I've been surprisingly enthusiastic about Hallowe'en this year, and now it's nearly here! Matt and I realized last night that we have yet to carve our pumpkins -- time slips away so fast. We decided we'd try to carve them tonight, and if we ran out of time, we could finish up tomorrow.
That'll be something for Penny to do tomorrow, anyway. She was pretty nonplussed this morning when I told her she would have to wait until after dinner to go trick-or-treating.
I might even manage to slip out of work a little bit early today, if everything stays quiet. There aren't any deliveries due out, so once I'm done with all the piled-up administrivia, I might just take off. We'll see, I guess. I can only hope!
I'm looking forward to tomorrow. My dad is down in Atlanta, so Mom said she might come up for the evening, to see the kids in their costumes and help me hand out candy to the ravening hordes. (Seriously, we get a gajillion kids in our neighborhood. We buy two five-pound bags of candy every year, and give out no more than 2-3 pieces per kid, and it's usually all gone by 8.)
I'm going to hand out candy (it's Matt's turn to escort the kids around). I expect Alex to go to about three houses and be done, and to go to bed more or less on time, but we'll probably let Penny stay up a bit late to play with Ray and eat some of her candy.
There will be pictures taken, of course. If nothing else, I'll take pictures of Penny and Alex in their costumes, and possibly Ray as well, if he's willing to stand still for it. I might get someone to take a picture of me in my costume, too. If I get a chance, I want to wander around and experiment with taking pictures in the dark -- some of our neighbors put up fantastic decorations and displays that could be fun to shoot. (Though I don't have a tripod mount for long exposures, yet. Need to put that on my list!)
I might roast pumpkin seeds from our jack-o-lanterns. (I need to look up the calories and carbs on those, first.) On Sunday, I'm going to bake the little pie-pumpkin we got and have Penny help me make pumpkin muffins out of it.
All in all, I expect it to be a really fantastic weekend, and I'm looking forward to it immensely. There will probably be pictures on Monday. And then I'll need to start working on plans for Christmas!
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Pumpkin
I'm wearing a shirt today that I last wore two years ago.
I wore it when I was largely pregnant with Alex, as my Hallowe'en costume: I taped black construction paper to my belly and was a jack-o-lantern.
It was actually too small for me, then (even discounting the 7-months-pregnant Belly) but I squashed into it because, hey, Hallowe'en costumes always fit awkwardly anyway, and I only needed it for the one night. It's a size or two too big for me now (even discounting the fact that I'm no longer pregnant) but I'm wearing it because I wanted to wear Hallowe'en-y clothes all week, and I was running out of options.
Nope, don't really have anything to talk about this morning. How'd you guess?
I wore it when I was largely pregnant with Alex, as my Hallowe'en costume: I taped black construction paper to my belly and was a jack-o-lantern.
It was actually too small for me, then (even discounting the 7-months-pregnant Belly) but I squashed into it because, hey, Hallowe'en costumes always fit awkwardly anyway, and I only needed it for the one night. It's a size or two too big for me now (even discounting the fact that I'm no longer pregnant) but I'm wearing it because I wanted to wear Hallowe'en-y clothes all week, and I was running out of options.
Nope, don't really have anything to talk about this morning. How'd you guess?
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Fashion Sense
There is a woman at my office, M, who is very sweet, if occasionally flutterbrained. She's about ten years older than me, and has a daughter who just started college.
Here's the thing. She dresses like she's still 25. Flirty mid-thigh-length skirts and shirts built to show cleavage.
And it just doesn't work. She's tall and slender and fit and it ought to work, but... She spent too many years as a sun-worshiper in California and now the skin she's showing off is permanently wrinkled and loose-looking. Worse, it seems to collude with her occasional flights of bubbleheadedness to make her seem even blonder than she already is. I mean, when she wears jeans and a t-shirt on a Friday, she actually seems more competent and professional than when she's wearing her nicer clothes the rest of the week. Even her haircut feels to me like someone who's trying to deny that they have a daughter in college, though I can't quantify why.
I'm trying to figure out exactly what buttons it's pushing for me, and why, because I'm not that much younger than her, and thanks to the miracle of weight loss, my skin is even looser than hers. When I wear a V-neck sweater, even if I'm looking hotter than I have at any time in the last fifteen years or so, do I still look kind of pathetic?
How do other people figure these things out? I know women who always, always, always look perfectly put-together, no matter where they are. Not just perfectly put-together, but appropriate to their surroundings and roles. Competent and knowledgeable and attractive (but not on the hunt). And it's not about body size, because they run the gamut from tiny little size XS ladies up to women as big as I've ever been. And I can't, for the life of me, figure out what makes the difference.
It's knowing what clothes to choose, and what accessories, and what makeup, and what hairstyle -- not only knowing it, but being comfortable inside it. It's a sense of fashion and style that I somehow missed learning. I'm not sure it can be learned, but I keep trying.
Every time I encounter one of these women, I find myself trying to dissemble the pieces and figure out what makes them work. And every time I encounter someone who doesn't work, I try to figure out why. How is it that S and B, who were both larger, older women, always wore similar outfits, but S looked like a high-powered executive and B always looked faintly rumpled? Why can 50-something J wear flirty 20ish clothes and look cute, while 50-something M looks like she's trying too hard? I can't tell the difference, and I'm pretty sure that means I'm on the wrong side of the equation, here.
Here's the thing. She dresses like she's still 25. Flirty mid-thigh-length skirts and shirts built to show cleavage.
And it just doesn't work. She's tall and slender and fit and it ought to work, but... She spent too many years as a sun-worshiper in California and now the skin she's showing off is permanently wrinkled and loose-looking. Worse, it seems to collude with her occasional flights of bubbleheadedness to make her seem even blonder than she already is. I mean, when she wears jeans and a t-shirt on a Friday, she actually seems more competent and professional than when she's wearing her nicer clothes the rest of the week. Even her haircut feels to me like someone who's trying to deny that they have a daughter in college, though I can't quantify why.
I'm trying to figure out exactly what buttons it's pushing for me, and why, because I'm not that much younger than her, and thanks to the miracle of weight loss, my skin is even looser than hers. When I wear a V-neck sweater, even if I'm looking hotter than I have at any time in the last fifteen years or so, do I still look kind of pathetic?
How do other people figure these things out? I know women who always, always, always look perfectly put-together, no matter where they are. Not just perfectly put-together, but appropriate to their surroundings and roles. Competent and knowledgeable and attractive (but not on the hunt). And it's not about body size, because they run the gamut from tiny little size XS ladies up to women as big as I've ever been. And I can't, for the life of me, figure out what makes the difference.
It's knowing what clothes to choose, and what accessories, and what makeup, and what hairstyle -- not only knowing it, but being comfortable inside it. It's a sense of fashion and style that I somehow missed learning. I'm not sure it can be learned, but I keep trying.
Every time I encounter one of these women, I find myself trying to dissemble the pieces and figure out what makes them work. And every time I encounter someone who doesn't work, I try to figure out why. How is it that S and B, who were both larger, older women, always wore similar outfits, but S looked like a high-powered executive and B always looked faintly rumpled? Why can 50-something J wear flirty 20ish clothes and look cute, while 50-something M looks like she's trying too hard? I can't tell the difference, and I'm pretty sure that means I'm on the wrong side of the equation, here.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Snugglebunny
Ways in which Alex is not like Penny at the same age: Alex is incredibly affectionate.
I never doubted that Penny loved me and Matt, but she was not a snuggly child. She didn't become cuddly until I was pregnant with Alex and she began to understand that someone else was going to be invading our house.
Alex, on the other hand... At least every day or so he'll walk up to me in the kitchen while I'm making dinner or washing dishes and wrap himself around one of my legs in a spontaneous hug. Just 'cause. He hugs, I say thank you, and he wanders off again, mission accomplished.
Penny demands hugs and kisses from him practically every time their paths cross, and he's usually happy to comply. (Though he has recently learned the Power of the No, and so sometimes he refuses, just to prove that he can, I think.)
The last few days, he's been even cozier than usual. He gets annoyed if I don't wrap my arm all the way around him while I'm reading to him (and unlike Penny, Alex wants to be read to more or less constantly). And he's asking for hugs and kisses frequently.
Yesterday, while I was reading to him, he noticed a band-aid on my finger. (I don't know how it happened; I just had a couple of shallow cuts on my knuckle. Wouldn't have bothered with a band-aid at all, except that they're perfectly placed to snag on everything I pick up.) "Isshee?" he wanted to know, which is his version of "(What) is it?"
"It's a band-aid," I told him. "Mommy has a little booboo."
"Awww!" he cooed, then leaned over and planted a kiss right on the band-aid.
I laughed and hugged him. "Thank you, sweetie. That's very nice."
So he did it again. And again. He must have kissed my finger about four times in a row before he let me get back to reading the book. And then he did it again every time he noticed it again, which was every time I turned the page. And when I was done, he picked up my hand and laid his cheek against my finger in a hug. Just to make sure my booboo had enough love, I guess.
How absolutely freaking adorable is that? How could anyone not want to just eat this kid up?
(I have to write this stuff down, because the Sullen Teenage Years are waiting for me, and I'll need to remember why I didn't just drop-kick his little behind back when he was shorter than me and I had the chance.)
I never doubted that Penny loved me and Matt, but she was not a snuggly child. She didn't become cuddly until I was pregnant with Alex and she began to understand that someone else was going to be invading our house.
Alex, on the other hand... At least every day or so he'll walk up to me in the kitchen while I'm making dinner or washing dishes and wrap himself around one of my legs in a spontaneous hug. Just 'cause. He hugs, I say thank you, and he wanders off again, mission accomplished.
Penny demands hugs and kisses from him practically every time their paths cross, and he's usually happy to comply. (Though he has recently learned the Power of the No, and so sometimes he refuses, just to prove that he can, I think.)
The last few days, he's been even cozier than usual. He gets annoyed if I don't wrap my arm all the way around him while I'm reading to him (and unlike Penny, Alex wants to be read to more or less constantly). And he's asking for hugs and kisses frequently.
Yesterday, while I was reading to him, he noticed a band-aid on my finger. (I don't know how it happened; I just had a couple of shallow cuts on my knuckle. Wouldn't have bothered with a band-aid at all, except that they're perfectly placed to snag on everything I pick up.) "Isshee?" he wanted to know, which is his version of "(What) is it?"
"It's a band-aid," I told him. "Mommy has a little booboo."
"Awww!" he cooed, then leaned over and planted a kiss right on the band-aid.
I laughed and hugged him. "Thank you, sweetie. That's very nice."
So he did it again. And again. He must have kissed my finger about four times in a row before he let me get back to reading the book. And then he did it again every time he noticed it again, which was every time I turned the page. And when I was done, he picked up my hand and laid his cheek against my finger in a hug. Just to make sure my booboo had enough love, I guess.
How absolutely freaking adorable is that? How could anyone not want to just eat this kid up?
(I have to write this stuff down, because the Sullen Teenage Years are waiting for me, and I'll need to remember why I didn't just drop-kick his little behind back when he was shorter than me and I had the chance.)
Monday, October 26, 2009
Line 'Er Up
Week of relative relaxation is done. I worked four half-days and took one day off entirely, and still clocked over 100 hours for the two-week pay period. But it's a new pay period, so it's back to a normal work schedule for me. At least I got the whole weekend off.
Time marches on. Hallowe'en is Saturday, and I've got my wardrobe picked out for pretty much the whole rest of the week. Because I'm just that much of a nerd, yes.
Next week is mostly quiet, though I need to make a bunch of cupcakes for my birthday, since I've told everyone I'm going to make my own cake(s) this year so I can keep track of diet points easier. (Having a lot fewer points to mess around with this year than last year.) And Tuesday is Election Day, and since so many of our local polling places are schools, they've given up and made it a student holiday, so I'll have Penny with me at work all day. That'll be a productive day. Not.
Then the week after that will be my birthday (which I may or may not take off from work), and at the end of the week, I'm taking a couple of days off to take Penny to Atlanta. I'm really looking forward to that.
When we get back from that trip, we'll only be a week and a half from Thanksgiving and Matt's birthday. (I should probably look into getting him a present or something.)
And then there's nothing specific on the calendar for a few weeks, but it'll be December and we'll be into the joyous madness of the holiday season.
The end of the year is crazy-time, but it's a good kind of crazy. And this year, I really want to embrace it with everything. I'm ready for it. Bring it on!
Time marches on. Hallowe'en is Saturday, and I've got my wardrobe picked out for pretty much the whole rest of the week. Because I'm just that much of a nerd, yes.
Next week is mostly quiet, though I need to make a bunch of cupcakes for my birthday, since I've told everyone I'm going to make my own cake(s) this year so I can keep track of diet points easier. (Having a lot fewer points to mess around with this year than last year.) And Tuesday is Election Day, and since so many of our local polling places are schools, they've given up and made it a student holiday, so I'll have Penny with me at work all day. That'll be a productive day. Not.
Then the week after that will be my birthday (which I may or may not take off from work), and at the end of the week, I'm taking a couple of days off to take Penny to Atlanta. I'm really looking forward to that.
When we get back from that trip, we'll only be a week and a half from Thanksgiving and Matt's birthday. (I should probably look into getting him a present or something.)
And then there's nothing specific on the calendar for a few weeks, but it'll be December and we'll be into the joyous madness of the holiday season.
The end of the year is crazy-time, but it's a good kind of crazy. And this year, I really want to embrace it with everything. I'm ready for it. Bring it on!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Picture Picture
Nothing at work was really pressing, so I took the whole day off.
Instead, I packed a lunch and my camera and went into Colonial Williamsburg to take pictures of the autumn foliage (though it mostly isn't very impressive this year) and random picturesque things. It took me a while to really get into it, but eventually I wound up with a bunch of not-horrible pictures.
After that, I got my allergy shots, then spent most of the afternoon loafing around the house. Matt and I walked Penny home from school, and when she'd finished her homework and practiced for her spelling test today, we all went to pick Alex up from daycare and then went... to Pumpkinville!
Penny, weirdly, was excited to go to Pumpkinville, but once we were there, she wouldn't go near anything even remotely spooky. I had to trick her into following me into the corn maze, and she wouldn't go near the inflatable Frankenstein's monster gateway without one of us with her.
Alex, on the other hand, was All About Everything. He charged from spot to spot as fast as his little legs could carry him, drunk on excitement and freedom of movement. I thought I was going to lose him in the corn maze, he was going so fast.
So all in all, it was a good day, and a much-needed rest.
I'm at work today for a few hours, there being some work that needs doing and a meeting I'm supposed to attend, but I expect to leave early again.
My brain is still shutting down completely around 8:30 in the evening, and I'm getting sleepy at 9 or so. I'm hoping to be able to actually function in the evenings again soon.
Instead, I packed a lunch and my camera and went into Colonial Williamsburg to take pictures of the autumn foliage (though it mostly isn't very impressive this year) and random picturesque things. It took me a while to really get into it, but eventually I wound up with a bunch of not-horrible pictures.
Penny, weirdly, was excited to go to Pumpkinville, but once we were there, she wouldn't go near anything even remotely spooky. I had to trick her into following me into the corn maze, and she wouldn't go near the inflatable Frankenstein's monster gateway without one of us with her.
Alex, on the other hand, was All About Everything. He charged from spot to spot as fast as his little legs could carry him, drunk on excitement and freedom of movement. I thought I was going to lose him in the corn maze, he was going so fast.
I'm at work today for a few hours, there being some work that needs doing and a meeting I'm supposed to attend, but I expect to leave early again.
My brain is still shutting down completely around 8:30 in the evening, and I'm getting sleepy at 9 or so. I'm hoping to be able to actually function in the evenings again soon.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Exhaust
So yeah. Put in something like 32 hours this past weekend, culminating at 3:30am Monday morning. Combined with the time I worked the previous weekend, I technically shouldn't have to come to work at all this week. (We go on a two-week pay cycle, Saturday through Friday, of which this is the second week. A normal pay cycle should have about 80 hours charged to it; as of right now, I'm at 89.)
Except of course that there are at least a few things that really have to be done. I came in to work yesterday (late) for about four hours, then went home (early) and took a nap.
I expect today to be my longest work day of the week, because I'm running a training session this afternoon that might run as late as 3:30. After that's over, I'm going home. Either Wednesday or Thursday I want to take off entirely, and I fully expect to come in late and/or leave early every other day this week as well. I'm only coming in at all because we have documents to deliver and the person who'd usually cover for me if I wasn't here is out on maternity leave. I believe the word we're looking for here is "lackadaisical". I have already informed my boss of this plan. (Note that I did not ask him. I just told him. And my minion who worked 30 hours this weekend along with me took yesterday off and has been given tacit approval to take as much time off as our schedule will allow, as well. Though she isn't salaried, so she might choose to work the rest of the week normally and collect a juicy overtime check.)
By the way, muchmany thanks to Matt and both kids for being so awesome about my crap working hours lately. Matt has uncomplainingly taken on the single parenting duties, and the kids have been pretty good for him (well, within the confines of their abilities. They're six and almost-two; let's not expect miracles). Matt brought the kids up to visit me at work for a bit on Sunday, and I raided the office supply closet to give Penny a pad of mini sticky-notes. (She's easily won; what can I say?) When I got home Monday morning at 3:30 or so, I found a sticky-note on my laptop that said "I love Mommy" and another one that was a picture of me and Penny inside a heart. She'd also used them to put various labels on everyone's bedroom door, and at everyone's seat at the dining table. It was exactly the smile that I needed before I crawled into bed.
And Alex has always been affectionate and happy to be cuddled, but lately he's been piling on the unasked-for hugs and those wonderfully precious full-on barreling run-and-fling-into-Mommy's-arms embraces that warm me the way nothing else possibly can. I have the best family EVAR.
Plans for my time off: I want to get my camera and go wander the Colonial area to take pictures; and I need to go shopping for clothes, because I only have three long-sleeved shirts that fit, and half-sleeves are not doing it for me this fall. (I may actually need a real coat this winter.) Other than that, I plan to do Not Much Of Anything. Write a little, perhaps. Work on my scrapbook. Plan for my trip to Atlanta next month. Watch movies and TV. Stare into space and drool slightly.
And when the weekend comes, I will Not Work. I promised Penny we could make a "special breakfast" one day -- she hasn't decided yet what that means, but I suspect either pancakes or french toast. It being the last weekend before Hallowe'en, we should take the kids to Pumpkinville to pick out our pumpkins. Maybe go visit my parents. Whatever. Anything that is Not Work.
Next week begins a new pay period, with a normal work schedule. But right now, I can barely plan past my next cup of coffee. And that's kind of how I'm liking it.
Except of course that there are at least a few things that really have to be done. I came in to work yesterday (late) for about four hours, then went home (early) and took a nap.
I expect today to be my longest work day of the week, because I'm running a training session this afternoon that might run as late as 3:30. After that's over, I'm going home. Either Wednesday or Thursday I want to take off entirely, and I fully expect to come in late and/or leave early every other day this week as well. I'm only coming in at all because we have documents to deliver and the person who'd usually cover for me if I wasn't here is out on maternity leave. I believe the word we're looking for here is "lackadaisical". I have already informed my boss of this plan. (Note that I did not ask him. I just told him. And my minion who worked 30 hours this weekend along with me took yesterday off and has been given tacit approval to take as much time off as our schedule will allow, as well. Though she isn't salaried, so she might choose to work the rest of the week normally and collect a juicy overtime check.)
By the way, muchmany thanks to Matt and both kids for being so awesome about my crap working hours lately. Matt has uncomplainingly taken on the single parenting duties, and the kids have been pretty good for him (well, within the confines of their abilities. They're six and almost-two; let's not expect miracles). Matt brought the kids up to visit me at work for a bit on Sunday, and I raided the office supply closet to give Penny a pad of mini sticky-notes. (She's easily won; what can I say?) When I got home Monday morning at 3:30 or so, I found a sticky-note on my laptop that said "I love Mommy" and another one that was a picture of me and Penny inside a heart. She'd also used them to put various labels on everyone's bedroom door, and at everyone's seat at the dining table. It was exactly the smile that I needed before I crawled into bed.
And Alex has always been affectionate and happy to be cuddled, but lately he's been piling on the unasked-for hugs and those wonderfully precious full-on barreling run-and-fling-into-Mommy's-arms embraces that warm me the way nothing else possibly can. I have the best family EVAR.
Plans for my time off: I want to get my camera and go wander the Colonial area to take pictures; and I need to go shopping for clothes, because I only have three long-sleeved shirts that fit, and half-sleeves are not doing it for me this fall. (I may actually need a real coat this winter.) Other than that, I plan to do Not Much Of Anything. Write a little, perhaps. Work on my scrapbook. Plan for my trip to Atlanta next month. Watch movies and TV. Stare into space and drool slightly.
And when the weekend comes, I will Not Work. I promised Penny we could make a "special breakfast" one day -- she hasn't decided yet what that means, but I suspect either pancakes or french toast. It being the last weekend before Hallowe'en, we should take the kids to Pumpkinville to pick out our pumpkins. Maybe go visit my parents. Whatever. Anything that is Not Work.
Next week begins a new pay period, with a normal work schedule. But right now, I can barely plan past my next cup of coffee. And that's kind of how I'm liking it.
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