This is Halloween

A tiger and a ladybug - a ladybug that really wants to crawl.

It's the Great pumpkins!

Heading out for tricks and treats! There was a major haul by the end of the night in our house.

And this is par for the night with Bean the Ladybug. Fussy, fussy. But at least she was cute...

End of an era... at least a little era

I packed up my Medela Lactina yesterday. Sigh. If you don't know what that is. You probably don't really want to know.

One benefit - and truly, no tongue in cheek here, it is a benefit - of working where I work is that if you are a woman, after you have a baby, you get the use of a hospital grade breast pump for 6 months. Really, really nice benefit since you also get the kit that goes with it.

I love the Lactinas. I really, really do. Last year after I finagled an extra month of use out of the one I had on loan I looked at purchasing one on eBay. They ran about $800. After gasping a little, I decided at that point to buy a new PIS-A instead, which I used for that last 5 months.

So comparison now that I have experienced both... the Lactina is worlds above the PIS-A. There is a reason for the price discrepancy. I can expect my supply now to take a dip. Which is fine as I near these last 4.5 months of pumping daily. AB is probably hoping it does dip since we truly have no more room in the freezer.

(Which by the way, I was told there was a special on Dateline about donating breastmilk internationally, anyone have the info? I exhausted all avenues regarding local donation "just in case" I really ended up with that much. See I am an over producer. Massive, massive over producer. Like 13 gallons in my freezer over producer. You really wanted to know that didn't you? And no, I am not going to make soap, or cheese.)

This time I didn't need to finagle another month. When I got the e-mail saying "bring it down tomorrow", I could do it. Which by the way, how about a little reminder. Something like "just a hint from benefits... your child is now 6 months... you know what that means!" It would probably minimize those number of panicked e-mails back from moms saying "Wait! It can't be! I still need it!"

It's my second run with the big blue box. Kind of sad to think about hauling it in. But I will head down to hand it over to a brand new mom with a brand new itty bitty baby of her own.

Mine? Not so bitty anymore. All 23 pounds of her courtesy of mama milk.

Catching up, taking a breather

It seems as though the past week has been a whirlwind of activity. All good. But it isn't slowing down.

We carved the pumpkins tonight. Then after bath and I got Skadi down I sat down with Leif to watch "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown". I have always been a huge Charlie Brown fan, related well with him for some reason, and was very excited this year that Leif is to the age that he will also enjoy it. I was bummed that it didn't come on though until the night before Halloween. And since we were pushing the bedtime deadline, I didn't even have the luxury of Tivo'ing it to fast forward through commercials. Wow are commercials brutally painful when you haven't watched them for a few years.

Oh and then there was one that was just so highly inappropriate during a kid's show that I am thinking about contacting the TV station. It was about meth recovery and a woman who lost her child and would sit in front of his school at 9pm strung out. Oh but all is better now and she has custody of him. I sat there saying, "what the?" to AB and he yells back from the kitchen, "during a kid's show?" Umm yeah. Leif is also not to keen on commercials. Every time one came on he said, "I want to watch it again!" Referring to the movie, not the commercial.

There have been a whole slew of funny comments the past few days. I asked him if he wanted me to wash his hair tonight since he was floating on his back in the tub and he told me, "no, we don't have time for that tonight".

He has a few favorite songs lately, but unfortunately XM radio is also not like Tivo and I can't just rewind. He is fond of the two Cars songs, "Life is a Highway" and the one by Sheryl Crow. I can hum and mumble most of the songs, but come up with a name? Got me. The one that was nearly Leif's breaking point the other day though was Jack Johnson's "Upside Down". There were tears over not being able to listen to the Curious George song again. Must make a cd. And another new development? My son has fine tuned his hearing and realizing mom really does suck at singing. He now politely requests that I not sing along with the songs.

Oh then there was the funny one that came out of our friend's son and not Leif. We have been suspicious that J is the other child who is not napping at daycare. School has mentioned in passing "there is another child with a napping problem like Leif". The mom mentioned to the dad within earshot of J, "so evidently there is another child that doesn't nap with Leif". And J piped up, "oh that's me!"

They are so honest. I am loving this stage where I can ask Leif, "did you have a time out at school" and he will answer me honestly. If it is yes, he usually follows up with "But but..." or "Because cause..." and he goes on to explain his case. Which is never one-sided at all. Ever.

He has had a chocolate fixation lately. According to the teachers, so has the rest of the class. He got in the car the other day and told me, "mommy, you need to tell Ms. R about chocolate. She doesn't know about it." They made an effort to remedy the situation by giving the kids hot cocoa for snack that day. When I asked Leif about it he said "no, we had lattes".

So tomorrow is Halloween and I think I have Leif thoroughly amped about it. When cutting the pumpkins open the other day Leif told me, "oh mommy, I bet there is a camera inside!" He has been talking about asking Santa for a camera like N's that is "blue and not pink". Because you know Santa might make a mistake and all. Evidently Leif is stuck somewhere between Halloweenland and Christmasland. He hasn't really sorted out the two holidays and I am sure The Great Pumpkin didn't help tonight!

Tomorrow night AB will take Leif trick or treating while I stay home with the Beaner in her ladybug costume and hand out candy. Protecting my giant jack-o-lanterns and all. (Thanks to all our friends who have helped with lifting and moving them. Please help me to reign in my husband who is threatening to sabotage my plants next year!)

Thursday AB's dad and girlfriend arrive. Friday we are taking off and running around with them. They are wine fans, so we have a few wineries on the list, but not too many so as to bore the kids to death. They will stick around for swimming lessons on Saturday morning and then head back over the hill for my FIL's reunion.

Things start to calm down after that and my countdown begins. Countdown to my full week off over Thanksgiving. Every year I save my personal holiday days and revel in an entire week off. I usually leave Leif in daycare for much of it so I can get things done. This year in the name of saving money and to afford me some one on one time with Beaner, she is staying home with me all week. I am starting my list of things I hope to accomplish.

Skadi is nearly on the move and isn't scared of falling on her face in her attempts to crawl. I keep thinking her movement is just around the corner.

AB has succumbed to my Jedi mind powers just the last month or so after working on him for the past year and has said we can get a kitten in December. I nearly had one fall in my lap and all. I am 90% commited to taking one providing I can get a female and they are healthy and not wild things. And the coworker who has them gets over herself and her fear of children and let's me bring Leif over to see them soon. They just opened their eyes.

So my Christmas present is a kitten. Cheap present until you talk about the automatic litter box, a new carrier (because Calley's old carrier won't do), two vet appointments at 8 and 11 weeks, spaying and declawing. AB is reconsidering his reluctant yes after I called the vet and priced this all out. But he knows he really can't recant it now. We have been talking about names with Leif.

Only one name works for him. Sophia. Also the name of my mom's cat. And he knows this. We need a Sophia too. He told me last night we could name it something else but he was calling it Sophia. Sigh. I asked him if there wasn't any other name he liked. He told me "Brown Ghost" is ok.

Double sigh.

Who is that man over there?

For those of you who don't live here, and therefore have not seen AB... he shaved his beard off.

The best we can figure is that he has had it for 12 years. It has been a permanent fixture our 5.5 years here. He never shaved it off while living in Reno. Which takes us back Colorado and college. He thinks he shaved it off while working on the Slope (aka in Prudhoe Bay). He hasn't worked there in 12 years we calculate.

He waited until he had an evening where Leif could watch. We thought it would be less shocking to him to see if come off.

Leif, not so thrilled. Skadi was intrigued - though I think it was the shaving cream on the face that amazed her. Leif reminds AB daily he doesn't have hair on his face anymore. Then tells him to grow it back now.

Don't worry Leif... daddy is already working on that!

He had to shave it for work to get fit tested for a resp mask. The condition of him growing it back is that he has to maintain shaving implements at work. Done.

AB tells me that the biggest problem he has is that his face looks old. The last time he has seen his lower jaw he was much younger. Seeing his face age so substantially in a matter of minutes was disturbing to him.

I still turn around and nearly jump seeing a guy I don't know. Some people don't look *that* different with and without facial hair. Not AB. Most everyone we know is surprised by the transformation.

Busting myths across the parking lot.

A few weeks my good friend, V, picked up her work phone and called me to share the scoop.

Mythbusters.

Here.

Next Wednesday!

The myth is would a cockroach survive a nuclear attack, would bugs really inherit the earth?

I immediately had serious envy. I was suddenly kicking myself for jumping from the nuclear group nearly three years ago. Three years of working in a group where I didn't fit to meet the Mythbusters in person? It could have been done!

Then she tells me it is the second stringers though. I like them, Cari, Grant and Tory. But they aren't Adam and Jamie. So when my attempts to have some reason to visit (legitimately or not) the building across the parking lot last Wednesday failed, I didn't sob too hard. Had it been Adam and Jamie... there might have been a mob of science women outside the gate screaming and fainting. And I just might have been right in the midst.

I AM, however, seriously anxious to see the show when it airs in February.

My pumpkins

Official weights... 22 and 32 lbs.

Oh yeah, official pumpkin as in fruit's weights... 71 and 141 lbs.

I have saved seeds from the large one. Should anyone desire Giant Atlantic pumpkin seeds, let me know.

Meet Bob

Leif has renamed our housecleaner. She is no longer Wanda (name changed to protect the oblivious), she is now Bob.

About six months ago he started calling her "boy" as in "whatcha doin' boy?" This was on those rare occasions when she would clean our house and we would be around (normally just briefly since Leif has an obsession with her vacuum cleaner we try to get out of there quick - oh and because I do not really care to listen to her dysfuntional family stories that.never.end).

When my mom visited after Skadi's birth we both had giggling fits over this. And even now if one of us wants to elicit quick giggles we just have to say, "whatcha doin' boy?"

Leif never called other people "boy", so I don't know where this came from.

This morning Wanda was in our house getting started as we were running a few minutes late in getting out the door thanks to Leif deciding he wanted to try for a gummy worm by going poop since his simply asking for one resulted in a "no". Ok, so I don't give a prize all the time for a poop, in fact recently it has been rare. But since the last few days we have had a return to poopy underwear I will do what I need to.

Leif heard a noise and I told him Wanda was here. He walked out and saw her vacuum cleaner and immediately went over to admire it. He heard a noise in the bathroom and I told him that Wanda was in the bathroom cleaning.

We get out to the car and start pulling out of the garage and he says, "that's Bob's car".

"The white car?" I asked him. He confirmed.

"No," I told him, "that's Wanda's car."

"No mommy, his name is Bob." I am giggling at this point.

"Bob is cleaning our house today," he tells me.

Ok, at this point I am dying.

Oh and in no way does our housecleaner represent a man. She is a small, red headed, woman.

One of the weirdest things I think I have ever seen.

Go ahead and click on it, nothing vulgar and nothing will scare you. Well at least nothing is going to pop out at you.


And if anyone wants to offer up ideas on what exactly this is, comment away!

Glue Sticks!

Glue sticks, glue sticks, glue sticks.

No more bottles of glue.

I am seriously tired of having construction paper sitting around on every flat surface with piles of glue and various thingymabops of all types in it drying. Drying.for.days.

Oh and so far... these works of art are ALL for grandma and Bompa, or so I am told.

Maybe just a little obsessive

I had a rare glimpse into my son's daily grind the other day. I arrived 5 minutes early to chaperone the pumpkin patch field trip. The bus was then 20 minutes late. So I stood off to the side to observe the kids (really though, mostly my son).

My son's "work" he was doing was a tracing activity. He had various templates and colored pencils and squares of paper and was tracing them. It took him awhile to do one, but he was excited by this.

Very excited apparently.

Has got to be excited everyday about this.

Because his little folder where he puts his tracings after he finishes with them was THICK. The other kids had 4-5 in their work folder. Leif's was bulging. 30-40 in his case.

And note to self... really do encourage the picking up at home. When finished he put every single thing away. He CAN do this.

Oh and next the amazing thing... getting 19 children to all go potty, wash hands and get coats on in the 10 minutes before the bus came. I just stood and watched in amazement.

Making the list, checking it twice, and shopping on the internet

The holiday season is just around the corner. And I am dragging my feet. I have bookmarked and bookmarked until I am blue in the fingertips. Now I just need to convince myself to hit "buy".

I am an internet shopper. I might even be a little obsessive about it. I love the deals. I love the selection. Both things that living in a relatively small town are rare.

I have my list for Little AB fairly well rounded out. A Fisher Price camera from mom and dad. A Buzz Lightyear action figure from Santa. A nice wooden Melissa and Doug calendar that we can set up each month. A book about telling time (since he is showing interest in learning this concept) and a few other things I will find along the way I am sure.

Bean will get a baby doll and some Little People. And we will be taking advantage of the fact that she will only be 9 months and therefore really doesn't need much.

I have a few ideas for AB, but nothing overly concrete other than another pair of gloves... I have a few things picked out on his Amazon wish list (that I made for him). But no real great ideas yet. (Ideas? Anyone?) (I actually do have a few other ideas, but am not going into depths because even though he says he doesn't read my blogs... you just never know!)

I have a long list of things I want or need. It nearly kills AB that near the top of my list is new oven mits. Yes, I want new oven mits. Mine are just plain nasty from a few years of being hauled outside (and left outside) for BBQ'ing.

The one thing I actually did accomplish and not just put in shopping carts, is that my kids are outfitted for Christmas. Matching pajamas (courtesy of Old Navy $10 each... nice on the budget). Skadi got the white Hanna Andersson dress with the red snowflake on the front. (Ok, so she also got the tights... I don't even spend $18 on tights for me... what has this girl child done to me?) I did go on the cheap and buy the red shoes with white snowflakes from Old Navy though, yay me.

And in the name of matching for photos, Leif will be donning a red sweater with white Fair Isles print a la Old Navy. I know, I went on the cheap for him. But he won't wear it outside of holiday functions. And it matched Skadi's outfit. And she is the girl child.

I am quite pleased I accomplished the clothing shopping. I know the next step is the actual present ordering. But since I am abiding by my new rule of paying an equivelent amount on my credit cards (thank you free online banking) everytime I make an online purchase, I am waiting till the end of the month.

The pumpkin patch

Leifisms

I just got through reading one of Leif's favorite books to him, "Leif the Lucky". It is about the Vikings, Erik the Red, the colonization of Greenland and the Vikings arrival in North America. It amazes me this is one of his favorite books. (Snore...) You see Rockergirl for Christmas and Leif's birthday recently sent books with her boy's names in the titles. I thought it was a great idea, went searching for a book with Leif's name in the title and sure enough, found one (and only one). It is a fantastic book really. And he loves it. But wow is it long. (I am thinking we have a show and tell candidate for Thursday.)

Ok, now I have waken up I think. We have had a day of hilarity. Really, Leif keeps me in stitches.

----------------------

First we went for a walk tonight after dinner. It was a little cold. Skadi was bundled and cute, but I was getting cold and I feared the wind whipping in Skadi's little hood. AB told Leif we were going to turn around.

AB: "Mommy's cold and so is Skadi. Are you cold Leif?"

Leif: "Not so much Daddy."

He IS AB's mini-me. Leif has picked up AB's speech patterns freakishly well.

----------------------

Leif has had a thing with cleanliness since he was about one year old and entered his daycare where it is actually not only encouraged, but required that the kids clean up after themselves. Leif was obsessive about sweeping and wiping the counters off. Obsessive. His teachers used to joke that they wanted to see my house, I had to keep the cleanest house ever.

I don't.

I usually responded that Leif was going to be in therapy in 18 years saying, "my parent's house was so messy, I was forced to do the cleaning since I was one year old!"

Leif loves to vacuum. On days like today where there are bits and pieces on the floor, I give in and pull the vacuum out and hand him the wand.

We were all tired of the roar of the vacuum and Leif had gone over the kitchen floor twice. I turned it off and said, "that's enough".

Leif screams, NO! Then this came out of his mouth:

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?"

I had to turn my head and laugh for about 30 seconds before I could look back at him and tell him that he was not allowed to yell at me and next offense was a time out.

----------------------

More vacuum stories?

AB was attempting to teach Leif the finer points of football the other night. For example, you hold the football and run while being chased through the house. I know, not safe... but it was funny watching him set off running squeal and ditch the football in less than three seconds.

In some attempt to teach his son football, AB stuck the football under his arm and told Leif to chase him. He did for about 30 seconds, before his little red pretend DustDevil vacuum caught his eye. Roar, the things came on and Leif is chasing AB with the vacuum.

"What?" AB yells, "There's no vacuuming in football!"

----------------------

Leif is at that age where playdates are the "in" thing. He decides who he is going to invite and we figure it out, most of the time with success. He hadn't quite gotten to the point that his friend, J, has though. J used to ask his mom if he could go to Leif's house, but was met with answers like, "it's 9pm Leif is in bed and you should be too" or "I will see if Leif's mommy wants to set something up".

J has resorted to cutting the middleman (or middlemommy) out of the loop and has started coming directly to me for the straight up answer. Certainly my answer will always be "yes", won't it? Unfortunately the answers he gets from me are a lot on the same lines, "well I will see what we can work out with your mommy or daddy" or "no Leif needs to go home and eat supper right now".

I guess I wasn't too surprised that Leif took the reigns then and tried to arrange his own playdate. Though I was a little surprised it was with another adult.

"What," I thought, "am I not fun enough for you?"

But only for a second. Because when the adult he invites also happens to drive the coolest bus with the zip line, the balance beams, spring board and mats in it, who can really blame him?

Coach informed me though that his answer to Leif was "oh that would be fun! You can call my mommy and see if she will let me".

Leif said he would, but Coach's mommy has yet to receive a call.

Viva la difference!

Growing up I didn't think my sister and I were that different. She was more outgoing then I was. Cuter than I was. And more popular than I was. Things that as the oldest child made me proud of her. I hoped that she had somehow learned from me. Because from the time she was born I wanted to mother her. I wanted to help with everything and teach her everything. If it were up to me she would have been learning long division at age 4. (And we all wonder why she rebelled against math so much...)

Truth be told we were actually very different. And now? We are worlds apart. This isn't bad at all. But since having Skadi, I have been examining more of the dynamics of my own relationship with my sister as I watch Leif and Skadi. Drawing comparisons is nearly impossible though. Leif and Skadi are 2 years 8 months apart (my sister and I, 3 years 7 months). I had been home with my mom since birth up until kindergarten. Leif is well socialized at daycare. The differences between Leif and I are vast.

But even at Skadi's young age the differences between she and Leif are amazing too. Intellectually, you know that they are different people, even though she occasionally catches me out of the corner of my eye with a smile that I would swear was worn by her brother. Oh and I never call her Leif... ever... ;-)

One of the biggest differences I have noted about Leif and Skadi are what the engage in. Leif would sit in a high chair when we went out to eat smiling at everyone around us. He engaged people. He drew so much attention AB and I used to talk about not eating out because of all the attention he garnered - on his own accord. At Skadi's age he could care less about toys. Giving him a toy usually resulted in it being chucked... and he didn't want it back. He never held toys in the car, and he still doesn't. No toys kept his attention and AB and I began to question buying more toys. I pegged him as a people person and that has stuck. He still is.

Skadi on the other hand is a toy fiend. I almost felt bad a few months ago when I handed her a toy and her eyes lit up and she rolled it back and forth, mouthed it and examined the details for 20 minutes. Then onto the next toy. According to her daycare teachers, she likes specific colored toys too - yellow toys are good. The child plays with toys in her carseat and becomes very upset should she accidentally drop one - which she actually doesn't do often.

Other differences? Leif wasn't a sleeper and Skadi is. Leif was a napper (WAS) and Skadi isn't.
Leif was more of a smiler than Skadi is. She is also a touch fussier, particularly with daycare, than Leif was. She has two teeth that were through at 6 months. Leif didn't get teeth until 9 months. Skadi has hair, Leif none until 18 months.

Leif of course, lately is very fond of pointing out exactly the difference between he and Skadi. Which would be why he is called a "boy" and she is called a "girl".

Weekend wrap up

We had a good weekend, though it is seeming like a blur at 9pm on Sunday. We joked about eating out on Friday. How tempting, yet how stupid of an idea that is after last week's debacle. Instead we ordered out Thai and were less than impressed with our normal take out place. They have major swings that last typically about 6 months. We have concluded that one couple runs it for 6 months. They are the nice ones that can cook and present you with nice sized portions. Then 6 months later the bad cooks take over who give you miniature sized everything. The bad ones have just taken over.


Saturday was swimming lessons, a little shopping after swimming. We looked at kittens at PetSmart. Long enough to put in daddy's head that having a kitten might actually be fun. We have recently had some new kittens very nearly "fall in our lap". (I use this term because AB told me the only way he wanted another cat was if one "fell in our lap". They were born two days ago to a coworker of mine. The cat she adopted as a stray turned up pregnant when she took her to the vet for shots and an exam. I told her maybe in December when the kittens are the requisite 8 weeks old. I think I can go back and give her a yes in December. Vargasgirrl assures me that the automatic litterbox is heaven sent.


We went and picked apples on Saturday afternoon. Leif had a great time. Skadi slept in the car. We got a box of fujis that are really fantastic.

Sunday we started out the morning with sourdough apple pancakes. Leif loves pancakes, he loves apples, but apples in pancakes was a no go. He ate oatmeal instead. Silly child. (But as someone with texture issues, I do get his aversion.)

Two days, no naps. During Leif's Sunday supposed nap (Skadi's real naps were exactly opposite Leif's "nap time". We got no breaks this weekend.), Skadi and I played with the camera some.

After the supposed nap on Sunday we had C and N and their parents and C's grandparents over for a pumpkin picking party. The pumpkin is out! Both are actually. We are giving thought to how to get an actual weight on the big one. One suggestion is to take the car to Earthworks and have it weighed, with and without the pumpkin. Very good idea and plausible.

AB has become more curious on the weight of the pumpkin when the second one repeatedly weight 720 lbs on our scale! Ok, decimel point wasn't as visible as it should have been... it was 72.0 lbs. (AB kept asking what "error 720" was since he was sure the scale didn't go past "350 or so". Then he noted the decimel point.) He felt that the big one was more than twice that. (Statistical estimates were 135-160 lbs a month or so ago - and it hasn't grown in that time).

My son is the best

So we have been having a few minor issues at daycare with behavior. Nothing major really. Well magnitude depends on which of the four teachers you talk to. There is the "alarmist" who catches me on the way out and cites "disturbing behavior", there is the "annoyed one" who is warming up, but I get the feeling my son just annoys her - and well, I know my husband does. The other two are just "warm fuzzy one" and "tell it like it is" - and they both say my son is a typical three year old boy.

Even given the later, when someone says there is a problem, we strive to address it and take it seriously.

As incentive to correct his behavior I have told him that if he naps, follows the rules (no spitting, no growling, no yelling and no taking his penis out of his pants at dinner) he will get a special reward. I don't say what the reward is, but last night it was an extra 10 minutes of Marble Race action with daddy while mommy and Skadi watched intently. Today while getting milk at Safeway I decided it was a small bag of Oreo cookies.

I got the word from the teachers in form of secret note that he had a great day and pulled out the reward. Leif was thrilled. He ate the cookies on the way home and thanked me twice for the special cookies. We were nearly home when he told me:

"Mommy, I liked those cookies, but I like the pumpkin bread you baked a lot better."

Aww!

For those of you who MySpace it

I haven't decided if I will cancel my account altogether, or just pare down my already minimalistic account to the bare minimum. I like the social aspect of being able to find people and be found by others. Plus, it is the only place where I maintain an albeit light connection with some people from my past.

But here is where my concern lies. I am a parent.

There is a website out there that apparently cites freedom of information and creates profiles for people. They claim to be akin to the white pages. But the white pages don't post a picture of my son next to my name and city and state. From everything I can tell, this information was taken from MySpace. And frankly, I see a huge difference between my putting a picture of my son and I on my profile and someone taking my picture from my profile and putting it on a website I have not authorized. (Freedom of information my ass.)

Curious? Want to see what your profile shows? Check out peek you dot com with no space between peek and you. You can "opt out" and remove your profile. Check out their privacy page for information on how to do this. (I did this using my spam account because I have no delusion that they will actually do this, nor that they won't then use my e-mail account for who knows what.)

I contacted the local news and have asked them to look into this and have also been looking into the legality of this. It is probably legit. And I probably wouldn't have flipped had my son's smiling face not been there on some unfamiliar website. But the security of MySpace - the reason my company banned it - is a concern, at least to me.

Adding to my blogs list

I am so thrilled that my best friend from high school has joined the Blogger-sphere! As a long time MySpacer, she blogged there. Now she is here. Yay, something else to occupy myself with when I need a break at work.

We met each other in junior high shortly after I moved to Colorado and were decent enough friends for a few years. I think it was about our junior year when we really started doing a lot together. We dated best friends (both were mistakes we can laugh about now) that year.

After graduation we drifted apart, both doing our own thing. Then one day in grad school about 1998 I looked on the internet for her. Found her just a few weeks before her planned exodus to a new city. We did some traveling together, she came to visit us in Reno lots, we went to see her in Colorado far less (sorry about that). We went to San Francisco and Napa. (Met up with Rockergirrl for the first time in San Fran). We ran Bay to Breakers. She was my bridesmaid.

We have maintained our friendship over the past 5 years since I graduated and AB and I moved to a much smaller, more slow paced town and then joined the not so secret society of parents. As with all friendships, they ebb and flow. And though we haven't kept in contact as good as we did in our 20's and early 30's, it's all still good.

I love when my friends have blogs. I don't feel quite so exposed I guess - or at least they are as exposed as I am and we can all just stand there and gawk at each other. Now the rest of my friends need to go write blogs! Now!

------------

Speaking of blogs - I am going to be updating my list when I get time. Tonight I don't have time as I have other blogging to do. But just a heads up that I am going to pull some of the never updated blogs. Love the people, I really do, but I need fresh reading material!

I also have a few to add that I have been reading pretty regularly. (And as always, don't worry I won't be adding the real personal ones particularly of close friends with real names for privacy reasons unless you give me the go ahead. In fact, I won't even ask.) So anyways, keep an eye on the sidebars this weekend.

Garden picture

Request...

Here is a picture of our vegetable garden. I knew this picture that Leif requested I take "standing over by the tree" would come in handy someday.

We have 10 tomato plants along the west (sunny side) of the fence. In front of those you can see the three brussel sprout plants. Next is where the cabbage used to be that was taken over by cucumbers and pumpkins.

In the front are chives gone to seed and the pumpkins. The carrots are also in front of the pumpkins. Behind the pumpkins are three broccoli plants. Behind those, sunflowers.

On the south side of the fence is cabernet sauvignon grapes. (West fence holds merlot grapes.)

The south side of the garden is mostly pumpkin plant, but you will also find swiss chard in there too.

I do a "zen gardening" approach. I have basically figured out where things grow best and what needs sun, what doesn't. We mix in steer manure every year and then lay down garden fabric. I use a ton of fabric staples to keep it all down. I do a combination of planting from seed and from starters. Once everything is planted, AB starts piling on the grass clippings. Clippings do an amazing job at keeping the weeds out without the use of chemicals.

At the end of the year we compost what we can on top of the garden fabric and toss the fabric and start new each year.

My green thumb extends only to my vegetable garden. My flowers don't do half bad each year - pots I should just not do as I forget to water them. But indoor plants? I don't do them at all. They make messes (yes, I do have a big hairy dog, but she gives love back) and I never water. Though the bamboo in the guest room has survived nearly four years.

Fall has arrived/garden recap

It's fall. I made my first big batch of chili and double batch of pumpkin bread today. Fall food. (As well as thoroughly enjoying long sleeves and winter clothes.)

The highs are in the upper 60's and the mornings are crisp. Jacket weather, but warm enough in the afternoon that inevitably, jackets are then forgotten at school.

In some hopes that I won't get overzealous next spring with the garden I am going to compile my garden notes.

Vegetables:

Brussel sprouts and broccoli - both did amazing, are still doing amazing, and are adored as food staples by nearly everyone. Must do again.

Leeks - Just starting to gain some girth, still too soon to tell. Though I hope they are cold hardy enough to have some time to gain more girth.

Tomatoes - Do not do 10 plants. Five is REALLY sufficient for our needs.

Cucumbers - They do really well, but AB needs to make pickles more consistently throughout the summer.

Swiss Chard - Always does well, it's a keeper.

Spinach - Plant it. We always like it, it does well, but it should actually be placed in the ground somehow.

Watermelons - Also require being placed IN the ground to grow.

Basil: Love it, but it likes water. Remember to water it.

Pumpkins - Devote at least half of the garden AND hand pollinate for early starts.

Fruit trees:

Grapes: Do not let AB massacre the vines again in a willy nilly fashion.

Plums: Heaven help us if we get as many next year as we did last year.

Cherries: Cherry wood anyone?

Nectarines: Work hard, yet again, to convince AB to pick back early.

Raspberries: Keep on as is.

My daughter, the enabler

We went to the brand new Kohl's today.

You know, had she ever voiced any discontent at shopping for over an hour, we would have been out of there.

But she didn't. She smiled at passersby. She touched the glittery, the soft, the shiny as we passed. She coo'd her approval when I tried on a few pairs of pants. And a few shirts.

Leif would have never shopped that long. He had about a 30 minute window of shopping regardless of it being clothes or groceries at that age. I raced whenever shopping with him. After that it was misery for nearly everyone involved.

Not Skadi. I have a new shopping partner for the forseeable future.

No, I am not turning my son into a transvestite, really.

We went to Children's Place to check out the three in one jackets since Leif is in dire need of a new winter coat.

AB: "Well it seems like a good jacket, well made, versatile."

NM: "Yes, oh look, it has a snow skirt too. Leif come here and try this on."

Leif: "BUT I DON'T WANT TO WEAR A SKIRT!! DON'T MAKE ME WEAR A SKIRT!"

AB: "No Leif, there is no skirt, mommy wasn't serious."

Leif: "I NO WEAR A SKIRT!"

AB: "Leif I need you to try on this coat, do you want a time out?"

Leif: " YES. Then I don't have to wear skirt!"

So apparently a time out is better than being forced to cross dress. Who knew?

Weekend wrap up

I am 2/3 of the way through my weekend as I type this. Three day weekend thanks to Skadi's daycare being closed for Columbus Day. I wasn't disappointed to hear this, in fact, I have had this day on my schedule marked off in eager anticipation for awhile now. A day home with Skadi, just the two of us. Our big plans? Encouraging extra good naps that enable me to clean out her bedroom to be/guest room since we will have guests at the end of the month. Also on the docket is a trip to our brand new Kohls! So exciting!

Friday night something came over me and I decided we needed to venture OUT for dinner. Stupidest idea on the face of the planet. Ever.

We went to a very family friendly Italian place where toddlers get salads of shredded cheese, olives and crackers as adults are served their salads. Toddler friendly, but you can still order a half liter of Valpolicella.

Leif on his own, was the best he has ever been in a restaurant, especially considering we had a 15 minute wait to start and the food didn't arrive with any expediency. He sat and ate and only visited the restroom three times. Skadi was not thrilled to be there. But she wasn't awful either. What was difficult was having only one set of hands for each child. Had it been dining with just Leif we would have had a downright great night. Just Skadi and we would have passed her back and forth to keep the faces as fresh as possible (ok, I know, like I had a fresh face at 6:30pm on Friday night...). But put them together and it made for a dinner that will not be attempted again for another six months or so. At least.

With the new PF Changs going in (1.5 miles from the house) I have a feeling our babysitter expenses are going to rise.

Saturday was swimming then a train ride and play in the afternoon with C and N (N being the newest friend - a 3.5 year old girl adopted from India by our friends). The kids played in the park afterwards. We got home late enough that our plans for burgers went on hold realizing we still needed a grocery store trip. We ordered pizza.

Saturday night was spent fixing the dishwasher/disposal (yes, dang Insinkerator) pipes. Fun. But then again I don't have to call a plumber tomorrow. Instead I can spend the money at Kohls.

Today we got up and had crepes (and Leif was quite thrilled about rolling his own). Skadi and I went and got groceries mid-morning and had a blast. She giggled her way through the grocery store. Then this afternoon J and his mom and sister came over for a visit. Skadi was nearly as thrilled to see her friend from daycare as Leif was to see J. The kids both had a great afternoon that ended with actual burgers on the grill.

Infinity

The concept of infinity for a three year old.

Leif: "To infinity and beyond!" (He screams as he is jumping off the couch for the 784th time today.)

NM: "Leif do you know what infinity is?"

Leif: "Yes."

NM: "What is it?"

Leif: "It's in Portland."

Vindication!

So I can't find if I actually posted this summer about my quandry with Leif's school and his clothes. I probably just whined to V about it. But the jist is they kept putting notes he needed clothes in his box. I kept bringing them in. None of them were coming home. He would need changes of clothes and they would send him home in oddball "extra" items from the classroom. When I brought it up, they denied that they had any extra clothes of his.

I was at my wits end. It was financially a hard time for us with AB being out of work and I couldn't just afford to keep losing clothes. It frustrated me and annoyed me.

Yesterday. Sitting in his box. Two bags with:

7 pairs of underwear
4 t-shirts
3 pairs of shorts
2 pairs of underwear that weren't his
1 pair of panties that were definitely not his

I am vindicated. Yes, they did have a ton of his clothing there.

Do I feel better? Not hugely since these were t-shirts and shorts that were out of commission the entire summer and won't fit him next summer most likely.

It also makes a case for having cheap clothes only go to school. AB noted (amazingly enough) that two of the t-shirts were even his nicer Gymborree t-shirts and not the cheap Old Navy or Target ones. Note to self... don't be lazy in the future. Send the crappy clothes as extras.

Definition of brutal

... 6 hours in the ever-shrinking Toyota 4Runner with 3 year old, 6 month old, and a panting/hyperventilating very large dog.

... Toy Story playing non-stop (AB swears he will not be able to watch anything with Tom Hanks in it for possibly the next five years).

... Screaming 6 month old every time 3 year old makes a peep.

... Four stops.

... Pouring rain. (For four.days.straight.)

... One husband dead set on "pushing on through".

... One mom "recovering" from the stomach flu. (Recovering = no longer puking.)

... Finally arriving home at 10pm.

Brutal.

Fleeting thoughts and randomness

The Big Bang Theory... AB and I thought it looked funny from the previews. But there is a point at which the jokes border a little too much on reality.

I work with these people day in and day out. But I am not one. Really.

Denial is a nice state to reside.

---------------

NM: "Let's get you a shirt for today Leif."

Leif: "I want to wear this one!" (Pulling out the Denver Broncos jersey.)

NM: "Are you sure you want to wear that one? (Knowing full well we live in Seahawks territory.)

Leif: "Yes, this one." (We put it on.)

Leif: "GO SEATTLE SEAHAWKS!"

(AB was amused.)

----------------------

NM: "Leif hold still, you have something stuck on your nose."

Leif: "They are called frackles mommy."

-----------------------

And right now only semi-funny... but probably very funny to those who work for the government.

AB on the phone: "I just had to fill out all those forms once again including that stupid one I have filled out at least four times now that they kept losing before."

NM: "Which one?"

AB: "You know, that optional one that is required for employment, the one that says 'I am still a white guy?'"

--------------------

Last night at dinner.

Leif: (Stands up on his chair at dinner.) "I have to call bompa NOW!"

NM: "You just talked to bompa, why do you need to call him now?"

Leif: "Because I tell him he is a lion for Halloween and grandma is a tiger for Halloween."

NM and AB: Chuckling at the thought of my mom and stepdad as a tiger and lion for Halloween. They would do anything for their grandson... wouldn't they?

--------------------

AB's permanent position with his present company starts on October 9th. In order for him to transition to the new position his last day of internship is tomorrow and he has one week off. This works well with our planned exodus to the coast. So new plans...

We leave for the coast on Friday morning and planned return for Tuesday afternoon. We could change our minds and stay through Wednesday... like I have anything pressing at work. But in the interest in conserving vacation time... since I am sans any other type of leave, the present plan is to return Tuesday. I need a comfortable buffer of time off.

A much needed vacation

AB and I are packing kids, dog and things up on Thursday afternoon and heading out for a long weekend. I hate leaving before fiscal year end is completely behind me, but it is the luck of the draw. And I am not so in love with my work that I won't shove off my responsibilities onto someone else for that last day of insanity in exchange for marking "V" on my time card for 8 hours.

My FIL's family has decided that the deck needs to come off the cabin for safety sake, the cabin needs to be leveled and a new deck needs to be built. Being that I am married to a manly man who flings himself at any opportunity to do work of this sort, it was a no brainer. We were going.

I was coveting a trip to the coast anyway and had been bugging AB to get a weekend booked at the cabin for us. It will be interesting though. The family we are doing this initial aspect of (de)construction with is two of AB's cousins. He tells me he doesn't think he would recognize them if he came face to face with them in a crowd. Their wives and families are coming down only for Saturday night (lucky one hour drive from Seattle).

I love spending time at the cabin. It really is peaceful and relaxing. I am looking forward to picking blackberries with Leif. He is also becoming a master beachcomber, one of my favorite pastimes at the cabin. Winny loves the cabin and basically runs free the entire time we are there. She checks in on occasion for a drink of water and then heads out with her doggy friends who are always thrilled to see her, to romp in the trees. (Note to self... make appointment for groomer for when we get back.)

We get back on Monday probably late afternoon to early evening. (Oyster lovers you might want to block out that evening on your calendar in case we have good tides to retrieve the seeded Kumomotos and Olympics.)

I will come back to work fresh from a restful vacation, ready to tackle FY08. (Yes, even I am sitting here laughing at that statement.)

Chompers

Blow by blow of my oldest son's mouth and dental ordeal this morning.

It was a rough night. First off trying to get Leif to take his pre-op medication the night before. AB tells me it tasted like peppermint schnapps. I knew it smelled like it. Finally we got smart... if we were to have peppermint schnapps, how would we drink it? Straight? Gag. Why in hot chocolate of course! And with whipped cream. It worked.

The 4:45am dose though... had to be on an empty stomach. So no doctoring the stuff up then. AB and I got up when the alarm went off. AB restrained while I dumped it down Leif's throat. Luckily, a sleeping child resists little and remembers even less. We wandered back to bed, both with a look on our face of how fruitless heading back to bed even is at this point. Neither of us had slept much. The night had dragged by.

At 6:30am, AB headed out the door with my little boy in his arms. I tried not to cry. Really I did. I just kept thinking of those albeit rare stories you hear about general anesthesia. I was not ready for this. I finished getting myself ready, got Skadi up and ready and ran her out to daycare. Then headed back to the office. When I arrived they had already taken Leif back for the work. I felt my heart sink a little. Then forced myself to be confident while AB and I sat there and waited. A nurse brought us odd snacks... 8 Ritz crackers, some very mild, thick hunks of salami and what looked like leftover Olive Garden breadsticks. At 8am, none of it looked appealing.

AB told me about the arrival. The anesthesiologist had wanted to take Leif back to the room without AB. AB says he "insisted" upon going, and I agreed with this immediately. Why they would expect a 3 year old to willingly go with a stranger into a room with instruments and not pitch an enormous fit is amazing to me. The anesthesiologist was NOT happy with AB's insistence, but the dentist agreed and allowed AB to walk back with Leif. AB said after the fact when Leif was knocked out, the anesthesiologist made the comment that he never has a 3yo behave this well. Well duh. I am sure the "no parents in the OR" is more for the parents, but if you have a reasonable parent who understands they are putting the kid out, it really shouldn't be an issue, and should make the process easier.

About an hour later Dr. W came in and said that all four teeth badly needed crowns, and one he initially thought was going to need a root canal, but didn't once he got "in there". Additionally, he said that once he was able to get in and see Leif's teeth he saw that his four first molars, the centers (where they had initially told us were really deep pits and he would need seals - which they were also planning on doing at this time) were actually hypoplastic in the center - which also explains the need for a couple of fillings last year. So he ended up hollowing out those teeth and filling them, then sealing everything. There is some concern that his next molars could come in the same way given that so far all eight molars that are in, were affected to some degree. They are somewhat hopeful that his permanent teeth won't be. (Crossing my fingers.)

Dr. W made reference to this being either "genetic" or something that happened during pregnancy. He told us that these teeth were forming during 6-8 weeks gestation (which just amazes me thinking about it) and said, "so you might have done something and never known you were pregnant". Umm no. I knew early, early. So I racked and racked my brain. I didn't take meds while pregnant with Leif. I was so paranoid, I didn't do ANYTHING. The other aspect is the genetic side. Hypoplasty is an X linked trait. My neice has also had problems, so maybe it is just plain genetic. I had very strong teeth as a kid. Wacky teeth, misplaced and missing teeth, horrible bite, but no cavities until I was in my early teens. But maybe that other X choromosome was just more dominant in me. Maybe Skadi does have hope of nice teeth.

They warned us that coming out of anesthesia would be awful. He would scream and cry and so we were prepared for that. Amazingly, he didn't. He woke up and said, "mommy!" Broke my heart! I said, "I love you honey" and he said, "I love you too". Then he saw the bin of toys for being good and said, "I want the orange bracelet". Of course I went and got it for him without asking permission of anyone.

Things did kind of go downhill from there though - he wanted me to hold him and not Hans. He started crying, "I want to see the doctor". We were discharged and left, got to the parking lot and he was livid he wanted to go back and play with the toys. I have never seen him so angry ever. And strong too, Leif is a very strong kid. I could not have gotten him into the carseat myself.

AB thought strongly about taking him back inside to play for a little bit, but thought better of it when we became concerned that other kids would be frightened by this screaming, crying, red-eyed, swollen mouthed, blood encrusted child. We (ok, AB) overpowered him into his carseat, where he screamed bloody murder for a few minutes before konking out completely.

Things quickly returned to somewhat normal when we got home. Leif wanted oatmeal really badly. Kept asking for it. But we needed to push clear liquids first. I bribed him with the oatmeal to drink some apple juice and eat some jello first. Then he chowed his oatmeal and life was better again.

Very happy this is behind us.

Also as I have said a few times this week in regards to our daughter and her staph infection... very happy to live in the era we live in. An era of antibiotics and dental care.

"I can't believe you left that shirt on him for pictures!"

AB said.

Insinkerator take 43

The appliance you love, but hate.

And evidently it isn't just me! Consistently, nearly half of the search results that lead people to my blog are in regards to various "Insinkerator" problems, references to the infamous "Insinkerator red button" and many references to "fix Insinkerator".

I have a love hate relationship with mine. I hate for my house to smell like the entryway to my grandmother's house where she kept her big huge garbage can. So I love my garbage disposal. But could there be a more problem ridden appliance?

Ours quit working the other night. It was spinning... no way was I sticking my hand down there. It was creating a little tornado in the sink full of water (and debris). But it was going nowhere.

AB took apart all the pipes under the sink to clear a clog (the rest of the debris from the disposal... or why we actually HAVE a disposal to prevent this from happening).

When he was done, and the under sink area sparkled clean, it worked like a charm.

Except for that stupid overflow thing at the top of the sink that floods the countertop (and floor if you aren't paying attention) when you run the dishwasher. I am convinced this has to do with the disposal. Convinced.

So how does one fix this problem? (Aside from putting a cup over it that directs the flow of water into the sink and not onto the counter.)

Getting pictures for bompa... or an example of how difficult the annual Christmas photo shoot is going to be.

In an effort to get a few pictures of Skadi in her Broncos cheerleading outfit, I found a corner (the only corner) of the house that was not cluttered with stuff.

Ok, well that wasn't so bad. She was smiling, though it doesn't really look like it there.

That's a smile, but one of those in pictures that looks like she "could" have been getting ready to scream.

Too much cheese?

Here comes trouble... ok cute... AB could you have at least put cute or matching pants on him? "Leif can you give Skadi a hug?"

"Ok, how about a hug where I can see your face?"

"No, well can you scootch closer to her?"

"Well can you sit behind her?"

"Ok, this might work... Leif can you hug your sister?"

(Poised with camera.)

"Leif that is NOT a hug! Hug your sister."

The lump behind Skadi? That's Leif.

"Leif come on and hug your sister."

Success! Sort of. It will do.

The laughs I so needed

Today when I dropped Leif at daycare I stood around chatting with his teachers while he put his lunch away. The class has a big fridge and there are bins for food. The kids put their labeled food in the bins then the class lunch helpers for the day help sort it out for each child for lunch.

I was chatting away with the two teachers explaining why Leif would be out a few days next week (the dental thing) when I catch a glimpse of Leif playing with the butter drawer in the fridge.

NM: "Leif close that and put your lunch in the bins."

Leif: "In here mommy."

NM: "No, in the bins Leif." (Catching a glimpse of a number of baggies in the butter drawer.)

I went over and saw that it was moldy food! A number of bags of moldy food in the butter drawer. Gross.

NM to teachers: "Did you know these were in here?" pointing to the bags.

Teachers: "No, where did these come from?" pulling them out.

Sudden familiarity.

A bag of what used to be golden raspberries, a few bags of tomatoes with black and grey spots, a bag of cookies, a bag of mystery meat, a bag of slimy plums... Probably 10 or so bags.

All with Leif's name on each and every one.

The teachers admitted to wondering on occasion why his lunch was so light.

-------------------------

Leif on the phone with grandma on the way home.

Leif: "Hi, how are you?"

Leif: "How are you?"

Leif: "That's good."

Leif: "somethingsomethingmumblemumble and so I pushed him!"

Leif: "And Mrs. V asked me if I needed an icee and I said Noooooo."

Leif: "Because cause somethingsomethingmumblemumble"

Leif: "Because cause somethingsomethingmumblemumble"

Leif: "Because cause, bye!"

Flips the phone shut.

(After much prodding I still have no idea who he pushed, or why, or what happened or why he needed an icee. I just get "because cause" out of him. I will be talking to daycare tomorrow.)

So this explains the trend to have one parent stay home

It is weeks/months like the past few in our household.

With one child, who had been through the ailments and illnesses that accompany daycare, we could deal with us both working. Paying one daycare tuition was acceptable. And splitting time off when someone needed to be home with Leif was tolerable.

Then Skaders arrived. And she is truly one of the two best things that have ever happened to us. (I don't want to give the impression I am blaming her.) Then AB took an internship (read no benefits - vacation, sick time or insurance). All that was fine in the name of getting experience and I carried the family on my insurance. And it paid off. AB is in the process of being hired on fully by a great company (though one that doesn't realize there is a child who could really use the extra dental insurance in the next 7 days).

And here I am going to sound like an excessive whiner, but it is taking its toll. Being the sole one responsible for doctor's appointments and staying home with the kids when sick, while I wouldn't have it any other way given the choice, it is hard with a full time career. I have said it before, I will say it again, I don't know what single parents do. AB works out of town and with no paid leave, it just doesn't make sense for him to try and take off to do this stuff, particularly while he is trying to prove himself to his management.

My manager called me today. As explained previously, my manager never calls. And being that the last time she called I got a mid-year raise I have to admit hearing her voice raised my hopes there for a nanosecond.

Nope, she called to talk to me about my chargeable hours goal for the fiscal year and see what my plan was. I admitted to having missed filling out my timecard yesterday since I was home with a sick kid (that I DID e-mail her about). Therefore my chargeable goal was 8 hours off. And yes, I realize that still left me teetering on the brink, but I actually was (just barely) within guidelines.

She told me she was concerned as I had zero, zippo, nadda sick time left (thank you maternity leave policies that I could rant about). Yet in my e-mail regarding my schedule for the coming week I told her I would be out for a full day for my son's dental work. She fully understood this necessity, but reminded me this would either be on vacation time or she would authorize unpaid leave because I could not flex this time so close to the fiscal year end, nor could I use sick time. (Don't even get me started on my banked time sitting there, waiting to be "used when one most needs it"...)

She was quite polite about it all. She gets it, she has three kids. And she admitted that she knew how hard this is in the first year after a new baby. I don't blame her. I don't know who I blame. Nobody really. Maybe benefits a little for not letting me at those 24 or so banked hours...

Picking up Skadi didn't help a whole lot. She had a rough day thanks to tooth #2 pushing it's way through her little gum. Combined with the recovery from this skin issue she had and I blogged about yesterday. It was just a sucky day for her. I am tired of her getting bumped to the other room for no apparent reason. I am tired of the dipshit second teacher over there who is having serious bouts of pregnancy brain and threw her clothes away today. Brand new outfit in the trash. I stood there and waited for them to find her clothes... thankfully.

It is hard having been on "the other side" and seeing the other option for care conveniently only once the kids are 1 year old. Maybe it was this bad when Leif was there... maybe I just didn't know any better and now I do.

I went home and looked at AB (after going and buying last minute new shoes for Leif on the way home since his broke today at school and he was very upset about it). I told him if I went to 80% time I could take Mondays off, he will have Fridays off and we could drop Skaders to 3 days a week at daycare. He pointed at our son's mouth. Then reminded me of the debt that accumulated from a year of unemployment and three years of tuition for his Masters.

Nevermind.

Lotto anyone?

The weekend continues

Sort of, at least.

I am home with Skadi today. While in Portland last weekend Skadi's reddish crease on her neck decided to take on a life of its own. Things got worse and we got her into the doctor on Thursday with a raging yeast infection of the neck. After a day on the antifungal/steroid cream, things were looking up. Then this weekend it went the other way again and started looking worse. Apparently we upset the delicate fungal/bacterial balance and allowed the bacteria to run amuck. Staph that is. A call to the doctor Sunday morning confirmed this when she told us the cultures returned a positive for staph. (Yes, we were slightly irritated to find out she knew this already and hadn't passed the info on.)

After 15 hours on the antibiotic this morning things are looking substantially better. Because of the bacterial/contagious nature of this new diagnosis, Skadi is home, with me.

Leif had a playdate this Sunday. I have to say I love the fact that most of our friends are scientists. Because when I told J's mom right off the bat that I completely understood if they wanted to cancel the playdate for the staph on Skaders, she suggested we just meet at the park instead and keep the babies on seperate blankets. Thus, I didn't have to break the news to Leif that he wasn't in fact going to get to play with J this weekend.

We had a busy weekend as usual. Swimming on Saturday. Then AB's company picnic, where Leif had a fantastic time in the three bounce houses and we had a great lunch. Oh and to top it off AB won a gift certificate for Outback. I was a little bummed his was for the Outback and the one after his name was called was for Anthony's... though at least with the Outback, I have no hesitation in taking the kids. So it will get used sooner.

AB cleaned out and inventoried the freezers in the house, mowed the lawns and pureed about 4 big bowls of tomatoes and cooked it down for spaghetti sauce (which was my task that I didn't get to). I did however get our closet about 2/3 organized with the new shoe hangers from Ikea and sorting out some clothes. The floor is clear (save for 6 pairs of shoes... I really needed the 5th shoe hanger that I didn't buy). I still have the sweater organizers to put into use and a little more organization of shelf items, but we are well on our way there.

When Skadi goes down for her afternoon (long) nap I plan to do some cooking and get Leif's organizer put together. Yay me!

I am such a sap

After a rousing rendition of Pat Your Tummy with Leif tonight I decided to calm him down by dancing to I Don't Want To Live On The Moon.




Hearing my little boy sing along softly in my ear turned me into a complete puddle.

Even after repeated requests to play it again, the tears still dripped. Something about remembering myself in 1978 or so glued to the TV watching Ernie. I am pretty sure this was after I insisted everyone call me Ernie (and my grandpa was the only one who abided by my demands).

Thank goodness for a stranger's good sense of humor

Leif and I were in the restroom at Wendy's today.

Leif: "Is there someone else in here going potty mommy?" (in the not so soft voice).

NM: "Yes Leif."

Leif: "Can I crawl under the door and watch."

NM: "Umm no."

(Giggles from the stall next to us.)

Leif: "Can I pee on their shoes?"

NM: "LEIF! We don't pee on other people!"

(More giggles from the stall next to us.)

Looking ahead to fall

We are just plodding along here. I still am not completely unpacked from our trip to Portland last weekend. And everyone in the house is at the bottom of their stacks of clothes. Skadi wore a pair of Leif's old overalls today, Leif wore the ugliest pair of green shorts I bought for the daycare backup pair, that somehow were brought home and not taken back there. (His good shorts are probably there.) AB is probably fine on clothes as he has jeans and t-shirts till the cows come home. And I am wearing capri pants that I have been hitching up all day. (Not because I am losing weight, because they have a funky fit.)

AB is negotiating his full time position with the new company. He got a verbal offer over 5 weeks ago and is still hashing out the details. Actually they did nothing for a long time and just started hashing out the details this week. Suffice it to say it isn't coming in where we expected. While there is a need in environmental and that is where he is doing his internship, they don't have an available position. The positions are with safety, where he has less experience. They want to hire him into safey, but have him continue doing the environmental job until they can move him over there, likely next spring.

I don't know if it is something in the water here, something with big corporations, or what. Nearly the exact same thing happened with me 4 years ago. I was a post-doc in Radiation and Nuclear Physics as a chemist. They didn't want to lose me and so offered me a position in that group, of course at a lower bracket because I had little experience. Now the same thing is happening with AB.

In one instance it makes you feel good that you are valued and they dont' want to lose you. In another you know you are getting paid less than your peers for doing the same job. And that bites.

I keep reminding him that the important thing is that he likes his job. And he does. What does it really matter then? The benefits package is looking really good so far, three weeks vacation to start with the option to "buy" more. He is buying an additional week since we have lots on our calendar in the next year.

We are headed to the cabin on the 27th or 28th of this month for anywhere between 3-5 days depending on AB's status with the company. It wasn't planned until the cousins decided a new deck needed to be added on. Well AB with his trusty hammer was all over that. Leif will love it. I could use the break by the coast. We can pick blackberries and eat oysters to our hearts delight. (I know, I have PLENTY of raspberries in my own yard that need picked. But somehow it is different when it isn't your own chore that needs to be done.) I would like to see sleeping accomodations squared away before actually arriving, but I have my doubts. The cabin has one bedroom with a queen bed - last time we were there by ourselves we tossed a twin mattress on the floor for Leif (who was horribly disappointed not to get to sleep in the loft) and put Skadi in the pack and play (yes, THE starfish pack and play). But as mentioned previously there is also the loft with two doubles and two twins or the living room with the roll out (not the choice digs).

AB is anxious to work the back room at the October Platinum wine judging and will need a few days off for that. Then there is Thanksgiving and Christmas, that even though we are staying here, we plan to take a fair amount of time off. We keep talking about a ski trip next February or March to teach Leif how to ski. Maybe to Steamboat or Crested Butte. Or if we are feeling rich maybe to Banff or Whistler. Or if we are dirt poor it might be White Pass with a babysitter at home with Skadi.

We don't have a lot planned this weekend. Processing tomatoes. Going to AB's company picnic (which enabled me to honestly decline another invitation for Leif to a princess party for a child we don't know). And I need to get some food bought and prepared for weeknight dinners. AB wasn't overly thrilled with waffles for dinner last night (Leif and I however chowed). I am thinking chili (it is STARTING to cool down).

Everyone have a super weekend!

On this day in history...

Following suit from a number of other bloggers out there who I read regularly I thought I would write about what this day means to me.

Many people felt emotionally changed by 9-11, remember the sharp decrease in violent crime shortly after 9-11? It hit everyone, even the criminals. Too bad it didn't stick. 9-11 struck me emotionally as well, though I have always felt as though it didn't hit me immediately as hard as many others. It hit me after the fact.

I had gotten up and taken my dog out for our morning run. AB had already left for work and I was being lazy since all I was going to do that day was go in and sit at my desk and write my dissertation. It seemed quiet that day outside. In fact, I remember not seeing hardly anyone. As we walked back to the apartment huffing and puffing I remember a man looking at me like I was the strangest thing he had seen. Looking back I wonder if he thought he should stop me and tell me that thousands of people had just died while I was out for my morning run?

I turned on the TV and plopped on the floor to do my sit ups and push ups and saw Matt and Katie sitting in front of a screen of black smoke. It was nearly five minutes before I got the story. I sat and watched, glued to the screen. Finally, after at least an hour or more, I got up and headed into the lab still stunned.

I don't remember crying. I was in shock. I was angry. Incredibly angry that citizens, people and families seeking to exist peacefully were attacked. The towers were not a military installation, the people inside were not soldiers. Though it isn't just okay to strike a military base, it seemed that would have been easier to understand, a military attack, not an attack on unarmed civilians. How could they attack families? Everyone who died was someone's child. There were moms, dads, and grandparents. Pure evil was my characterization of whoever had done this.

Days after the attacks I held within me a desire I had never felt before. To avenge those who had died. I had never had a violent bone in my body, but if someone had put a weapon in my hand and pointed me to those who had done this I would have gone at them with a vengeance. I had never felt that anger I harbored in my soul before in my life.

Pre-attack I had job leads in the semiconductor industry and hoped to make computer chips for a living. Things at that time were starting to slow in Silicon Valley, but the attacks caused the industry to plummet. Suddenly my job prospects were next to nill and a fire was lit in my heart to protect the world. I searched for positions in national security and since I was an American soon to have a Ph.D., I was in demand.

I interviewed at the first place that offered me an opportunity. It was different from any interview I had ever had before. I was trying to sell myself, while they were trying to sell me I saw later on. The interview ended with the statement that, "if you want to come and work on these projects, let us know, we could use you tomorrow". I said I did and the next thing I knew, I was here.

So for me, 9-11 didn't just change my outlook on life. It changed my life in how I define who I am. I am fighting with the best weapon I have, my brain.




(I may just have convinced myself not to jump into the world of computer chips for profit...)

Our mini vacation recap in photos

Visiting Multnomah Falls

It's the eyes. Those beautiful brown eyes.

Ok, AB is right... this one didn't turn out as awful as I thought it would.

Check out the 'kini!

All smiles for the zoo train ride with grandma.

Bob, bob, bob, bob, bob.

Back in June I got a hit on my unsolicited CV. I responded tentatively expressing a little interest, but shoved it off saying I wouldn't be ready to seriously consider anything for 4-6 months.

Then AB got a permanent job offer (though nothing in writing yet from THE slowest company on the face of the earth) and the request to interview slipped to the back of my brain.

I was reminded today that there is an actual reason we opted to drive to Portland to meet my mom and stepdad instead of taking them up on their offer to drive up here and spend the weekend. AB and I wanted to get a taste of the city. I had conveniently replaced the thought of "we should see if we would like to live there" with "we are going on vacation" the past few weeks.

I checked my e-mail today and tasted that sour feeling in my throat when I saw an e-mail from a recruiter for "that company". They have asked me to have a web chat next week with one of their "female senior engineers" so that I can get a feel for what life with the company is like for women.

Who has been talking?

And just to show that not everything my son says is the cutest thing in the world...

A fly landed on my arm during dinner.

NM: "Stupid fly." (Shooing it away.)

Leif the rest of the LONG weekend: "Stupid fly." (Repeat ad nauseum.)

-------------------

Leif: "Dot Com."

NM: "What?"

Leif: "Dot Com."

NM: "What dot com?"

Leif: "Anything dot com mommy."

Hardwired evidently.

My muffin top.

I can admit this because I was able to zip my SilverTabs from pre-Leif. It wasn't necessarily the prettiest thing... two kids later, muffin top and all. But they zipped.

Breastfeeding is good.

The weekend update

As always, our weekend was a whirlwind. When I look at the bottom right hand corner of my computer screen and see "Wednesday" I have a mixture of joy (that this week is already halfway over) and a sense of dread (of all the things I need to get done before AB gets home from work tomorrow evening and we jump in the car and head out towards Portland).

So the weekly recap of the weekend... Saturday was a playdate for both kids with siblings from daycare, children of a woman I work with... sort of. "With" as in for the same company. It went well. We raced home where I threw on a new pair of cute jeans and a shirt, AB assured me that in this town I was plenty dressed up for a night out. (Anywhere else, so not the case.) He was happy to see I was just wearing jeans and went with the like.

The sitter showed up and I fussed over the bottle warmer. Something we just don't use and had long since forgotten how much water to add to warm an average sized bottle. Dinner was great. We lingered over the food (steamer clams, salad AND chowder, my halibut cheeks-yum, AB's grilled halibut with peach salsa, a chocolate melting cake...) then headed out for a walk afterwards when we saw that it was right about bedtime. We were paying the sitter afterall... she could have the joy that is bedtime in our house.

While out on our walk AB found himself helping carry a wheelchair bound woman up the dock stairs. They had been out on one of the local dinner cruises and could not get the chair (with elderly woman in it) up. Who knows what they woud have done had AB not just happened to have been there. When she was safely on dry land we continued our walk. We laughed as the people said, "oh you were just out for a walk? We thought you were with the cruise company here to help this time since going down was so bad!" The thought of them getting this about 90 year old woman down the dock stairs was frightening.

We walked a little further and I got a huge kick out of seeing in the windows of an ongoing wedding. It was fun watching the toasts, seeing the cake, the bride... but what killed me was the big screen TV in the back with football on. Killed me. I told AB I wanted to go in and tell the staff to turn off the TV for the poor girl's toasts... and then help myself to a slice of cake (because evidently my chocolate melting cake had settled just enough).

We finished our walk and returned home to find the babysitter on the couch reading my American Academy of Pediatrics Well Child book. I seriously have loads of good reading material (like two months worth of magazines on my coffee table) and this is what she was reading? I like her devotion to her work! Our other babysitter looks forward to the kids being down so she can go through my Food And Wine magazines...

Sunday we took our time getting up and out. That afternoon we went over to K&V's for dinner. Leif talked all day about visiting C. He was even way too excited to sleep. Normally that is a good way to get him to sleep, "you get to go see 'X child' after you nap!" Yeah, not this time. I revelled in/wanted to move into K&V's newly painted Master bedroom. AB, for the first time since moving into our house, has thoughts of painting our Master. It is the one room he could have cared less about to this point.

Monday AB tackled green chili. It was a day long project seriously. But the end product? Fantastic. I played with the kids most all day and worked on readying the house for book club when I could.

Yes, book club. It was last night and I hosted for the book 'Little House in the Big Woods'. And yes, I did trip one person up who read instead, 'Little House on the Prairie'. It was a small gathering on our patio to discuss the book that most of us read as a child. I was pleased that I got everything out and on the table in time (thank you AB). AB bent over backwards taking care of the kids while I chatted it up. I did bruschetta and some other little things for appetizers and then AB made crepes (on Sunday - I froze them) for dessert. They went over quite well.

That brings us to Wednesday... or so my computer tells me. Still not sure how that happened. I have tonight to get AB and I packed for the long weekend in Oregon. I have Leif and Skadi packed, though I need to put 3 pairs of pants in Leif's suitcase and Skadi's two new pairs of Robeez in. (Sigh... she actually has three new pairs of Robeez - thank you online sale.) I have a box of snacks, lunch stuff, and baby food. Leif needs to pack his "pack pack" of toys he wants to bring. Then tomorrow after AB gets off work we are off!

We are driving about 2/3 of the way to Portland Thursday night. Staying on the Hood River and then getting up and going to the falls. After that we head into Portland to meet my mom and stepdad. The zoo on Saturday, Ikea Saturday afternoon while Leif (and AB) nap, Whole Foods/Trader Joes/Any reasonable health food store on the way out on Sunday. Shopping and hanging out and eating in between everything else! I can't wait!

Have a good week/weekend all. Catch up with you next week!

How I know I have been watching too much HBO

When my dreams turn to our second wife, Anna Faris, not properly cooking the salmon.