Monday, December 31, 2007

Oh, yeah

Happy New Year!

As the ball drops...

It is time for some resolutions.

  • I resolve to b*tch less. And to shut up when I need to be quiet.
  • I resolve to eat less polyunsatu-not-real-food. I resolve to keep canning, freezing, growing, and farmers-market-ing food.
  • I resolve to keep eating when I'm hungry, tasting when I'm curious, and focusing on my life instead of dieting.
  • I resolve to keep running after my toddler. Which will make me skinny. (As skinny as I get, that is. Darn Luxembourger/Welsh genes.)
  • I resolve to be happy. And do more yoga. And hug my toddler. And not get caught up in crap.

I think that these are some resolutions that I can live with.

Monday, December 03, 2007

Holiday time is here, and I feel...

provoked.

It all started when I was expecting Mark. I got a snarky note from my grandmother regarding my parents, and I responded with firm snarkiness. (Snark deserves snark, IMHO.) Well, I didn't realize that I was supposed to read the initial snark and like it, too-- so my grandmother didn't talk to my father for a few months. And she wrote me an icy note about how we would never again exchange Christmas gifts. (Oh, if I could only be so lucky. This is the woman who-- three years ago!-- gave me Holly Hobby potholders with the 25-cent rummage sale tags still attached.)

I knew that if I didn't give gifts last year, I'd start another international incident. So, I sent gifts with Mark's name attached. And-- as I expected, we recieved gifts.

Then tonight rolls around. I got a message from my aunt. Saying that my grandmother, on her fixed income, spent nearly $200 on shipping for gifts.

Why is this my problem? Am I supposed to feel... grateful? Guilty?

Umm... I feel irritated. These are the folks who, when I paid for plane tickets, a rental car, and gas for the rental car out to the Midwest, then expected me to drive hours out of my way to pick up their Christmas gifts for them. (You heard it right! I dropped over a grand on my travel expenses and then am supposed to alter my plans to save them $100 in shipping fees.) And then were incensed enough to make up a huge story about how I refused to take my grandmother out for the holiday after she asked me to. (Not the question I was asked.)

I think they are looking for some drama. And I nearly bit. I decided to let it fly here, though.

I feel better now. Doggone, this is cheap therapy.

Friday, November 30, 2007

Wiped

Everyone in our house is tired, tired, tired. We have truly been on the run since we bought the minivan. (Pretty pathetic that we've put 3200 miles on it already.)

We went to Maine to the Sudbury Inn to watch my sister's wedding. We had a great time. There was a fun pub in the basement, a nice restaurant on the first floor, and our rooms were great. The best thing was the patience that the staff showed with the two toddlers. I was totally excited that we had a two-room suite that had a king bedroom for DH and me and a double twin room for Mark. Ha. As if he'd sleep peacefully in a strange room. What was I thinking?

Also from the what was I thinking column-- I let Mark play outside up in Maine. He had an absolutely fantastic time until his cough came back with a vengeance. It was a LONG drive back to Maryland.

Pneumonia was the worry of the pediatrician, but it turned out that it was viral. (Viral in that it lasted for a month and he still has a cough today.)

We went outlet shopping and I was good-- I only bought for gifts. Except for a few things I bought for Thanksgiving.

We were busy right up through our Thanksgiving company arriving. It was a whirlwind, really. I kept Mark here while they went to D.C. We all went to Williamsburg (and got the inspiration for my porch Christmas garland). Very, very busy.

And finally, I think that I could finally say that I could make Ms. Fosheim, my high school English Comp teacher, proud. My writing was quoted by The Washington Post. In their newspaper? Nope. But they give out Principal's Awards every year, and my letter was quoted during the ceremony. That counts, right?

Last but not least, Go Navy, Beat Army!

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Since I Last Posted...

  • My sister eloped (with the three of us witnessing)...
  • I finished report cards...
  • Painted the downstairs bathroom...
  • Remembered that there's a reason I highly dislike field trips...
  • Thought my son had pneumonia...
  • DH went on travel, again...
  • Had the little man puke on me...
  • Worked logistics for the guests arriving in five days...

I'll post more later. For now, I just want to catch my breath!

Monday, October 29, 2007

An Open Letter to Car Dealerships

My I are the new owners of a Honda Odyssey. It's a great vehicle. DH and I got the vehicle we wanted with the options we wanted, and we're very happy with it.

However, the car buying experience is highly unpleasant. The bait-and-switch tactics are ridiculous, yet consistent.

Please, please consider designing showrooms that are friendlier to the consumer. For example, the showroom at which we purchased our Odyssey had a children's play area. It had three walls, and the fourth side was open to the showroom. Two feet from the toys was a 2008 Accord. Ummm... kids throw things when they play, they run around and they get loud. My child NEEDED to move and get loud to burn off some energy during the 6+ hours we were there. Having a brand-new vehicle right next to all of that was, quite frankly, dumb. Also, there was one television in the dealership on a Sunday (i.e. football day), so a group of 4 to 5 salesmen were constantly in the children's playroom. My son would eventually get tired of working around them to play and would run the showroom floor. I ran after him, so it became a game. Umm... salespeople, when you see a panic-ed mom running, get out of my way. I do not run in your showroom to entertain you.

How hard is it to have a glass wall with a door? How hard is it to have an extra tv in the breakroom for your salespeople? Can you please ask your employees to stay off the children's tables so the children actually have some room to play?

We ended up walking away with the perfect vehicle for our family yesterday, but I have to say that the birthing process was less aggravating than the car-buying process.

The customer pays for your salary. Keep our needs in mind, please.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Fire

When I was in college, on a frigid night (and I do mean frigid as in twenty to thirty below zero-- I went to school in Minnesota, folks), my apartment burned down. I got a sandwich bag full of smoky-smelling jewelery out of the apartment, and that was it.

Today, it was with a heavy heavy heart that I was reading about the fires in southern California. I've been there. It sucks. (It's weird for a while-- you think, oh I want that CD-- oh yeah, it's toast. You think, where's that picture? Oh yeah, it's ashes.)

As I was reading washingtonpost.com, I discovered that the fires were around San Diego. I have family in that area-- family that I don't talk to. (Bad grammar, I know-- but my point is that they haven't been in my life-- and some have been offensive when they have been in my life-- so I don't bring them into my life.)

I discovered that the town that all of my family lives in has been evacuated. I've had mixed feelings since. I have fond memories of visiting the family place several times when I was young. I'm sad at the thought that it could all go up in smoke. I feel sadness about the feelings they must be having right now. That's about as far as I can go, though. Does it make me want to reconnect with them? No.

Is this bad? Should I be reaching out to them? (This is rhetorical, of course.) Perhaps I should, but I really don't feel the need. I've been hurt so many times that I don't want to stick myself out there again.

In some ways, there is good that comes out of a fire. You truly get a sense of what is important (those that you love) and what is not important (stuff). People that matter surround you and nurture you. People that are buttheads make inappropriate comments. And you realize your own strength.

I know who I love and who loves me. I feel for those that I'm related to, but that's it. I wish them the best.

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Cubs... of all sizes

Off we went to Shenandoah National Park this past weekend, despite our sick cub in the backseat. Oh, how he scared us with the low-grade fever, vomiting, and diarrhea-- but when the pediatrician says that we can go as long as we bring back a brochure for him, who are we to question?

We hiked down the Cedar Run trail to see the falls at the bottom. Discovered that we heard no water flowing as we were on our way down and that the rock where the falls were supposed to be was bone dry. Doggone drought. On the way back up, I heard a rustle. I looked to my left to see... a bear cub sprawled on the other side of the ravine. That's when I remembered that I had a bag of homemade granola in the baby backpack. And that cubs have mommies.

So I clapped at DH. Who just kept moving. So I said his name. When he turned around, I pointed and he just looked at me. So I said, "Bear!" in my most urgent tone. We both got moving.

A few hours later, we saw a cub posing for tourists just like Yogi did in the cartoons. I think it was the same goofy adolescent bear that I saw earlier-- I'm sure that he was doing his best 'feed me' look.

Oh, and dining choices near Luray were oh so sparse. Very, very disappointing. I always forget that I was spoiled by the quality of the beef in SD growing up. Not to mention that the Confederate-sympathizing vibe in our restaurant choice was very off-putting. But I forget that I'm south of the Mason-Dixon sometimes.

Random thought of the day: Having a husband that insists on being involved with decorating decisions to the point that I get frustrated and worn down is not fun. Who knew that paint colors could be so stress-inducing?

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Wedding planning...

My sister is getting married. Not immediately, but she got engaged over the summer and she's going to get married. (I wonder what catchy blog name I could use for her 'intended.' Maine Native? FBIL for Future Brother-In-Law? FCW for Former Co-Worker? I must think about this on my next commute...)

However, my parents are being buttheads. Yes, that was me, calling out my parents without their knowlege in the blogosphere. (They live in Wyoming, don't have a working computer, let alone internet. But this is awfully cheap therapy, you've got to admit.)

The family found out about my sister's engagement shortly before we arrived in Maine this summer. My dad not-so-jokingly discussed my sister getting married while we were there. Then that passed and I assumed his nudginess had passed.

Oh, no. Turns out they've nudged my sister about every little date twist and turn that has come up. Repeatedly. Unashamedly.

The more I think about this, the more upset I get. My issue is: THEY ARE NOT PAYING FOR THE WEDDING. I think the issue can be boiled down to that. So here's a new rule.

Rule: You are not allowed to b*tch about events of major cost for which you are not financially responsible.

Why can't people just be happy, and communicate that? And be supportive?

I don't get it.

And why can't toddlers go to bed without the frolic-ing in the dark?

Sunday, September 30, 2007

I Need Your Advice

I've gotten about three emails from classmates.com stating that I've gotten three seperate posts to my profile on their website. The deal is that if I wish to see them, I need to pay up. So do I subscribe to their site to see them? Will I see substantive messages or three people that just say hi?

What do you recommend?

How do we celebrate an anniversary? With a sore throat!

My husband and I have now been married for a decade. I don't feel old enough to be married for a decade. It's a bit surreal.

We test-drove a Suburban yesterday. It was a two-year-old truck that was very clean except for the... smoky smell inside. We kept telling ourselves that it wasn't that bad, because the XM radio/DVD player/4X4/leather seats were oh so enticing. When we went to a Mexican restaurant right afterward to talk about it, we realized that we were all congested from the cigarette smoke. So we kept talking about it. And we went to a detailing place to see if they thought that they could get the smoky smell out. The man said, "Maybe." A $30,ooo investment into 'maybe' is a bit much for us. Plus, do we really need a Suburban when we could get a minivan that can also haul stuff and get better gas mileage? I'm thinking that an Odyssey or a Sienna is a better choice for us.

Oh, and I still have a sore throat from the Suburban.

We're off to stay in a cabin next weekend. Hiking fun for the family!

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

OK, so I skipped a month (or nearly two)

Hi. Me again.

Want an update?

West Coast was a blast. I highly recommend Oregon (yes, Oregon) as a vacation spot.

Returned from the West Coast and was back to work 13 hours after stepping off the plane. Helped to train new teachers, became a mentor, and started setting up the classroom.

Which wasn't ready to my standards, but the kids came anyway. And I started teaching anyway. (They've all been learning anyway, too-- so it's all good.)

We had friends over. Which involved a melting, exfoliating grill (don't ask), appletinis, and bocce-ball stealing toddlers.

More teaching.

We replaced the doorknob of the interior door of Mark's bedroom. The punk had learned how to flip the lever-style doorknob and was able to release himself from his room at his own will to come and scream down the stairway at us. The round doorknob is a gift from heaven.

We rented a Tahoe and got 20 miles to the gallon even with the stuff we hauled(when some of the small SUVs we've been eyeing only get 15 MPG or so)-- who knew? What do exurbians with large cargo capacity purchase? A new grill and a lot of bags of mulch, of course.

Went to Artsfest to get my yearly Good Elephant fix. Happy, happy, happy. This pottery really does speak to me.

Baby screaming. Have a good one.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

This and That...

DH has been working 60-80 hour weeks the past few weeks. It's been stressful, with Mark being in his curious state. DH is ours as of Thursday, though!

We're off to the West Coast later this week! We'll be going to the Oregon coast, Redwood National Park, Crater Lake, Portland, Mt. Hood, the Columbia River gorge, and hopefully Mt. Saint Helens. We got a fancy schmancy baby backpack that we'll be schlepping Mark in for our hikes. We're pretty excited.

My garden has been chugging along, despite incredibly dry weather. (Zucchini, anyone?) I've tried to come up with some profound post about eating local and preserving food-- but it's summer and I can't be profound. All I can come up with is the following:

You think about the resources it takes for low-gas mileage vehicles such as Suburbans and low-wattage lightbulbs. Apply the same logic to your food. I was at my warehouse store recently and saw that the humungo-bag of organic broccoli was from-- China. Think about the resources it takes to haul humungo-bags of organic broccoli halfway around the world! The thing is that it isn't just the broccoli-- peaches from Greece, tomatoes from Italy, grapes from Peru. To boot, I'm surrounded by struggling farms that are progressively falling to developers. By buying local and preserving my own produce, I am conserving precious energy resources and supporting my local economy. That's a very good thing.

I recieved a grant this spring, and I finally finished everything. Happy, happy!

Watching Mark dance 18-month-old style is hilarious. Truly funny, but charming at the same time!



Thursday, July 19, 2007

Naughty!

This is my little guy-- who is making me crazy!!! He got into mischief with our laptop (now non-operational). He figured out how to scale his crib and frolic upstairs as he sees fit. He's been tap-dancing on the dining room and coffee tables.

Just when I'm ready to take him in for a trade-in, he flashes a blueberry-stained smile at me.

No fair.

I suppose we'll have to keep him.

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Not cool.

I lost one of the stones from my wedding ring.

I know it shouldn't bother me-- it's just a little stone, jewelery stores can order a replacement, yadda yadda.

But I'm upset.

DH and I have been married for almost ten (!) years now.

We knew that this prong had issues.

Gah!

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Optimism

I've been wanting to spout off about 'Scooter' Libby, but I can't gripe any more about politics.

It's also been tempting to go off about global warming with the record temps in the Southwest (not to mention the mid-90s I experienced in Maine) and the Live Earth concert coming up.

I feel a need to look at the glass as half full. I've got a garden that is cranking out the veggies (despite disappointing seed and hungry wildlife). Despite the temper tantrums and dancing on the coffee table (how I wish I was joking), my little guy is growing bigger and doing exactly what a kid his age is supposed to do. My husband and I have our household under control-- we're not in debt and we're saving for retirement.

Everything is good. Which makes me nervous.

I remember a gorgeous morning when I felt like everything was great in the world. It was an absolutely beautiful day, my DH and I were doing well professionally, our families were doing well. As I locked my apartment door that morning, I thought about how lucky and blessed I was.

That morning was September 11, 2001. Within two hours, I would be in a panic because my husband can and does go to the Pentagon and I wasn't sure if he would have gone there without telling me.

He was fine. But ever since then, I get really nervous when things are too good. I get nervous about being an optimist now.

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Happy July Fourth!

I love living in a country where I can say what I want to say. I love being able to choose my religion, drive where I want to go, choose how many children I want to have, and all of the other rights I have protected under the Bill of Rights.

I also strongly support those that choose to join the Armed Forces. DH currently has two active duty siblings, and one sibling in the guard.

Freedom is not free, and I want to shout out to those that put their a$$es on the line, every day-- especially right now.

God bless the U.S.A., and those who choose to protect this great country.

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Vacation

Well, school is over. I celebrated all of that by: finishing a grad class, volunteering to become a new teacher trainer and work part of my summer break, and completing a grant project at my school.

The first couple of weeks of vacation weren't really vacation.

Then the fun stuff started. DH, Mark, and I took a little jaunt up to Pittsburg to see a ball game. (Vijay Singh sat in front of us as we watched the Pirates beat up on the White Sox during the U.S. Open weekend.)

My parents flew out from WY, and we started their time out here by... immediately driving to the GM U.S. Nationals up in Pennsylvania. I did it for my dad. He's restoring a '66 Chevy Bel Air and was looking for parts. So we went to this gigantic swap meet, and he found a couple of manuals and a die-cast replica. (i.e. It was a bust.) The upside was that we introduced my father to ebay. The only problem is that he refuses to touch computer keys. Thanks to ebay and his computer-literate daughter, he's got three more parts for his restoration. Then we went to Lancaster, PA to go to 'Amish country.' This is funny because my parents have Amish friends in MN-- so I knew that they would understand the absurdity of the area that boasts three outlet malls and the Dutch Wonderland theme park (yes, an Amish theme park).

We then brought my parents down to where we live. My dad completely transformed our garage, which is a very happy thing. DH and my dad insulated our garage and put up organizers to hold all of our garage clutter. (Clutter that we really do NEED, mind you-- we do have two acres of land.) Anyway, I won't trip things as I haul Mark under one arm and groceries in the other hand. They also helped clear some of the forest of weeds that is my garden. (They were rewarded with garden-fresh grilled veggies and zucchini chocolate chip cookies.)

After two short days of home-based fun, it was up to Maine to see my sister and her fiance. We went to L.L. Bean, Camden, and Acadia, which were fun. There was also two days of spa-stuff. (It was HOT in Maine, though! I was really surprised by the temperatures!)

I knew that Mark would have trouble re-adjusting to life without people laughing at his antics, snuggling with his parents every night, and having one nap instead of two, daily.

Anyway, Mark was very vocal as we attempted to put him to sleep tonight. We'll see how the adjustment goes.

Friday, June 01, 2007

You know it's been a long school year...

I've had a tough week. It's now June.

I can count the number of days with kids on one hand.

It's time. Bring on the pool, drinks on ice, and sunscreen.

Thank goodness.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Everything's Growing

Here's the Cheeto-smeared face of my favorite boy in the world. In his hands is a tasty bit from the garden-- Carouby de Maussane, of course!

Seriously, though-- it's a snow pea. And of course there's a story behind it!!

I took the advice of DH's mom and aunt and ordered seed this year rather than buying mine at Target. Now, I'm talking Grandmas with more gardening experience than years I've been alive-- each. However, the company they recommended sent me awful seed. As in half of the seeds germinated and grew (I'm used to about an 80%-success rate). Thank goodness I was still tempted by the Target seed. This was a Sean Conway heirloom snow pea that called my name. I answered.

Carouby de Maussane did not disappoint. These are the lovliest peas I've ever eaten. I started popping these in my mouth as I was picking. Yum, yum, yummy.

I was planning on sharing my garden veggies. Now I'm feeling a bit selfish.

P.S. The boy is getting huge. He talks (saying 'they koo' for thank you), crawls on top of the furniture (even training his peer, the little punk), and runs everywhere he wants to go. It's weird-- I'm either totally enthralled with him or repulsed by his punkiness. Summer's going to be fun, though.

Monday, May 28, 2007

Perspective

An aspect of my undergraduate work in history that I absolutely adored was looking at an event from a variety of perspectives and divining out the truth hidden in the subjectivity.

That said, I must say that I have really enjoyed watching Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima. I remember that my fellow history students and I would always rag on the historical inaccuracy of popular movies. (So much so that I was was a horrible partner to watch a historic movie with. To the point that I once made an absolute a$$ of myself in a movie theater in Pretoria, South Africa watching Mel Gibson's The Patriot. I was every bit the ugly American that evening as I loudly grouched to my husband about historical inaccuracy every five minutes.) These two movies show how horrible war is-- from every perspective. Dead sons are dead sons. No child should die in a war, and no mother should be crying over a flag-draped coffin.

God bless all of the soldiers stationed in harm's way. And may God bless DH's brother, who is off to Iraq in July.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Mixed Feelings...

I had a strange experience last week and I'm finally ready to blog about it. I live about 12 miles from where I work. My school is in a cute, nice neighborhood surrounded by a farmer's market, a Panera, a nice gourmet food and liquor store, and other niceties. I live south of this area and daily I drive through an area that is struggling economically. I realize that this area has seen gentrification, so I've always made a point to patronize these businesses despite the drug and crime reputation it has.

Last week, I stopped and decided to get a pizza for dinner. I parked in a drug store parking lot, got out the baby, walked to the pizza place, and ordered my pizza. Mark and I then walked over to the drug store and shopped while the pizza was being made. I finished shopping, put the bags in my trunk, and walked back to get my pizza. I waited for a bit once I got inside and made small talk with the lady in line in front of me. She and I chatted about kids, and all of a sudden one of the employees came around the counter to hand me the pizza. Meanwhile, she walked out. As I left, pizza in one hand, baby and purse in the other, I saw the lady talking with a man underneath the sign for the pizza place.

I walked back to my car, put the pizza and my purse in the front seat, closed the door, and began putting Mark in his carseat. You know when you can tell you're being watched and/or someone is approaching you from behind? I got a strong sense of that as I finished buckling Mark in, so I quickly finished and shut the door. As I stood up, the lady I had spoken to previously was right there and the man she'd been talking to was watching her and I from across the parking lot. Freaked me out. She told me that she was homeless and that the pizza place gives out messed-up pizzas to the homeless but that they didn't have any at this time. She didn't have anything to eat. At this point, I begin offering the pizza. She went on with her plea and I continued offering (probably sounding like an idiot-- It's a large! It's got everything on it!).

She finally took the pizza and she hugged me. I hustled my behind out of there.

On my way home, I was still freaked out. I was angry that I'd lost my dinner (I stopped and got a pizza for a reason). I felt violated and threatened. Yes, I offered up the pizza. But when a lady with broken front teeth comes up from behind me while I'm securing my 16-month old and she has a male acquaintance watching nearby, I'm feeling vulnerable.

I'm now ticked. I feel like I got hustled. I'm not going back into that area, especially because this all happened in broad daylight, at about 5:00 P.M. I don't feel safe there.

The scary thing is that it could have been much, much worse.

What do you think?

Monday, April 30, 2007

Wow... It's May!

The May/June schedule came out today. It's exciting, yet scary to think that another school year is coming to a close. In some ways, thank goodness. (That is in the 'I'm ready to be done with keeping track of 28 kids all the time') Otherwise, I think, already? (Most are fun, including my four-!- ADHD students.)

I've already started on some of my summer projects. The office is being painted a milk chocolate brown. DH isn't fond of it, but I'm working on him. I think I can get him to come around. We're also working on replacing the temporary paper blinds in our windows with actual blinds. (It feels a little surreal when you've had leather furniture for a while, but not real window treatments.) Little by little, bit by bit.

Saturday, April 28, 2007

OK, I'm officially old...

My DH and I have been discussing the new vehicle purchase for a while now. As I said in my last post, we've been discussing the MDX, Pilot, and Suburban. Phil test-drove the Pilot and Ridgeline, and his general impression was, "Meh."

We talked about buying my parent's Suburban and driving it out here. Then they traded it off for a Yukon Denali on Wednesday night. (Yes, my parents are blingin' in a Denali. It's a strange world, folks.)

So, DH and I went and made a major purchase today. So what was it?

A John Deere.

Yes, people, I own a John Deere. And it's actually pretty cool. We had looked online at 'our lawn and gardening needs,' and my assessment was that we needed more than the basic riding lawnmower. We have two acres, part of our property lies on a slope, and I want to be able to haul bags of mulch, topsoil, and compost around. DH wants to be able to till, aerate, dethatch, and push snow with it. So we went with an upgraded X540 from 2006. We would have paid roughly $2400 more by going with the '07 model. (And it's a tractor, not a car!) I was relieved that we finally had a riding mower, so DH would quit whining about the push mower.

Then I rode it. Wow. Powerful and quick. It used to take us about 3+ hours to mow our lawn. Now it will take an hour. My husband's honey-do list is going to get longer!

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Oh, me of little sleep

I'm a tired pup lately.

Mark, my dear overly mobile boy, has been cutting his canines. Just when I thought that our human alarm clock days were over.

I also am taking a grad class at school for recertification credits... as well as finishing a distance learning grad class for recertification credits. I'll be happy when they are over and I will be happy when I am bumped to a new pay lane (yes, based on the number of recertification credits I have).

DH and I have been occupying our free time (late night, of course) researching new vehicles. We saw an Acura MDX we fell in love with. Love the leather, DVD, etc. Don't love the lack of room for the luxury price. Looked at a Pilot and decided that we'll just bite the bullet and get the MDX which is a nicer package if it comes down to that. Drove my parents' Suburban and loved it. Drove a Pacifica (with transmission issues, I swear-- the engine shouldn't rev and pull back when you're at highway speed) and we were disappointed with the space. (Which is exactly why we want an upgrade from our two-Accord present situation.)

Then we rode in our friends'... minivan. And I really liked it. 'Cause I'm a mom. I didn't want to like it, and I really liked it. It has space, you can get leather and DVD, it has better gas mileage than the Suburban and the MDX, and you can even get ski attachments for the top.

God, I'm getting old. I'm going to go to sleep.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Catching up on a good thing...

I tend to join a bandwagon after it's begun.

Case in point: Harry Potter. The second book was out before I caught on. And I'm a teacher. (Yes, that is the ASL letter L I am holding up to my forehead.)

I also caught on to the Sopranos late. When the DH and I were first married and po' as po' can be, we went to the public library and checked out Sopranos videos for free. (What can I say? I was po' and white.)

Well, my most recent late jump on a bandwagon has been Weeds. It's been quite fun in a guilty sort of way. If you knew me in real life, you'd know that I am the sort of person that would NEVER do drugs. Ever, ever, ever.

In fact, the summer before I became a Momma, my girl friends and I went on our first annual girl trip. They decided to torture me and made believe that a bag of oregano was marijuana. Of course I did the total white girl scream. I'm such a sucker sometimes.

The show is fun as it shows the facade of suburbia. The only thing that isn't realistic is that people in this show actually know their neighbors.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Tired of the tears

I'm sad, but also angry about the shooting at Virginia Tech today.

I immediately called my elementary school to see if my paraprofessional's son was involved (he's a VA Tech senior, as is his girlfriend). He was okay, and I haven't heard about his girlfriend. I hope she's okay-- I know her because she's subbed for me several times.

I also talked to my friend, who told me that one of my former co-workers had to rush to get her son because he witnessed a firearm at his high school.

It continues to make me furious, especially as I look at my precious little munchkin, that this is still happening. I'm pissed that I have to do lock-down drills and have eight-year-olds look at me and say, "Mrs. AAK, are we doing this so we won't be shot?" How do you answer that question? My answer is always, "We do this to make sure we're safe just in case something dangerous happens."

Are gun laws the answer? Background checks? I'm not sure.

Having just watched 'This Film is Not Yet Rated' this weekend, I do think that we need to stop enabling bloodless violence to be in PG movies.

I grew up in a house with guns. They were unlocked, but I knew full well to keep my hands off. I knew what the consequences of a gunshot were. And I want my son to know the same.

To all those that died today, may your souls rest in peace in the heaven that you're now in. To the families of those who died-- you are all in my prayers. I grieve with you.

To all those that were wounded, I pray for a speedy recovery. I pray for healing from the madness that you experienced.

I'm tired of crying for murdered students. How do we solve this?

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Spring (?) Break

My DH had oodles of frequent flyer miles that were supposed to expire on the last day of 2006. He forgot until during the first few days of January, and figured that he'd give it a shot and see if he could still book something. He decided to shoot for Spring Break. What was the destination? Florida? California?

No way. We were off to the sunny climes of... Minnesota?

Well, there was a reason. We both have family there. The golden boy needed to see both sets of grandparents. There were aunts, uncles, and cousins to see. And then there was my personal favorite, the Twins game. (Mmmm... Joe Mauer, yummy...)

However, Minnesota was not the warmest destination. It made me long for next year's destination: Orlando! I'm pretty excited-- I'll be going down with my folks, my sister and her boyfriend, and my DH/the boy.

I really am excited. I need to thaw out from my vacation.

Saturday, March 24, 2007

An update...

Testing is over, thank goodness. Now I get to teach.

It's Spring, the pollen is flyin', and I'm sneezin'. My head has been fighting its yearly sinus battle.

We went and had pictures taken today. Mark was his normal, charming self. However, sit still? Pose? Ha! He saw toys, and toys must be strewn about. So, my son went and ran the hallway. Luckily, our photographer was good at the candids. We got some good shots.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

The Babe

My munchkin worries me a bit. He's been on the wee side since he was born, which was a shock to my husband and me. We were both mid-8 lb. babies, and we expected Mark to be the same.

Nope. He was 6 pounds, 8 ounces.

And he continues to be small. Which we find weird. He's healthy, chipper, and can figure stuff out like it's no one's business (this 13-month-old called three numbers from my contacts list on my cell phone tonight). But he's below the fifth percentile for head circumference and weight and at the twenty-fifth percentile for length.

I'm not sure whether I should be worried or not. His ped. said at the 12-month appointment that since he was at the 15-month developmental stage, that there was no reason to be worried.

But I am worried.

He eats like a horse. Will he grow already?

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Watershed

It is a time of transition here at AAK.

The munchkin has begun to run-- walking is SO passe when you can walk and momentum is on your side.

March 17th is approaching, which puts an end to the Ze Frank year of internship. Thank goodness my League of Awesomeness sweatshirt arrived.

I'm adjusting to the state of chaos that is my life. I think that I'm somehow adjusting to this new state of juggling waaaay too much. At least when the human tornado is asleep, anyway.

The saddest transition is IntSpEd and Xian. Good friend gets a job on the League of Awesomeness level, gets engaged to a great girl (I've known that for years), and prepares to move to the West Coast. And the finality of it all doesn't hit me until I see them looking so permanent-couple-like as my kid is screaming from the Thai spice on his veggies and rice. (What can I say? I'm juggling, folks.)

I decided that I can't be sad about this. Yet. I'll be sad when they're both gone. Or when he's gone. Or when I have to go and hit up the Southwest website to see them.

I realize that transitions just are. Lives grow, develop, change. It's hard when you see a glimpse of the future in your friends' smiles and you wish you'd be able to more closely share that future with them.

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Oscars

I really enjoy watching the Oscars every year. It's so much fun to hang out in my jammies with a glass of wine and get snarky!!!

So here goes!

Gorgeous:
Kate Winslet-- Understated and glam!
Abigail Breslin-- Looking like a pretty girl, not a 10-year-old trampin' up!
Celine Dion-- Odd color, but nice!
Helen Mirren-- Age-appropriate and beautiful!
Nicole Kidman-- Initially I didn't like the neck bow, but a gorgeous silouette (sp.?)!
Jada Pinkett Smith-- You work it, girl!
Naomi Watts-- Beautiful!
Gwenyth Paltrow-- Old school, and it worked!

Not so much:
J Lo-- What were you thinking?
Beyonce Knowles-- That bling thing across your chest was waaaay too much!
Kristen Dunst-- Oh my goodness, nothing matched-- awful!
Penelope Cruz-- Were you trying to put off a Bjork vibe?
Anne Hathaway-- Ummm... you were in a movie about- fashion?
Meryl Streep-- I realize that you are the queen of cinema, but please put in a bit of effort!

I like Ellen Degeneres-- it's her first time and I think she's working out the kinks. A bit safe, but that's okay.

Curious to see what happens as the night goes on!

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Easterners

There are times when, as a native of South Dakota, that I slap my forehead regarding East Coast logic.

This morning is one of those times. As my Caribou coffee brewed, I brought up the Washington Post online. The metro feature article is about prairie dogs.

A person from the East Coast sees prairie dogs and thinks, "Oh, how cute! They're so adorable! Look! They're kissing!" as they stop and block traffic in the state and national parks out west. Westerners see prairie dogs and think, "Rodent!"

Folks, prairie dogs ARE rodents! If cattle ranchers own their land, they should be able to do whatever the h-e-double toothpicks they want to do to the rodents on their land. Prairie dog towns are holes in the ground. Cattle can step into the holes and break their legs. Would a contractor be pissed if one of his power tools was destroyed? Would a programmer be ticked if his laptop was banged up?

Cattle are the capital of ranchers, who are business owners. They are sold so you can rush through traffic to Ruby Tuesday, Applebee's, Outback, etc. for your burger or steak.

This all reminds me of the mountain lion saga. To folks out here, they are beautiful, majestic creatures that should never be hunted. However, in the Black Hills of South Dakota, they are (rightfully so, in my opinion). Why am I pro-mountain lion (aka cougar) hunting?

A couple of years back, mountain lions started coming into towns in the hills (towns in existence for the last 125+ years, people, not new commuter-villes like we have out here). The mountain lions began picking off dogs and cats in people's back yards. How would you like your Fido or Fluffy to be mountain lion food? The worst case I heard was a mountain lion that went through a closed patio door to a basement in Spearfish, S.D. to eat cats INSIDE a home.

Puts a whole new perspective on things, huh?

Moral of the story: Empathy, folks, empathy. There are reasons that people living in an area do the things they do. Communicate, figure out why people are taking the actions they are, and think about what they are going through.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Long Time, No Posts

Hi there.

I'm amazed at how long it's been since I posted. I've been running in twenty different directions, and I've neglected my blog. Obviously.

So here I am.

Mark's birthday went well. Large turnout on the day. He fell asleep as DH and I were setting up and we had to wake him up to take bites of cake. He could barely keep his eyes open. Then he promptly went down for a two hour nap. So it was a good day.

Report card time came and went. It's always a gigantic flurry of correcting papers and updating everything. My desk is constantly covered with skyscrapers of papers. However, I'm okay with that because it's everything that I need to place in the correct places. It's when I shove those skyscrapers in the closets that I really run into trouble.

DH's mom and aunt came out for a visit. DH's mom and I have difficulty talking because, as I always say, she only understands the county in Minnesota in which she lives. If she can't relate what you're talking about to something in that sparsely populated county, then it isn't real to her. So having a conversation with her is very difficult for me, and I know that I quickly shift into snark mode. I was enduring it, when I found out that they were staying an extra day. I made it, though.

We've had weather stuff going on, too. Yesterday and today, it was... ice. I have to tell you that I'll take a four foot snowstorm (I'm not joking-- I grew up in a town with two different ski areas) before I'll take ice. Uff da.

So, life goes on out here on the East Coast.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

And another reason the President is wrong...

is because No Child Left Behind sucks.

A strong opinion, I realize, but I really believe it to be true. I don't think that NCLB is a good use of resources when stronger education states already had state testing programs in place. It creates competition between elementary schools over test scores.

It also propogates shady activities that I won't get into.

It really pisses me off that Bush passes it off as 'what saved education.' That statement is a load of crap.

I became a teacher to educate children to the best of my ability, not to compete over test scores.

As you can tell, it wasn't a fun day today.

Monday, January 22, 2007

As the first birthday approaches...

I thought it would be a good idea to throw Mark a first birthday party. I should really call it the snowball party. What was originally going to be a few people has snowballed into 35 to 45 people.

What's my secret? That while I am kinda whining about the preparations, I'm really excited. I'm excited to see everyone, I'm excited to see how happy Mark is, I'm excited to see how he reacts to birthday cake.

I really can't wait. The party is T minus 6 days and counting.

P.S. I have to shout out to B. You've helped me so much in putting this together with Phil gone, and I want to let you know that I'm grateful to have you as a friend.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

You Can't Ever Go Back Home...

I realize that time marches on and communities change-- for God's sake, I have a B.A. in History. My bachelor's thesis is all about how Deadwood, S.D. changed from settlement through the first 30-ish years.

But I should start by saying that I have hometowns-- Lead and Deadwood, S.D. are so intertwined that I consider them both my hometowns. I was born in Deadwood, I grew up in Lead. We banked in Lead, we'd pay the electric bill in Deadwood. Grocery shopping was in Lead, the J.C. Penney was in Deadwood. And so on.

My dad worked at the gold mine in Lead. The 'high point' of the mine was in the '70s and '80s (go back to your Econ courses-- when the economy is good, commodities such as gold do badly-- but when the economy is bad, commodities do well). By the '90s, things weren't going so well. Deadwood was really struggling. The downtown was deteriorating and there were buildings that were vacant.

Then 'You Bet!' came in and proposed bringing legalized gambling to Deadwood. It passed and Deadwood became a boomtown again. Some tourists came back and were pissed that tacky, crumbling Deadwood was gone. Other folks came for the whole Dances with Wolves/Kevin Costner connection. But there were lots of tourists.

When I was in college, Deadwood was thriving. The buildings were being refurbished and it was fun again. I worked at the Bullock Hotel in the summers. When my husband and I were engaged, we stayed at the Branch House, and we rented out the entire Bullock Hotel for our wedding guests.

So when my mom offered to take care of Mark overnight so DH and I could get away, we decided to go to Deadwood and stay at the Branch House. We drove up in the middle of the week and planned to go skiing. Due to global warming, IMO, there was no skiing. So we decided to drive up through Spearfish Canyon and hang out in Deadwood.

Ick.

I walked past about three 70-year-olds (that I swear I recognized from my time working in Deadwood during college) sticking quarters into slot machines as I went to check in. (i.e., it was REALLLLY slow.) We settled into our room and went out to dinner.

Deadwood is a carnivore's or a buffet-lover's delight-- but we didn't want anything heavy and decided to go to an old favorite, Chinatown. We asked for a table (and I failed to notice that she didn't ask us about smoking or nonsmoking) and we were seated next to a table of roughly seven people that were ALL smoking. Empty restaurant, we're seated next to the only other table there, and they are chain smoking. So we stood up, walked to the hostess, explained the situation, and requested another table. She looked absolutely shocked at our chutzpah (I forget how 'assertive' I've become in relation to how I was in high school) but reseated us. The food was okay, but it was pretty dead.

After dinner, we walked up and down Main Street. I was showing DH where different things from the Deadwood series were located in real life (i.e. the original Saloon #10 location, the 'Badlands' district, the Gem theatre). We then realized that as we walked up and down the three blocks, it was us and the old people. And one family of five. I bet we passed eight people on Main Street. Total. The casinos held chain smoking 60 and 70-year-olds.

Depressed and disappointed, we went for a drive up to Lead. It was even more buttoned-up. I thought we might get a beer at the Stamp Mill or something, but it was closed as was everything else on Main Street. (I exaggerate-- I thing Subway and the gas station formerly a Common Cents were open.) So we went to the 'Mall.'

The Lead 'Mall' consists of a grocery store, an Alco, and a bowling alley. After taking a even more depressing turn through Alco (I stood in the beauty aisle and realized that it was where I spent my adolescence dreaming being pretty and how things would be better in the future-- everything is uphill after being in the Alco beauty aisle), we went to the bowling alley.

When we walked in, I recognized roughly half of the people there. Couldn't name all of them, but I recognized them. Phil and I bowled three frames and I came to some major life realizations.

1) My life turned out okay. I'd recently been thinking that maybe it wouldn't have been so bad to not go to college so far away and settled in my hometown, married a nice local boy (there was one who would have been willing, I'm sure, from the look on his face when I introduced to my now-DH as my fiance), and had a family there. I wouldn't have been happy. I would have been scrounging by, not being able to afford necessities, and trying to scrape ahead since I didn't have the correct last name.

2) Lead and Deadwood have so much untapped potential. But they aren't cute like the towns in Colorado and they are gearing themselves toward people who like to drink and smoke and gamble. There is so much more to these towns then that.

So we finished our bowling, I paid and chatted with the cashier about Lead, and back to the Branch House we went. The highlight of the evening was watching The Family Stone on HBO. And The Family Stone is a train wreck of a movie, if that puts things into perspective.

The next morning, we ended up driving down Hwy. 385 in the Black Hills from Pluma (if you haven't driven through the Hills, you must put it on your before-you-die list, because it is awesome) down past Pactola Resevoir. Pactola is the water supply for Rapid City and it is so incredibly low that Rapid should be incredibly worried. Scary.

We then went down to Hill City. We came upon the PrairieBerry Winery and spent an enjoyable hour or so tasting and shopping. (We had fun-- the wine isn't that great, but what the heck, the tasting was free.) As we drove through Hill City, which is thriving-- fun shops downtown, lots of people out shopping-- I thought to myself that Deadwood/Lead is way off track. Hill City is much more fun than Lead/Deadwood, skanky wine and all.

So, my walk-away was that my hometown(s) is/are in trouble. I don't think that they are attracting the kind of tourists that will return again and again (70-year-olds eventually pass away) and they aren't family-friendly. Due to climate change, they don't have the snow that they used to have. And Lead is banking on a Neutrino lab that may or may not come, depending on Federal funding (and the U.S. has a big war to pay for).

I hope that the towns can ressurect themselves. But something's gotta change.

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Unfinished Things

I don't accomplish all that I set out to do. Just ask my DH. I have drawers full of unfinished assorted crafty-ness upstairs. (I am not allowing myself to buy new stuff until I finish some of the freakin' stuff taking up space. Unless I need something to finish it. Or if I need more to complete a set. But pretty much, I've cut myself off.)

It makes me crazy sometimes. I have stacks of stuff, cluttering counters. My poor DH will go through stuff (invariably when I'm busy cooking, or feeding Mark, or blogging) and ask what I want done with this or that bit of clutter. I freak out, telling him not to touch that, I need to go through that, I'll take care of it when I'm done cooking/feeding Mark/blogging. Do I? Not usually.

Which makes it weird that I've recently accomplished a lot. For example, our kitchen/dining room has been 75% painted for months. Going around the cabinets is tough, but not so tough that I should have waited this long. So this morning when Mark went down for a nap, I pulled out the paint and went at it. It's done now.

I feel like I'm actually accomplishing stuff. I finished one craft project (well the major portion of it, it isn't completely finished) and I'm close to finishing another.

I still have my piles of stuff. But it feels good to complete some things.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Laughter and a Sweet Tea Shower

I miss my friends. As in really miss my friends. I met them through my workplace and they are awesome people to work with, but nothing beats when we just hang out together.

We always seem to kick up the excitement a notch when we're together. If you see three women sitting together, howling with laughter (the beer-squirts-out-your-nose kind of laughter) then that is probably us.

We've had some interesting experiences-- almost melting into a puddle in a pretzel factory in July, having to restrain one of us from sticking their head in a chocolate fountain (not me! It was L.!), dining at La Fleur (to be pronounced with an extremely exaggerated French accent), trying to convince one of us that a bag of oregano was really Mary Jane, and too many other things to list.

Tonight it was the three of us and the baby. We went to a fun little Mexican restaurant to exchange Christmas gifts. We ate (yum), we opened (I almost cried at the thoughtfulness), and we laughed.

Then my son was passed to Nanny. He decided it would be fun to grab the straw in my freshly filled extra large sweet tea. Nanny got a shower of sweet tea. It was incredibly funny (in retrospect-- I'm still trying to get over my embarrassment regarding normal baby things that really are funny but socially unacceptable).

I had a great time. But I miss them already. I wish we had nights like this more often.

Monday, January 01, 2007

Denver, Denver, Denver

When we flew to my parents, we went through Denver. We were incredibly nervous about getting stuck.

We got to the airport out here, and we checked in online beforehad to make sure we'd have boarding passes. We checked three pieces of luggage-- duffels for DH and me and Mark's carseat. They were looking for volunteers for bumps when we waited in the gate area (two roundtrips and the best seats available on the next flight-- my mom would have killed me, though). We got into Denver and holy buckets-- the moving walkways had people leaning against them the entire length of the terminal.

We got to our gate in Denver and saw that the 6:30 flight to Rapid was just leaving at 8:45. This made me worried because our flight was scheduled to leave at 9:00. Mark was fussy (not feeling well) and I didn't want to sit for over two hours with a baby up way past his bedtime. Our flight was not listed. All of a sudden, our flight was being called. We hustled to our plane and were surprised at the open seats. We sat (!) for what seemed like an hour and then took off.

We got into Rapid at roughly 11:20 pm. We got our duffels and... no carseat! After waiting in line for a half hour, we discovered that the carseat was safely in... Denver. I asked the rep what I was going to do and he first said that they had loaner carseats. But ooops! They were all gone. And gee, he had no idea what I should do. I then called the hospital for a loaner. No loaner. I called the police for a loaner. They called the airport fire department to see if they had a loaner (uh, okay...). No loaner. The police could take Mark to our hotel, but we'd probably have to wait for 60-90 minutes. So the police told me to go to the 24-hour Wal-Mart. (Happy Holidays from Rapid City.)

We finally got to the hotel at about 1:30 and the hotel desk clerk had saved up all of her venom just for us-- she leered at us as we walked in and we stated that we had already checked in. She made a snotty comment back about how she knew everyone was already checked in and I responded that we'd just arrived from Denver (i.e. back off, wench).

We got to the room and discovered that the double queen room we reserved was, a single king room with a hide-a-bed. So off DH marched to deal with venomous wenchy desk clerk (who chose to argue with him-- her mistake!) and we soon had our double queen room. Bedtime was at 2:30 am. (Local time, 4:30 am here.)

Fortunately, the trip got much better from there. We enjoyed our time in Wyoming and South Dakota, for the most part (more on my experiences in my dying hometown in a future post). Mark was appropriately spoiled by grandma. We were appropriately spoiled with free babysitting.

Fun trip. Except for Carolyn, the wickedest desk clerk in the West.

Happy New Year

Hello again, and Happy New Year!!!

We're back from our holiday travels. We had a good time, and I will blog about it in future posts.

It is New Year's Day, and it is time for resolutions.

1) I am going to forgive myself for grieving my pre-baby life. It's okay to miss the freedom that I had before. I'm going to cut myself slack for being angry and sad that being a parent entails more responsibility than I had anticipated.

2) I am going to allow myself to feel beautiful. The aforementioned responsibilities will always be there. I feel more confident and happy when I am taking care of myself. I plan to stop going to work with dripping hair and no makeup.

3) I am going to work on making the house into the place we want to live. I learned a big lesson when my parents sold my childhood home. As my folks prepared their house for sale, they made it look great. They were sad that they had never enjoyed the improvements that they made. I plan on working with my DH to make this place into the oasis we want it to be.

4) I plan to carve out time for my friends. While my friends have been understanding of my mommy-transition, I want to spend time more time with them this year.

5) I plan to tackle the clutter that takes over my home and my classroom. I need to plan for clutter control and take charge of my piles of stuff.

6) I want to blog more. I think about blogging more than I actually do. I'm going to hit the keyboard this year!

Well, I think I've laid out enough resolutions to tackle this year. Happy New Year, and I wish the best to you in 2007!