When Bad Days Turn Good

This has been a very long and draining week. I'm bordering on being totally punchy, and today was busy and draining on a number of different fronts.

But things are picking up.

First, I found a hysterical geek-comic to share with my friend Ash, which not only made me laugh but has given me a new defense against idiots &/or annoying people.

Second, I wandered over to Kathy's side of the building (ostensibly to try to sell some baseball tickets). She has one of THE funniest groups ever; particularly on Friday afternoons when everyone is getting punchy. Laughter is an incredible stress buster.

Third, I plugged my headphones in in time to hear Last Dance With MaryJane. I LOVE Tom Petty, and that's one of my favorite songs.

Finally, I have blueberries! I totally forgot I put them in my lunch! What a nice afternoon surprise!

Yeah, it's been a REALLY long week....

Well, that's a first

Peter hurt his arm yet again (no that's not the first, that would be the fourth). Having been through this before, his father and I are getting very aware of what happens when a kid injures their arm. We've long since stopped going to the pediatrician first, and go straight to the otrho-pods. This time, since we knew they'd just put a brace on and wait a couple of days to x ray it, we totally skipped the middle man and put one of the old braces that Peter had (from a previous injury) on him, and waited a couple of days.

So, yesterday I took him to the ortho-pods, and they x rayed him, and poked and prodded, and asked him to move his arm and wrist this way and that.

Usually this is accompianied by a few nods from the doc, then followed by a cast. Peter really, really, really didn't want a cast: he's less than two weeks from his Webelos overnight trip, and just over two weeks from Carolina Basketball camp.

Yesterday, the poking and prodding was accompianied by some "Hmm's" from the doc, plus a couple of trips to look at the x rays again.

Turns out that the pain Peter was feeling was NOT in the wrist area, it was in the hand area. The trips to look at the x rays multiple times were to check for breaks in the carpals, and there were NONE! None, I say!!!!!

So, they want him to continue to use the brace, and he's to absolutely avoid contact sports (and dinosaurs) for the next 10 days, then they'll check him again on the 10th!

Yay!!!

Great Minds Think Alike

I was all ready to go on a rant today about the UNC Athletics website. Not a huge rant, but a minor one.

Before I did, though, I went to catch up on Trina's blog, and found THIS post. Apparently, it's been a bad day or so in the ether!

Anyway, so my rant.

The UNC Athletics site is actually pretty good. It's easy to navigate, and reasonably easy to find information on schedules, results, summer camps, tickets, etc.

I went there today to see about getting tickets to the NCAA regionals (baseball). Carolina is hosting, and I didn't get tickets last year, so really wanted them this year. I got there and found out (actually I suspected this all along) that I could not buy single game tickets, so I selected what I needed for the whole series, then went to the order screen to debate if I actually wanted to do it.

Like most online ticketing sites, they have a timer, 5 minutes in this case, after which the tickets will be released. So, I think and debate and think some more, and with about a minute and a half left, click on "Purchase". I then have to create an account; OK, no biggie.

Except the time it takes to create the account counts against my 5 minutes!!!! THAT'S not right, at least not without making it very clear somewhere! But if a screen has two buttons, one labeled "Release Tickets" and one labeled "Purchase Tickets", I'm by golly going to assume that clicking Purchase Tickets is going to, oh, I don't know, earmark the tickets for purchase, perhaps?

Sheesh. I hate bad websites.

Like Mother, Like Son

Well, Peter's at it again. He fell on his left arm yesterday, and while we're hoping that it won't be broken, I think it's wishful thinking on our part. The good news is that no one (other than me) is particularly worried -- I keep calling the doctors and nurses at his pediatricians, and they all tell me that this is normal for a 10-year-old klutz. Um, I mean boy!

Anyway, this most recent fall was off the dinosaur at school. Yep, the dinosaur. The playground at the kids' school has a fiberglass dinosaur on it, not sure why, and Peter was climbing on it and fell off. Here's a picture of the dinosaur from a couple of weeks ago when he was being given a new coat of paint:



So, yeah, not a huge fall.

Anyway, the reason this reminds me of my childhood is twofold. First of all, I was not exactly the most graceful of children; my Uncle Mittie did a caraciture of Kathy, Dick and I once; I had scrapes on my nose and chin because I typically DID have scrapes on my nose and chin! I still have the scars from trying to climb out of my high chair and instead slipping and cracking my chin open. I ripped up my knee once because I put my foot down in FRONT of my skateboard rather than on it. My family used to tell me I could trip over a crack in the sidewalk (and they were being kind).

So, yeah, he comes by the klutzyness naturally.

But apparently he comes by the falling-off-of-silly-things naturally, too.

When I was quite small, we lived in Delaware, near the Pennsylvania Dutch section of Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Dutch, are, of course, the people who master the art of yummy soft pretzels. Well, apparently they liked their pretzels so much, they would occasionally put a climbing structure in a playground that was shaped like...a pretzel.

And, yeah, I fell out of one once.

So Peter falls off of dinosaurs, and his mother falls out of pretzels. Whatcha gonna do?

Breakfast

For those of you who love it when I blog about my breakfast (which I think is only Trina, and she's probably just being nice...)

So I went to make my oatmeal this morning, and had a very unpleasant surprise: no oatmeal! I knew this. As soon as I picked up the very light box, I remembered that I'd used essentially all my oatmeal last week. But I was lazy last night and didn't go to the store, so I have no more oatmeal.

Now, my normal oatmeal recipe, which I make pretty much 5 or 6 days a week, is equal parts oats (NOT quick-cook; real oats), a rye cereal that I discovered, dried fruit, and walnuts. Yum.

But what to do when there's no oats? The rye cereal alone has a very different consistency, and I didn't think I'd like a whole bowl of it. I did have a box of quick-cook oats, but I only use those for baking (sorry, but quick cook oats are the reason many people think they don't like oatmeal; they have the consistency of wallpaper paste).

There were a few lonely little oats in the very, very bottom of the oatmeal box, so I measured them out -- it was about half of what I normally put in, but I figured it would be a start. I put in the normal amount of rye, my fruit and my nuts, and then decided to put some cornmeal in. I've used cornmeal before just to do something different; it's good, but you have to be careful -- too much cornmeal or too little milk and you wind up with a corn cake, not hot cereal.

So, today's concoction was oats, rye, corn, with dried fruit and nuts.

It was good, but I missed my oatmeal. I could see adding the corn occasionally to do something different, but it just can't take the place of the oats.

There were, actually,

Weekend of the Broken Arms

Nope, not either of my kids this time. Repeat, NEITHER of my children broke their arms!!!! :-)

But as far as I can tell, about everyone else I know did. Well, OK, so really two people.....

I got a message on my phone yesterday from Adrianne with the following picture:



Yep, Kathy fell in Williamsburg. Scraped her hands, banged up a knee, and somehow or another managed to break her radius! Luckily the hotel they were staying at was able to help get her to an urgent care center, where they cleaned her up and gave her a sling (but did not cast it). She'll go to her physician here today to get it checked out further

(funny aside: Kathy, Adrianne and I all go to the same physician; Adrianne and I between the two of us have been there about every other week since Thanksgiving. Kathy is very proud that she hasn't, and was convinced she was going to make it till June when her next regular check up is...but, yeah, not so much! Bwa ha ha ha ha!!!)

Then, as I was leaving the house this morning, I got a call from Peter's friend Blake's Dad. Blake fell skateboarding over the weekend, and his arm is still bothering him, so his Dad wanted to know which urgent care ortho-pod I took MY kids to! Yeah, kinda sad that I've become the expert on broken arms....

So, stay the heck away from my kids, because apparently they're passing along their propensity for breaks!

Back to the real world

Oh, it was a FABULOUS weekend at the beach, though, interestingly, I was actually on the beach less than an hour or so. The weather was a little chilly, and the Atlantic is still pretty cold this time of year. But, we still had great time, and did tons of fun things:

• Rented bikes, and rode down to Southport, NC via the ferry from Ft Fisher.
• charted a boat and a captain to go fishing
• ate some great meals
• spent WAY too much money in the arcade
• played putt putt (I got a hole in one)
• rode go-carts

So, yeah, it was a great weekend.

And now I'm home, and lunches need to be packed, and clothes need to be washed, and kids need to be showered, and what not. And, yeah, I missed my kids terribly and I'm glad to be home.

But, MAN, vacations make it hard to get back to the real world!

Catch and Release and Release

Today's beach activity was an afternoon of fishing. Carolina Coastal Adventures, a place on Carolina Beach, rents kayaks and also does half-day fishing excursions. Not deep-sea fishing, mind you; you just putter around the sound (well, OK, so you go really fast from one fishing spot to the next, not putter), trying to catch fish.

This was an absolute BLAST! It was a gorgeous day: sunny and warm, but with a nice breeze so we stayed cool. We had plenty of beer, and enough water to keep from getting totally dehydrated.

And, yeah, we caught some fish! Final tally of "real" fish was four redfish and three speckled trout; we also caugh a pinfish and a couple of other "junkie" fish.

None of the redfish was large enough to keep, and we didn't particularly want to clean and eat them, anyway, so after Captain John kissed them goodbye (I refused to kiss them!), we held them in the water until they felt well enough to swim away.

But, sadly, the fish were not the only things released today. I hate hats. I've always hated hats. Essentially the only time I wear a hat is when I coach baseball. However, I figured that it would be good to have a hat on if I was going to be out on a boat for several hours, so I bought a UNC baseball cap at the Dollar Store before going on the boat. I was actually torn between the UNC hat and a doofy pink cap; the UNC one was a little nicer and, of course, was a UNC hat.

So, yeah, on the way back from fishing? The UNC cap blew off, and is now swimming freely somewhere in the sound!

Should've gone with the doofy pink one.....

Nothing is perfect

But some things come really, really close.

I'm at the beach for the long weekend, and had dinner tonight in Wilmington, at a really yummy restaurant, Tayste.

This was one of the most amazing meals I've had in a really, really long time. A really excellant martini, quail crostini as an appetizer, a filet with INCREDIBLE mushroom raviolis, and a spectacular bread pudding. Oh, and a really good bottle of wine, too; a Privada Merlot/Malbec/Cab blend. Yum.

Plus, they had a really good wait staff, which means more and more to me as I age. Our waiter was personable and kept a good eye on the table without being overbearing; the bartender not only made a heck of a martini (and liked the wine choice), he also greeted us as we came in, told us the scallops were good, and had a good sense of humor (in a slightly off-color way!).

But their coffee tasted (taysted?) like Taster's Choice. Or maybe Tayster's Choice!


I forgave them, though; anybody who does food as well as they did, and has the wait staff to boot, will figure the coffee out.

You gotta be kidding me!

I'm out in RTP this afternoon hanging out for a couple of hours before going to the beach. RTP for those of you who are not Triangle residents stands for Reasearch Triangle Park. It's the brain-child of some guys whose names I can't remember who decide back in the 60s to try to bring scientific companies/organizations/institutes/whatnot to the Triange area to reap the benefits of cheap land and three nearby universities.

Theoretically, there is no commercial activity in RTP-proper, but luckily there is LOTS of commercial activity on the borders of the Park, otherwise everyone out there would starve and run out of gas on a regular basis.

Anyway, I was told of a good coffee place to hang out for a couple of hours: good coffee, comfy chairs and free internet. All good. But, sadly, when I got there they'd decided (along with half of the rest of the world) to give themselves an even longer weekend; they were closed today.

Now, I used to work in RTP, so I know my way around, but it's been awhile, so I don't know all the available bars/restaurants/coffee shops/wi-fi prospects. But I figured, "Hey, how hard can it be to find a coffee shop with wi-fi in a place populated by really intelligent geeks????"

Apparently pretty hard.

First of all, it seems really intelligent geeks need gas more than coffee out here (probably because they get free coffee at work), because I passed approximately 10 gas stations before I EVER saw a food option of any sort (unless you count gas stations as food options; I don't).

Secondly, when I did get to the food options, the first strip center I pulled into had a Wendy's and a Chinese restaurant. Not what I wanted, and probably no wi-fi. I did, however, see a coffee place across the street! But, sadly, when I pulled up to it, it was closed.

At this point, I was about ready to admit defeat, but falling back on my own geek skills, I found a parking space, and popped open my computer to see what wireless networks were around! Lo and behold, the restaurant and bar right behind me had a wireless network.

So here I am, enjoying a Sam Adams Summer Ale, blogging away, 30 minutes into the hour I have left to kill.

But you'd think this would've been easier....

YAY!!!!!!!

Peter's baseball team had 3 goals at the beginning of the season, in the following order:

1. To have fun


2. To improve their play


3. To win one game

Going into the last game of the season, they had had TONS of fun, and were definitely getting better each game.

Sadly, they were also have a total mental breakdown in at least one inning per game, with the result that the other team would score an average of 4 runs in that inning.

End result? They were going into their final game last night with an 0-8 record.

Because they played a late game, the Coach decided to hold their end of season party BEFORE the game, rather than after. There was pizza, Gatorade, lemonade, and brownies, and lots of rowdy 10 year old boys.

Apparently that's a good mix, because they came out and played THE best game of their season, and won 4-2! Their defense was outstanding, they got some great hits, and the final inning came down to our pitcher striking out three batters while still holding them scoreless (in that inning). Good stuff!

The boys were absolutely beside themselves, and I have to admit this cynical old Mom was taught a lesson about never quitting, because to be honest, I was pretty sure they'd go un-victoriou. Peter's coach has, in both sports he coaches, always had the goal to win "just one game". Once he gets that win, he changes the goal to get "just one more". Two years ago he took Peter's basketball team to a 10-1 record, and he's never, ever not gotten his one win. He obviously knows something about coaching boys!

WAY TO GO, PADRES!!!!

Mom's Short Order Kitchen

Today's breakfast special?

One slice of cinnamon toast and one slice of cheese toast.

Peter's going to have a rude awakening tomorrow when he has to start getting his own cereal....

So many thoughts,

so little time.

I've had about a million blog-thoughts occur to me this morning in about the last 2 hours. I suppose I could just post a million times, but that seems odd. So, here we go: one post, many subjects. Just go with me, people:

Do You Think I'm Being Used?

EOGs are this week. For those of you without children, EOG stands for End Of Grade (tests). These are the tests that, if you believe the Bush Administrations cock-eyed propaganda will ensure that American Students are taught at the highest level and will be able to compete with children from any other nation in the brave new global marketplace. In actuality, they ensure that Third Graders get tension headaches, good teachers get burned out and leave the profession, children are taught to pass a test rather than to think, and creativity, curiousity and independent thinking are banned from out public schools. I'm not a fan.

Luckily, though, I have bright kids, who do well, so there's not that much angst in our house. Peter, though, is beginning to figure out how to use EOGs to his advantage.

I'm notorious for not dragging my lazy self out of bed; my kids are old enough to get their own breakfast, and while I'm always awake before they are, I'm frequently not dressed and downstairs till after 7. This week, though, Peter informed me that he "Needed a good breakfast before the EOGs". So, yeah, I've gotten myself up, and on Tuesday made him cinnamon toast and scrambled eggs, and today just scrambled eggs. But I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm being taken advantage of....

If It's Not One Thing, It's Another

I have a very easy commute, and in the summer it gets even easier. During the school year, I complain if I leave my house late and get stuck in traffic, so you'd think that I'd be happy now that UNC is out for the summer and traffic has eased up, right?

Wrong.

Nope, apparently I can find ANYTHING to complain about! Today the commuting gods were with me -- I caught green lights, there was virtually no traffic, life was good.

And as I approached my office, my thought was, "Dang, I didn't have time to finish my coffee!!!"

We're Not Doing THIS Again

Kathy called me at 7:45 this morning to check on what I was wearing!

And finally.....

LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT THING

After Kathy (who is wearing black capris and a pink shirt, I'm in khakis and a purple shirt) got into the office, I get the following IM:

[08:28] kathcrad: hey
[08:28] kathcrad: I have a problem.
[08:28] MegFCohen: k
[08:29] kathcrad: I picked up a giant bolt this morning on the way in, right outside that construction site on 54 at Glen Lennox. Tire is not flat but could go anytime.

And let me just say, when she says giant, she MEANS giant. Here's a picture:

Holy Hardware, Batman, that's one BIG bolt!

But, we got her to the Ford place, and they should have it fixed today.

Such a geek

But an exercise geek, or a geek-geek? Or both?

I am much happier when I excercise regularly. I feel better mentally and physically. I've been trying for quite some time now to get back into a regular exercise routine, and it's just not happening, primarily because my exercise of choice is running, and my kids aren't old enough yet to leave alone while I go out for a 30 minute run.

I did drag my old Nordic Trak out, and tried using that, which was OK, but then I got the 8-week sinus infection, and then some other drains on my time, and, well, yeah, still not exercising.

But on Sunday, I did exercise again. Didn't last night, because G had a baseball game (and yeah, coaching 6-8 year olds IS aerobic exercise!). I wanted to tonight, but also had some work to do from home.

But my laptop fits nicely on the upper arm of my Nordic Trak!

I just did 45 minutes of work-work while skiing! Granted, it wasn't a high intensity workout, but still!

And now I'm blogging and skiing! Multitasking at it's best!!!

But, yeah, totally geeky.

Whoops, we did it again

Several weeks ago, I blogged about Kathy and I dressing alike.

Well, it's happening again.

For one reason or another, we didn't see each other till about 2pm today, when we both wound up in the bathroom (yes, our bladders are in sync as well). She finished first, and was still at the sink when I came out....

And there we were, in our funky black skirts with white designs and black top.

Had to laugh!

The Bulls Have Clinched the Pennant!!!

The Bulls Have Clinched the Pennant!!!!

Well, OK, the division. And, really, at least a partial share of the division lead!

Grace's team just won one of the best-played, hardest-fought games of Pee Wee baseball I've ever seen (and I've been coaching since Peter was in the 6-8 league....). Grace's team was undefeated, the other team had one loss.

The Bulls (G's team) wound up winning 7-4, which is like a real baseball score! Typically Pee Wee games have scores that look more like they belong to football games: 21-17, 19-15, etc. But in this one the kids actually played defense! The team has two more games left, so even if they hit a slump, they should wind up in at least a tie for the division champ.

Grace got a hit, and was able to score, too, which was a blast. All the kids played really well; there was a double play, a couple of spectacular catches, and, best of all, the kids were obviously THINKING, and aware of where the play was without the coaches jumping around like madmen (and woman) in the dugout.

That's without a doubt the best part of coaching -- the moment, even if it's brief, where the kids actually get it, and are able to make the right automatically.

GO BULLS!

That's too easy

OK, shouldn't trivia contests be SOMEWHAT hard? Or at least accurate?

The online radio station I listen to at work is giving away tickets this week to see KT Tunstall (one of my favorites, btw). You have to be the nth caller, but you also have to answer a trivia question correctly; the subject changes, as far as I can tell, at the whim of the DJ.

So, today's question was about Star Wars (yeah, I know, I'm a Star Wars freak). The question was, "Other than Darth Vader, name the two other Darths in the first 3 Star Wars episodes."

OK. The answer they were looking for was Darth Maul and Darth Siddious.

EXCEPT THERE WERE THREE OTHER DARTHS! Count Dooku was also a Sith Apprentice, and went by the monniker Darth Tyrannous.

I'm not asking that they make someone name all three; that's pretty arcane and, uh, trivial (grin) knowledge. But at least write the question such that it's accurate: "Other than Darth Vader, name 2 of the 3 other Darths in the first three Star Wars episodes"

Hmph. And I would've liked the tickets, too, but I'm not sure how I would've gotten to Nashville to see the show...

Whoa!

The kids and I just got back from seeing Speed Racer!

What a BLAST!!! That was SUCH a fun movie!!! If you haven't seen it yet, go immediately, particularly if you ever used to watch the old cartoons!

It's a really neat blend of real people and surreal surroundings, and yes, it's directed by The Wachowski Brothers of Matrix fame. Imagine the coolness factor of The Matrix but with a Day-Glo, epilepsy inducing, worse than anything out of the 70's color scheme. Very cool. Very fun. A definite must see.

I've heard of micro-climates

But this is ridiculous!

My cube has two windows -- one on my side, and one on Lester's side.

It's raining out Lester's window.

It's not out my window.

Very odd......

With Apologies to Sir Paul

Some people want to fill the world
with creepy love songs
I look around me and I see it isn't so (oh, no)
I wanna fill the world
with creepy love songs.
What's wrong with that.....

Death Cab for Cutie has without a doubt one of the creepiest stalker-songs out ever, I Will Possess Your Heart. Freaky-deaky. Scary creepy.

But, it's a cool song, which got me thinking about other creepy songs that we LOVE to sing!

Every Breath you Take (the Police) is the obvious one (and, no, I don't know why people play that at their weddings. Lyrics matter, people, figure 'em out), but there are others. I always got kinda creeped out by Obsession (by Animotion). A Man Needs A Maid (Neil Young) is just mysogynistic, but in it's defense it's not touted as a love song. The One I Love (REM) is not creepy, but it's another one that really is NOT a love song, if you listen to it.

So why do we do this? Does a good melody and a kickin' beat REALLY trump the words? Does music evoke such an emotional response that we just ignore the creep factor? What's up with us?

Dunno. Maybe there's a shrink out there who can clear this up....

What have I missed? What songs do YOU sing, and then cringe at?

You CAN'T go home again

Turns out Thomas Wolfe was right; you can't go home again, figuratively anyway. When you try to revisit the past, it just doesn't work.

Many many moons ago (OK, about 4 years) I worked in a really cool place (still for the Hospital, just a different office) smack in the middle of downtown Carrboro. Now, the offices were trashed; don't ever let someone tell you that a 150 year old textile mill can be adequately cleaned up for human habitation. But, it was a great location; walking distance from plenty of cheap, yummy places to eat.

My friend Phil and I used to go to Amante's pizza for their lunch special every couple of weeks or so. The special was a lunch sized pizza with one topping and a drink for $4.00. I always got artichoke hearts as my one topping, because no one else in my family at that time liked them.

What was truly cool, though, was that if you paid with a 5, you got 77 cents in change, which was exactly enough to get a cookie at Weaver Street (which was conveniently located across the street from Amante's and downstairs from our office).

So, for a grand total of five dollars, you got a good 'za, fountain beverage of your choice, and a cookie! What a deal!

I always got the peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. They were huge (like half the size of my head), and terribly yummy.

Well, tonight, as is usual for a Thursday, was a bit of a logistic nightmare: choir practice from 5:45 - 6:30, then Peter had baseball from 6:30 to 8:00. I've gotten to the point that I just assume we'll eat somewhere on Franklin Street on Thursday nights, because frequently one of the kids has SOMETHING going on right after choir.

If I leave the decision up to the kids, we eat at Firehouse subs. Tonight, though, I rebelled. Peter did get his Hook and Ladder combo, since he had to be at practice, but Grace and I decided to go to Weaver Street for dinner. We grabbed our food, bought chocolate Silk for Grace and coffee for me, then grabbed dessert.

For old times sake, I got a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie.

And it just wasn't good.

I still ate about 3 quarters of it, mainly trying to figure out what had gone wrong. I finally came to the conclusion that they've begun using a more 'natural' peanut butter, with less salt, and they're using a different chocolate, too. Not a bittersweet, necessarily, but it almost had a burned taste to it.

But it was very sad. I LOVED those cookies! They should still be good!

I think it's a plot

Chapel Hill-Carrboro school district has this lovely policy where once a month they have a delayed opening; the schools open 2 hours later than normal. Theoretically it gives the teachers time to plan, go to workshops, have a block of time to meet with their grade-level peers, etc. I'm all in favor of all of that, but I wish they'd dismiss early rather than start early; that way my kids could go on to after-school and I wouldn't have to take time off from work!

Anyway, so I've stayed home 8 times now this year and I typically just work from home. Twice now (once in the fall and then again today) just as I got settled in to work, my power went out! For like 30 minutes!!!

And what's even weirder is that I've only lost power in the past year or so THOSE TWO TIMES!!!

How weird is that???

Yeah, I'm kinda toopid that way

I got a new cube mate a few weeks ago, so I've been using my headphones at work a lot more. I don't mind my headphones, per se, but they're not my favorite things, especially since this pair lost their little foam paddy things after about one day, and are built for someone with ear-holes the size of dimes (mine aren't). So, they're not so comfy, but I'll sacrifice to have my music.

Lester and I have somewhat different work schedules. He gets in around 6 or 6:30 and works till about 3; I get in between 7:30 and 8 and work till 5.

So, technically, once he leaves at 3 I don't really need to use my headphones.

And when do I usually realize this?

Generally about 4:45. Today was a good day: I figured it out about 4:20!

And y'all think I'm nutso....

OK, granted, I'm a Star Wars freak. I have been since I was 10 years old and saw it for the first time in the theater, and, more to the point since the moment that that TOTALLY HUGE AND LOUD BIG-A**ED SHIP FLEW OVER MY HEAD!!!! OMG, if you weren't between about 8 and 18 years old and seeing that in 1977, you're just never going to understand.

But, yeah, I'm a nut. I saw it about 6 times in the theater, to the point that my family stopped asking me what movie I wanted to see because the answer was always, "Star Wars!". I've seen it more times than I can count on VHS, DVD, HBO, etc. I've taken days off of work to watch it. One of my biggest disappointments as a parent was when I realized that Peter really DIDN'T like it that much, one of my greatest joys was when I discovered that Grace, if anything, loves it more than I do!

But, whatever else I might be, I am NOT as nutty as any of the people in this story.

The Grocery Gods are not with me

And nor are the router gods.

So, last night was Tuesday, which means I was more or less kid-less. I took a quick swing by Best Buy to look at gaming systems (I want an XBox SO bad, but can't bring myself to buy one...), got myself dinner at Moe's (I love Moe's), then headed home, debating which to do first, cut my grass or go shopping.

Since grass cutting pretty much requires light, and natural light at that, and since it was already after 6pm, I decided I should do that first. I was done and cleaned up by 7:30, though, so I headed out to do my shopping.

Now, Chapel Hill has a plethora of really good natural foods stores. We have our local chain, Weaver Street (my personal fave), a Whole Foods, a Trader Joes, and we're getting a Fresh Market. Not bad for a reasonably small town. But, we have a LOUSY selection of 'regular' grocery stores. Basically, your choices are Food Lion, which I lovingly call Food Slug, or Harris Teeter. HT's tag line a few years ago was, "The only low-price food store that refuses to act like one" My comment was, "Yeah, because they don't charge low prices!" And Food Slug is just nasty, and caters primarily to students. Yuck.

Anyway, so I usually go to the HT closest to my house. It used to be decent, but now it stinks. Meat is still good, but they're produce is atrocious, and they're frequently out of things and don't re-stock in a timely manner. Now, I know some of that is dependent on their supplies, but please, if you're out of skim milk FROM A LOCAL DAIRY on 5 consecutive Sunday nights, perhaps you should think about upping your order!

So, since I had the time last night, with no children to be fed, bathed, homework-monitored or whatnot, I decided to drive to the HT near my office, which is one of the better ones in town: Good produce, well stocked, etc.

Except not last night.

I'd already scoped out all the specials for the week, which change on Wednesdays, so I pretty much knew what I was going to buy. But I swear, the Carr Mill Harris Teeter ghosts had taken over the Meadowmont Harris Teeter! They were out of produce, the specials had been changed early, the produce that was there was ugly, and to top it all of I got a cashier with an attitude who was purely incapable of figuring out how to bag my groceries!

I was appalled! Befuddled! Ticked!!! I've never been failed this badly by that grocery store.

And, then just to add insult to injury, I got home, ready to blog about it, and my stinkin' router was being goofy!

Summertime....

And the living is easy
Fish are jumping, and the cotton is high
Your Daddy's rich, and your Mama's good-lookin'
So hush little baby, don't you cry

(And by the way, Peter Gabriel's version of that song is the best, ever)

Yesterday was Graduation Sunday at Chapel Hill: lots of newly minted PhD's (and, I supposed EdD's, JD's and MD's) wandering around in their new Full Academic Regalia, a fair number of old PhD's et al wandering around in old and sometimes moth-eaten Full Academic Regalia, and a veritable TON of 22 year olds in their light blue robes, parents at their sides, and all parties about to absolutely burst with pride. Good stuff. Brings a tear to my eyes, on so many levels.

And even better?

OMG, my commute gets SO much better in the summer.

A disclaimer: I am a total commuting WUSS! In my defense, I've done my share of lousy commutes in the past. I think the worst was when I lived on Staten Island and worked in Manhattan; we'd leave the house about 7:00 am and get home at 7:30 pm, and took four (yes FOUR) different modes of transportation: bus, ferry, subway and foot power. And, yeah, I've crammed myself onto overcrowded subway trains where I got felt up and had my wallet snatched, and I've lived where I had to walk to work even in the rain and heat and blinding snow, AND I've even done a 6 year stint where I braved I-40 (back when it was ALL 4-lane, none of this namby-pamby 6 and 8 lanes like they've got now) twice a day.

But now I live 5 miles from where I work. On a really, really bad day where I leave too late AND it's raining AND there's a wreck my commute takes 15 minutes (maybe 20). On a normal day it can take as little as 6.

So, yeah, in the world of commuters, I am a wuss.

But, even though I'm a wuss, I do still have a commute, and it does still have an ebb and a flow to it. If I leave my house by 7:30 or earlier, it's easy. If I wait till 7:45, it's harder.

And, year in and year out, the summer is SO easy. And, yes, because I live in a college town, summer runs by the collegiate calendar, and runs from Graduation Sunday to the first Sunday before the new semester (typically mid-August for UNC).

Life slows WAY down in Chapel Hill in the summer. Restaurants are less busy. There are fewer pedestrians jaywalking on campus and Franklin Street. And, yeah, traffic gets WAY lighter, and I can make it in to work in about 7 minutes EVEN when I leave late!

Ahhhh, I love summertime!

Happy Mother's Day Weekend!!!

You can tell it's a busy weekend when there are no blog entries till Sunday night! I won't rehash the entire 48 hours, but the highlights were trying a new Indian place (new to me, anyway), playing GOBS of Rockband (I still stink, but I stink less than I once did), and Grace's baseball team winning yet again (they're 8-0).

And, of course, today was Mother's Day! Technically the kids are with their Dad this weekend, but we arranged that I would take them from after Sunday School till the evening. We drove out to Burlington where my Dad is, and had a lovely brunch there with Dad and Kathy (prime rib and chicken Cordon Bleu, plus random veggies and desserts!), and visited with Dad for a bit.

After that, we scooted back to Chapel Hill because I had made plans to go to a Durham Bulls game. Grace did not want to go; Peter did, so we dropped G off at her Dad's, then Peter, my friend David and I scooted off to Durham...

...to sit in a restaurant for an hour while the TORRENTIAL rain passed! Luckily it was a restaurant with Mt. Dew on the menu (for Peter), a good appetizer list, and a great beer list.

Eventually the rain passed and the game started; we did the standard Bulls things (funnel cake, lemonade, more beer, hot dogs, laughing at the Sumo wrestlers, 7th inning stretch. Sadly, though, the Bulls lost 3-2 (due at least in part to a HIGHLY disputable call in the 6th that changed a home run into a ground rule double...).

But, it was still a fun day. Brunch, Beer and Baseball -- that just MAY be my perfect Mother's Day!

Finally!

REM released a new album several weeks back; after asking several people (OK, two) if they were going to buy it for me for my birthday so that if they weren't I could go get it IMMEDIATELY....well, yeah, I followed typical Meg procedures and promptly didn't get around to buying it for another month.

But, I did finally order it from Amazon last week (along with Funplex, the new B-52s album, so it was quite the Athens-esque order), and they came in yesterday!

I really like this album. Granted, I'm pretty much an REM ho, so to speak; there's just not much over the years that they've done that I've NOT liked (and, yes, I still think Michael Stipe is hot in an anorexic, way-too-fragil, nutcase kinda way, even if he IS gay). But, yes, even given my prediliction to liking anything they do, I still really like this album.

Dick claims that REM is boring because everything they do sounds alike. Beyond disagreeing, I find it very improbable that the same three guys can play music together for 30 years and NOT re-use, re-cycle, reprise, whatever the basic themes they've built upon. And that's one of the things that I really like about Accelerate; I can hear shadows of Murmur, Fables of the Reconstruction, Document, et al in the harmonies and cadences.

Given that, though, this is it's own album. REM is getting God-awful old just like the rest of us; there's still passion, yes, but it's tempered. For example, on Automatic for the People there was a song, Ignoreland, which was basically a diatribe against the American politial system in the late 70's / early 80s. It was loud, it was angry, it was raucous, it was darn near impossible to comprehend if one wasn't Michael Stipe.

Well, Michael's still raging against politicians. But this time it's in the song Until The Day is Done:

The battle's been lost, the war is not won
an addled republic, a bitter refund.
the business first flat earthers
licking their wounds
the verdict is dire, the country's in ruins.

Providence blinked, facing the son,
and where are we left to carry on
until the day is done...

Uh, yeah. That's pretty straightforward, and rather than a 20-something self-rightous loud, raging song, it's in a very melancholy, adult (for lack of a better word) song. I think we must all be growing up.

And, yes, if there's any doubt of that, the FIRST place I hear this album was not from a download, not on the alternative station I listen to....

But on Fresh Air on NPR. Damn.

So, yeah, we're all getting older, but dang! I still love REM!

WT...C

Yeah, I wanted to say something else, but I'm shooting for a PG rating here.

UNC is announcing their new chancellor today, and of course, the info is leaking out to the press. They expect it to be H. Holden Thorp, a chemistry professor and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. OK, seems nice; he has ties to the University, and presumably is a bright person.

BUT HE'S ONLY THREE YEARS OLDER THAN ME!!!

Chancellors are not supposed to be my age. Chancellors are supposed to be old. I am NOT old. Am not, am not, am not.

Man. First I realize I've been legal for 20 years, and now UNC has a Chancellor my age.

And I thought I was going to like my 40s....

Siblings!

MSN.com had an article today on the plight of the older sibling.

Yeah, right. OK, as a parent I will admit that I frequently expect more of my older child, but it's usually also accompianied by increased privileges: staying home alone, larger allowance, later bedtime, etc.

For anyone who's HONESTLY worried about older sibs, I reprint here, WITHOUT ANNOTATION, a letter Peter wrote to Grace today:

Dear Grace,

I know that we sometimes don't get along, but that will change if you do the following:

a) Never use your gross toothpaste again, use mine.
b) Only spend your heap of money on me, not you.
c) Buy me all the WebKinz and other stuff I want.
d) Buy me an X-Box, a Wii, a PS3, and a PSP.
e) Never ask me to buy you anything again.
f) Give all your stuff to me.
g) Invite me to all your birthday parties.
h) Spell dumb correctly.
i) Get a 99% or higher on your next spelling test.
j) Always let me choose the Doctor Floyd episode.
k) Let me choose who you're going to be for the Wax Museum
l) Find out Mallory's middle name from Katy.

Again, if you do those, we will always get along

Sincerely,
Your loving brother
Peter B. Cohen

Uh, yeah. He's not going to be hurt by increased parental expectations.

Uh, yeah, how 'bout you respect MY life

Today was a busy afternoon; sans kids I tried to pack as much into the few hours after work as I could: got my bangs trimmed, went to Peter's game, and got a massage. In the process I drove from one side of Chapel Hill to the other about 4 times in 5 hours. There are WEEKS in which I don't drive that much!

Anyway, as I was on my way to get my bangs trimmed, I was behind a minivan with two ... well, I'm in a good, un-militant mood so I'll call them pro-life (rather than anti-choice) bumper stickers on the back bumper.

OK, not my opinion, but everyone's got a right to their own beliefs, and to express them in whatever ways makes sense to them.

Provided they're not hurting others.

Because the driver of said van, who, presumably, is concerned about the sanctity of life?

Yeah, she was READING THE COMICS AS SHE DROVE!!!!

Please. If you're going to claim the label pro-life, let's start with those sharing the road with you, shall we?

When numbers have imaginary friends

Awhile back I blogged about imaginary friends

My friend Ash just sent me this comic. Turns out numbers have imaginary friends, too!

Voting Day Letdown

North Carolina, typically, does not have an early Democratic primary. As a matter of fact, it's late enough that there have been years where we only have ONE choice left by the time our primary rolls around! Which is, incidentally, one reason why I have very little sympathy with whiny states like Michigan and Florida; unless we shift to have a single primary day (which I don't know is a good idea) or to REALLY compress the time frame, SOMEONE'S going to have to go last.

But this year is different. This year the Democratic race is really not so settled. Granted, my first choice is no longer running, but still. My vote can have an affect. I can make a difference!

So why am I'm finding it's a bit of a let down?

I think it's because the race HAS gone on so long. I'm tired of it. I'm tired of NOT hearing about issues, and only hearing sound bites. I no longer like my choice as much as I did a month ago. Of course, I no longer dislike the other candidate as much as I did a month ago, either! But still.

I'm worn out. I want someone to make a point. I want someone to recognize that I have the capacity to make an intelligent decision, and tell me their thoughts on the issues. I don't need them to have all the answers, just give me an indication of the direction they'd go in!

So, yeah, I voted today, as I (pretty much) always do. And I'm glad I did, and I'm glad my vote will "count" for more than just the local stuff.

But I kinda long for the heady optimism of the races back in February.....

What form!!!!

Grace's baseball team had another game tonight; G got to play catcher in the 5th inning.

Now, catcher at this age is interesting. On the one hand, the kids who like it LOVE it, but it's because they get to dress up in a cool, super-hero-like outfit, not necessarily because they have any inherent skill at the position. In fact, they frequently turn their bodies AWAY from the ball as it's pitched, which is understandable, except that means they're also turning all that lovely padding away from the ball, and exposing bare flesh. Or at least unpadded flesh.

Anyway, I'm not so sure that G has any inherent skill at the position (she hasn't quite caught on that she can field the ball AFTER it's hit, not just catch it if the batter misses), BUT her form is outstanding. She never once turned away from the ball, even when it whacked her on the shins!

Makes a mother proud!

Happy Star Wars Day, part two

Just to finish out the day in style, the kids and I watched Episode III tonight. Not my favorite, but the only one that was on network TV!!!

They always do it.....

Well, the Children's Choir came through with flying colors again today! They pulled off their musical with flying colors; the soloists were wonderful, and even Peter managed to look appropriately somber as he lugged his cross around. And the sound system and sound effects were exemplary.... :-)

And, as is traditional with the Children's Choir, they sang the benediction at the end of the service. My children can only get halfway through it before they start checking me out to see if I'm teary-eyed yet.... and I always am! They consider it a duty well done if they make me cry!

Happy Star Wars Day!!!!!

May the Fourth....

Be with you!

Oh, and Happy Birthday to Justin, my ex-bell-stand partner, who has the coolest birthday ever.

Now THIS is blogging....

Wireless and hammocks were just made for each other.

It was sort of a busy day today. The kids had the dress rehearsal for the Choir musical, which they'll perform in church tomorrow. It went pretty well. Peter is Jesus (a role he picked because it has no lines and, more importantly, no solos); the only problem is he is, possibly, the happiest person to ever have been crucified in the history of the world! When they rehearsed on Thursday, he was grinning like a monkey as he was supposed to be carrying the cross up Golgotha. Sigh. By today he had calmed down somewhat, and realized that if he looks at his feet he a. appears to be toiling more than he actually is (since it's a cardboard cross, after all), and b. no one can tell if he's grinning! The other fun thing about the musical is I get to work the sound board (whee! Power over microphones: I can make or break a young singer's career with a flick of my finger!) AND I get to do the thunder sound effects! Doesn't get much better than that.

After the dress rehearsal I made an attempt to cut my grass, but due to my own haste and stupidity, wound up breaking my mower instead. Grrr. So now I'm going to have to run out to Lowes to get the stuff that I've been assured will fix it, and I won't be able to cut till Monday, probably. Hmph.

Since my lawn care plans were thwarted, we instead went to Target for bulk goods, Sports Clips for a haircut for Peter, Petco for Dazzle-bedding, and the nail place so I could get rid of the poorly-chosen color I got last time. My toes no longer look dead and purple, they are now pretty and springlike and coral. Yay.

And now we're home, waiting for the Kentucky Derby to start! But until then, I'm hanging out on the deck, watching the birdies and blogging from my hammock.

Ahhhhhhh

Escapism at its best!

Last night was Movie Night; every month or two I get together with Kathy and 3 other friends for a pot-luck dinner, free-flowing wine, and a movie.

Sometimes Movie Night has a theme, and we try to match the food to the movie. Sometimes they're more free-form. For whatever reason, last night fell into the latter category; I don't think the movie got decided on until Wednesday, and food choices and decisions were still whirling around via email as late as Thursday or Friday.

But, as frequently happens, it all turned out beautifully! The food was definitely eclectic (baked pasta, chips and quacamole, chicken with peppers, quesadillas, and a veggie dish), but all delicious.

And the movie? The movie was a totally over-the-top Bollywood love story, with life lessons and human rights morality twists built in! It was Veer-Zaara, a story about, "A Love That Knows no Boundaries!". It was definitely Bollywood; plenty of costume changes and spontaneous breaking into song. It was also THE WORLD'S LONGEST MOVIE! As it seemed the story was starting to wind down, suddenly.....it was intermission! At that point Kathy checked the DVD case and realized that it was an over three hour movie!!!

It was a fun flick, though. Total escapism: the good guys win, wrongs are righted, lessons are learned, the bad guys get their just desserts, and in the end, true love prevails. A great end to a very long week.

Peaceful Easy Evening

Tonight was mildly crazy; the kids had a choir dress rehearsal for their musical from 5:30 - 7:00. I'm a stage hand for this one, so I had to be there, too. The kids did well, and it was a good rehearsal, but long, and anytime there are dozens of 5-11 year olds, life gets hectic. But, by quarter past 7 we were done, and ready for dinner.

Grace had picked the menu tonight; salmon grilled with cedar planks, potatoes, and green beans. Luckily, it's a fairly quick dinner; and one the kids really like.

So, I got to grill (with wine, not beer!), we ate outside, and then hung out in the hammock and watched the stars come out!

What fun!

Sorry, Don't Care

OK, a word to the famous:

I don't really care who you date.

Nor do I care who you sleep with, provided you're not paying for such activities with public funds.

I CERTAINLY don't care about who you dated or slept with 30 years ago!

Both Cher and Barbara Walters have suddenly decided to disclose certain bits of personal information. Surprisingly, Cher's is the tamer; she apparently dated Tom Cruise at one point. Ms. Walters, on the other hand, had an affair with a Senator in the 70s.

Ok, so maybe either of these stories would've been interesting AT THE TIME (but I doubt it). But I'm sorry, people, I just don't CARE who Barbara Walters hangs out with! Or anything else! Not now, and especially not 30 years ago!!

Stop the madness, celebrities!!!!