Life Decision

OK, I've come to a major life decision in the past week or so.

I am just NOT cut out to be a drug addict. Not going to happen. :-)

Some of you may be wondering where this sudden epiphany came from. It's not like I ever really considered that as a career path; the skanky lifestyle and legal implications have always pretty effectivly scared me off. But I now have empirical evidence that I am just NOT cut out for that role.

I've been on the world's LONGEST prednisone taper for the past week; I'll be on prednisone for over five weeks total. To put that in perspective, the longest I've ever been on it before is about two weeks. Kathy's been on it, for about 10 days.

Now, I've done prednisone before, and every time I have a different reaction to it. Sadly, this instance's reaction is sleeplessness. From Wednesday through Sunday night, I got only one night in where I slept more than about 3 hours (Saturday). All the others I was up by about 2 in the morning, and did no more than doze the rest of the night.

The weird thing, though, is I am NOT sleepy. I go through the next day nearly manic, and I'm definitely even more jittery than I normally am (at breakfast Sunday morning my leg was jiggling non-stop, about a million miles an hour).

And this totally bugs me; it's driving me absolutely crazy. I can deal with being tired AND sleepy, but being tired and not sleepy is just wrong. Can't hack it.

So, I've decided that the junkie lifestyle, or at least one that involves jitter-inducing drugs, is NOT for me.

I know y'all are all relieved!

I want to be THERE

I don't want to be here anymore. Here it's rainy and gloomy.

My friend David is in Ireland. I want to be THERE:





Incidentally, I'm also wondering if Giants can build a causeway in Ireland, what would it take to get them to build me a patio? Wouldn't that be a cool patio??? "Hi, I'm Meg, and this is my Giant's Patio".

What a game!

Now this is something you just don't see everyday:



For the uninitiated, it's a batting order sheet from Grace's Pee Wee game this morning; I get to be bench coach, which means I have to remember who made the last out each inning and who starts the batting the following inning (oh, and also keep the dugout in line!) Since I have virtually no short term memory, I write the inning number next to the kid who will lead off that inning on my sheet.

Pee Wee baseball games are supposed to last and hour and 15 minutes, and have 6 innings. If you notice, this sheet indicates which kid would lead off the NINTH inning!

Grace's team had taken an early lead in the game, but the other team played really well and was able to tie it in the bottom of the 6th inning. Neither team scored in the 7th, but we finally started hitting in the 8th, and scored 4 runs. Luckily, we didn't need a lead off batter in the 9th; we were able to hold the other team in the bottom of the 8th for the win, but Holy Smokes, what a game!

Funny Shirt Karma

Or, perhaps, Funny Sister Karma.

Every couple of months, Kathy and I serendipitously dress alike, or as near alike as our wardrobes can accomplish. Since we work in the same office (different groups, opposite sides of the building, but same basic space), this causes great amusement among our colleagues.

Well, today was one of those days (black capris and pink-ish shirts).

Now, ordinarily when this happens we just go with the flow, and laugh along with everyone else (it's NEVER planned, always just happens). Today, though, we're not only going to be at work together, but will then go straight to dinner with our Uncle Gilbert, and THEN to a dress rehearsal for the small ensemble Kathy sings with (I'm ringing for their show tomorrow night).

Sorry, but that's just too much twinsies.

So, since I had other errands to run at lunch, and since I wanted to run home and find my wireless card so I can use my laptop at work, I said I'd change my shirt (I now have a green shirt on).

But the truly funny shirt karma? I started to wear the shirt I NOW have on today, but decided for unrelated reasons that this was not the day to wear it. Well, the joke's on me -- apparently it IS the day to wear it!

Worst Tattoo Ever, and Bad Facial Hair

At Peter's recorder concert last night, Kathy and I indulged in a favorite hobby: being absolutely SHOCKED at some of the people who inhabit this world. Now, neither of us are perfect, and we're well aware of that. But we're usually well-groomed, and try not to wear/do things that will bring ridicule to ourselves or our family.

Not so with all people.

First there was the lady who had, quite possibly, the Worst Tattoo Ever. It was on the outside of her ankle, and we couldn't decide if it was a manatee or a winged pig flying. Now, I'm all in favor of funny tattoos (my latest idea is if I ever get one, I'll get a young tendrill of kudzu on the inside of my ankle), so the notion of a flying pig amuses me. But, whether it was a pig or a manatee, it was mainly just an outline, with no color or anything. Not attractive (my kudzu tendril, should I ever get it, will be pretty and in bloom!)

Then there was the man sitting next to me. At first glance, he seemed fine....until I noticed that HIS NOSE HAIR WAS GROWING OUT AND MINGLING WITH HIS MUSTACHE!!!! EEEW! Yucko. Bad grooming.

Aside: When I announced that if I ever got a tattoo it would be a kudzu tendril, my Dad told Peter that if I do, he (Peter) and Grace should sneak into my room at night with permanent markers and gradually "grow" then tendrill up my leg! Dad's getting funny in his old age!

Recorder Concert

Tonight was the 4th grade recorder concert at Peter's school. The kids have been working on the recorder for about the entire school year, and tonight was their crowning glory!

I knew Peter was good, because I've heard him practicing, and I've heard a couple of his friends play, too, who were also good. But I have to admit, I was very pleasantly surprised at the concert. There were no squeaks and squawks, and the recorder is NOT a very forgiving instrument. Not as bad as the piccolo or oboe perhaps, but not so forgiving.

They also sang to several of the songs, and played a variety of percussion instruments, including a really, really low xylophone type thing that I now TOTALLY covet! It had a really nice, rich sound, and of course I have a thing for bass instruments.

One of the things Peter's teacher has done during the year is have the kids play "recorder karate". The way it works is they can earn belts for learning, outside of class, various songs and then playing them for her. The easiest song earns a white belt, next easiest yellow, and all the way up to black. When they earn the belt (actually a piece of embroidery floss), they get to tie it to their recorder. It was totally optional and up to the kids to decide to go for the next level. During the concert, she had all the kids who had earned their black belts come to the front to play Ode to Joy (gotta have Beethoven), which was neat.

And, of course, afterwards we followed Craddock family tradition and went out for a treat. In my youth it was generally to Hardees (not many options in Cullowhee in the 70s), but nowadays we go to Elmo's!

Here's a picture of the Black Belt Ensemble; Peter is way in the back in a yellow shirt with his head ducked.

Separated at Birth ?

Is it just me, or does anyone else think Death Cab for Cutie sounds an awful lot like Depeche Mode?

I hate my nose

No, not for it's shape (though it is a little silly going through life as an adult with a turned up nose).

I hate my nose because roughly 4 times a year it goes absolutely bonkers and knocks me out for anywhere from a couple of days to a week, depending on how quickly I react.

And, technically, it's not my nose but my sinuses. Yep, I'm prone to sinus infections; I used to get them occasionally, but as I had children they've increased to the point that now I get about 4 a year, sometimes more (I think my high water mark was 5 in a year; last year I only got 3). So far this is my 4th since September.

The truly ugly thing about this current one is that it wasn't preceeded by a cold; I was fine until Sunday night, when I started feeling rundown, then Monday I had a scratchy throat, Tuesday was wiped out, stayed home from work, and felt progessively worse as the day went on. Plus, my mucinex was not working for me. So, Wednesday I went to my doctor.

The last infection I had (in Feb.) took between 6 and 8 weeks to totally get over, and require two go rounds of antibiotics and finally took a Prednisone taper to fully get me well. So, my doc pulled out the big guns this time; she put me straight on Biaxin (which sadly is killing my good gut-flora) AND what I believe is the world's longest Prednisone taper; by my count I'll be on Prednisone for 5 solid weeks. Watch out, world.....

Plus, she wants to do a CT scan when I'm off the prednisone. I told her that Kathy's cats, Jack and Dusty, sniff me everytime I go over there and they've never SAID anything about sinus issues, but she didn't seem impressed. Hmph.

So, yeah, I'm a little ticked at my nose, especially because I've been treating it MUCH better in the past few years. I'm pretty good about keeping up with my allergy meds, I go get carded at the drugstore so that I can give it pseudoephedrine (which, imo, is the only decongestant that really works), and I even wash it out with a nice nasal irrigation pretty much daily. So, WTH? Why is it turning on me?

Grrr.

Bravo, Yay, Yay, Yay, Ugh

Or, the last 4 days in 5 words or less.

Quick reprise: Friday night I went to the Playmaker's production of Amadeus. Outstanding performance, though I thought the guy who played Wolfie could've toned it down a bit. But Salieri ROCKED. Bravo.

Then on Saturday we took in a Carolina baseball game. I've seen very few of these this year; UNC is redoing it's stadium, so they're playing this season's games at the USA Baseball complex over in Cary. Great complex, not so much fun to drive. But, Carolina won, Yay!

Then Saturday night I bought a hammock, which I've wanted for an age, and Sunday set it up! Yay!!!

Then today, Grace had a baseball game. I did NOT want to have this game. It was rainy, yucky, cold, and I don't feel well. But, they played, Grace got two hits, and we won! I forget the score, but they called it after 4 innings because we were up by more than 10 runs (I think it was about 17 to 5, but I wouldn't swear to that. Yay!

But now I truly feel yucky, and was in bed at 8:30. Ugh.

Say it ain't so, Joe!

The kids and I ran out to get a quick dinner at Armadillo Grill tonight, and Peter was reading the legal drinking age sign. It reads, "Must be born on or before this date: April 20, 1987, to purchase or consume alcoholic beverages"

And that's when it hit me....

I'VE BEEN LEGAL FOR TWENTY YEARS!!!! TWENTY!!!! And that's not even counting the 5 months I spent legal between April 9th, 1986 and September 1st, 1986, when I and the drinking age were both 19. TWENTY YEARS!

This means than in a year, I will have been legal as long as I wasn't.

And I thought 41 wasn't going to bother me......

iFrustrated

WARNING: This post has been rated PG-13 by the MCRA (Meg Cohen Ratings Association) for mild lewd content. Any children reading should go ask their parent's permission immediately; any parents who let their children read further do so at their own risk and cognizance!!!

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OK, so you've been warned. I try to keep my posts at a G or PG level, because MY kids at least read them, but sometimes something's just too funny not to post about.

I think my iPod is sexually frustrated.

Seriously.

I got on a CD kick last fall, so the poor thing sat, charge slowly dying, on the bookshelf in my bedroom. Unused. Untouched. Unnoticed.

Then, this spring, I decided I missed my iPod, so I took it down and plugged it in.

It took a really, really long time for it to, uh, get charged up. And then it lost it's, uh, charge really, REALLY fast. And then it took a long time to get charged up again.

But, finally, with much patience, I got my iPod to the point where it would hold a charge and actually be functional.

And I think it wants more, now!

As I drove to work today, it was on shuffle, and I kid you not, played the following songs, in order:

• No Sex, by Alex Chilton
• Sex (I'm a....), by Berlin, the extended version, no less
• Sodomy, from Hair, and
• Tempted, by Squeeze

Apparently I should pay more attention to the poor thing, and maybe go buy it a nice present. I'm thinking a nice new skin, or some expensive earphones, perhaps....

Look Mom no cast!

YAY!!! Peter has no cast! Or brace! Or splint!! Or ANYTHING on EITHER of his arms!!!

Sadly, that's been the high point of my day:

• I woke up on the wrong side of the bed (well, actually, woke up on the wrong side of the ALARM, since I popped awake at 3:00 and had a hard time getting back to sleep).
• I didn't get to work as early as I wanted.
• Peter's appointment took WAY too long because the doctor's office was packed
• I fell off the handicapped ramp coming out of the othorpedists office (and, yes, I do see the humor in that)
• I was late getting to my hair appt, and had to take Peter with me
• My stylist was in a lazy, talky mood and took FOREVER
• There were stupid people in the BK drive through (employees AND customers)
• There were stupid, SLOW people on the roads

So, now I'm cranky, sleepy, achy, itchy, and late.

BUT, I am well-coiffed, and PETER HAS NO CAST!!!!!

You Have Been Warned....

I'm in a cranky, grumpy, pi**y, selfish mood today.

Just lettin' y'all know....

Am I in Chicago?

I have GOT to learn to start sleeping through the night....

New Cube Mate

I have a new cube mate! I've got an odd cube -- it's two mooshed into one, so there's not so much privacy, BUT it's got a window. Up till now I've been rooming (cubeing?) with one of the contractors, Lalitha.

But, my friend Lester was stuck over in a corner, way far away from the rest of the group, and wanted to get more in the same area as us. So, Lalitha got booted, and now Lester is my cube-mate.

I think Lester and I will get along well; here's one of the things he brought with him:

OPTIMASH PRIME

So why does that mean we'll get along?

Here's what I already had in MY half of the cube:

DARTH TATER

I expect Darth Tater and Optimash Prime will become fast friends. Or, arch enemies, either way.

And, yes, Lester is significantly neater than I am!

Wands at the ready....

Ranunculus!



One of the best parts about living in Chapel Hill is the easy access to local food and farmers. The Carrboro Farmers' Market is a great market; Maple View Farm has great milk (and ice cream!), and there are enough farms within easy driving distance that there's a farm tour each year.

One of the things I do is subscribe to an email newsletter from Peregrine Farm in Alamance County; part of why I do it is because it's cool to see where the food and flowers come from, and part of why I do it is to see what they'll have at the market on Saturday.

Right now, they're mainly stocking flowers, and it occurs to me that lots of flower names sound like spells from Harry Potter: Ranunculus! Delphinium!!! Viburnum!!!!!

And poof, Ron turns into a bouquet and gives himself (figuratively, at least) to Hermione.... :-)

The one-hit wonders continue.

It's Tuesday, which means I don't have impressionable children to feed, which means I can eat exactly what I want!

Tonight it was brussels sprouts with butter, salt and pepper, sourdough bread, olive oil with oregano, basil and fresh ground pepper to dip the bread in, and a glass of wine.

And, I just realized that, with the exception of the wine, the description above sounds an awful lot like the lunches that Albert used to take (and Frances eventually took) in Bread and Jam For Frances. Except they would've had a fancy dessert, like a small custard cup, and a little spoon to eat it with.

Yum!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS!!!

Today is my friend Chris's birthday -- I forget exactly how old, other than YOUNGER THAN ME, DANG IT! Which he's happy to remind me, and his wife, Cindi, of whenever he gets the chance.

I meant to email, but time got away from me at work, so I'll announce it to the world:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR CHRI-IS
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

April birthdays rock.

My Little Boy is Growing Up!!!

So, I suppose Peter is now officially a tween, and yes, he's beginning to act like it. There are days where he LOVES me, and wants to snuggle and cuddle, and then there are days where he barely acknowledges my existence. And, then, there are the in between days (oh, wait, that's a Cure song....), where he barely acknowledges my existence, but grins the entire time because he KNOWS exactly what he's doing.

I try not to let the kids get out of the house in the morning without hugs and kisses and "have-a-good-day"s. It's still easy with G; she'll track me down for a kiss. With Peter, though, I have to station myself at the front door to grab him on the way out.

This was our exchange this morning as he was reaching for the door knob:

Me: "Kiss!"
P: squirm, squirm, "OK" as I get him on the top of the head
Me: "Love you"
P: "Whatever"

And then a big grin as he went out to the bus stop!

Tweens!

You are sheets!!!!

You should NOT make my life this difficult!!!!!!

Peter is not feeling well today; I think it's primarily allergies. For some reason (mainly because he's now 10 and should be getting to the point where he can TELL me what's wrong with him and take more of a role in his health care management) even though this is the time of year where I get itchy eyes and stuffy nose, regardless of the fact that I take two allergy medicines daily, I always forget to get him started on Claritan until he gets really bad. I know, bad Mom.

Anyway, so he was very sleepy last night, and even fell asleep during his birthday dinner with his Dad and Grammie and Grandpa Bob. So he's taking a day off from school today, re-hydrating, and trying to get the snifflies and stuffies under control.

Which means I get to work from home for them morning.

When I work from home I have to fight the urge to do random household chores; I do allow myself SOME flexibility to do non-work related things, I just try to keep it in check. For example, I am NOT finishing cutting my grass or re-hanging my towel bar, I AM running a load of wash. Trying to keep one step ahead of the laundry, I went ahead and folded the sheets that were in the dryer when I put the wash in, so that when the whites are done, they can go straight into the dryer.

Now, there were two sets of sheets in there. The ones from my bed, which are pretty standard cotten sheets and gave me no problems in folding.

Then there were the purple nightmare demon sheets from HELL!!!!!

Now these are great sheets. But what makes them great also makes them a royal pain in the patootie to fold; they're jersy (think T-shirts), so the fabric has a nap to it. The more they get washed, the softer they get, and the more pronounced the nap. As anyone who's tried to sleep on flannel sheets with flannel jammies knows, when fabric with a nap meets fabric with a nap, they stick together. Permanently. Velcro has NOTHING on this.

So I'm trying to fold these sheets neatly, and it's downright impossible!!! Everytime I think I've got it, I get a huge bulge in the middle because the sheet catches on itself rather than neatly falling into a nice straight line.

GRRRRRRRR!

I finally resorted to laying them out flat on the futon and folding them that way. Still bulgy, but better.

But DANG, that was way more trouble than it should've been!!!!

Well, now, that's just odd

I'm going to the NC Ballet's performance of Waltzes of Vienna tonight, and was talking about it with my kids at breakfast this morning.

Because I'm nuts, and my brain is filled with random bits of data, and because my synapses make random and interesting connections between said data, the mention of that ballet led me to....

... singing Waltzing Matilda. Which, though a bit cheezy, is not a bad song.

But it's not a Waltz. Shouldn't it be?

This is going to bother me now everytime I sing or hear that song.

Happy Birthday Peter!

Peter is 10 today!!

That seems really old.

That seems really old for MY kid!!! I'm not old enough to have a kid who's 10, am I? Well, yes, I know I am, but still!

Grace and I woke him up with the Happy Birthday Bear that Great Gramps gave Grace years ago, and also Grace's Army Frog (both of whom sing Happy Birthday songs). He opened a couple of presents at breakfast, one from Uncle Dick and Auntie Trina, and one from Marcel and Noe (Uncle Dick and Auntie Trina's cats), and a couple of cards, then (sadly) it was off to school.

I brought him a special birthday lunch; The Baconator from Wendy's and Oatmeal Scotchies from Mom. Then after school, we quickly met up with Granddaddy and Aunt Kathy for pie (from Kathy's friend Miss Von) and Mom's presents (a Carolina T-Shirt and a Pearls Before Swine book) before running off to choir.

Tonight he'll have pork roast for dinner, then probably either more Oatmeal Scotchies or more pie!

Happy Birthday, Petey-Bug!!!

I've been asking for this for YEARS!

So, for years I've wanted the maps of a mapquest or google maps, but the ability to trace a route and find out how long it is. I run (or I used to, and I fantasize that someday I will again....), and I always wanted to know how long my runs REALLY were.

You could sort of approximate the mileage using tools like mapquest, but only if you ran ONLY on actual roads. As soon as you take a bike path, you're hosed. And, if you know your pace well enough, you could guess at how far you ran, but that doesn't help you if you're trying to find a new route, or if you're just anal like me and need to KNOW!

Well, thank you Google! Check out this link; you can click on a starting point, and then click on other points on the map and the tool will draw a (straight) line from point a to point b, and tell you how far it is. Keep adding points, and poof, you've just mapped out your route!

The cool thing is how good I was at guesstimating how far I ran; I mapped out my old standard run, which I always told myself was between 3 and 3.25 miles. It was 3.26 miles!

I see hours of playing in my future......

It just keeps going on!

OK, so to add to the birthday list:

The Alumni Association just sent me an e-card with a picture of the Bell Tower

My grand-boss just sang Happy Birthday to me, at the top of his lungs (and trust me, he has a set of lungs you wouldn't believe!) as he was walking into the Men's room, so there's no TELLING who heard!

I LOVE MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!!!!

OK, I have THE BEST friends and family in the entire world. You may have great ones, but I don't care. Mine are best. Hands down.

Today is my birthday, and the first one since my separation. For some reason (uh, OK, cause I try to avoid uncomfortable thoughts and emotions) that thought did not even occur to me till yesterday after work. It's also, because my kids spend Tuesday nights with their Dad, the first time in 10 years that I haven't been with my kids on my birthday morning, and the first one where I've been totally alone for quite some time.

So I was a little bummed last night.

BUT!!!!!

• When I got home last night, there was a birthday card waiting for my on my kitchen table from my friend Cindi (who I've now known for nearly 23 years), who'd been spending a couple of days with me
• There was a birthday card from my Dad in the mailbox
• There was a birthday package from Dick and Trina

So, after a brief debate (it wasn't TECHNICALLY my birthday yet), I decided to open them all, and felt better, but not great, after.

Then this morning:

• I came in to work to find an email 'singing' Happy Birthday (and a lunch invite for next week!) from Kathy waiting for me
• I got an email from my friend David calling me an old fart (which made me laugh)
• I got an email from Adrianne 'singing' Happy Birthday to me (must be genetic)
• I got an email from Chris, Cindi's husband, wishing me a Happy Birthday and thanking me for now being older (briefly) than his wife and for posting Mojo Nixon on my blog!(Chris, incidentally, is one of the world's greatest husbands and men, which I can say because I've known his wife for 23 YEARS)

And I am now in a MUCH better mood, and very happy!!!

Yay for my friends and family!!! Y'all Rock!!!!

Step away from the keyboard, ma'am

WARNING! Geek Moment Ahead. Those of you reading who don't care, feel free to skip this post.

So, there are times when, for a professional geek, I'm really kinda dumb.

We had some DNS issues today, which in English means that various machines forgot that they knew each other and therefore stopped talking to each other (computers very much follow the don't talk to strangers rule). It was resolved fairly quickly, and I was down in the Networking side of the building (along with about 50% of ISD) testing the stuff I cared about to make sure it still worked.

Now, when I'm at work I use my personal laptop to connect remotely to my work desktop; it does this by the machine name, which is really just a mapping to my IP address. Usually works very well, and I sometimes forget that I'm not really on the laptop.

So today I was testing, and there was one URL that wouldn't work, but only for me, so they decided it was an issue with my machine, and that releasing and renewing my IP address would fix the issue.

So, still using my laptop, I opened a command window, and typed: ipconfig /release, which promptly released my IP address.....

.....which meant my laptop now couldn't talk to my desktop. Which is not bad, I just walked back to my desk and finished the process.

The bad part, is that I spent several seconds trying to figure out WHY my laptop wouldn't talk to my desktop.

Um, because you TOLD it not to!!!! Doober!!!!

Jeez, I hate when I'm a dope!

Why I go to the (Carrboro) P.O.

The Carrboro, NC, Post Office is, without a doubt, the greatest post office in the entire world.

First of all, they're just nice. You know how people say they won't hire you at Disney unless you're just happy and smiley all the time? Well, I think Disney learned it from Carrboro. I've used them lately to get my kids' passports; the only other place in Chapel Hill/ Carrboro to get passports is, without a doubt the WORST post office ever (rude, obnoxious, and stupid), so to have a pleasant passport experience was nice.

But they out did themselves over the weekend.

Dick and Trina sent out birthday presents for me and Peter; they used the address on my wish list, which they can't see, and which I didn't realize was an option, so hadn't checked it in a long time. Turns out it was an old work address.

So the Post Office tries to deliver the firs package to the address on the label, and lo and behold UNC Hospitals isn't there anymore! The package comes BACK to the Carrboro Post Office, where a nice woman named Jane notices the address says UNC Hospitals, looks me up in the University directory, sends me an email, and then calls me today to remind me about the package! Oh, and she also intercepted the SECOND package that arrived today!

How amazing is that?!?!?!

Yay for the Carrboro PO and Jane (and Preston, who actually helped me when I was there, and is HYSTERICAL!)

Spring is Here!

Grace's team had her first baseball game tonight!

They came out to a quick 4-0 lead, then the other team gradually came back, till finally it was tied 5-5. In the 5th inning, the other team scored 3 HUGE runs (they had some great hitters) and Grace's team got three quick outs, so G's team was down by three going into the final (6th) inning.

They held the other scoreless in the 6th, then had their final time at bat. The first two batters got quick outs, and it seemed like all hope was lost. Then they got on a hot hitting streak, scored three quick runs to tie it, then then next batter got a nice base hit to drive in the winning run.

To make it a nearly perfect evening (can't be totally perfect; it was still really cold and wet) I went home and had my first wheat beer of the season! I love wheat beer, but it's NOT a winter beer.

Ahhhh, springtime!

Imaginary Friends

My friend Cindi (who is NOT imaginary, honest) and her two boys (also NOT imaginary, trust me!) are visiting for a few days; the boys are on Spring Break this week.

Last night at dinner, the younger of her boys, Marshall, switched seats at the table while Cindi and the older boy were out of the room. Peter took that opportunity to declare that he was sitting next to his two imaginary friends (since the chairs on either side of him were now empty.

Neither of my children has ever really had an imaginary friend, but I think they must get that from their Dad, because my family has a long and vibrant history of imaginary friendships. The funny thing about our imaginary friendships, though, is how we enforce the boundaries of the logical and physical world on them.

My brother and sister had imaginary friends named Rumpio and Hippio when they lived in Raleigh; they apparently (it was before my time) LOVED to play with Rumpio and Hippio, and would run to the living room window each morning to wait until they could 'see' them, then scurry outside and play very happily with them. It was all lovely....until my family moved to Durham. Apparently Rumpio and Hippio couldn't make the move, and stayed behind in Raleigh!

The best confluence of the logical and imaginary worlds, though, involves my imaginary friend (whose name, sadly, I cannot remember). I was pushing her on the swing we had one afternoon, when the ropes holding the swing broke, and as we lived on a mountain, the swing went flying down the side of the mountain, crashing into various trees. I figured no one could survive such a tragic swing accident, and that my imaginary friend must be dead, and played with her no more.

I told that story last night at dinner, and it cracked Cindi up. As she put it, "OK, that's all very logical....but it was an IMAGINARY friend!!!!" Yeah, well, apparently I can only imagine so much.

Grace's Tea Party

Grace went to her friend Claire's birthday party today; it was a formal tea held at the Washington Duke Inn.

It was a lovely afternoon -- 7 little girls in their best dresses, finger sandwiches, hot chocolate (except for Grace, who had Earl Grey).

Tons of fun for the little girls; here's a picture of Grace:

Fun with You Tube

Through the magic of You Tube, I'm teaching my children about the giddy, wondrous early days of Music Videos. Yep, the 80s, back when MTV actually showed....videos! Not just stupid reality shows!

And, of course, given what I listened to and watched in college, I'm concentrating on the more alternative videos.

So far this morning we've watched Don't Let's Start and Istanbul Not Constantinople by They Might Be Giants, Shiny Happy People and Furry Happy Monsters by REM, Rock Lobster and Love Shack by the B-52s.

It occurrs to me that I need to see if I can find any Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper....

ELVIS IS EVERYWHERE!

A new taste treat

I woke up today and had no coffee in the house (except for very old decaf), AND no oatmeal. Sadness.

So, I dragged G out of bed, and we went down to Weaver Street for breakfast stuff. I got my coffee, I got Peter and Grace chocolate Croissants, and I got Peter a sausage biscuit. I found the oatmeal, toyed briefly with the though of steel cut oats, but was too hungry for a breakfast that takes 30 minutes (hey, I'd already cleaned my bedroom, my bathroom AND Peter's bathroom!), so I went with the normal oatmeal.

I did, however, pick up a package of Rye hot cereal, which I'd never heard of before.

I did half and half oatmeal and rye, with, of course, my dried fruit and walnuts. It was quite yummy!

Girls Night Out!

Peter is at a baseball game tonight, so Grace and I got out toes done; I went for dark purple, but G got a cool blue with gold sparkles on top, and flowers on her big toes!

The 40% solution

Here's a story on the 10 all time best Final Fours.

Let's see, UNC is in 4 of the 10.....

ACC teams are in 7 of them.......

Oh, yeah, and THIS year's Final Four, the first EVER with 4 number one seeds has....UNC.

I'm just saying....

Americans are stupid sometimes....

(of course, so am I, but that comes later)

OK, my current pet peeve? I am SO sick and tired of hearing Americans go on and on and ON about how freakin' wonderful it is to "just have a woman running for President!!! We've come SUCH a long way!!!!"

Bull Hockey Sticks!!!!

Wake up and smell the catfood, people. We are very nearly the LAST industrialized, non-third world, non-theocratic state to have a female head of state! A (very) small list of nations that have ALREADY had a female leader: India, Israel, Ireland, Switzerland, East Germany, Pakistan, Great Britain, China, Finland, the Phillipines, Argentina.

We've only come a long way because we started so incredibly far BEHIND everyone else, and making teen-einey little baby steps while the rest of the world is leaping ahead is NOT something to be proud of.

Hmph.

...And So Am I

OK, so why am I stupid? (just to show that I can point out my own foibles, not just others).

I was born April 9th, 1967. My first birthday, then, would've been April 9th, 1968 (duh). We were living in Newark, Delaware at that time (reasonably near Philadelphia), and family lore tells me (since I don't remember my first birthday) that my Uncle Gilbert was visiting at that time, and we (the family) were all to go out to dinner, ostensibly for my birthday, but couldn't because there were riots and curfews going on. Now, having not REALLY grown up in the 60's, I always just sort of chalked that statement up to the notion that people rioted a lot in the 60's. It wasn't until I was turning 26 and there were lots of articles on the 25th anniversary of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr's assasination, that I put two and two together.

Dr. King was assasinated on April 4th, 1968, 5 days before my first birthday. THAT'S why there were riots and curfews! DUH!

But, that's not even why I'm stupid; I was, after all, not really cognizant of world events at 12 months.

However, I STILL don't associate the two, to the point that today, when I heard stories on NPR about the 40th anniversary of Dr. King's assasination, I STILL think, Oh, wow! That happened when I was nearly one!!!!

Maybe in another 15 years I'll have processed this, and stop being surprised by it all. But maybe not -- it's taken me 41 years to fully figure out why, since the Super Bowl also began in 1967, it's number and my age are always 2 apart.... :-)

Darth Doober

DUM DUM DUM DUM-DE DUM DUM-DE DUM. The Sith Master has taken a new apprentice....

Peter went BACK to the orthopedics folks today to have his RIGHT arm checked. For those of you keeping track at home, he fell last Tuesday and hurt that arm, and yes, this is the third time he's broken something since January, and no, it's not me, and yes, I'm concerned and talking to his doctors to make sure nothing's seriously wrong.

ANYWAY.

So today he was back at the doctor; the hope was that his right wrist would've been happy enough in the splint for over a week that we wouldn't need to cast it; sadly, though, it was still really sore. Peter had the brilliant idea, though, to ask if they would take the cast that's on his LEFT arm off early (it was due to come off next Thursday). So, they did, and xrayed it again, and poked and prodded him, and eventually decided that he could make do with just a brace on that wrist for a week.

So, he now has a Carolina blue cast on his right arm, and this reasonably huge black brace on his left arm, with straps and whatnot all over it.

I told him this was how Darth Vader started, but he didn't buy it....

Some things are that way for a reason

So, I'm at a Carolina Hurricanes hockey game tonight. In the third period (ASIDE: when a game has 4 parts, they're quarters, when it has 2, they're halves. When it has 9, they're innings. What the heck are they when it has 3????), after a (large) beer, it was definitely time for a potty run.

I go into the (very cool) bathroom, do my business, then come out and go to wash my hands. There's a whole long counter with probably 10 sinks; 8 of the 10 have water splashed all around them. Water on the counter of a sink is one of my pet peeves (not sure why), so I head for one of the two sinks on the end that has no water.

I hold my hands under the touchless faucet.....and nothing happens. I shift my hand position. Still nothing. I wave my hands frantically....nope. Nuttin'.

So I go to the OTHER sink that has so splashing around it. Same deal.

So, admitting defeat, I go to a watery sink, wash my hands while standing a foot away from the counter so my pants don't get wet (thereby getting even MORE water on the counter), dry, and leave.

But at least I know now why those sinks were the only ones without water on the counters!

Why?

Do some people say you've reached their phone when you get their voice mail? I mean, I know it's their phone and not them directly, and I suppose they are being more precise (not to mention more accurate), because you really HAVEN'T reached them (that, of course, being the point of voice mail), but it's never occurred to me to tell someone they've reached my phone, not me.

Of course, it's highly possible that I'M the odd one here.....

I Stand Corrected

Or, in the place where I am. You pick.

So, about four and a half or five years ago, REM set out on a tour. This was a very cool tour; fans could email them song requests, and they'd look over them and based on popularity and the band's mood, would create the play list for each show. I saw them in Raleigh, and it was a great show. It also convinced me that REM was done touring; I thought they would very likely produce more albums, but I really didn't think they'd tour again.

I based this on several reasons, beyond the fact that the band (like all of us) were getting older (and don't even talk to me about the Stones -- Keith Richards and Mick Jagger are NOT normal).

First, there was the whole feel of the shows; by letting fans request the music, the shows wound up representing pretty much every album. They didn't necessarily have a 'greatest hits' feel, because many of the songs played weren't the singles, but they did have a retrospective feel.

Secondly, the final two shows were in Raleigh and Atlanta. Now, REM certainly got huge in Athens WAY before they got big anywhere else, but Chapel Hill ran Athens a close second (man, it was great to go to school in a big college-music town), and for many years they considered the Triangle, and Chapel Hill specifically, their second home. So, to finish off in the Triangle and then Georgia seemed to hint at a valedictory tour.

Finally, Bill Berry joined them, at least in Raleigh, and I believe in Atlanta, and played backup percussion. Now how cool is that?!?!?! But again, it gave a very definite "goodbye" feel to the shows.

Well, turns out my REM prognostication skills are about as good as my Harry Potter prognostication skills: REM tours again.

I'm really, REALLY surprised. I really thought they were done.

Of course, since Raleigh is on the list of cities, I'm also really, REALLY happy!!!!

Happy Birthday Gred and Forge!

As any good Harry Potter geek knows, today is Fred and George Weasley's birthday. Of course it is; when ELSE would those two be born but April Fool's Day?

I managed to start the day by getting both of my children; luckily my family has never been salt-in-the-sugar-bowl kind of pranksters. We far prefer the verbal tease to the physical humor. Shows a much higher intellect, of course!

Anyway, we're supposed to go to a hockey game tomorrow; Peter's very excited about the game, Grace is very excited about hanging out with a sitter who has a PS3. So I told Peter that I heard on NPR that the game had been cancelled. Not my best prank, but it was early, and I hadn't finished my coffee yet. He very briefly believed me, then gave me one of those piercing Peter looks, and said (as he's reading the sports page), "Well, I can't quite prove you wrong, because the paper only talks about TODAY'S game". But it was obvious he wasn't buying it, so I confessed.

Grace I just told that the sitter had come down with a fever, and would not be able to stay with her. She bought it, hook, line, and sinker. She was WAY bummed, until I asked her the date and Peter and I chorused, "APRIL FOOLS!!!!!"

Then we all sang a rousing version of Happy Birthday to Fred and George, and I helped G come up with a prank for her friend Claire.

Happy April Fools, everyone!!!!!