Playing with new toys (a lawnmower, in this case)
Petting goats at the Minnesota Zoo.
Goofing off at the zoo, too!
Eating her cake! I had an angel put on it because she so is not.Saturday, July 28, 2007
How Marissa spent her birthday
Playing with new toys (a lawnmower, in this case)Petting goats at the Minnesota Zoo. Goofing off at the zoo, too!Eating her cake! I had an angel put on it because she so is not.
Marissa's Birthday
Our youngest offspring turned two yesterday. It seems hard to believe to us, even though she's been saying "two" and gesturing with two fingers when you ask her how old she is for some time now.
I realized that I never really settled in to telling people that she was "one." It sounds odd, but when kids are between 1 and 2, whether they are closer to 1 or 2 makes a huge difference in their learning, their communication, their size, etc. So when people would ask how old she was, I would usually reply in months, much to many non-parents' chagrin.
"She's 14 months." [Non-parent's mental calculator: 1 yr and 2 mos old]
"She's 18 months." [Non-parent's mental calculator: 1 and a half years old]
"She's 22 months." [Non-parent's mental calculator: she'll be two in two months]
Finally...she's two! And I missed my opportunity to tell people she was "one." Not that they'd believe me.
Because she doesn't look two, she looks three. She is about the same height as a few 3-year-olds we know. She towers over most of her classmates and she's a bit of an oaf. She can knock her classmates down with her normal play, much less when she gets mad at them for taking a toy.
She's got more and more words and sentences all the time. She says each of our names, and we've been working on getting her to say her own for a while. Finally, today, she was talking about something that belonged to her and she said, "Sasissa's book."
Sasissa, now there's a name we hadn't thought of! But obviously so much easier for her to say!
She asks for all kinds of things now, she has a distinctive idea of what her bedtime routine should consist of. I should get her out of the bath, dry her off, get her changed, read her a book, and then she wants to wander off to find Daddy. "Daddy! Book!" she'll yell for him. Then after a book from Daddy she wants to say good-night to Lindsey. This evening that meant a trip back into the bathroom where Lindsey was finishing up a bath.
"Nigh nigh, Dinzee!" Marissa said, and blew her a kiss.
Then back to her room, where she wanted to be put in her bed with her books. We could hear her read them for a while, then she was out.
We found this absolutely incredible, considering that she had a four-hour nap today, lasting from just before 1 pm to 4:45 pm. And she went to bed, all on her own, at a little after 8:00, her normal bedtime.
It's tiring being two!
An Addendum to a Previous Rant
Click on the title of this post for a link to an interesting news article about the rise in infant and children deaths by means of hyperthermia -- mostly by being left in vehicles by their doting parents.
Statisticians have found a direct correlation between the law that passed in 1995 requiring that children ride in the backseat, for their own safety, mind you, and the incidents of children being left in cars.
Out of sight, out of mind, apparently. And they are right, some days I think, "There but for the grace of God go I."
Statisticians have found a direct correlation between the law that passed in 1995 requiring that children ride in the backseat, for their own safety, mind you, and the incidents of children being left in cars.
Out of sight, out of mind, apparently. And they are right, some days I think, "There but for the grace of God go I."
This is a Strange Country
Remember the good ol’ days, when a football player could murder his ex-wife and a complete stranger, but still get off scot-free? Nowadays, some quarterback kills a couple dogs, and they won’t even let him show up for work.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Here's what I don't get...
I came across a news story today about an 11-mo old boy who died after his dad "forgot" to drop him off at daycare and he spent the day in a hot car. Here's what I don't get:
1. A newborn...maybe. You're a new parent, the whole dropping off thing is new to you, they don't make any noise and are facing the other way so you can't see them. Maybe. Possibly. But this is an 11-month old who probably babbles. And drops toys. And giggles. And maybe you're listening to some crappy Wiggles CD or singing along to "The Wheels on the Bus" as you're going to work because you're a parent and you have a child. And you've been doing this every day for...how long?
2. The boy was found at 3:30 pm when the daycare called the mom at work to ask if the boy wasn't coming in that day. Hey, how about realizing at 9 am that he hadn't been dropped off and calling then?
Our center has a policy that if your normal hours have you dropping your child off by 9 in the morning and you haven't done so yet, that you call the school to let them know the children aren't coming. If they aren't there, they are supposed to call YOU, the parent, to ensure that they were not supposed to be in that day.
3. Apparently around 36 children every year die by being left in vehicles by their parents. It almost always makes the news, especially in this kind of summer heat, and every time it sickens me inside. So if this is the 10th child killed this year, that means that 26 more times this year some parent somewhere will forget that they once heard about other children dying in this manner and will either intentionally or unintentionally leave their children in their cars.
I'm going to go give my girls hugs now. I don't care that they're sleeping.
1. A newborn...maybe. You're a new parent, the whole dropping off thing is new to you, they don't make any noise and are facing the other way so you can't see them. Maybe. Possibly. But this is an 11-month old who probably babbles. And drops toys. And giggles. And maybe you're listening to some crappy Wiggles CD or singing along to "The Wheels on the Bus" as you're going to work because you're a parent and you have a child. And you've been doing this every day for...how long?
2. The boy was found at 3:30 pm when the daycare called the mom at work to ask if the boy wasn't coming in that day. Hey, how about realizing at 9 am that he hadn't been dropped off and calling then?
Our center has a policy that if your normal hours have you dropping your child off by 9 in the morning and you haven't done so yet, that you call the school to let them know the children aren't coming. If they aren't there, they are supposed to call YOU, the parent, to ensure that they were not supposed to be in that day.
3. Apparently around 36 children every year die by being left in vehicles by their parents. It almost always makes the news, especially in this kind of summer heat, and every time it sickens me inside. So if this is the 10th child killed this year, that means that 26 more times this year some parent somewhere will forget that they once heard about other children dying in this manner and will either intentionally or unintentionally leave their children in their cars.
I'm going to go give my girls hugs now. I don't care that they're sleeping.
Mirror mirror on the wall...
Over the weekend Lindsey received a vanity table that came from great-Grandma Dolaskie's house (it's either originally hers or Aunt Lu's, we're not quite sure). But it wasn't being used, the offer was made if Lindsey would like it in her room, so my parents brought it up when they came to visit over the weekend.
The two girls promptly sat down at it and started messing around. It's been at our house almost a week now, they both still sit at it and brush their hair, play with brushes, etc.
Some day I plan to clean the glass...
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
A Genuine Smile
I have a hard time getting good photos of Marissa. She is often concentrating very hard, her eyebrows furrowed and her lips pursed. Or, she is scowling at the fact that I am trying to get a picture of her.
But this one is a genuine smile. She was putting her pacifier in the water in the little fountain at Grandma's house, I happened to catch her as she smiled at me about the whole affair.
She can be pretty cute, I think we'll keep her.
Pee pee on the potty!
Last night as I took Marissa out of the bath and set her on the rug, she said, "Uh-oh!!" Now usually this means look for the stream, she's peeing.
However, this time, she started reaching for the little toilet insert that we put on the toilet seat so she and Lindsey can sit comfortably on the toilet without fear of falling in. So I quickly grabbed her little potty seat, put it on the toilet and set her on it.
Sure enough, she went pee pee on the potty! We were so proud of her, we clapped and clapped and she grinned proudly. Perhaps this is a start of good things...but based on our experience w/Lindsey, I won't get my hopes up.
However, this time, she started reaching for the little toilet insert that we put on the toilet seat so she and Lindsey can sit comfortably on the toilet without fear of falling in. So I quickly grabbed her little potty seat, put it on the toilet and set her on it.
Sure enough, she went pee pee on the potty! We were so proud of her, we clapped and clapped and she grinned proudly. Perhaps this is a start of good things...but based on our experience w/Lindsey, I won't get my hopes up.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
North for da Fourth
Now that I'm back in the swing of things, I can write about Marissa and my trip to the U.P. to visit our fam.
First, it was wonderful to have time together just Marissa and I. She is so often drowned out by her older and more verbal sister, it was wonderful to get to know her better. And, as I expected, I discovered that she says many more words than we realized. She asks for milk by saying something that sounds like "Mach" (as in Mach 1), and shakes her head or nods emphatically to various questions. She was pretty much an angel the entire trip, thanks to getting more attention than she's ever had since infancy.
We arrived in Marquette only to find it isn't really Marquette, it's a small town called Gwynn about half an hour south of Marquette. My cousin Yvette came and picked us up and we found a little place to grab a bite to eat. Then out to Grandma's house on Dana Lake!
We arrived around 9 pm, just as the sun was going down. It's amazing how much the small adjustment north in latitude changes the light in the evening. Between the time change and the light, Marissa rarely made it to bed by 10 pm. My sister Kristi arrived about half an hour after I did, and we tried to settle down for the night.
The next day was the Fourth of July, and we met my dad, stepmom, Aunt Carol and Uncle Chap out at their home and then went in town for the parade. The parade was lots of fun -- Marissa was shushing the noisy fire engines and police sirens by putting her finger up to her lips and going "Ssshhhh!" Overall she did quite well and lasted throughout the parade.
I, on the other hand, was having a hell of a time keeping it together, battling a cold which was working its way towards a sinus infection. We ended up having to stop in town before heading back out to get some cold medicine, nasal spray, etc. It's a good thing I brought my large "mom" purse because it was constantly stuffed with large wads of Kleenex. Ugh!
We headed back to Carol's for a nap -- I took one, Marissa didn't. Whatever; she was occupied by relatives. Then we had an amazing traditional dinner -- hamburgers and brats on the grill, homemade potato salad, baked beans and cole slaw. The word "homemade" belonged in front of each of those things -- wow, was it good!
The next day Kristi and I spent the morning at Dana with Grandma - we enjoyed dipping our toes in the water, watching a loon cross the lake, and taking a pontoon boat ride around. It sure is a beautiful place, one filled with lots of memories. It holds a lifetime of memories for me, I can't imagine what it's like when it holds a lifetime of memories for my grandma! The weather was perfect.
We then went in for the afternoon and headed out to Miner's Beach with Dad and Terry. You would think by the use of the word "beach" that Kristi and I would know how to pack. But no, it was Lake Superior, we didn't think there would be a beach nice enough for us to want to dip in, and besides, the water's cold, right?? Yeah. We were well prepared, both of us in t-shirt and capris, no swimsuits, no towels, we're real geniuses. Thankfully Marissa wasn't interested in being in the cold water, since I didn't bring HER swimsuit, but she did enjoy digging around in the sand. Oh yeah, we left the bucket and shovel back at Grandma's too. Yep, genius once again.
Regardless, we had a wonderful time soaking up the sun, letting them dry out my sinuses, and then had a picnic up above the beach at a little picnic area. At least one of us was prepared -- Dad and Terry were all ready to go with food, beverages and condiments.
The next day was my last, and we took Grandma out for lunch at the DogPatch, a local favorite of ours in Munising. Then Kristi drove me out to Marquette and I got to see Yvette's beautiful house -- a 1895 original, being carefully restored by Yvette. It is a wonderful house, I love seeing these old places get transformed. Then Marissa and I got on a plane and were back in the Cities ahead of schedule.
We sure had a wonderful time, despite my miserable cold/sinus infection. It was wonderful seeing all of our extended family.
It took me some time to download all of my photos -- most of you should have gotten an invitation to a KodakGallery photo album by now to see them. My photos turned out so wonderful that Wayne is now planning a vacation for the four of us to make it back up next summer, hopefully for a longer period of time. Wouldn't that be awesome!
First, it was wonderful to have time together just Marissa and I. She is so often drowned out by her older and more verbal sister, it was wonderful to get to know her better. And, as I expected, I discovered that she says many more words than we realized. She asks for milk by saying something that sounds like "Mach" (as in Mach 1), and shakes her head or nods emphatically to various questions. She was pretty much an angel the entire trip, thanks to getting more attention than she's ever had since infancy.
We arrived in Marquette only to find it isn't really Marquette, it's a small town called Gwynn about half an hour south of Marquette. My cousin Yvette came and picked us up and we found a little place to grab a bite to eat. Then out to Grandma's house on Dana Lake!
We arrived around 9 pm, just as the sun was going down. It's amazing how much the small adjustment north in latitude changes the light in the evening. Between the time change and the light, Marissa rarely made it to bed by 10 pm. My sister Kristi arrived about half an hour after I did, and we tried to settle down for the night.
The next day was the Fourth of July, and we met my dad, stepmom, Aunt Carol and Uncle Chap out at their home and then went in town for the parade. The parade was lots of fun -- Marissa was shushing the noisy fire engines and police sirens by putting her finger up to her lips and going "Ssshhhh!" Overall she did quite well and lasted throughout the parade.
I, on the other hand, was having a hell of a time keeping it together, battling a cold which was working its way towards a sinus infection. We ended up having to stop in town before heading back out to get some cold medicine, nasal spray, etc. It's a good thing I brought my large "mom" purse because it was constantly stuffed with large wads of Kleenex. Ugh!
We headed back to Carol's for a nap -- I took one, Marissa didn't. Whatever; she was occupied by relatives. Then we had an amazing traditional dinner -- hamburgers and brats on the grill, homemade potato salad, baked beans and cole slaw. The word "homemade" belonged in front of each of those things -- wow, was it good!
The next day Kristi and I spent the morning at Dana with Grandma - we enjoyed dipping our toes in the water, watching a loon cross the lake, and taking a pontoon boat ride around. It sure is a beautiful place, one filled with lots of memories. It holds a lifetime of memories for me, I can't imagine what it's like when it holds a lifetime of memories for my grandma! The weather was perfect.
We then went in for the afternoon and headed out to Miner's Beach with Dad and Terry. You would think by the use of the word "beach" that Kristi and I would know how to pack. But no, it was Lake Superior, we didn't think there would be a beach nice enough for us to want to dip in, and besides, the water's cold, right?? Yeah. We were well prepared, both of us in t-shirt and capris, no swimsuits, no towels, we're real geniuses. Thankfully Marissa wasn't interested in being in the cold water, since I didn't bring HER swimsuit, but she did enjoy digging around in the sand. Oh yeah, we left the bucket and shovel back at Grandma's too. Yep, genius once again.
Regardless, we had a wonderful time soaking up the sun, letting them dry out my sinuses, and then had a picnic up above the beach at a little picnic area. At least one of us was prepared -- Dad and Terry were all ready to go with food, beverages and condiments.
The next day was my last, and we took Grandma out for lunch at the DogPatch, a local favorite of ours in Munising. Then Kristi drove me out to Marquette and I got to see Yvette's beautiful house -- a 1895 original, being carefully restored by Yvette. It is a wonderful house, I love seeing these old places get transformed. Then Marissa and I got on a plane and were back in the Cities ahead of schedule.
We sure had a wonderful time, despite my miserable cold/sinus infection. It was wonderful seeing all of our extended family.
It took me some time to download all of my photos -- most of you should have gotten an invitation to a KodakGallery photo album by now to see them. My photos turned out so wonderful that Wayne is now planning a vacation for the four of us to make it back up next summer, hopefully for a longer period of time. Wouldn't that be awesome!
Thursday, July 12, 2007
More Photos from the U.P.
Sunset over Lake Superior, Miner's Beach.
Dad enjoying the view of the lake, during our picnic on the 5th.
Wow, doesn't Grandma look good??
Marissa playing on the beach at Dana.
Kristi and Marissa checking out the minnows.
Marissa's toes in the sand. Looks so much like a photo of Lindsey's toes in Gull Lake, at the age of 2!Monday, July 09, 2007
What a Fourth it was!
For once we took separate vacations to celebrate the fourth. Well, Marissa and I took a vacation; Lindsey and Wayne stayed at home.
Marissa and I headed north to Upper Michigan to spend time with my dad's side of the family and my maternal grandmother. Lindsey and Wayne stayed back home to enjoy the Edina parade, the pool and the local fireworks.
Our PC at home crashed so I can't upload photos as of yet, but I can just say that a good time was had by all. It was difficult to come back, and even more difficult to step into the office this morning.
I will write more and upload photos as soon as I can, but I just wanted to drop a note so that people know what we've been up to. Oh what fun we had!
Marissa and I headed north to Upper Michigan to spend time with my dad's side of the family and my maternal grandmother. Lindsey and Wayne stayed back home to enjoy the Edina parade, the pool and the local fireworks.
Our PC at home crashed so I can't upload photos as of yet, but I can just say that a good time was had by all. It was difficult to come back, and even more difficult to step into the office this morning.
I will write more and upload photos as soon as I can, but I just wanted to drop a note so that people know what we've been up to. Oh what fun we had!
Monday, June 25, 2007
Candied ants for you!
Marissa has a habit of taking the food on her plate and throwing it on the floor. We've been struggling to get her to understand that when she's done eating she should just say "all done" (which she is now capable of saying) and get down, instead of disposing of what she didn't want to eat.
Tonight we were eating dinner out on our patio table. Marissa was done, of course, and was off and about playing. She loves to torture the black ants on the patio, and successfully smashed two of them with her bare hands then practiced picking them up between her fingers.
Both times, she lovingly brought me the smashed ant and tried to put it on my plate. She was quite emphatic even, that the ants belonged on my plate.
I'm trying to follow the logic here: In Marissa's mind, food belongs on the floor, and ants belong on your plate.
Chocolate covered ants, anyone? Anyone?
Tonight we were eating dinner out on our patio table. Marissa was done, of course, and was off and about playing. She loves to torture the black ants on the patio, and successfully smashed two of them with her bare hands then practiced picking them up between her fingers.
Both times, she lovingly brought me the smashed ant and tried to put it on my plate. She was quite emphatic even, that the ants belonged on my plate.
I'm trying to follow the logic here: In Marissa's mind, food belongs on the floor, and ants belong on your plate.
Chocolate covered ants, anyone? Anyone?
Here's the little sh*t herself
Okay, so she is pretty cute, even if she did potentially poop on the potty and not tell anyone...Mystery Shit
Tonight we came home from work and Wayne noticed a nasty smell like old urine in Marissa's room. We had just emptied out all the diaper pails since garbage day had been today, and he re-emptied the trash again, assuming that some nasty wipe was in the trash from yesterday.
But still the stench prevailed, and even grew. By bedtime we could barely stand to be in her room, much less put Marissa to bed in there! I smelled her sheets -- nothing. Smelled the diaper pail -- nothing.
Then...Wayne opened the lid on the potty chair in her room.
Something.
Something that looked like it had been stewing for quite some time. Ugh.
We immediately went to Lindsey to ask if she had taken a poop on Marissa's potty chair. She said, "A long time ago, Jamie used the potty chair and went poopy." Now, this is indeed true, but it also happened a LONG time ago, so long ago that it wasn't plausible that this was a day old poop.
As I was cleaning it up, I noticed that it was about the size of Marissa's poop. Is it possible that our toddler went poopy on the potty for the first time...and no one knew? Not only did no one knew, but she would be in trouble for not telling us she did?
Yuck.
My hands are now thoroughly disinfected after cleaning up THAT mess.
But still the stench prevailed, and even grew. By bedtime we could barely stand to be in her room, much less put Marissa to bed in there! I smelled her sheets -- nothing. Smelled the diaper pail -- nothing.
Then...Wayne opened the lid on the potty chair in her room.
Something.
Something that looked like it had been stewing for quite some time. Ugh.
We immediately went to Lindsey to ask if she had taken a poop on Marissa's potty chair. She said, "A long time ago, Jamie used the potty chair and went poopy." Now, this is indeed true, but it also happened a LONG time ago, so long ago that it wasn't plausible that this was a day old poop.
As I was cleaning it up, I noticed that it was about the size of Marissa's poop. Is it possible that our toddler went poopy on the potty for the first time...and no one knew? Not only did no one knew, but she would be in trouble for not telling us she did?
Yuck.
My hands are now thoroughly disinfected after cleaning up THAT mess.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Memories of my Dad's Friends' Place
I'll try to write this in the style of my Dad, we'll see how I do.
Many years ago, when I was but a young girl, my sister and I used to enjoy going various places after church on Sunday as a treat. We always loved when our Grandpa Floria came to visit us, because that meant a trip to the bakery, not far from our house, called the Red Brick Oven, where I would get my very own brownie (with frosting!) and Grandpa would get a brownie too, along with a cup of coffee.
One day, before church, Dad advised the two of us that we would be going to his friend's house after church, and that we had to be sure to be extra good during church so we could go. We asked, "What friend? Who is it?" But he would say no more. We were left to our own imaginations as to who this unknown friend was.
We were anxious during church, and speculated to each other as to who this mysterious friend was. Was he Dad's boss, Andre? No, Dad said, it's not Andre. Was it our friend who joined us for Italian meals, Mr. Olson? No, Dad said, it wasn't Mr. Olson. Was it our old neighbor, Mr. Nelson? Nope, said Dad, it's not Mr. Nelson and pretty soon you're going to not be able to go if you ask any more questions!
Hmmm...what other friends did Dad have that we didn't know about? Could there be that he knew MORE people than we knew?? Naahhh, we just couldn't believe it.
So after church, Dad finally told us the first name of this mysterious friend: George. His name was George.
"Does George have kids?" we asked.
"No, he doesn't," Dad replied.
"Does he have a dog?" we asked.
"'Fraid not," Dad said.
"How far away does he live? Will we be there soon?" we asked.
"Not far, and we're almost there!" Dad said.
And sure enough, we turned a corner, and here was his friend George's place:
Many years ago, when I was but a young girl, my sister and I used to enjoy going various places after church on Sunday as a treat. We always loved when our Grandpa Floria came to visit us, because that meant a trip to the bakery, not far from our house, called the Red Brick Oven, where I would get my very own brownie (with frosting!) and Grandpa would get a brownie too, along with a cup of coffee.
One day, before church, Dad advised the two of us that we would be going to his friend's house after church, and that we had to be sure to be extra good during church so we could go. We asked, "What friend? Who is it?" But he would say no more. We were left to our own imaginations as to who this unknown friend was.
We were anxious during church, and speculated to each other as to who this mysterious friend was. Was he Dad's boss, Andre? No, Dad said, it's not Andre. Was it our friend who joined us for Italian meals, Mr. Olson? No, Dad said, it wasn't Mr. Olson. Was it our old neighbor, Mr. Nelson? Nope, said Dad, it's not Mr. Nelson and pretty soon you're going to not be able to go if you ask any more questions!
Hmmm...what other friends did Dad have that we didn't know about? Could there be that he knew MORE people than we knew?? Naahhh, we just couldn't believe it.
So after church, Dad finally told us the first name of this mysterious friend: George. His name was George.
"Does George have kids?" we asked.
"No, he doesn't," Dad replied.
"Does he have a dog?" we asked.
"'Fraid not," Dad said.
"How far away does he live? Will we be there soon?" we asked.
"Not far, and we're almost there!" Dad said.
And sure enough, we turned a corner, and here was his friend George's place:
I think we had to finally walk in to the place before my sister and I realized that it was a restaurant and not a man's house.
Did I ever tell you what a smartass my dad is?
Thursday, June 14, 2007
I'm sorry, you took up...what?
I know, it seems amazing, but I took up running.
I'm sorry, what was that?
Yes, running. From the girl who had knee problems in the fifth grade, who never ran EVER unless under duress (like when Miss Gretz in high school made us run a mile! A Mile! in high school. Ugh).
I started when my neighbor decided to train for a 5K in order to have a goal to get herself in shape. We have had barely a chance to train together, but I've been training on my own, over lunch hours, after the kids are in bed, and, like this evening, while traveling on business.
Tonight I had the privilege of running along Lakeshore Drive in Chicago. I started out around 6:15, got back around 7:10. It was beautiful running along the lakeshore, seeing the sun set over the city and listening to the lighthouse blow its horn to warn boats who all probably have GPS anyway of the danger of the rocks along the shoreline. The breeze along the lake was stiff and cool, very refreshing.
I thoroughly enjoyed the aloneness, the peace, the challenge of trying to keep up a pace I had set for myself. I didn't run the whole way, I walked for a part of it, but I made it all the way to the Shedd Aquarium and Field Museum, which I was looking forward to seeing after having read the book "Devil in the White City." (I'll have to add that one to my recommended reading list.)
Chicago is a beautiful city, I need to get here more often.
I'm sorry, what was that?
Yes, running. From the girl who had knee problems in the fifth grade, who never ran EVER unless under duress (like when Miss Gretz in high school made us run a mile! A Mile! in high school. Ugh).
I started when my neighbor decided to train for a 5K in order to have a goal to get herself in shape. We have had barely a chance to train together, but I've been training on my own, over lunch hours, after the kids are in bed, and, like this evening, while traveling on business.
Tonight I had the privilege of running along Lakeshore Drive in Chicago. I started out around 6:15, got back around 7:10. It was beautiful running along the lakeshore, seeing the sun set over the city and listening to the lighthouse blow its horn to warn boats who all probably have GPS anyway of the danger of the rocks along the shoreline. The breeze along the lake was stiff and cool, very refreshing.
I thoroughly enjoyed the aloneness, the peace, the challenge of trying to keep up a pace I had set for myself. I didn't run the whole way, I walked for a part of it, but I made it all the way to the Shedd Aquarium and Field Museum, which I was looking forward to seeing after having read the book "Devil in the White City." (I'll have to add that one to my recommended reading list.)
Chicago is a beautiful city, I need to get here more often.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
A Question of Morality
I'm at a leadership summit today through Friday hosted by the National Catholic Development Conference, learning about many of the challenges facing our Catholic nonprofit clients today.
As I am sitting in the session, sandwiched between Brother Hugh and Father Charles from two different organizations, I wondered to myself, "Is it a sin that I brought birth control while traveling to attend an NCDC conference?"
As I am sitting in the session, sandwiched between Brother Hugh and Father Charles from two different organizations, I wondered to myself, "Is it a sin that I brought birth control while traveling to attend an NCDC conference?"
Here's a sight we don't see much anymore -- the sunset.
I love city life, I truly do. I love walking to all the stores, to all the fabulous restaurants, walking to the lake, to the little wading pool for the girls. But I have to say that I do miss the sunsets.
The sun sets in the city when it hits the roofs of the houses closest to us. The shadows grow so long that it is prematurely dark in the city, when in actuality the sun is still above the horizon.
Last weekend, driving to Tracy on a Friday evening, we saw the sunset the way it was meant to be -- against the true horizon of the earth. Every couple of minutes Lindsey would point out the new colors that had shown up in the sky as the sun sank down. "Ooh, look Mommy, purple!" "Look, now there's orange!" "Marissa, Marissa, look, it's pink. Oooo, my favorite."
Then even after the sun had gone down, a rosy orange fire was left in the sky, marking its path. For us in the city, it would've been complete dark.
It's times like these that I do miss the connection to the earth that you lose by being in the city.
(But not enough to move, so don't get yours hopes up, fam!)
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Baby Bunnies
Can you see it? In the grass? A pair...no wait, two pair...no, THREE pairs of eyes?? (There's a fourth pair too, can you find them??)
A rabbit decided to have her babies in our front yard, and they have been a source of entertainment for Lindsey and I for several weeks. We first saw them when they were days old, no more than 2 inches long. They looked like tiny mice then, their ears little flaps stuck to their heads.
Every now and then we peak in under the mound of grass and fur that keeps their little burrow incredibly warm. They are now probably six inches long with definitive rabbit ears and a quiet alertness to them.
Yesterday evening I was coming back from a walk with Dax when we came upon the mother rabbit feeding her babies. She had to leave them as we were walking right past her on the sidewalk, so her little babies were left exposed, since she didn't have time to cover them up before we walked by. I immediately walked inside, grabbed my camera and took a photo for Lindsey, since she was already in bed. She ooh-ed and aah-ed when I showed her the photo of how big the bunnies were!
I believe there are actually five of them in there, at least I think I counted that many sets of eyes!
A Fetish Emerges...perhaps
I'm not sure which of our two girls will have the shoe fetish, but one of them will develop it by her teen years.
Marissa has been saying the word "shoes!!" for a very long time. If she sees shoes, anyone's shoes, she sits right down, takes off the ones she's wearing and puts on the ones she sees. This has resulted in her wearing 3-inch high sandals, Wayne's big sloppy slippers, Lindsey's flip flops, and so forth. She walks around in them for a while, giggles and kicks them off, then puts her own back on or goes around barefoot.
Today, however, Lindsey came home and told me she wanted "the white shoes with the pink and purple polka dots on the bottom of them." Hmmm...I'm wracking my brain, trying to think of which shoes in our house look like that. She finally says that they were ones Alexis had "a long time ago" and she would like a pair, please, and could we please go to the store to get them?
Keep in mind that Lindsey uses the term "a long time ago" to mean anything that happened 2 hours ago, 2 days ago or 2 years ago. They are all "a long time ago" in her mind, so it's possible that these shoes are currently available at your local Target (which is wear Alexis apparently gets all her shoes, all of which Lindsey wants), or that they were purchased last season and are no longer available.
Based on Lindsey's fascination with dresses and skirts, I suspect that she also will develop the love of shoes, but Marissa is one up on her on that...for being almost two!
Marissa has been saying the word "shoes!!" for a very long time. If she sees shoes, anyone's shoes, she sits right down, takes off the ones she's wearing and puts on the ones she sees. This has resulted in her wearing 3-inch high sandals, Wayne's big sloppy slippers, Lindsey's flip flops, and so forth. She walks around in them for a while, giggles and kicks them off, then puts her own back on or goes around barefoot.
Today, however, Lindsey came home and told me she wanted "the white shoes with the pink and purple polka dots on the bottom of them." Hmmm...I'm wracking my brain, trying to think of which shoes in our house look like that. She finally says that they were ones Alexis had "a long time ago" and she would like a pair, please, and could we please go to the store to get them?
Keep in mind that Lindsey uses the term "a long time ago" to mean anything that happened 2 hours ago, 2 days ago or 2 years ago. They are all "a long time ago" in her mind, so it's possible that these shoes are currently available at your local Target (which is wear Alexis apparently gets all her shoes, all of which Lindsey wants), or that they were purchased last season and are no longer available.
Based on Lindsey's fascination with dresses and skirts, I suspect that she also will develop the love of shoes, but Marissa is one up on her on that...for being almost two!
Thursday, June 07, 2007
She is Truly Amazing
Wayne and I joke that Marissa is "our boy," and in many ways, she is. She is rougher, tougher, more active and all around more "boyish" than Lindsey was at this age. By this age Lindsey was already loving skirts and dresses and wanted all things pink and purple. The last time we tried to put a skirt on Marissa she tugged at it and yelled "Off! Off!"
But I digress...
Tonight she got into an incredible amount of trouble in the shortest time span I believe ever accomplished by a toddler. This evening we were having our usual dinner time craziness, trying to get dinner on the table while keeping two children from pestering each other, the dog, or us. I had to wash Lindsey's sheets this evening (she'd had an accident in her bed that morning), so the two girls were playing nicely on Lindsey's bed while I ran the sheets down to the basement and into the wash. I was gone perhaps a total of three minutes.
In that three minutes Marissa walked over to the hallway closet, opened the door, got out the jar of Mineral Ice (a version of Icy Hot), went back to Lindsey's bedroom, sat down on her mattress, managed to pry the jar open and proceeded to slather the stuff all over herself. Luckily she got the bulk of it on the mattress pad (which now ALSO needed to be cleaned) but she did manage to get her legs, feet and part of one hand.
When I came back upstairs she was still trying to slather it on while Lindsey was asking her to put some "lotion" on her. I immediately picked Marissa up and threw her in the bathtub, clothes and all, in an attempt to get the stuff off of her before it started to activate. I think I was fairly successful, though I could tell it had started working because she was whiny for the next 15-20 minutes after her bath.
It's difficult to know which things to keep out of Marissa's reach because:
1) Marissa's range of reach continues to amaze us.
2) We are running out of closet space that's 5 feet or higher than the ground, which is apparently Marissa's reach.
Even the mundane things that we believe are "safe" to store on lower shelves are proven to us to be not so safe. She has pulled apart entire rolls of paper towels, entire rolls of toilet paper (directly into the toilet, mind you), emptied out newly-opened Kleenex boxes one Kleenex at a time, managed to pry open various food items, i.e. applesauce, fruit cups, and splash or wear sticky juice all over the kitchen.
One time she dropped an applesauce cup and it landed right-side up on the floor. You would think that that would be a good thing, except the "splash" of the applesauce reached our ceiling, the upper extremities of our cupboards, the top of the microwave, top of the frig, the underside of the handle on the oven door, and so on and so forth. We're still finding places that we missed the first five times we looked for applesauce splashes.
So if you're visiting with us and you see Wayne or I get visibly nervous when Marissa is not within eyesight for 2 minutes or less, and there is too much stillness coming from the general direction in which she last was seen, you will excuse us if we suddenly jump up to run and see what she's gotten herself into now.
But I digress...
Tonight she got into an incredible amount of trouble in the shortest time span I believe ever accomplished by a toddler. This evening we were having our usual dinner time craziness, trying to get dinner on the table while keeping two children from pestering each other, the dog, or us. I had to wash Lindsey's sheets this evening (she'd had an accident in her bed that morning), so the two girls were playing nicely on Lindsey's bed while I ran the sheets down to the basement and into the wash. I was gone perhaps a total of three minutes.
In that three minutes Marissa walked over to the hallway closet, opened the door, got out the jar of Mineral Ice (a version of Icy Hot), went back to Lindsey's bedroom, sat down on her mattress, managed to pry the jar open and proceeded to slather the stuff all over herself. Luckily she got the bulk of it on the mattress pad (which now ALSO needed to be cleaned) but she did manage to get her legs, feet and part of one hand.
When I came back upstairs she was still trying to slather it on while Lindsey was asking her to put some "lotion" on her. I immediately picked Marissa up and threw her in the bathtub, clothes and all, in an attempt to get the stuff off of her before it started to activate. I think I was fairly successful, though I could tell it had started working because she was whiny for the next 15-20 minutes after her bath.
It's difficult to know which things to keep out of Marissa's reach because:
1) Marissa's range of reach continues to amaze us.
2) We are running out of closet space that's 5 feet or higher than the ground, which is apparently Marissa's reach.
Even the mundane things that we believe are "safe" to store on lower shelves are proven to us to be not so safe. She has pulled apart entire rolls of paper towels, entire rolls of toilet paper (directly into the toilet, mind you), emptied out newly-opened Kleenex boxes one Kleenex at a time, managed to pry open various food items, i.e. applesauce, fruit cups, and splash or wear sticky juice all over the kitchen.
One time she dropped an applesauce cup and it landed right-side up on the floor. You would think that that would be a good thing, except the "splash" of the applesauce reached our ceiling, the upper extremities of our cupboards, the top of the microwave, top of the frig, the underside of the handle on the oven door, and so on and so forth. We're still finding places that we missed the first five times we looked for applesauce splashes.
So if you're visiting with us and you see Wayne or I get visibly nervous when Marissa is not within eyesight for 2 minutes or less, and there is too much stillness coming from the general direction in which she last was seen, you will excuse us if we suddenly jump up to run and see what she's gotten herself into now.
Monday, June 04, 2007
Fatherhood Revisited
Wayne got a little taste of what Steve Martin's character must've felt when his daughter sat across the dining room table from him and announced, "I'm getting married!" In real life there is a full grown woman sitting there, but in Steve Martin's eyes it's a little girl with pigtails and a sing-song voice breaking the news.
I have some peonies that grow by the side of our house that I cut for the first time this year. I asked Lindsey if I could take a photo of her holding the flowers before I put them in some water. She said, "Yes Mommy, but I have to put my white dress on!" Okay, I thought, I'll entertain this.
We traipsed upstairs and she donned her white dress, promptly came downstairs and went outside for her photo shoot. This is the only photo I took; I knew I didn't need another "just in case" as I usually do. She then ran into the house, ran up to Wayne and said, "Daddy! Daddy! Look! I'm getting married!"
He promptly replied with a really big hug.
Memories of Relations
Some things never change.
This photo of Marissa and Lindsey on my father-in-law Neil's "big chair" reminds me so much of my own Grandpa Floria's "big chair." My Grandpa used to sit in a large dark La-Z-Boy -- I want to say it was leather as well but I don't honestly remember. I remember him, however, sitting in that chair watching football with my dad, smoking cigars and chuckling at the Packers.
Lindsey and Marissa had lots of fun playing on this big chair of Neil's. Then Neil decided he wanted it back, so he tipped it up from the back and dumped them out. They kept trying to scoot to stay on, scoot to stay on, and next thing you know they were both on their feet on the floor, looking up and wondering what had happened, too shy to cry or give him a hard time about dumping them out. He sat back down for a few minutes, just to prove it was still his chair, as he put it, then he let them have it back. In two seconds flat they were back on, giggling and "reading" books.
This photo reminds me of my Aunt Phyllis -- she was (and probably still is!) a fantastic piano player. She was always encouraging us to play piano whenever we went to their house. My sister, who was always a MUCH better player than I, would give concerts to all of us when we went to their home. For a time I was jealous of the attention she got; then I realized it was better to sit back and enjoy, or I would be asked to play, God forbid!
While it was mom who got us going on lessons, and it was she that we heard more often and who really encouraged us, she never had a full head of white hair like Millie and Aunt Phyllis!
Monday, May 28, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
What I come home to
After a day such as today, it's such a nice thing to come home to these two...
(My husband's pretty cool, too).
Rough Day at Work
I don't write much about my job here, this is mostly for my friends and family to keep up on my own family, see pictures of the girls and how big they are getting. But today was a rough day at work. Rough. Ugh.
It's a rarity that I come home from work feeling exhausted by the events of the day, but today I did. I won't say any more than that now, I just am hoping that things will be getting better again soon.
It's a rarity that I come home from work feeling exhausted by the events of the day, but today I did. I won't say any more than that now, I just am hoping that things will be getting better again soon.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
My new piece of technology
Note to self -- others cannot hear the music in the iPod, just me. So singing along with the music is a really geeky way to show others that I really AM closer to 40 than to 30, and that perhaps I'm not ready for this technology after all.
I have to RESTRAIN myself to keep myself from singing, at least now I'm down to soft humming during choruses.
I have to RESTRAIN myself to keep myself from singing, at least now I'm down to soft humming during choruses.
Monday, May 21, 2007
This guy cracks me up
Check out the toolbar on the top of this page. There's a little link called "next blog." It used to be called "next random blog," and it does just what it says -- randomly pages you through all the blogs on blogger.com that people choose to make public. Browse at your own risk.
I came across this guys' blog and had to bookmark it. Man, is he funny! He's a stay-at-home dad of a 2-year-old boy in Des Moines Iowa; just had his 36th birthday too. I love how brief his postings are but funny as hell.
Here's his latest post from yesterday:
I came across this guys' blog and had to bookmark it. Man, is he funny! He's a stay-at-home dad of a 2-year-old boy in Des Moines Iowa; just had his 36th birthday too. I love how brief his postings are but funny as hell.
Here's his latest post from yesterday:
This evening my son and I were hanging out outside when a mosquito landed on his forehead. I instinctively smacked it. Therefore smacking my son on the head (not too hard).
Afterwards he looked at me, furrowed brow and all, with a look that most likely meant -
"Dude. Don't ever do that again. Someday I'll be able to kick your ass."Okay, that's it, I officially have to go start my day.
Something that Freaks me out
There is just something about hearing electronic toys go off in the middle of the night in a fit of dying batteries that just freaks me out.
I awoke this morning to the sound of "bee booop! bee booop!" coming from inside the house. It was the sound that one of Lindsey's toys makes when it turns itself off. It kept doing it over and over, which makes me believe that there is a ghost child down there, turning the toy on and off over and over in wispy silence, wondering what new piece of technology this is since last being alive 100 or so years ago.
Or perhaps a burglar invaded our home and tripped over the damn thing in his rush to steal...what? Our 200 lb flat screen TV? The most valuable items in our home sleeps in the beds anyways, not sure what a burglar could steal that I'd get too riled up about.
My Birthday
My birthday was this past weekend. I LOVE my birthday. I like feeling extra special for just one day, all the cards and the calls that I get throughout the day. Thanks to everyone who sent a card or gave me a call, by the way, I really appreciate it!
I'm always amazed by people who get cards out on time. Usually I'm sending them the day of the big event. I've finally stocked up on belated birthday cards, so now I'm even lazier -- if you get a belated birthday card from me, I probably didn't even buy it with you in mind, I bought it knowing I was going to miss someone's birthday, just didn't know it would be yours.
I got a slew of gifts from the family -- a Cinderella Barbie, supposedly from Lindsey but really for Lindsey, a Cinderella baby doll, supposedly from Marissa but she seems to like playing with it best, and a new workout bag with an extra special something stuck in the pocket -- an iPod shuffle.
This is my first foray into the latest technology, and I've been wanting it for my workouts. I have a Discman, and a couple of years ago it wouldn't have been too unusual to see it in a fitness club, a bulky round gadget strapped around my waist. Now, it would be downright embarrassing to be seen with something like that, when everyone is walking around with these little tiny MP3 players and iPods.
I was trying to describe to my dad the size of this thing, so I finally measured it -- 2 1/2 inches wide by 1 inch long, and 3/8 of an inch thick (that includes the clip to clip it to your clothes.) It holds a maximum of 240 songs which can be played continuously or in random order (thus the name "iPod shuffle.")
It is a technological wonder, though it is incredible how the "wow" factor goes down dramatically once you reach out to those under 30. Even Lindsey knew when I opened the package what it was and wanted to put the earphones in to "listen to the music." Huh?!? How does a 4-year-old know this? Turns out her pre-school teacher has one and plugs in before leaving work every day, every once in a while letting someone listen in on the music before taking off.
For an idea of how small it is, click here.
And yes, my iPod is pink.
I'm always amazed by people who get cards out on time. Usually I'm sending them the day of the big event. I've finally stocked up on belated birthday cards, so now I'm even lazier -- if you get a belated birthday card from me, I probably didn't even buy it with you in mind, I bought it knowing I was going to miss someone's birthday, just didn't know it would be yours.
I got a slew of gifts from the family -- a Cinderella Barbie, supposedly from Lindsey but really for Lindsey, a Cinderella baby doll, supposedly from Marissa but she seems to like playing with it best, and a new workout bag with an extra special something stuck in the pocket -- an iPod shuffle.
This is my first foray into the latest technology, and I've been wanting it for my workouts. I have a Discman, and a couple of years ago it wouldn't have been too unusual to see it in a fitness club, a bulky round gadget strapped around my waist. Now, it would be downright embarrassing to be seen with something like that, when everyone is walking around with these little tiny MP3 players and iPods.
I was trying to describe to my dad the size of this thing, so I finally measured it -- 2 1/2 inches wide by 1 inch long, and 3/8 of an inch thick (that includes the clip to clip it to your clothes.) It holds a maximum of 240 songs which can be played continuously or in random order (thus the name "iPod shuffle.")
It is a technological wonder, though it is incredible how the "wow" factor goes down dramatically once you reach out to those under 30. Even Lindsey knew when I opened the package what it was and wanted to put the earphones in to "listen to the music." Huh?!? How does a 4-year-old know this? Turns out her pre-school teacher has one and plugs in before leaving work every day, every once in a while letting someone listen in on the music before taking off.
For an idea of how small it is, click here.
And yes, my iPod is pink.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Outside Play
I just wanted to quickly post a couple of photos of Marissa playing outside. She LOVES to play with water, and she loves to play outside, so the nice weather finally makes it possible for her to do both.
She wore this skirt because all of her other shorts (all four of them) were in the wash. She did NOT want the skirt on and then after I wrestled it on her, she pulled and pulled on it and said, "Off! Off!"
I suspect she will not be the dainty fairy princess of all things girly that Lindsey is.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Lindsey's Birthday Party
All I have to say is, it was a lot of fun AND a lot of work! Big thanks to my friend and neighbor Amy who helped throughout the whole party!
Activities included:
- making butterfly wings with posterboard and lots of craft glue, feathers and foam stickies
- making pretzels and baking them up
- having lunch which consisted of a hot dog in a crescent roll (which Lindsey helped me make!), fruit kabobs and macaroni and cheese
- Eating the pretzels once they came out of the oven
- Trying on our now dry butterfly wings and dancing around the room with great abandon
- Eating Dairy Queen cake
Whew! Lots of activities, but all so great so that Lindsey didn't even notice that nobody brought her gifts, and there was no gap where a "gift opening" would have happened. She was polite, had no problem sharing with her friends, said "Thanks for coming!" as everyone was leaving and didn't ask where her gifts were.
Even better, we raised almost $100 for Children's Cancer Research Fund, which I'm sure they will greatly appreciate. I will probably make my own donation to just round it out to $100, but it feels good to give to someone else rather than look at a bunch of stuff sitting around our house and wonder where it's all going to go. Hopefully someday the lesson will sink in with Lindsey and she'll be grateful for what she's got and not want for more.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Marissa
It seems like it's been a while since I've posted a photo of Marissa. She is getting bigger and bigger -- her hair is getting longer, too!
Yesterday and today it was beautiful out -- highs in the 80s! We spent lots of time outside. Or as Marissa likes to say, "Outsiiiiide! Outsiiiiide!" She says more words all the time now -- she now says "sit" (appropriately), and "wet." I have no idea why she started saying "wet," but she'll point to a puddle and say "wet," then promptly stomp in it, splashing mud everywhere. Have I said yet that she's our boy?
It's difficult to get a photo of her, I followed her around the backyard for probably 5 minutes before snapping this one, and it's the best I could get. She moves too fast, is always busy, and looks very serious much of the time as she's focusing on...whatever she's focusing on at the time.
So here's a photo of the smallest peanut, not so small anymore, with a nearly-blonde head of very curly hair! Hard to believe she's related to the rest of us with that light hair.
Lindsey's B-Day
Lindsey's and Marissa's birthday seem to eclipse anything they are near, including Wayne's and my own birthdays. This year Lindsey's birthday is almost a month-long celebration. I was traveling on her actual birthday, so she was at Children's World (for once) on the actual day. I flew in from my trip the morning of her birthday and stopped by over lunch to bring cupcakes for her to share with the class.
Then, the next day Wayne and I took the day off work and took her to the Mall of America. She was so excited the night before she didn't get to sleep until after 10:30, then woke up at 6:45 a.m. Needless to say, we had to leave the mall when the meltdown started, and ended up carrying her kicking and screaming to the car.
But she recovered after a long 4-hour nap, during which time Wayne and I got an amazing amount of work done around the house! I managed to clean out most of the baby clothes that Marissa's outgrown. I still think of her as a baby, until I see what size a "newborn" size really is and realize that she's in 2T's now. So out went four garbage bags full of baby clothes. I was going to donate them to charity, only to find out that my co-worker was having a garage sale, part of a big neighborhood garage sale, so I gave all of them to her and said, "Hey, if I see any money, great, if not, but none of the clothes come back, even better!" Hopefully they all sell.
I had to keep a few nostalgic pieces, though, like the little tiny stretch-knit pink and blue caps that both girls wore to come home. In comparison I also kept the "I was born at Fairview" onesie and cap that was given to us after each of them were born. I kept them to remember that each of them were too small to fit into them -- the caps fell over their eyes and the onesies came down to their knees. Both of them are still "new" and have never been washed.
I also kept the little outfits that Marissa and Lindsey both had their one-year photos taken in. Wayne's mom gave me his outfit that his one-year photo was taken in as well -- some day I may put all three in a shadow box to put over their three baby pictures in our hallway. My one-year baby picture does not grace the hallway...because I never had one taken. (Guilt trip, Mom and Dad! Don't you feel awful? ;-))
Okay, so there was a long tangent...back to the birthday thing...
Lindsey's actual birthday party is this Saturday, May 12th, since she was invited to a playmate's birthday this LAST Saturday. So now she thinks she's turning five, since she already turned four. I don't need her to grow up that fast, she can stay four for a bit longer!
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
A Musical Joke: groaning is appropriate
An E-flat, a C, and a G go into a bar.
The bartender says: "Sorry, but we don't serve minors."
So, the E-flat leaves, and the C and the G have an open fifth between them.
After a few drinks, the fifth is diminished and the G is out flat. An F comes in and tries to augment the situation, but is not sharp enough.
A D comes into the bar and heads straight for the bathroom saying,"Excuse me. I'll just be a second."
An A comes into the bar, but the bartender is not convinced that this relative of C is not a minor.
Then the bartender notices a B-flat hiding at the end of the bar and exclaims: "Get out now! You're the seventh minor I've found in this bar tonight."
The E-flat, not easily deflated, comes back to the bar the next night in a 3-piece suit with nicely shined shoes.
The bartender (who used to have a nice corporate job until his company downsized) says: "You're looking sharp tonight, come on in! This could be a major development."
This proves to be the case, as the E-flat takes off the suit, and everything else, and stands there au naturel.
Eventually, the C sobers up, and realizes in horror that he's under a rest. The C is brought to trial, is found guilty of contributing to the diminution of a minor, and is sentenced to 10 years of DS without Coda at an upscale correctional facility. On appeal, however, the C is found innocent of any wrongdoing, even accidental, and that all accusations to the contrary are bassless.
The bartender decides, however, that since he's only had tenor so patrons, the soprano out in the bathroom, and everything has become alto much treble, he needs a rest - and closes the bar.
Are you smiling?
The bartender says: "Sorry, but we don't serve minors."
So, the E-flat leaves, and the C and the G have an open fifth between them.
After a few drinks, the fifth is diminished and the G is out flat. An F comes in and tries to augment the situation, but is not sharp enough.
A D comes into the bar and heads straight for the bathroom saying,"Excuse me. I'll just be a second."
An A comes into the bar, but the bartender is not convinced that this relative of C is not a minor.
Then the bartender notices a B-flat hiding at the end of the bar and exclaims: "Get out now! You're the seventh minor I've found in this bar tonight."
The E-flat, not easily deflated, comes back to the bar the next night in a 3-piece suit with nicely shined shoes.
The bartender (who used to have a nice corporate job until his company downsized) says: "You're looking sharp tonight, come on in! This could be a major development."
This proves to be the case, as the E-flat takes off the suit, and everything else, and stands there au naturel.
Eventually, the C sobers up, and realizes in horror that he's under a rest. The C is brought to trial, is found guilty of contributing to the diminution of a minor, and is sentenced to 10 years of DS without Coda at an upscale correctional facility. On appeal, however, the C is found innocent of any wrongdoing, even accidental, and that all accusations to the contrary are bassless.
The bartender decides, however, that since he's only had tenor so patrons, the soprano out in the bathroom, and everything has become alto much treble, he needs a rest - and closes the bar.
Are you smiling?
Sunday, April 29, 2007
WalkAmerica
I don't know why but the last Sunday of April, which is always when March of Dimes' WalkAmerica is, feels just a little bit like Christmas to me. It's a single day's event that I've planned for for a long time. I've gotten friends and family involved (who donated generously to my walk, thank you!), have been emailing updates to the PM team at work on the walk, etc.
I woke up this morning excited to get the girls ready and go. I am ever grateful for Wayne -- if it hadn't been for him we wouldn't have been out the door before the walk started.
Our team met at Bruegger's near our old office for some breakfast, then headed down to the walksite. It was a beautiful day, and it was so nice to have a great excuse to get out and enjoy it!
I didn't even see Lindsey the entire walk -- my friend Bridget was pushing her stroller and got so far ahead of me that I didn't meet up with her until the finish line. They told me she did wonderfully, was very well behaved and even...quiet! That's that thing that she is around other people, not us.
Marissa did fairly well, though she did have one meltdown when she wanted out of the stroller and I refused to carry her. (She's 29 lbs, have you seen her lately?) I ended up having to strap her in because she wouldn't sit in it nicely, so she screamed for about 10 minutes about that.
But overall, it was a nice day, we had a nice lunch and some free music after, then went back home to take a nap, which Lindsey and I both did, Marissa not so much.
What made it even better is that our team raised $4,212 dollars for March of Dimes this year, well over our goal of $3,000. Thanks again to everyone who sponsored us!
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Lindsey-isms
Lindsey did two things this evening that really struck me that I thought I would share.
Thing #1:
Tonight Lindsey and I were "dancing" to a children's CD. It has funny songs on it like "Lonely Peas," "The Crabby Song" and others that are actually quite fun and not grating to parents.
We started out dancing by holding hands and going around, pretty soon I was carrying her around and dancing backwards and forwards, practically spinning her around as I went about the room. (It was a GREAT workout, highly recommended!)
She was giggling and hanging on to me as we twirled around, faster and faster. She laughed once and said, "Mommy, I am happy!"
She stated it so matter of factly it took me by surprise. My response of course, was, "I am happy too!" and gave her a big hug and an extra fast twirl.
Thing #2:
After her bath, I was attempting to blowdry and comb out Lindsey's hair as she was "playing" with our four toothbrushes. (You have no idea how frequently we change our toothbrushes around here!) She was holding all four in her two hands, lifting them up and down and pretending to "wash" the mirror with them. She was saying in a sing-song voice, "Let's wash Ava's red dress! It'll be fun! Let's wash Ava's dress! Okay! You take this brush, I take that brush, let's wash Ava's dress!"
What struck me about this is that she was looking herself directly in the eye as she was singing this, smiling and waving the toothbrushes around.
When's the last time you looked yourself in the eye in the mirror and said something? Sang something? Wished for something??
I did not too long ago, prepping for a presentation I had to give in front of a crowd of 160. I'm glad I walked through my presentation this way too, because wow, was it uncomfortable, and I found myself floundering in talking to myself and was able to smooth out the rough spots by the time I got to the actual presentation.
When do we lose touch with ourselves so much that we don't look ourselves in the eye? The closest I get is when I inspect my eye makeup before leaving in the morning, or to get an eyelash out of my eye.
Try it sometime, see how honest it feels, to say something to yourself while looking yourself in the eye in the mirror. It was really amazing how natural it was to Lindsey.
Thing #1:
Tonight Lindsey and I were "dancing" to a children's CD. It has funny songs on it like "Lonely Peas," "The Crabby Song" and others that are actually quite fun and not grating to parents.
We started out dancing by holding hands and going around, pretty soon I was carrying her around and dancing backwards and forwards, practically spinning her around as I went about the room. (It was a GREAT workout, highly recommended!)
She was giggling and hanging on to me as we twirled around, faster and faster. She laughed once and said, "Mommy, I am happy!"
She stated it so matter of factly it took me by surprise. My response of course, was, "I am happy too!" and gave her a big hug and an extra fast twirl.
Thing #2:
After her bath, I was attempting to blowdry and comb out Lindsey's hair as she was "playing" with our four toothbrushes. (You have no idea how frequently we change our toothbrushes around here!) She was holding all four in her two hands, lifting them up and down and pretending to "wash" the mirror with them. She was saying in a sing-song voice, "Let's wash Ava's red dress! It'll be fun! Let's wash Ava's dress! Okay! You take this brush, I take that brush, let's wash Ava's dress!"
What struck me about this is that she was looking herself directly in the eye as she was singing this, smiling and waving the toothbrushes around.
When's the last time you looked yourself in the eye in the mirror and said something? Sang something? Wished for something??
I did not too long ago, prepping for a presentation I had to give in front of a crowd of 160. I'm glad I walked through my presentation this way too, because wow, was it uncomfortable, and I found myself floundering in talking to myself and was able to smooth out the rough spots by the time I got to the actual presentation.
When do we lose touch with ourselves so much that we don't look ourselves in the eye? The closest I get is when I inspect my eye makeup before leaving in the morning, or to get an eyelash out of my eye.
Try it sometime, see how honest it feels, to say something to yourself while looking yourself in the eye in the mirror. It was really amazing how natural it was to Lindsey.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Nostalgic Parenting
Tonight I was putting the youngest to bed and got a blast from the past. She likes to curl up with a bottle (I know, she's too old for a bottle, no lectures, please), have some warm milk, then snuggle up on your shoulder before hunkering down in her bed.
Tonight she was having her bottle, snuggled in her little pink blankie and I started doing something that my mom used to do to my sister and I when we were kids -- I began clicking my fingernails against each other on her head. It sounds very strange, but I remember it being very soothing when I was a child.
I've done it to Marissa, Lindsey and my friends' babies with alternating responses -- some are soothed and their eyes practically start to shut, others are distracted by it, start looking around and don't like it at all.
Marissa finds it soothing. I did this to her for a while, then I stopped. She promptly picked up my hand and put it back on her head again, signaling that she wanted me to continue! She did that twice, picking up my hand and putting it back on her head, all without saying a word since she was busy with her bottle. It brought me back to those days of having my mom do this same thing on my head during church -- I suppose it was the one way she could keep us quiet for an entire hour.
On an unrelated note, I was in an internal meeting today with some co-workers and one of my friends asked me, "Have your feet always been that vein-y?" (I was wearing a skirt and heels -- no pantyhose, of course!) And by the way, this was a close friend, so it wasn't unusual at all that she would ask me that, as varicose veins bulged out of her own legs as she waddles around in her 9th month of pregnancy.
I said yes, my feet and hands have always been "vein-y," and then told her how I remember "playing" with the veins in my mom's hands during church. I used to push one over the top of the bones in her hand, only to watch it slide back over to the other side...eventually. She started re-counting how she used to pull on her grandmother's skin on her arm during church, just because it took so much longer to go back to its normal place than her mom's did!
How funny, all these little pieces of nostalgia attached to memories of these things we did to comfort ourselves...all at the expense of our patient, understanding parents.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Writing Down the Words: STILL GOING STRONG
Writing Down the Words: STILL GOING STRONG
I happened across this blog and this particular posting in this blog and knew that a certain someone who reads my blog every now and then would appreciate the nostalgia and sentimentality of the thoughts written there.
Follow the above link to see what I'm talking about.
Enjoy, Dad!
I happened across this blog and this particular posting in this blog and knew that a certain someone who reads my blog every now and then would appreciate the nostalgia and sentimentality of the thoughts written there.
Follow the above link to see what I'm talking about.
Enjoy, Dad!
Pretty Princess Dancing
I had to put up these photos of Lindsey and her friend Jamie. They both love to play dress-up. We found a beautiful little white pleat dress over the weekend at Gap Kids that Lindsey LOVES. She wants to wear it all the time, even though I'm trying to keep it clean for her birthday party in a few weekends.
In the last two photos the two of them are dancing to the "Cars" soundtrack, Sheryl Crow's "Real Gone" song. What dainty dancing for such a hard rockin' song!
Whenever we have Jamie over she's only in the door for a few minutes before both girls are stripped down and digging in Lindsey's closet, pulling down the dresses from the hangers and putting them on. What girls!
Friday, April 13, 2007
Updated my Links - check them out!
I have a new favorite ad on the "Very Funny Ads" website -- check out the link to the right.
I've also got a link to my WalkAmerica page if you would like to donate to my walk which is Sunday April 29th. I'm nowhere near my own personal goal of $700, but that's because I'm heading up a team this year where many donations have gone to the team and not me personally -- we've already hit our goal of $3,000 for our team. Yeay team!!
I've also got a link to my WalkAmerica page if you would like to donate to my walk which is Sunday April 29th. I'm nowhere near my own personal goal of $700, but that's because I'm heading up a team this year where many donations have gone to the team and not me personally -- we've already hit our goal of $3,000 for our team. Yeay team!!
Easter
Easter is a low key event in our home. We don't go to church, we don't get together with family, in many ways it's just an ordinary day, made special by little things.
We have a neighbor who leaves "Easter bunny tracks" on the front stoops of the homes up and down the street where little kids live. We awoke and retrieved the paper to find large, human-sized bunny tracks on our steps (I think she uses corn starch and a stencil of some sort).
Lindsey and Marissa were happy to come down the stairs to find Easter baskets awaiting them on the piano. Unlike many of their counterparts, their Easter baskets are small. They don't need much, they are perfectly happy with the little treats that they get, and I get really annoyed by the commercialism of Easter of all holidays. Christmas, okay, it's a birthday, let's celebrate. But Easter? Someone died, okay? Have a little respect.
The jelly beans were a hit with Marissa, not so much with Lindsey. Chocolate eggs, also a hit with Marissa, not so much with Lindsey. But they both enjoyed the little chicks that had Play-Doh in them.
We had our friends over for Easter dinner which, in typical fashion, was delayed by my not-terribly-planned-out prep work for the meal. (I could've gotten more done earlier, prior to their arrival, but opted for a nap instead. Who wouldn't??)
Everything was ready on time except for a side dish that I was trying out for the first time that took longer than expected. Thankfully the ham stayed moist while it stayed in the oven an extra half an hour, and the potatoes were done all the way through (unlike other years when they aren't QUITE done when I have to take them out). So we ate later than scheduled, but we certainly passed the time with fun conversation and entertainment from watching the kids.
Lindsey and Jamie had lots of fun playing dress up. Jamie looked so beautiful when she came to our house wearing a beautiful spring dress with an adorable cropped pink sweater. This was promptly traded for velcro-on dress up clothes and "noisy" shoes, as Lindsey calls them, or those dress up high heels. They took turns being Cinderella in Lindsey's Halloween costume from this past Halloween. Lots of running around and giggling abounded, with Marissa behind them, trying to keep up and be a part of the action. Unfortunately she and Molly are just a little too far apart in age (and size!) to really be playmates right now, though Marissa did have fun "dancing" with Molly (see photo). 
So Marissa was handed the role of annoying little sister who always follows us around, and Mom can't you make her leave us alone?? Oh...I remember those days...but from the point of view of the little sister, not the mom!
So Marissa was handed the role of annoying little sister who always follows us around, and Mom can't you make her leave us alone?? Oh...I remember those days...but from the point of view of the little sister, not the mom!Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Weekend in Tracy
I've got just a few photos here to share of our weekend in Tracy. It was a short one, made miserable by a sinus infection that I developed. I feel bad that I filled all of my in-laws little trash cans throughout the house with loads and loads of nasty Kleenexes!! Ugh -- sorry all, for exposing you. The good news is by the time Sunday rolled around it was no longer a cold and was a sinus infection, so hopefully it wasn't contagious anymore. And I washed my hands so much they were raw, so I hope I didn't leave too many germs left in the house.
Marissa's been sick as well, she stayed home w/me Monday with a temp of 101.2. I think that since having kids I've only taken one sick day for myself when it was only actually just me at home -- every other time I'm also responsible for a little one who's sick as well. Makes it hard to rest and nap, especially with Marissa, our little busy body.
Marissa's been sick as well, she stayed home w/me Monday with a temp of 101.2. I think that since having kids I've only taken one sick day for myself when it was only actually just me at home -- every other time I'm also responsible for a little one who's sick as well. Makes it hard to rest and nap, especially with Marissa, our little busy body.
I'm on the mend now, got a good night's sleep last night, though I awoke at 4 am from a terrible dream in which I believed I was being suffocated. Turns out I was in a way -- both my nostrils had closed up and I was no longer getting the air I needed. I must have been struggling for air until I woke up enough to open my mouth to breathe. 
By the way, this last photo of Lindsey was taken about half a mile outside of Tracy. Lindsey didn't like the DVD we put in the van. We put in one of Marissa's, knowing that if we put one in that Lindsey had really liked she wouldn't have fallen asleep. I should've taken a photo again about 2 minutes after this one, with her head lolling to the side as she slept.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
New York Economics
Last post of the evening. I was in New York this past week for work. Spent one day in "The City" (everyone on the East coast knows that "The City" refers to New York City, I get a big kick out of it), then spent the next day traveling to and visiting March of Dimes in White Plains, NY.
Apparently spring break has the same effect on NYC as it does in southern climates, high demand of hotels lead to decreasing supply and thus higher rates. I still do not know who on earth would go to NYC on spring break and not go south, but whatever. So the best hotel rate I could get was $320 a night, for a hotel we usually get for $249 or so. The hotel closest to my company's office was running $400 -- ouch!
So I opted for one in mid-town, $320 a night. I had to be a big hick and take a picture of the room -- you can fit the entire room on one photo, it was so small. I thought you all might enjoy seeing what $320/night can buy you in NYC.
Apparently spring break has the same effect on NYC as it does in southern climates, high demand of hotels lead to decreasing supply and thus higher rates. I still do not know who on earth would go to NYC on spring break and not go south, but whatever. So the best hotel rate I could get was $320 a night, for a hotel we usually get for $249 or so. The hotel closest to my company's office was running $400 -- ouch!
So I opted for one in mid-town, $320 a night. I had to be a big hick and take a picture of the room -- you can fit the entire room on one photo, it was so small. I thought you all might enjoy seeing what $320/night can buy you in NYC.
The Logic of Lindsey
Last night Wayne and I went out to a nice dinner with another couple and his nephew, Travis, and his girlfriend Elizabeth watched the girls for us. They had a good time w/them, got them off to bed on time and even got Lindsey to sit on the potty once before bed.
Elizabeth was with Lindsey in the bathroom when she convinced her to sit on the potty. Lindsey tinkled for a little bit, then started getting off the toilet. Elizabeth asked, "Are you sure you don't have to go more?"
Lindsey replied, "No, that's all I drank!"
Elizabeth was with Lindsey in the bathroom when she convinced her to sit on the potty. Lindsey tinkled for a little bit, then started getting off the toilet. Elizabeth asked, "Are you sure you don't have to go more?"
Lindsey replied, "No, that's all I drank!"
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Weekend in Wisconsin
We spent this past weekend in Wisconsin, visiting with the Lau/Schafer/Hoyt families. It was lots of fun watching Marissa and Paulie play together -- the fact that they are only two weeks apart in age means they go through a lot of the same stages at the same time.
Little Paulie has glasses due to being far-sighted, a condition that he will hopefully outgrow. I found it interesting that when Marissa was smaller (and still today, sometimes), she would take pacifiers out of other childrens' mouths, she apparently just thought they didn't belong there. But she never once tried to take Paulie's glasses off. Lindsey didn't seem to notice them until the morning we were leaving she turned to me and said, "Hey Mommy, did you know Paulie wears glasses??" Wow, hadn't noticed those adorable little frames with his dark brown eyes peeping out!
This morning the kids all had one last time by and in the pool before we all went our separate ways. Lindsey used her little water wings and an innertube to dog paddle her way from one end of the pool to the other -- pretty good feat for an almost 4-year-old! (Considering she was swimming in water that is 5 feet deep on one end).
Marissa and Paulie never actually got into the water, but walked around the outside at different paces, alternately giving little toddler screeches at each other. Here's how it went:
Paulie: Aaahhh!
[pause]
Marissa: Aaahhh!
Paulie: Aaahhh!
Marissa: Aaahhh!
[giggle giggle]
Paulie: Aaahhh!
[pause]
Marissa: Aaahhh!
[more giggling]
It was entertaining an entire hot tub full of adults; thank God they were all tolerant of the noise!
Little Paulie has glasses due to being far-sighted, a condition that he will hopefully outgrow. I found it interesting that when Marissa was smaller (and still today, sometimes), she would take pacifiers out of other childrens' mouths, she apparently just thought they didn't belong there. But she never once tried to take Paulie's glasses off. Lindsey didn't seem to notice them until the morning we were leaving she turned to me and said, "Hey Mommy, did you know Paulie wears glasses??" Wow, hadn't noticed those adorable little frames with his dark brown eyes peeping out!
This morning the kids all had one last time by and in the pool before we all went our separate ways. Lindsey used her little water wings and an innertube to dog paddle her way from one end of the pool to the other -- pretty good feat for an almost 4-year-old! (Considering she was swimming in water that is 5 feet deep on one end).
Marissa and Paulie never actually got into the water, but walked around the outside at different paces, alternately giving little toddler screeches at each other. Here's how it went:
Paulie: Aaahhh!
[pause]
Marissa: Aaahhh!
Paulie: Aaahhh!
Marissa: Aaahhh!
[giggle giggle]
Paulie: Aaahhh!
[pause]
Marissa: Aaahhh!
[more giggling]
It was entertaining an entire hot tub full of adults; thank God they were all tolerant of the noise!
Doh!
Homer Simpson has been resurrected in the Floria/Horsman household.
Marissa has finally learned the word "No!" And, as when Lindsey learned it, the only way to say it is loudly and with a scowl. Yet it doesn't quite come out "no," it comes out with a "d" sound in front of it, so Marissa is channeling Homer Simpson -- "Doh!" "Doh!"
She gets quite emphatic about it, striking away whatever thing we were trying to give her, or shaking her head emphatically from side to side while saying "Doh!"
We try not to smile and laugh when she says "Doh," it only makes her more mad, which is even cuter.
Marissa has finally learned the word "No!" And, as when Lindsey learned it, the only way to say it is loudly and with a scowl. Yet it doesn't quite come out "no," it comes out with a "d" sound in front of it, so Marissa is channeling Homer Simpson -- "Doh!" "Doh!"
She gets quite emphatic about it, striking away whatever thing we were trying to give her, or shaking her head emphatically from side to side while saying "Doh!"
We try not to smile and laugh when she says "Doh," it only makes her more mad, which is even cuter.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
More Snow?!
We've been recovering from back-to-back snowstorms the last week of February that left us in quite the winter wonderland. Our office actually closed on Thursday, March 1st, and Wayne's didn't re-open until Monday the 5th. (We did re-open on Friday, though the staffing was quite slim.)
Here are a couple of snowy photos of a walk in the snow the weekend of March 3-4th. We had a good time making a snowman after the first snowfall, which was promptly buried by the second snowfall.
Friday, March 02, 2007
Bible Stories
We always read a story or two to Lindsey before bedtime. Lately she's been pulling out her children's versions of the Bible, most recently the New Testament. She'll turn to a page that has interesting pictures, then ask us to read the story around those pictures. (Thanks to aunts Sherrie and Kristi, by the way, who provide these tools of religious learning which our children would otherwise have absent from their lives because of their heathen parents.)
Yesterday she picked out the pictures around a group of men glaring at Jesus and asked me to read the story about the angry men. Sure enough it was the Easter story, and I wasn't so sure about reading this to her. After all, it deals with death, a concept that she knows no further than "Spiderman is going to 'kill' his enemies," something the boys in her pre-school playact. And to be killed means that you fall down.
So I started at the Last Supper and read through to when Judas betrays Jesus, he is captured and crucified, then the stone is rolled away from his tomb and he re-appears to the apostles. This version did a great job of putting the story in terms children could relate to, by calling Jesus the apostles' best friend, and they were very sad when their friend went away, but happy when he came back. (Friendship is a concept Lindsey definitely understands.)
When I turned the page to keep reading, the one on the left showed the apostles looking up at heaven to where Jesus ascended to God, while the angels asked, "Why are you looking up at the sky? Jesus is still with you." The next page had a picture of the apostles standing around smiling, while Jesus appeared as in a thought bubble over all their heads. (Cheesy, I know, but something that young children would understand.)
I barely got through the first page when the angels told the apostles "Don't look at heaven, Jesus is not there," when Lindsey gasped and pointed to the page of Jesus in the thought bubble. "Look!" she said, "Jesus is with them! They are sooooo happy!"
Now there's the meaning of Easter.
Yesterday she picked out the pictures around a group of men glaring at Jesus and asked me to read the story about the angry men. Sure enough it was the Easter story, and I wasn't so sure about reading this to her. After all, it deals with death, a concept that she knows no further than "Spiderman is going to 'kill' his enemies," something the boys in her pre-school playact. And to be killed means that you fall down.
So I started at the Last Supper and read through to when Judas betrays Jesus, he is captured and crucified, then the stone is rolled away from his tomb and he re-appears to the apostles. This version did a great job of putting the story in terms children could relate to, by calling Jesus the apostles' best friend, and they were very sad when their friend went away, but happy when he came back. (Friendship is a concept Lindsey definitely understands.)
When I turned the page to keep reading, the one on the left showed the apostles looking up at heaven to where Jesus ascended to God, while the angels asked, "Why are you looking up at the sky? Jesus is still with you." The next page had a picture of the apostles standing around smiling, while Jesus appeared as in a thought bubble over all their heads. (Cheesy, I know, but something that young children would understand.)
I barely got through the first page when the angels told the apostles "Don't look at heaven, Jesus is not there," when Lindsey gasped and pointed to the page of Jesus in the thought bubble. "Look!" she said, "Jesus is with them! They are sooooo happy!"
Now there's the meaning of Easter.
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