Thing One & Thing Two

Thing One: I asked my friend T. to come to my desk the other day so I could share some of my new pictures with her. She came by when I had ducked out for a restroom break and left me the following note.

So...I was here, but you weren't so I left - what else could I do? Well...I guess I could have stayed and waited, but that would be boring even though I do have coffee and could amuse myself by rifling through your personal belongings. Besides, there's a ladder nearby that I have to walk under a few dozen times... ~T.

I actually came back before she finished writing, but found this note highly amusing anyway, so I thought I'd share it. And yes, there was a ladder nearby; the electricians were putting in a new electrical drop over by my desk to accommodate a new, multi-function copier (yay!). Thing Two: I watched the 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet last night on TCM. I've seen this movie before, but it's been many, many years, and I'd forgotten what a fantastic movie it is. Sad, yes, but then everyone knows the story of The Star-Crossed Lovers so when they meet their young end, it's not surprising. I think I'm going to have to buy this movie to add to my collection. (...Hmmm... I wonder if it's on DVD somewhere?) Kiddo actually watched about 80% of the movie with me, asking me good, insightful (for a four-year-old) questions throughout, and seemed very upset when I told him it was bedtime. (Bedtime came before said Star-Crossed Lovers died.) Of course, I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that he had to go to bed... I say, start 'em early on the classics. Betcha you were expecting The Cat in the Hat, weren't you? TTFN JMS

Cuadros del festival

Oh, when will it ever end?

Golly. I feel like all I ever do anymore is complain. Do I not have anything positive to say? Do I not have anything good to relay?

When I was waiting in car with the kids in the parking lot in front of Downtown Hardware this past weekend, Kiddo kept talking about all his boo boos and other "not good" things. The subject matter ranged from a bleeding finger, to when he fell at Gammy's house and bumped himself all up, to the tree that got hit by lightning down the street from our house and toppled over, catching on the wires and sending sparks flying everywhere. (Our friends J&G were driving by at the exact time that this all happened and if the tree had not gotten hung up by the wires, it would have fallen directly on their van!)

I finally said to him, "Kiddo, I don't want to hear any more bad stuff. Tell me something that is good. Tell me about something that you've done lately that was fun."

"Well..." says he, "My cars are fun."

"Yes, your cars are fun. What else?" I replied.

"Um...eating is good. And storms. Storms are when the warm air and the cold air meet and go BAM! and then you have lightning and thunder! Lightning hit that tree..."

I interrupt him to say, "Yes, eating is good. Let's not talk about storms. I don't think they fall into the 'good' category, OK?"

"OK," he says.

"What else, bud? What did you do this weekend that was fun, do you remember?"

After some prompting, he said, "OH! The Secret Festable! That was lots of fun, Mom!"

So we started talking about all the fun things he got to do and see at the "festable."

If I can force him to talk about good and positive and fun things, shouldn't I be forced to do the same? Someone force me, please?

****************************

"Cuadros del festival"

It means "Pictures from the Festival" in Spanish.

I just thought it sounded cooler (more worldly) than "Pictures from the Festival."

Ah...what do I know?

TTFN
JMS










Little Bit dancing to a band covering Beatles songs. Havin' a great time!










Kiddo coming off of the "Pirate Ship" inflatable fun thing that was actually called "Treasure Island." This was a big hit and we revisited it a lot.










Kiddo taking his turn (he did not do so well understanding the "take turns" concept) on the kiddie T-Ball inflatable. He actually hit all the balls! If you look carefully, you can see one inside the thing just before it bounces! We were very proud of him.










Little Bit enjoying her first experience in a sand-box. This one was approximately 15' x 15' and filled with nice sand. It has all kinds of neat toys and treasure buried in the sand so the kids had a great time digging up stuff. (Ok...I'm not 100% positive this was Little Bit's first sand box experience, but it's pretty darn close.)










Kiddo showing off one of the fake gold coins he unearthed from the enormous sand box. (And friend GW's head in the background.)

Nope. I'm not dead.

My 10 days of no posting has been due to a mixture of extreme busyness (is that a word?) and a complete lack of interest. Well, I guess "lack of interest" isn't really the correct term, but it will do. It's not like there hasn't been anything going on but I'm honestly just now finding time to be able to write for a few minutes. My new boss started last Tuesday (6/17) and work-wise, it was a week of setting up meetings, helping with the unpacking process, and getting him acquainted to his new folks and new surroundings. Then on Friday, even though I had plenty to keep me busy, I decided I couldn't stand the overhead cabinets in my desk being in the state they were in, so I just had to organize them. It could not wait. I'm planning two events, working on three newsletters (well, only one now because I finished two of them), getting New Boss settled and generally getting a feel for how my new life is going to be. On Friday, Hubby took both kids to the Festival our town puts on every year and had quite a lot of fun. Since I didn't get to go on Friday, my friend, the Microbiologist (oooh, she's gonna hate me) I took the kids to the Festival on Saturday. We spent 90% of our time in the children's area on the bouncy things and digging for fake gold and silver coins, plastic bugs and other such novelties in the enormous, made-just-for-the-festival-and-then-taken-down-because-they-don't-need-it sandbox. The kids were sweaty and tired and in desperate need of a bath that night. As it was, the sun got to all of us, I think, and after lunch with History Buff and his son we all went home for a nap. Oh - and then we lost power last night for a couple hours and during that time, hubby managed to move the television over to its new home across the room and remove the oversized medicine cabinet monstrosity from the bathroom so we can find and install a new one that sits flush with and inside the wall. In a couple hours of work, he created about 6 hours of more work - but in the end it's going to be worth it. With the huge medicine cabinet gone, the bathroom already feels SO much bigger! Well, I've rambled about nothing now for...um...how long? I'm going to sign off. Everyone's well. TTFN JMS

Wants and Wishes

I think I need to rename my blog The I Hate Laundry Blog. Or, what about The I Hate Housework of Any Kind Blog? Or maybe, The I NEED a Housekeeper That Isn't Me Blog. Oh gosh - if I get on the subject of things I need, I might as well mention that I need a new stove, too. And maybe a new washer and dryer? The stove temperature, and more specifically the oven temperature, doesn't match the setting on the knobs. Set it for 300° and it heats to 375°. Set it for 375° and you get 500°. There is no real rhyme or reason to it. My favorite Pampered Chef Large Bar Pan busted into three enormous pieces a couple nights ago because the oven got too hot. So I need a new Bar Pan, too. As for the washer and dryer - they both work just fine, but while I'm on the subject of wanting things I may as well put them on the list, too. I want that new, high-tech, front-loading washer & dryer - in either blue, brown or red. I mean, if I'm wishing for stuff, why not go for gold, right? And a new car. When I was younger, I had a dream about finding something I called a Wish Box. It was a little black thing that looked kind of like a CB Radio handset. There was a microphone/speaker thing on the front face, a black button on one side, and red and green buttons on the other. You would hold down the black button, speak your wish into the microphone, push the green button and "BAM!" your wish would come true. Any wish. If you needed to undo a wish, you followed the same process, but you pushed the red button instead of the green button. (I was young - I admit to no greed nor to any wrong doing in my Dream World.) I had this dream multiple times, and it was always very specific and very detailed. It would have had to be if I can remember it so clearly even now. Always, I remember waking up after the dream and thinking, "Oh, if that could only be true!" I guess there would have to be rules, though. If you've seen Disney's Aladdin and are familiar with the Genie's rules (QUOTE: "Ah, rule number one: I can't kill anybody. So don't ask. Rule two: I can't make anyone fall in love with anyone else. Rule three: I can't bring people back from the dead. It's not a pretty picture. I don't like doing it. Other than that, you got it.") it could be something like that. TTFN JMS

Former Owner of 287

We got a letter from the little old lady who used to own the house we live in. She was wondering if we had any of her mail and if so, could we please put it in the enclosed SASE and send it to her? OK, we have a few random pieces of mail addressed to her, but it's all junk mail. I'm happy to send it to her, but it will take more than her single, standard-size, #10 envelope. And, according to her letter, she orders US Mint things for her grand kids and she's concerned because she hasn't received them and US Mint claims they sent them to our house. We do not have the US Mint letters she's specifically looking for. So how do I tell her this? Do I send her the junk mail that we have (like 4 pieces) along with a letter telling her that we have nothing of interest? Do I try to contact her son, who happens to work with a good friend of ours, to ask him to come get the stuff and then let him send it on to her? Do I tell him that we don't have anything from the US Mint? I want to write to her (I have wanted to write to her for a long time, but never had her new address until now) but not to discuss mail delivery issues. I want to tell her that we're happy in her home, that we're taking good care of it, and the the kids really love their bedrooms. I want to tell her how much it means to me that we were able to buy her house because we knew from the second we first set foot inside the house that it was the one for us. Hubby and I looked at hundreds of houses over the years and could never agree on one; this one was instant attraction and we both knew it. Anyway - maybe I will contact her son for the mail issue, but write to her about the other stuff? I don't really know why this is a such big deal to me, but it is. This lovely woman lived in our house for 50 years, raised four kids in that house, nursed an invalid husband in the house, learned to live her life again in that house after her husband died, mowed her own lawn, tended to her plants and made memories there. How can I discount all of that? I want to live a life in that house and be even half as successful as she was...that would be a huge accomplishment. I wonder if I should ask her if she ever had a cat? (Another story for another time.) TTFN JMS

Kiddo Kerfuffle

I wonder why sometimes I have such a short temper. I got so infuriated at Kiddo last night because we've been asking him to pick up the toys in his room for weeks now and it still isn't done. I walked into his room with him after his bath and promptly tripped over a large, yellow, noise-making bulldozer. Aside from the fact that it hurt like the dickens, it really made me angry. In an instant. I yelled at Kiddo that if his toys were not picked up by the time I got home from work today that I was coming in there with a garbage bag and throwing them all away - then I kicked said large, yellow, noise-making bulldozer and sent it skidding across the carpet. One minute I was OK, and the next minute I was seething with anger. *SNAP!* What happened? Not only that, but I think I scared him - which is something I never want to do - because he immediately began crying. I must be the worst mother in history. I quickly tried to walk away so I could cool down for a few minutes, and Kiddo remained in his room crying. The entire kerfuffle only served to make me angry, make Kiddo sad and scared, and it woke up the baby. I told Kiddo to stay in his room and start picking up his toys while I went in to soothe Little Bit. Ten minutes later, Little Bit was sound asleep again and I went in to check on Kiddo's progress and wouldn't you know...he was curled up under his soft, blue, sports-ball blanket sound asleep! It was 7:30. I wonder if he had a nap yesterday? Kiddo had bad dreams and was up and down for the majority of the night. I feel awful. I talked to him on the phone just a few minutes ago, and he said, "Mommy - after I eat my cereal I'm gonna go pick up my toys, OK?" To which I replied, "Thank you, buddy - that would be a very good thing." Can I shower him with love and gifts and kindness and make the hurt feelings all gone? Probably not. I don't want to be one of those mothers that hurts her kids and then tries to make it all better with material things. I need to not be so angry. I need to not fly off the handle at things that really don't make any difference. I need to understand what makes me get crazy like that. Besides, I've said it before and I'll say it again: How can I expect him to keep his room clean when Hubby and I cannot keep the rest of the house picked up? We work on it in spurts, but ultimately it's a disaster all the time. My poor little buddy. I'm done sharing now. TTFN JMS

Space, the Final Frontier...

My wonderful, handy-man Hubby installed Kiddo's new space-themed ceiling fan last night! It took him a couple hours and one unexpected trip to Home Depot, but it looks fantastic and works perfectly! If I'm thrilled about it, I can tell you right now that Kiddo is even more so! The other bonus is that now not only does Kiddo have an actual light on the ceiling, I can use the switch at the doorway instead of walking across his room to click on the bedside lamp. The one, lone, ineffective, sticker-laden, old hotel bedside lamp that was, until last night, the only source of light in Kiddo's room - unless you consider the window, but then again, that only works in the daytime. Kiddo, Little Bit and I took a trip to the World of Wally on Sunday (while Hubby was sailing) to get some baby items for a friend who's shower I missed on Saturday. While we were there, I told Kiddo that if he was a good boy, I would allow him $10.00 to get himself a toy. This is something I typically never do - bribe my child into goodness - but at the time, it was just about the only weapon I had available to me. (Unless I wanted to get carted off for Child Abuse for swatting my kid in the middle of an oversize retail outlet.) He quickly began telling me what kind of toys he wanted (all somewhere in the $30-$50 range) and was getting increasingly frustrated at my repeated negative responses. When I was finally satisfied with my baby shower purchases (I'm one of those that has to put a lot of thought into it, up to and including trying to match everything for a "theme",) I carted the children over to the toy section and we wandered up and down the aisles for a little while until we came to the "cheap toy" section. After much debating over which toy was the best, (and silently praying he wouldn't want the plastic recorder) we finally came away with a box of planets to hang from Kiddo's ceiling and a package of glow-in-the-dark stars. (See the theme?) Now that Kiddo has his new ceiling fan, he said to me last night after he finally got tucked into bed, "Oh, Mommy! We forgot to hang my planets and stars!" I responded by telling him that we would hang the planets and stars just as soon as we finished all the other stuff in his room that needed to get done. The next project is closing up that extra door. Anyone want to volunteer to come help?! I can provide refreshments... TTFN JMS

They're home!

My family came home Friday evening. Safe. Sound. Happy. They spent a nice week at GM's house and I think Kiddo would have happily stayed there. Hubby worked Friday night and most of the day on Saturday, and then went sailing with a friend on Sunday. He was so excited about going sailing that he was nearly in tears. I figure that he's had both kids all week long and he should definitely go sailing. Kiddo, Little Bit and I had a good day. Kiddo kept wanting to go outside to play, but it was so hot and humid I knew my poor lungs wouldn't last long out there so I enticed him into playing inside, in his room, with his sister. He did a good job until he realized Little Bit was toddling into his room, grabbing a toy (usually some form of ball or car), toddling out of his room and into hers and depositing said toy into her toy bins. Once he figured this out, he began bodily blocking the door to his room so she couldn't get in, which, of course, ended in high-pitched screaming on her part. Eventually we retrieved all Kiddo's missing toys to his satisfaction and all was well with the world again. I think I might try to take them to a splash pad in Knoxville after work tonight...but we'll have to see how it goes. There might be other things going on that require my attention. (Like rubbing some kind of sun burn lotion on Hubby's nearly lobster-red back.) That will teach him to go sailing without me! (Tee hee...) Not that I would have come away from 8 hours on the water any better than he did. I'm just glad he had a good time. TTFN JMS

Ok, creep me out!

On Monday night I had dinner w/ BG. Tuesday night I had dinner with a group of folks from my office, an event to which I felt forced to go. Not that I don't like everyone I work with, but I am not really that socially inclined, especially when all other attendees to said dinner were management. What do I, a lowly Administrative Assistant, have to contribute to any conversation they may have? But I went. I enjoyed a humongous salad and a lovely chocolate confection, about 6 glasses of water, and one very hot cup of coffee. (Burned my tongue!) I participated in the conversations in which I felt, with a reasonable degree of certainly, that I wouldn't completely embarrass myself. I excused myself around 8PM and drove home to my quiet house and a dog who was crossing her legs in a desperate need to pee. Wednesday was very, very busy. I got home and did, well...nothing too terribly strenuous. Thursday brought a killer headache; nausea and light sensitivity and dizziness included. Went home (with kind permission from new MD) and slept until my brain didn't feel like it was about to leak out of my ears. Then I rearranged furniture, did laundry (even put it all away), did dishes, and went to bed at midnight, having not quite finished watching Karate Kid II. (Seen it - it was just background noise anyway.) And I think there is something "otherworldly" in my house. Maybe I'm crazy. I probably am crazy. But something decidedly odd happened that spooked me pretty good. Around 11PM, I was seated in my big, old, red leather chair resting for 20 minutes or so and waiting for the load of laundry in the dryer to finish so I could fold it before I went to bed. There was one, small Kiddo shirt folded neatly on the sofa across from me. It has a plastic Spiderman head on it with eyes that light up and blink when the shirt is moved. The dog was sleeping in the bedroom and it was just me and Karate Kid II. I was not touching the sofa. Spiderman's eyes started blinking. Then it stopped. I raised an eyebrow at it, but otherwise didn't really think about it much. About three minutes later, Spiderman's eyes started blinking again. I muted the TV and issued my challenge: "Do it again." Spiderman went blinky, blinky, blinky. Me: "Do it again." Spiderman: "Blinky, blinky, blinky." Me: "Do it again." Spiderman: "Blinky, blinky, blinky." (Remember...not touching anything except for the white-knuckle grip on the arms of my chair.) Me: "Do it again." Spiderman: "Blinky, blinky, blinky." Me: "Ok..stop now." I never heard one more peep from Spiderman until I got brave and moved the shirt into Kiddo's room before I went to bed. Honest and truly the hair on the back of my neck was standing on end and I had goose bumps all over my arms. One other thing I should make sure to mention is that I have not, once, this entire time my beloved family has been gone, turned on SciFi to watch Ghost Hunters. Well, I guess that's it for now. What do you think of that? TTFN JMS

Words that begin with "N" or "Z"

Guess what I did last night!? Nothing! Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero and other words that begin with either "N" or "Z". At least, I did nothing with regard to cleaning my house. Unless, of course, you consider transferring one load of laundry from the washer to the dryer. Otherwise, I met my friend BG at Panera Bread for dinner and a little girl time. Then moseyed over to the World of Wally to pick up a prescription. After that, I made my way home (it was after 8PM by this time), took the dog out, got in my comfy clothes, flipped for something interesting on the TV (nothing), and then decided to just go to bed and read, which I did. I was in bed by 9PM and asleep by 11PM. All was quiet. Including the dog. Now that I've had a night off, though, I have no excuse tonight, so back to the grind! Clean, Clean, Clean! TTFN JMS

Alone But Busy

Well...my family is gone and I'm very sad. I miss them terribly. Hubby took the kids up to Virginia to visit his mother for a few days and I have the house to myself. Well, the dog is there, but she's really not much company. I spent last night on the Planet of Laundry. I've made such an enormous dent that I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel! I guess it's because I don't have little hands coming behind me "helping" me fold. That usually ends up in clean clothes on the floor which get stepped on by little feet and therefore have to be washed again. Now I just have to tackle the clothes the dog sleeps on over on my husband's side of the bed! Oh, and put everything away. I do have a plan, though. (I'm getting good at planning, aren't you proud of me?) I plan to finish the laundry and while I wait for loads to be washed and dried, the living room is getting a makeover! Well...sort of. I mean, there's really only so much I can do without another human around to help shove furniture and yet another human to help me set up all the TV and other electronic equipment on the other side of the room. (Maybe I need to call Jofis...he is brawn and brain all in one person and could handle not only the furniture shoving, but also the equipment! Jofis? Are you available?) Then, once the living room is done - I'm tackling the kitchen. I know that really shouldn't take me too long as I did the dishes last night and have been organizing it slowly over the last couple weeks anyway. When the kitchen is done - the kids rooms are gonna get it. Kiddo's toys have exploded all over his room and it seems that no amount of threatening (to lose a favorite toy, to sit in time out, to not get a story at bedtime, to not go outside to play, to not get ice cream...) makes a difference. Little Bit's room is not all that bad - I've just got to organize a few things and change the sheets on her bed. Then...when all of that is said and done - our room needs some serious assistance. But since I'm leaving that for last - I might need to work on it once my family gets back. For now, though, it's me, the dog, HGTV on in the background, and work, work, work. I didn't sleep very well last night, either. It was too quiet in my house. I kept hearing the dog snore, or sneak around the house in her quiet way. She slept in Kiddo's room - and I think on his bed - and didn't grace me with her presence at all last night unless I was forcing her to go outside to pee in the pouring-down rain. (She hates rain.) So now I'm at work and printing away, getting ready for Sr. VP and new Managing Director to arrive. Sr. VP will be here today and new MD will be here tomorrow. Lots to do. It's too bad I'm so tired, otherwise I could be a whirlwind of efficiency today! TTFN JMS PS: Oh, by the way! Little Bit is walking freely on her own now and I think she LOVES it! She's realized that two legs are faster than all fours and she's getting really good at it! It's funny to watch her chase Kiddo around!