I recently finished reading Walden by Henry David Thoreau. This was a book I was required to read in high school, hated and never got anything out of it. The one thing I remember about it is that he had entire paragraphs that were comprised of only two sentences, that had so many sentences and commas in them that I could not make heads nor tails of them and never actually understood the points of his sentences.
Hmmm....I'm re-reading that sentence now and have only to say - touche, HDT.
One of my on-going goals is to read and re-read the classics, to see if perhaps they mean more to me as an adult as they did as a teenager. In this case, I have to say YES, I definitely understood and appreciated much more from this reading than I got out of it the first reading.
As I went through I highlighted passages that I found most impactful to me...not because I thought I needed to look for some relevance for a teacher or an impending test, but because I actually found relevance. It was staring me right in the face.
Some of my favorite quotes:
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.
My life itself was become my amusement and never ceased to be novel.
If the day and the night are such that you greet them with joy, and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs, is more elastic, more starry, more immortal,--that is your success.
Goodness is the only investment that never fails.
If one advanced confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.
Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth. I sat at a table where were rich food and wine in abundance, and obsequious attendance, but sincerity and trust were not; and I went away hungry from the inhospitable board.
Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star.
The last line is the closing line of the book. Thoreau died at the age of 44 of complications from tuberculosis. He never married and never had children. Yet our lives are the richer for his.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Sunday, September 06, 2009
The School Year Begins
Sept 1 marked the first day of 1st grade for Lindsey, and the first day of Marissa at Fours Explores, her new pre-school program.
We are incredibly spoiled by having KinderCare be literally 30 seconds from our home. The 10-15 minute drive to Kenny School, where Marissa's new program is, is going to be a challenge for everyone to adapt to.
We first dropped Marissa off at her school. Lindsey came in with us and we got Marissa settled in. She has a hallway cubby for her quiet time items (blankie and sheepie) and an inside cubby for her daily items (change of clothes, notebook, supplies). We were late enough that the class had gone to the cafeteria for breakfast so we helped her get breakfast, too. They have trays for these little tykes, she looked so grown up taking her tray through the breakfast line! She gave us hugs and kisses good-bye, and seemed quite content having breakfast sitting across from her friend, Chitra, who also started this program this year.Then off to Lake Harriet to drop off Lindsey at the before and after school care program, Mpls KIDS. Lindsey LOVES the Minneapolis KIDS program, and asked us to drop her off before Marissa the next day so she could have more time to play. So she was settled in about 2 minutes; I didn't even get any pictures of her there.
At the end of the day when I asked Lindsey how 1st grade was, her response was, "First grade is WAY better than kindergarten!"
When I asked Marissa...well, she told a long convoluted story about a mom who came to pick up her child, and left another child in the car. Then while she was in the building picking up her kid, the other kid got into the driver's seat and started the car. She even said that the kid drove away, but I suspect they only started the vehicle and sat there. Nothing about her day, nothing about her teacher, just this story.
I can't believe I have a 1st grader. It seems like just a few short years ago Lindsey was a baby. How did this happen?
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Prelude to a Sunrise Thunderstorm
Last night, the insistent wind demanded to be let into my house. It pushed its way in through my half-open windows, the shades rattling their discontent as it entered. It swirled through my room, all clothed in scents of trees, of coolness, of coming rain. It left through my door, the hinges creaking with its passing and the latch acknowledging its leaving with a click.
I could have shut my window to its passage, but instead threw open the complaining shades and breathed deeply of the summer day that was done, of the one that was anticipated. I opened my door wide to ease its passage without further disturbance, and I sunk into my bed with dreams of summer days to come.
I could have shut my window to its passage, but instead threw open the complaining shades and breathed deeply of the summer day that was done, of the one that was anticipated. I opened my door wide to ease its passage without further disturbance, and I sunk into my bed with dreams of summer days to come.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
End of an Era
Yesterday was Marissa's last day at KinderCare. She'll be home with grandparents/aunts next week, and then on September 1st she begins a new program called Fours Explores. This program is part of the Mpls KIDS program and is geared for kids for whom this is their year before kindergarten.
We've had one or two kids attending KinderCare since 2003 -- six years. It's hard to believe that we'll be done with dropping our kids off there, seeing all the parents and the other children who attend, and especially seeing the teachers and director(s). The director has been there the ENTIRE time, something that's unheard of in terms of daycare centers. Usually directors are at one place for a while and then
move on.
But it's also a relief for a couple of reasons: it's expensive. Damn expensive. We're going to have several hundred dollars per month get freed up come September. And secondly, over the years we've seen lots of teacher turnover in which our kids' day became inconsistent, depending on who was running the room. Marissa's pre-school class was made of 3 through 5 year olds -- can you imagine trying to develop curriculum to help each of those ages at their various levels? Not very practical.
I love these photos of her in her graduation cap -- she was jumping up and down and very excited to be starting her new program.
We've had one or two kids attending KinderCare since 2003 -- six years. It's hard to believe that we'll be done with dropping our kids off there, seeing all the parents and the other children who attend, and especially seeing the teachers and director(s). The director has been there the ENTIRE time, something that's unheard of in terms of daycare centers. Usually directors are at one place for a while and then
move on.
But it's also a relief for a couple of reasons: it's expensive. Damn expensive. We're going to have several hundred dollars per month get freed up come September. And secondly, over the years we've seen lots of teacher turnover in which our kids' day became inconsistent, depending on who was running the room. Marissa's pre-school class was made of 3 through 5 year olds -- can you imagine trying to develop curriculum to help each of those ages at their various levels? Not very practical.
I love these photos of her in her graduation cap -- she was jumping up and down and very excited to be starting her new program.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Already??
Last night we were trying to get the girls ready for bed, a task they both have become skilled at procrastinating.
Marissa decided she needed to put her baby to bed, and had her baby in her toy baby carrier in her room and was in the process of covering her with various little blankies, etc. Wayne kept telling her to come to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Finally he had to tell her she'd get to watch no TV the following day unless she got to the bathroom on the count of 3 to brush teeth.
Marissa's response was to give a big sigh of annoyance -- I cannot even determine which vowels to use to describe it. It's something like "uuuuuuuUUUUGH!" or "RrrrrruuuuuuHHHHH!" and then she said, "You're RUINING my LIFE!"
We actually laughed, even though we weren't supposed to. She is 4 going on 14.
Marissa decided she needed to put her baby to bed, and had her baby in her toy baby carrier in her room and was in the process of covering her with various little blankies, etc. Wayne kept telling her to come to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Finally he had to tell her she'd get to watch no TV the following day unless she got to the bathroom on the count of 3 to brush teeth.
Marissa's response was to give a big sigh of annoyance -- I cannot even determine which vowels to use to describe it. It's something like "uuuuuuuUUUUGH!" or "RrrrrruuuuuuHHHHH!" and then she said, "You're RUINING my LIFE!"
We actually laughed, even though we weren't supposed to. She is 4 going on 14.
Monday, August 17, 2009
While in Wisconsin this weekend...
My youngest daughter Marissa accompanied me to Wisconsin when I returned for my 20th high school reunion. Yes, 20. I know, I don't know how that happened either. But we'll return to that story another time...
She was digging around in my folks' outdoor storage container. At our house it is chock full of toys -- at their house it is full of cushions for outdoor furniture, with one radio with built-in CD player at the bottom. She saw the CD player and wanted to play it. So we plugged it in, and she wanted the CDs that go with it.
My mom said, "Sorry, we don't have any children's CDs to play."
Marissa looked and her and very seriously said, "Well, we could play BORING CDs..."
And I thought they only thought our music was boring when they got to be teenagers. It must start earlier than I had realized!
She was digging around in my folks' outdoor storage container. At our house it is chock full of toys -- at their house it is full of cushions for outdoor furniture, with one radio with built-in CD player at the bottom. She saw the CD player and wanted to play it. So we plugged it in, and she wanted the CDs that go with it.
My mom said, "Sorry, we don't have any children's CDs to play."
Marissa looked and her and very seriously said, "Well, we could play BORING CDs..."
And I thought they only thought our music was boring when they got to be teenagers. It must start earlier than I had realized!
Saturday, August 15, 2009
A Defining Moment
Written on 8/13/09, posted at a later date.
I’m on my way back from the NY nonprofit conference, an annual gathering of nonprofits and their collective vendors for networking, training and other such gatherings. I had the opportunity to hear Gail Blanke speak this morning. She wrote a book called “Your Wildest Dreams” which, you may or may not know, Oprah picked up and did a one hour special on some time ago. The entire hour was dedicated to this topic. I didn’t see the Oprah show, but because I subscribe to the Oprah Magazine I read an article about it and saw that they had a contest in which women with little opportunity ahead of them were given the chance to compete to have their wildest dreams realized.
Gail is also a life coach and has written numerous other self-help books. She joked that she should’ve written a fitness book, which she would have titled “Eat Less, Move More,” and all the pages inside could be blank. And now, back to our story...
One of the points of her discussion was to talk about making sure that as human beings we separate fact from interpretation. This is something that I and many people (women in particular) I know are wont to do. She spoke of an incident when she was 9 and was picking out a loud, frilly pink party dress for her birthday party when her mom didn’t buy it for her and instead said she was the “tailored type,” which she interpreted to mean plain. It wasn’t until her adult years that she found out her mom meant “elegant” type, but she’d already spent decades thinking she was plain because her mom said so.
Then she gave the following recent example, which I just loved.
For the aforementioned Oprah show taping, she was left to her own devices for an hour and a half before the taping of the show. This was simply a fact of the production situation, not by intent. She could overhear Oprah on the monitors as she critiqued her own hair, her choice of wardrobe, and her own little demons of criticism in her pursuit of perfect. She began to internalize those criticisms that Oprah of making of herself, thinking that perhaps Oprah was having an “off” day and wasn’t going to be enthusiastic about the day’s taping. As she says, a lot can go through your mind in an hour and a half, and she began to doubt herself. Who was she to be on Oprah? How was it that others could see her as an expert in this? By the time she was fetched for the taping, the old demons of “I am plain” had circled her head and were about to roost.
She met Oprah on stage in front of the live studio audience. The set had two bright yellow chairs on it, set at a 90 degree angle to each other, for the show in which Oprah and Gail would be next to each other. She was feeling uncertain of herself, and after their initial introductions, Oprah turned to the production team and said, “Get the bench.”
Suddenly the two chairs were swept off the stage, to be replaced with a single yellow bench, and Oprah took a seat in the studio audience. Gail began to interpret this in this way: “She doesn’t like me, she’s going to sit in the audience and grill me, I’m being put on the hotseat, this will become a criticism of my book, I am in over my head, what does this truly mean?” And then she took a step back in her own mind and said, “Don’t interpret – you are NOT plain, be sure of yourself and do it.”
I know that that particular show was an incredible success, and that it spawned a 2-hour special called “Your Wildest Dreams” and helped propel Gail’s book to the NY Times Bestseller list.
After the taping, Gail spoke to her agent about how it had gone and he informed her that by Oprah asking for the bench, she was giving the entire show over to Gail. She wasn’t switching out the seating as a vote of non-confidence, she did it in a gesture of complete trust that Gail would be so truly compelling that she handed over the entire content of her episode to Gail.
Gail and Oprah did not meet for a single moment prior to that second. Pretty amazing that she had that level of trust having just met her.
What an opportunity that could have been squandered had Gail gone with her first interpretation of what Oprah had meant.
It makes me look at various situations in my life, both professional and personal, and how I have chosen to interpret feedback that I receive. I am thankful that for the most part I have developed a good sense of self-worth and when I hear something that doesn’t jive with what I believe to be true, I’ll ask for further details and get clarification. I don’t know how I developed this, I truly don’t. For as much as my mother obsessed over her body image while I was growing up, I should be incredibly self-critical of my own, as many women are. But I’m not. I suspect that even if I weighed 300 lbs I would still think I look damn good. I like to think I’m pretty smart. I’m not trying to brag, but for a small town girl who graduated from a small school (at least in comparison to others), I felt like no doors were closed to me in whatever I chose to do with my life. I remember wanting to apply to Harvard, just to see if I could get in. I knew I could never afford it, and the application fee was prohibitive to me so that I never did apply, but I wanted to, just to see if I could.
I had no ambition to be a doctor, a lawyer, to reach some “lofty” goal, and by lofty I mean one that is valued by society. I knew that if I chose to be a garbage collector my parents would be proud of me as long as I was doing what I loved, and that would be all that mattered. I don’t remember their ever saying that to me, but somehow that message came across, and I love them for that.
I’m on my way back from the NY nonprofit conference, an annual gathering of nonprofits and their collective vendors for networking, training and other such gatherings. I had the opportunity to hear Gail Blanke speak this morning. She wrote a book called “Your Wildest Dreams” which, you may or may not know, Oprah picked up and did a one hour special on some time ago. The entire hour was dedicated to this topic. I didn’t see the Oprah show, but because I subscribe to the Oprah Magazine I read an article about it and saw that they had a contest in which women with little opportunity ahead of them were given the chance to compete to have their wildest dreams realized.
Gail is also a life coach and has written numerous other self-help books. She joked that she should’ve written a fitness book, which she would have titled “Eat Less, Move More,” and all the pages inside could be blank. And now, back to our story...
One of the points of her discussion was to talk about making sure that as human beings we separate fact from interpretation. This is something that I and many people (women in particular) I know are wont to do. She spoke of an incident when she was 9 and was picking out a loud, frilly pink party dress for her birthday party when her mom didn’t buy it for her and instead said she was the “tailored type,” which she interpreted to mean plain. It wasn’t until her adult years that she found out her mom meant “elegant” type, but she’d already spent decades thinking she was plain because her mom said so.
Then she gave the following recent example, which I just loved.
For the aforementioned Oprah show taping, she was left to her own devices for an hour and a half before the taping of the show. This was simply a fact of the production situation, not by intent. She could overhear Oprah on the monitors as she critiqued her own hair, her choice of wardrobe, and her own little demons of criticism in her pursuit of perfect. She began to internalize those criticisms that Oprah of making of herself, thinking that perhaps Oprah was having an “off” day and wasn’t going to be enthusiastic about the day’s taping. As she says, a lot can go through your mind in an hour and a half, and she began to doubt herself. Who was she to be on Oprah? How was it that others could see her as an expert in this? By the time she was fetched for the taping, the old demons of “I am plain” had circled her head and were about to roost.
She met Oprah on stage in front of the live studio audience. The set had two bright yellow chairs on it, set at a 90 degree angle to each other, for the show in which Oprah and Gail would be next to each other. She was feeling uncertain of herself, and after their initial introductions, Oprah turned to the production team and said, “Get the bench.”
Suddenly the two chairs were swept off the stage, to be replaced with a single yellow bench, and Oprah took a seat in the studio audience. Gail began to interpret this in this way: “She doesn’t like me, she’s going to sit in the audience and grill me, I’m being put on the hotseat, this will become a criticism of my book, I am in over my head, what does this truly mean?” And then she took a step back in her own mind and said, “Don’t interpret – you are NOT plain, be sure of yourself and do it.”
I know that that particular show was an incredible success, and that it spawned a 2-hour special called “Your Wildest Dreams” and helped propel Gail’s book to the NY Times Bestseller list.
After the taping, Gail spoke to her agent about how it had gone and he informed her that by Oprah asking for the bench, she was giving the entire show over to Gail. She wasn’t switching out the seating as a vote of non-confidence, she did it in a gesture of complete trust that Gail would be so truly compelling that she handed over the entire content of her episode to Gail.
Gail and Oprah did not meet for a single moment prior to that second. Pretty amazing that she had that level of trust having just met her.
What an opportunity that could have been squandered had Gail gone with her first interpretation of what Oprah had meant.
It makes me look at various situations in my life, both professional and personal, and how I have chosen to interpret feedback that I receive. I am thankful that for the most part I have developed a good sense of self-worth and when I hear something that doesn’t jive with what I believe to be true, I’ll ask for further details and get clarification. I don’t know how I developed this, I truly don’t. For as much as my mother obsessed over her body image while I was growing up, I should be incredibly self-critical of my own, as many women are. But I’m not. I suspect that even if I weighed 300 lbs I would still think I look damn good. I like to think I’m pretty smart. I’m not trying to brag, but for a small town girl who graduated from a small school (at least in comparison to others), I felt like no doors were closed to me in whatever I chose to do with my life. I remember wanting to apply to Harvard, just to see if I could get in. I knew I could never afford it, and the application fee was prohibitive to me so that I never did apply, but I wanted to, just to see if I could.
I had no ambition to be a doctor, a lawyer, to reach some “lofty” goal, and by lofty I mean one that is valued by society. I knew that if I chose to be a garbage collector my parents would be proud of me as long as I was doing what I loved, and that would be all that mattered. I don’t remember their ever saying that to me, but somehow that message came across, and I love them for that.
Looping Back: A Vacation Story
I have to write of an event from our vacation over the 4th of July.
One day while our family was frolicking in the hotel pool, a woman came through the area to take advantage of the outdoor patio area that was just outside of the pool area. She carried a towel, a book, a vat of coffee and other such sundries. She proceeded to undress down to her bikini, slather baby oil onto her already deeply tanned skin, drink her coffee and smoke her cigarettes while reading a book. It was the triple-play of cancer-causing activities.
My kids were fascinated by her behavior. For one, they’ve never seen a person smoking cigarettes up close before. Marissa kept stopping to stare out the patio doors at her, wondering what she was doing.
Wayne and I took this opportunity to talk about the fact that some people choose to smoke and the toll it takes on your body and lungs. Lindsey asked what it might do to your body, so we talked about how it turns your lungs black, makes you unable to breathe a full breath, etc.
Shortly after this Marissa got even closer to the patio window to watch this woman who was thankfully blissfully going about her business without paying attention to the two little girls staring at her unabashedly. I finally called Marissa away, that it was rude to stare at people.
She replied, “ But I want to see her turn black.”
I had to explain that smoking makes something on your insides turn black, not your outsides. I think for a minute there she thought all African American people were smokers.
One day while our family was frolicking in the hotel pool, a woman came through the area to take advantage of the outdoor patio area that was just outside of the pool area. She carried a towel, a book, a vat of coffee and other such sundries. She proceeded to undress down to her bikini, slather baby oil onto her already deeply tanned skin, drink her coffee and smoke her cigarettes while reading a book. It was the triple-play of cancer-causing activities.
My kids were fascinated by her behavior. For one, they’ve never seen a person smoking cigarettes up close before. Marissa kept stopping to stare out the patio doors at her, wondering what she was doing.
Wayne and I took this opportunity to talk about the fact that some people choose to smoke and the toll it takes on your body and lungs. Lindsey asked what it might do to your body, so we talked about how it turns your lungs black, makes you unable to breathe a full breath, etc.
Shortly after this Marissa got even closer to the patio window to watch this woman who was thankfully blissfully going about her business without paying attention to the two little girls staring at her unabashedly. I finally called Marissa away, that it was rude to stare at people.
She replied, “ But I want to see her turn black.”
I had to explain that smoking makes something on your insides turn black, not your outsides. I think for a minute there she thought all African American people were smokers.
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Roadwork
A few weeks ago the city of Minneapolis began a re-paving project on France Ave. This is when they have a grinder come along and grind up the top few inches of pavement, then come back through and lay new pavement on the top of it.
So they came along with their nifty equipment, ground off the top few inches, leaving the manholes sticking out of the pavement, making the road quite bumpy until the re-paving occurred.
Which still hasn't happened.
What they HAVE been doing is grinding down all of the rest of the roads in the area, too. Our neighborhood is accessible primarily by four city streets: France Ave, Xerxes Ave, 44th Street and 50th. As of today, three of the four are all ground up, waiting for new pavement.
It's been about three weeks and it's getting ugly. I would love to know the reasons why they have not yet paved France Ave, and instead are going around grinding down the rest of the roads in the area. Are they trying to make it difficult to get around? Because they are definitely succeeding at that.
So they came along with their nifty equipment, ground off the top few inches, leaving the manholes sticking out of the pavement, making the road quite bumpy until the re-paving occurred.
Which still hasn't happened.
What they HAVE been doing is grinding down all of the rest of the roads in the area, too. Our neighborhood is accessible primarily by four city streets: France Ave, Xerxes Ave, 44th Street and 50th. As of today, three of the four are all ground up, waiting for new pavement.
It's been about three weeks and it's getting ugly. I would love to know the reasons why they have not yet paved France Ave, and instead are going around grinding down the rest of the roads in the area. Are they trying to make it difficult to get around? Because they are definitely succeeding at that.
Monday, August 03, 2009
Travis & Elizabeth's Wedding
What can I say, it was beautif
ul.
I love this one during the ceremony because Travis was so obviously nervous and stiff. He looked very serious and stoic the entire time. At one point during the ceremony the minister told him to relax, smile, and enjoy the moment. This was his reaction, which I thought was pretty awesome. And how can you not love his grandpa, the best man, behind him?
ul.The venue was incredible, the day was perfect, it all went off without a hitch.
I was very proud of my girls, the flower girls, in this wedding. How ironic that my girls were the flower girls in our ring bearer's wedding.
The wedding took place at the Gale Mansion in Minneapolis. The ceremony was outside on the side lawn and the reception was on the grounds and in the home. I've been to two different events at the Gale Mansion and one of my favorite parts of this old, beautiful home is that they don't close off many parts of it to the public. After the wedding, you could find little clusters of people standing in various rooms, chatting or looking at the wall hangings, as if they were at a party at someone's residence. People pulled up chairs wherever they were and just visited. 
I love this one during the ceremony because Travis was so obviously nervous and stiff. He looked very serious and stoic the entire time. At one point during the ceremony the minister told him to relax, smile, and enjoy the moment. This was his reaction, which I thought was pretty awesome. And how can you not love his grandpa, the best man, behind him?
I'm bummed that this one is slightly out of focus. This was during the one and only song of the wedding, when Elizabeth's aunt and uncle sang. I love the look on her face because she is smiling out of sheer enjoyment of the song. Shortly after this she began to tear up and I didn't think she'd appreciate my taking a picture of that so I didn't. It was really sweet.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Where Babies Come From
Overheard this morning as I put on my make up and the girls played baby dolls in Lindsey's bedroom:
Lindsey: Marissa, do you know where babies come from?
Marissa: Where?
Lindsey: From their mommy's tummies. But Daddy told me that when mommies have babies they stand up and they poop them out.
Marissa: Eyew!
Lindsey: I know, but they don't come out of the same hole poop comes out of.
Marissa: Oh.
End of lesson.
I'll set them straight...some day.
Lindsey: Marissa, do you know where babies come from?
Marissa: Where?
Lindsey: From their mommy's tummies. But Daddy told me that when mommies have babies they stand up and they poop them out.
Marissa: Eyew!
Lindsey: I know, but they don't come out of the same hole poop comes out of.
Marissa: Oh.
End of lesson.
I'll set them straight...some day.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Land Lines
In this digital age, I can't tell you how many places I've read that people should always have a corded phone in their house, in case there's an emergency and your power goes out. That way you're not reliant upon a cordless phone that needs power to run, you can still make a phone call on your corded phone. I even read this relatively recently, in the last six months or so.
I think that advice is officially now WAY out of date. For example:
If you use VOIP like Skype or Vonage for your phone service, if your power goes out so will your phone line, so don't bother.
If you use cable for your phone service, your cable modem will go out when the power goes out, so your corded phone won't work either.
And most overriding of all, if you own a cell phone, you don't need a corded phone.
If I'm in the kitchen and our phone rings, I walk past our corded one on the wall to the cordless one in the living room to answer the phone. I think it's officially time to replace that phone with a cordless one.
I think that advice is officially now WAY out of date. For example:
If you use VOIP like Skype or Vonage for your phone service, if your power goes out so will your phone line, so don't bother.
If you use cable for your phone service, your cable modem will go out when the power goes out, so your corded phone won't work either.
And most overriding of all, if you own a cell phone, you don't need a corded phone.
If I'm in the kitchen and our phone rings, I walk past our corded one on the wall to the cordless one in the living room to answer the phone. I think it's officially time to replace that phone with a cordless one.
Mall Experience
On Sunday I took the girls shoe shopping for the dress shoes they'll be wearing under their flower girl dresses this Friday. We had lots of luck at JCPenney's -- got them both matching shoes that were on sale.
We then walked through the mall and walked past Abercrombie & Fitch. Lindsey is attracted to this store like bees to honey -- I don't know why. Perhaps it's her inner mall rat that she'll become in 10 years or so coming out early. Everything about the store makes me want to walk away from it -- from the dark interior to the booming music. But we walked by and she came close to the entrance to check it out.
She took a peek, then a whiff and said, "Smells like boys."
We then walked through the mall and walked past Abercrombie & Fitch. Lindsey is attracted to this store like bees to honey -- I don't know why. Perhaps it's her inner mall rat that she'll become in 10 years or so coming out early. Everything about the store makes me want to walk away from it -- from the dark interior to the booming music. But we walked by and she came close to the entrance to check it out.
She took a peek, then a whiff and said, "Smells like boys."
A Funny Reaction, not as in ha-ha
Last night Lindsey and I were playing outside, a really nice treat for both of us. She wanted to roll down the hill in front of our house, so she and I both took turns rolling down the hill.
The first time I did it I stood up and felt my skin start to itch. Then I remembered...I am allergic to grass. All grass. Every kind. I usually don't notice my allergies because I just take a Claritin every day from Spring through Fall. They are for the most part mild and don't bother me.
But I remember in 2005 when I finally had a skin test done for allergies, I was MOST allergic to grasses -- where they had injected the grass essence under my skin I had puffed up and gotten a red hive about the circumference of a baseball.
So that was the end of rolling down the grass. Within minutes my entire arms and legs had broken out in little tiny red welts, where the blades of grass had left their miniscule little cuts. I couldn't believe how quickly I reacted.
It was about bedtime anyway so we went inside and got the kids ready for bed, took a Benadryl and went to bed myself. I woke up all better, and a shower helped get rid of the last little itchy spots.
I feel sorry for people who have really strong allergies.
The first time I did it I stood up and felt my skin start to itch. Then I remembered...I am allergic to grass. All grass. Every kind. I usually don't notice my allergies because I just take a Claritin every day from Spring through Fall. They are for the most part mild and don't bother me.
But I remember in 2005 when I finally had a skin test done for allergies, I was MOST allergic to grasses -- where they had injected the grass essence under my skin I had puffed up and gotten a red hive about the circumference of a baseball.
So that was the end of rolling down the grass. Within minutes my entire arms and legs had broken out in little tiny red welts, where the blades of grass had left their miniscule little cuts. I couldn't believe how quickly I reacted.
It was about bedtime anyway so we went inside and got the kids ready for bed, took a Benadryl and went to bed myself. I woke up all better, and a shower helped get rid of the last little itchy spots.
I feel sorry for people who have really strong allergies.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Marissa's Birthday Party
Different story, same birthday.
About 8 weeks ago I went through the trouble of renting a room at the rec center at Linden Hills park for Marissa's 4th birthday party, which was this past week Saturday. Had to fill out a two-page contract, got confirmation that the room was available and the total cost, with a request that I send half down in now with another half due the day of the event. I dutifully sent in my $50, and that was that.
So Saturday morning I hit the ground running, making fruit kabobs (why is it that food is so good to kids when it's on a stick?) little turkey sandwiches shaped like gingerbread girls (they look like princesses, close enough), get all the juice boxes/water in a cooler, go pick up the cake, etc. We had the room reserved from 9:30 until 12:30, even though the party didn't start until 10:00, just for set up and clean up.
When do we arrive, you ask? At 9:55, just as the first guest is arriving. Oh well, not much to set up, it's fine.
Except the building is locked.
The entire building. Back door, front door, outside bathrooms. Locked and dark. Nobody around.
...What...??
There are two numbers on the front door to call. I call the first one -- from through the door we can hear the phone inside the building ringing.
Not helpful.
But in hindsight, funny.
I call the second number, the office of that park's director. I leave a VM, knowing that it's probably an 8-5 Mon-Fri kind of job, there was no way somebody was going to answer that before Monday morning.
Then I and other guests started calling around to other parks in the area. No one answers ANY phones. I finally got pissed enough I drove to a nearby park and found it staffed. (Apparently they can't answer the phone, though.) A mom is unloading her van calmly, preparing the room she reserved 8 weeks ago for a birthday party. Hmmm...funny thing, I did the same thing, only I got NOTHIN'! And the staff member, being just one individual, cannot leave that park to come to ours, and has no additional phone numbers for us to try beyond the ones we'd already called.
Thank God it was a nice day out so the kids could play outside. But the party did have to take a little break in the middle of it to have 4 little girls traipse to a parents' house nearby to use the bathroom...since there were no unlocked bathrooms.
I was most upset at spending the first half an hour of the party just tracking this shit down. I wanted to enjoy her birthday party, not get pissed off. But I brushed it off, I didn't want to ruin the party by brooding over this, but I was going to give them a piece of my mind come Monday.
Except that on Monday they were so sincerely apologetic and very willing to make it up to me (beyond just refunding me my money) that I couldn't possibly be mad. The park director took a very customer-oriented approach to it, he was nice to talk to and offered me free enrollment for any of the classes that take place in the park there. Would love to...except all the classes are geared for stay-at-home parents and take place during the day. (Not that he knew I worked.)
And...he informed me that the bathrooms are supposed to be open on the weekends, even if the building isn't. So at least he learned something new to fix.
It just seems like Marissa is always getting the short end of the stick...even when it comes to her actual birthday party. Sucks being the second child.
Marissa's 4th Birthday
Marissa's 4th birthday was today, and finally, she had a great birthday.
Prior birthdays have been frought with illness and tantrums -- for her first birthday she had eartubes put in, for her second she had her adenoids taken out. (Not on the exact day, but close enough to it that it extended over her birthday, or she was in need of surgery and was miserable for her birthday.) For her third she fussed and was put in timeouts all day -- Wayne and I were exhausted and thought that our second child would never actually have a special birthday.
Finally...her fourth birthday, and overall she had a great day.
It started with a smile and us both whispering happy birthday to her. She got dressed for Wayne and nearly had a moment when I was dropping her off this morning. She was clingy and didn't want to be at KinderCare on her birthday. But then while I was trying to leave another parent dropped his child off, who is a bit older than Marissa, while she cried and clung and sobbed after he left. Marissa looked at her, looked and me and said, "I don't need to have a big cry." And she gave me a kiss, a hug and a wave good-bye. What a big girl!
I stopped by over lunch and dropped off cupcakes for her class, and got to see her and give her another little hug. For their afternoon snack they had cupcakes and sang her "Happy Birthday."
I was already home when they all came home, with a dining table filled with presents from us and her Floria grandparents (well timed, Dad -- thanks!) She joyfully ripped them all open -- with no "help" from Lindsey for the first time -- and at one point stood up and said, "This is the best birthday in the whole world!"
I had bought little delectables from Lund's and we put candles in her little dessert and sang happy birthday. She blew them all out on her third try.
She played with her toys for a while, watched her new videos, then off to bed it was, with her new dolly by her side.
All in all a very enjoyable day...for everyone.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Conference Observations and Behavior
I am at a two-day conference in Washington DC with no co-workers with me. It's a bit odd, we so often travel in packs. But I've certainly met a lot of new people and had a fun time doing so.
In the process I thought I'd jot down some of the rules I've learned along the way when it comes to conferences and/or professional social gatherings, regardless of the profession.
When at a cocktail party, never hold your drink in your right hand. It makes your hand cold and you'll have to switch it over to shake people's hand with your now cold hand. Learn to drink with your left hand, even if it feels unnatural.
Don't carry food and drink at the same time, for the same purpose above. Grab a nibble when you're done with your drink, or if you are standing near a table where you can put your drink down while you have an appetizer.
If you want to say hello to someone you know and they are talking to someone else, don't wait for a break in the conversation -- it's awkward standing next to these people, obviously wanting to talk to one of them but trying at the same time to not eavesdrop. Simply touch their shoulder and smile as you move past so that it isn't awkward if they are unable to cut their conversation short. Or they may welcome you into the conversation, glad to have a respite from the blabbermouth holding them hostage.
If you are attending a session being given by a volunteer speaker, even if you think a presentation completely sucks, give the presenter your complete attention. It takes a lot of courage to get up to speak in front of people; at least let the person think they are doing well while they are up there. But then do him/her a favor and be honest on your speaker evaluation so s/he can improve.
If you absolutely cannot stand a presentation, quietly leave. It is less disruptive to the speaker and other attendees than sitting in the audience, looking in your lap and trying to discreetly thumb away at your Blackberry. And by the way, I can hear you texting.
Repeat people's names after you're introduced to them to seal the name in your mind. If you forget, it's okay to ask them again, but only once. (It will only get more awkward if you end up talking to that person several times throughout the evening never remember their name.) Or, sometimes as people are talking, I'll listen while at the same time repeating their name in my head a few times.
I go to conferences where I meet people only once or twice a year, if that. It's happened often that someone remembers me and I don't them. Therefore when I'm being introduced to someone that I am not sure if I should remember from a prior conference, I'll say, "Nice to see you!" instead of "Nice to meet you!" It implies that perhaps you've seen them before, but doesn't confirm nor deny that fact, in case you are indeed meeting them for the first time. I learned that one from an interview with Hillary Clinton.
Never. Ever. Ever drink too much. Ever. And don't talk about how you can't wait until it's the cocktail party, you'll sound like a lush.
Be polite to everyone, even people you meet who you think you may not have anything to do with in the future. You never know when you may meet your future client or employee. (Or boss!)
Remember that you are human. Conferences are filled with non-stop action -- from pre-conference workshops that start at 7:30 am to cocktail parties and dinners that last well into the night, you could fill a 16-hour day with activities. If you need to take a break for yourself to re-charge, do so. You will not be on your best game if you don't take the break you need. Your boss will thank you for it (as will you).
And apparently my idea of re-charging included a 20-minute run, followed by a quiet dinner (party of one, thank you), and a few moments to jot these ideas down.
Have a good evening!
In the process I thought I'd jot down some of the rules I've learned along the way when it comes to conferences and/or professional social gatherings, regardless of the profession.
When at a cocktail party, never hold your drink in your right hand. It makes your hand cold and you'll have to switch it over to shake people's hand with your now cold hand. Learn to drink with your left hand, even if it feels unnatural.
Don't carry food and drink at the same time, for the same purpose above. Grab a nibble when you're done with your drink, or if you are standing near a table where you can put your drink down while you have an appetizer.
If you want to say hello to someone you know and they are talking to someone else, don't wait for a break in the conversation -- it's awkward standing next to these people, obviously wanting to talk to one of them but trying at the same time to not eavesdrop. Simply touch their shoulder and smile as you move past so that it isn't awkward if they are unable to cut their conversation short. Or they may welcome you into the conversation, glad to have a respite from the blabbermouth holding them hostage.
If you are attending a session being given by a volunteer speaker, even if you think a presentation completely sucks, give the presenter your complete attention. It takes a lot of courage to get up to speak in front of people; at least let the person think they are doing well while they are up there. But then do him/her a favor and be honest on your speaker evaluation so s/he can improve.
If you absolutely cannot stand a presentation, quietly leave. It is less disruptive to the speaker and other attendees than sitting in the audience, looking in your lap and trying to discreetly thumb away at your Blackberry. And by the way, I can hear you texting.
Repeat people's names after you're introduced to them to seal the name in your mind. If you forget, it's okay to ask them again, but only once. (It will only get more awkward if you end up talking to that person several times throughout the evening never remember their name.) Or, sometimes as people are talking, I'll listen while at the same time repeating their name in my head a few times.
I go to conferences where I meet people only once or twice a year, if that. It's happened often that someone remembers me and I don't them. Therefore when I'm being introduced to someone that I am not sure if I should remember from a prior conference, I'll say, "Nice to see you!" instead of "Nice to meet you!" It implies that perhaps you've seen them before, but doesn't confirm nor deny that fact, in case you are indeed meeting them for the first time. I learned that one from an interview with Hillary Clinton.
Never. Ever. Ever drink too much. Ever. And don't talk about how you can't wait until it's the cocktail party, you'll sound like a lush.
Be polite to everyone, even people you meet who you think you may not have anything to do with in the future. You never know when you may meet your future client or employee. (Or boss!)
Remember that you are human. Conferences are filled with non-stop action -- from pre-conference workshops that start at 7:30 am to cocktail parties and dinners that last well into the night, you could fill a 16-hour day with activities. If you need to take a break for yourself to re-charge, do so. You will not be on your best game if you don't take the break you need. Your boss will thank you for it (as will you).
And apparently my idea of re-charging included a 20-minute run, followed by a quiet dinner (party of one, thank you), and a few moments to jot these ideas down.
Have a good evening!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Flying Experience
As I have a lot of opportunities to take flights through my work, over time I've become somewhat numb to the stunning vistas that can be seen from the window of a plane mid-flight. But today, flying in to Washington DC, we had quite an incredible view that captured my imagination.
There were thunderstorms in the area and we were warned of a potentially turbulent landing. We stayed above the clouds for quite a time, and from above the clouds were incredible -- pure white against a bright blue sky, puffy and seemingly still. Because we were expecting turbulence, they reminded me of icebergs, beautiful from a distance but dangerous up close. Our plane would get close to one, and it would rear up in its whiteness, growing larger and larger in the window. Then we would go by, unscatched. If we ever did have to descend into one, sure enough, turbulence and a grey mist would fill the windows. Then out we would come, and the scene was filled with these silent giants.
We finally descended enough that we came underneath them all, to a gray-blue day with large swatches of shadows moving over the landscape.
We landed on time, early even, to an airport in disarray, as many of the flights leaving the area had been delayed or canceled due to the threat these clouds posed. It wasn't even raining outside.
There were thunderstorms in the area and we were warned of a potentially turbulent landing. We stayed above the clouds for quite a time, and from above the clouds were incredible -- pure white against a bright blue sky, puffy and seemingly still. Because we were expecting turbulence, they reminded me of icebergs, beautiful from a distance but dangerous up close. Our plane would get close to one, and it would rear up in its whiteness, growing larger and larger in the window. Then we would go by, unscatched. If we ever did have to descend into one, sure enough, turbulence and a grey mist would fill the windows. Then out we would come, and the scene was filled with these silent giants.
We finally descended enough that we came underneath them all, to a gray-blue day with large swatches of shadows moving over the landscape.
We landed on time, early even, to an airport in disarray, as many of the flights leaving the area had been delayed or canceled due to the threat these clouds posed. It wasn't even raining outside.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
A visit from an old friend
Previously I wrote about how my friend Anita and I re-connected via Facebook She is someone that I knew for one singular week of my life, yet she and I both made an incredible impression on each other and I was tickled pink when she sought me out on Facebook. We got a chance to meet up for lunch in Wisconsin as my family and I were on our way to Michigan, which we thoroughly enjoyed.
As fate would have it, she was in Minnesota this week visiting her sister who lives here, and she also was able to carve a little time out of her family vacation to come to our house with her three girls for an evening meal. We had a great time, and surprisingly (at least surprising to me) my girls warmed up to hers pretty well. Before you knew it we had a living room full of girls playing with various toys.
Anita is a very artistic person and a free soul, and while technically she's a stay-at-home-mom, she dabbles in all kinds of arts that she could probably make a living from if she chose to. She paints, she draws, she gardens, she watches people (both old and young) for others, and lately she's been doing henna. She hopes to go to India to mentor with a henna artist there and learn the art even better. But since she was at our house and brought her henna stuff with her (I love that she did that without asking if I might be interested), she offered to create some glitter "tattoos" for the girls and henna art for me.
So here's a few pics of the evening including the henna art, which I am totally loving. I'm actually loving it right now because the ink is infused with eucalyptus, and I'm loving the fragrance emenating from my hands right now.
We had a great visit and a wonderful dinner, and I'm so glad she took the time to come to our house!
Thanks, Anita, for taking time out to come see us!
Thanks, Anita, for taking time out to come see us!An evening stroll
This evening as I was driving home from work I encountered a man walking his dog along the side of the road. This is unusual in our neighborhood, as our neighborhood is lined with sidewalks which are infinitely safer for both pedestrians and canines. But this man was on the road with his faithful dog beside him, head down and hands in front of him.
I assumed he was texting on a phone, something that I had dabbled in doing both while driving and walking. In both cases I found it very difficult to concentrate on where you are going (yes, even on foot). Just last week a 15-year-old in NYC fell into an open sewer cover where some men were doing work, because she was texting while walking and didn't pay attention where she was going. She was covered practically head to toe in raw sewage, and her parents are thinking of suing the city for "psychological trauma," so right now my tolerance for texting and doing anything is at an all time low.
As I passed this guy I saw that he was fiddling with a Rubik's cube while walking.
So here I assumed he was texting by his posture, and he was fiddling with a conundrum invented in the 1980s. I'm not sure if it was any safer, but it was amusing to me.
I assumed he was texting on a phone, something that I had dabbled in doing both while driving and walking. In both cases I found it very difficult to concentrate on where you are going (yes, even on foot). Just last week a 15-year-old in NYC fell into an open sewer cover where some men were doing work, because she was texting while walking and didn't pay attention where she was going. She was covered practically head to toe in raw sewage, and her parents are thinking of suing the city for "psychological trauma," so right now my tolerance for texting and doing anything is at an all time low.
As I passed this guy I saw that he was fiddling with a Rubik's cube while walking.
So here I assumed he was texting by his posture, and he was fiddling with a conundrum invented in the 1980s. I'm not sure if it was any safer, but it was amusing to me.
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Vacation Round-Up
We just got back yesterday from an 8-day excursion. And by excursion I meant 2 excruciating days in the car, followed by four days of fun, followed by 2 excruciating days in the car.
I believe that we are in agreement -- for next year we are staying somewhere a little closer to home, not Upper Michigan. I would like to actually come back from a vacation and when people ask, "So are you well rested?" I can actually say "Yes!" As it is I was on the phone making an appt with my chiropractor while we were driving back, wondering if we could scrape up enough money for a one-hour massage right after. Neither were available, so my neck is still hurting from craning around to the back seat to catch fallen toys, stop the sissy fights, fetch dropped blankies and lovies, etc.
I believe that we are in agreement -- for next year we are staying somewhere a little closer to home, not Upper Michigan. I would like to actually come back from a vacation and when people ask, "So are you well rested?" I can actually say "Yes!" As it is I was on the phone making an appt with my chiropractor while we were driving back, wondering if we could scrape up enough money for a one-hour massage right after. Neither were available, so my neck is still hurting from craning around to the back seat to catch fallen toys, stop the sissy fights, fetch dropped blankies and lovies, etc.
But truly, I exagerate, we did have a really nice time. This year both kids were a little older, which made the car ride a bit more tolerable.
We started with two days at my folks' place in Wisconsin, where we got to visit with cousins Paulie (age 3) and baby Maddie, age 4 months.
We then trekked it the rest of the way up to Marquette, and spent the rest of the evening at the pool, drinking wine, or both in alteration.
The next day was spent at a fabulous Int'l Food Fest at the lakeshore in Marquette, with cousins Yvonne, Yvette and Josette, and Josette's offspring Dominick, also 3, who was immediately Marissa's best little playmate. And did we mention the cotton candy as big as Marissa's head? Actually, bigger. It was crazy.
The next day we drove to Munising to spend time with my aunt, uncle, cousin DeeDee and sister Kristi and take in the Munising parade. Then we headed out to Dana Lake for a cook out and some good times. We got to visit with my grandma Glady, who took a spill down a flight of stairs a few weeks ago. The ENTIRE flight of stairs. She's incredibly lucky that she only separated her shoulder and had 3 stitches in the back of her head. She will live to be 100 I swear, she's a tough old bird.
Then on Sunday we decided we needed to not be driving anywhere. After all, Munising/Dana Lake, et al all requires time in the car...this after spending 10+ hrs in the car to get to the general vicinity. All the kids wanted to do was play in the pool, and here we were driving them around kingdom come. So we had a completely un-scheduled day, didn't need to go anywhere, be anywhere, see anyone, and had a fantastic day of swimming, eating and beaching it in Marquette. We even got to fly a kite in the stiff Lake Superior breeze.
And then on the next day, we began the long trek back -- 7 hrs in the car, overnight stay in Wausau, WI, followed by 4 hrs the following day. (We had to stop twice during what was supposed to be a 3 hr drive, and almost had to stop 3 times when the 3-yr-old had to go potty just 20 minutes from home.)
Three loads of laundry and one take-out meal later, two kids were snoozing in bed and I was ready for bed as well, followed by another vacation.
Duluth sounds really good to me next year.
We started with two days at my folks' place in Wisconsin, where we got to visit with cousins Paulie (age 3) and baby Maddie, age 4 months.
We then trekked it the rest of the way up to Marquette, and spent the rest of the evening at the pool, drinking wine, or both in alteration.
The next day was spent at a fabulous Int'l Food Fest at the lakeshore in Marquette, with cousins Yvonne, Yvette and Josette, and Josette's offspring Dominick, also 3, who was immediately Marissa's best little playmate. And did we mention the cotton candy as big as Marissa's head? Actually, bigger. It was crazy.
The next day we drove to Munising to spend time with my aunt, uncle, cousin DeeDee and sister Kristi and take in the Munising parade. Then we headed out to Dana Lake for a cook out and some good times. We got to visit with my grandma Glady, who took a spill down a flight of stairs a few weeks ago. The ENTIRE flight of stairs. She's incredibly lucky that she only separated her shoulder and had 3 stitches in the back of her head. She will live to be 100 I swear, she's a tough old bird.
Then on Sunday we decided we needed to not be driving anywhere. After all, Munising/Dana Lake, et al all requires time in the car...this after spending 10+ hrs in the car to get to the general vicinity. All the kids wanted to do was play in the pool, and here we were driving them around kingdom come. So we had a completely un-scheduled day, didn't need to go anywhere, be anywhere, see anyone, and had a fantastic day of swimming, eating and beaching it in Marquette. We even got to fly a kite in the stiff Lake Superior breeze.
And then on the next day, we began the long trek back -- 7 hrs in the car, overnight stay in Wausau, WI, followed by 4 hrs the following day. (We had to stop twice during what was supposed to be a 3 hr drive, and almost had to stop 3 times when the 3-yr-old had to go potty just 20 minutes from home.)
Three loads of laundry and one take-out meal later, two kids were snoozing in bed and I was ready for bed as well, followed by another vacation.
Duluth sounds really good to me next year.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Running Girl
This past week Saturday our family went to Harriet Island to take part in an event called Time to Fly, which benefits the Children's Cancer Research Fund. Lindsey had been talking about wanting to do some runs after cheering him on for his half-marathon in May, so he signed her up for the 1K family fun run at Time to Fly.
We barely made it there in time, due to a late departure from our house and a refusal on the 3 year-old's behalf to get dressed. On the way we went through rain, some of it light, some of it a downpour, and Lindsey expressed concern about running in a heavy rain. (Flash back to last year's hail incident.) We re-assured her that if it was too rainy she wouldn't have to do it, but when we parked the car it was just letting up. Eventually we made it there and happily the event was a little late getting started. We had just enough time for Lindsey to get her number, her goodie bag, throw her sweatshirt (and blankie) at me and they were off.
By the way, how many other runners do you know have to hand their blankies to their mom when they go to do a run? Anyways...
1K is about two-thirds of a mile, and she and Wayne ran the entire thing -- she didn't stop once. At the end she got a medal and a prize of a Barbie kite, and she was beaming from ear to ear.
We barely made it there in time, due to a late departure from our house and a refusal on the 3 year-old's behalf to get dressed. On the way we went through rain, some of it light, some of it a downpour, and Lindsey expressed concern about running in a heavy rain. (Flash back to last year's hail incident.) We re-assured her that if it was too rainy she wouldn't have to do it, but when we parked the car it was just letting up. Eventually we made it there and happily the event was a little late getting started. We had just enough time for Lindsey to get her number, her goodie bag, throw her sweatshirt (and blankie) at me and they were off.
By the way, how many other runners do you know have to hand their blankies to their mom when they go to do a run? Anyways...
1K is about two-thirds of a mile, and she and Wayne ran the entire thing -- she didn't stop once. At the end she got a medal and a prize of a Barbie kite, and she was beaming from ear to ear.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Photos from my Work Photo Shoot
Those of you who are Facebook friends of mine know that a while ago we had a photo shoot at my work. They asked us all to dress up as we would to a client visit, had us sign up for 20-minute time slots, ("20 minutes?" we all thought, "Who needs 20 minutes?") I was thinking simple, boring face shots.
Little did I know.
The goal of the photos is to show the personality of the people at our company. Who are all really fun, by the way, I wouldn't be going on my 14th year there if it wasn't full of fun people. They had people doing some or all of the following: 1) singing 2)playacting 3) pretending to be linebackers 4) jumping 5)rolling up their sleeves Good Fellas style.
This week they gave all of us our own photos to do with as we wish, and I've picked a few select ones here to share with you all.
They took 103 photos of me in approximately a 10 minute photo shoot, or approximately 17 photos per minute. Crazy!
Monday, June 22, 2009
St Louis Park Parktacular
We went to the St Louis Park Parktacular this weekend, that city's festival. The highlight had to be the non-rides, like this activity.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
The Now Infamous Green Paint Incident
Proof that my idea of "supervising" and my husband's idea of "supervising" are on different planets.
Note how Marissa's hair sticks straight up from all the paint.
Summer Thunderstorm
We've been promised some significant thunderstorms over the last couple of days, but nothing's really come through, at least to our house. But last night we did get to see quite a storm brewing on the horizon. It was far enough away that you couldn't hear the thunder, it never rained here, but the lightning in the clouds was unbelievable. The lightning was so constant that I took a few pictures with my camera, I was guaranteed to catch some kind of light of some kind, no matter when the shutter flew. So here are a few pics of that thundercloud, taken at 10:30 pm at night. Normally it's pitch black out.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Family Tales
Video from this past weekend of the Horsman clan telling tales of the care they took of the animals back in their farming days.
Sunday, June 07, 2009
The Whole Foods/Lunds Experience
I am usually a Rainbow/Cub Foods kind of gal -- lots of choices, low prices, and I actually prefer bagging my own groceries. At least I'll never put a jar of peanut butter on top of a loaf of bread.
Yesterday I had to run out to get a couple of quick items, and while the Lund's is closest to our house, with the Edina Art Fair closing down all the streets I decided to travel north instead to a Whole Foods on the outskirts of Uptown. I'd never been to a Whole Foods before and it made for an interesting experience. So I thought I'd do a little contrast/comparison, and we'll see who of the two (if either) wins the battle.
Parking
Lund's: My little Civic looks out of place compared to all the BMW's, Lexus' and Mercedes.
Whole Foods: My Civic looks out of place compared to all the Toyota Prius' and Smart Cars, but at least it's closer in size.
Dress Code:
Lund's: NEVER go to Lund's without make up. Ever. Wear real clothes; business suit preferred, heels no less than 2 inches.
Whole Foods: NEVER go to Whole Foods wearing make up. God forbid you have product in your hair too, or wear obviously dyed clothing. Only natural fibers allowed, hemp preferred.
Meat counter:
Lund's: Huh, who knew that you could purchase salmon right out of the sea, already marinated with a timer shoved into the flesh for easy grilling? No charring those babies! And look, aged, dry rubbed tenderloin for $33/lb.
Whole Foods: Organically farmed tenderloin only, also $33/lb. No salmon, they're overfished, don't you know?
Dairy selection:
Lund's: I can't find the regular milk for all of the Lund's branded regular milk for $3.99/gal.
Whole Foods: I can't find the regular milk for all the organic milk selections for $3.99/half gal.
(PS: I buy milk from Costco for $1.65/gal, for those of you who don't know how much milk costs)
Reading material at the check out:
Lund's: Food&Wine, Bon Appetit, and aahhh! People Weekly, eye candy while I wait.
Whole Foods: Cooking Light, Natural Home, Runner's World (Runner's World?? Seriously??)
Checking out:
Lund's: Please let me have purchased so little that they don't want to accompany me out to the car. Please please please...it's so uncomfortable having someone walk behind me rolling my two pathetic grocery bags and two gallons of milk.
Whole Foods: Oops, didn't bring my own bag, shame on me. I'm too embarrassed to tell them I actually need paper or plastic, so I'll just shove this stuff in my huge tote purse and pretend it's not too heavy.
Overall price:
Lund's: Three produce items cost $28.
Whole Foods: Two dairy products cost $28.
Yep, back to Rainbow/Cub for me.
Yesterday I had to run out to get a couple of quick items, and while the Lund's is closest to our house, with the Edina Art Fair closing down all the streets I decided to travel north instead to a Whole Foods on the outskirts of Uptown. I'd never been to a Whole Foods before and it made for an interesting experience. So I thought I'd do a little contrast/comparison, and we'll see who of the two (if either) wins the battle.
Parking
Lund's: My little Civic looks out of place compared to all the BMW's, Lexus' and Mercedes.
Whole Foods: My Civic looks out of place compared to all the Toyota Prius' and Smart Cars, but at least it's closer in size.
Dress Code:
Lund's: NEVER go to Lund's without make up. Ever. Wear real clothes; business suit preferred, heels no less than 2 inches.
Whole Foods: NEVER go to Whole Foods wearing make up. God forbid you have product in your hair too, or wear obviously dyed clothing. Only natural fibers allowed, hemp preferred.
Meat counter:
Lund's: Huh, who knew that you could purchase salmon right out of the sea, already marinated with a timer shoved into the flesh for easy grilling? No charring those babies! And look, aged, dry rubbed tenderloin for $33/lb.
Whole Foods: Organically farmed tenderloin only, also $33/lb. No salmon, they're overfished, don't you know?
Dairy selection:
Lund's: I can't find the regular milk for all of the Lund's branded regular milk for $3.99/gal.
Whole Foods: I can't find the regular milk for all the organic milk selections for $3.99/half gal.
(PS: I buy milk from Costco for $1.65/gal, for those of you who don't know how much milk costs)
Reading material at the check out:
Lund's: Food&Wine, Bon Appetit, and aahhh! People Weekly, eye candy while I wait.
Whole Foods: Cooking Light, Natural Home, Runner's World (Runner's World?? Seriously??)
Checking out:
Lund's: Please let me have purchased so little that they don't want to accompany me out to the car. Please please please...it's so uncomfortable having someone walk behind me rolling my two pathetic grocery bags and two gallons of milk.
Whole Foods: Oops, didn't bring my own bag, shame on me. I'm too embarrassed to tell them I actually need paper or plastic, so I'll just shove this stuff in my huge tote purse and pretend it's not too heavy.
Overall price:
Lund's: Three produce items cost $28.
Whole Foods: Two dairy products cost $28.
Yep, back to Rainbow/Cub for me.
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Eating Habits
I often think of my kids as not being the best eaters. They are picky, eat very little at dinner, or want snacks all the time. My extended family has commented on how they have a hard time just sitting at a table to eat and often wander off in the middle of a meal, only to randomly come back and clean their plates in 10-15 minutes. (Thanks for the feedback, by the way, always appreciated!) But in some regards, they are phenomenal eaters, and for that I'm very lucky.
Take yesterday, for instance.
Typically I am in charge of dinner at our house. This makes our dinner hour pretty late, since I don't leave work until 5:30 (or something a little later), arrive home around 6:00 and then get to rush around and make something and try to get it served by 7:00. Last night was no exception.
In the meantime, the little ones are hungry (shocker) and want something to snack on.
"Mommy, can I have some strawberries?" asks Lindsey.
"Me too! Me too!" says Marissa.
Sure, why not. So I clean some fresh strawberries and hand them both a little bowl. Followed by another small bowl. And then...a different request.
"Mommy, can I have some green beans?" asks Lindsey.
"Me too! Me too!" says Marissa.
Sigh...okay, if you must. So I clean up some fresh green beans, trim the ends and hand them both a bowl.
By this time dinner is nearly ready. Lindsey finishes her bowl of green beans and Marissa brings hers to the table.
They look at what I made: chicken taco rice casserole.
Lindsey's eyes grow wide and she says, "Yummmm!" and licks her lips and rubs her tummy in a dramatic fashion.
She proceeds to eat two full servings and Marissa actually ate an entire serving too. I didn't actually expect them to eat dinner after filling up on strawberries and green beans.
Sometimes they don't eat the dinner at all, but they are okay with that because they had healthy snacks. And I would feel like a bad mom if I told them they couldn't have fresh vegetables and fruit because it would ruin their dinner of canned and artificially preserved foods that I threw into a casserole.
So I guess my kids are actually phenomenal eaters, and we're pretty lucky parents for that.
Take yesterday, for instance.
Typically I am in charge of dinner at our house. This makes our dinner hour pretty late, since I don't leave work until 5:30 (or something a little later), arrive home around 6:00 and then get to rush around and make something and try to get it served by 7:00. Last night was no exception.
In the meantime, the little ones are hungry (shocker) and want something to snack on.
"Mommy, can I have some strawberries?" asks Lindsey.
"Me too! Me too!" says Marissa.
Sure, why not. So I clean some fresh strawberries and hand them both a little bowl. Followed by another small bowl. And then...a different request.
"Mommy, can I have some green beans?" asks Lindsey.
"Me too! Me too!" says Marissa.
Sigh...okay, if you must. So I clean up some fresh green beans, trim the ends and hand them both a bowl.
By this time dinner is nearly ready. Lindsey finishes her bowl of green beans and Marissa brings hers to the table.
They look at what I made: chicken taco rice casserole.
Lindsey's eyes grow wide and she says, "Yummmm!" and licks her lips and rubs her tummy in a dramatic fashion.
She proceeds to eat two full servings and Marissa actually ate an entire serving too. I didn't actually expect them to eat dinner after filling up on strawberries and green beans.
Sometimes they don't eat the dinner at all, but they are okay with that because they had healthy snacks. And I would feel like a bad mom if I told them they couldn't have fresh vegetables and fruit because it would ruin their dinner of canned and artificially preserved foods that I threw into a casserole.
So I guess my kids are actually phenomenal eaters, and we're pretty lucky parents for that.
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
She's a Keeper
We've told our kids various tales about the gypsies. You know, that band of traveling musicians who come to town and steal your kids in the middle of the night. We've heard they especially like to steal the ones who won't brush their teeth, listen to their mommies and daddies or eat their dinner.
Of late we've relegated these tales to simply telling our kids that if the gypsies come and ask us if we have any little kids to give them, that we don't and we plan to keep our kids.
This morning I was saying good-bye to Marissa at KinderCare. I gave her a big hug and said, "I love you, Marissa. I think I'll keep ya."
She looks me very seriously in the eye and says, "Mommy, you have to keep me for a loooong time."
"Really?" I gasp. "Like...until tomorrow?"
"No," she says, "Until I'm all growed up."
"Okay," I said, "That sounds good to me."
It does. And then some.
Again...why is this guy in the news??
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090602/ap_on_re_us/us_cheney
Why is anyone paying attention to what Dick Cheney has to say right now? He isn't in any kind of office; he's a private citizen in no position to make any lasting changes to US policy...except for his loud mouth.
I don't understand why the media continues to give him a platform to spout his message.
And while I agree with half of what he's saying here (people should be free to enter into any kind of union they wish), I disagree with the other half (it's up to the states to govern that).
Sure would suck to move across state lines and have your marriage annulled because the state you moved to decided not to recognize it.
But back to my first point -- why does anyone care what he has to say on this??
Why is anyone paying attention to what Dick Cheney has to say right now? He isn't in any kind of office; he's a private citizen in no position to make any lasting changes to US policy...except for his loud mouth.
I don't understand why the media continues to give him a platform to spout his message.
And while I agree with half of what he's saying here (people should be free to enter into any kind of union they wish), I disagree with the other half (it's up to the states to govern that).
Sure would suck to move across state lines and have your marriage annulled because the state you moved to decided not to recognize it.
But back to my first point -- why does anyone care what he has to say on this??
Monday, June 01, 2009
Retail "Recovery" Shifting Focus?
On Saturday Lindsey and I decided to run a few errands. We really needed some new craft supplies in our house, so she helped me make a list and we went to the store. First Wayne asked us to go to a local running store to pick him up some things.
Our first stop was Marathon Sports -- the store is a little tiny space in our neighborhood. The minute you walk in someone asks how they can help you, and there's everything you could possibly need for successful running: athletic shoes, performance gels/bars, socks, water holders, apparel, etc. But all just running, not a huge square food warehouse.
As we were leaving I noticed that on the corner across the street a new little coffee shop had opened called Dragonfly Coffee. We decided to stop by and check it out -- lucky us, today was their grand opening! Spoke to the owner who was working the counter, things were a little disorganized but you could feel the excitement and nervousness from the staff. I hope it does well. He named it Dragonfly Coffee after his grandmother who loved dragonflies and also owned a restaurant with dragonfly somewhere in the name. Pretty cool.
Then off to our next task: craft supplies. For this our next stop was Michael's, a chain of craft and hobby supplies. It's a large store located in what used to be called the Circuit City Plaza. I say "used to" because while the store hasn't moved, the plaza is currently unnamed since Circuit City went out of business and took their name with it. It was surrounded by shuttered stores on all sides: Circuit City, CompUSA and Cost Plus World Market.
There was only one other store of this entire complex that was still operating, and that was OfficeMax. Heard they aren't doing so hot, either.
All of the shuttered stores had for sale or lease signs on them, advertising the square footage available, usually somewhere around 22,000 to 27,000 sq ft.
The two stores that I had come from that were still in business (or at least just starting their business) had to have less than 2,000 sq ft.
Hmmm...is the big box era over, to be replaced by little local retailers? Wouldn't that be an awesome side effect of this economic downturn, if that were indeed the case?
Our first stop was Marathon Sports -- the store is a little tiny space in our neighborhood. The minute you walk in someone asks how they can help you, and there's everything you could possibly need for successful running: athletic shoes, performance gels/bars, socks, water holders, apparel, etc. But all just running, not a huge square food warehouse.
As we were leaving I noticed that on the corner across the street a new little coffee shop had opened called Dragonfly Coffee. We decided to stop by and check it out -- lucky us, today was their grand opening! Spoke to the owner who was working the counter, things were a little disorganized but you could feel the excitement and nervousness from the staff. I hope it does well. He named it Dragonfly Coffee after his grandmother who loved dragonflies and also owned a restaurant with dragonfly somewhere in the name. Pretty cool.
Then off to our next task: craft supplies. For this our next stop was Michael's, a chain of craft and hobby supplies. It's a large store located in what used to be called the Circuit City Plaza. I say "used to" because while the store hasn't moved, the plaza is currently unnamed since Circuit City went out of business and took their name with it. It was surrounded by shuttered stores on all sides: Circuit City, CompUSA and Cost Plus World Market.
There was only one other store of this entire complex that was still operating, and that was OfficeMax. Heard they aren't doing so hot, either.
All of the shuttered stores had for sale or lease signs on them, advertising the square footage available, usually somewhere around 22,000 to 27,000 sq ft.
The two stores that I had come from that were still in business (or at least just starting their business) had to have less than 2,000 sq ft.
Hmmm...is the big box era over, to be replaced by little local retailers? Wouldn't that be an awesome side effect of this economic downturn, if that were indeed the case?
Half-Marathon
About four weeks ago, Wayne was goaded into training for a half-marathon. Actually, he wasn't really goaded, he just got a little tipsy at a birthday party (adults only, no kids, thank you very much), started talking smack with some friends who have run half and full marathons and before I knew it he was signing up Saturday morning online for a half-marathon. Apparently he didn't have enough to drink to forget that he'd agreed to train for one.But he'd been talking about it anyway so it wasn't that much of a stretch for him to actually sign up. Only thing was...the one he signed up for was only four weeks away.
It was yesterday, actually, and here's how he did:
overall place: 260 out of 2246 (top 11%)
division place: 24 out of 89 (refers to the age bracket, but politely)
gender place: 181 out of 821
time: 1:44:55
pace: 8:01
He wanted to run at an 8:00 pace, and he did. I can't tell you how proud of him I am that he did this, he really worked hard.
The girls and I got up extra early on Sunday to cheer him on. The race began at 7:00 and Lindsey popped out of bed at 6:50, ran into our room and jumped on our bed. She immediately asked, "Where's Daddy?" I told her he had already left and that the race was starting in 10 minutes. She gasped and said, "But I'm not even dressed!" But that was okay, God knows he was going to be running long enough that we'd get to see him.
Our good friends (the ones who talked him into this in the first place) also got their entire family up this early as well to cheer him on from the sidelines.
We're very proud of him!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Amazing babies
Today we walked in to Marissa's day care to a sign that announced that the assistant director of the center had her baby, a little boy.
I said to Marissa, "Ooo! Marissa, Donna had her baby!"
Marissa gasped and said, "The baby came out??" I think she thought it was going to stay in there forever.
I think this was the first time Marissa frequently saw a pregnant woman who finally had the baby and made the connection between her baby bump and an actual baby being in there.
And like many Marissa stories, it isn't what she said that's so amusing, it's in how she says it. If only you could hear the *gasp* and see the look in her eyes, the amazement was incredible.
I said to Marissa, "Ooo! Marissa, Donna had her baby!"
Marissa gasped and said, "The baby came out??" I think she thought it was going to stay in there forever.
I think this was the first time Marissa frequently saw a pregnant woman who finally had the baby and made the connection between her baby bump and an actual baby being in there.
And like many Marissa stories, it isn't what she said that's so amusing, it's in how she says it. If only you could hear the *gasp* and see the look in her eyes, the amazement was incredible.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
A Kid-ism
About a month ago my company hosted "Bring Your Child to Work Day." They do a phenomenal job of putting on the event, lots of projects/meetings to help fill their day and give them some perspective on their own life's possibilities.
One of the events is an "executive meeting" that the kids all go to, facilitated by our CEO. He goes around the room, asks each child what they want to be when they grow up, writes it all down on the white board, then asks what the kids need to do to reach those goals. (Practice, study, learn, etc.)
As he was going around the room, one of the kids said she wanted to be a veterinarian. He looked around the room and asked, "Does everybody know what a veterinarian is?"
One of the kids responded, "That's somebody who only eats vegetables."
Classic.
One of the events is an "executive meeting" that the kids all go to, facilitated by our CEO. He goes around the room, asks each child what they want to be when they grow up, writes it all down on the white board, then asks what the kids need to do to reach those goals. (Practice, study, learn, etc.)
As he was going around the room, one of the kids said she wanted to be a veterinarian. He looked around the room and asked, "Does everybody know what a veterinarian is?"
One of the kids responded, "That's somebody who only eats vegetables."
Classic.
Friday, May 15, 2009
The value of roots
Anyone who knows me knows that I take after my dad in my tendency to look backward and not forward at life. Sentimentality, he would call it. Because of this, I value ROOTS.
Roots: Cherishing relationships with people who knew you way back when, whose very presence in my life at that time helped me (or maybe didn't help) me become who I am as an adult.
Facebook is great for finding your roots. I recently made a connection with someone on Facebook that I am so excited about. It's someone I met at Badger State the summer before my senior year.
Badger State, you ask? Yes, yet another peek at my geeky adolesence, thank you very much.
Badger Girls State is a one-week camp put on by the American Legion. During this week, two girls from select high schools around the state get to experience what American government is like. We create caucuses, make legislation, elect representatives, create a senate, and because we were all young and idealistic created two party platforms that were basically the same party platform. (Because who wanted to be Republican when you're 16?)
I and one of my classmates were chosen by our local American Legion to take part in this camp. I knew no one who was a member of the American Legion, not quite sure how I got selected to be honest, but totally took the opportunity to go. As it was, they made sure that classmates from the same school were always split up so this girl and I didn't see each other the entire week, until we met at her dad's car at the end of the week for the ride home. (Which was fine w/me, because we weren't actually friends.)
What this afforded me was a freedom I haven't known in my life so far. Not from parents but from peer expectations. Here were girls who didn't know me. At all. No pre-conceived notions. I'd known my classmates since the 6th grade. We moved around a lot previous to landing there, so by the time I got there it took me probably 2 years to feel comfortable enough to feel like I had real friends. And once I felt like I had friends, I think I felt like I had to be careful around them to keep them, that they wouldn't really like me if they got to know the real me.
Now I could be and do anyone I wanted to be, and there were no lasting implications. I would know these girls for a week and if they all hated me at the end of the week, it wouldn't make any difference. The person who got exposed to this the most was my roommate, Anita. I killed her our second day together after all, and make a masking tape outline of her on our floor. We then carried her "body" in a sheet and put it in the elevator, then pushed all the buttons so it made a tour of the floors. I then picked a girl from a different floor who wanted to go to law school to represent me because, shockingly, in a week long experiment of American government justice would have to be served. The last full day of the camp I was put on trial for the murder, and I believe I was found guilty but handed a suspended sentence since we were leaving the next day.
We were staying in a dorm that had no air conditioning and it got so hot one night that neither of us could sleep, so we left the door open of our mini fridge to try to cool down the room. It worked if you sat right in front of it. And I think it iced over inside and we had to turn it off because the motor on it started making funny sounds.
We were quirky, crazy, avant garde, energetic and confident in all the things we took on. Yet we didn't actually break any real rules. We did proceed to have a time of our lives, no matter or more like in spite of what others thought.
After that crazy fun week we exchanged addresses and phone numbers (because we didn't have IM ID's, cell phone #'s or email addresses back then) and probably wrote each other for a while, but eventually lost touch.
Until last week.
I can't believe that Anita remembered my name and looked me up. I honestly had forgotten her last name, but she remembered mine. And it was incredible to hear how much that week impacted her life, how she values fearlessness, art, and is probably the silliest and coolest mom to her three girls.
It really wasn't until she reached out to me that I remembered how different I was that week, and how when I returned to school for my senior year I was more confident in who I was, more myself and less concerned about other people's impressions.
While I don't remember much more about American government than the average American (okay, maybe a little more), I have to say I learned a lot about myself that week, and about deep, lasting friendships.
I'm so glad Anita looked me up. I'm sure we'll be seeing each other within the year, even though we're in different states.
Roots: Cherishing relationships with people who knew you way back when, whose very presence in my life at that time helped me (or maybe didn't help) me become who I am as an adult.
Facebook is great for finding your roots. I recently made a connection with someone on Facebook that I am so excited about. It's someone I met at Badger State the summer before my senior year.
Badger State, you ask? Yes, yet another peek at my geeky adolesence, thank you very much.
Badger Girls State is a one-week camp put on by the American Legion. During this week, two girls from select high schools around the state get to experience what American government is like. We create caucuses, make legislation, elect representatives, create a senate, and because we were all young and idealistic created two party platforms that were basically the same party platform. (Because who wanted to be Republican when you're 16?)
I and one of my classmates were chosen by our local American Legion to take part in this camp. I knew no one who was a member of the American Legion, not quite sure how I got selected to be honest, but totally took the opportunity to go. As it was, they made sure that classmates from the same school were always split up so this girl and I didn't see each other the entire week, until we met at her dad's car at the end of the week for the ride home. (Which was fine w/me, because we weren't actually friends.)
What this afforded me was a freedom I haven't known in my life so far. Not from parents but from peer expectations. Here were girls who didn't know me. At all. No pre-conceived notions. I'd known my classmates since the 6th grade. We moved around a lot previous to landing there, so by the time I got there it took me probably 2 years to feel comfortable enough to feel like I had real friends. And once I felt like I had friends, I think I felt like I had to be careful around them to keep them, that they wouldn't really like me if they got to know the real me.
Now I could be and do anyone I wanted to be, and there were no lasting implications. I would know these girls for a week and if they all hated me at the end of the week, it wouldn't make any difference. The person who got exposed to this the most was my roommate, Anita. I killed her our second day together after all, and make a masking tape outline of her on our floor. We then carried her "body" in a sheet and put it in the elevator, then pushed all the buttons so it made a tour of the floors. I then picked a girl from a different floor who wanted to go to law school to represent me because, shockingly, in a week long experiment of American government justice would have to be served. The last full day of the camp I was put on trial for the murder, and I believe I was found guilty but handed a suspended sentence since we were leaving the next day.
We were staying in a dorm that had no air conditioning and it got so hot one night that neither of us could sleep, so we left the door open of our mini fridge to try to cool down the room. It worked if you sat right in front of it. And I think it iced over inside and we had to turn it off because the motor on it started making funny sounds.
We were quirky, crazy, avant garde, energetic and confident in all the things we took on. Yet we didn't actually break any real rules. We did proceed to have a time of our lives, no matter or more like in spite of what others thought.
After that crazy fun week we exchanged addresses and phone numbers (because we didn't have IM ID's, cell phone #'s or email addresses back then) and probably wrote each other for a while, but eventually lost touch.
Until last week.
I can't believe that Anita remembered my name and looked me up. I honestly had forgotten her last name, but she remembered mine. And it was incredible to hear how much that week impacted her life, how she values fearlessness, art, and is probably the silliest and coolest mom to her three girls.
It really wasn't until she reached out to me that I remembered how different I was that week, and how when I returned to school for my senior year I was more confident in who I was, more myself and less concerned about other people's impressions.
While I don't remember much more about American government than the average American (okay, maybe a little more), I have to say I learned a lot about myself that week, and about deep, lasting friendships.
I'm so glad Anita looked me up. I'm sure we'll be seeing each other within the year, even though we're in different states.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
A Travel Encounter
Yesterday I was on a plane from JFK airport in NYC returning home to Minneapolis. The flight was only partially full and a teenager who was traveling alone was assigned to the seat next to me. There are three seats in the row, she's assigned to the middle seat, and she sat in that seat until the end of the flight, when she finally realized she could take any seat she wanted and didn't really need to sit 3 inches away from me when there was an open seat next to the aisle.
She was the last one on the plane; I assume she was a stand-by passenger who was able to make the flight. So she got up to find a storage bin to put her luggage in, then came back to her seat and was organizing her things. She seemed a bit flustered and was looking all around the seat for something.
Finally she turns to me and asks, "Do you have a cell phone?"
Uh...yes??
"Can you do me a favor?" she asks. I assume she's going to ask if she can use my phone. Instead she asks, "Can you call my phone so I can find it? I seem to have lost it."
Sure, no problem.
So she gives me her phone number, and sure enough, after a little while we hear a little song come from the depths of her guitar-shaped Elvis blinged out leather purse.
"Thanks," she says, and digs out her phone.
So husband of mine, if you're wondering why I have some odd 507 phone number in my call log on my phone, now you know the reason.
Just so you know, she called her mom to tell her she made the earlier flight and that she'd see her at the airport. Then she proceeded to pop open her Apple laptop, plug in her iPod and take a nap all at the same time (once we had reached cruising altitude, of course).
Can't wait for those teenager years!
She was the last one on the plane; I assume she was a stand-by passenger who was able to make the flight. So she got up to find a storage bin to put her luggage in, then came back to her seat and was organizing her things. She seemed a bit flustered and was looking all around the seat for something.
Finally she turns to me and asks, "Do you have a cell phone?"
Uh...yes??
"Can you do me a favor?" she asks. I assume she's going to ask if she can use my phone. Instead she asks, "Can you call my phone so I can find it? I seem to have lost it."
Sure, no problem.
So she gives me her phone number, and sure enough, after a little while we hear a little song come from the depths of her guitar-shaped Elvis blinged out leather purse.
"Thanks," she says, and digs out her phone.
So husband of mine, if you're wondering why I have some odd 507 phone number in my call log on my phone, now you know the reason.
Just so you know, she called her mom to tell her she made the earlier flight and that she'd see her at the airport. Then she proceeded to pop open her Apple laptop, plug in her iPod and take a nap all at the same time (once we had reached cruising altitude, of course).
Can't wait for those teenager years!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Happy Mother's Day
On this beautiful spring day I thought I'd share some photos of the plants around our house that are finally in bloom. We've got a Canada red cherry tree that was planted the year Lindsey was born, Lindsey knows that it's "her" tree. We've also got a crab apple tree planted for Marissa, which is also known as Marissa's tree. Both are in bloom right now and gorgeous.
One evening this past week I was holding Lindsey up to smell the blossoms (the cherry tree smells unbelievable). When we got to the crab apple tree, she was afraid to put her nose in the blossoms because she thought there were crabs on the tree.I love how literal kids are -- I would've never connected the word "crab apple" with actual crabs with pinchers.
Monday, May 04, 2009
Arkansas Continued
This photo is compliments of Lindsey -- she did a pretty good job, eh? And there's that sweatshirt that I wore all weekend.
And here's one I took of Lindsey and her Grandpa. She really got to know him well on this trip, and I think the one-on-one time was great. She also spent a lot of time sitting on his lap, looking at photographs on the computer. He showed her pictures of the various dogs that had lived there, of the ice storm that came through in February, and she would ask questions about things, especially about the storm. (Of course about the storm.)
Speaking of storms...
The first night we were there we were treated to a good Midwestern thunder storm. We had gone to bed Thursday night only to be woken by the sound of heavy rain on the metal roof of the trailer. The wind was quite strong and I got up and watched the trees swaying in the wind. The lightning was so constant it was nearly daylight outside, followed by booming thunder. After a while I heard the rain change over to hail, probably small as it was relatively quiet...for hail. With Lindsey's phobia of storms, I was concerned about her waking up, being in a strange place with a loud, booming storm going on around her. Luckily, she never awoke, much to my surprise.
The next morning we told her that there had been a pretty big storm through, she couldn't believe it because she hadn't heard a single bit of it. I also awoke to news of a fatal tornado somewhere in Arkansas. I didn't know enough about neighboring towns but found out it was quite a ways from us. Still, it made me wonder what would've happened had there been a tornado coming through our area, with us staying in the guest house, i.e. trailer.
The entire visit Lindsey wasn't getting to bed on time, yet was awakening at around her same time. By Easter Sunday this cumulative lack of sleep came out by way of behavior. So she refused to come to the table for Easter dinner, and when she did finally come she squirmed in her seat and refused to eat. I think I finally got her to eat a little pasta or something, then a little before 7:00 we headed over to the trailer to get her to go to sleep. She clearly was sleep deprived based on her behavior.
We wrestled about going to bed for a while, then she finally settled in for some reading. So I invited dad over and we finally got a chance to visit. I love talking with my dad, even though we are clearly on opposite sides of the fence. (Just read his blog on his challenges as the -- ahem -- Republican party re-invents itself.) We had a great visit, talking long after I should've gone to bed to take advantage of Lindsey finally sleeping.
The next day was our last, and we packed up and left for the drive to Memphis. All in all, it was a great visit, and we clearly need to get there more frequently...maybe next time when it's a little warmer and less wet.
Return to Arkansas
I mean by way of subject matter, not that we're hopping a plane today or anything...
I did a pretty good job of packing for Arkansas for Lindsey and I, though I did expect the weather to be a little warmer. So the shorts/capri pants that I had packed stayed packed, and my sweatshirt got worn three days in a row, but at least it made for consistency in pictures over the weekend, right?
Speaking of pictures, that was the one thing I didn't pack -- well, I mean, I packed the camera, but the battery was left in the charger on the kitchen countertop. So I was left with mobile pics from my Blackberry until I got to my dad's, when I immediately confiscated his camera for the weekend. Because after all, if he'd had the camera, we would have pictures of the trees, the cabin, the flowers, but not the people. He did sneak one of those in during the weekend, so let's just get that one out of the way right away, shall we?
This is the view from the Jonesboro nature center. It's sponsored and staffed by the Arkansas Fish & Game Commission, so the subject matter had more to do with hunting than nature, but I think Lindsey missed that little twist on the subject matter.
The nature center was one of the highlights of the weekend, especially since it was the one day that was sunny, though the breeze was still brisk. We had a good time checking out the displays; Lindsey played in the little theatre (per previous post) and ultimately we had a very good time. Though it was funny driving over there -- Lindsey is clearly used to being in a dense metropolitan center, because we had to stop during the 25 minute drive there for "snacks" because the drive felt really long to her, apparently. And since I had forgotten my wallet back at the house, "snacks" were compliments of my dad. (I know I know, my husband tells me I would forget my head if it weren't attached to my neck.)
Speaking of forgetting things...
On Friday night I offered to make chicken enchiladas, a recipe I'd gotten off the internet that Wayne and I had been enjoying of late. So Friday afternoon we headed to the grocery store for the ingredients, one of which is 2 C of cottage cheese. So we picked up a 16 oz container of cottage cheese.
When it came time to use the cottage cheese in the recipe, I began measuring out the 16 oz into 1C measuring cups...because apparently in my mind 16 oz and 2 cups are not related. Sure enough, 16 oz is indeed 2 cups, so I feel better for having confirmed that, and my dad feels better for having something else to tease me about. (Hey, at least I didn't make flubber out of eggs on my visit, Kristi!)
Let's see...other pictures...
This was another highlight of the weekend that Lindsey loved, the "chore" of filling the various birdfeeders. My dad would hold her up while she filled the feeders. One evening we set out corn and a few hours later were rewarded with the site of two deer coming out to munch on the corn. (No pics of that since it was near twilight.)
This was another highlight of the weekend that Lindsey loved, the "chore" of filling the various birdfeeders. My dad would hold her up while she filled the feeders. One evening we set out corn and a few hours later were rewarded with the site of two deer coming out to munch on the corn. (No pics of that since it was near twilight.) We also dyed Easter eggs on Saturday, which took all of like 10 minutes. Seems like so much prep time and/or big deal is made of dying Easter eggs, when ultimately it took longer to set up than to dye 10 eggs. Terry was able to use some of the eggs in a potato salad that we ate on Easter, which was divine, by the way, yum!!!
There was more, much more, but I have to save that for another post, or risk taking a lunch afternoon instead of a lunch hour.
A Missing Guest
We had one no-show at Lindsey's party yesterday, a little girl who Lindsey used to go to KinderCare with. They are almost a full year apart in age, but always played together incredibly well, even when Lindsey was 3 and this girl was 2. (Name not mentioned here to protect the innocent.)
This morning I spoke to this little girl's mom, and she was telling me how disappointed she was that her daughter missed the party. She is in a shared custody situation and this past weekend was the dad's turn to have her. This girl's mom had told him about the party, when and where it was, and her daughter was super excited to go. On Sunday night, when the little girl was returned to her mom, she seemed sad and told her mom that she missed Lindsey's party. Bottom line, the dad said he just "couldn't fit it in" to the weekend, so he intentionally missed it. Since his daughter is 5 and can't tell time, she didn't find out until she asked about when the party was going to start that she had already missed it. I'm sure her heart sank whe she found out she'd missed the entire party.
I don't know this man, never met him, but would like to smack him upside the head if I ever do. I don't know of anyone who intentionally disappoints his/her children like that.
This morning I spoke to this little girl's mom, and she was telling me how disappointed she was that her daughter missed the party. She is in a shared custody situation and this past weekend was the dad's turn to have her. This girl's mom had told him about the party, when and where it was, and her daughter was super excited to go. On Sunday night, when the little girl was returned to her mom, she seemed sad and told her mom that she missed Lindsey's party. Bottom line, the dad said he just "couldn't fit it in" to the weekend, so he intentionally missed it. Since his daughter is 5 and can't tell time, she didn't find out until she asked about when the party was going to start that she had already missed it. I'm sure her heart sank whe she found out she'd missed the entire party.
I don't know this man, never met him, but would like to smack him upside the head if I ever do. I don't know of anyone who intentionally disappoints his/her children like that.
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Marissa's new haircut
By the way, in case you missed it, Marissa cut her own hair last week. Some clumps of it were quite short, short enough that we had to go and get a "real" haircut for her, to try to disguise the sections that wanted to stick straight up.
Her new haircut is so adorable on her -- I can actually see her face, her eyes aren't covered by shaggy long hair on both sides any longer. And the stylist did a great job of blending her Marissa's own jagged layers with other layers. It looks similar to what was called a "pixie cut" when I was a kid, and I think it's adorable on her.
I know this video is unrelated, (Marissa sleeping per prior post), but it's cute and you can kind of see her new cut in it.
Her new haircut is so adorable on her -- I can actually see her face, her eyes aren't covered by shaggy long hair on both sides any longer. And the stylist did a great job of blending her Marissa's own jagged layers with other layers. It looks similar to what was called a "pixie cut" when I was a kid, and I think it's adorable on her.
I know this video is unrelated, (Marissa sleeping per prior post), but it's cute and you can kind of see her new cut in it.
Lindsey's Birthday
I now have a little smidgeon of understanding when people whose children are in their 20's say to me, "It seems like just yesterday that they were babies."Just today my eldest turned six. Six, I say! How did this happen? I ran across some photos of her today on the computer as a baby, such a little peanut and a string bean. How is it possible that this event occurred a full six years ago??
But it did, and so she is a near 1st grader, with just six weeks left to her kindergarten school year. She is getting tall, her pants in the wash aren't the little toddler/pre-schooler pants that Marissa's are. (Though the two of them are getting closer in height than one would think.)
She had a wonderful birthday today -- she doesn't realize how fortunate she is. First we took her and 16 of her closest friends to an indoor park for some jumping/climbing/sliding fun. Then...pizza, cake, and 16 presents. Sixteen -- she is damn lucky. And she stayed relatively gracious and kind throughout.
Lastly, since it is her birthday, in family tradition she got to pick the dinner meal, and she chose steak. What six-year-old do you know picks steak, I say? Ours, apparently. So Wayne pulled out some tenderloin this morning which was appropriately marinated and thawed by 5:30 or so. 
Even sweeter, our 3-year-old, who we could tell needed some down time this afternoon, fell asleep in front of the TV, still sitting upright with her legs crossed. So the three of us enjoyed a meal while Marissa slept, then Marissa came up and snuggled on my lap for half an hour before finally decided to eat her own meal. (Is there anything more wonderful in the world than a snuggling, sleepy child whose arms are around your neck and her body totally relaxed against yours?)
All in all, a wonderful birthday that all four of us were able to enjoy.
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