Creature Bug

Stamped Conversation

Steph: I bought some more Forever Stamps since postage is going up on Monday. Yay me.

Jason: Why would anyone buy anything other than Forever Stamps?

S: Well, I'm not sending out party invitations with the Liberty Bell on them. Bleh. I have to have other stamps around too.

J: The Liberty Bell is symbolic and very important to our country. What did Tiffany stained glass ever do to deserve a spot on a stamp?

S: The Liberty Bell is borrring.

J: The Liberty Bell is a national treasure. That's probably why it's on the Forever Stamp. Because it'll be important forever.

*

It's very important that I understand how my stamp-worldview measures up. So, I'm asking you, dear readers, the state of postage in your house. I even made up a little poll here, so you can answer anonymously to protect your stamp preference.

New Trick

Jules has learned a new trick: how to blow her nose.

While this comes in handy as she suffers through this cold of hers--we are constantly telling her "Blow!"--it has produced some serious laundry ramifications.

Yesterday, she walked through the kitchen, and as she passed by the fridge, she grabbed hold of the towel hanging from the handle and blew her nose.

Later, I walked into the bathroom to discover half a dozen washclothes on the floor, all of which Jules had pulled out from the drawer and blown her nose on.

Fabulous.

Week 201: Spring Broke

Dear Mother Nature,

Here's the thing: when we talk about "Spring Break" what we're actually referring to is a break from activities during the spring. Not--as you clearly mistook the directions--a break in spring weather. I'm not talking about the rain. Sure, sure. It's Oregon, we get rain, fine. I wasn't asking for a miracle of sunshine or anything. But to give us hail, to give us frigid temperatures, to give us SNOW is just unkind. And then to give us all that repeated, over the course of several days? Seriously. It was the most craptastic weather week ever.

If we lived on the East Coast, or Alaska, or even Minnesota...I'd understand. Snow happens. But here? SNOW?! The end of March? I think you've got yourself all turned around and upside down. Clearly this must be the case because I see that global warming is affecting Antarctica, what with part of the Wilkins Ice Shelf collapsing and all. I'm just saying, why don't you give Antarctica and us Pac NWers a break and warm us up instead of those poor drowning polar bears. (Or rather, as my geography-smarts husband pointed out, poor drowning penguins. Polar bears are North Pole; penguins are South Pole. Meh.)

I'm even doing my part to help you out. Just last night we observed Earth Hour, albeit with a few minor changes. Obviously we couldn't really be expected to turn the tv off at 8 pm, not with NCAA games going on. But the lights were out, I was reading by candlelight, and to make up for getting a late start on the whole affair, we kept those candles burning until almost 10 pm. See? I'm trying.

And while this week there was more of this...

than this...

no matter what you threw at my man (sleet, hail, snow, torrential rains), you couldn't keep him from doing this:

That's right, no thanks to you, my becoming-handier-by-the-day husband finished a fabulous railing around the patio. So there.

Of course, the weather didn't prevent me from going to see The Other Boleyn Girl with Rachel on Tuesday. It didn't keep Sydney from returning to the farm on Thursday to visit her grandparents, and it didn't keep Jason and I from having a nice relaxing evening on Friday watching 3:10 to Yuma. There's only so much you can do to dampen our Spring Break.

Just for future reference, however, school ends for me the first week of May, and so I fully expect some sunshine around that time. Otherwise, there will be serious grumblings going on around here. Thanks much. Don't think it doesn't go unnoticed that next week is supposed to be nicer weather, which coincides quite nicely with Washington's spring break. Why do you have to go and be all unfair like that?

Well, that's about it. Sure, spring break was more like spring broke, but any week that none of us is working is pretty good week afterall.

Later gator,
Stephanie

PS: Give my regards to the Easter Bunny and the Toothfairy.

*****

(c) Creature Bug 2008. All rights reserved.

Week 199: Just sleepy

My brain is brimming with ideas to write about, so much so that I wake up in the middle of the night stringing phrases together, words zooming through my mind.

But I'm sleepy from interrupted sleep, and tired from uninterrupted parenting, so I put off writing to nap or sleep. Our beloved nanny is gone to France. My parents have been in Egypt and Israel, so Sydney hasn't been to the farm in a few weeks. Jason has parent/teacher conferences late tomorrow and Thursday night. Thank goodness for friends who call for dessert, and other friends who are willing on short notice to watch the girls while I teach.

And so the words simmer in my thoughts, giving me headaches, distracting me from my task, escaping only in tile form in the Scrabble games I have going with my Facebook friends. Tonight I had the opportunity to play all seven of my tiles to form the word "idolizes" for a whopping 92 points. But since I was playing against a student, I kept the "s" to myself because...well...because. It just didn't seem nice. And 41 points is no small score anyway.

At some point, I'll have to carve out time to sit and write. Or sit and read. Or sit and figure out my NCAA bracket. Or just sit and be. That sounds nice.

Week 196: Flowers and Fires

One way to work your way out of a melancholic slump is to spend time outdoors. I'm not the world's most outdoorsy person (it's not a coincidence I don't ever write about our camping adventures...that would be because there aren't any), but I do love a sunny day outside.

Even though there were things I definitely could have been working on inside (like grading papers, which is actually what I should be doing right now), I decided to bag it all and just work on the backyard. After church, we decided to shop around for a backyard fire pit. We had seen one that we liked at Home Depot, and thought we'd check out Lowe's. Didn't actually make it to Lowe's because I remembered that we needed ice cream, and 30 minutes later we were walking out of Walmart with coffee ice cream, milk, and a fire pit. An hour later, I went back and bought a bag of marshmallows and some roasting sticks. I also picked up 15 of the most adorable little primroses you ever did see. Because I wanted to. And because they were so ridiculously cute.

So the afternoon was spent putting together the fire pit and planting primroses in the backyard. It did not escape Jason's attention that I managed to buy yet another pair of gardening gloves on my primrose buying trip.

J: Are those new garden gloves?

S: Yep.

J: What's that...four pairs you own now?

S: But I didn't have pink ones. And the other ones are dirty.

J: You know that's what happens to garden gloves. They get dirty.

S: Which is why I always have to buy new ones.

It's true. I have a thing for new garden gloves.

The weather wasn't exactly what I would call 'fabulous,' but it wasn't raining and it wasn't freezing, so that's always a plus for February. Sydney played away on her newly installed play structure--the one that has been dismantled since last November when we decided to put the new shed where the play structure used to be. I have to say, it's very handy having the slide and swings working again. Sydney would probably swing all day if someone was there to push her. Jules, on the other hand, is terrified of the swings. That's okay by me. I get a bit weary of swing-pushing anyway.

Simply put, it was just a nice day hanging around outside as a family. Sydney helped me plant/fertilize/water the primroses, donning her mismatched Dora gardening gloves for the occasion, and finally deeming the flowers "beautiful and so nice smelling too!" Julianne wandered around emptying bottles of bubble liquid all over the patio. Jason managed to outwork all of us by assembling the fire pit, chopping up wood to burn, and putting in a fence post which involved things like digging a hole and mixing cement.

After I planted the flowers, I had a small moment of conflict. According to my beloved Sunset magazine, when you plant flowers you are supposed to snip all the flowers and buds off so that the plants can focus all their growing energy on roots rather than feeding the flowers. I might have done this except that we're having a family shindig at our house this weekend in celebration of Jason's brother and SIL visiting from Rhode Island.

I just couldn't stand the thought of all those guests at our house, admiring our new backyard, yet wondering what in the heck happened to our flowers. I want the backyard to look pretty, not like a pack of deer (team of deer? gang of deer? ah, herd of deer) wandered through our subdivision on an evening stroll, pausing only to nibble all the petals off my flowers. So, I fertilized the flowers, and Sydney and I whispered words of encouragement to them. I have faith they will survive. If they start looking weak, then next week--after the guests are gone--I'll invite the deer over for lunch.

As it started to get dark, Jason got the fire going and I brought out the bag of marshmallows and box of graham crackers.

Now, I ask you: is there anything more lovely than spending a Sunday evening roasting marshmallows in your own backyard? I even got so caught up in how fun and exciting it was that I totally forgot about the Oscars (even though I had been planning all afternoon on watching them, drat it!). I didn't realize my forgetfulness until this morning, at which point I was, I admit, kind of bummed. But then I remembered what Sydney said to me last night when we all headed inside after filling our tummies with sugar:

"That was so. much. fun. SO much," at which point she smiled and sighed and turned her eyes to the heavens in sheer bliss.

Well, if I had to miss the Oscars for anything then I'd want to miss it for something that was so much fun.

*****

(c) Creature Bug 2008. All rights reserved.

Week 194: Busy not blogging

I have undertaken the monumental task of putting our pictures in photo albums. This has been a resolution of mine for, oh, the last four years. I have albums completed up until Sydney was born, or rather just before she was born. Just now I'm getting around to dealing with the folders and folders of photos that I have saved on my hard drive (and an external for back-up). It's quite handy that my pictures are so marvelously organized by month as it makes this whole project much easier.

I have to say that I'm really getting a great deal of satisfaction out of choosing pictures and then designing the layout for the page. It brings back grand and glorious memories of the days I used to teach yearbook. My mind is a running monologue of words like white space, eye lines, and thematic design elements. I have dedicated a certain number of pages to each month, and the page that introduces the next month is a consistent design throughout the album. Instead of using traditional albums, I've decided just to go the route of using My Publisher. Yes, it's more expensive than just printing the pictures at Costco and putting them in an album. No, I don't care. I can swing $35 for a 100-page album. (Note to my dad: you should totally be doing this! REALLY. It's a matter of family urgency that you get the photos in order since we'll never be able to figure out your organizational system to do it ourselves.)

(Here's a spread from the Christmas pages, and yes, I broke the eyeline on this spread and have come to terms with it. Turns out it's very tricky to keep eyelines in My Publisher. No big deal.)

The plan is to do two albums per year, one for the first six months and one for the last six months. The plan was also to complete a month a day (beginning with last July and then working forward), and I started this whole photo project last Friday. Tomorrow I finish book one. Right on schedule.

 

Unfortunately, I've gone from "I'll get around to organizing the photos sometime," to "I'm organizing the photos now! At this moment! Get out of the way!" That's good for keeping momentum going, not so good when I should have mailed out Valentine's cards last Saturday and will instead be mailing them out tomorrow. I feel awful about my tardy cards, but nothing I can do about it now. Except do better next year.

*****

I gave up daytime blogging and websurfing for Lent (which is to say, no Internet stuff except email while the girls are awake). I don't miss the websurfing. It was time for a change because over the last few months I  found myself just migrating towards the computer to check on this, check on that, and before I knew it, an hour later I'm reading the court transcripts from Britney's child-custody case while my girls pull on my arms begging me to come play with them. Bleh.

So, after some soul searching, it seemed like I needed to back off a little. I just didn't need to be on the web that much. I didn't. I don't. I get frazzled that I've wasted my time, frustrated that things that should get done aren't getting done, and impatient with my sweet little girls who need me way more than anyone needs my comment on their latest post. Hard to believe, but it's true.

It's oddly freeing, keeping away from reading news on the Internet. However, it's been a lot harder to keep away from blogging, whether reading, writing, or commenting. It had become so much a part of my daily life that stepping away--even if just for a few hours--was really hard. It was a habit that needed to change though. My advance apologies if you post some critical news and I'm not johnny-on-the-spot to comment. I think about you though. Honestly.

And speaking of Lent, if you're looking for a book that doesn't dwell too much on the denominational aspect of Lent and instead focuses on the spiritual journey, I am thoroughly enjoing the book I'm using as a daily devotional, Small Surrenders. Very thought provoking. Highly recommend it.

*****

Sydney had a dentist appointment today, and I've figured out the way to make her look forward to that is to schedule an eye appointment the day before. As she said today, "Dentists are fun. Eye doctors are not fun. That new toothbrush is very funny!"

The dentist appointment went splendidly. The eye appointment still has me blinking slowly, warming up to the idea that Sydney needs bifocals. Already her prescription is +6.00 in her right eye and +6.5 in her left eye; the bifocals add another +3 to the bottom half of her glasses. I didn't think it would bother me that her eyesight is unchanged and in some cases worse, but it does. I started to write about it last night, but it was too emotional for me. I'm not as brave as Sydney is.

*****

I baked eight dozen cookies to take to my students today as an early Valentine's gift. Even though I have class on Thursday--which would be a more appropriate time to give them cookies--several of the students will be gone on account of baseball and softball games. I thought they deserved cookies too, so I stayed up until 11 o'clock last night finishing off the last batch.

I'm pretty sure the only thing they'll remember about today's class is that they got cookies.

I'm okay with that.

*****

I'm so glad you all approve of Trader Joe's. Which isn't to say that I'm searching for approval, except that sometimes I am. Also, I should note that Corvallis DOESN'T have a Trader Joes (thanks, Jen, for pointing that out). Eugene has one. Now I know what I'll be doing while Jason is running the Eugene Marathon in May.

(c) 2008 Creature Bug. All rights reserved.

And a happy new year to you

I am totally loving all the helpful comments you are giving me! All of them. Love them.

And it's quite possible that you're going to convert me into a "laundry room on the second floor with the bedrooms" kind of gal. Who knew that inside my hard adamant exterior of preconceived notions was, in fact, a gooey layer of flexibility...surrounded by warm fuzzies...and chocolate?

Keep the comments coming. I'm furiously writing them down, and nodding my head, and exclaiming at how smart you all are. And if an idea pops into your head about something that you love about your house and you demand that every body else should have that in their house too, let me know. Not very often am I vulnerable to being bossed around, so you should take the opportunity while you have it.

  In other news, in case you didn't know, today is the Chinese New Year. Happy New Year! I believe it's the year of the rat. (My sister can correct me if I'm wrong...she's currently in Thailand or Malaysia or somewhere exotic like that.) Jason and I celebrated by eating some curried noodles that were most certainly more along the line of Thai food, but it was all we had. If Lost hadn't been on tonight, we would have further celebrated by watching Ratatouille, featuring the darn cutest rat there ever was. But as it turns out even adorable rats sometimes lose out to Jack and Kate and Hurley. That's how it goes.

*****

(c) 2008 Creature Bug. All rights reserved.

The call at 5:15 am

Normally, a phone call at 5:15 am is not the kind of phone call you hope to receive.

Unless...it's snowing outside.

In which case, a phone call at 5:15 am is exactly the kind of phone call you hope to receive. The head of the social studies department at Jason's school called on Monday to inform us about the school closure due to snow. And then AGAIN this morning, our phone rang at 5:15. Matt was on the other line: "School is canceled."

You know that feeling you got when you were a kid and you heard that school was canceled for snow? Become a teacher and you get to experience that feeling all over again.

Also, here's a lovely story my friend Devon wrote about snow and community and rescuing her family's nursery from disaster. It's a good one.

*****

(c) 2008 by Creature Bug. All rights reserved.

Week 191: It's furry cold

Even though my students from Alaska and Wyoming make fun of me when I complain about the cold, the low temperature tomorrow is 15 degrees. FIFTEEN. I don't care where you live, that's cold. I hear it's supposed to get up to 33 degrees tomorrow, which barely squeaks in under my range of acceptable temperatures. I am opposed to all temperatures lower than my age, and every year that I get older I lose a degree of tolerance for cold weather (this will explain a lot when I'm 60 and end up moving to Florida). Romantic wintertime vacations to Maine aside, I can't bring myself to get outside much when it's so cold.

However, it still remains necessary to leave the house every once in awhile. And when it's this cold outside the only thing to do is bring out the bear skin coats, trimmed with fox fur.

What's that? You don't have bear skin coats, trimmed with fox fur? That's too bad. They're so warm. Actually, we only have one bear skin coat, and it almost fits our largest little bear cub. (Post Script: My dad tells me he doesn't think the brown fur is bear skin, but rather something else less exotic, like sheep skin. Little Bear was momentarily disappointed before saying, "Maybe I could be a lion, maybe?")

Jason's grandma got this coat in Alaska almost thirty years ago, before it was politically incorrect to dress children in real animal furs. (And also, as Jason said today on the way to church, there's something about wearing real fur that is "very sad.") Grandma actually got two coats, which Jason's cousins wore before passing them down to Jason and his brother. We now are the proud owners of one of the coats, and Jason's cousin owns the other one.

Little Bear finds the coat very entertaining, and she also feels quite daring in it. I feel a little bit alarmed, in a highly comical sense, like I'm walking beside a tiny bear cub.

Watch out. She's fierce.

One thing I'm good at

Not to brag, but I think I'd say there are a few things that I am capable of doing better than the average person. Which isn't to say that I do them exceptionally well, but probably better than 50% of the population. Or at least, 50% of the people I know. Okay, let's just say I can these things better than Sydney and call it good:

• sing
• clean
• apply mascara
• organize

Although I'm not talented enough to do all of these things at the same time, each thing individually I can manage without too much trouble. The one thing, however, that takes a bit more thought and determination is the area of organization.

I think growing up with a mom who was a professional secretary taught me the importance of organization. My parents gave me filing cabinet when I was still in middle school, and I used it faithfully to organize and file away everything that I thought was worth keeping. School art papers. Old book reports. Articles from magazines that I had found especially interesting (or worth looking at again, like that Seventeen article on Kirk Cameron that I held on to for...much longer than I should have). Saving papers ended up serving me quite well because when I became a teacher I used some of my old high school and college papers and hand-outs as examples.

Even now, we have two massive filing cabinets in our garage that hold all my old teaching materials. I can't exactly imagine myself using them again, but I keep all the lesson plans anyway. In the house, however, I keep all the information that I deem important and necessary. Bills, paper work, employment stuff, etc.

So, when Parent Bloggers Network wanted me to try out an organization system from Dayrunner, I was curious to see what new organizational tricks I could learn. My fingers were crossed that I would get a big, erasable wall calendar that I could post in our kitchen. I had seen one someplace and wanted one with all my organized heart.

I got one.

And I do love it.

Even though there are computerized versions of calendars/organizational systems that people use--ones that I've even reviewed--I find that I am a paper and pen kind of girl when it comes to calendars. I love the one that Dayrunner sent me because (1) at 17" x 24" it's big, (2) I can include notes to myself in the sidebars, and (3) I can look at it and always see 35 days out. For me, this means that it doesn't look like a traditional calendar with day 1 at the top because I'm weekly erasing the old week and inserting the new week that is still four weeks away (sound confusing? just check out the photo here to help clarify). I still use a hanging month-by-month calendar for long term events and appointments, but for more immediate things I have fully switched over to using this one. I still use the other product for my screen saver and email reminders, but Dayrunner is much more my style as far as calendars go.

Even if you don't want to give up your computerized day planner, Dayrunner also helps with the mountains of paperwork that perhaps infiltrate your household like they do mine. SO MUCH PAPER. I'm good about recycling junk mail before it even gets in the house, but still. It's crazy how much paper we collect, and we don't even have kids in school! I try to weekly file away important papers, but there are some papers that need to be out for easy reference.

Enter Dayrunner's color-coded folders and storage boxes. As soon as I got them, Sydney and I assembled a few and put them on top of the filing cabinet. Sydney adopted purple as her personal storage box, and said I could have yellow and Jason could have blue. We don't actually need that many storage boxes because we don't have that many important papers per person, but Sydney does try to put all her art papers in her purple storage box. I mostly make use of the color-coded folders: green for bills, purple for professional, blue for family. Within days of incorporating the color-coded folder system I was able to easily answer Jason's question of: "Where is that professional development paperwork from school?"

"It's in the purple folder on top of the filing cabinet, my sweet." And he found it all by himself. Of course, he's a very capable and intelligent person and might have been able to find it on his own anyway, but the point is now he knows the new system and doesn't have to wonder where I might have filed away some paper of his. He can also file papers into the color-coded folders on his own without worrying that he might mess up my filing system. It only took us 10 years to figure out how to work together on this, but hey, we still have another 60 years ahead of us so better to start now than never.

Finally, the Dayrunner product that deserves points for cuteness and cleverness:

Hanging reminders!

Their designed use is to hang on doors, but I'm not putting a marker at any level Jules can reach. Plus, we always have things hanging on our doors that aren't important so I knew I'd overlook it even if I could magically train the girls not to play with it. Kitchen cabinets at eye level are so much more effective for me: right next to the phone and the keys to the car so I can write both phone messages as well as reminders of things not to forget before heading out the door. The trick is to write the reminders on this little guy otherwise he won't help you out. Like, Tuesday I was supposed to take a few things to the party, but forgot all but one because I hadn't written myself a note.

There are all kinds of uses for organizational systems, but because our family doesn't really have that much going on then I am not at the point where I can fully maximize everything Dayrunner has to offer (like the set up pictured here). However, I can say that what I tried out has helped me keep events, papers, and partial memory-loss in order.

Checking In

Tonight I'm using my computer time to write a review that's due tomorrow, so no stories tonight.

Later Gators.

The Highlights of Thanksgiving--and the day after

• Getting to sleep in
• Waking up to beautiful sunshine! In November! It was gorgeous outside.
• Having a Thanksgiving meal with my entire family...all four of us siblings haven't been together for Thanksgiving in at least seven years.
• Getting to also see my grandma, aunts, uncles, and cousins
• The whole family gathered in the livingoom, around the fireplace, watching Ratatouille
• Eating a wonderful meal on both Thanksgiving Day and today
• Not going shopping
• But still going to Costco to get diapers, as well as pick up their annual Costco cookbook (free to members all weekend...yay!)
• Playing Candyland with Sydney
• Drinking a delicious peppermint mocha from my father-in-law's coffee shop
• Relaxing

It's been a lovely time being with my family and Jason's, and this year we seem to have scheduled it just right so we didn't feel rushed and frantic and stressed. Or maybe we just ate enough turkey to forget that we might have felt that way at all. Either way, it's been good.

A Familiar Face

Jason and I had a rare night out tonight: going to see Our Town at the college. It was a strange feeling--being in the audience--because not very often am I in the audience for their shows. Usually I'm back with the director, taking notes, checking on things backstage. Tonight I was just there to enjoy myself, and I did.

Before the show started, a young lady came up to me and said, "Oh my gosh, Stephanie! Hi! It's so good to see you!"

I said, "Oh, hi! How are you?" and acted all surprised and friendly and acquainted, but in actuality I had NO IDEA who this person was.

We chatted, but I kept it pretty superficial because I couldn't figure out who she was. Did I have her as an actor? Was she one of my students? Was I her camp counselor? Did I go to school with her? I didn't even want to say something like, "So, I have two kids now," because what if she already knew that? How much did she know about me, and what if I said something like, "Yeah, I teach at the college now," and she said, "Right. I was your student." Embarrassing.

She asked about my sister, and so then I had lots to talk about with that. I never know how much people know about Andrea, so I can talk on and on about her. "She was living in China, then Florida, then Tibet, then Florida, then home, then China, now in Pasadena." My sister is a treasure trove of conversation fodder.

And then after about 6 or 7 minutes, I finally figured out who she was: She was my college roommate. For a year. And then she was my sister's college roommate. For a year.

I remembered just in time to say, "It was so good to see you, Cheri," before she left. Whew.

We did catch up more during intermission, during which time I had the opportunity to ask more pertinent questions and share more interesting information. "Did I mention I have two kids? No? Well, let me tell you about them..." We traded phone numbers, and we're going to have coffee sometime after Thanksgiving.

All I can say is, I cannot be held responsible for my brain's activity after becoming a mom. Whole sections of my life have just disappeared, details forgotten, people's faces vanished. I can't see this condition improving any time soon. So if you come up to me and I mention that I have two kids, just smile and say "That's wonderful," instead of, "I know. I babysat them."

Believe me, I still like you even if I don't remember you.

Sweet & Sour & Spicy

)) SWEET ((

As if the shoe fairies heard me saying, Maybe I should get Jules a pair of shoes, I found out today that I won a gift certificate for Vincent Shoes. Oh, which pair to choose...lucky me!

)) SOUR ((

The boys' soccer team that Jason coaches had a play-off game tonight, and unfortunately they lost. End of season. Unlucky him.

)) SPICY ((

Today kicks off the first day of NaBloPoMo, and already we're reeling in a bucket of emotions covered in a blanket of mixed metaphors. Hold on.

PS: Tomorrow I'm talking about chickpeas. Oh, yes I am.

PPS: Am I keeping you in suspense about the third sound? Now the hype is going to be bigger than the post. But it's coming. Promise. While you're waiting, go listen to The Howl again. Do it. Or just watch it with the sound off and giggle at Jules. The camera loves her.

FYI

Jules napped for just over an hour today and it was a beautiful thing. Not sure if this long-nap thing is going to stick, but I'm hoping that if I keep her tummy full of rice cereal and applesauce and Cheerios then she'll bless my efforts by giving mommy a break.

Jason--home this morning because his Inservice Day meeting wasn't until the afternoon--quickly convinced me that I shouldn't worry about the laundry, or picking up toys, or making the bed, or cleaning the bathroom during this blessed moment of silence. Instead, he said, let's watch Grey's Anatomy online since Sydney won't get back from my parents' until tonight.

So we did.

And even though I have grown a bit weary of Shonda Rhimes telling me that "change is good" and I'm supposed to love these hyper-angst ridden characters despite their annoying habits, watching Grey's was still way better than cleaning the toilet.

Week 174: You know

You know how some days you get so busy doing laundry,
and grocery shopping,
and organizing the junk drawer,
and chasing kids,
and cleaning spills,
and paying bills,
and calling companies,
and reading stories,
and wiping the countertop,
and trying new recipes,
and changing diapers,
and gazing at the full moon,
all the while waiting in anticipation for the return of your favorite tv shows that are making their fall appearance
so that you get too busy to even turn your computer on let alone write about your life?

Yeah, it's kind of like that.

Week 171: The Last Hurrah

I don't have much in me for writing tonight, but I figured I better catch a few of the weekend memories before it's too late.

Knowing that after the weekend Jason would be resuming classes and full time working (plus soccer games four evenings a week) made us want to fit as much family time into this past weekend as we could. We spent Saturday at the Oregon State Fair, where we fulfilled Sydney's month-long dream of eating cotton candy. It was everything she hoped for, and the excitement of tasting her first super sugary treat was worth the $5 we paid for it.

I'm a big fan of the state fair, and even though we didn't get to do all my favorite things this year, we still fit in visits to the barn, and the petting area, and the amazing pig show where Sydney had the courage to pet the tiny pig. We had corn dogs, cotton candy, elephant ears, and curly fries. Massive amounts of calories, indeed. Sydney isn't into the rides, which is good because we're not really into fair rides. All in all, it was a grand time, and I'm already looking forward to next year's fair.

We also filled the weekend up with a wedding, a family reunion with Jason's side of the family, and then a get-together with my family at the Family Farm. My cousins were in town from Erie, PA, and so a good portion of my family was at the creekside bbq. It was a good way to end the summer, but it was also a little bit sad too because it was the last time I'll see my sister for awhile.

She moved back from China with plans to stick around for the school year, but then she got a job offer in San Dimas, CA--one that will hopefully help her fulfill future professional goals--so she took it. Plans to live at the Family Farm in Washington changed to the new plan of living in SoCal. So, tomorrow she and my dad are driving down south, and she'll be moving into her new studio apartment in Pasadena. Even though I have never expected my sister to stick around long, and even though living in SoCal is certainly better than her living in China or Florida, I'm still sad to see her go. Andrea and I are quite different from each other. To borrow a phrase from London Southern Belle: I'm a "roots" girl and my sister is a "wings" girl. Nevertheless, I always miss her when she's gone. On the upside, though, maybe it will give me an opportunity to take a road trip down south, whereby I might have the chance to meet some of you. We'll see.

I'd like to bring a little more pep to this post, but with Jason gone 12 hours a day, and my sister now gone, I'm feeling a bit down. To add just a bit to my melancholy, Marilyn--whose blog I have been reading for years, and who I had the pleasure of going to a Save Darfur rally with--has decided to step back from blogging. Even Ally Bean isn't posting this month, although she says she'll be back in October.

At least Sydney won't be leaving since pre-school isn't on our agenda. I definitely need her around to keep me company (and keep my sane) since Jules is a force of nature as she's ripping/breaking/chewing/biting or otherwise destroying our books/cds/coffee table/magazines/chair rungs/candles. I say keep me sane, although she too is having a hard time with her daddy being gone so much. Many nights over the past couple weeks (since soccer practice started four weeks ago) she has woken up crying, telling me that she had "a sad dream about daddy." This morning she was crying and crying, and then in a stroke of poor timing a spoon rattled in the kitchen sink causing Sydney to go running into the kitchen hoping her daddy was there making her breakfast. He wasn't. She was heartbroken.

Soon enough we'll slip into our regular routine, and September will find favor again in my eyes. But last hurrahs bring by their very definition "endings." The calendar might say that summer doesn't end until September 21, but that huge pile of leaves in our front yard, as well as my general blah feeling seems to indicate that my soul ain't following the calendar. Summer is gone, and for Sydney and I its absence is sorely noted.

Week 166: Back Home

After a week away from our house, it's so good to be home again. Even though I got to see my family almost every day and was able to spend time at the Family Farm picking blueberries and wading in the creek, I never really get comfortable anywhere now that Jules is getting into everything. Constantly moving things out of Jules' reach, constantly pulling things out of her mouth: I lose all my sense of adapting to my environment when I'm focusing on entertaining a very active baby. I had a startling realization that for as much as I don't particularly like cleaning the house and doing laundry, it is something that I've grown accustomed to, and I find the scheduled monotony of it reliable and hazard-free. Plus, our house is child safe with the magazines placed out of reach and the age-appropriate toys ready at a moment's notice. Indeed, so now you know my little secret: I'd rather fold a load of socks than spend long periods of time outside the house with Jules. I'm so not an easy-going mother. *sigh*

However, there were definite treats of the week. Going to IKEA was one of them. Sarah and Toby, Andrea, Jules and I spent Thursday there. We had been prepared for the mad swarms of people that the media had promised, but the only mad swarms were of police officers. There was even one particularly irritable officer who had a word with Sarah regarding her method of turning around after heading the wrong direction. I think the officer was probably just irked that she had been assigned the duty of containing the IKEA crowds. You know how crazy people get when they're on a mission to find the perfect Swedish bookshelf.

The store was busy, but manageable, and it was everything I hoped it would be. It's smaller than Seattle's version, but we still managed to spend over three hours in there. One thing I found particularly interesting in IKEA is that all the books displayed on the bookshelves are written in Swedish. I picked up an Anne Lamont book, but quickly discovered I wouldn't be able to read it. I suppose it adds an air of authenticity, and as an added bonus they don't have to worry about people stealing the books. Except for people who read Swedish, I suppose. Heh. Anyway, those of you in the area really should check it out (it's right by the airport).

My other small accomplishment of the week was finishing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It was good, full of tender moments and heartfelt courage. I fully enjoyed listening to it, and Rowling's imaginative tale kept me entertained throughout. Only afterwards, when the rush of emotion after finishing the series wore off, did I have any complaints about the book. Because I can't seem to discuss the book without inserting spoilers (much to Jason's dismay since he's still working on it!), I'll wait a month before giving my full opinion. I will say, however, that while it was a fitting conclusion to the series, it doesn't exactly hold together. Or rather, it's held together by plenty of magical Scotch tape. Nevertheless, for all its flaws, Rowling is still a brilliant storyteller.

The final excitement to the week was a milestone anniversary for Jason and me. Ten years. A whole decade. After all this time, I can say there are lots of things I'd change about our wedding except one thing: the moment I said, "I do." That's definitely the best decision I've ever made in my life. Jason and I celebrated our anniversary rather anticlimactically by going to see the new Harry Potter movie. It would have been nice to go out to dinner or dessert or something, you know, sophisticated but it didn't quite work out that way. At any rate, it's always nice to just get out without the girls. After all these years, it's the small things like holding hands instead of kids that make my heart flutter.

Week 165: To work, to anniversary, to trash the dress

Jason's parents went to Puerto Vallarta this week for a vacation, and since Jason's dad owns his own coffee shop then he needed someone to fill in for him while he was gone. Jason, being the good son that he is, stepped up to the task and is working all this week, making sandwiches and lattes and smoothies. Even though spending a week of his summer vacation working isn't exactly fun, he wanted to do it because his parents desperately needed a vacation. Plus, now he knows how to make coffee drinks, a talent which I will have to take advantage of. Of course, we don't even use the coffee maker that we have, let alone would we go get an espresso machine, but still. It's nice to know that if something happened to the guy behind the Starbucks counter after I ordered a latte, Jason could jump in there and save the day. So, he knows CPR and how to make a mean mocha -- what else is there to know? Oh yeah, and he can change a messy diaper. Seriously. He's the perfect man.

The girls and I are spending part of the week in Vancouver with Jason, and a few nights at home to get the mail and water the grass. I wouldn't much care for all the driving except that it gives me an opportunity to listen to HP. I'm half way through!

Tomorrow is our 10-year wedding anniversary, and I will try my best to get a post up celebrating the event. Already the day is full with a trip to IKEA (IT OPENS TODAY!! WOO HOO!) and a photo session with Sarah. I'm quite excited about the photos Sarah is going to take. Ten years after the event I've decided to Trash the Dress. Oh yeah. It's going to be so. much. fun.

Week 161: The Solo Week

Not only am I officially on summer blogging hours (which means, incidentally, less blogging), but last week I was in charge of parenting my two little whippersnappers all by myself, so I hardly had the emotional fortitude to sit down at the computer and write without falling asleep from sheer exhaustion. Obviously, I parent by myself all the time during the day. That's my job. But our bedtime routine relies heavily on two people. Sydney needs her 30 minutes of cuddling in the reading chair, with her bedtime stories, and her blanket. Jules needs nursing, a little bit of rocking, and then a nice back rub before going to sleep. Generally speaking, these two things go on at the same time. Jason mans his station, and I man mine. With Jason gone, it's a bit tricky and as Sydney would say, "Hawd Wurk."

I didn't mention it here because I am irrationally afraid of things that go bump in the dark and didn't want too many people knowing that I was holding down the fort solo, but, yes, Jason was gone all week, taking a group of 8th graders to Boston, NYC, Philly, and DC. Even though I would have loved to go, taking babies is not encouraged. And while some junior high girls are all a-twitter around babies and certainly would have offered to hold the adorable Miss Julianne, it would have resulted in them missing out on the educational wonders that abound in the aforementioned cities. Plus, nursing a baby around junior highers would probably be high on my Least Favorite Activities. So, anyway, I stayed home.

Once I got past the panic that clutched my heart after dropping Jason off at the airport (what if something happens to him? what if something happens to me? what if I need the cell phone? what if he forgot the tickets in the car and now can't get ahold of me because I'm driving home and no one can reach me?), I girded myself up for "just another week." For as much as we did miss Jason (and the few moments when I wasn't in top form), we got through it just fine. I've come to realize that it's a lot about being mentally prepared. I knew that Saturday would arrive eventually, and he'd be flying in. If for some reason his flight had been delayed/canceled/rained out/snowed out/technical difficultied away from landing on Saturday, I'm not sure how I would have handled that. There was no Plan B to Operation Survive-the-Week.

Fortunately, I did break up the week with a trip up to my parents' house for my dad's birthday on Tuesday, then stayed overnight and went down to the creek on Wednesday to watch Sydney and Clover play in the water. Friday night, I stayed with Jason's parents; Saturday was another birthday party; and then Saturday night Jason came home. As Jason said, "What's seven days? After travel time and driving to the airport, it's like 2 days away from each other. Then there's meals and sleeping, so really, it's like 20 minutes. Twenty minutes away from each other isn't so bad." Yes, after 10 years of marriage we have learned to comfort each other with lines from Seinfeld. Cheaper than a Hallmark card.

Today and tomorrow we are busy getting ready for our trip, and 48 hours from now I will be in Kauai breathing in the lovely tropical breezes and slathering on sunscreen. It's only been two years since we went last, but we're so in love with Kauai we could go there every year and not get tired of it. Our hotel has wi-fi, so I'll probably post from there. I'd thought about leaving the computer at home, but with no laundry to do, and no meals to fix, and my grandma going along to hold Jules all the live long day, I'll have plenty of time to read, lounge around, and relax. I'll post pictures so you can live vicariously through my vacation.

Next post...from the sandy beaches of Kauai.

And, yes, I deserve it.

The Ordinary & The Extraordinary & The Bees

Angie, my former student who once had short hair but now has long and beautiful hair, tagged me for another Eight Random Things deal, and since I was responsible for keeping her up late many many many nights in high school reading obscure poetry and writing complicated literary analyses, then I will comply. I think it is, after all, the least I can do to make up for all the pain and suffering I caused her.

But, because I still have that slight tendency as a teacher to not do exactly as I'm told (because teachers like to boss people around much more than they like to be bossed around, that's why they become teachers don't you know?) then I'll take some liberties with the meme. I present to you Eight Random Things. Very random.

:one:

A year ago we got new neighbors on one side of our property, and they have the most unfortunate view of our backyard from their front door. Jason has even been to their house and looked over at our house from their property and cringed at what he saw. Evidently our neighbors have given up hope that we will fix our backyard, and just recently planted a whole row of arbor vitae to obscure their view. It is, I am quite sure, not to be interpreted as wanting privacy (there's a long discussion of why I think this is true) but rather because they'd rather look at a green leafy wall than a broken deck and pit of weeds.

Jason said later, "They'll be sorry when we get our backyard fixed." Oh yes, we'll show them.

Maybe it's true: good arbor vitae make good neighbors.

:2:

Jules and I went to the hospital yesterday to see the newest addition to the Inkling family. He is adorable, and has a mass of dark hair, and looks like his brother. It was a bit surreal to see Jules next to him because I still think of her as a tiny baby, but next to an actual tiny baby she looks like a giant baby. My sweet Inkling friend is doing well, and I'm just as happy as can be for her.

:tres:

Yesterday was additionally memorable because Jules got her first tooth! She's been such a happy baby about it, hardly even having a fever, so I was quite surprised to see that little chip of white poking out of her gums. At five months old, she's way ahead of where Sydney was, who didn't get her first tooth until she was almost eight months old. Sometime this weekend I'll have to get a picture of the new tooth (bottom right) and show it off in all its toothy glory.

:iv:

For as mentally exhausting as this grad class is, I thoroughly enjoy the class, my classmates and the professor. There are just five of us total--all women--which allowed me to feel comfortable taking Jules to class today since the babysitter wasn't able to make it. If anybody had passed by our classroom this morning, they not only would have seen the four of us students engaged in a discussion about thematic structure but also a professor holding a little sleepy baby. My professor is a mom, and from one mom to another, she knows what I'm going through. I find great relief and joy in that.

:E:

We're having issues with honeybees around our house. At first, I was confused as to why little honeybees were frantically buzzing against the screen door trying to get in the house. I'm not afraid of honeybees, but not often do I find them abandoning the great outdoors for a visit into my dining room. Turns out, we had a bee colony in our chimney. And those little bees were just trying to figure out how to get home. Sometimes the poor little bees would come down the chimney and beat against the glass door of the fireplace, which kind of of freaked me out a bit. I would come home and find dead honeybees all over the floor, where I presumed they must have died after escaping the chimney and then not finding their way back to the hive.

Despite the fact that I have seen X-Files and know about the secret alien plot to train honeybees to become fierce and infect people with smallpox, I still maintain my stance that they are normally gentle little creatures. However, we didn't want bees flying about our house, so we closed the draft on the chimney, and hoped they would find a new home. We think they did because we don't hear them buzzing in the chimney anymore, but maybe they're in stealth mode. Tricky.

:SIX:

Speaking of bees, the most memorable bee sting I ever got was one summer when I was probably around ten years old. My three siblings and I, along with my cousin Greg, were out in the corn field hoeing the weeds out of the corn rows. My littlest brother Jake bent down to pick something up, whereby a distracted Tyler accidentally chopped him in the head with a hoe. Much crying ensued, as well as quite a bit of blood and so Cousin Greg (only a few years older than me) picked up Jake and ran to our house across the field. I remember watching blood drip all over Greg's Ocean Pacific shirt, and as I ran after him I stepped on a honeybee. Fast forward five minutes to our house: Greg is in mild shock, Jacob is screaming, adults are inspecting the non-serious head wound, and I'm soaking my foot in the the kitchen sink failing miserably at being stoic about my own pain. Reflecting back on that moment I realize that I was probably--bee sting and all--still in a better spot than my mom who somehow managed that chaotic scene.

:7 1/2:

I was flipping through channels last night and heard the sound that warmed my heart: Mary's laugh. Who's Mary? She's a judge on "So You Think You Can Dance." It's back for its summer run, and I'm thrilled. I loved that show last summer, and I can't wait to watch it again this year. Dancers always impress me; that must be why I like the show so much. In fact, as I think about it, it's the only talent show I like watching. Hooray for that.

:Miscellaneous (poorly written) Trivia:

I've had my eyebrow pierced, biked the Oregon Coast (and camped along the way), spent a summer in Romania, picked up a hitchhiker (when I was in high school), and forgotten the words to more solos than I can count (including the National Anthem). I hate mushrooms, have low blood pressure, and haven't dyed my hair in many years. I'm feeling more stressed out now than I ever have before in my life, and were it not for my determination to keep in the habit of writing I would give up blogging for a couple months. I like Frosted Flakes, bagels with cream cheese, and a book I'm reading called Steering the Craft by Ursula K. Le Guin. Writing teachers should read it. I'm going to a wedding tomorrow, and am so looking forward to seeing Jaime in her wedding dress. Also, eating cake is fun too.

:the end of the Eight + a Few More Things:

I'll be back on Tuesday with a birthday post for my birthday girl.
Have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!

The upsides of downs

Along the lines of if life gives you lemons...

Down: Jason was playing basketball this morning when he got an elbow in the face. Split lip. Very gross looking and extremely unkissable.

Up: His lip wouldn't stop bleeding, making it difficult to teach. He had to go in to urgent care (they decided against stitches) late in the morning and then got to come home and hang with us. He may not have been feeling fabulous, but he was home and that counts.

-----

Down: Woke up this morning to discover Daisy the Wonderdog had gotten sick in the night. In our room. And in Jule's room. Also very gross and extremely un-endearing.

Up: Spent the afternoon shampooing the carpets. Nice and shiny.

-----

Down: Couldn't get myself and the girls ready in time to go to this morning's celebration of a colleague's book getting published.

Up: Didn't have to fix my hair.

-----

Down: Just realized that I have a paper due on Friday that requires more research than I had previously thought.

Up: Blog fodder, baby. Blog fodder.

-----

Have any lemonade of your own?

Week 151: Clean therapy

(Post Edit: I realized that I wasn't specific enough on the "voting for my niece" collage. Sarah entered it, not me. She's the one who needs the shirt--that way we can match. Because we're so cool like that.)

I'm cleaning my house today. I'm doing laundry. I'm going grocery shopping. I'm throwing stuff away.

I am stressed out and emotional, and I'm hoping that folding clothes and scrubbing the floors will make me feel better.

Worse case: I'll still be emotional and stressed. But my house will be clean. And it's always important to have a clean house for those (pity) parties I throw myself.

If you're looking for something to do I'll send you here for lovely pictures and Photoshop stuff, and stories about a ranch.

Or here, to vote for my super duper cute niece (in collage 3) who turned the fabulous three last Thursday. Birthday party last Saturday. Lots of fun.

Or here, the pep talk I keep giving myself today. No progress yet on that though.

All right. Panic surging in my chest, better go find the Windex.

Random pieces

It's spring break in Oregon, and the adults in this household are filled with happiness and joy in the thoughts of being able to sleep in for the next week. At least, you know, the thoughts fill us with happiness since it is so far from the reality of still waking up when the kiddos wake up. (Although I must say in regards to sleeping in that Sydney has slept in some mornings until 8 AM as of the whole change the clock bit. Hallelujah.)

Before I head off to play in the proverbial sunshine (since we won't actually have any real sunshine), I leave you with a few thoughts dredged from the trenches of my brain.

--I think we can safely say we have one fully potty trained child in the house. My mind can hardly wrap itself around this concept, but it's true. Sing it with me, "Underwear, underwear, she's a big kid now!"

--The toilet in Sydney's bathroom had been having some issues (probably all that potty training), so I called a plumber to come take a look. We had tried to fix it, but for reasons unknown to us we couldn't figure it what was wrong. The plumber took a look and said, "Oh the problem is this little string here tangling everything up." My thoughts, "I did not just pay someone $85 to tell me that all I needed to do to fix our toilet was cut a string." Doh. Fortunately, we had problems with a leaky pipe and a sink stopper not working properly that kept him busy enough so I didn't have to make him start folding laundry. Hey, I paid for an hour--I was getting an hour's worth of work!

--Sydney kept referring to the plumber as "my little man." I don't know where she learned this phrase, but as the plumber was replacing a pipe she called out, "Momma! Where's my little man? In the bathroom?" Exactly.

--I had the second worst hair cutting experience ever yesterday. The first was back in high school when I got my hair permed and the lady used THREE bottles of solution on my hair and consequently burned my scalp so horribly that I left the salon BLEEDING. Anyway, yesterday the hair lady must have been having some serious anger management issues as she yanked, pulled, and tore my hair out. I yelped, "OW!" no less than a dozen times and told her to take it easy. She didn't. I cried. Worse: I have to go get my hair cut again because she did such a horrible job. Serves me right I suppose for making a last minute appointment, but it was at a high-end salon where stuff like that should not happen.

--I went to a book sale at our library yesterday, spent $7, and came home with a dozen books. Two nifty ones in particular: Poems to Read Aloud and The Read-Aloud Handbook. Other notables: The Living (Annie Dillard), The Nanny Diaries, and Out of Africa. Another one I'm looking forward to reading through is a 1899 publication of Silas Marner (George Eliot). It has the reading notes from a Fred Parsons, class of 1927, Canby High School.   

--My sister's birthday was on Wednesday, and I meant to dedicate a Women are Fantastic post to her on Friday, but couldn't squeak it out between the book shopping and the hair pulling. I will say it is because there are no words to adequately capture her, instead of saying I decided to go to bed instead of write. Happy birthday sissy pissy. Meow.

--I have the wonderful problem of not knowing how to spend an Amazon gift certificate. What to choose...such a dilemma.

--We are going to the beach (Seaside) this week for a two-day vacation. It'll be crazy with kids, but fun anyway.

--Sydney has totally mastered pronouns. I find this thrilling. AND one of her favorite books is To Root, To Toot, To Parachute: What is a Verb? She wanders around the house reciting, "To dare, descend, defend, disturb -- if it's an action, it's a verb." I love this child.

--I went to a Leadership seminar today and was so encouraged by it. The topic was about dynamic communication, and I got some solid ideas that I can incorporate into my speech class. The more I teach speech and communication the more fascinating I find it.

--I have finally registered for my last graduate class needed to finish my master's degree:Linguistics. I saved it for last because I am not looking forward to it. But once it's finished then I can reward myself by taking a Yeats class this summer just for fun.

--I started running in order to get back in shape. I haven't gone running since last summer, and it was a bitter realization when I discovered that my whole body was in serious pain after running only a mile. It was easier thinking I was still in moderately good shape.

--I put myself on the "cereal diet" where all I eat is Special K cereal for two meals a day. Supposedly, I'll lose six pounds in two weeks. At which point it'll be Easter and then I'll gain it all back in one day eating chocolate. Heh. Just kidding. (not really)

--Speaking of chocolate, I bought a dozen Cadbury eggs to have on hand for when Easter comes around. I learned my lesson two years ago when I couldn't find any eggs left after Lent was over, and had to eat chocolate chips. Very anti-climactic.

--I plan on taking all of next week off from blogging, but I might scrape up a post on Monday just so my brain remembers how to string subjects and verbs together. Otherwise, have a wonderful week!

Weather

Tuesday morning, "Look Momma! Snow!"

Tuesday afternoon, "Look Momma! More snow!"

Wednesday morning, "Look Momma! More snow!"

We're going on almost forty-eight hours of snow on the ground. I think that must be some kind of record around here. It was neat on Tuesday when Sydney made a snowman and my class was canceled. But, oh bother, I'm ready for some regular old rain now instead of weather predictions of Freezing Fog. We PacNorthwesters just aren't set up for snow, and it makes traveling a real pain. Actually, just getting out of our driveway and up the hill is the biggest problem.

However, the roads were clear enough today that I was able to maneuver the truck out (hooray for four-wheel drive) and find some warmth. First off, a massage to help relieve all those poor muscles that are still adjusting to the posture of nursing. And then later in the morning a drive down to Corvallis to have lunch with two wonderful friends and introduce them to the lovely Miss Jules. Meeting up with old friends is always fabulous, even if the weather isn't.

Hopefully tomorrow will be clearer!

Losing Power

Yesterday morning I was pretty sure that my day could not possibly be as interesting as the Thursday my sister had. After all, her day involved watching a leashed cat eating dumplings in a Chinese restaurant. Hard to top that.

Nevertheless, my day wasn't without a bit of drama. We had a fierce windstorm here yesterday which resulted in us losing power. We were gone at the time of the power outage, believing whole heartedly that our (new) VCR was recording The Office and Scrubs for us. We got home--two hours after the power had gone out--to a dark home that had (1) no recorded TV shows waiting for us and (2) a cell phone and laptop computer with dead batteries.

Boo.

"What are we going to do NOW?" we wailed in unison since our main forms of entertainment had been taken away from us. But, of course, we didn't wail too long because the novelty of losing power is still kind of exciting to me. We, being candle burning folk, had the house glowy and bright in no time. I even brought out the candlesticks, which I never use because their uncontained flames always alarm me a bit. And when I say "never use" I mean the candlesticks we used last night are from our wedding. Nine and half years ago.

It was a nice change of pace to wander around the house with candlesticks, feeling just a little bit like old pioneers. Of course, the old pioneers wouldn't have had to disable their garage door opener in order to get the car in the garage. And the old pioneers wouldn't have rummaged through storage looking for a corded phone to replace the cordless phones. Nevertheless. We spent the evening around the fireplace playing cribbage and being thankful that Sydney was staying the night at my parents' house so that we didn't have to worry about her burning herself on the candles. Eventually we trotted off to bed, going to sleep with the smell of snuffed candles lingering around us.

And then we woke up this morning.

Still without power.

No heat. No toast. No hot apple cider. No long hot showers (although fortunately we did still both get hot showers since it had stayed hot in the tank). No hairdryer. No email. No Internet. And (possibly) no food still edible in the fridge.

No fun.

A full twelve hours without power, and already the adventure had worn off. As I headed off to my ultrasound appointment (at 7:00 in the morning!), I prayed that the power would be back on when I returned home.

Thankfully, it is. I needed some electricity to help boost my spirits since I'm not in the cheeriest of moods after my appointment. It appears to be that somebody has played a terribly mean practical joke on me because the ultrasound revealed that not only am I probably not at 40 weeks today (which they had estimated) I may in fact still be TWO weeks away from 40 weeks. Talk about a loss of power.

Ah well. Baby's heart was still beating strong, and that's the important part. So she comes later rather than sooner. So we get to have a Christmas with three instead of four. So this little wind storm of a Baby has knocked our parental power out. Even though it's not terribly convenient, we'll wait it out. I've got plenty of candles.