues" that very nearly made me fall out of my chair entirely from laughing so hard.
I got to sit on three panels about writing and editing and talk with it as if I was a professional or something, and I participated in a writing contest against the amazing Kathryn Lively and did not win but felt pretty good about it anyway. All of which I will write more about on Wednesday, at my writing blog. I handed out a lot of business cards and post cards and bookmarks, and even sold one of my paperbacks that I'd brought with me. And I went to an Allen Wold writing workshop about plot building which spawned a new plot idea and gave me some really excellent tools for helping my plots to gel, which is always a win.
I got to watch my children blooming into nerds and geeks -- especially Penny. She sat in on a Blibbering Humdingers concert and afterwards begged me to buy one of their CDs for her. (I did. She doesn't know that yet, though.) And both of them got their faces painted, and they went with me to a pirate show and sang along and got up to participate.
After that, Alex went with Matt to a birthday party and I got to hang with Penny. We did a craft, making people out of clothespins, and then I took her to an activity called "Playing With Your Food" in
which everyone was given a big takeout box full of gummy candy and a
plastic knife and encouraged to build monsters out of the candy, and
when they had to clear the room we took it back to my hotel room where
she continued pretending to be a mad scientist for the better part of an
hour, and we had this conversation where I asked her if she wanted some
chips and she said, "Not right now, Mom. I'm not done making my
robot/clone army."
I got to look at some really amazing art, and I put a bid on one of my brother's ribbon trees and won it in the art auction. (I bid on a few more pieces, but didn't get them.) And I got to rejoice with him that he sold not just the piece I bought, but five of the things he'd brought with him, and we talked about how he should re-do one of the other pieces for next year. (It was a ribbon dragon he'd made like ten years ago, and he's learned a lot since then.)
I flirted a lot, mostly just in fun (but sometimes seriously), and was amused by KT's efforts on my behalf in that direction. I stopped into the gaming room a couple of times to say hi to a guy I've been on a couple of dates with, and significantly boosted his rep with the other gamers by giving him my phone number so we could meet up after the con. (He re-enacted for me later: "Dude. You've been sitting here gaming all weekend and you managed to score digits?") It's possible that I was totally aware of the effect that would have, especially since I was wearing my corset at the time, and deliberately waited until I was in there to write my number on my card for him.
But as always, the best part of the con was the people. I got to visit with old friends and acquaintances, like Elliot and Marcy and John. I got to visit with other friends I don't get to see often enough, like Greg and DJ and Ora. And also my brother and his wife, and some of their friends that I like a lot, like Melissa. I got to hang out with KT for hours and talk about writing and sex and writing about sex in a way that we almost never get to do any more. I got to hear about an engagement. I got to make new friends and chat with several of the writers and editors who were on panels with me (especially the multi-talented and snarky and totally amazing Cynical Woman, aka Helen Madden, who has the most gorgeous business cards ever). I even enjoyed striking up random conversations with strangers in the hallway or on the elevator.
I didn't get to do everything I wanted to do. Hell, I didn't even get to do half of what I'd wanted to do. My back and legs and knee were already killing me by Friday night (and I'd been dumb enough not to bring any painkillers). I went to bed around 2am both nights (and last night was still so keyed up that I couldn't get to sleep until nearly 1) and thanks to my stupid body clock, got up both mornings at 7:30 sharp (6:30, this morning, because my office is not closed for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day). This morning, I'm exhausted and sore and not entirely mentally present, and I fully expect the Con Crud to hit me in the next couple of days... and I already can't wait for next year.
I got to listen to some great filk and otherwise geek-related music. I may need to start growing my geek-rock library, because despite not having actually heard the song played, I've had Mikey Mason's "Best Game Ever" stuck in my head for three days, and Danny Birt played a song called "Silent Letter Blues" that very nearly made me fall out of my chair entirely from laughing so hard.
I got to sit on three panels about writing and editing and talk with it as if I was a professional or something, and I participated in a writing contest against the amazing Kathryn Lively and did not win but felt pretty good about it anyway. All of which I will write more about on Wednesday, at my writing blog. I handed out a lot of business cards and post cards and bookmarks, and even sold one of my paperbacks that I'd brought with me. And I went to an Allen Wold writing workshop about plot building which spawned a new plot idea and gave me some really excellent tools for helping my plots to gel, which is always a win.
I got to watch my children blooming into nerds and geeks -- especially Penny. She sat in on a Blibbering Humdingers concert and afterwards begged me to buy one of their CDs for her. (I did. She doesn't know that yet, though.) And both of them got their faces painted, and they went with me to a pirate show and sang along and got up to participate.
 |
| Alex and Penny learning to be pirates during the Hysterically Correct Pirate Show. |
 |
| My girl, the mad scientist. |
I got to look at some really amazing art, and I put a bid on one of my brother's ribbon trees and won it in the art auction. (I bid on a few more pieces, but didn't get them.) And I got to rejoice with him that he sold not just the piece I bought, but five of the things he'd brought with him, and we talked about how he should re-do one of the other pieces for next year. (It was a ribbon dragon he'd made like ten years ago, and he's learned a lot since then.)
I flirted a lot, mostly just in fun (but sometimes seriously), and was amused by KT's efforts on my behalf in that direction. I stopped into the gaming room a couple of times to say hi to a guy I've been on a couple of dates with, and significantly boosted his rep with the other gamers by giving him my phone number so we could meet up after the con. (He re-enacted for me later: "Dude. You've been sitting here gaming all weekend and you managed to score digits?") It's possible that I was totally aware of the effect that would have, especially since I was wearing my corset at the time, and deliberately waited until I was in there to write my number on my card for him.
But as always, the best part of the con was the people. I got to visit with old friends and acquaintances, like Elliot and Marcy and John. I got to visit with other friends I don't get to see often enough, like Greg and DJ and Ora. And also my brother and his wife, and some of their friends that I like a lot, like Melissa. I got to hang out with KT for hours and talk about writing and sex and writing about sex in a way that we almost never get to do any more. I got to hear about an engagement. I got to make new friends and chat with several of the writers and editors who were on panels with me (especially the multi-talented and snarky and totally amazing Cynical Woman, aka Helen Madden, who has the most gorgeous business cards ever). I even enjoyed striking up random conversations with strangers in the hallway or on the elevator.
I didn't get to do everything I wanted to do. Hell, I didn't even get to do half of what I'd wanted to do. My back and legs and knee were already killing me by Friday night (and I'd been dumb enough not to bring any painkillers). I went to bed around 2am both nights (and last night was still so keyed up that I couldn't get to sleep until nearly 1) and thanks to my stupid body clock, got up both mornings at 7:30 sharp (6:30, this morning, because my office is not closed for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day). This morning, I'm exhausted and sore and not entirely mentally present, and I fully expect the Con Crud to hit me in the next couple of days... and I already can't wait for next year.
Friday, June 1, 2012
Filling Up
Hey, it's June!
The year is nearly half done. In two weeks, Penny will be done with the 3rd grade, and the week after that, Alex will be officially four and a half. In ten weeks, Penny will be a 9-year-old, and a couple of days after that, the whole family will be going to Cancun for our vacation.
Our summer weekends are already starting to fill up. Heck, my fall weekends are starting to fill up, as I just tentatively reserved myself a couple of days to go to the Roanoke Pride event again in September.
Last night, Alex was hanging over the arm of the chair and he said, "Hey, Mom, the yellow phone is down there."
I had no idea what he was talking about. I thought he was asking me to retrieve some toy for him. "Fine, get out of the way so I can reach--" And then I saw it.
Not some random toy. My old iPhone, dubbed "the yellow phone" because the DecalGirl sticker on it is predominantly yellow. Which had been lost months ago. I'd torn up the house looking for it -- under all the living room furniture, under the couch cushions, every toy box in the playroom, even in the kids' rooms. Gone. I swear to god, I'd looked under the end table, but there it was, one corner poking out.
Huh.
A few hours with the recharge cable, and it was as good as new. Alex joyfully watched all his favorite They Might Be Giants videos on it this morning on the way to daycare.
I have decided that it's going to be a good weekend.
Let all who would thwart me tremble in fear.
The year is nearly half done. In two weeks, Penny will be done with the 3rd grade, and the week after that, Alex will be officially four and a half. In ten weeks, Penny will be a 9-year-old, and a couple of days after that, the whole family will be going to Cancun for our vacation.
Our summer weekends are already starting to fill up. Heck, my fall weekends are starting to fill up, as I just tentatively reserved myself a couple of days to go to the Roanoke Pride event again in September.
***
Last night, Alex was hanging over the arm of the chair and he said, "Hey, Mom, the yellow phone is down there."
I had no idea what he was talking about. I thought he was asking me to retrieve some toy for him. "Fine, get out of the way so I can reach--" And then I saw it.
Not some random toy. My old iPhone, dubbed "the yellow phone" because the DecalGirl sticker on it is predominantly yellow. Which had been lost months ago. I'd torn up the house looking for it -- under all the living room furniture, under the couch cushions, every toy box in the playroom, even in the kids' rooms. Gone. I swear to god, I'd looked under the end table, but there it was, one corner poking out.
Huh.
A few hours with the recharge cable, and it was as good as new. Alex joyfully watched all his favorite They Might Be Giants videos on it this morning on the way to daycare.
***
I have decided that it's going to be a good weekend.
Let all who would thwart me tremble in fear.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Lordy, Lordy
I had, quite possibly, the best possible 40th birthday. No lie.
I couldn't take the day off from work -- too much workstuff to do, alas -- but the day before my birthday was a school holiday for Penny, so I opted to work from home, which turned out to be a great decision, as Adin and Ripley were at loose ends for the day due to a cancellation from another friend, so they came over and hung out with us. We went out to lunch at Penny's favorite restaurant (Wasabi!) and then later in the afternoon, after I'd cleared a little more workstuff, we went out and had mani/pedis. (It was going to be just pedicures, but it turned out that the shop runs a combo special on Tuesdays. How do you pass that up?!) So I had freshly painted, gorgeous nails ready to go for my birthday!
That afternoon, Penny and Ripley did coloring and papercrafts while I did more work (see, I do actually get work done when I work from home!) and they both made me birthday cakes! Ripley's was a flat cutout of a gorgeously-decorated tiered cake (she snipped a hole at the top and tied a string in it so I could hang it up) and Penny managed to craft a 3-D paper cake, plain and smooth, decorated tastefully with a ribbon around the middle and a small sprig of fresh blueberries on top. Penny also made me a sign to hang on my office door at work, "just in case anyone doesn't know it's your birthday!"
I got up on my birthday morning to even more hugs and kisses than usual (which is really saying something, as Alex and Penny are always both very affectionate) and presents from Matt (the OOTS Dragon Tales collection, Leverage Season 3 DVDs, and an Amazon gift card!). After I took the kids to school, I went to work, where I had promised Caren that she could decorate my office and be as evil as she wanted.
Thanks to a picky customer and a snarl of workstuff and a bored kid in tow, she hadn't had time to decorate liberally, but when she came in, she brought me a little pot of very pretty peach-colored begonias, to which were attached two enormous balloons. Well, the pirate ship is enormous. The other one was only enormous in its evil, because she'd deliberately gotten one with the wrong age on it.
Diabolical! But then she went with me to meet Matt and Adin for lunch at Plaza Azteca, where we all had margaritas and tableside guacamole. We got a couple of appetizer-type things to split, because dessert was the plan! But when we got to dessert, we just couldn't narrow it down, and we were talking about all getting different things and sharing, and Matt said, "I only want to share if I can have two," and there were only six desserts on the menu anyway, so when the waiter came back for the order, I just said, "Bring us one of each!" The look on the man's face was priceless, and we all laughed when all six desserts came out and we arrayed them on the table in the middle to sample. It was awesome.
(I should have taken a picture, but I didn't think of it. Alas.)
When I got home, Matt had a final present for me, which was the completely brand new expansion pack for Cards Against Humanity that was just released on Monday! Squee! I perused the cards, and now I can't wait to give them a whirl! (Though I may just have to order the official CAH starter deck so all the cards are the same size...)
Penny made dinner -- a "sandwich salad" recipe of her own invention -- almost completely by herself (I helped her core the lettuce and I sliced carrots, but she made the rest of our salads entirely by herself, sharp knives and all!) And then Matt and Penny had picked out a coconut cake from Martin's/Ukrop's for me -- which is one of my very favorite cakes, from one of my very favorite bakeries, so 100% WIN on that! Matt and I were still full from all the guacamole and dessert we'd had at lunch, so we didn't have much cake... but that just means more leftovers!
(You know what one of the best things is about being 40 years and 1 day old? Birthday cake for breakfast.)
My parents called to wish me a happy, and throughout the day, I got a ton of well-wishes on Facebook, too, which was incredibly sweet and nice. KT "combarded" me with snarky e-cards that made me giggle, and Karen sent another e-card later in the day containing an awesome, punny joke. (Knock-knock! Who's there? Señor! Señor, who? Señor share of birthdays, haven't you?!) (Actually, there were multiple puns, and the first one was even off-color, which goes to prove that Karen understands my taste in jokes quite well. Well, of course she does; she's played Cards Against Humanity with me!)
After we got the kids to bed, Matt and I watched all the special features on the Leverage DVDs, and after Matt went to bed early to sleep off his coconut cake, I finally finished the last level of Gemcraft: Labyrinth. A fitting and perfect end to the day.
I couldn't take the day off from work -- too much workstuff to do, alas -- but the day before my birthday was a school holiday for Penny, so I opted to work from home, which turned out to be a great decision, as Adin and Ripley were at loose ends for the day due to a cancellation from another friend, so they came over and hung out with us. We went out to lunch at Penny's favorite restaurant (Wasabi!) and then later in the afternoon, after I'd cleared a little more workstuff, we went out and had mani/pedis. (It was going to be just pedicures, but it turned out that the shop runs a combo special on Tuesdays. How do you pass that up?!) So I had freshly painted, gorgeous nails ready to go for my birthday!
That afternoon, Penny and Ripley did coloring and papercrafts while I did more work (see, I do actually get work done when I work from home!) and they both made me birthday cakes! Ripley's was a flat cutout of a gorgeously-decorated tiered cake (she snipped a hole at the top and tied a string in it so I could hang it up) and Penny managed to craft a 3-D paper cake, plain and smooth, decorated tastefully with a ribbon around the middle and a small sprig of fresh blueberries on top. Penny also made me a sign to hang on my office door at work, "just in case anyone doesn't know it's your birthday!"
I got up on my birthday morning to even more hugs and kisses than usual (which is really saying something, as Alex and Penny are always both very affectionate) and presents from Matt (the OOTS Dragon Tales collection, Leverage Season 3 DVDs, and an Amazon gift card!). After I took the kids to school, I went to work, where I had promised Caren that she could decorate my office and be as evil as she wanted.
Thanks to a picky customer and a snarl of workstuff and a bored kid in tow, she hadn't had time to decorate liberally, but when she came in, she brought me a little pot of very pretty peach-colored begonias, to which were attached two enormous balloons. Well, the pirate ship is enormous. The other one was only enormous in its evil, because she'd deliberately gotten one with the wrong age on it.
Diabolical! But then she went with me to meet Matt and Adin for lunch at Plaza Azteca, where we all had margaritas and tableside guacamole. We got a couple of appetizer-type things to split, because dessert was the plan! But when we got to dessert, we just couldn't narrow it down, and we were talking about all getting different things and sharing, and Matt said, "I only want to share if I can have two," and there were only six desserts on the menu anyway, so when the waiter came back for the order, I just said, "Bring us one of each!" The look on the man's face was priceless, and we all laughed when all six desserts came out and we arrayed them on the table in the middle to sample. It was awesome.
(I should have taken a picture, but I didn't think of it. Alas.)
When I got home, Matt had a final present for me, which was the completely brand new expansion pack for Cards Against Humanity that was just released on Monday! Squee! I perused the cards, and now I can't wait to give them a whirl! (Though I may just have to order the official CAH starter deck so all the cards are the same size...)
Penny made dinner -- a "sandwich salad" recipe of her own invention -- almost completely by herself (I helped her core the lettuce and I sliced carrots, but she made the rest of our salads entirely by herself, sharp knives and all!) And then Matt and Penny had picked out a coconut cake from Martin's/Ukrop's for me -- which is one of my very favorite cakes, from one of my very favorite bakeries, so 100% WIN on that! Matt and I were still full from all the guacamole and dessert we'd had at lunch, so we didn't have much cake... but that just means more leftovers!
(You know what one of the best things is about being 40 years and 1 day old? Birthday cake for breakfast.)
My parents called to wish me a happy, and throughout the day, I got a ton of well-wishes on Facebook, too, which was incredibly sweet and nice. KT "combarded" me with snarky e-cards that made me giggle, and Karen sent another e-card later in the day containing an awesome, punny joke. (Knock-knock! Who's there? Señor! Señor, who? Señor share of birthdays, haven't you?!) (Actually, there were multiple puns, and the first one was even off-color, which goes to prove that Karen understands my taste in jokes quite well. Well, of course she does; she's played Cards Against Humanity with me!)
After we got the kids to bed, Matt and I watched all the special features on the Leverage DVDs, and after Matt went to bed early to sleep off his coconut cake, I finally finished the last level of Gemcraft: Labyrinth. A fitting and perfect end to the day.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Got It Made
Every once in a while, I have the kind of morning that makes my usual half-hearted bitching and moaning completely uncalled for. The kind of morning that makes me want to stop to consider just how damned good my life is.
This was one of those mornings.
And damn, but I do have it good.
I have two absolutely beautiful children who are smart and kind and imaginative and funny. I have a wonderful husband, who is likewise smart and kind and imaginative and funny. I have a wonderful family who lives close enough that I can visit them regularly, and I have in-laws that I love enough I wish they lived close enough to visit them regularly. I'm fairly healthy, barring a few minor problems. The people I love, likewise.
I have wonderful friends who care about me and never take our friendship for granted. Better still, my friends' kids are friends with my kids (I never much got along with the kids of my parents' friends, so it's something I can't take for granted). And my friends' kids are almost as fantastic as my own kids, even from my own completely biased viewpoint.
I make a pretty good amount of money (not to get into details publicly, of course). Moreover, I have as much job security as anyone does in this economy, and if I don't care for the job itself much, I couldn't ask for better co-workers or a more fantastic boss. I've realized my childhood dream of becoming a published author (even if it's not the genre I would have picked back then -- or even known existed) and am expanding that dream to include publication editing. My husband fully supports my writing, and so does my boss: I'm about to negotiate a change to my job that will make it easier to pursue my writing dreams.
I'm feeling good. Feeling grateful for everyone and everything wonderful in my life.
It's not the usual way to start off a Monday. But I think I like it.
This was one of those mornings.
And damn, but I do have it good.
I have two absolutely beautiful children who are smart and kind and imaginative and funny. I have a wonderful husband, who is likewise smart and kind and imaginative and funny. I have a wonderful family who lives close enough that I can visit them regularly, and I have in-laws that I love enough I wish they lived close enough to visit them regularly. I'm fairly healthy, barring a few minor problems. The people I love, likewise.
I have wonderful friends who care about me and never take our friendship for granted. Better still, my friends' kids are friends with my kids (I never much got along with the kids of my parents' friends, so it's something I can't take for granted). And my friends' kids are almost as fantastic as my own kids, even from my own completely biased viewpoint.
I make a pretty good amount of money (not to get into details publicly, of course). Moreover, I have as much job security as anyone does in this economy, and if I don't care for the job itself much, I couldn't ask for better co-workers or a more fantastic boss. I've realized my childhood dream of becoming a published author (even if it's not the genre I would have picked back then -- or even known existed) and am expanding that dream to include publication editing. My husband fully supports my writing, and so does my boss: I'm about to negotiate a change to my job that will make it easier to pursue my writing dreams.
I'm feeling good. Feeling grateful for everyone and everything wonderful in my life.
It's not the usual way to start off a Monday. But I think I like it.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Snuffle
The weather changed again overnight. Yesterday it was 85 and sunny; today is rainy with a high of 65. Which means my sinuses are throwing a party and I spent half the night snoring (I assume, based on the sore throat I had this morning) and all I want right now is to climb back into bed.
But we got Penny's passport application turned in yesterday, so we'll be looking for that in a month or two. And my brother and I worked out what we're bringing for Mother's Day dinner on Sunday. So that's a bonus.
And! And! I heard yesterday that KT had a short story accepted for an anthology publication -- the book is due out in October. I'm so excited for her that I let out a little squee! every time I even think about it.
And I'm going to a fun concert tomorrow and taking Friday off, and looking forward to a good weekend. So all in all, the sinus headache and rainy-day sleepies are amply overbalanced. All in all, life is good.
But we got Penny's passport application turned in yesterday, so we'll be looking for that in a month or two. And my brother and I worked out what we're bringing for Mother's Day dinner on Sunday. So that's a bonus.
And! And! I heard yesterday that KT had a short story accepted for an anthology publication -- the book is due out in October. I'm so excited for her that I let out a little squee! every time I even think about it.
And I'm going to a fun concert tomorrow and taking Friday off, and looking forward to a good weekend. So all in all, the sinus headache and rainy-day sleepies are amply overbalanced. All in all, life is good.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Home Again
Well, that was a roller-coaster of a weekend.
Friday afternoon, I got word that my grandmother had been sent back to the hospital with oxygen deprivation issues; that evening, it turned out that she'd had another, much larger heart attack (though whether the oxygen issues were a cause or an effect, we don't know).
Saturday was a fairly quiet day, and then that afternoon we went over to my parents' for a birthday dinner (covering Sam's, Penny's, Mom's, and John's birthdays). We talked a little about Grandmom, of course: she was stable, but the doctors were recommending hospice care, which means they don't expect her to live another six months.
I started to ask about funeral plans, and basically got cut off: there won't be a funeral or memorial service. Grandmom doesn't have any friends in Georgia, so the only mourners there are the family. There are only a small handful of her old friends left in Texas, too. So there will probably be a family gathering at some point, and there will probably be some personal visits when her ashes are taken back to Texas to be interred with Grandad's. But no real service, and no dates are fixed.
Anyway, that whole conversation only took about half an hour, and the rest of the evening was great. The kids were well-behaved, and everyone had a good time.
Sunday evening was an insane. We met some friends and friends-of-friends for dinner at a medium-posh restaurant. I was a little concerned about the kids' behavior, but they were amazing, actually. I ate wonderful food and talked to friendly people and generally had a fantastic time. When we got home, there was a message on the phone from Dad, so I called back and learned that Grandmom had only been awake for about five minutes total all day Saturday, and hadn't woken up Sunday at all. Dad and Mom were making plans to drive down to Atlanta to await the end and the inevitable paperwork. Well... hell. And when I hung up and sat down at the computer, still processing that, I found I'd received a really wonderful and complimentary comment post on my writing blog. (My first fan mail from someone I didn't already know!) And then Penny's blood sugars were insane (whoo, french fries and other rich, carby foods!) and between that and all the other emotional rubber-banding, I kind of fell apart. Poor Matt.
Monday, we took the kids to the Virginia Living Museum. It was the last day of their dinosaur exhibit, and we thought the kids would enjoy that. Alas, the exhibit was... slightly lame, being all animatronic dinosaurs and not real skeletons, and they kind of frightened Alex. But he was very enthusiastic about much of the rest of the museum. He had a real obsession with turtles going, in fact. Penny was thrilled about every little thing, so I don't think our trip was wasted, even if the dinosaur exhibit wasn't everything we were hoping.
Of course, Alex requires a mid-day nap, so we had to leave before we'd looked at half of what was there to see. We got about two miles down the road and then turned back to get Penny's kit that she'd left behind (we really need to find a way to make it a hands-free bag for these trips), but luckily it was right where we'd left it. So we picked up lunch and dropped by my parents' to eat, and pick up Matt's cell phone that he'd left there on Saturday.
That evening, we had Braz and Adin and Adin's kids over for dinner, and that went really well, actually. We grilled brats and hot dogs and chicken, and ate watermelon and veggies and chips and baked beans. The kids all played together -- even Alex and Henry -- so the adults actually got to talk to each other, which was awesome. The few descents into pouting or whining passed quickly (there's a joke in there somewhere about it being the grownups and not the kids, but I can't quite get there from here.)
After they left, as we were getting Penny ready for bed, Matt and I noticed some goo in the corner of Penny's eye. Which was all red from her rubbing at it. Dammitall... Sure enough, the next morning her eye was swollen and all but crusted shut from goo. No first day of school for Penny! I took her to work with me for a bit, and then took her to the doctor. Conjunctivitis (pink-eye), whee!
But it was mostly better this morning (whatever those drops were the doctor gave us worked fast) so she's in school today. She was insanely excited as I dropped her off in her classroom and snapped a quick picture. I'm working from home today, though, just in case her eye gets worse again and they decide she needs to come home.
Friday afternoon, I got word that my grandmother had been sent back to the hospital with oxygen deprivation issues; that evening, it turned out that she'd had another, much larger heart attack (though whether the oxygen issues were a cause or an effect, we don't know).
Saturday was a fairly quiet day, and then that afternoon we went over to my parents' for a birthday dinner (covering Sam's, Penny's, Mom's, and John's birthdays). We talked a little about Grandmom, of course: she was stable, but the doctors were recommending hospice care, which means they don't expect her to live another six months.
I started to ask about funeral plans, and basically got cut off: there won't be a funeral or memorial service. Grandmom doesn't have any friends in Georgia, so the only mourners there are the family. There are only a small handful of her old friends left in Texas, too. So there will probably be a family gathering at some point, and there will probably be some personal visits when her ashes are taken back to Texas to be interred with Grandad's. But no real service, and no dates are fixed.
Anyway, that whole conversation only took about half an hour, and the rest of the evening was great. The kids were well-behaved, and everyone had a good time.
Sunday evening was an insane. We met some friends and friends-of-friends for dinner at a medium-posh restaurant. I was a little concerned about the kids' behavior, but they were amazing, actually. I ate wonderful food and talked to friendly people and generally had a fantastic time. When we got home, there was a message on the phone from Dad, so I called back and learned that Grandmom had only been awake for about five minutes total all day Saturday, and hadn't woken up Sunday at all. Dad and Mom were making plans to drive down to Atlanta to await the end and the inevitable paperwork. Well... hell. And when I hung up and sat down at the computer, still processing that, I found I'd received a really wonderful and complimentary comment post on my writing blog. (My first fan mail from someone I didn't already know!) And then Penny's blood sugars were insane (whoo, french fries and other rich, carby foods!) and between that and all the other emotional rubber-banding, I kind of fell apart. Poor Matt.
Monday, we took the kids to the Virginia Living Museum. It was the last day of their dinosaur exhibit, and we thought the kids would enjoy that. Alas, the exhibit was... slightly lame, being all animatronic dinosaurs and not real skeletons, and they kind of frightened Alex. But he was very enthusiastic about much of the rest of the museum. He had a real obsession with turtles going, in fact. Penny was thrilled about every little thing, so I don't think our trip was wasted, even if the dinosaur exhibit wasn't everything we were hoping.
Of course, Alex requires a mid-day nap, so we had to leave before we'd looked at half of what was there to see. We got about two miles down the road and then turned back to get Penny's kit that she'd left behind (we really need to find a way to make it a hands-free bag for these trips), but luckily it was right where we'd left it. So we picked up lunch and dropped by my parents' to eat, and pick up Matt's cell phone that he'd left there on Saturday.
That evening, we had Braz and Adin and Adin's kids over for dinner, and that went really well, actually. We grilled brats and hot dogs and chicken, and ate watermelon and veggies and chips and baked beans. The kids all played together -- even Alex and Henry -- so the adults actually got to talk to each other, which was awesome. The few descents into pouting or whining passed quickly (there's a joke in there somewhere about it being the grownups and not the kids, but I can't quite get there from here.)
After they left, as we were getting Penny ready for bed, Matt and I noticed some goo in the corner of Penny's eye. Which was all red from her rubbing at it. Dammitall... Sure enough, the next morning her eye was swollen and all but crusted shut from goo. No first day of school for Penny! I took her to work with me for a bit, and then took her to the doctor. Conjunctivitis (pink-eye), whee!
But it was mostly better this morning (whatever those drops were the doctor gave us worked fast) so she's in school today. She was insanely excited as I dropped her off in her classroom and snapped a quick picture. I'm working from home today, though, just in case her eye gets worse again and they decide she needs to come home.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Relief
Lots of little things to be happy about, today:
The AC was fixed. The guys showed up a bit before 3, replaced a capacitor, and were gone before 3:30. It took until after dinner for the house to actually cool back down, but as soon as I could feel the cold air blowing from the vents, I felt better. The brain is a funny thing, ain't it?
I updated my iPhone's OS last night to iOS 4. Multitasking doesn't function on the 3G (I wasn't actually expecting it to; the 3G has a lot less memory, and multitasking is, by definition, something of a hog) but I finally figured out this morning how to get the feature I wanted most, which is the spring-loaded folders. Now I can cluster all my books/book-reading apps together, and all the games, and all the useful-but-seldom-used utilities together and still have them all on the same page, and getting to them is two taps instead of several swipes.
And it's not new to this OS, but while I was exploring, I finally figured out how to get Caps Lock to function. (I knew the possibility was there, but it wouldn't work for me. Apparently, there's a switch in the settings to turn the ability on and off that I'd never noticed before. I don't know why they'd have made it "off" by default, though.)
I'm still considering an Android for my next phone, though. I love my iPhone to pieces, but I'd really like to be able to get calls and text messages while I'm at work. I would totally upgrade to the iPhone 4 if I could ditch AT&T for Verizon. Are you listening, Apple?! I missed a message yesterday setting up lunch with friends, and it made me sad. More critically, Penny's caregivers tend to try my cell phone first when they need to get in touch with me, and if my phone actually worked, I could get into the habit of carrying it around with me so I'd be available. So I'm looking at going Android for the next two years, at least. (But is there a PVZ app for Android?! I might have to keep the iPhone around just for that!)
I finished the first round of edits on the story I've been working last night. I want to give it another polish before I send it out, but if I don't manage it, at least I've got something to send.
And just this morning I learned that Adin, who's looking to move to this area, got a job! Now she just has to find someone to rent her current house. Anyone looking to move to Richmond?
The AC was fixed. The guys showed up a bit before 3, replaced a capacitor, and were gone before 3:30. It took until after dinner for the house to actually cool back down, but as soon as I could feel the cold air blowing from the vents, I felt better. The brain is a funny thing, ain't it?
* * *
I updated my iPhone's OS last night to iOS 4. Multitasking doesn't function on the 3G (I wasn't actually expecting it to; the 3G has a lot less memory, and multitasking is, by definition, something of a hog) but I finally figured out this morning how to get the feature I wanted most, which is the spring-loaded folders. Now I can cluster all my books/book-reading apps together, and all the games, and all the useful-but-seldom-used utilities together and still have them all on the same page, and getting to them is two taps instead of several swipes.
And it's not new to this OS, but while I was exploring, I finally figured out how to get Caps Lock to function. (I knew the possibility was there, but it wouldn't work for me. Apparently, there's a switch in the settings to turn the ability on and off that I'd never noticed before. I don't know why they'd have made it "off" by default, though.)
I'm still considering an Android for my next phone, though. I love my iPhone to pieces, but I'd really like to be able to get calls and text messages while I'm at work. I would totally upgrade to the iPhone 4 if I could ditch AT&T for Verizon. Are you listening, Apple?! I missed a message yesterday setting up lunch with friends, and it made me sad. More critically, Penny's caregivers tend to try my cell phone first when they need to get in touch with me, and if my phone actually worked, I could get into the habit of carrying it around with me so I'd be available. So I'm looking at going Android for the next two years, at least. (But is there a PVZ app for Android?! I might have to keep the iPhone around just for that!)
* * *
I finished the first round of edits on the story I've been working last night. I want to give it another polish before I send it out, but if I don't manage it, at least I've got something to send.
* * *
And just this morning I learned that Adin, who's looking to move to this area, got a job! Now she just has to find someone to rent her current house. Anyone looking to move to Richmond?
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Atlantean
Super-short version: AWESOME trip, and I wish it could've been longer.
Short version: Penny was incredibly well-behaved, for a six-year-old in a strange place, surrounded by family she doesn't remember meeting before, and having her schedule completely mucked with. She was less-than-thrilled about hanging out at the nursing home with my grandmother, but let's be honest -- so was I, really. And I have an entire childhood's worth of good memories to bolster me over the rough patches. And that was only an hour or so each day. For fun, we went to the Georgia Aquarium and to Zoo Atlanta, as well as a couple of different parks and some restaurants. I had at least as much fun as she did, and she had plenty. I definitely want to go back sometime, hopefully with the whole family.
And now I'm going to go into the longer version, with pictures.
The remnants of Hurricane Ida (I think?) were sweeping through on Thursday, and I was really afraid that our flight would be delayed or even canceled. (The good news is that school was canceled -- and canceled again on Friday -- so it turns out that Penny didn't actually miss any school for this trip.) But though it was very wet at the airport, our flight left right on time. And the winds were blowing hard enough to give us an extra push, and our flight landed a good twenty minutes early. We'd managed to squeak through without having to check any bags (yay, packing light!) so we breezed right on down and called my Aunt Sharon to come pick us up.
Sharon greeted us with balloons -- a pretty purple balloon for Penny, and a shiny "Happy Birthday" balloon for me, which was fun and sweet. Penny and Sharon took to each other right away, which made the whole visit much smoother, I'm sure.
When we got back to the house, Penny showed Sharon and my Uncle Bill the pictures I'd printed out for them (I'd ordered some prints a while back, but apparently they got lost in the mail, so I printed out a bunch on the printer at work).
After we'd unpacked and relaxed a little, we decided to go visit Grandmom for a bit before dinner. It was nearly time for Penny's snack, so we decided to pack the makings for "ants on a log" (celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins) and take it along with us. We even got Grandmom to eat one, which is good, because she's not eating much these days.
Penny wasn't too keen on the nursing home residents (and since they kept staring and touching her without permission, I can't say that I blame her too much), but she understood that Grandmom was special to me, and seemed to make an effort. She drew a picture of herself and me and Grandmom, and we left it on Grandmom's little refrigerator for her.
After our visit, we went back to Bill and Sharon's, and Penny helped Sharon make dinner, and even set the table (with a little help). Dinner was later than Penny's used to eating, but she was really patient. Being Sharon's helper gave her something to keep her occupied, at least. We didn't finish eating until fairly late, so we called Matt and talked to him a bit, then I got her tucked into bed close to 9:30.
The next day was Friday, and we decided we'd go to the aquarium in the morning. Uncle Bill, who was fighting a head cold, begged off, so Sharon and Penny and I headed over around mid-morning, close to opening time. The aquarium was fantastic. Touch tanks and gorgeous displays, lots of wonderful things to look at.
We went through most of the exhibits in about two hours or so, then paused for lunch. (The aquarium doesn't allow outside food or drinks, but their cafeteria's food was not too bad.) When that was done, we headed for the final exhibit: the ocean tank. That was simply amazing. It started with a clear tunnel that went under the tank, so you could see things swimming all around, and then emptied out into the main viewing room. The main viewing room was the size of a college lecture hall, and an entire wall -- two stories high and almost twice as wide -- was glassed over for viewing. As we came in, there were divers in the tank, even, as part of a brief show.
Aunt Sharon and I told Penny that it was up to her how long we stayed in there to watch the fish (the two of us could happily have spent the rest of the day!) but she barely budged for at least an hour. We had laminated cards to help us identify the various species, and she spent a while gleefully locating fish on it and reading their names for us. (We are sneakily educational.)
She was most excited about the whale sharks, though -- mostly, I suspect, because there was a Go, Diego, Go episode with a whale shark in it, so she remembered it from that, and was excited to be able to see a real one. The aquarium had four of them, and they were all really magnificent.
Eventually, we headed for the gift shop, where Penny agonized over the toys. I found her a little whale shark, but somewhat to my surprise, she rejected it in favor of a little pink-and-green seahorse. I got some t-shirts for Matt and Alex, and we headed back to the house to rest a little.
Once she'd had a snack, Penny was revived and ready for more fun, so all four of us went to a little park/playground that was just a couple of streets over. The place was swarming with kids, and Penny had a great time running around and climbing on things. She even got me to play with her some.
We went over to visit Grandmom after dinner, which was a short visit, because both Grandmom and we were pretty tired.
Penny was up bright and early Saturday morning, and ready to go to the zoo! Unfortunately for her, the zoo didn't open until 9:30, so she had to wait. But we were there within minutes of it opening!
The zoo was fantastic, too. It was very clean and bright, and the animals all seemed quite healthy and content. We were a little disappointed that the male lions didn't seem to want to come out of their den, but we could hear them roaring, which was a thrilling sound, and Penny was happy to see the mother lion sunning on her rock.
I could've watched the gorillas and the orangutans for an hour, but Penny wasn't quite that patient. Still we took things nice and easy, and got to see almost everything. The pandas were adorable, even if the cubs were nearly full-grown and not nearly so cub-ish anymore. We spent lots of time in the reptile house, where Penny was thrilled by the snakes and turtles. She was slightly dubious about the petting zoo, but once she'd started, she got a lot more enthusiastic.
We breezed past the tail end of the Australia exhibit, since I'd made a late lunch date with my cousin who lives in Atlanta, and we didn't want to be late. But it was probably just as well, since Penny was showing signs of getting tired by then.
Penny and I went solo to meet my cousin and her boyfriend for lunch. I haven't seen her for years, so Penny didn't remember her, but we had a nice time and ate some really wonderful food at a little cafe just across the street from their apartment building. When we'd eaten, we went to a huge park that was across the road from both, where Penny was enthusiastic about the ducks on the lake, and then ran around like crazy on one of the playgrounds. She even talked my cousin into sitting opposite her on the see-saw.
That evening, we went with Uncle Bill and Aunt Sharon over to visit Grandmom, and decided to take her out for dinner. We wound up at Ruby Tuesdays, which wasn't very exciting, but they were patient with our slow eating.
The next day was Sunday, time to travel home. Penny watched a movie on their house theater (seriously: projector and movie screen) while I packed, and then we all headed over to Grandmom's again to have lunch and say goodbye. When she figured out we were leaving, she asked to accompany us to the airport, so we squeezed into the car so she could ride along -- and were happy to do so, because it meant she was feeling stronger and a little more alert.
It was a really wonderful trip, and there were so many wonderful things to do in Atlanta that we just didn't have time for; I really can't wait to go back!
Short version: Penny was incredibly well-behaved, for a six-year-old in a strange place, surrounded by family she doesn't remember meeting before, and having her schedule completely mucked with. She was less-than-thrilled about hanging out at the nursing home with my grandmother, but let's be honest -- so was I, really. And I have an entire childhood's worth of good memories to bolster me over the rough patches. And that was only an hour or so each day. For fun, we went to the Georgia Aquarium and to Zoo Atlanta, as well as a couple of different parks and some restaurants. I had at least as much fun as she did, and she had plenty. I definitely want to go back sometime, hopefully with the whole family.
And now I'm going to go into the longer version, with pictures.
The remnants of Hurricane Ida (I think?) were sweeping through on Thursday, and I was really afraid that our flight would be delayed or even canceled. (The good news is that school was canceled -- and canceled again on Friday -- so it turns out that Penny didn't actually miss any school for this trip.) But though it was very wet at the airport, our flight left right on time. And the winds were blowing hard enough to give us an extra push, and our flight landed a good twenty minutes early. We'd managed to squeak through without having to check any bags (yay, packing light!) so we breezed right on down and called my Aunt Sharon to come pick us up.
Sharon greeted us with balloons -- a pretty purple balloon for Penny, and a shiny "Happy Birthday" balloon for me, which was fun and sweet. Penny and Sharon took to each other right away, which made the whole visit much smoother, I'm sure.
When we got back to the house, Penny showed Sharon and my Uncle Bill the pictures I'd printed out for them (I'd ordered some prints a while back, but apparently they got lost in the mail, so I printed out a bunch on the printer at work).After we'd unpacked and relaxed a little, we decided to go visit Grandmom for a bit before dinner. It was nearly time for Penny's snack, so we decided to pack the makings for "ants on a log" (celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins) and take it along with us. We even got Grandmom to eat one, which is good, because she's not eating much these days.
Penny wasn't too keen on the nursing home residents (and since they kept staring and touching her without permission, I can't say that I blame her too much), but she understood that Grandmom was special to me, and seemed to make an effort. She drew a picture of herself and me and Grandmom, and we left it on Grandmom's little refrigerator for her.After our visit, we went back to Bill and Sharon's, and Penny helped Sharon make dinner, and even set the table (with a little help). Dinner was later than Penny's used to eating, but she was really patient. Being Sharon's helper gave her something to keep her occupied, at least. We didn't finish eating until fairly late, so we called Matt and talked to him a bit, then I got her tucked into bed close to 9:30.
The next day was Friday, and we decided we'd go to the aquarium in the morning. Uncle Bill, who was fighting a head cold, begged off, so Sharon and Penny and I headed over around mid-morning, close to opening time. The aquarium was fantastic. Touch tanks and gorgeous displays, lots of wonderful things to look at.We went through most of the exhibits in about two hours or so, then paused for lunch. (The aquarium doesn't allow outside food or drinks, but their cafeteria's food was not too bad.) When that was done, we headed for the final exhibit: the ocean tank. That was simply amazing. It started with a clear tunnel that went under the tank, so you could see things swimming all around, and then emptied out into the main viewing room. The main viewing room was the size of a college lecture hall, and an entire wall -- two stories high and almost twice as wide -- was glassed over for viewing. As we came in, there were divers in the tank, even, as part of a brief show.
Aunt Sharon and I told Penny that it was up to her how long we stayed in there to watch the fish (the two of us could happily have spent the rest of the day!) but she barely budged for at least an hour. We had laminated cards to help us identify the various species, and she spent a while gleefully locating fish on it and reading their names for us. (We are sneakily educational.)
She was most excited about the whale sharks, though -- mostly, I suspect, because there was a Go, Diego, Go episode with a whale shark in it, so she remembered it from that, and was excited to be able to see a real one. The aquarium had four of them, and they were all really magnificent.Eventually, we headed for the gift shop, where Penny agonized over the toys. I found her a little whale shark, but somewhat to my surprise, she rejected it in favor of a little pink-and-green seahorse. I got some t-shirts for Matt and Alex, and we headed back to the house to rest a little.
Once she'd had a snack, Penny was revived and ready for more fun, so all four of us went to a little park/playground that was just a couple of streets over. The place was swarming with kids, and Penny had a great time running around and climbing on things. She even got me to play with her some.We went over to visit Grandmom after dinner, which was a short visit, because both Grandmom and we were pretty tired.
Penny was up bright and early Saturday morning, and ready to go to the zoo! Unfortunately for her, the zoo didn't open until 9:30, so she had to wait. But we were there within minutes of it opening!
The zoo was fantastic, too. It was very clean and bright, and the animals all seemed quite healthy and content. We were a little disappointed that the male lions didn't seem to want to come out of their den, but we could hear them roaring, which was a thrilling sound, and Penny was happy to see the mother lion sunning on her rock.I could've watched the gorillas and the orangutans for an hour, but Penny wasn't quite that patient. Still we took things nice and easy, and got to see almost everything. The pandas were adorable, even if the cubs were nearly full-grown and not nearly so cub-ish anymore. We spent lots of time in the reptile house, where Penny was thrilled by the snakes and turtles. She was slightly dubious about the petting zoo, but once she'd started, she got a lot more enthusiastic.
We breezed past the tail end of the Australia exhibit, since I'd made a late lunch date with my cousin who lives in Atlanta, and we didn't want to be late. But it was probably just as well, since Penny was showing signs of getting tired by then.
Penny and I went solo to meet my cousin and her boyfriend for lunch. I haven't seen her for years, so Penny didn't remember her, but we had a nice time and ate some really wonderful food at a little cafe just across the street from their apartment building. When we'd eaten, we went to a huge park that was across the road from both, where Penny was enthusiastic about the ducks on the lake, and then ran around like crazy on one of the playgrounds. She even talked my cousin into sitting opposite her on the see-saw.That evening, we went with Uncle Bill and Aunt Sharon over to visit Grandmom, and decided to take her out for dinner. We wound up at Ruby Tuesdays, which wasn't very exciting, but they were patient with our slow eating.
The next day was Sunday, time to travel home. Penny watched a movie on their house theater (seriously: projector and movie screen) while I packed, and then we all headed over to Grandmom's again to have lunch and say goodbye. When she figured out we were leaving, she asked to accompany us to the airport, so we squeezed into the car so she could ride along -- and were happy to do so, because it meant she was feeling stronger and a little more alert.
It was a really wonderful trip, and there were so many wonderful things to do in Atlanta that we just didn't have time for; I really can't wait to go back!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
I had a great birthday yesterday! Thanks to everyone who sent me a note or an email -- they really kept me smiling!
The post office had great timing, too; I got home yesterday to find three cards and a package from my mother-in-law! After dinner (and the mousse dessert, which Matt and Penny decorated with candles in binary -- hee!) I sat down to open all the cards and presents, and had a blast. Matt continued the geek-love theme with a copy of Neil Gaiman's Odd and the Frost Giants, the DVD for The Guild, and an iTunes gift card, all of which filled me with warm fuzzies. The package from Jill turned out to be a book I've never heard of but which sounds really interesting and fun, something with math and chess, so I guess she was on board (even if unwittingly) with the whole geek theme.
And Matt's grandparents sent a check, which I'll add to the check from my parents to help fund some of the fun stuff for the trip to Atlanta.
I spent part of yesterday on the websites for the Atlanta zoo and aquarium, trying to decide. Right now, I'm waffling between getting the ticket for both, or just going to the zoo. The zoo certainly presents as cheaper and friendlier, I have to say: cheaper admission, free parking, picnic areas where you can bring in your own food... The aquarium doesn't have their ticket prices posted in one place (you have to log in to buy a ticket before they'll tell you what it costs, but there's no place that I could find that lists all the different ticket types with prices and explains the differences), and while it brags about the $1 parking discount for military folks, it doesn't say what the initial parking cost is. And there's no outside food or beverages allowed. The website was so unhelpful, it actually made me want to go to the aquarium less.
On the other hand, the zoo's FAQ helpfully says that most visitors finish their tour in 3-4 hours, which would leave us plenty of time to split a day and do both parks. And aquariums are really cool -- and lots of people have told me that this particular aquarium is worth visiting. So... I'm waffling. I might wait until we're actually there and see what else my aunt has dug up in the way of possible entertainment.
Either way, I'm really excited for this trip. I'm sure we'll have a really fantastic time, and I can't wait!
The post office had great timing, too; I got home yesterday to find three cards and a package from my mother-in-law! After dinner (and the mousse dessert, which Matt and Penny decorated with candles in binary -- hee!) I sat down to open all the cards and presents, and had a blast. Matt continued the geek-love theme with a copy of Neil Gaiman's Odd and the Frost Giants, the DVD for The Guild, and an iTunes gift card, all of which filled me with warm fuzzies. The package from Jill turned out to be a book I've never heard of but which sounds really interesting and fun, something with math and chess, so I guess she was on board (even if unwittingly) with the whole geek theme.
And Matt's grandparents sent a check, which I'll add to the check from my parents to help fund some of the fun stuff for the trip to Atlanta.
I spent part of yesterday on the websites for the Atlanta zoo and aquarium, trying to decide. Right now, I'm waffling between getting the ticket for both, or just going to the zoo. The zoo certainly presents as cheaper and friendlier, I have to say: cheaper admission, free parking, picnic areas where you can bring in your own food... The aquarium doesn't have their ticket prices posted in one place (you have to log in to buy a ticket before they'll tell you what it costs, but there's no place that I could find that lists all the different ticket types with prices and explains the differences), and while it brags about the $1 parking discount for military folks, it doesn't say what the initial parking cost is. And there's no outside food or beverages allowed. The website was so unhelpful, it actually made me want to go to the aquarium less.
On the other hand, the zoo's FAQ helpfully says that most visitors finish their tour in 3-4 hours, which would leave us plenty of time to split a day and do both parks. And aquariums are really cool -- and lots of people have told me that this particular aquarium is worth visiting. So... I'm waffling. I might wait until we're actually there and see what else my aunt has dug up in the way of possible entertainment.
Either way, I'm really excited for this trip. I'm sure we'll have a really fantastic time, and I can't wait!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Doing Good
It's Friday.
Not that Friday means all that much to me, just now. I worked last weekend and the weekend before that, and I'm going to be working this weekend, too. All "Friday" means, right now, is that I could've worn jeans to work (though I didn't) and that when I come in tomorrow, I can wear a t-shirt. Whoo.
Nevertheless, I'm feeling pretty good about today.
Alex's daycare is selling wristbands and keychains to raise money for breast cancer research, and this morning I finally remembered to dig out $5 and buy a couple of wristbands. I gave Penny one (she loves anything pink) that says "Hope" on it. Didn't realize until I got out to the car that mine said "Survivor," which I'm not, but whatever. I turned it inside-out. It's not like I'm going to wear it much. Or even keep it. (Honestly, rubber bracelets of any color are really ugly. Who came up with this?) But I feel pretty good about having made my donation to the cause. Wonder if I could get them to do something to support World Diabetes Day in November? Kind of short notice, though. Eh, well. Maybe next year.
All the toddlers in Alex's class ran over to me to ask for hugs while I was getting his jacket off and put away. I obliged them. I like hugs.
Penny made bracelets last weekend for two of her friends at school. After forgetting them all week, she brought them in the car with her yesterday, but wouldn't put them in her backpack. So naturally, when we got to school, she forgot them. And then got mad at me when I refused to go back out into the pouring rain to get them for her. So this morning, when I suggested she put them in her backpack so she wouldn't forget them, she took my suggestion... except one of the bracelets was missing.
After we got Alex to daycare, we pretty much emptied out the whole back seat of the car, looking for it, but we couldn't find it. She was obviously disappointed, but mostly took it in stride and agreed that she'd make another bracelet this weekend.
Matt's doing the WatchDOGS program today, so I dropped her off with him rather than walking her up to school myself, but as I was driving out, I happened to glance over and -- spotted the missing bracelet in the parking lot. It must have fallen out of the car yesterday morning. I quickly pulled into a spot, ran over and grabbed the bracelet, then ran to the crosswalk where Matt and Penny were to give it to her. Her eyes lit up and she squealed with delight. "Thank you, Mama!"
That felt pretty good, too.
I'm going to have a good day. You too, okay?
Not that Friday means all that much to me, just now. I worked last weekend and the weekend before that, and I'm going to be working this weekend, too. All "Friday" means, right now, is that I could've worn jeans to work (though I didn't) and that when I come in tomorrow, I can wear a t-shirt. Whoo.
Nevertheless, I'm feeling pretty good about today.
Alex's daycare is selling wristbands and keychains to raise money for breast cancer research, and this morning I finally remembered to dig out $5 and buy a couple of wristbands. I gave Penny one (she loves anything pink) that says "Hope" on it. Didn't realize until I got out to the car that mine said "Survivor," which I'm not, but whatever. I turned it inside-out. It's not like I'm going to wear it much. Or even keep it. (Honestly, rubber bracelets of any color are really ugly. Who came up with this?) But I feel pretty good about having made my donation to the cause. Wonder if I could get them to do something to support World Diabetes Day in November? Kind of short notice, though. Eh, well. Maybe next year.
All the toddlers in Alex's class ran over to me to ask for hugs while I was getting his jacket off and put away. I obliged them. I like hugs.
Penny made bracelets last weekend for two of her friends at school. After forgetting them all week, she brought them in the car with her yesterday, but wouldn't put them in her backpack. So naturally, when we got to school, she forgot them. And then got mad at me when I refused to go back out into the pouring rain to get them for her. So this morning, when I suggested she put them in her backpack so she wouldn't forget them, she took my suggestion... except one of the bracelets was missing.
After we got Alex to daycare, we pretty much emptied out the whole back seat of the car, looking for it, but we couldn't find it. She was obviously disappointed, but mostly took it in stride and agreed that she'd make another bracelet this weekend.
Matt's doing the WatchDOGS program today, so I dropped her off with him rather than walking her up to school myself, but as I was driving out, I happened to glance over and -- spotted the missing bracelet in the parking lot. It must have fallen out of the car yesterday morning. I quickly pulled into a spot, ran over and grabbed the bracelet, then ran to the crosswalk where Matt and Penny were to give it to her. Her eyes lit up and she squealed with delight. "Thank you, Mama!"
That felt pretty good, too.
I'm going to have a good day. You too, okay?
Monday, October 12, 2009
Paper Cuts
It's the death of the thousand paper cuts, I swear.
Worked 14 hours this weekend (Okay, that one isn't a paper cut; it's a gaping wound). Developing at least eight canker sores and/or blood blisters on the inside of my mouth (probably from stress). Burned my tongue making dinner last night. Penny woke us up at 4:15 so we could put her back to bed after a dream woke her up. Stressy dreams between then and when I got up this morning. Spilled water all over the floor while trying to take my meds. Had to take a detour to get Alex to school this morning, as the road I usually use was completely blocked by three fire trucks, two police cars, and two ambulances that I could see before the road curved. Left both kids at their respective schools in tears this morning. Changed the radio station to get away from a song I don't like, changed it again to get away from political ads, and the third station was playing the exact same stupid song I don't like from the first station. The enormous spider outside my office is still there.
Should concentrate on positives, or I'm never going to get through the day...
KT finished the entire 3-day, 60-mile Susan G. Kommen walk for breast cancer this weekend. I talked to her on the phone a bit Saturday night, and she sounded tired, but otherwise really surprisingly chipper. Keeping an eye open for her tweets as she progressed was surprisingly motivational for me. I can't even begin to express how proud I am of her. Or how disappointed I am that she didn't get the postcard I sent for her. (Positive! Positive! Right, right...)
Both kids were really just fantastic this weekend. Alex's encroaching Twoness even backed off a bit, and he was perfectly happy to play near me without having to be picked up every thirty seconds. And Matt was wonderful about trying to keep them out of my hair and taking on extra household crap so I could get my stupid work done.
We went out to eat Saturday night and had the most amazing waitress ever. The kitchen screwed up our side orders, but she was awesome. Even though the kitchen screwed up our orders, I want to go back, just so I can ask to be in her section. Also, we managed to drive a cranky old couple not just out of our section, but out of the restaurant entirely. If the kids were being loud or obnoxious, I'd have felt embarrassed, but they were actually being really good, so it was just amusing. (Seriously. I can totally sympathize with not wanting to be near kids, but in that case, may I recommend not going to a chain "family-style" restaurant before 6pm? Really. Use a brain cell, folks.)
The fall weather continues apace. In honor of the cool weather, I've planned soup for dinner twice this week. And I'm having my leftover roasted carrot and parsnip soup that I made Friday for lunch today. I love soup.
I have an apple-scented tea candle burning on the side of my desk at work. It is pretty and soothing. I have enough little tea candle refills stocked up at work in various yummy fall scents to last me until Thanksgiving.
Even though I'm not having time to write, I keep getting ideas about how to improve the story I'm currently focusing on, and I'm jotting them down so I don't lose them. Eventually, I'll have time to write again.
The proposal I'm working on at work is due next Monday. I'll likely get called in to work next weekend on assembly, but after that, I'll be free. And I'll have a buttload of extra hours. I'm going to take at least a couple of half-days off from work and do things that are not related to work even a little bit. Or possibly even computer-related. Some more clothes shopping, perhaps (I still only have like 3 long-sleeve shirts that fit). Take my camera into Colonial Williamsburg and go shutterbug crazy. Something.
There, that's a little better. Now: time for a meeting.
Worked 14 hours this weekend (Okay, that one isn't a paper cut; it's a gaping wound). Developing at least eight canker sores and/or blood blisters on the inside of my mouth (probably from stress). Burned my tongue making dinner last night. Penny woke us up at 4:15 so we could put her back to bed after a dream woke her up. Stressy dreams between then and when I got up this morning. Spilled water all over the floor while trying to take my meds. Had to take a detour to get Alex to school this morning, as the road I usually use was completely blocked by three fire trucks, two police cars, and two ambulances that I could see before the road curved. Left both kids at their respective schools in tears this morning. Changed the radio station to get away from a song I don't like, changed it again to get away from political ads, and the third station was playing the exact same stupid song I don't like from the first station. The enormous spider outside my office is still there.
Should concentrate on positives, or I'm never going to get through the day...
KT finished the entire 3-day, 60-mile Susan G. Kommen walk for breast cancer this weekend. I talked to her on the phone a bit Saturday night, and she sounded tired, but otherwise really surprisingly chipper. Keeping an eye open for her tweets as she progressed was surprisingly motivational for me. I can't even begin to express how proud I am of her. Or how disappointed I am that she didn't get the postcard I sent for her. (Positive! Positive! Right, right...)
Both kids were really just fantastic this weekend. Alex's encroaching Twoness even backed off a bit, and he was perfectly happy to play near me without having to be picked up every thirty seconds. And Matt was wonderful about trying to keep them out of my hair and taking on extra household crap so I could get my stupid work done.
We went out to eat Saturday night and had the most amazing waitress ever. The kitchen screwed up our side orders, but she was awesome. Even though the kitchen screwed up our orders, I want to go back, just so I can ask to be in her section. Also, we managed to drive a cranky old couple not just out of our section, but out of the restaurant entirely. If the kids were being loud or obnoxious, I'd have felt embarrassed, but they were actually being really good, so it was just amusing. (Seriously. I can totally sympathize with not wanting to be near kids, but in that case, may I recommend not going to a chain "family-style" restaurant before 6pm? Really. Use a brain cell, folks.)
The fall weather continues apace. In honor of the cool weather, I've planned soup for dinner twice this week. And I'm having my leftover roasted carrot and parsnip soup that I made Friday for lunch today. I love soup.
I have an apple-scented tea candle burning on the side of my desk at work. It is pretty and soothing. I have enough little tea candle refills stocked up at work in various yummy fall scents to last me until Thanksgiving.
Even though I'm not having time to write, I keep getting ideas about how to improve the story I'm currently focusing on, and I'm jotting them down so I don't lose them. Eventually, I'll have time to write again.
The proposal I'm working on at work is due next Monday. I'll likely get called in to work next weekend on assembly, but after that, I'll be free. And I'll have a buttload of extra hours. I'm going to take at least a couple of half-days off from work and do things that are not related to work even a little bit. Or possibly even computer-related. Some more clothes shopping, perhaps (I still only have like 3 long-sleeve shirts that fit). Take my camera into Colonial Williamsburg and go shutterbug crazy. Something.
There, that's a little better. Now: time for a meeting.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Flicker
I love fall, stupid spiders aside. (And the stupid spiders are out in force this year, and have been hanging out much longer than usual. Usually the birds have gotten them all by now. What gives? Aren't the birds hungry this year?)
But I love fall anyway. The weather these last couple of days has been just perfect - crisp and chilly in the mornings, warm and sunny in the afternoons. I've got Honeycrisp apples for my afternoon snack all this week. I've been burning tea candles in my gorgeous little crackle-glass holder at work for the past week. There are Hallowe'en decorations going up everywhere, and the leaves are finally starting to change colors. (Must make time in about a week or so to go for a few walks with my camera.)
This is my favorite time of year, for about the next six weeks. I need to remember to enjoy it.
I talked to my aunt yesterday for a while, and hashed out a few details on my trip to Atlanta in mid-November.
I'll be taking Penny with me, and my aunt sounded very excited to be expecting us. We'll only be there for a few days (fly down Thursday, fly home Sunday), but she was talking about trying to meet up with some of my cousins, and looking into various things that I could do with Penny. There's a children's museum close by their house, and of course there's the aquarium and the Atlanta zoo. (Penny seemed especially excited by the idea of the zoo, when I mentioned it to her.) I expect it will be a busy trip, but I expect it to be fun, too. I'm looking forward to it. Now, to make my flight reservations, and figure out what I'm packing and how to pack it...
But I love fall anyway. The weather these last couple of days has been just perfect - crisp and chilly in the mornings, warm and sunny in the afternoons. I've got Honeycrisp apples for my afternoon snack all this week. I've been burning tea candles in my gorgeous little crackle-glass holder at work for the past week. There are Hallowe'en decorations going up everywhere, and the leaves are finally starting to change colors. (Must make time in about a week or so to go for a few walks with my camera.)
This is my favorite time of year, for about the next six weeks. I need to remember to enjoy it.
I talked to my aunt yesterday for a while, and hashed out a few details on my trip to Atlanta in mid-November.
I'll be taking Penny with me, and my aunt sounded very excited to be expecting us. We'll only be there for a few days (fly down Thursday, fly home Sunday), but she was talking about trying to meet up with some of my cousins, and looking into various things that I could do with Penny. There's a children's museum close by their house, and of course there's the aquarium and the Atlanta zoo. (Penny seemed especially excited by the idea of the zoo, when I mentioned it to her.) I expect it will be a busy trip, but I expect it to be fun, too. I'm looking forward to it. Now, to make my flight reservations, and figure out what I'm packing and how to pack it...
Friday, September 4, 2009
Beach Day
Whoops; I never did get around to posting anything yesterday.
But my day off was really very good. Penny and I took Alex to school, then went home to eat breakfast and get ready for our day. It was a little chilly to go swimming, but when I offered to take her somewhere else instead, Penny insisted that she wanted to go to the beach.
So we did. Yorktown Beach is situated right at the point where the York River opens up into the Chesapeake Bay -- by no means is it an ocean beach, but the water is salty and it's a really pretty spot. And there was enough wind yesterday for there to be some small waves (which as far as Penny was concerned were big waves). She absolutely loved it.
We walked along the beach and let the water swirl around our ankles. Penny got hypnotized by the water and nearly lost her balance a couple of times, but eventually she got the hang of it. She picked up bits of seashell, and poked dubiously at the seaweed. She made footprints and gasped with awe when the waves washed them away, and then did it again. She dug her toes into the sand and giggled when the water pushed more sand on them. She spotted my footsteps and tried to walk in them. She threw bits of rock and shell and handfuls of sand into the waves.
As if the cool air and strong breeze hadn't been enough to dissuade me from swimming, we found three jellyfish bodies washed up on the shore in the space of about ten minutes. And I saw several in the water, though at least they were individuals and not a swarm.
Did you know that dead jellyfish can't sting you? I talked Penny into touching one of the washed-up bodies so she could see exactly why they're called jellyfish. (Though more than jelly, they feel like those gel window-clings.) Once she got over the initial ick-factor, she because entranced by them. One of the ones we found was huge -- easily eight or ten inches in diameter, and too heavy for the little waves to wash away. Penny kept coming back to it, and after about an hour was referring to it as "my jellyfish friend". When the waves began to get too close (the tide was coming in) she actually dragged it a little further away from them to "rescue" it. She picked up a smaller jellyfish and put it in a bucket to take home "so Daddy can see a jellyfish!" and found a few little broken-off pieces that she had enormous fun playing with. (They stick to stuff like those window gels, too.)
She waded in up to her knees (clinging tightly to my hand -- we both got splashed nearly up to our waists) and retreated to dryer sand for other fun. She made a sand angel (which is just like a snow angel, but not as cold) and buried her arm in the sand and marveled at how hard it was to lift it straight back out. She buried her feet and ankles, and then various of my limbs, as well.
We ate a picnic lunch and watched the boats on the river, including a trio of Coast Guard vessels (and one helicopter), and a gorgeous 3-mast ship -- the Yorktown Alliance -- practicing maneuvers for some show or other.
We were there for two, maybe two and a half hours, and if we'd been able to swim, it probably would have gone longer. Though it's possible that two hours was just long enough, since I came home with a faint burn on my chest and neck and one arm. (I spent most of the morning facing north, I guess -- the other arm doesn't even have a tan line. And my legs are still as white as paper. Stupid legs.)
After we left the beach, we dropped by my folks' place to visit with my mom (Dad wasn't home) for a while, and then we went back home. Penny watched some TV and worked on an art project while I sorted the gajillion pictures I'd taken.
All in all, it was a fantastic, relaxing day, and I'm glad I finally did it. Next summer, I'll try to remember to do it earlier, when we might actually be able to get in the water.
And then yesterday morning, her school had its Open House so students could meet their teachers and find their classrooms (which is why I didn't get to work in time to post all this yesterday). And before that, we had the annual meeting to review and renew her medical plan and to fill her teacher in on what she needs to know.
Penny was surprisingly excited about everything. She took to her new teacher right away, and was excited about all the stuff she saw in the classroom, and thrilled to recognize a few names of other students. For a kid who's been clingy in the extreme and terrified of even tiny changes to her surroundings, it's nice to see her finally showing some enthusiasm. So hopefully our first-day-of-school dropoff will go well, next week.
Our plans for the long weekend are pretty simple. Saturday we're going over to John and Sam's to celebrate birthdays (John's and Mom's and a friend of John and Sam's). And that's pretty much it for plans. I'm sure we'll get out of the house each day (Alex, like Penny before him, does better if he get a Trip every day, though he's a little calmer about it than Penny was) but probably just running errands and such.
And then Tuesday is back to school!
But my day off was really very good. Penny and I took Alex to school, then went home to eat breakfast and get ready for our day. It was a little chilly to go swimming, but when I offered to take her somewhere else instead, Penny insisted that she wanted to go to the beach.So we did. Yorktown Beach is situated right at the point where the York River opens up into the Chesapeake Bay -- by no means is it an ocean beach, but the water is salty and it's a really pretty spot. And there was enough wind yesterday for there to be some small waves (which as far as Penny was concerned were big waves). She absolutely loved it.
We walked along the beach and let the water swirl around our ankles. Penny got hypnotized by the water and nearly lost her balance a couple of times, but eventually she got the hang of it. She picked up bits of seashell, and poked dubiously at the seaweed. She made footprints and gasped with awe when the waves washed them away, and then did it again. She dug her toes into the sand and giggled when the water pushed more sand on them. She spotted my footsteps and tried to walk in them. She threw bits of rock and shell and handfuls of sand into the waves.As if the cool air and strong breeze hadn't been enough to dissuade me from swimming, we found three jellyfish bodies washed up on the shore in the space of about ten minutes. And I saw several in the water, though at least they were individuals and not a swarm.
Did you know that dead jellyfish can't sting you? I talked Penny into touching one of the washed-up bodies so she could see exactly why they're called jellyfish. (Though more than jelly, they feel like those gel window-clings.) Once she got over the initial ick-factor, she because entranced by them. One of the ones we found was huge -- easily eight or ten inches in diameter, and too heavy for the little waves to wash away. Penny kept coming back to it, and after about an hour was referring to it as "my jellyfish friend". When the waves began to get too close (the tide was coming in) she actually dragged it a little further away from them to "rescue" it. She picked up a smaller jellyfish and put it in a bucket to take home "so Daddy can see a jellyfish!" and found a few little broken-off pieces that she had enormous fun playing with. (They stick to stuff like those window gels, too.)
She waded in up to her knees (clinging tightly to my hand -- we both got splashed nearly up to our waists) and retreated to dryer sand for other fun. She made a sand angel (which is just like a snow angel, but not as cold) and buried her arm in the sand and marveled at how hard it was to lift it straight back out. She buried her feet and ankles, and then various of my limbs, as well.
We ate a picnic lunch and watched the boats on the river, including a trio of Coast Guard vessels (and one helicopter), and a gorgeous 3-mast ship -- the Yorktown Alliance -- practicing maneuvers for some show or other.
We were there for two, maybe two and a half hours, and if we'd been able to swim, it probably would have gone longer. Though it's possible that two hours was just long enough, since I came home with a faint burn on my chest and neck and one arm. (I spent most of the morning facing north, I guess -- the other arm doesn't even have a tan line. And my legs are still as white as paper. Stupid legs.)
After we left the beach, we dropped by my folks' place to visit with my mom (Dad wasn't home) for a while, and then we went back home. Penny watched some TV and worked on an art project while I sorted the gajillion pictures I'd taken.
All in all, it was a fantastic, relaxing day, and I'm glad I finally did it. Next summer, I'll try to remember to do it earlier, when we might actually be able to get in the water.
And then yesterday morning, her school had its Open House so students could meet their teachers and find their classrooms (which is why I didn't get to work in time to post all this yesterday). And before that, we had the annual meeting to review and renew her medical plan and to fill her teacher in on what she needs to know.
Penny was surprisingly excited about everything. She took to her new teacher right away, and was excited about all the stuff she saw in the classroom, and thrilled to recognize a few names of other students. For a kid who's been clingy in the extreme and terrified of even tiny changes to her surroundings, it's nice to see her finally showing some enthusiasm. So hopefully our first-day-of-school dropoff will go well, next week.
Our plans for the long weekend are pretty simple. Saturday we're going over to John and Sam's to celebrate birthdays (John's and Mom's and a friend of John and Sam's). And that's pretty much it for plans. I'm sure we'll get out of the house each day (Alex, like Penny before him, does better if he get a Trip every day, though he's a little calmer about it than Penny was) but probably just running errands and such.
And then Tuesday is back to school!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
I Did It!
My third interim weight-loss goal has been reached, and this is the "biggie" -- for the first time in more than ten years, I weigh less than 200 pounds!
It's a hell of a mood boost, I have to say. And it doesn't hurt that I'm wearing a new shirt that clings nicely, this morning, and I've already had two people comment on my weight loss.
I still have a good ways to go before I'm into ranges that will make my doctor happy, but it's a significant milestone, anyway.
Time to start shopping seriously for my reward! And to think up a reward for the next milestone...
Yay, me!
It's a hell of a mood boost, I have to say. And it doesn't hurt that I'm wearing a new shirt that clings nicely, this morning, and I've already had two people comment on my weight loss.
I still have a good ways to go before I'm into ranges that will make my doctor happy, but it's a significant milestone, anyway.
Time to start shopping seriously for my reward! And to think up a reward for the next milestone...
Yay, me!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Feelin' Groovy
I was kind of expecting a weekend that busy to leave me feeling wiped out, but it didn't. Nothing worse this morning than the usual morning "I'd-really-like-another-hour-or-two" sleepies.
And it was a really good weekend.
I had a great time at the girlie Mary Kay party and got all fabuloused-up, and bought stuff I probably don't need. (I was once again surprised by how nice my eyes look when I put even a little bit of mascara on, but I have yet to figure out how to remove the stuff at the end of the day without getting makeup remover in my eye and turning it all red and puffy, so alas, no sexy eyelashes for me.)
And then I came home and braced for the sleepover. That went pretty well. The girls went outside after dinner to play with Ray, and after a while I took Alex out to help keep an eye on them all. We were outside for a good hour or more, and there was only one spout of tears (Penny got overenthusiastic and bonked Jess with her elbow) and only one argument that looked like they might get out of hand (Ray is going through a no-sharing phase, and Jess was not interested in taking no for an answer -- once I'd broken up the wrestling match, they managed to compromise on him sharing a different toy with her) which is not bad for a bunch of 5-year-olds, really.
I eventually shepherded them inside to clean up and get ready for bed. Jess has apparently learned that the secret to being popular is to be aloof; I overheard this exchange after they got into their pajamas:
"Jess, I like your pajamas! You look really pretty!"
"I know. It's purple."
"Do you think I look pretty, too?"
"No." (She later relented and backed up to "A little.")
I got the inkling that the girls were a touch overtired and overwrought when about every other thing that happened started to result in tears... I wouldn't agree to a third bedtime book: tears. One girl drank her cup of water faster than the other: tears. One girl beat the other in the race up the stairs: tears. One girl didn't know all the lyrics to the song we were singing: tears.
"Okay, are we ready to go to sleep?" I said.
"No," Jess said.
"What's wrong, honey?"
"I don't have a second pillow."
"Well, honey, Penny only has one pillow, too. I think it'll be-"
"I have two pillows," Penny interrupted, "but one of them is this little fuzzy one!"
I counted to ten and tried not to strangle my beloved daughter. Some quick thinking turned up my old tooth fairy pillow, which is about the same size as Penny's "second" pillow, and Jess seemed happy enough with that.
I eventually got them into bed and gave Penny hugs and kisses (that wasn't favoritism; Jess refused the offer) and said, "Okay, go to sleep now. I'm going to go take my shower now, and I'll see you in the morning."
I got as far as my room and heard, "Mom! Jess doesn't feel good!" I investigated, allowed them to share a cup of water, and suggested that they take turns going potty before they go back to bed. I went back into my room and got my shoes off. "Mom! Jess misses her family!" We got the phone and called KT and Kevin and let Jess say goodnight to them. I got the girls back to bed and went back to my room. I got my shirt off and heard, "Mom! My tummy hurts because I didn't finish my dinner!" I convinced Penny that having left a single baby carrot on her plate was not going to cause her to starve overnight and that in any case it was too late to eat anything. I got my pants off, and was working on my bra. "Mom! Jess got hurt!" I ran in, and discovered that "got hurt" was code for "rolled over and bumped her butt against Penny's dresser." "Try not to sleep that close to the edge," I advised.
I finally got into the shower, and just as I was picking up the shampoo, the bathroom door opened. "Mom, I can't go to sleep because Jess keeps talking!"
Oy.
They eventually fell asleep, though, and were so exhausted that they slept right through my 10:00 blood sugar check for Penny. (Well, Jess did, anyway -- I had to wake Penny up for a juice box.) It probably goes without saying that by this time, Jess had scootched around on her mattress until she wasn't anywhere near her two pillows, right? Right.
I'd been hoping all the extra play would tire the kids out a little, but the girls were up at 5:55. Actually, they were probably up well before that; 5:55 is when I dragged out of bed to tell them that I didn't care if they were awake but they needed to be whispering and not waking Matt and me up.
Didn't get back to sleep after that, anyway, but I stubbornly stayed in bed until almost 7, just to make the point.
The girls had recovered from being overtired, at least, and were happy and giggly and in good moods for the morning. Matt volunteered to take the girls and drive Jess home, which helped the scheduling nightmare, since it let me go to the grocery store at the usual time. Alex was awesome for that, even -- he usually gets a bit cranky around the time we get to the last few aisles, but he was cool this time, playing a silly noisemaking game and flirting with other shoppers.
After Matt and Penny got back from dropping Jess off, we had lunch and then headed down to the Virginia Living Museum for a birthday party. Penny was a little shy for the party itself -- Heidi (the birthday girl) is 10, and most of her other guests were of a like age. (Penny got invited courtesy of Matt and I being friends with Heidi's parents, I suspect.)
The Living Museum has a very cool birthday schtick, though -- the birthday kid gets to pick two animals from a list and they actually bring those animals out and let all the guests look at and even touch them. Heidi had picked a screech owl and a box turtle for her animals, and it was really kind of cool, even for us adults. (The owl more than the turtle, admittedly -- we've all seen turtles. But I helped Alex pet the turtle, and he seemed to enjoy that.)
And after the party was done, we were turned loose on the museum itself, and both Penny and Alex had a blast. Alex wasn't terribly interested in most of the museum, but he had fun going up and down some stairs and then back and forth through a door a dozen or more times. He did spend a short time fascinated by some fish, and charged headlong down the (enclosed) nature trail, walking a good half-mile all by himself before demanding that Matt pick him up. And later, he had a good time with the hands-on exhibit, rubbing various animal furs on his face.
Penny actually had some interest in the museum itself, and she really liked the hands-on exhibits and the fish tanks. She liked the night animals and the dinosaur statue, too. She ran excitedly from display to display, exclaiming, "Cool!" and "Look at this!"
Myself, I could have spent an hour by the jellyfish tank -- the jellies ranged from the size of my face down to the size of my thumbnail. They were gently lit purple in the dark room, and their slow floating was hypnotic.
We definitely need to keep the Living Museum in mind when we have a weekend free and need to figure out something to do -- I don't think Penny even saw half of what was there to see.
After all that, I thought I'd want to spend Monday collapsed in a heap, but we were really feeling pretty good. After a calm morning, we packed the kids and went down to visit my mom for a bit. We only stayed about an hour -- both kids turned up tired and got variously irritable and whiny, so we gave up and went back home.
We didn't do anything particularly special for Memorial Day, but I did get Matt to fire up the grill and make steaks for us. (Penny whined at first, but once she got started, she scarfed down her entire 4-oz steak.) I made a bean-and-tomato side salad and threw in some leftover bacon I had in the 'fridge, and it turned out really tasty and not nearly as diet-unfriendly as I had feared.
So today's schedule is a little crazy (all my work meetings that usually happen on Mondays got rescheduled for today, and they're overlapping my meetings that usually happen on Tuesdays) but all in all, I'm feeling pretty good.
And it was a really good weekend.
I had a great time at the girlie Mary Kay party and got all fabuloused-up, and bought stuff I probably don't need. (I was once again surprised by how nice my eyes look when I put even a little bit of mascara on, but I have yet to figure out how to remove the stuff at the end of the day without getting makeup remover in my eye and turning it all red and puffy, so alas, no sexy eyelashes for me.)
And then I came home and braced for the sleepover. That went pretty well. The girls went outside after dinner to play with Ray, and after a while I took Alex out to help keep an eye on them all. We were outside for a good hour or more, and there was only one spout of tears (Penny got overenthusiastic and bonked Jess with her elbow) and only one argument that looked like they might get out of hand (Ray is going through a no-sharing phase, and Jess was not interested in taking no for an answer -- once I'd broken up the wrestling match, they managed to compromise on him sharing a different toy with her) which is not bad for a bunch of 5-year-olds, really.
I eventually shepherded them inside to clean up and get ready for bed. Jess has apparently learned that the secret to being popular is to be aloof; I overheard this exchange after they got into their pajamas:
"Jess, I like your pajamas! You look really pretty!"
"I know. It's purple."
"Do you think I look pretty, too?"
"No." (She later relented and backed up to "A little.")
I got the inkling that the girls were a touch overtired and overwrought when about every other thing that happened started to result in tears... I wouldn't agree to a third bedtime book: tears. One girl drank her cup of water faster than the other: tears. One girl beat the other in the race up the stairs: tears. One girl didn't know all the lyrics to the song we were singing: tears.
"Okay, are we ready to go to sleep?" I said.
"No," Jess said.
"What's wrong, honey?"
"I don't have a second pillow."
"Well, honey, Penny only has one pillow, too. I think it'll be-"
"I have two pillows," Penny interrupted, "but one of them is this little fuzzy one!"
I counted to ten and tried not to strangle my beloved daughter. Some quick thinking turned up my old tooth fairy pillow, which is about the same size as Penny's "second" pillow, and Jess seemed happy enough with that.
I eventually got them into bed and gave Penny hugs and kisses (that wasn't favoritism; Jess refused the offer) and said, "Okay, go to sleep now. I'm going to go take my shower now, and I'll see you in the morning."
I got as far as my room and heard, "Mom! Jess doesn't feel good!" I investigated, allowed them to share a cup of water, and suggested that they take turns going potty before they go back to bed. I went back into my room and got my shoes off. "Mom! Jess misses her family!" We got the phone and called KT and Kevin and let Jess say goodnight to them. I got the girls back to bed and went back to my room. I got my shirt off and heard, "Mom! My tummy hurts because I didn't finish my dinner!" I convinced Penny that having left a single baby carrot on her plate was not going to cause her to starve overnight and that in any case it was too late to eat anything. I got my pants off, and was working on my bra. "Mom! Jess got hurt!" I ran in, and discovered that "got hurt" was code for "rolled over and bumped her butt against Penny's dresser." "Try not to sleep that close to the edge," I advised.
I finally got into the shower, and just as I was picking up the shampoo, the bathroom door opened. "Mom, I can't go to sleep because Jess keeps talking!"
Oy.
They eventually fell asleep, though, and were so exhausted that they slept right through my 10:00 blood sugar check for Penny. (Well, Jess did, anyway -- I had to wake Penny up for a juice box.) It probably goes without saying that by this time, Jess had scootched around on her mattress until she wasn't anywhere near her two pillows, right? Right.
I'd been hoping all the extra play would tire the kids out a little, but the girls were up at 5:55. Actually, they were probably up well before that; 5:55 is when I dragged out of bed to tell them that I didn't care if they were awake but they needed to be whispering and not waking Matt and me up.
Didn't get back to sleep after that, anyway, but I stubbornly stayed in bed until almost 7, just to make the point.
The girls had recovered from being overtired, at least, and were happy and giggly and in good moods for the morning. Matt volunteered to take the girls and drive Jess home, which helped the scheduling nightmare, since it let me go to the grocery store at the usual time. Alex was awesome for that, even -- he usually gets a bit cranky around the time we get to the last few aisles, but he was cool this time, playing a silly noisemaking game and flirting with other shoppers.
After Matt and Penny got back from dropping Jess off, we had lunch and then headed down to the Virginia Living Museum for a birthday party. Penny was a little shy for the party itself -- Heidi (the birthday girl) is 10, and most of her other guests were of a like age. (Penny got invited courtesy of Matt and I being friends with Heidi's parents, I suspect.)
The Living Museum has a very cool birthday schtick, though -- the birthday kid gets to pick two animals from a list and they actually bring those animals out and let all the guests look at and even touch them. Heidi had picked a screech owl and a box turtle for her animals, and it was really kind of cool, even for us adults. (The owl more than the turtle, admittedly -- we've all seen turtles. But I helped Alex pet the turtle, and he seemed to enjoy that.)
And after the party was done, we were turned loose on the museum itself, and both Penny and Alex had a blast. Alex wasn't terribly interested in most of the museum, but he had fun going up and down some stairs and then back and forth through a door a dozen or more times. He did spend a short time fascinated by some fish, and charged headlong down the (enclosed) nature trail, walking a good half-mile all by himself before demanding that Matt pick him up. And later, he had a good time with the hands-on exhibit, rubbing various animal furs on his face.
Penny actually had some interest in the museum itself, and she really liked the hands-on exhibits and the fish tanks. She liked the night animals and the dinosaur statue, too. She ran excitedly from display to display, exclaiming, "Cool!" and "Look at this!"
Myself, I could have spent an hour by the jellyfish tank -- the jellies ranged from the size of my face down to the size of my thumbnail. They were gently lit purple in the dark room, and their slow floating was hypnotic.
We definitely need to keep the Living Museum in mind when we have a weekend free and need to figure out something to do -- I don't think Penny even saw half of what was there to see.
After all that, I thought I'd want to spend Monday collapsed in a heap, but we were really feeling pretty good. After a calm morning, we packed the kids and went down to visit my mom for a bit. We only stayed about an hour -- both kids turned up tired and got variously irritable and whiny, so we gave up and went back home.
We didn't do anything particularly special for Memorial Day, but I did get Matt to fire up the grill and make steaks for us. (Penny whined at first, but once she got started, she scarfed down her entire 4-oz steak.) I made a bean-and-tomato side salad and threw in some leftover bacon I had in the 'fridge, and it turned out really tasty and not nearly as diet-unfriendly as I had feared.
So today's schedule is a little crazy (all my work meetings that usually happen on Mondays got rescheduled for today, and they're overlapping my meetings that usually happen on Tuesdays) but all in all, I'm feeling pretty good.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Fair Weekend
I like having a short week.
Tomorrow, Penny's school PTA is having their annual Spring Festival, which will involve several inflatable bouncy things, a petting zoo, games, and food.
We're definitely going. The weather promises to be beautiful, and since the school is only half a mile from home, we can bring Alex's stroller, and then if he gets tired or fussy, one of us can take him home without stranding the others. I'm actually looking forward to it quite a bit. I remember going to the fair at my elementary school and having a blast -- the inflatable bouncy thing alone made it worth the trip, in my eyes.
I'm feeling positive about today. I don't know if it's the weather, or the fact that both kids had good dropoffs this morning, or what, but I'm feeling good.
Let's see how long we can make it last.
Tomorrow, Penny's school PTA is having their annual Spring Festival, which will involve several inflatable bouncy things, a petting zoo, games, and food.
We're definitely going. The weather promises to be beautiful, and since the school is only half a mile from home, we can bring Alex's stroller, and then if he gets tired or fussy, one of us can take him home without stranding the others. I'm actually looking forward to it quite a bit. I remember going to the fair at my elementary school and having a blast -- the inflatable bouncy thing alone made it worth the trip, in my eyes.
I'm feeling positive about today. I don't know if it's the weather, or the fact that both kids had good dropoffs this morning, or what, but I'm feeling good.
Let's see how long we can make it last.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Ahhhh.
I took Monday and Tuesday off, and it was lovely.
Funny, though, how there never seems to be enough time in a day when you're on vacation.
Matt and I lounged around the house Monday morning for a couple of hours, then went out to lunch, then did a bit of shopping, and then it was time to head home so we could pick Penny up from school.
Yesterday I was home by myself, so I dropped the kids off at school, then went to the gym, then came home and did a little scrapbooking, ate lunch, and then loafed on the couch reading a book until Matt and Penny got home.
We had a good anniversary, despite Alex turning up with double ear infections Saturday morning -- but we got him into the doctor's office and on antibiotics before lunch, at least. Penny was oddly excited about the whole thing -- she kept dancing around and reminding us that it was our "special day", and cooing over the flowers Matt sent me. I gave Matt some new t-shirts, and he gave me some adorably silly socks -- apparently, for us, eleven years is the "cotton" anniversary. He also gave me an audiobook that I listened to at the gym yesterday and while I was scrapbooking, and it had me laughing out loud until people on the elliptical next to mine were giving me odd looks.
Anyway, it wasn't nearly a long enough long weekend, but it was wonderful to sit and relax and do nothing -- not even have to talk to anyone if I didn't feel like it -- for hours on end.
Now, alas, back to work.
Funny, though, how there never seems to be enough time in a day when you're on vacation.
Matt and I lounged around the house Monday morning for a couple of hours, then went out to lunch, then did a bit of shopping, and then it was time to head home so we could pick Penny up from school.
Yesterday I was home by myself, so I dropped the kids off at school, then went to the gym, then came home and did a little scrapbooking, ate lunch, and then loafed on the couch reading a book until Matt and Penny got home.
We had a good anniversary, despite Alex turning up with double ear infections Saturday morning -- but we got him into the doctor's office and on antibiotics before lunch, at least. Penny was oddly excited about the whole thing -- she kept dancing around and reminding us that it was our "special day", and cooing over the flowers Matt sent me. I gave Matt some new t-shirts, and he gave me some adorably silly socks -- apparently, for us, eleven years is the "cotton" anniversary. He also gave me an audiobook that I listened to at the gym yesterday and while I was scrapbooking, and it had me laughing out loud until people on the elliptical next to mine were giving me odd looks.
Anyway, it wasn't nearly a long enough long weekend, but it was wonderful to sit and relax and do nothing -- not even have to talk to anyone if I didn't feel like it -- for hours on end.
Now, alas, back to work.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Sprung
It was a really lovely weekend, if possibly not altogether good for my diet. The weather was perfect, with highs in the low 70s and a brisk breeze to keep the air fresh and moving. Clear blue sky and light fluffy clouds. Perfection.
Friday evening, Jen and Brian came over and we went out to dinner, and then after Matt and I got the kids tucked into bed, we sat around talking until nearly midnight. It was really quite lovely -- they're the kinds of friends that you fall in with immediately, even if you haven't seen them for a while, and we have this fantastic Venn diagram of interests that overlap significantly but not completely, so there's enough common ground to start a conversation, peppered with plenty of those wonderful "I never knew that" moments to keep it from being a rehash of things we all already know.
We're thinking of starting a small, once-a-month game, if we can settle on a system and a GM. I'm kind of excited -- it's been years since I was in a tabletop game, and as much as I love KT's email games, there's something visceral about being face-to-face with everyone and having to think up your responses on the fly.
Saturday we went down to Chesapeake to celebrate Kevin's birthday. That was wonderful, too, despite KT still feeling a little bit under the weather from a cold. Penny and Jess were thrilled to pieces to be together, we ate lots of wonderful food, and Alex was even reasonably cool, considering he'd only taken half a nap before we went.
And Sunday we went to my parents' house for an early Easter, since they're leaving this week for Cancun. We arrived just as my parents were finishing up hiding eggs in the yard for Penny and Alex, so it wasn't long before we were out there taking pictures and trying to get Alex to play along. (He was pretty game for the first four or five eggs, and then mostly lost interest.) But the weather couldn't have been any nicer, and we had both kids dressed in their Easter clothes that my folks had sent for them, so it was wonderful.
Friday evening, Jen and Brian came over and we went out to dinner, and then after Matt and I got the kids tucked into bed, we sat around talking until nearly midnight. It was really quite lovely -- they're the kinds of friends that you fall in with immediately, even if you haven't seen them for a while, and we have this fantastic Venn diagram of interests that overlap significantly but not completely, so there's enough common ground to start a conversation, peppered with plenty of those wonderful "I never knew that" moments to keep it from being a rehash of things we all already know.
We're thinking of starting a small, once-a-month game, if we can settle on a system and a GM. I'm kind of excited -- it's been years since I was in a tabletop game, and as much as I love KT's email games, there's something visceral about being face-to-face with everyone and having to think up your responses on the fly.
Saturday we went down to Chesapeake to celebrate Kevin's birthday. That was wonderful, too, despite KT still feeling a little bit under the weather from a cold. Penny and Jess were thrilled to pieces to be together, we ate lots of wonderful food, and Alex was even reasonably cool, considering he'd only taken half a nap before we went.
And Sunday we went to my parents' house for an early Easter, since they're leaving this week for Cancun. We arrived just as my parents were finishing up hiding eggs in the yard for Penny and Alex, so it wasn't long before we were out there taking pictures and trying to get Alex to play along. (He was pretty game for the first four or five eggs, and then mostly lost interest.) But the weather couldn't have been any nicer, and we had both kids dressed in their Easter clothes that my folks had sent for them, so it was wonderful.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Ahhh.
Much better.
I had a busy, productive work day. I sketched out some ideas for my schedule when Penny starts school, and a couple of them actually seem viable, at least for the short term. I made it to the Y and spent half an hour on the reclining bike. (Had to adjust the difficulty a few times; I'm still figuring out what my level is, but I'm finally getting the hang of it.)
I got home just before Matt and the kids, and while we were doing the usual get-home things (wash bottles and little cups, make lunches for tomorrow, etc) my cell rang, and it was the concrete guy. He wanted to come over and talk to me about expanding the driveway and make sure we were on the same page, and he thinks he can get started in about a week. (*Note to self - need to contact the HA and see if we have to get it "approved" first.)
And while I was getting ready to make dinner, the phone rang, and it was the DHL courier. Wait, let me back up: I'd checked on the status of my computer yesterday at lunch to discover that it had gone from "On hold - part ordered" to "Completed" and "Your tracking number is..." So I clicked on the tracking number, because I always do, just to see if they'd already picked it up.
DHL's website said, "Delivery attempt failed." ...Wha? I checked the dates, and apparently Apple had completed my repair and shipped the computer off on Saturday, but the repair status website hadn't updated, for whatever reason. (Databases don't sync on the weekends?) So DHL had tried to deliver my computer and, it being a signature-required delivery, failed. Well, crappit. So I printed out the signature release form, stuck it in my bag, and took it home.
When I got home, there were two delivery attempt stickies on the door -- the courier had come by at 11:30, and again at about 3:30. Dangit, I'm at work, people! The notes said they'd come back again today, so I signed them, and I signed the release I'd printed out, just to be safe, and put them by the door so I could tape them up on our way out in the morning. I grumbled a little, but since I really wasn't expecting to get my computer until Wednesday at the earliest, I was still ahead of the game.
Anyway, while I was preparing dinner, the DHL guy called. "I'm about to head back for the day," he said, "and I thought I'd see if you were home before I went, so I can drop off your box."
Yes, yes, yes!
I don't know if that's standard DHL policy -- but FedEx and UPS have never done anything like that for me, and so either DHL or that particular courier now have some major bonus points in my book.
So I got my computer back, all fixed, whoo! They'd turned off my desktop picture and changed my screensaver, and for some reason my WoW shortcut had been moved, but otherwise everything was fine.
Anyway, I made a lovely dinner -- curried salmon with couscous and green beans. Penny didn't like the curry sauce, but Matt and I did, so next time I'll just cut her piece off beforehand and bake it with butter and lemon.
Alex was feeling good for most of the evening -- all smiles and giggles -- and managed to stay up until 7:10, which is pretty late for him (we usually end up putting him to bed between 6:45 and 7, when he turns into the FussMonster). He's almost mastered pulling himself to standing, and is trying to figure out how to take steps while holding on to things. (That'll still be a while in coming, but he's working on it.)
And after the kids were in bed, I caught up on websites I haven't been able to read for a week (oh lolcats, how I missed your funny!) and dove into WoW.
Ahhh. A good day.
I had a busy, productive work day. I sketched out some ideas for my schedule when Penny starts school, and a couple of them actually seem viable, at least for the short term. I made it to the Y and spent half an hour on the reclining bike. (Had to adjust the difficulty a few times; I'm still figuring out what my level is, but I'm finally getting the hang of it.)
I got home just before Matt and the kids, and while we were doing the usual get-home things (wash bottles and little cups, make lunches for tomorrow, etc) my cell rang, and it was the concrete guy. He wanted to come over and talk to me about expanding the driveway and make sure we were on the same page, and he thinks he can get started in about a week. (*Note to self - need to contact the HA and see if we have to get it "approved" first.)
And while I was getting ready to make dinner, the phone rang, and it was the DHL courier. Wait, let me back up: I'd checked on the status of my computer yesterday at lunch to discover that it had gone from "On hold - part ordered" to "Completed" and "Your tracking number is..." So I clicked on the tracking number, because I always do, just to see if they'd already picked it up.
DHL's website said, "Delivery attempt failed." ...Wha? I checked the dates, and apparently Apple had completed my repair and shipped the computer off on Saturday, but the repair status website hadn't updated, for whatever reason. (Databases don't sync on the weekends?) So DHL had tried to deliver my computer and, it being a signature-required delivery, failed. Well, crappit. So I printed out the signature release form, stuck it in my bag, and took it home.
When I got home, there were two delivery attempt stickies on the door -- the courier had come by at 11:30, and again at about 3:30. Dangit, I'm at work, people! The notes said they'd come back again today, so I signed them, and I signed the release I'd printed out, just to be safe, and put them by the door so I could tape them up on our way out in the morning. I grumbled a little, but since I really wasn't expecting to get my computer until Wednesday at the earliest, I was still ahead of the game.
Anyway, while I was preparing dinner, the DHL guy called. "I'm about to head back for the day," he said, "and I thought I'd see if you were home before I went, so I can drop off your box."
Yes, yes, yes!
I don't know if that's standard DHL policy -- but FedEx and UPS have never done anything like that for me, and so either DHL or that particular courier now have some major bonus points in my book.
So I got my computer back, all fixed, whoo! They'd turned off my desktop picture and changed my screensaver, and for some reason my WoW shortcut had been moved, but otherwise everything was fine.
Anyway, I made a lovely dinner -- curried salmon with couscous and green beans. Penny didn't like the curry sauce, but Matt and I did, so next time I'll just cut her piece off beforehand and bake it with butter and lemon.
Alex was feeling good for most of the evening -- all smiles and giggles -- and managed to stay up until 7:10, which is pretty late for him (we usually end up putting him to bed between 6:45 and 7, when he turns into the FussMonster). He's almost mastered pulling himself to standing, and is trying to figure out how to take steps while holding on to things. (That'll still be a while in coming, but he's working on it.)
And after the kids were in bed, I caught up on websites I haven't been able to read for a week (oh lolcats, how I missed your funny!) and dove into WoW.
Ahhh. A good day.
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