1-0!

Can you believe it?  That was us ten years ago!  It's so exciting to be in double digits.  We went out to lunch and talked about houses.  We talked about some of our adventures.  The Nissan Sunny we drove in Taiwan.  Backpacking in Japan.  The adventures we have planned for this summer.  Jellystone, kayaking, and backpacking.

I'm a lucky gal.  He's a lucky guy. But it's not luck that's kept us together.  Two great kids, a lot of work and compromise, and a whole bunch of family FUN has made these ten years so fabulous.  So here's to the next ten years, and the ten after that, and the ten after that, and the...

Love My Glasses

These are my new Warby Parker glasses.  I love how black glasses they look.  I also love that Warby Parker donates a pair of glasses for every pair purchased.

I got the Coltons in Revolver Black Crystal

 Every time I take my glasses off I worry about the little girl with no money for glasses.  She has such bad eyesight that if she could go to school, she wouldn't be able to see anything. 

So thanks Warby Parker for giving sight to someone in need.  It's one thing to be blind.  It's another to just need corrective lenses.

Today is Wednesday and I Love Wednesday

We sent J packing Monday!  To Hawaii!  And work is paying for it?  Lucky dog!
We'll grudgingly hold down the fort for the next week while we freeze.  And work on getting us moved up north.

Today I got the best piece of junk mail ever.  It says "read before discarding".  I love it!  How can you not? 
And speaking of junk mail.  Why does Honda send me envelopes that look like junk mail.  I put aside an envelope for a month before I deigned to open it.  Luckily I didn't trash it because it notified me of a recall on my car.  Nothing big, but yikes!  Can you get some more formal envelopes that say "read before discarding"  or "this is real mail.  not junk." 

I guess I'll know next time. 

In other news, Gwyn hides in the closet and watches Barney.  Granted, that's where the comfy pile is.  But Barney?  Yuck.  She knows that I forget that I gave her my ipod and that there's a better chance for her to get more viewing time in if she's out of sight.  Yikes. 

I'm super stoked because I made all the hard phone calls today for moving.  The ones that involve people and buying a house.  Those are the kind of calls I can put off for forever.  So pat on the back for me for behaving like a grown up, calling strangers, and letting them know how little I know about buying a house and how much help I'll need to do it.  Yay me!

ps.  I made carnitas today in the crackpot.  Yum.  Want some?

This Week in IN

J's home from his interview in Wiscansin.  He said it went well.  Will we be cheeseheads? I tried to explain the concept of a cheesehead to the kids, but they didn't believe me.  I guess we tease them often enough that they're suspicious.  (Really.  Who would wear a piece of cheese on their head?  Do we look stupid, Mom?)

The weather has been weirdly warm.  Spring like.  The snow has almost all melted into a muddy mess.  A big boo to global warming!  I'm afraid my bulbs are going to think it's time to appear only to be frozen dead.  

If you want a mess, try figuring out if you're a resident, non resident, or part time resident.  The taxes this year really make me hope we don't move again for a very long time.  I'm very confused trying to figure it all out.  I see why people have it done professionally.  It's really easy when you only have to fill out the EZ form.  Then it gets really crazy really fast.


And after this week hiatus, I have a few posts up my sleeve.  Well, they're still in my camera because the pictures haven't been downloaded.  But if I could pull them out of my sleeve, I would.

I'll leave you with a picture of me.  I still eat my cake like that. A big thanks to my Dad who scanned and downloaded all of these great pictures. 

Visibility. Yet Sartorially Challenged

Seriously.  Wouldn't you want to get lost in the woods in this outfit?  So warm.  So visible. 

My Feet Are Falling

I love my Chucks.  I bought them a couple of years ago.  They're velvet.  Which means they match everything, including evening dresses (which I don't own).

Unfortunately, I am getting slightly longer in the tooth than I once was.  So last month I bought some arch supports for my Chucks.  Inserts.  That I love.

Don't worry.  Just because I am old, does not mean that you are old.  Just don't try to figure out how long we've known each other.  Or you might realize that your arches are falling, too. 

Home

Jesse and I both read the NYTimes online.  We hardly ever read the same articles and this is probably one of them.  It's about palliative care and how patients and caregivers create a home for them to die in.

One of the most amazing experiences of my life was helping my grandmother her last month of life.  We listened to soft music.  We looked at pictures.  We fed her Haagen Dazs, because when you're dying, who cares about fat.  We visited with all the great people who dropped food by the house.

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to be surrounded by alien heads, but a warm beach, a beautiful garden, lots of kids and grandkids someday.

For now, making our home beautiful still weighs on my mind.  I had kind of given up on this house because it has so many problems.  But maybe I need to give it another chance.  Put a little elbow grease into it.  Get the scary places organized.  A few more plants.  A few more pictures.  I don't want to wait until I die to have my dream home.

This was taken at the cemetery in Maine.  It overlooks the river.  Not a bad view for a final resting place.

Pop! Goes the canning jar. So yesterday was my strike. Today I watched three hours of Hulu television while I cored/peeled/sliced with the new gadget. One bag of dried apples, one apple crisp, one quart and six pints of apple butter later...

I'm thinking about my friend at the New Yorker festival this weekend. I am so envious. I got my first New Yorker in 1994. It took me a year or two, but the advertisements for the festival made me itching to go. All those stories. All those authors. I can't wait to live vicariously through our friend. I can't wait to hear...everything.

So I admit. I've started. Wait for it. Writing again. Nothing huge right now. Just warming up. A few thoughts here and there worth keeping, but mostly drivel. I do believe there is a story or two inside me. All the quiet time with nothing but me and the apples helped me remember. Scary and exciting all at once.

School starts today. Both the kids are in the smart class (gt, ha, tag, etc.) I love summer. I love school.

So what will I do with my free time? Well...
-fix up our house
-buy all the weird condiments that I keep forgetting at the store
-go to Portuguese class!
-post some bloggity blogs
-find my purpose in life


Wish me luck. And congratulate me for successfully graduating from SAHM. (It can happen to you, too!)

Fake FUN Me

I don't know why I feel compelled to be FUN mom, especially when Jesse is away. Honestly, I'm not that fun. I'm much better at keeping us organized, fed, clothed, well functioning than entertained. I rely heavily on Jesse to keep us FUN.

Since he's backpacking this week, I took the kids on some excursions. I think I was too tired and solo parenting for them to be too much fun. The Children's Museum was kind of boring for me(I mean, there was no way I was fitting in that lighthouse). I did enjoy using my mad cash register skilz when I rang up the kids' fake food purchases (campus bookstore. woot! woot!) Of course, we left the museum in a tizzy. Something about getting a head stuck in between the bars of the ship's hold. I wasn't sure of the details, just that Mermaid, Monkey and the little boy they were playing with were all crying.


Mackworth Island could not be deemed a death march as 1.5 flat miles is merely a stroll. Especially w/ swinging benches and regular benches every 15 feet. Not to mention the fairy village in the middle. Monkey did hike the whole time because she knows there is no way I can carry her. So I guess that was good. Mermaid's breakdown at leaving before furnishing her fairy house was not fun. Oh well.
(notice the plethora of fairy houses in the background. It's like the woodstock of fairyville)

Today we took it easy. Went to the toy library, dentist (after flaking once again and rescheduling. hello? brain? are you there?), library, and got LaRoche's seafood for dinner, then gymnastics. LaRoche's does a clam/lobster bake for $15. A lobster, 10-15 clams, red potatoes, and corn. It's all take-out and you order ahead. Love it! Can you say amazing feast for so cheap? Crazy! Mermaid couldn't come close to finishing her meal (Monkey had my corn and pb&j), so I think I'll make a chowder with the leftovers. I feel really, really bad that we didn't do it when Amy was here. Totally flaked on her lobster meal. I'd bring one down, but cold lobster and clams sounds kind of nasty.
So, the kids are smiling in all the photos. Everyone is still mostly happy. Monkey claims to a) miss her daddy (there was a breakdown about missing him 5 minutes after dropping him off) and b) that I don't love her (because I limit computer time and do not cuddle her when she comes in my room at 6 am). Otherwise we are happy as...well, not those clams, but ones still safely in the mud.

Sewing Machine Questions for YOU

More questions for you!

I'm getting a sewing machine for my birthday, anniversary, and mother's day (Thanks Jesse!). What kind of machine do you have? Do you love it? Do you hate it? What do you wish it did that it doesn't? What settings do you use a lot?

I'm looking at Singer's because they are on sale at Jo-Ann's. I'd love to hear your input!

Bachelorette Party

Here's a question for you. Bachelorette party. The bride to be has 3 kids, two with the groom. They live together. What gift can I give that will not totally embarrass me? The best I can think of is babysitting, but the oldest kid (15) does that. I'm leaning towards candles and lotion.

This will be my first, y'know. In Mormondom, we always call them bridal showers and give housey gifts. Or if you're a really good friend, sexy unders. Neither seem to make sense in this situation. Oh man. I'm a little nervous. Thank goodness my friend the preacher's wife is coming, too.

I Like My Birthdays

I thought my birthday would be low key. I mean, 34 is not something to go crazy about. It's not 30, not 40, not even a nice 5 divisible 35.

But with a 5 year old Monkey around, no birthday can go unnoticed. I mean, this is it for the family until December. She bugged me and harrassed me to get decorations, party favors, balloons, and a present. So off to the dollar store for balloons, even those cool punch ones I loved as a kid. I pulled out the birthday streamer my mom made, and voila, instant birthday.G woke us up in the morning to make me breakfast. Supposedly, she let me sleep in. She has a fabulous stage whisper that could wake the dead. The best part is that she keeps bringing it up as if she did this great big favor for me. It has taken all my mommy willpower to just smile and agree that she did let me sleep in, and I am very grateful.

G did help me make my birthday cupcakes, the strawberry Sprinkles recipe from Martha Stewart. They were super yummiferous. (And so no one gives J a hard time, I totally wanted to make those cupcakes myself. I only have so many opportunities to perfect my mad baking skilz.)
The kids had a school dance that night where I boogied. A room full of concrete thinkers can't imagine dancing unless there are directions. The dance floor emptied on "Beat It" but filled for the Bunny Hop. Weird. There were some scary sixth grade girls who looked like they were 20. Yikes!

J and I ended the night catching up on some 30 Rock.

Birthdays are Fun! I'm glad I had some little peeps to remind me.

Blah!

I'm sick. Unfortunately, I didn't figure it out until after doing a crazy Jillian Michaels circuit training workout. The kids loved it. I have no idea what they ate Friday and I don't really care. I'm pretty sure they were on the computer and watching movies all day. I was asleep in my bed for 18 hours or so.

I was lucky (ha!) to get sick on the weekend. J took the kids to dinner at the commons on Friday, to the children's museum on Saturday, and church on Sunday. I have been recuperating (which is kind of boring once you're done with the sleeping part).

Now we have to keep Jesse healthy. For one, he doesn't have the time for it. Second, he's not the best patient ever (See post on Mermaid's reaction to being sick).

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of the Year

I was looking at the Halloween post and realizing that it's now November and then comes December which is always CRAZY (and that's not counting the great flood of 2008).

Because lest you forget there's:
Christmas, Dec 25
Monkey's B-day (5), Dec 29
Jesse's B-day, Jan 1
Mermaid's B-day (8), Jan 31
Mermaid's Baptism, Feb sometime.
Valentine's Day, Feb 14.

And to make things exciting this year, we have:

Dissertation sent to advisers, Nov 16,
Thanksgiving, Nov 26,
Dissertation filed, Dec 5,
MLA Conference, Dec 27-29,
Job interviews, Feb.

I know that tons of people are way busier than I am, but for two months I feel like a CPA at tax time. CRAZY!

Free Haircuts by Bekah

Did you know I was a hairstylist? I am. You know those "free" haircuts you can get by students. I've had my fair share of those, ending up with a sore neck TWO HOURS later. Each time, I think "why did I do that? Why didn't I just pay for a haircut?"

The good part is that while the stylist is getting haircutting tips, I am too. I've listened and watched and now I have my own little hair models. I have to work a little more quickly, like 20-30 minutes. But with a movie on, I can get the kids to sit fairly still. So here's the result:
Mim's head is tilted, the hair cut isn't as crooked as it looks, promise.

Dark Brown #30

I knew that one day this would happen. Even six months ago, I thought it was far off. But Sienna's wedding was coming up, and I didn't feel like being the salt and pepper in law. I did it again yesterday. That makes twice. I anticipate that three months from now, I'll have to do it again. (do they have dark brown #30 in Japan? I'm going to say yes.)

How does it feel? Great, actually. Just about everyone if my family is mostly gray by 40, and I'm just not ready for that. I have no qualms about fighting it. Or at least delaying the inevitable. I might as well take advantage of this window where I can use the cheap dye and don't need highlights. (Which I can't really afford.)

Neither my mom or my brother noticed anything different. Same thing happened last time. It's just momentous for me.

ps I'm whitening my teeth, too. Such vanity. Or maybe it's taking pride in my work. Just because stay at home moms don't get a lot of respect doesn't mean I have to look less than my best. Right?