You are currently browsing the monthly archive for November 2008.
But I promise we give it our best shot.
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Hope y’all had a great Thanksgiving – more soon!
(another stolen share from JPP)
I wasn’t really going to write anything today, because I was feeling all WHY CAN I ONLY WRITE LISTS INSTEAD OF THOUGHTFUL AND PROFOUND PONDERINGS, but then JennDav sent an update on the Dennis Leary/autism incident, and I patted myself on the back for having held back on my vitriol. (Though I think this smugness might mitigate my maturity-progress a bit.) My opinion on his explanation still doesn’t completely exonerate him as far as I’m concerned – like I thought perhaps would be the case – but regardless I’m glad he acknowledged it. And of course, I love Jon Stewart so that’s always a reason to post something. Mmmmmm..
Secondly, Brandi asked the other day about the paci’s (which, did I ever mention that or is that mommy intuition kicking in already?) so I figured I’d update that with requisite picture.
Some background first: I let both my kids have pacifiers, and somehow we managed to wean Jack from his before Lo was born, with zero problems. In fact, I don’t even remember how it happened.. that kid is so easy sometimes. Lorelei, however, has been one of those kids; the ones that want to have a plug in their mouth at all times, in all places, and with others giving us that ‘she’s-going-to-go-to-kindergarten-with-that-thing’ look. I admit I was hesitant how to wean her of it, mostly because I had been a dedicated thumbsucker as a child (so much so that no gross-tasting nail polish or gloves would stop me, and I ended up having to have a retainer put in because the roof of my mouth was becoming too narrow. Yeah. For real. It was ridiculous – sorry Mom.), and I was really afraid my mini-me was the same way.
Basically, I didn’t know what to do: take away the paci and risk a thumb replacement, or let her continue something I knew wasn’t a self-soothing issue, but merely a stubborn habit – one that was possibly messing with her speech development. Sigh. But then I remembered my friend Amanda had employed the concept of the Paci Fairy successfully, and we decided to try it. I highly suggest it.
About two months ago, we started casually mentioning that on (around) her third birthday, the Paci Fairy was going to come and take all her paci’s to the new babies in the world. In return, like her sister Tooth, Paci would leave a small gift as a thank you. So last Saturday Lo decorated a bag
and before bed (and after I found her hiding under the covers with a deathgrip on a handful of pacifiers) we put them in, folded the top, and put it on the front porch for the fairy to retrieve during the night. Jack asked if he could stay up, since he had in fact missed meeting Tooth, but I told him that the fairies were cousins to Santa, and they wouldn’t come unless everyone was asleep.
[I’m sure there are some theories about why lying to my kids with such abandon is wrong, but holy batman I think it’s fun to make up these stories. Maybe they’ll be gullible enough to believe in some sort of seat belt boogeyman when they start driving..]
Anyway, she put ’em in, was out cold within ten minutes with nary a fuss, and in the morning was poking me and whispering excitedly that she wanted to see what presents had been left. Luckily, she thinks cheap beaded jewelry from the 80s – yes, mine – is beyootiful, so I saved my arse after having forgotten to get something.
Battles Won to date? Parents: 3, 876 – Kids: 11, 342, 999
What else.. Um, I did some skill testing today at a local temp agency and my scores were great. She said she hopes they can place me somewhere soon, but first I have to take a PowerPoint test (ran out of time today). Unfortunately I realized yesterday that I sort of leap-frogged PP to use more advanced design programs when I was tech writing, and I’ve never actually even opened it as far as I remember. But surely I can mungle my way through it; it’s Microsoft, so that should make it easily navigable, right? ….Snort.
And really I think that’s about it. It’s been a fairly uneventful week. Sure, I could talk about how the weather changed – oh, 50 degrees – in twenty hours, but if I’m scraping the bottom of the idea barrel to talk about Kansas weather, I need to just say goodbye and hang up.
So, I’ll leave you with some Louis Prima, which has made me boogie lately. Enjoy!
I love me some Google, but the slideshow below isn’t showing up in Reader, and as much as I don’t like that the embedded songs are often hidden, denying the world of the gorgeousness that is my daughter is just NOT. COOL.
ETA: Months later it looks like the RockYou site has totally messed up the montage. There should be like.. 20 pictures.
[rockyou id=126834261]
A) This is fracking hilarious. Computer nerd or not.
2. So I made this sauce the other day? Uhhhhmaaaaziiinnngggg. And if you know me, you know I can’t cook. Like at all. So this goes beyond coup to.. I dunno. Orbit. Make it soon, and send money to Miss Chick for royalties.
3) Jack was sent to the principal’s office yesterday for acting out and general fartknockery. Apparently there’s a new para in his class, and he decided this week he was going to test his teacher to see what she would do. Now he knows. I totally get and support the philosophies behind homeschooling, but damn I heart the staff at his school, and it bears repeating again. That probably seems odd considering we’re talking about punishment, but these are social growing pains every child goes through – it’s just a fact – and knowing I am not able to provide what he needs in this arena, this is the best place I could have asked for to support him as he grows. It’s tenuous, interacting and communicating with him, and they are as committed to figuring it out as I am.
4. Top Chef season 5 has started! I have a small crush on Tom Colicchio, though I have to laugh that his bio says he learned to cook with the help of French manuals, and yet he totally derided a contestant last night for suggesting the exact same thing. Maybe I can learn to cook by.. television osmosis?
e) The job I just left involved customized labels being put on bottled water, and this is the new label about to be produced. I think it’s just cool as hell.
Ciao friends! Hope all is well in your worlds!
But I was tagged to do a music meme! And despite that I think most memes (ugh, I hate that they’re called that) are lame, I think I’ll do this one a) because I’m obviously bored, and b) it’s right up my nostalgic alley. What you’re supposed to do is pick a song for every five years you’ve been alive, and tell a memory that is associated either with the song specifically, or the time frame you heard it.
***
1. 1977-1982 – Lakewood, CO
Song: Peter Gabriel “Solsbury Hill” Everything about this song encapsulates my early memories in Colorado, which mostly include my mom’s family. As far as a specific memory, the only thing that really comes to mind is eating McDonald’s on Friday nights by myself in my grandparents’ basement, watching Dukes of Hazzard. But I was five, so the veracity of that could be a little suspect.
***
2. 1983-1988 – Arvada, CO
Song: Mr. Mister “Broken Wings”I took a gymnastics class where we stretched to this song, and all I really remember about the class is my friend Ray, who could do a standing back flip. He also slammed on the brakes of his 10-speed once and flipped up his back tire completely perpendicular to the ground; it was totally awesome.
***
3. 1989-1994 – Arvada,CO/ Shawnee Mission, KS
Song (CO): Bell Biv Devoe “Poison”I rode the bus in 8th grade, and the two most salient memories are of a dog getting hit as he was running across the road, and listening to this song and feeling so cool. But holy batman in retrospect I can’t believe they let us listen to this stuff on the bus. (Remember “Do Me”? Damn.)
Song (KS): Smashing Pumpkins “Disarm”This song reminds me of junior prom, where my friends Bec, Josh, Justin and I all went as friends. We ate at some fancy restaurant that served escargot as part of the package, and rode in a limo. It was one of.. two? dances that wasn’t with my high school boyfriend (we were on a Ross/Rachel break, of course) and I remember being totally underwhelmed about it all. I really liked the people I went with, but man prom can be such a colossal waste of money.
***
4. 1995-2000 – Manhattan, KS
Song: Beastie Boys “Intergalactic”The vast majority of my college memories are tied to a group of guys who lived on 805 Bertrand. There was a huge group overall, but the ringleaders were these five. Really, some of my life’s most fond memories include this house; I’ve said many times it was integral to the rite of passage college is supposed to be. Beasties were of course a running staple, but this song in particular makes me smile b/c for Halloween the boys dressed up like the video, and even now I can’t not dance like they do when I hear it. It’s one of my favorite memories of Ryan, who drowned the following summer.
***
5. 2000-2005 – KC
Song: DMB “Dancing Nancies”Ahhhh.. Dave Matthews. I went to a handful of his concerts during this time, but the two that stand out were with Jon, Jenn Dav and Emily, and then Jon, Sammy and Meg. Whooee those were fun. I don’t really listen to a whole lot of Dave anymore, mostly because my age was becoming inverse to that of the majority of concert goers, but I will always have a soft spot for this song and Sandstone.
***
6. 2006- Present – KC
Song: Okkervil River “Our Life is Not a Movie, or Maybe”Really, I don’t know if I have any specific memories to this song; it’s only about a year old. But it was on a Best of 2007 compilation I was given last year, and it’s been a sleeper hit for me. There are some disharmonic parts that took me a while to get used to, but what I like about it is that it can fit in almost all of my moods. I’ve run while angry, cried, waved my hand through the air currents out the window while happily driving down the street, whatever. I just feel like it could be a song that in retrospect will have fit the..unpredictability that has been the last few years.
So there you go. I tag everyone, because it’s fun. Ciao!
(Though like a small child, I am easily amused, so I guess that doesn’t mean much.)
(thanks, j, for the share.)
1. How HBO can be so friggen hit-or-miss with their shows. I think it’s a rather safe assumption to declare that the shows are either AMAZING or SINGULARLY CRAPTASTIC. But the latest, True Blood, brought by Alan Ball of Six Feet Under, needs to be buried immediately- it’s so, so bad. The only good thing about it is that it affirms my stance that Anna Paquin is a horrible actress.
2. How there are four pieces of jewelry that in a week’s time of sitting calmly in a little travel bag somehow became the twisted mess below. Dunno if you can see it, but on the right there is a thin silver chain that is wrapped around both the gold bracelet AND the colorful necklace roughly 4,345 times. I don’t remember putting the travel bag in the dryer, but I must have, right? How else can that happen?
3. How much I dig the bumper stickers I see that say Barack Chalk Jayhawk. I can’t get over how clever I think that is, and it worries me that I thought about getting one… if only for just a moment.
4a. How I can look at my kids and think they are both 100% dorks and 100% adorable.
4b. Whether the person who designed Jack’s costume modeled it off of Willy Wonka (00:50 mark).
5. How it took me 30 some-odd years to discover Antony and the Johnsons. His range and ability to blend is amazing and I get the chills every time the song gets about half way and the piano comes in. Great music in which to just sit and think. This is “Hope There’s Someone”.
6. Why, oh why K-State has fallen so much under Prince. Sigh.
7. Why I was laid off of my job (long story, sucky but not the end of the world) and am looking for a big-girl job during the worst time to do it. Three years ago, great, but now? Notsomuch. Wish me luck.
8. The point of DST. I’m bad enough as it is with knowing what time it is, why do we need to confuse me further?
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Huzzah! 