One last post for 2010

Weather wise, it's been a poetically perfect December. Poetically?, you ask, perhaps with a raised eyebrow or two. Not exactly the typical word of choice for weather. Ah, but so it was, just like poetic justice or other such poetic things. The month started off with snow, just as December should have. (None in November, mind you; it waited until December 1.) As the month progressed, the snow level increased just enough to match the increasingly Christmasy atmosphere. We had a few warmer days right before Christmas that threatened to melt our white Christmas, but low and behold, Christmas Eve arrived with a nice dusting of snow that was just enough to make things pretty again but not enough to make any road trouble. A perfect Christmas snow indeed, one that even the off duty snow plow folks can enjoy at home. Of course, Christmas Day always ends, and then there's the nasty reality that even though we've just had the biggest holiday of the season, we're still less than a week into the real winter, with months of cheerless frostbite looming in the new year. (Did I mention that there was a spectacular lunar eclipse on winter solstice day? That's what the news tells me at least; my baby let me sleep through it.) But wait! Our December had another surprise in store: it got warmer. And warmer. And so, while my relations in so-called warmer parts figured out what to do about their frozen pipes, my girls and I went out shopping with no need for anything more than a light jacket. At night. The snow? Gone. Seems right, too; what's the point of snow if there's no Christmas to go with it? Now, I know that we'll probably get back to the regularly scheduled weather one of these days. But in the meantime, I just wanted to let the world know how grateful I was for our lovely December weather. :)

Thank you, me

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank myself for being a better record keeper in the past. You and your old school paper records just saved the day. So, thank you, me. And, to future me, I'll see what I can do to return the favor. (this post is intended to be strange . . . it is directed at a very specific audience . . . me, the author; the rest of you can ignore it if you wish)

Amanda is ready for the desert

Went for a little walk with my eldest today. Hadn't gotten far at all when she declared quite emphatically that she did NOT like the snow. So, if anyone want to give her a desert vacation, she'll probably thank you. :)

The Bank: Our Biggest Fan

Periodically, the bank in charge of our credit card rewards our loyalty by raising our credit limit. All we have to do is either 1) keep the card for a really long time or 2) actually use the card . . . a lot. And so today, they rewarded our charging by inviting us to charge even more than we could before! Who says the banks have no holiday spirit? They're all ready to deck our halls with all the red and illusion of green we want. Does it make me a grinch to just want everything black instead? :) (Financially speaking, that is; true green also good.)

The Misunderstood Remote

The Story (story version): Once upon a time, there was a universal remote named Phil charged with giving direction to the lives of a TV (Em), a DVD player (Sheba), and a VCR (Merson). The remote did its job so well that even when its owner could no longer care for it, it was sent along with the other appliances to a new family. There was another remote that went with the appliances as well, a remote with more buttons, but one only capable of controlling a single machine, the DVD player (that remote was called Toe). The family who inherited the devices was thrilled with the collection, although they largely ignored Phil at first. Who could blame them? It had been years since they'd had remotes at all, let alone the stuff the remotes were supposed to control.

Eventually, though, Dad in the new family discovered that while Toe was great for telling Sheba what to do, with Phil he could not only command Sheba, but also control Em, too, and even Merson, all without leaving the comfort of Blue, the couch. And so began a golden age for Phil, when once again he was truly appreciated for his talents.

The Mom of the new family, however, did not fully appreciate Phil. She used him occasionally, but usually grumbled things about how lazy the rest of the family was for not getting up to push Em, Sheba, and Merson's buttons. Mom did appreciate Toe, however, and tried to take good care of him. One day Phil stopped working, and so Mom did the most insensitive thing of all: she took away Phil's batteries and gave him to the kids to play with.

Phil suffered in silence for countless days. Dad missed Phil and suggested getting new batteries for him, but it seemed that Phil was beyond repair. He finally drifted down to the basement, no longer interesting even to young master Spencer, the younger son of the family, aged 1. Oh, to be reduced to such a state of wo! But then . . .

In her efforts to protect Toe, Mom brought Phil back out the basement. Just to be fair, she once again tried giving Phil new batteries. Phil's red light blinked when Mom pushed buttons, but neither Em, Sheba, nor Merson responded to any of Mom's commands. She sighed, tossed Phil aside, and went back to pushing buttons by hand. Then young master Spencer found Phil, and decided to play with him again. No one realized there was a problem until it was clear that Em and Sheba were no longer on speaking terms. Mom and Dad tried in vain to make peace between the two machines, using Toe and the machines' own buttons to no avail. Mom even tried to use Phil, but nothing Mom or Dad could do could get Em and Sheba communicating again. The only one who seemed at all benefited by this turn of events was Merson, who could communicate with Em without any help from either Phil or Toe. Finally, Mom decided to ask a friend for help. Mom's friend then brought over another remote, Victor . . . and a big instruction manual to go with him.

It turned out that Victor could only help if Mom taught him how to talk to Em (or any of the other machines). Em only needed one small command to make up with Sheba, but it would take a remote to issue the command. After much reading of Victor's manual and much googling for codes for Em, Mom began the long task of educating Victor. Finally, Mom succeeded and Victor reunited Em and Sheba. Mom then returned Victor to his original owner so that he could not accidentally be used for evil by any of the children of the family.

Mom was still puzzled, though, about how Em and Sheba had gotten in a fight to begin with. She knew from her efforts to get them back together that the trouble hadn't arisen either from Toe or from Em or Sheba's own buttons. Phil was dead, so he couldn't have caused the problem . . . or could he? And then Mom realized the truth: Phil was NOT dead! Phil was very much alive! And he had been brainwashed by young master Spencer (or perhaps young master Michael . . . or both . . .)! At last, Mom finally understood Phil and began to fully appreciate him.

Mom decided that the best way to show Phil how sorry she was for mistreating him in the past was to rehabilitate him. This time she used her googling skills for Phil's benefit and began the careful task of retraining him to communicate with Em, Sheba, and Merson, just as he had before. She rejoiced when she succeeded and vowed that Phil should never again be neglected. She gave him a place of honor hidden away from young masters Michael and Spencer and also charged mistress Susan to help her in her quest to protect Phil, just as she already helped to protect Toe. Dad, of course, was also glad to hear of Phil's return. And so, they all lived happily ever after. :)

Plain talk explanation: Our TV and DVD player mysteriously stopped talking to each other after a toddler played with our not-so-dead universal remote. We finally figured out that the problem was definitely remote related and realized that the remote was indeed still functional, albeit deprogrammed. And so it came to pass that we now understand the previously misunderstood remote. And Mom (the author) is feeling very tech-savvy for having done all the remote control programming. :)

The ethics of glitter

We received a packet from an institution the other day which, along with its plethora of paperwork, included some glittery confetti type stuff, the sort that threatens to irrevocably coat your whole room if you open the envelope too quickly or carelessly. I managed to hold off the glitter storm (for now), but it got me thinking. How ethical is it to include glitter/confetti in envelopes? If there is some sort of pleasant surprise inside, like a check or a birthday greeting, it might be kind of fun and almost worth the clean up. However, I think that it might be less appropriate as congratulations for nothing more than extra paperwork to fill out. Seems almost like adding insult to injury at that point: congrats on the extra paper work, and now you get to vacuum again, too! Perhaps I am overly jaded from living amongst a herd of clutter creators. I must admit that it was kind of fun finding one of the sparkly stars stuck to my baby: new and improved baby, still a cute as ever, now with added shine!

First snow on December 1st

What punctual weather we have this year! Ordinarily (by what we know as ordinary, a rather short span actually in the long scheme), we get our first snow in November (nothing to speak of, just flakes), and then December, that classic month for white, usually ends up rather brownish green, with no real snow until January. Today, however, was the first snow. In December for a change! Guess I should think about getting those fall things put away and the winter things out. In the meantime, we're ready for anything, be it snow or warm spell: we've got a Christmas wreath on the door, and a pumpkin on the doorstep. :)

Of Visits and Viewpoints

Today I went on an outing to a place I'd been before as an infiltrator, i.e. someone who didn't officially belong in the place, but who was pretending to. My role today was much more fun: VIP visitor. Part of the VIP visit was a tour. The tour itself was interesting, but I also found it interesting to imagine how my tour group and I looked to the other people we saw and to imagine things from their perspectives. For instance, we saw a few patrons of the establishment, the folks who come to utilize the services offered at the facility. True, I'd never been a patron of that particular facility, but I could imagine how a big tour group might look to them. Were they curious about why we were touring? Or were they just trying to be patient while we got out of their path? Then there were the tour guides, who were also workers at the facility. Although I've never done what they do, I could imagine how the rooms and equipment I saw must look different to them, since they actually work with the stuff rather than just order work done. I also saw a bunch of ordinary people, the folks who have a reason to be at the establishment but who weren't currently concerned with the area we were in. I wonder how many tour groups they see and whether they find them interesting. There were also helpers in charge of making the visit enjoyable for all us VIPs. I imagine that tour groups all start to look pretty much the same when you deal with group after group like they do. I went on my first VIP tour many years ago to a different facility in a completely different place. At that time, I didn't really appreciate how tour groups affect (or don't affect) the regulars at a place. And then I spent a few years watching other groups. I really do enjoy being in VIP groups. But I'm also okay with being one of the observers. Hope we didn't disrupt anyone's day too much.

Some random things I learned/saw on my visit: There is a University that has the same tune as the hymn Come Ye Children of the Lord as the tune for its school song. And it's NOT a school in Utah or even a religious school. Also, I saw a purple and green duck. Very interesting, to say the least. It looked black at first, but upon closer inspection its plumage was clearly dark green and dark purple. I wonder whether it's a natural phenomenon, or whether someone had a very bizarre sense of prankery (yes, spell check, I know it's not a regular word, but I like it anyway).

All in all a very interesting day. It was fun to be a VIP. And it was also fun to see the kids smile and get their hugs when we retrieved them from their babysitter.

Vinegar Man to the rescue and other tales from the Food Shrine

I confess, I love shopping at Food Shrine. Yes, I had my time of mourning for the old store and my frustration with the crowds that came with the grand opening. But now, I have moved on and thoroughly embraced the Food Shrine and all its exoticness. Someday I even hope to find the ricotta cheese. But I digress . . . on to today's tales.

Vinegar Man to the Rescue!
There was trouble on the baking aisle. Big trouble. Two little boys wrestling loudly in the confines of their race car shopping cart. Most disconcerting. But then . . . Vinegar Man to the rescue! The store worker in charge of the vinegar bar area that day came over and asked if we would like to try some bread with vinegars or olive oils (and yes, I do mean the plural for both). The boys calmed down fast as the vinegar man handed them little slices of baguette bread with a little bit of olive oil in a cup for dipping (the Mediterranean version of bread and butter). I tried something a little more exotic that I'd been eying for awhile: peach vinegar. It was remarkably tasty, and surprisingly peachy. Mayhap I'll try the berry vinegar next time, just for fun. The best part of it all, though, was that thanks to Vinegar Man, the rest of the shopping trip went much more smoothly. Thank you, Mr. Vinegar Man. You saved our day.

Wild, Wonderful Waffles
Ah, but the vinegar incident is not our only tale from Food Shrine today. Our first bit of foodie fun today came from one of the waffle makers from the waffle station. He left his station to give samples of his wares to customers in the produce section, where we happened to be. Today's flavor: pumpkin. Surprisingly tasty, actually. We were also surveyed about our feelings regarding gingerbread waffles, which may be next month's exotic waffle, assuming they come up with a suitable recipe.

Chocolate dipped WHAT?
The visit from the waffle man reminded me that some baked goods might be nice, something in the kaiser roll department, perhaps. It just so happens that such rolls are located within view of the candy section (the one that looks like it should have "The Candy Man" as perpetual background music). Naturally, the boys wanted to pass through the candy section when they saw it, and so we took a little detour. One of the features of the candy section is the wide selection of stuff hand-dipped in chocolate. The first time I saw the place, it looked like the employees had gone on a sweet-grabbing spree through the store and then dipped it all in chocolate. Today, however, I found out that they will dip ANYTHING in chocolate. Having found samples in the candy section before, we looked for them again today and found what looked like chocolate-dipped potato chips. I asked the lady at the counter what they were. And that's exactly what they were. And they tasted like potato chips, dipped in chocolate.

All in all, a fine day of shopping at Food Shrine.

A little request to the West and anywhere else involved in this plot

Dear rest of the world that is not here,

Please stop taking away our friends. We do appreciate that you send us new friends from time to time, but we're very sad about all the ones who are moving away. Maybe the rest of the world could just come here instead?

Sincerely,

me

So, where have I been?

For the most part, I have been living in my own little world within walking distance of home, with the double stroller as my main vehicle. I am grateful more than ever for my neighborhood and its amenities (although I won't be sorry to use a vehicle again if one is available, since it's getting cold). My middle child likes vegetables when his older sister isn't there to tell him not to. My younger middle child likes baths and has made friends with one of the boys who does playground monitor duty at my oldest child's school. My oldest is deeply engrossed in the social politics of kindergarten, but I'm afraid she will never be quite as popular as the little girl who brings candy to share with the other girls everyday. After all, how could I support such a practice? What if I ended up in the same family as a dentist someday? (Veggie-Jared would be a prime candidate, don't you think?) No, we'll keep depleting our stash of Halloween candy privately I think. My baby sleeps at night . . . hallelujah! I have great hopes of reuniting with the lost portions of my brain someday. :) And now, I must be off to run errands again in my little world. But yes, I am still here . . . somewhere.

The Secret of the Temple of Food

Just two days after my first visit to Food Shrine, I found myself in need of another grocery trip. So, off I went with my youngest three in tow. It was every bit as crazy as before, if not more so, and I ended up parking in front of the old Great Falcon, wondering why it was again that I couldn't just shop there instead. The first step was to load the kids up for shopping. I found that the new Food Shrine carts have a little circle built into the handle area which can serve as a cup holder or a bouquet holder (as indicated by the words on the handle bar). Somehow I don't think it was designed with sippy cups for child passengers in mind.

We didn't have the cart for long, though, since one of the coveted "car" carts was waiting for us at the store, a big blue race car with side-by-side seats and steering wheels for my boys. It was nice for a while, but soon enough the true nature of the seating arrangement came out: "the better to hit you with, my dear [brother]." So, we wound our way through the store, squeezing through crowds of people surrounding sample tables in search of frozen chicken, vinegar, barbecue sauce, and other such mundane items for our lunch the next day, punctuating the buzz of foodies with periodic cries from battered brothers. While waiting at the check out line, two people sized us up and said, "Wow. Can't believe you came here with three kids!" Yeah. You and me both.

So, after all that, it was not surprising that I was less than excited this morning to find us out of milk and eggs. Since Dad took the car today (i.e. the one that actually goes more than one direction), my shopping options were rather limited. I made cinnamon toast for the kids' breakfast and schemed about how to squeak through as long as possible without milk. Finally, though, I gave up and headed off to the store with my youngest three, this time strollered and front-packed, as we were going after taking my oldest to school. Amazingly, things were quite a bit less hectic, at least in part of the building. And so it was that we discovered the secret of Food Shrine: they've got a regular grocery store hiding in the midst of all that gourmet stuff!

Yes, indeed they do, and while the gourmet and prepared food sections were still fairly crowded, the grocery section was actually not that much busier than on a typical day at the old Great Falcon. True, I didn't know any of the cashiers checking people out (I knew almost all of them before), but the lines were reasonable, and we came through the experience with minimal trauma. All we had to do was stay out of the gourmet stuff. So, if any visitors to my world should be interested in touring the Food Shrine, be sure to let me know so that I can show you the secret section, too. Amazing how they managed to fit a grocery store in there with everything else. I just might go there again sometime soon. :)

The first trip to the temple of food

As I often do these days, I took a stroll to the local grocery store. The first part of the walk was pretty typical. I only had one child with me, thanks to the others either napping at home (with Dad in charge) or being otherwise occupied elsewhere. Once we got to the shopping center, the new experience began. The old Great Falcon store building is still standing, for now, but the letters are gone, replaced by a banner directing people around the corner to the new Food Shrine. Today was the first day of the grand opening, and so the old store's parking lot was as full (or fuller) than ever, thanks to all the traffic for the new store. I enjoyed the new sidewalks put into the shopping center, and I also found the new grassy patch aesthetically pleasing. By the time we hit the new sidewalks, the new store was in view. The cars haunting the lot looking for spaces made me especially glad to be using a stroller for wheels instead of a car. The older stores we passed on the way to Food Shrine looked new, thanks to a center-wide face lift. Quite a change from what I'd seen the first time I'd explored that area of the shopping center a few years ago.

Then came the big moment, entering the store. A greeter was on duty with a store map, which I gratefully accepted. I used it to locate our first stop, customer service, where we needed to return some items from the old store. The person ahead of us was returning some prepared food not to his liking, and he was surprised to learn that he was getting double his money back. I, on the other hand, just got a simple refund, since I was returning stuff without complaining. Afterwards, my stroller buddy and I headed into the fray, picking up some free health and beauty samples and trying a pumpkin yogurt concoction as we went. We needed diapers and milk, both of which were near the area we were in at the time. Having secured those items, we gaped our way through the rest of the store. Big stuff here, bigger stuff there, here some gourmet, there some gourmet, everywhere some gourmet. And yet, they were missing two of the fun items I like to get from a mart on the other side of town. Pity. However, they did have sample cups by their seafood soups, and so I tried some lobster bisque. They have an incredible candy section that makes one expect to hear the Candy Man song start playing; they even make their own cotton candy on site. Their prepared foods section is a restaurant. Literally. They even have extra seating for it on a upper level. The old store had one set of public bathrooms. The new store has at least four, distributed on both levels. Nothing drives home the hugeness of a place like extra bathrooms.

My stroller buddy fell asleep while in the store, most likely some time before we hit the candy section, since he was underwhelmed with it when we passed through. I thought about picking up something fun and exotic to take home to share with the family. Dragonfruit, perhaps? Or maybe some of the swiss cheese I sampled in the produce section? Or perhaps some pasta or fried chicken from the hot foods bar? In the end I went for something familiar and simple: croûtons. I like croûtons, and I hadn't purchased any in awhile, although I did devour a good portion of my friend's croûtons the last time I went to visit her. And so it was that I made my way to the checkout of the Food Shrine with three items: diapers, milk, and croûtons. Rather a funny order from a place offering pour-it-yourself olive oil, grind-it-yourself nut butters, roast-it-yourself coffee, hand-dipped chocolates, and all manner of fine and exotic foods.

On the way home from Food Shrine I noticed how very bare the rest of the stores and restaurants in the shopping center seemed. Nobody at Burger Frank's or China House. Only one lone customer at Jalepeno's. The parking lot was still full, maybe even more full than before, since the time for celebrity appearances was approaching. I dodged the reporter I saw in the store in favor of a cheese sample. I came home and told my tale to the family. The kids thought it sounded fun. Dad, not a big fan of superstores to begin with, looks forward to avoiding Food Shrine as long as possible. And everybody liked the croûtons.

Getting my money's worth from my new cookie sheet

Last night after an extracurricular activity for my oldest, I decided to go to the store. The store is in a rather interesting state; Great Falcon (my pseudonym for the store) is closing to make way for the chain's biggest grocery store version, Food Shrine. And so, our beloved little Great Falcon was looking rather bare, since it will be closed for good in just a couple of days. Nevertheless, they still had milk and bananas, and a very nifty surprise. Whilst I was hunting for goodie mixes in the baking section, lo and behold, there was a display of Betty Crocker products proclaiming that I could get a free Wilton brand cookie sheet just for buying four of their products. We'd been wanting a new cookie sheet since last year but were too cheap to get one; good things come to those who wait, at least in this case. So, I happily picked out some Betty Crocker goodie mixes and a cookie sheet, with a bit of Gold Medal flour as a token tribute to almost-healthy food. It was, in many ways, a terrible shopping trip, thanks to hyperactivity from my older ones and a diaper blow-out by the youngest one, not to mention a nice big mess from broken spaghetti sauce courtesy of one of mine. But, it's nothing a little sugar can't cure, right? And so today, I baked three pans of cookies and two pans of corn dogs. I'd say I definitely got my money's worth. :)

I miss my computer: an explanation

They all told me to go to bed and get some sleep. But I didn't. And so once again I am Zombie Mom. But, you see, no matter how grouchy I am this morning, at the time I was just so happy to be visiting with my long-lost machine friend.

The latest laptop, though dead, is alive again thanks to a monitor on loan from a human friend. Despite my initial resentment of the laptop for not being its predecessor, I have since become rather attached to it, and hadn't realized just how much I missed it until getting to spend time with it this evening.

Until tonight, my electronic friend. (We'll have to work out a better visiting schedule, though; the rest of the family doesn't want to sleep in like I want to.)

Help! My house is eating my stuff!

Okay, so I suppose some of the residents at my house are helping in the process, but we really have had quite a rash of missing stuff lately. Most recently we are missing the camera, which is quite a problem, since we have a baby with many, many absolutely adorable outfits who needs to photographed! (Not to mention other cute photo-worthy kids in our midst.) However, for those who may have wondered, the house did NOT get my secret candy stash (although it tried), and I'm pleased to report that the baby had a great sleep last night after I finished the last two pieces of candy from the secret stash, which actually lasted almost a week this time. :)

Nothing like a nice, quiet weekend at home

. . . And this is nothing like a quiet weekend, albeit one at home. As I sit surround by little people, I realize that "quiet" is not something we have around here very often. About the closest we get usually is "not yelling." So, here's to noise! Because no matter how much we grown-ups feel crazy sometimes in the midst of the child-induced chaos, the noise makers sure are cute.

The Best of Both Worlds (dessert-wise, that is)

The day before yesterday, I thoroughly enjoyed a certain package that arrived containing a certain delicacy from the west, courtesy of those kind enough to pick some up at their local store (thanks again!). Yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised to find another delicacy at my own local store, one which is usually found further east of here and which I really ought to send to my benefactors out west. Between shipping services and enlightened store managers, it seems that in my present location I can now enjoy the best of both the eastern and western worlds; at least as far as American-made desserts are concerned, that is.

Indian Fall

I went out this morning for a bit of cool air . . . and there wasn't any. And it was only about 8, maybe 8:30 then. The calendar says it's fall, and we've had a couple of days that have felt reasonably fall-like, or at least they did in the morning, but apparently fall is not yet committed. (Sigh) Maybe the weather will get the hint if I put a pumpkin out on the porch.

Cries versus Politics

Today was one of those interesting days in parent land. On the one hand, there was the younger bunch, who all seemed to spend a lot of time complaining this afternoon (not really their fault; life is tough with Zombie Mom; things got better after the pizza man came). On the other hand, there was the oldest, whose exploits drew the attention of more than one neighborhood mom and strained the bonds of an emerging friendship to the breaking point. The younger kids all go to sleep pretty well at night, and I know they'll all be fine in the morning. The eldest, however, is a bit more difficult at bed time, and will most likely be dealing with repercussions from today for quite awhile now. The take home lesson from today is that I will gladly deal with the crying babies; their problems are much simpler to fix than those of our emerging socialite/politician.

The Wonderpets Save the Bunstance (this one's for you, Father)

For those readers who may not be familiar with Wonderpets, it's a Nick Jr. show aimed at preschoolers, featuring a hamster, a duckling, and a turtle who are daycare/preschool pets by day and rescuers by afternoon/night. The disk we checked out today has a couple of stories involving Ollie the rabbit. Ollie is a cute little bunny, but also a very, umm, ADHD sort of bunny, to use the socially acceptable term. In plain terms, however, he is essentially an annoying rabbit. In familial terms, therefore, he is a bunstance. So, the Wonderpets save the bunstance on more than one occasion. But of course they don't quite bill it that way, even though I know the duckling would agree with the term if she knew it. :)

What I didn't do this weekend (volume 5)

This weekend's report is a bit delayed both because of a longer-than-usual weekend and because I actually (gasp) did something this weekend. First, though, the didn't do's. This weekend I didn't accidentally return my child's school library book with the big stack of public library books (hooray!). I also didn't run in, or even attend, the local 5K race that I've not attended for several years now (although we--as in more than just me--are actually thinking about possibly going to it next year; would the world survive if we did that?).

Now, on to the confessions of doing. This weekend I went to the local Labor Day Arts Festival. That event had been a "didn't do" more than once in the past, but I must admit to feeling strangely accomplished after actually going this year. I took a camera with me, which led to my other big act of doing: I finally took a kid picture that makes me feel warm and fuzzy about photography like my famous peony picture did way back when last year. Here it is . . .



Ta da! :)

How to be a coordinated dresser with minimal effort

The secret to being a coordinated dresser with minimal effort is really very simple:

Own nothing that clashes with anything else you own.

Tada. This principal can also be applied to the clothing of anyone else you are in charge of dressing. The easiest way to make it work is to only own simple clothing, i.e. mostly solid colors and only colors that work together. I could say more, but noting the basic principle will suffice. Now, to go purge the kids' drawers of clash-ables . . .

Extra! Extra! Baby sleeps seven hours after Mom eats See's candy!

Although experts cannot yet determine an absolute connection between consumption of See's candy by nursing mothers and the night time sleep of their babies, preliminary studies suggest that See's candy administered to the mother may be connected to longer infant sleep. This in conjunction with the immediate mood-elevating benefits observed for mothers consuming See's suggests that further research should be conducted. (Hint, hint; you'll be heading off to the area of a shop again soon, right, o faithful reader? Anybody know how to get See's to sponsor a study, like Dove chocolate did awhile back?) In other words, thanks again for sending me a treat, o beloved parents of mine! :)

"It's all Utah"

Then: Us/me with a new baby girl in the land where people shopped at Wal-mart with many children and seagulls frequented the parking lot. Also available nearby, the dollar theater and See's candy. All in all, a pretty nice place to be; even the heat could be tolerable, since it was dry heat (as evidenced by the very brown lawns all about). Did I mention I'm doing grad school at BYU?

Now: Us/me with a new baby girl plus three older siblings, one of the parents shopping at Wal-mart with multiple children. The next-to-youngest, age 16 months, was just the right age to appreciate the seagulls that came to scavenge the last bits of his snack that he'd thrown down on the parking lot before we headed home. It was hot today, and the lawns are showing it (or rather showing the lack of rain for who knows how long). However, even though the temperature sign we passed on the way home said 97 (and that was around 6 p.m.), it didn't really feel to bad, since it was dry heat. Besides, if we want to beat the heat, we can always go to the dollar theater. Or, better yet, I can hide in the basement with my box of See's candy. So nice to have just finished up with grad school at BYU; got my degree on my transcript now to prove it.

A couple of decades ago, before he became, shall we say, a little more sensitive to salt, one of my father's favorite things to tease me with was his "Utah time" clock, a clock that was perpetually set to Utah time, even though we lived neither in Utah nor even in the same time zone as Utah. Whenever any "just like Utah" things came up in our area, he would grin and exclaim "It's all Utah!" ("Utah" with the "yew" emphasized, by the way).

Well, despite all my annoyance back then, it seems to have rubbed off on me. In the "then" section related above, we lived in Utah. Now, however, we don't. Nevertheless, it seems as though at least today, "It's all Utah!"

One last thought: "Cottage cheese solves nothing; Chocolate can do it all!"

What I didn't do this weekend (volume 4)

This weekend I did not go to see "Wicked" (a musical "Wizard of Oz" prequel/tie-in, for those unfamiliar with it). The show has been in the region for about a month, and this was it's last weekend. Oh well. On a brighter note, a movie I wanted to see made it to the dollar theater, so I went with a friend to see it. I also made it back to church for the first time post-baby. Last time I went it was me plus three kids; this time it was me plus four. On the surface, it seems like I didn't learn anything from the multi-week vacation I obviously required after the three kid run. In reality, I looked at it as a rather desperate act of faith; here's hoping, anyway.

Puppy guarding in the parking lot

The shopping center up the road from us is getting a facelift (complete with a bigger version of our existing grocery store), and during the current construction phase, most of the parking area on the west side (where the current grocery store is) has been blocked off. Consequently, the remaining areas of parking lot are a little busier than usual. I didn't realize just how busy, though, until on my way out of the store today. As soon as I got to the car, another car parked and hovered in the aisle, showing all the other cars that my spot was already reserved for someone else. Now, I've seen puppy guarding before, but today's case was a bit extreme. Yes, I did have a good spot, but I had just barely gotten to the car and still had a cart full of groceries to load, plus a baby to buckle into a car seat; not exactly a quick parking spot to grab. I can't help but wonder how much money the gas cost that got burnt while the other vehicle waited. Maybe next time I should try auctioning off my spot. :)

What I didn't do this weekend (volume 3)

This weekend's event to miss was the weekend Wal-mart trip. The weekly (or biweekly or whatever) Wal-mart trip is one of the main events in our regular lives, our big chance to all get out into the world (all= me +kids; Dad is out just about every day and doesn't much care for shopping). However, we were not so deprived as we might have been. Dad got back from a week out of town on Friday and sponsored a dinner & a movie night (via the local Chinese place and Blockbuster) as a reward for Amanda doing school work all week. Amanda even got a minute or two to peek into a pet store, which makes up for our lack of fish-viewing at Wal-mart. I think we'll survive a few more hours without Wal-mart. :)

What I didn't do this weekend (volume 2)

This weekend's big event to miss was graduation. But wait, you say, didn't I just spend last weekend not going to my class reunion, which means that I already graduated? Yes, but this was another graduation, my third major academic graduation. The good news, though, is that 1) my second graduation was pretty much guaranteed to be like the third would have been, minus a bit of extra ceremony and 2) one of my nephews graduated from the same school and can tell me all about what I missed when he comes to visit next month. What I actually did this weekend: attended our family's annual event, a friend's birthday party. We've been to every one of her parties, and every one of our kids has been to at least one of them. All in all, a weekend well spent. :) (and the school will send my diploma in the mail eventually whether I attended graduation or not)

3 a.m., my new favorite time of day

Why that time of day? That's the average time that new baby decides to sleep for a four hour stretch, following a minimum (emphasis on "minimum") of one hour spent screaming, filling diapers, trying to burp, thinking about eating, etc. *sigh*

At this point, I'm in "grateful zombie" mode, when everything seems overwhelming and I am profoundly grateful for everything and anything that actually goes right. However, I know from experience that, untreated, "grateful zombie" mode eventually turns to scary, cranky zombie mode, which is just plain scary. I guess the biggest thing I should be grateful for at this point is that Amanda will be in afternoon kindergarten, which means I can still catch up on sleep in the morning (in theory, at least). *sigh*

School registration time

Today Amanda and Jared and I went on a little adventure to Amanda's new school to turn in her registration papers. The office folks were at lunch when we got there, so we spent a little while walking around and seeing where things are, like the kindergarten classrooms, the school library, the cafeteria, etc. Someone who knew where the office people were hiding had pity on us and summoned someone to help us, at which point we got to meet the school guinea pigs while the paperwork got processed. Turned out we were just in time: the big, critical pre-school events begin tomorrow with the school supply sale, where the mandatory calculator may be purchased. I remember way back when when I was in school and didn't have to have a calculator until middle school; and then the school had a stock of them to use. Didn't "have" to buy one until high school when I got a graphing calculator (which was fun to program . . . and also useful for actually doing work). The funniest part of it all is that basic calculators didn't even exist, at least certainly not for common use, when Amanda's grandparents were in school, hence Grandmother's semi-sarcastic question: "So, what do they need for 1st grade? A laptop?" Ah, the encroachment of technology into our daily lives. :) If nothing else, though, at least I have the satisfaction of knowing that my child could add, subtract, and multiply BEFORE she got a calculator. :)

A proposed tax on those who cut through yards

It seems only reasonable that if your neighbors cut across your yard carrying yummy fast food that said neighbors should be prepared to share the food with you. :)

What I didn't do this weekend (volume 1)

This weekend I did not attend my class reunion. (This is different from other non-reunion weekends in that there was actually a reunion held for me to not attend.) Not because I don't still have family there (I do), or because I didn't want to go (I did), but rather because of a whole bunch of other stuff my readers are probably already aware of. Therefore, I am glad that other people who went have posted stuff on Facebook (thanks, other people!). It's all rather odd, seeing everyone so long after the fact, especially those people I haven't actually seen since high school (let alone the ones it's only been a couple of years since I've seen). Fun, though. I feel I have an unfair advantage, getting to see and size everyone up while remaining invisible myself. :) A lot has happened since that graduation way back when (to say the least). And, speaking of graduations, stay tuned next week for the next installment of "What I didn't do this weekend": skipping graduation. (Who knew there'd be so much to not do this month? :)

Natural fireworks . . . and the occasion?

We had a thunderstorm early this morning. A big one. Really big, with a few simultaneous lightning bolts and thunder claps in the mix. So, we asked ourselves, what was the big occasion? It wasn't the fourth of July today, but the fourth of August. Natural fireworks for President Obama's birthday, maybe? Who knows.

Now what?

This week I rather unceremoniously became unemployed. Loss of income, bad. Loss of job, well . . . :) So now, it's time to make good on all that rhetoric I spouted all the days I complained about that job, all that stuff about how life would be better because I'd have more scheduling freedom, less stress, etc., etc., etc. Time to find some activities, I guess.

Person of the day to google: Kieron Williamson

For an interesting, positive bit of news, try googling Kieron Williamson. On a more general note, art is a bit of a mystery to me.

Wrapping up the riddles

I'm guessing most of my readers know most of this, but just in case, time to tie-up all the loose ends from the past month or two of posting. First, the Twilight saga ala me: I started reading the books the day I went in for a 3hr glucose screen for gestational diabetes, which it turned out I had. Hence all the vampire/blood related stuff later as I dealt with the daily duties of carb counting and glucose monitoring. By the time I got to Bella's pregnancy in the last Twilight book, I began to feel like, in my own mundane way, I had a lot in common with her, especially after I developed a backed-up liver that motivated all the itching posts. Now that the baby is born, I am done being sneaky about her coming, although I do admit to feeling a bit smug about being able to make her arrival more of a surprise to the virtual world. The secrecy was motivated by a couple of things, such as that it hasn't been too long since our previous baby and that I was also working on a rather different sort of baby, i.e. the infamous thesis. After all, who would be crazy enough to do grad school and be pregnant all at once with a small baby already on hand? :) Never mind that grad school started with a baby on board in the first place . . . Anyway, that's all done now, so now I can sit back and wait for my diploma, smug in the knowledge that I had not just three, but four kids born before officially getting my degree. :)

Ah, the power of a clean air filter

This weekend I left a nice, super-cooled room to come home to a gasping air conditioner. It ran and ran and ran, but the temperature kept rising in the house despite its efforts. Finally, we gave up on it entirely and went back to good old-fashioned open windows. The weekend ended, and so we called management to see if they could solve our A/C issues. And, they did, very quickly, too: air filters make a big difference. The one they took out had been in for 15 months, and the filter itself was barely visible under the caked-on dust. With the new filter in place, we're all cool and comfortable again right in our own home. Amazing how just one little component makes such a big difference to the whole system.

Crazy liver day

The itching isn't in my head! Time to get cured!

One can do anything if one puts one's mind to it

It's interesting to see where everyone's mental energy is directed (or misdirected) based on their actual behavior. It's also fascinating how many crazy (to me) things that Mr. Two sets his mind to doing. You think vaseline all over the place is gross? Try sour cream, eggs, and salad dressing, all mixed together. Might not seem like such a big difference at first, but vaseline at least doesn't get smelly as it sits in Mr. Two's hair. Good thing he likes baths!

Vaseline everlasting

It's a puzzle: with all the stuff in the house coated in Vaseline (courtesy of Mr. Two), how on earth is there still any left in the jar?

Bye-bye hair!

Today I am thankful for nice neighbor friends who have sisters who cut hair. And so are the birds and squirrels who are now free to use the clippings to line their nests. As for the hair cut itself, "chopped it all off" pretty much describes it. That information may be helpful for any visitors coming in from out of town this week.

"Mom eyes" and time to lay off the blueberries

Generally speaking, the kids do pretty well with fruit. They pretty much either eat it or leave it, and everything's okay. And then a professional two-year-old came on the scene . . .

So, there we were, Mom and the two-year-old as the only two in the family still at the table. I didn't actually see anything happen, but there were blueberries on the table and Mr. Two suddenly exclaimed "Ouch!" And, in some strange mom-ish way, I knew in that instant that Mr. Two had just shoved a blueberry up his nose. Dr. Dad performed a blueberry-ectomy, and just to make sure the lesson stuck, he offered to replace the blueberry, which idea Mr. Two loudly rejected. However, just to be safe, methinks we'll stick with strawberries and such for awhile now.

Thank you, Dr. K!

It all started with the itching. It sounded like someone was working on it, but nothing actually happened. Grrrr . . . And then, enter Dr. K. After telling him my story, within 15 minutes I had blood drawn for the appropriate tests. Never thought I'd be so excited about a blood draw!

A little background on Dr. K: Dr. K has been involved with us on and off for nearly 3 years now. He's one of a bunch at a practice, and I must admit I wasn't sure quite what to think of him at first, since he was the one who got to make a "you might need to panic" phone call to us. However, under better circumstances later, he actually received a favorable review from the number one medical critic at our house. He just earned himself another good review, or rather two of them, since I join whole heartedly in the praising of Dr. K.

Late night shopping adventures

Nothing like late night shopping as a way to get quiet stores and a chance to shop without a cart pre-filled with little people. Just one little problem: not so easy to come home when the other grown up in the house forgets that you headed out and chains the doors shut before you get back (and then falls asleep). I burgled my way in, but let's just say if I had ever seriously considered a career in burglary, the experience I had would have talked me out of it. One thing I'll say for burglars, though; they must be in pretty decent shape if they manage to have any success. :)

My new summer wardrobe, courtesy of Knives, Needles, and Scissors

It all started with holes in my jeans. The first holey pair made me think, "Time to go shopping." The second pair made me remember another option: good ol' cut-offs! So, a few snips and some stitches later, I now have custom-made bermudas/capris.

But wait, it gets better . . .

A while after that, I tried stepping into my 7+ year old strap-on sandals; one step/stretch too many for the old ankle strap. However, the sandal design was such that the front straps are nicely placed to make slip on shoes, whether the back straps were present or not. After a bit of cutting, I now have "new" sandals to go with my "new" capris. Hooray for revived clothes!

I'm itchy, itchy, frightfully itchy . . .

So, the question is, why do I itch? Normally, there's a nice neat explanation like mosquitoes or poison ivy or allergies, but unfortunately the itching for me appears to be either psychological or the result of deeper problems. The good news is that my doctor doesn't think I'm crazy and is ordering some tests for actual physiological causes. The bad news is that in the meantime, I still itch. A lot. Grrr.

Note: the title of this post is based on the Veggie Tales song I'm Busy; the tune is cheerful, even if the itching isn't. :)

Rainy day perspective and another BBC gem

Yesterday I betrayed my heritage by complaining about a rainy day. True, I did have rain-induced inconveniences, but I really do know full well that rain is essentially a good thing. And, as I looked at pictures from someone's summer in Seattle, I realized that I'm also grateful to live somewhere with rainy days in the summer. For those of you who don't know, Seattle has gorgeous summers with lots of sun and next to no rainy days, despite the drizzle that goes on for the other 9 months of the year. Especially this summer, it's nice to know that rain comes sometimes to bring relief from the heat and water our lawn.


Now, as for the BBC gem of the day . . .

the headline: "Union 'outraged' at head teacher 200,000 pound pay package"

My favorite quote therefrom: "It is outrageous that a head teacher in a local community school should earn more money than the prime minister." (that quote from someone in the aforementioned union)

Seriously, folks? As someone who lives in a place where educators' salaries are, frankly, pathetic (a first year med school resident makes more than most teachers), I can tell you that nothing good comes from relegating education to the back burner, financially speaking. I think it would be great if we transferred some politician salary money over to educators' salaries. Practically speaking, bureaucracy (which is what much of government boils down to, in my opinion) solves nothing, but motivated educators could make a HUGE difference. Anyway, that's what I think about it.

Go ahead, rain on my parade . . .

. . . but could we PLEASE leave my car out of it for a change?

The story, in a nutshell: It's been hot here, and so to make our unairconditioned car a little less oven-like, I've taken to storing it with rolled down windows. Guess I must have grown up in a desert or something, expecting a car to stay dry that way. However, it would seem reasonable, wouldn't it, to expect a car to stay dry parked in a garage? Not in our garage it turns out; wonder how much our rent would go up if we asked them to patch the roof; as it was, the car got amazingly soaked in the garage when it rained a couple of days ago, and we all found out about it right before we had to be somewhere right away; rather wet ride to say the least. It was sunny yesterday, so we decided to park the car in the open with windows down for a much-needed airing. That all was fine until I woke up to a thunderclap this morning. Now I'm letting the car's heater do the drying; here's hoping for a drier ride today. Meanwhile, I hope somebody's crops somewhere are happy.

A good day to drive on the grass

One of the best ways I've found to get our car cleaned out without going to a detailing place is to park it on the grass close enough to the house so that I can use our vacuum on it with said vacuum plugged into the house (such is our electrical/cord situation). I've been putting off the task at least in part for fear of "what the neighbors might think" (along with not wanting to be out in the heat), but today it seems I have lost my excuse: someone has blocked our driveway, and so there are at least six cars in the neighborhood that will have to get in at least a little grass driving time if they want to go anywhere before the offending car is removed. Add that to all the time the crews from management have spent on the grass over the past few weeks, and really, who cares if we drive on the grass?

Shoe phones

Today my five-year-old noticed one of the two-year-olds playing with a shoe like it was a phone and commented on it. After a minute, I realized the source of the behavior: Mom has been on a Get Smart kick for the past couple of weeks, and so of course now the kids want shoe phones just like Maxwell Smart. The good news is, we've got PLENTY of shoes they can play with. On the other hand, I can't help but wondering what the parents of the two-year-old we sit for think if he starts trying to use shoe phones at home . . .

What's better than one vampire machine? Try two!

Ah, the joys of sensitive medical equipment. Despite my best efforts to keep my blood work gadgets safe and sound, my two-year-old continues to thwart those efforts by increasing his climbing skills. Fortunately, the gadgets in question are not overly costly, so now I've added another one to my collection so that I can compare readings between the two and make sure things haven't been overly sabotaged by my crafty two-year-old. Here's hoping . . . Oh yes, I got to see Eclipse this weekend; let's just say that I felt I could really connect with Bella in that scene where she's marking trees. :)

If you don't like seeing police cars, stop looking out the window

For a quiet neighborhood, we sure had a lot of police cars on our street today. Oh well. This means we are very safe, yes?

Nothing like a loudspeaker to wake people up

We have a rather nice but quirky little city, which among other things includes a series of city vehicles that drive around making sure people take out their trash and mow their lawns regularly; I refer to them as "the Decency Patrol." Well, today we had a twist on the DP: officially sanctioned vehicles cruising the streets calling the city to wake up, starting at 7 a.m. (although they didn't get to our street until closer to 7:45. Not that the speakers were overly loud, since we've appartently managed to sleep through them the past three years, just a rather interesting way to wake up. Turns out it's an annual event here intended to honor Paul Revere's ride.

On a historical note, I'm pleased to report that today has been waaay better than this day was back a couple of years ago. Then, Amanda was doing fine on vacation in Virginia with a couple of uncles (and their families) while Mom and Dad (for reasons other than Amanda being gone) didn't have much to be happy about other than the cuteness of baby Jared and (for Mom) the fact that Mom had some "power shoes" to wear. This year, the same uncles are visiting out here. Now our cute kids (one up from that other year, too) have been having a great weekend being entertained by said uncles, with such highlights as going to a movie (Jared's first time doing so) and bike riding instruction (Amanda's doing great!). Yes indeed, overall a much better day this year than that other year.

Hello world, I'm still here

My new laptop has been with us for a good two weeks or more now, and I have almost completely accepted it as a full member of the family. It's rather odd having a hard drive twice the size of the previous one and yet not caring, since the other one took my photos with it when it died, regardless of hard drive size. Guess the real lesson is to actually do backups, just like they told me way back in whatever computer class that was way back when. :)

Memory fears notwithstanding, I still find myself back at the computer almost as much as before and therefore may actually get closer to daily blogging again one of these days. There's always my vampire saga to continue . . . now, if I can just get someone to sit for me so I can go see Eclipse . . .

The power of imagination

This morning, I found two out of three kids playing with "telescopes" while the other longingly chanted "I want a telescope, I want a telescope!" There were, in fact, no telescopes around. However, the weekly unsolicited paper had just entered the house, and both my five-year-old and my two-and-a-half year old had rolled their own "telescopes" from the newspaper. The other visiting two-and-a-half year old apparently hadn't figured out what to do. Not to say that the visitor had no imagination (as he obviously recognized the others' game), but interesting that it had not spread to creative application yet as it had for the others. Also interesting how random newspapers held everyone's attention just about as long as any other toy that's crossed our path.

Another one bites the dust

Our longest-lived goldfish has just begun his journey to the sea. Farewell, Bi-spot.

Joints, joints, joints

Before I continue, rest assured that the joints of my family members are fine. That said . . .

Some people teach their children basic anatomy (head, shoulders, etc.). Now our five-year-old is learning about the three kinds of joints (hinge, pivotal, ball-and-socket). Nothing like an evening with Dad after he's been studying all day. :)

Moving in to the new laptop

One of the odd consequences of having been laptop deprived as long as I was is that I have once again realized that I really can survive while more than 50 ft from a computer. Google is not the reason my heart keeps pumping after all, nor do I need automatic reminders from the internet to keep me breathing. :) What then, is a computer good for? Why not just take the money?

Well, it's too late for the money now, but there's nothing like sitting in my cozy spot with my laptop to make having one seem like a good thing. Plus, once I get all of my usual sites into my browser's memory, it's not so different from the old laptop after all; this one even has an easy-to-find brightness control for the screen, unlike the last one.

And, of course, the best way to regain my laptop addiction is to blog; it gives me the illusion of productivity, since I have something to show for it when I'm all done. :)

It's here!

Tada! Today the UPS man brought me a present. The kids love the big boxes it came in, and I am now enjoying the luxury of blogging from the main level once again. We have a laptop again! And this time, it's a blue one. Hooray for the new computer!

There's no place like home . . .

Last week we went out of town a bit to go to a festival. We saw things, and the kids enjoyed the on-site playground, but we didn't buy anything or spend any money beyond gas money for that matter, much to the dismay of the resident 5-year-old.

This weekend we stayed put and went to a little community party right here in town. Not only was there some free food and other fun freebies, but we also found a well-stocked mulberry tree with a few branches hanging down where we could reach them. Next to no drive and lots of free stuff . . . as they say, there's no place like home.

Pizza from Heaven

While debating what to have for dinner tonight, who should show up but one of our home teachers with a pizza for us. Apparently there'd been a mix-up with his family's order that left them with a spare pizza; we are very Very VERY happy that they decided to share it with us. It even had one side with my favorite toppings on it and the other side with the kids' favorite! Thanks again to our angelic pizza delivery service!

Fireflies, books, gadgets, etc.

The first time I ever saw fireflies was in Ohio. And, even though that sighting was a ways away from where we live now, I am happy to say that they still have them out here; saw some on the way home from book group tonight.

Today was also the day for the car to go to the car doctor (note that I said "car" not "van"; transmission is still out) and for me to pick up my new little vampire buddy gadget. New gadgets are usually so exciting, but this time around, well, let's just say I'm grateful to Stephanie Meyer for rendering things vampire more interesting. I'm also glad to have been "bitten" rather later than the rest of the population so that the library and my friends' bookshelves are well stocked with books for me to borrow.

Requiem for the Red Computer

Yesterday we got the long-awaited phone call regarding the status of our ailing laptop. They've decided it would be cheaper to give us a new computer than to fix it. :( It was a nice computer; it enabled me to be online on the main floor. It made possible many blog posts. It even went to Utah with me. And now it is no more (although I'm hoping that they'll let us at least have the hard drive back). Now, the new dilemma . . . to take the new computer, or to take the check they also offered? Computers are good, but money at this time has "transmission" written all over it. What to do, what to do. Meanwhile, RIP little Red, and once again, I love my old, faithful Mac.

Mardi Gras in June

Around Easter every year it seems that I hear about someone or other observing their own version of Lent by giving something up, frequently chocolate or some other junk food. Well, Easter is long gone, but the medical profession has decided that I'm up for that kind of Lent for awhile, albeit a highly involuntary Lent (blame it on my visit to the vampires).

But . . .

Everyone knows what comes before Lent: Mardi Gras. So, if it must be Lent, then I am all the more glad that I have prepared for it by celebrating Mardi Gras this week. :)

The Queen Has Two Birthdays

Yes indeed, the queen of England has two birthdays, her own and then one that is a state-appointed holiday. One of the BBC headlines for today was that the US sent their official birthday greeting a week before the state holiday birthday . . . how embarrassing. The UK was not offended, thankfully. Meanwhile, I think it's high time I got myself a second birthday; after all, I'm queen of the house, right?

Goose play dates, racoons, wild goose chases, etc.

It's been yet another interesting day. After a long series of events (and a nice day with Grandmother and going out to our favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner), evening came and I began the wild goose chase. In hindsight, it is strangely appropriate that one of the first things I saw while on my search for It was a group of about 4 adult Canadian geese shepherding along a little flock of 10-20 baby geese. Never seen a goose play group before!

The first stop on my wild goose chase was the mall. I figured that if anyone was going to have It, a somewhat specialized item, they would. Turns out the mall had a little under 20 minutes until closing time when I got there. And, It was nowhere to be found. I suppose it wasn't a total waste, though, since I got in some exercise walking around the outside of the mall way back to where I'd parked since the store I'd parked by in the first place had closed.

I then headed to another location in search of It, a place that closed an hour later than the mall. I had a little more time there, and found a possible version of It, but at about twice the price I would have expected, and generally deficient otherwise by virtue of not being the real It. I did find a great sale on something else I wanted, but my orders were to secure It before returning home. That left me with two places to go: Wal-mart or a grocery store.

I tried the grocery store first. They had some relatives of It ("cousins It"? tee hee hee . . .), but nothing close enough to pass inspection back home. And so it came down to Wal-mart. Wal-mart had exactly the same almost-It I'd seen before, but for about half the price. As it was approaching (or past) 11 p.m. at that point, it seemed prudent to take the almost-It and get out while I still could. I still had to fight off a purse that wanted me to take it home as well as several other items before finally escaping with the almost-It and a few other things that totaled up to a few cents less than I would have paid at the first store for the same almost-It.

On the way home, I spotted my third live raccoon in Ohio; this one helped explain why I see so many dead ones: it was waddling slowly across the road, daring me to hit it. Thankfully, the road was quite bare, so between the raccoon's microscopic pace increase and my room to swerve, we both came out of the encounter alive.

All in all, quite the wild goose chase; I'll be curious to see what the inspector thinks of the almost-It sometime in the morning. For now, though, time to go have a nice shower and get some rest.

Spending the day with vampires

It all started this morning when I borrowed one of the Twilight books to take with me to get some blood work done. Waiting time at medical places can be amazingly fast when one is engrossed in a book. It's also amazing how one's day can vanish when one has been bitten by the Twilight bug. Good thing I have a babysitter coming so that I can try to catch up on stuff a bit tomorrow! :)

I miss my laptop

It seemed so easy to keep a daily blog back when I was prone to spend much of my day attached to my trusty laptop anyway. And now the realities of desktop computing are setting in: it's harder to work without little hands interrupting my keystrokes when the computer is within reach of someone sitting in a chair. Not like my pseudo-kiosk on top of the piano for the laptop. Here's hoping it is fixed soon; in the meantime, thanks, Mac, for being there for me. The kids love you and your iTunes shows.

The Problem with Problem Solving

Today in the midst of a problem-solving discussion, I realized that I have very . . . selective . . . taste in problem solving. There are some problems that draw me in like jigsaw puzzles or mysteries and seem quite interesting to work on. And then there are other problems like the ones under discussion in the aforementioned discussion. Those sorts of problems I prefer not to deal with; problems that I already know how to solve, but that require some sort of action on my part to actually become solved. Even discussing such problems is a problem, since it usually just makes me feel guilty about not being motivated enough to have solved the problem already. My overall thought is essentially, "If I cared enough to talk (or even think) about the problem, it would probably be solved by now; new topic, please!"

Guess it wouldn't hurt to work on some of those "known solution" problems. Just need to remember that solving such problems really is a good thing and not just a condemning admission that there was a problem in the first place.

Fantasy meets reality or Why I mostly wear "Mom" shoes

This morning our friend and neighbor from across the street called to ask if Amanda could go to the local Asian festival with her and her daughter (who is Amanda's age). Amanda has a great time, and I finally found an excuse to create a post related to the shoes pictured above . . .

Amanda and I went with our friends to the Asian festival two years ago. I was in a rather interesting shopping/clothing phase at that point and had decided that the shoes above needed to be in my wardrobe. I wore them to the festival that day along with some capris that I also acquired that summer. I felt rather pleased with my cuteness as I headed out the door. And then the walking set in . . .

I made it through the festival, but I was VERY glad to wear other shoes again when I got home. There was a bit of uneven terrain going into and out of the festival that really put the stability of my cute shoes into question. I was between babies (i.e. one born without another on the way yet) when I bought the shoes, but once the next baby got under construction, wearing them was not an option, regardless of terrain. The next summer came, but I didn't wear the shoes much. Or at all.

Fall came, and I had a chance to do a little extra cleaning. I actually got two pairs of heels the summer I got my brown shoes. One was a shiny black patent set in a unique design that actually made them surprisingly functional and wearable for having 3+ inch heels. I'd gotten a lot of use out of them and so they had definitely earned the right to stay. The brown shoes, though . . . I decided to give them one last chance: if I could wear them for an hour while doing my cleaning, they could stay. I lasted about 5 minutes with them. And so, I post their picture in memory:

Start all over again . . .

Well, it happened: I missed a day on the daily blog (hence the blog subtitle "or something like that"). And, yes, I am still alive to tell about it. For what it's worth, yesterday was another typical day in the neighborhood, with the slight twist of seeing my neighbor post-surgery for the first time (her surgery, that is, not mine). I hereby extend a belated apology to my dad for whining so much about the braces I had way back when; they are nothing compared to the gear one gets when recovering from jaw surgery.

The preschool commute is no longer part of our day, but oddly enough, I miss it. Not the whole going to preschool thing, but rather just having a time when I could plan on doing errands because I'd have to be out anyway. My choices are now either to do the errands with four kids anyway or to somehow be productive enough to get out the door with just three on a Saturday morning before everything that's not Wal-mart or the grocery store closes. Amazing how intimidating errands can seem when one is accompanied by so many passengers.

The Bubble Bucket Saga

Kids love bubbles, but bubbles can be messy. But wait! Someone invented the no-spill bubble bucket, and it actually does work pretty well. So, I went ahead and got one, to the delight of the kids. Our new daily ritual goes like this:

My two-year-old brings me the bucket and asks for more bubbles. I drain out the dregs from the previous day and wash and dry the bucket before filling it again. I then return the bucket to my happy (for now) two-year-old. The bucket has three bubble wands with it, which logically should make for a happy crew all around; there's just that little bit about them fighting over who gets to hold the bucket. After about an hour or so of semi-contented bubble time, one of the two-year-olds brings the bucket back for more juice. Alas, though, the bucket is still quite full; the problem is that they have foamed up the bubble juice by overly aggressive wand dipping to the point that the bubbles won't come anymore until the foam dissipates. Unfortunately, they haven't figured this out yet, and so there is much rage when I refuse to refill the bucket.

The two-year-old rage ultimately pays off, though, for the five-year-old and the one-year-old. Big sister finds the bucket again later when the juice has de-foamed and blows bubbles to amuse the others. When she's tired of it, little brother finds it and gets his turn, since it has lost its novelty for the others by then. All in all, not a bad system. It starts all over again in the morning, with the bucket as intriguing as ever to the two-year-olds. The rage phase is all right in the end, for the fun that comes from watching the baby enjoy the bucket in the afternoon. Hooray for bubbles!

The joy of cameras

The kids and I found ourselves stuck away from home with nothing to do recently. But . . . I had the camera with me. Amazing how amused the kids were as they took turns taking pictures of whatever was around. It was also rather amusing to see the results of the photo shoot. Thank goodness for digital cameras.

Random bits and pieces

Our air conditioner came on today for the first time this year; I must admit I'm hoping for another cool spell to counteract this development. Either that or a bigger A/C budget . . .

My laptop is in the shop for who knows how long. No telling how long it will be gone or how many files will be left on it by the time it gets back, but at least it was still under warranty, and at least my old faithful Mac still works. :)

I had a nice nap today. Thanks for the nap, honey!

Mind over matter?

Our basement is, well, a disaster. It's been through a two-year-old who likes dumping things, especially potato flakes and pasta, and a whole host of other destroyers. It screams to be cleaned, but it is exceedingly draining to be anywhere close enough to even attempt it. At this point, it would be very tempting to donate all of our stuff to charity just to be rid of it, except that we'd still have to get the pasta and potato flakes off of it all before doing so, which means cleaning up anyway. Joy.

On a somewhat brighter note, the same two-year-old has promoted a cleaner kitchen floor by forcing a mop job after coating the floor in cracked eggs and bubble juice. I love my electric mop; it makes times like these much more bearable. Too bad it doesn't pick up pasta.

The Longest Year Ever (at least I hope so)

Today was Amanda's last day of preschool. Ever. She loved the social experience, but her commute-weary mom and her academically-minded dad were rather anxious for her to be able to move on, particularly since she was there for three years; three years of school that didn't "count."

I myself was in academic limbo for quite some time in the MA process, from when I got done with the core classes back in 2005 to when my thesis finally made it to the library last month. Like Amanda, I can finally move on.

We're not the only ones, though; for our main student, this is the third time it's been "the same year." Basically all of Amanda's three years of preschool are equal to this other incredibly long academic year. Since we thought Amanda would only be in preschool for a year, it makes for an interesting coincidence.

But now she's done, and I'm done; here's hoping for one more successful finish so that we can finally all get done with this longest year ever and move forward.

Time to move to Australia

There is a place where fantasy becomes reality, where ninjas save people from getting mugged and Spider-Man stops actual attempted robberies. Who wouldn't want to live somewhere as cool as that?

In the land of the seven Shreks

As I type, there are seven Shrek dolls in our house. Yes, seven. They are identical (except that Amanda's has some purple nail polish on the bottom of its feet), and they all talk. I think this is a record for us.

(Note to our friends who brought the Happy Meals which had the Shreks: don't worry, we'll make sure to get your three Shreks back to you; thanks again for coming to play!)

Musings on Shoes and Chocolate

The box of chocolate I got myself around Mother's Day had a saying on it along the lines that "Chocolate is like shoes; the more you have, the happier you are." Some days I've been inclined to agree with that thought, but on further reflection, perhaps it is not so simple as that. Yes, it's fun to have an abundance of chocolate or shoes, but how fun is it when the chocolate has permanently bonded with you or the shoes are scattered all over the place? Nevertheless, I'll be happy to accept gifts of shoes or chocolate, if anyone feels like gifting . . . :)

A good day for bunnies

It's another rainy day in our neighborhood. We've had several over the past few weeks, and the local plant life really shows it if we have a shortage of rainy days. Today, however, there is plenty of greenery for our local lagamorphs. Plus, the constant drizzle and wet ground makes it so there are fewer pesky little primates running around to scare little critters. Bunny sightings are fun for me not only because I like rabbits (had several of them while growing up), but also because our neighborhood tends to have more squirrels than bunnies, and so rabbits are a bit of a novelty. The current rabbit run started last night when I watched a rabbit giving itself a bath in our back yard (much nicer to see bunnies out the window than raccoons, I must say). Through the same window today I've gotten to watch a very happy bunny munching and munching on the current abundance of vegetation. Yes, it's been a good day for bunnies.

Coming up blank

It's a daily blog, and so I am posting. However, any eloquence I thought I had seems to have vanished like part of Cinderella's entourage, only before midnight. I took some flower pictures today. We all went to church. We went on a nice walk this evening. Our friend and neighbor planted a day lily for us. Mayhap I'll have more flowers to photograph soon!

A Rose from My Garden

Today's post is not just a gardening post, but also a tribute to my husband, who got me this rose as a present. However, he did not just get the rose, he got me a rose bush, which means that I will hopefully have many more roses besides just this first rose from the bush. He likes to think long-term like that, finding gifts that will be good for more than just a moment. So, thank you for the roses, honey. They are beautiful, they smell wonderful, and they make me think happy thoughts about you when I see them. :)

Happy Birthday, Flamingo Greg

His name is Greg, and I know where he lives. Can't miss the big flock of plastic pink flamingos in his yard. I only know his name is Greg and it's his birthday because of the big sign in the yard. I remember when the flamingos came last year, too. (This year there was also a sign advertising lawn decorations for sale; the Flamingo family is going commercial!) So, happy birthday, whoever you are, Flamingo Greg.

A bit of thankfulness

Time for a bit of gratitude therapy . . . main topic: friends.

I am thankful for my friends who wore the earrings they got from my jewelry party to church.

I am thankful for my friend who had the jewelry party for me. It's been awhile since someone besides me had a party for me.

I am thankful for my friend who listens to my problems so patiently and checks in on me.

I am thankful for friends who share things with us that they no longer need but that we can definitely use. Such generosity makes such a difference in our poor starving student lives.

I am thankful for my friend who came over for a play date and even babysat for me.

I am thankful for my friend who makes it possible for my daughter to go to preschool.

I am thankful for my friend who saved my blueberry bush with a bit of fence.

I am thankful for our friends who invited us to go fly kites with them.

I am thankful for my friend who gave me a rose bush.

I am also thankful for my vacuum/mop combo friend that makes it easier to clean up after my two-year-old's big messes.

The Price of Education: A letter to the principal

Dear Mr. Administrator,
I am writing to give you an update on the cost of education today. No, I am not referring to recent requests from the staff for a raise. I write merely to inform you that the educational process is impossible without finding ways to occupy the observers in the classroom, who are currently unable to work with the curriculum. I have found that they do very well if they are allowed to wear make-up, play with flowers, and watch princess movies. Just letting you know.

Sincerely,
The Head Instructor

A random quote for today

And when I say random, I mean random; I still think it's a good quote, though.

"From failure, you learn! From success, not so much."
-Aunt Billie, Meet the Robinsons

Superheroes

Superheroes. My kids are rather obsessed with them these days, and they're not alone, either. As they look forward to superhero-themed episodes of their favorite shows and Batman or Superman cartoons from the library, their parents anxiously await the season finale of Smallville, wondering how Clark will defeat a whole bunch of flying Kryptonian clones while he himself still seems to be grounded.

My kids like to play superhero games, whether or not they are able to find capes to assist their play. Sometimes I find myself playing superhero, too, but not with super powers. No, my heroics are more along the line of finding socks for my husband, getting the kids ready for church on time, or heading out to the store for random needs at unearthly hours. Nevertheless, I cannot deny the rush I get when I accomplish some such seemingly impossible task.

Now, ideally, my superhero skills would be better used for genuine emergencies. However, my alter ego has not quite learned balance, and so it seems easier to rest up lying in wait for small catastrophes to occur rather than to work diligently to prevent them in the first place. It is a big set of skills to learn, but I believe (at least on some level) that they really would be useful skills to learn . . . those skills associated with keeping house rather than just rescuing house occasionally. It is, after all, mild-mannered folks who really keep the world together, no matter how fun superhero shows are to watch. One could even call them real superheroes.

Mother's Day 2010

Mother's Day was a fairly simple holiday way back when when all I had to do was do something nice for my own mother and wait for her to share her Mother's Day candy with me. Things got a little more complicated when I left home. Not only did it suddenly take more effort to do nice things for my mother, but I also was old enough to be receiving Mother's Day gifts at church on my own, although that was always a little odd, since I wasn't actually a mother.

Soon enough, though, I actually was a mother and reality set in: for moms, Mother's Day is guaranteed to be another day of mothering. And that's the only guarantee. I bought myself a box of chocolates in advance this year so I wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.

However, this year Mother's Day actually turned out quite well. Our friends invited us to join them in their Mother's Day tradition of kite flying, and we all enjoyed it. Later, my husband and the kids baked a chocolate cake for me. Our two-year-old made some significant contributions to the cake while Dad and big sister were looking for more flour, which meant that the end result looked and smelled great and had absolutely no calories, since it was WAAAAY too salty to actually eat any of it. It looked nice beside ice cream, though, and it also made fun finger paint (like pudding paint, except cake-based). So, thank you all, it was a happy Mother's Day. :)

My life with fish

Today is a historic day: for the first time in many, many months, I bought more fish food because we actually fed all the of the previous can to the fish. Usually we have to buy more whenever one of the kids dumps it out. In honor of this historic event, today I shall blog about my life as a fish owner.

The first fish I remember having were when I was around 4 or 5 years old. We got bettas, usually male bettas, although we did have a female betta for awhile, too. We would have two at a time and keep them on opposite sides of a clear divider so that we could watch them flare at each other (and so that they wouldn't kill each other). The arrangement was fine so long as the fish on both sides were the same gender, but when we had our female betta opposite a male, we unwittingly allowed her mating hormones to fire (to the point of mate or die), and so the poor thing met her end, despite her best efforts to leap over the divider to find a mate. We named that pair Mr. Limpet and Lady Fish, after the Mr. Limpet movie; he was red, she was yellow, and except for the names they bore no resemblance to their Hollywood counterparts. The other bettas usually got named after original series Star Trek characters; guess who started out young on the Trekkie path . . .

We moved between kindergarten and first grade (and several other times, but that's another story), and our new location apparently didn't have the same selection of bettas, as we switched over to goldfish at that point. I remember we had a calico goldfish, along with some more traditional colors, and that one of the fish was named Sam. I also remember that one of them managed to get stuck and die on an artificial plant, and that none of them lasted more than a year, if that long.

We had several years of fishlessness after that, but around the end of junior high/beginning of high school, I started keeping fish again, this time boldy putting a female betta with some goldfish. The betta, Georgette, got along famously with the longest lived of the goldfish, Tri-spot, to the point that I was convinced she was sad when he passed away during a summer road trip. The same could not be said for her relationship with every fish, though, as could be testified by Azure, another female betta (whom we rescued in time) and Pumpkin, a goldfish who did not survive the wrath of Georgette.

After the Georgette set had pretty much died out, I decided to go for some serious fish keeping, i.e. my first 10 gallon tank, which I initially filled with 8 goldfish, one white one, the others orange or gold. I called them Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. I never got around to figuring which dwarf was which, though, since that batch of goldfish was gone within a week or two. I then turned to tropical fish and got a fun little mix of tetras, zebra danios, and platys. I also got a male betta for color and an algae eater for help keeping the tank looking nice. More adventures came: the tetras had it in for the betta; the platys had babies but ate them; we went through several algae eaters before one finally lived more than a couple of weeks. High school ended and I went off to college. I took the betta with me (we rescued him from the tetras in time), but he only lasted about a week at my apartment at college. Interestingly enough, though, two fish back home lasted quite a bit longer, a lone zebra danio and Algernon, the last algae eater, who grew to be about six inches long and had to be fed algae pellets since he was too efficient at getting the tank algae. Not sure how long they could have lived had I not come home and shocked their systems by actually cleaning their tank.

Another year or two passed with no new fish. I got married and while we waited for kids, we got ourselves some fish. We started with goldfish, but by the end of two weeks (or less) they were no more. We went back to a good old fashioned betta (Dragon), and he made it through two moves. His successor, Pearl, made it through a major move, too. And then we retired the fish tank; it was, after all, the same fish tank that I'd used for Georgette and company way back when and it was getting a bit aged. So ended our fish ownership . . . for a little while . . .

We picked up some kids over the years, and eventually the oldest one got big enough to want a pet. We went to the pet store, where she saw the fish, and in a soft-hearted moment we got her two of them. That's it. Two goldfish, 26 cents worth of fish after tax. After our previous gold fish attempt we figured they'd probably live about as long as our small child could possibly be interested in them, so why bother spending money on all the gear. We put them in a fat vase and fed them cereal crumbs. We named them Bi-spot and Frank. Frank died after we'd had them about three weeks, and Bi-spot looked like he was headed for the great pond in the sky as well.

I took put Bi-spot in a bowl of fresh water to live out his last few crooked-swimming hours, but when morning came, there he was still alive and looking just about good as new. Seems there was just a chemical imbalance in the old water or something like that. We got another friend for Bi-spot, another 12 cent goldfish named Stripe, and after awhile I felt that fish with such stamina deserved real fish food and a proper home. We upgraded them to a bowl, and I wanted to put them in a tank, but the first tank we got turned out to be unsuitable for them: it had a filter with a motor that operated in the water. The motor produced just enough heat to make the goldfish uncomfortable. So, back to the bowl went the goldfish and we got some dalmatian mollies, whose story has been told previously on this blog. I eventually got a 10 gallon tank for Bi-spot and Stripe and also a couple of new goldfish friends, two fat fancy little fish that we called Coal (Black Moor) and Cheesy (orange fantail). After several months, Stripe began to look pooched out, and only became more so over time. After awhile, it was hard to tell Cheesy from Stripe (except that Cheesy's tail was quite a bit different). To make a long story short, over a year had passed since we got our last two goldfish and we still had four goldfish alive, all over a year old.

I also got a female betta in there somewhere, Georgiana (and no, I don't know what's up with me and "George" names for female bettas). She lived in various places from the master bedroom to the kitchen until finally moving in to the big tank with the goldfish. She did fine there for awhile, but then she started hiding all day in her little castle. I thought she was dead on more than one occasion, but she was always still breathing. Now, though, it's been quite some time since I've seen her, despite moving stuff around in the tank and even removing her castle (after Cheesy hurt himself trying to squeeze his fat fishy self through). I think there's a good chance she's gone the way of all the world and, um, been recycled; the goldfish have pretty big mouths . . .

So, aside from the lethargic betta and the swollen Stripe stuff, our fish were basically in excellent condition. Until I went out of town to defend my thesis, that is. The fish tank is in the kids' room, on top of the tallest dresser. Sometimes Jared would climb up there and stick his hand in the tank (usually trying to take rocks out), but thus far the fish had survived his terrorism. While I was gone, however, SOMEBODY decided to put our part-time two-year old in the room at the same time as Jared for so-called nap time. One restless two-year-old was one thing; two of them resulted in fish on the floor. Yeah. Not exactly a happy welcome home gift for me to say the least.

Oddly enough, though, only one fish died: Stripe, the one with the mysterious swelling. The other affected fish, Cheesy, swam crookedly for a couple of weeks, but he recovered with a little help from Jared not getting naps and with our all-purpose fish medicine drops. He's still alive now, after the castle incident mentioned above, despite having scraped off his scales in a couple of places. The only fish who died was the one who probably wouldn't have lived much longer anyway. Here's to little miracles!

We've decided it must be something about the local water supply that keeps our fish alive, since we really haven't done anything different compared to our other fish ownership experiences. If you live in the area, you should come see our three amazing goldfish, especially Bi-spot, who is about three times bigger than when we brought him home. If you ask nicely, maybe we'll even let you feed the fish with our latest container of fish food.

The Battle of the Schoolroom

One of the quirks of our life is that Dad (i.e. my husband) is VERY concerned about our children's educations. I'll omit the reasons and politics of the matter, but the end result is that one of my daily "to do" list items is to endeavor to make a very unwilling (but capable) 5 year old work on things like math, writing/spelling, and reading.

Reading is actually fine; she likes reading and has gotten to the point where she compulsively reads pretty much anything that gets within her visual range, including emails and blog posts (granted, she still has to sound things out and doesn't often get very far, but the compulsion is definitely there. We also have science and history time in the form of me reading to her, which usually goes well, too. She loves being read to, and it's amazing how well she retains information presented that way.

Writing and math however . . . ugh! She can do them both, but part of the ritual includes protesting that she has to do the work at all followed by going through every excuse in the book (from "I'm thirsty" to "I have to go potty" and everything in between) before she will actually do any work. On a good day, I lay down the law immediately and we get through before I lose it and never want to see her again. I guess it's time to stop blogging and become a task master again. If nothing else, I do at least feel that I made a VERY good choice not to go into education. :)

An experiment in blogging

Today I am thankful for Google, among other things. I don't know how they do it, but somehow they have the resources to provide me with as much blogging space on the web as I want, and they do the same for my friends so that I can have good things to read and keep up with people I probably would never be able to keep up with otherwise.

That said, I really have gotten quite a bit of use out of Blogger, creating new blogs whenever I feel like I want to talk about a new topic. Today, therefore, is somewhat historic, in that I am revamping an existing blog (this one) to accommodate my latest blog whim rather than securing yet another URL for myself.

So, what is this new blogging whim of mine? I've decided it might be fun to have a "daily blog," i.e. a place where the goal is to post something every day. Don't know how close I'll get to keeping that goal, but I've already posted something here every day that I've had this blog set aside for this purpose. :) Not to say that some posts might end up along the lines of "I've posted; the end" or that I may simply refer to another post on one of my other blogs, but remember that I never promised anything about the content of these daily entries. :)

My friend LaDonna at Just Our Thoughts (see her button in the sidebar) often has daily-themed posts, such as the "Thankful Thursday" shown above. I don't know how many of her themes I will end up following, but I figured "Thankful Thursday" was definitely a good one to try. So, here's to Google, Blogger, and good friends.

A Peculiar Talent

One of the most important but least valued talents in our modern society is the talent of being able to change toilet paper rolls. Yes, that's right, toilet paper. It seems that in every household, there is one special person who has this ability, while the others generally seem clueless. Sometimes there may be someone who has the talent in hidden form, but it usually will not manifest itself until that person ends up living somewhere where no one else possesses the toilet paper talent. I have inherited this talent from my mother, which makes me wonder if two X chromosomes are required for the talent to appear. I should try teaching my boys how to change toilet paper rolls and see if it's even possible. Toilet paper roll holders really are fairly simple devices, yet for so many it is so much easier to just set the new roll somewhere in the vicinity of the toilet rather than actually putting it on the roll holder. Perhaps the majority of people actually prefer to have the roll off the holder and those of us with the roll holder talent simply foil their efforts to have the toilet paper where they want it. It is a fascinating mystery.

Note: The above is intended all in good fun. My mother and I have often mused on the apparent inability of anyone in our homes other than ourselves to change toilet paper, and it became an even funnier issue this week when I found myself in a public bathroom with the roll off of the completely empty holder. And, yes, I did put the roll on the holder. You're welcome, who ever used that stall next.

Ohio Wildlife

This week I saw a live raccoon, sitting on a garbage can right outside my kitchen window. He was a little surprised to see me, too, and left after a minute. That's the second live raccoon I've seen since we've been out here; the other one was washing its paws in the gutter somewhere on the way to Amanda's preschool a year or two ago. Dead raccoons, however, are all over along the roadsides.

At Christmas time in 2006, I saw a possum heading into our back yard. I once saw a weasel in another part of town. We've also seen deer at one of the golf courses, and of course we frequently see Canadian geese (just like people in most of the rest of the country do). Probably the most interesting goose sighting I've had was last spring when Amanda and I saw a goose sitting on a nest on a little island of grass in the parking lot of a big mall. I guess she wanted some visual excitement while she hatched her eggs; the location seemed less than ideal in other respects.

The birds in our back yard look remarkably like a page out of a "Birds of my backyard" sort of book; quite a different situation than things for me growing up way out west. Out there, the only cardinals and blue jays we heard or saw much about were sports teams. Here, they're actual birds that visit the back yard frequently from spring to fall.

And then there are the rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks. The first time I saw a chipmunk out here, it took me a while to realize it wasn't a baby squirrel. We have lots of big, old trees by our place, including a hollow (but still living) tree, and lots and lots of squirrels to go with them. Every so often we get a bunny or two, but it seems that the bunnies prefer to spend most of their time one street away from us, where another blogging friend regularly reports on their activities.

I mentioned the dead raccoons awhile back; the "animal most likely to be spotted alive" along our roadways out here is the ground hog. We see them regularly on the way to church and just about anywhere else where there's a grassy hill; quite a surprise to my Western notion that groundhogs were mythical creatures associated with an obscure holiday in February. :)