A Meg's Life

OOoh!!!

2009-10-09T15:48:00.001-04:00

I found a list of the 10 geekiest T Shirts today!

I want them!!!!

Well, actually, I don't want ALL of them.

Just 8.

Kudos to anyone who can guess the two I don't want....

Milestone night!

2009-10-07T21:44:00.003-04:00

So, tonight was a milestone night in the Cohen Household.

First, Grace was due to move up in ToShinDo, from her yellow-black belt to her blue-white belt. She was VERY excited -- this one wasn't just getting a new belt, but was moving into a new level, too.

She did a good job during the test part of the graduation, then got her new belt and certificate. Oh, and the list of things she needs, now: a book, a wooden knife, a wooden hanbo, a foam sword, a helmet, and padded gloves. Oh, and a DVD! And a bag. Sheesh.

Peter also had his first Scoutmaster Conference and Board of Review for Scouts, to get his Tenderfoot Badge! Boy Scouts is very different from Cubs -- the boys aren't required to do the requirements on their own (there's tons of adult help), but they're expected to do them under their own initiative. So, yeah, Mom, Dad and the Scoutmaster aren't going to reming (too much!) or force a boy to do anything.

The boys are also required to set up a Scoutmaster Conference and Board of Review for each rank. Now, these are pretty easy to set up -- Peter basically went dressed in his class A, and was able to do it tonight.

So, yes, I now have a blue-white Belt and a Tenderfoot in my house!

You've got to pay attention...

2009-10-07T21:29:00.002-04:00

So, coming home from ToShinDo tonight, here's a synopsis of the conversation I had with Grace.

Background info: Grace has two friends named Rachel, both from preschool. One also goes to her school now, and goes to the same church we go to, so Grace sees her nearly daily. The other we see every year or so.

Coming up Raleigh Road:

G: "This song is Bring on the Dan!"
M: "Actually, Bring on the Dancing Horses" (we were listening to XM Radio)

(As we're driving past the Bell Tower):

G: "What road is Gimghoul Castle on?"
M: "Gimghoul Road"
G: "Where's that?"
M: "Near Playmaker's Theater"
G: "Where's that?"

I tried several ways to explain where that was. Finally I said:

M: "Do you know where Carolina Friends School is?"
G: "Yes"
M: "Near there"

She was satisfied with that, and we were quiet for a bit. Then:

G: "Rachel must hear SPOOOOOKY noises, then!"

I correctly interpreted this as a reference to Gimghoul Castle, but as the first Rachel that I think of is, oh, I don't know, the one she sees DAILY, I said:

M (quizzically): "Rachel?!?!?!"
G (Condescendingly): "Yes! She DOES go there!"
M: "What??? Oh, Rachel C!"
G: "Of Course! Rachel M. goes to MY school!"

I didn't even bother trying to explain, but just sat quietly. About 2 minutes passed, then:

G: "Here comes the R"
M: "What?"
G: "Here comes the R"
M: "Did you say here comes the R?? What does that mean?!?!?!?!"
G: "This song! It's called Here Comes the R!!!"

It was, of course, Eurythmics, Here Comes the Rain Again. I didn't even bother explaining.

She keeps you on your toes....

Um, you're off by a few months...

2009-10-02T15:59:00.005-04:00

I swear, someone decided it was April Fools' Day, and didn't tell me.

Here are some of the news stories out there today:

Jon Gosselin thinks that being on a reality show in the midst of their parents' breakup is detrimental to his children. Nah, you think????
Someone tried to extort money from Letterman for sleeping with women. Before he was married. Consensually.
Ted Williams' head is in a cryogenics facility (weird enough right there), and is supposedly being "abused", including having a tuna fish can that was stuck to it (a flaw in the freezing process, perhaps?) beaten off with .... a baseball bat

Jacques Chirac has had to give away his dog, a Maltese Terrier (little white ball of fluff) because it has become "violent". Apparently the dog has bitten Chirac three times, once in an "unnamed body part". Chirac's wife says the dog is depressed, and is, "finding it difficult to come to terms with leaving the Palace Elysee".

OK, please people. It's just October!

I'm not a doctor...

2009-10-01T09:52:00.003-04:00

But my email apparently thinks I am.

I got a GREAT job offer today! High 500K salary, less than an hour from a major metropolitan area, with international airport, opportunity to life on a golf course OR a lake!

Problem is, they want a cardiologist.

Yeah, not so much.

I share a last name and first initial with a cardiologist at UNC, and the cardiology clinic is in the same building as my office, so I periodically get mail, of both the e and the snail varieties, that are meant for him. Typically it's junk, as the job offer today -- it was one of those ACT NOW!!! offers.

But my favorite was the letter asking me when I would like the jet to pick me up to fly my to Rocky Mount for my presentation? LOL! THAT one I forwarded on!

I knew I should've take more science in college!

And so it begins

2009-09-25T19:45:00.003-04:00

I try to keep this blog light-hearted, more or less. I've had my moments, sure, but I tend to NOT blog about things that are bothering me. Partially it's self-preservation: I'm just not that comfortable baring THAT much of my soul in public (that's what sisters, friends, SO's and therapists are for, and I'm blessed with very good ones in each category!)

And, partially, it's because sometimes the baring of my soul will involve other people, and that just doesn't seem fair.

But, tonight, I'm going to break with tradition somewhat. Not sure why, other than I'm feeling a little melancholy.

This weekend (actually Sunday) marks the first in a series of related milestones for me.

My mother died when I was not yet nine. She was 42. I was the youngest of her children (and, I guess, still am!)

I'm now 42, and on Sunday, Grace, my youngest, turns 9. This will be followed in a few months (ok, 6) by my birthday, when I will be older than my mother ever was. Technically, I suppose, that day will come sometime next January (she died in October, before her birthday in January), but I think that my birthday, when my age changes, will be the day that brings it home for me.

So, yes, in a sense this is a good milestone; other than the fact that it's Grace's birthday, which is always a good thing, it means that, regardless of what else happens, she will be older when I die than I was when my mother died.

But that's a really morbid thought! My Nana always used to say that once her husband died (in 1946 or so) she wanted to get her youngest, then 4 or 5, out of high school, and considered any time after that to be bonus. She lived till 1992, so she had, by my calculations, about 30-odd bonus years! But I always, as a teenager, thought that that was the darkest, most morbid way of looking at things! Why think about when it's OK to die!!!

I now realize that it's not that simple. The death of a loved one affects us in ways we'll never completely understand, at least partially because it affects us forever, and we're constantly changing. I remember what I felt at 8, and I know what I feel at 42. The feelings are very different, and I'm sure that at 52 and 82 they will be different still.

So, no, I'm not sitting around checking off things on some karmic bucket list (Got both kids past age 8, check.) I haven't decided it's OK to die now -- quite frankly, I plan on getting grandkids to age eight and beyond, and that better be decades from now! And, yes, I will cherish every day I have with my children.

But I'm also really glad that my daughter will not have to go through the death of a parent as young as I did.

Hmm, perhaps life is looking up...

2009-09-23T08:58:00.003-04:00

OK, so it's been a bad day (see post below).

But, David and I wound up playing in a rousing trivia game tonight! Once he got home (he'd been in DC, and came home to the wonderful news that he's engaged to a total menace) and got Geoff to Scouts, we wound up in a bar to get beer and bar food. It was that kind of night.

We thought there was going to be karaoke, cause we could see an emceee kind of person with a microphone. Neither of us particularly cares for karaoke; but the place has good beer and snacks, so we wente in anyway.

Turns out it was NOT karaoke, but a trivia contest! We snagged an answer sheet, and jumped in.

We were tied for 4th place after the first round (name the backing band for various artists), but after a round of movies, then science (uh, yeah, David pretty much rocked on that one) then TV theme songs, we finished in 2nd place over all!

Yay for Cap'n Crunch and the Cereal Killers!!!

Doober.

2009-09-22T18:52:00.000-04:00

So, today I got a call from Peter about 4 pm. Turns out that his soccer practice had been cancelled due to thunder. He bikes there, so he headed home, but since it was thundering, I also headed out to meet him (11 year old boys can survive a lot of things, but I don't think lightning strikes should be tested!).

I found him, and we loaded his bike into the back of David's Veracruz, which I am currently driving. I was lazy, so rather than put one of the seats down, I just crammed the bike in, but then the hatchback wouldn't shut. Since it was only a short ways, though, I figured it would be OK.

And it was.

Till I got home, and drove into the garage.

Forgetting that the frikkin' hatchback was still up!

So, yeah, shattered glass, cursing, Meg feeling stupid. And, going to need a new back window.

Sigh.

How 'bout that!

2009-09-22T15:30:00.000-04:00

I have determined, though rigorous scientific experimentation, that you can not hold a cell phone against one hear with your shoulder while simultaneously holding a desk phone against the other ear with the other shoulder.

Phone calls I never expected to receive...

2009-09-21T15:31:00.003-04:00

My phone rings today, and I see that it's Peter's phone, so I answer, "Hey!"

But it's not Peter, it's Geoffrey.

G: "Peter's locked in the garage!"
Me: "What????"
G: "Peter's locked in the garage. He came into the garage, shut the door, and now the power's out and the knob on the door from the house to the garage won't turn"
Me: (asking the obvious, but hey) "Is the door from the house to the garage unlocked?"
G: "Yes, it just won't...Oh, here he is! He's out now!"

So, yeah, still not entirely sure how it was that it took to very bright young men so long to, um, turn a doorknob. Or why Peter didn't go out the outside people-door in the garage. But whatever, all's well that ends well!

Weekend Wrapup

2009-09-21T09:09:00.003-04:00

Or, traffic, traffic and more traffic.

So, as we all know, Peter and I were in Baltimore this weekend. We got up reasonably early on Sunday, had breakfast at an IHOP, then headed up to Camden Yards. We got a decent parking space, then headed over to the Inner Harbor and putzed around for a bit -- nothing too major, because we didn't really have the time, but we found a bunch of things that we want to do on a subsequent visit.

We did go up to the 27th Floor of the Baltimore World Trade Center, to see the view. That was fun, and in keeping with my tradition of always going up to the top of tall buildings with observation decks when I travel.

Then we headed back to the ballfield, stopping off along the way to go to the Baltimore Sports Legends Museum. It was a small but fun museum, with a couple of really cool items -- an actual Super Bowl trophy, Johnny Unitas's Championship Ring, and the 2130 and 2131 banners from when Cal Ripken broke Lou Gherig's record for consecutive games played.

We had noticed all day that there were TONS of people with Red Sox shirts on, but we figured it was because we were doing touristy things, and the O's fans were more likely to show up for the game without wandering around first. But then we got to the stadium.

There were easily as many Red Sox fans as there were O's fans. And they were louder, too! It was fun -- we had great seats (upper box, behind home plate), and were in a clump of other Red Sox fans, so we had fun yelling "YOUK!!!" and cheering for Boston.

We left in the middle of the 9th, with Boston solidly ahead, and were back at the car and heading out by about 4:30 or so. We had NO trouble getting onto I-95 from the ball field.

But then we started hitting traffic. And hit, and hit, and hit. Sat in traffic from Fed-Ex field (there had been a Redskins game, too), which is east-ish of DC proper, to Potomic Mills in Virginia -- all of about 40 miles, and it took us a solid hour, hour and a half.

Eventually the traffic eased up, though. We were home by 10:30 or quarter of 11, and pretty much crashed. Both Peter and I are tired today, but DID make it up and out of the house more or less on time!

More oddities

2009-09-20T07:57:00.003-04:00

So, after everything else that happened last night, I was awoken at 1:5-something by, um, urban music. Not blaring, by any means.

At first I thought it was coming from another room, given the large number of college kids around (Lord, I'm a curmudgeon), but then I realized it was coming from the clock radio.

So, I reached over and started pressing buttons. Nothing made it stop. Pressed 'em all again. Still rappin'.

Finally I turned on the light, found a very small button on the side of the radio labelled "On-Off-Auto." It was on Auto, so I slid it to off.

Still playing.

I slid it BACK to Auto, then Back to Off. Still music. To On, then Off. Nope, still music.

Finally, FINALLY I hit snooze. The music went off, but since it was only snoozing, I was afraid it would come back. I made sure that the button was still on Off, though, and luckily we made it through the night with no more surprises!

Oddest. Trip. Ever.

2009-09-19T22:28:00.004-04:00

So, Peter and I are in Baltimore (Jessup, actually), Md. He never, poor boy, got a birthday party this year. I tried to get him to have a pool party this summer, but he didn't want to.

What he DID want was to go to an Orioles game. So, our compromise was that he and I would take a road trip to Balitmore for an O's game.

We were going to go over Labor Day, but life got crazy, and then I saw that THIS weekend, the O's were playing.....

The Red Sox.

Now, Peter likes the O's just fine. But he LOVES the Red Sox, so this was a no brainer.

Grace and I had plans last night, plus Peter had a soccer game this morning (lost, 4-3, but Peter scored all three goals), so this is truly a zippy little trip.

We left Chapel Hill today about 2:30; it should've taken us about 5, 5.5 hours to get here. So, yeah, it was conceivable that we could've gotten here about 7:30, and possibly even run up to the Inner Harbor for dinner.

But no. This is THE. MOST. SURREAL. TRIP. EVER.

It started with Peter's lunch (I, sensibly, ate at home. He wanted Bojangles at 3pm). I ordered his lunch, and then asked for a jelly biscuit for me. The drive-through woman replies, "A what????" Me: "Uh, a jelly biscuit." Her: "You want a biscuit? With Jelly????" Me: "Yes!"

I dunno, I know Southerners are inherently different, but dang, is a jelly biscuit really that odd?

So, then we head off. Nothing major for awhile; we listened to the radio, Peter did some homework, etc. We were making good time, and were on trace for dinner in Baltimore.

Then, a road info sign (immediatly AFTER an exit) informed us that there was a major accident ahead, ALL lanes were closed, and we were to follow the detour signs.

An hour later, we had made it a mile down the road to the exit (no signs). We exited, and immediately (well, 10 minutes later when we'd made it off the ramp) ran into THE MOST OBNOXIOUS OLD MAN IN THE WORLD!!! Seriously. Firt of all, it was obvious that EVERYONE was getting off I-95. Most people were nicely alternate-merging. The cars in front of me, both in my lane and Mr. Obnoxious-oid's lane, did that.

But, no. Not Mr. Obnoxo. Luckily, I'm driving the Veracruz (for the GPS), so I made him let me in! Nearly as soon as I got on the road, though, I heard a siren -- one of ambulences from the accident was trying to get down the off-ramp. Again, most of us nice, cooperative drivers pulled over to let the ambulence by.

Not Mr. Obnoxo. Nope, he PASSED ME! Arrogant, sore-loser, unfriendly, obnoxious little so-and-so stinking PASSED ME. And then got ticked because there was no room for him to pull over when the ambulence was behind him honking, loudly for him to GET OUT OF THE WAY.

Well, my patience was, um, strained. Quite frankly, I lost it. I don't THINK Peter learned any new words (OK, one) but he certainly learned some new combinations.

But, we eventually got back on the highway. We headed North (again), stopping for dinner north of Richmond at a place that said it had the best milkshakes in Richmond (it did, and a yummy veggie plate, too! And GREAT biscuits, and even JELLY!)

Then we were off again, but alas, it was STILL not to be a normal trip. We drive and drive, and I'm trustingly following the GPS...which sent us on 395 around DC. Now, 395 is scenic -- we got to see the Washington Monument, Lincoln and Jefferson memorials, and the Capitol.

But it's not the best way to go. It took for-stinkin'-ever, and we went through some lovely sections of town! AND a "parkway", with a 55mph speed limit. Now, I'm all for safety, but dang, people, 55 mph when I just want my nice hotel bed is just mean.

But, we're here now, in Jessup, in our hotel. Where there are a bunch of college kids here for a marching band convention.

Oh, and when I ran to the gas station next door to get chapstick, there was a frat-boy type (i.e. drunk and in khakis, an oxford shirt and tie), trying to buy coffee cups. Not a package of styrofoam cups, mind you; the ones that the gas station uses to sell coffee! The clerk was telling him to put them back, they weren't for sale, but he didn't seem to be listening!

But Man vs. Food is eathing the worlds spiciest burger, I have my chapstick, and tomorrow we get to see the Red Sox!!!!

Who, me? Neurotic?

2009-09-15T16:17:00.004-04:00

I'm not neurotic, I'm just greater than the sum of all my traumas. And, of course, as a good child of the 70s, a lot of my traumas revolve around low-budget horror movies.

The one that always scared me the most was Halloween -- to this day, the theme will give me chillbumps (and you should see what it does to Kathy!). I'm not sure what it was about that movie, but I think it had something to do with the silent implacability of Michael Myers. Jason's chainsaw was too loud, and Freddie was a bit over the top in his malevolence.

But Michael was just creepy. Michael is the thing that's in your room when you wake up in the middle of the night and it's pitch dark and you just know that someone, or something, is there...but you can't bring yourself to turn on the light and check, so you just lie there in the dark, terrified (and invariably having to pee) until you hear your Dad get up to make breakfast, and then you finally fall back asleep.

Not that that ever happened....

Anyway, so last night I had a very odd dream. I was in Halloween (the first one, the REAL one, the Jamie Lee Curtis without a date screaming at the top of her lungs one), but it was a week or two before actual-Halloween. I knew what was going to happen, but no one would believe me, and they all made fun of me (in fact, a stuffed Freddie doll figured into it, which is odd since Freddie's movies came out AFTER H'ween).

It wasn't too scary, though, because none of the horrible stuff had happened yet.

Then I woke up, and got up to take the dog for a walk.

Now, 6 am is dark. And I kept seeing Halloween-esque things. Like, for example, a teenage girl going out to get in her car -- I wanted to scream, "NO!! He's probably in there!" but I'm thinking that would not have gone over well.

And then, suddenly, there was a guy walking in front of me, about 10 feet ahead. Now, lots of people walk or run early in the morning (like me!). But this guy had no dog, and was in jeans, not sweats. And a hoodie that kind of obscured his face.

And he walked really quietly. And I hadn't seen where he came from.

Now, I'm sure (pretty sure, anyway) that he was just a normal guy, out for his morning excercise. But I stayed behind him, and kept my eye on him, anyway!

Which, of course, led to MORE macabre Halloween fantasies, like, "Oooh, what if I'm distracted for a moment, and when I look back, he's GONE!?!?!?!"

So, yeah, for the record I worked myself into a right state, to the point that, when our paths diverged and I was back on my own, I was still a little jumpy.

Like, jumpy enough that when sprinklers went on in the yard next to me, I about jumped out of my skin, which made Tucker jump and try to bolt...into the yard where the sprinklers were, which startled him even more!

Poor Tucky. But we made it home safe and sound, unbothered by ghosties or goulies...or homocidal, knife-weilding, un-dying, super-human MANIACS!

A Beatles Rockband Observation

2009-09-14T21:42:00.002-04:00

Given the target demographic group (i.e. old farts) isn't it odd that RB Beatles has a "psychedelic" look and feel, making it very, very difficult for middle-aged eyes to see the notes?

sigh.

Really? You can bake grapefruit?

2009-09-13T20:07:00.002-04:00

So, David and I just got back from a trip to the mountains; it was Family Weekend at UNC-A, where Kirsten goes.

We stayed in a pet-friendly B&B, with delicious breakfasts; each breakfast was two courses -- a fruit course, and an entree. On Saturday, the fruit course was peach cobbler, with blueberry pancakes as the entree.

Peach Cobbler! For breakfrast! How fun!

I have to admit, I was a little thrown at first. I mean, cobblers are desserts, right? But, then I thought about it, and decided that it was carbs and fruit, which is basically what's in pancakes, french toast, etc. And, it was delicious!

Today the fruit was half a grapefruit baked with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, and the entree was a southwestern baked omelet with a cheese and sausage biscuit.

Yum.

Add to that a light(ish) lunch on Saturday at Jack of the Woods (a pub with good beer) and a truly delicious dinner on Saturday night at Bouchon, a French Bistro, and it was a tasty weekend all around!

Yet more wireless rapture

2009-09-10T16:30:00.003-04:00

We all know how much I love free, easily accessible wireless. Love it, love it, love it.

Well, today was mildly crazy (though, as Kathy says, my life is ALWAYS crazy)

Anyway, due to a vet scheduling conflict, I had to leave work about 2:30 to take the boys to get their Feline Leukemia boosters. I was waiting for someone to finish something so that I could do MY part, and of course, they had system issues.

So, I said as I was leaving that I'd find wireless sometime after 4 and call into work.

And here I am, at Weaver Street (while Peter is at soccer practice), eating some lovely caraway cheddar and bread, drinking a New Belgium Hoptober (very tasty, btw), and working.

Oh, and it's 70 degrees and breezy. A lovely fall afternoon.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh

Whoa! That's cool!

2009-09-08T13:19:00.007-04:00

Disclaimer: this post has mild political content. Yes, I am a rabid, die-hard, semi-knee-jerk liberal. Yes, I think President Obama has every right to speak to school children. But, for the record, I also thought that Bush had every right to read to school children in September of 2001. Like 'em or hate 'em, agree with them or disagree with them, these are authority figures, and the more authority figures who read to kids, talk to kids, tell kids that school is important, that behaving is important, that working hard is important, the better.

BUT. This post is more about being a proud mom than being a political being. So, if you disagree with me, fine. You're entitled to your opinion.

But keep it out of the comments when I'm being proud of my boy!

(rant over)

Now, on to more important stuff!

As I was sitting down to my lunch today, I got a call from Peter's English teacher. "Hmmm," thinks I, "this is unusual..." Now, Peter is a good kid, and typically doesn't get in trouble at school. But he's also 11, and is beginning to push some boundaries, just to see what happens. So, I have to admit -- I had a brief moment of worry, wondering if he'd pushed the wrong boundary!

But, no, the teacher was just calling to tell me that they'd watched President Obama's address today in Language Arts, and that one of the local new stations had been there filming them. The news folks had picked three kids from the class to interview afterwards to hear their reactions to the speech...

Including Peter!

He's going to be on TV!!!!

Fun!

Mr. Armstrong said that the story would start streaming late this afternoon, and they're pretty sure it will be aired tonight at 6 and 11 (for anyone local).

UPDATE:Here's a link to the video of Peter, and here's a link to the text article

Whirlwind weekend

2009-09-06T18:02:00.002-04:00

Par for the course -- this weekend, as most long ones do, has FLOWN by. But, we've been reasonably productive.

Yesterday was the (YAY) final, final, final (I hope) touches on David's house. We got the garage cleaned out, one last coat of paint on the laundry room ceiling, and planted a few mums for color. It's got a For Sale sign out front, and hopefully will go fast (and high!) Great location, if anyone's moving to Cary!

We came home and spent a couple of hours with Cindi and Chris (and Marshall and Griffin) who were in town for the UNC-Citadel game, which was fun.

Today while the kids and I were at Sunday School and church (after a stop by Ye Olde Waffle Shoppe, of course), David and Geoff got our small storage unit moved into a large storage unit. Then we came home, and Peter hauled mulch for me, Taylor weeded (actually, she weeded while we were out), Grace folded a load of laundry, and I cut the grass. Dang.

THEN, because we were all hot, tired, and wanted to play not work, we headed to the pool for a couple of hours.

And now we're back, David is making a Key Lime cheesecake, Grace is (still) folding her load of laundry, Peter's XBoxing, Geoff and Taylor are WoWing, and I'm blogging.

Seems like a lot for one weekend, and I'm tired! Can't decide if tomorrow should be pruning my shrubs, or sheer and utter laziness.

So, am I a morning person? Or not?

2009-09-03T09:24:00.002-04:00

I've always (or at least all my adult life) thought of myself as innately a morning person. When/if I excercise, I prefer to do it first thing in the morning. I love sunrises, and the peacefulness right before dawn. I can't think of anything better than being awake and on my deck with a nice cup of coffee then.

But, I don't get that very often. The reality is, there are beau coup things for me to do/get done in the evening: dinner, activities, laundry, straightening, etc. Not necessarily fun things, mind you (other than dinner), but necessary.

So, yeah, to get up and be sitting on my deck with my coffee, I'd need to wake up 5, 5:30 ish. And going to bed at 10:30 or 11 just doesn't make that possible. I function best on 8 hours of sleep, am fine with 7, but after a day or two of 6 or fewer hours of sleep, I just get fuzzy-brained.

Still, I've been getting up a little earlier, in order to run with Tucker. It's making me happy because I'm running, and it's early. Tucker is happy, cause, well, he's a dog and it doesn't take much to make him happy.

But after today, I think the fuzzy-brained-ness is kicking in, and perhaps I'm not as much of a morning person as I thought!

The International Space Station was due to be passing over my part of the globe between 5:57 and 6:03 this morning. I DID see it, but here's a rough paraphrase of my thought process during it:

Oh, I should be looking for the Space Station. I think it's near Venus. Oh, there's Venus! Wait, Venus was in the east yesterday, and that's west.....Wait, Venus is moving!!!! That's not right!!!

(pause)

Oh! THAT'S the Space Station!!! Cool!

pause to watch Space Station move across the sky. Tucker is looking at me wondering why we're not running.

MAN! There are PEOPLE up there!

Um, yes. Yes there are.

Not my most stellar intellectual moment!

If it's September...

2009-09-02T19:43:00.002-04:00

I must be waiting for a kid. Or going to a meeting for a kid. Or driving a kid.

Last night was Geoffrey's Scout night -- his Dad's in DC, so I drove him. To Apex, mind you.

Tonight was the Gifted meeting at Peter and Geoff's school. Again, being the only parent (or quasi-parent, as the case may be) in the general area, I went.

Tonight was also Peter's Scout night. So, yeah, left work, drove to gifted meeting, met, drove home, cooked, ate, Peter changed, drove to his Scout meeting, and now I'm (yay) sitting in a coffee shop, blogging, Facebooking, emailing...Oh, and drinking cappucino.

Yeah, baby.

And, a note on this "Gifted" meeting -- this school has a reasonably good, as school's go, website, including a map of the school. They have a front desk that is pretty much always manned. Our kids all go there. The PTA sends out reminders of meetings, AND the meetings are posted on the aforementioned website.

Yet a surprising number of parents were late, couldn't find the media center, didn't find out till late, yada yada yada yada.

Oh, and after being explicitly told (twice) "I'd rather have questions in email so that I can take the time to answer it well, but if there's something critical I can stick around briefly afterwards", we interrupted at least a half dozen times. And another half dozen or more folks (out of maybe 25) stuck around afterwards for "critical" questions.

So, what exactly does that say about those of use who are "gifted" parents? Um, we don't read email, can't retain information, don't know how to do on-line research, and refuse to listen to the rules of the classroom.

Hmmmm.

Ok, so perhaps I'm a bit cynical tonight!

Since when

2009-09-02T08:17:00.000-04:00

Is disappear an action you can take on another person? As in, and I paraphrase from NPR no less, "The government persecuted the leftists, and in extreme cases would disapper them"

Excuse me? Disappear them? Now, I understand the point -- the government did not overtly kill/kidnap/deport/etc. these people. The people just...disappeared.

But still. Is this really common usage now?

Yeah, I know. I sound curmudgeonly. "In my day, we didn't make up new words!"

The Daily Dilemma

2009-09-01T13:41:00.002-04:00

So, every afternoon around this time, my office gets cold. Not sure why, but it does.

Now, I have a shawl that I wrap up in when I'm chilly. More importantly, I have a laptop, and my window gets afternoon sun. So, cat-like, I can go sit in the sunny spot. I can even sit in the sunny spot while wrapped in my shawl (which is more old-lady-like than cat-like).

But every afternoon around this time, I enter my post-prandial sleepy phase. And sitting in a sunny spot, particularly while wrapped in a shawl, is somewhat soporific.

So, the Daily Dilemma: do I freeze, or risk falling asleep?

Ahhhhh

2009-09-01T13:39:00.002-04:00

I woke up this morning, and when I went out to run, it was a lovely mid-60's temperature.

I walked outside around 10 am, and it was sunny and warm (NOT hotter 'n hell and half of Georgia), with a mild breeze.

I love fall. Even if it'll be hot as stink another few weeks and this is just a tease, I LOVE fall.

I'm not a bot!

2009-08-27T14:13:00.003-04:00

Really!

I walk. I talk. I breath. I cry at movies all the time. I'm a real live human bean!

But, DANG, I have a hard time with the bot-traps on places like Ticketmaster.

I'm sorry, but 40-somethings with poor eyesight DO still buy tickets. We just don't see well, and when you make the letters particularly fuzzy, a 'b' can look a lot like an 'h'.

Harumph. I'm NOT a bot!

Ugh

2009-08-27T08:22:00.001-04:00

I hate it when I need another cup o coffee and it's just too darn hot to go outside.

There they go....

2009-08-25T08:39:00.003-04:00

First day of school, yet again.

This one, of course, was a little different -- David's kids are working they're way through the system; between broken fax machines and bureaucratic shenanigans on the part of both Wake AND CH/C, it was down to the wire, but it looks like all is going to be well.

Grace is still somewhat in her Rock Star persona, she's loving being one of the big kids at the bus stop:

I've lost the ability to make Peter let me take a picture of him on the first day; he did allow me to give him a hug before he left (inside, of course, where there were no potential witnesses). Apparently middle schoolers (MIDDLE SCHOOLER! HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?????) are just way to cool for pictures. Or parents. Or most everything, as far as I can tell!

So, off we go again for yet another year....

The drought ends...

2009-08-23T09:24:00.003-04:00

OK, OK. I'm back.

No particular reason for the long blog-hiatus (blogatus?), yet a million little ones. I was on vacation. Work has started blocking websites, and I wasn't sure if I could get to blogger from there (still unsure). I was on vacation. I didn't feel like it. None of them were particularly GOOD reasons, but there you are!

And, of course, the biggest reason is that I've been crazy-buzy, but in a good way. David and I are officially engaged! Yay!!!!

And, no, we have no date set. We don't even have a date in MIND! Why, you ask?

Well, here's what we've done since getting engaged: Painted his dining room, stripped walpaper in his kids' bathroom. Destroyed the walls when said wallpaper came off (people who paper w/o painting should be shot). Patched the walls. Primed the walls. Patched the walls some more. Sanded. And sanded. And sanded. Painted. Painted trim. Painted ceilings. Got professionals to deal with the wallpaper in HIS bathroom. Packed, cleaned, stored, and so on.

Oh, and we also took a vacation with all 5 kids AND the dog.

AND took his eldest off to college!

So, yeah, we've had some other things on our minds. But I promise, there WILL be a date at somepoint. Honest.

And my life is significantly crazier now than it was: At the moment, in my house, there are:

2 adults
1 nearly-16-year old (asleep)
2 11 year olds, both boys. Egad.
1 nearly-9-year-old (nearly NINE! How'd my baby get to be NINE!)
2 cats (who went to the vet yesterday and are both pushing 14 pounds)
1 dog
1 mouse (pet, not pest)

It's crazy, it's crowded, there are times when it's stressful...

But I wouldn't change a thing. I love them all (even the mouse), and I'm glad they're in my life AND in my house.

Now, if I can just keep blogger in my life again!

Rock Camp, Day one

2009-07-06T20:31:00.000-04:00

No, not Camp Rock, Rock Camp.

Or, more specifically, Girls Rock NC Camp!

Yep, Grace is at Rock Camp. An organization called Girls Rock NC is putting on a Rock-n-Roll camp this week.

So, today was day one. Her Dad dropped her off this morning, so I didn't see her till dinner time. She is WAY psyched. This may be the most fun she's ever had.

Her band is called Sparkling Horses; apparently their Band Manager (i.e. camp counsellor) is a big fan of Sparklehorse, so they took their name from there. Grace is the lead singer, there are 4 other girls in the band: a guitarist/backup singer, a bass player, a drummer and a keyboardist. Grace actually knows the keyboardist from pre-school, so I'm kinda hoping they make it big, just for the wikipedia entries ("Cohen and keyboardist Rachel Cullen first met at 6 months in day care, but waited until elementary school to form Sparkling Horses")!

So, yes, she's have a great time. More Rock Camp updates later!

I KNEW that was going to happen!

2009-07-06T13:13:00.003-04:00

So, in my continuing saga of self-awareness, I take quizzes. Mainly Facebook, granted: Which Vampire Would you Be, Which Crazy Southern Writer Would You Be, When Would You Die In a Horror Movie, etc.

So, today I took a quiz from some psychic association to see if I have The Gift to be a psychic.

Turns out, I don't.

But I knew that was going to happen!!!

Happy 4th!

2009-07-04T23:23:00.002-04:00

Happy 4th of July!!!!

I had a really good day. David and I toured the wineries on the Haw River Wine Trail. It's four wineries within the Haw River watershed; all relatively small. At least one does import grapes from other areas, but mostly the grapes are grown, if not at the vineyard/winery itself, at least in the region.

It was fun. North Carolina wines don't have the, um, complexity, shall we say, of a wine from the more traditional areas. But, particularly for people who really don't like white wines, the lightness of the wines can be nice. We found a lot of reds that were perfect summertime reds.

Plus we drove around the countryside and tasted a lot of wine!

When we got back, we stopped quickly by a Whole Foods, then went to hear the NC Symphony do a Pops concert, followed by fireworks. Yummy food, new wine, good music and fireworks. It just doesn't get much better than that!

Is it just me,

2009-06-29T15:20:00.004-04:00

Or does the Pedigree winner in the Sonoma-Marin Ugly Dog contest remind anyone else of Bill The Cat from Bloom County?

ACK!! GAG!!!

Seriously. I can't be the only one who sees the resemblence!

My furry little alarm clock

2009-06-29T13:14:00.002-04:00

I had a hard time getting up this morning. Not sure why, but I just didn't feel like getting out of bed.

Jack came and hopped up on the bed, which did not help -- furry, snuggly purring kitties just make be want to sleep longer.

In the midst of being snuggly and purring, he was also grooming me (both Boys love to groom me -- Jackie grooms my skin, but Dusty, for some reason, wants to groom my head, and I'm always afraid he's going to choke on my hair). Apparently, though, Jack can tell time, and was aware that I was NOT getting up when I should've. The grooming turned into nibbles (normal), then he 'bit' my finger. This is also normal -- it's not really a bite, he just puts his teeth on me, but gently.

But today he didn't let go. Even when I called his name. Even when I patted him on the head. Even when I tapped his nose. NONE of my little tricks worked!

Until, of course, I moved to get out of bed. Apparently that was all he was waiting for!

69 Bites and counting....

2009-06-27T14:56:00.002-04:00

So, Peter got back from Scout Camp today, absolutely eaten UP with bug bites. He had lots of bug spray, but apparently the mosquitoes there were determined, and pretty lethal. From his knees down, he's just one big bite, and assorted random other bites above the knees.

He seems to have had a good time; he did the First Year Camper program, which he recognizes the value of (they get a running start on the first three ranks), but said he would've preferred to just do Merit Badges. "They were more fun!" He apparently did get his Fingerprinting Merit Badge, though.

So, we're washing clothes, treating bug bites, and may be heading to the pool. Tomorrow it's acolyting at church, then off he goes to the beach!

Deaths of the Poster People

2009-06-26T09:36:00.003-04:00

When I was little (not sure how young, but certainly no older than Grace is now) I loved the Jackson 5. I mean LOVED!!! I suppose they and the Osmonds (who I also loved) were the Jo-Bros of their day; we all (and by we, I of course mean the pre-teen set) loved them, and, to some extent, we all had our favorites.

Michael was my fave. I had many posters of him, but my favorite (a large head shot, his chin on his hand, smiling into the camera, I'm sure many of you had the same poster) I hung on the ceiling over my bed, so I could pretend to kiss him goodnight. (yeah, there are some mildly sexual connotations there, but give me a break, I was 8 and innocent!).

My brother was a teenage boy in the seventies, so of COURSE he had The Poster of Farrah Fawcett, or Farrah Fawcett-Majors as she was called then.

Now, I'm sure that there were many things that those two shared beyond the posters hanging in my childhood house -- the trappings and trials of fame, for starters.

And, as of yesterday, a death date, which is just weird. I'm not sure why we're all so taken with that notion, other than it's just odd for two famous people to die on the same day, for unrelated reasons (sure, there are car wrecks, and plane crashes, etc, but those are different).

I have to admit, I'm mourning MJ a bit.

Yeah, I know, the man was, well, freakish. And quite frankly, whether there was actual molestation or not, he had relationships with young boys that were not appropriate.

But he was also a fantastic musician, and a consumate performer, and quite frankly, I'm reasonably convinced that his issues were not his fault. Kids need to be kids; they do not need to be turned into little adults (or little teenagers, for that matter), or pushed to grow up too fast.

All the Jacksons, but Michael in particular, had their musical career decided for them; not that they weren't talented, or didn't enjoy it. But let's be honest -- a 9 year old who's the lead-man for a band, getting lavished with attention from, oh, everybody, just is not healthy. I think that much of Jackson's oddities were (duh) an attempt to recapture a childhood he never had.

Which is just sad.

But, I have to admit, the allegations have always bugged me; I've had a hard time reconciling my enjoyment of his music with the other side. I LOVED Thriller, and have wanted to buy it on CD for awhile, but also couldn't quite bring myself to, in anyway, support this person with the utterly freakish lifestyle. Yeah, sure, it might not be his fault. But, DANG! And, yeah, the little-boy thing is just wrong.

So, I couldn't do it; no, my money would not make or break him, but I just couldn't do it.

Not while he was alive.

So, this morning I ordered myself Thriller (and Off the Wall, which I also loved!)

My latest favorite understatement

2009-06-25T14:06:00.002-04:00

I went to see The Connells last Friday (reliving my college days at The Cradle). I hadn't seen them in years, but it got my curiousity up, so I spent some of my sick time earlier this week googling them.

And found, in an article in Wikipedia, this classic understament comparing The Connells to REM:

"...Connell’s lyrics were clearer and more direct than the often-unintelligible, stream-of-consciousness lyrics of Michael Stipe."

Oh, come on. Often-unintelligible, stream-of-consciousness? You mean you people haven't memorized End of the World? You don't understand the deeper meaning behind, "Swan Swan Hummingbird, hurrah, we are all free now, what noisy cats are we, girl, and dog, he bore his cross"? You have no idea what Michael is saying in Radio Free Europe?

LOL! OK, raise your hands -- how many people consistenly sing "Blah, blah, blah" to at least ONE part of their favorite REM song? (Meg raises hand).

Incidentally, seeing The Connells made me realize that I really have a thing for bands with a strong, but moderately (sometimes highly) pretentious lyricist -- REM, The Connells, Coldplay, Oasis, Cranberries (they wrote a song about Yeats, for Heaven's sake!), Kate Bush (a song about Wuthering Heights!). Not sure what that say about me, but there it is.

Vote for Carrboro!!

2009-06-24T09:15:00.003-04:00

Or, at least for the Farmers' Market.

The Carrboro Farmers' Market is in the running for a $5000 award if enough people vote it as their favorite market.

If you've never been there, you should -- it's a great little market; the food is wonderful, the farmers are friendly, there's even a playground for the kiddies.

If you HAVE been there, then you know what I'm talking about.

So, go here and vote for Carrboro!

My girl has fashion sense!

2009-06-23T13:23:00.002-04:00

Or, perhaps a sense of propriety.

So, I'm home sick today, and we're watching a home-made Star Wars marathon. We're in the middle of Episode II, where Annikan buries his mother. Ani's step-sister-in-law, the future Aunt Beru, is there, wearing the standard Tatooine uniform of very neutral (ie sand) colored tunic and leggings.

And Grace says?

"White!?!?!?! Why is she wearing white??? It's a funeral!!!!!"

And, yes, I did tell her that in some cultures white IS a funereal color!

Holy Smokes

2009-06-19T11:52:00.002-04:00

My daughter has called me about 7 times this morning, on three different phones.

Yowza!

This is the way we wash our clothes...

2009-06-18T20:27:00.002-04:00

Peter is home, for 36 hours or so. He'll be with his Dad this weekend, then leaves around 10 am Sunday for Boy Scout camp.

So we're washing cloths.

Or, rather, I'm washing clothes.

Which, honestly, is not that difficult: run upstairs during a commercial, sort and throw first load in. Spin sheets in dryer. I'll run up in a bit during a commercial to take sheets out of dryer, put first load IN dryer and second load out.

But the bad thing is, I'm going to be doing the same thing NEXT Saturday. Peter will get home from Scout Camp about 2pm on Saturday, and will be home for a solid 24 hours this time, before leaving with his buddy Blake for the beach on Sunday.

Sheesh. I think it's time for Peter to learn to run the washer!

Summertime Treat

2009-06-18T15:22:00.002-04:00

I'm having one of my favorite summertime afternoon treats: an iced decaf skinny latte with a shot of sugar-free caramel syrup!

Which sounds like an old-lady drink, I know; could I get any more qualifiers in there? And, please, skinny? But the baristas MAKE me order it that way, honest.

And, regardless, it's yummy!

Yay for Peter

2009-06-18T15:19:00.001-04:00

Peter is at his basketball camp this week. Today was the last day; they had the final free-throw contest this morning, then the all-camp free-throw throwdown!

Peter did not do so hot in the free throw contest today, but he had won the contest earlier in the week, so he got to be in the finals, and he won!

He was very psyched, and had at least a third of the kids pulling for him -- all the kids from the Chapel Hill area!

According to the coaches, camp will send him "Something nice" as a prize!

Things that make me happy

2009-06-15T13:14:00.003-04:00

(A non-inclusive list, in no particular order)

Silly movies (Just saw Night at the Museum: The Battle of the Smithsonian)
I have my anklet back!
Graduations, of all levels
Kitties
Doggies
Ice Cream
Blueberries

Schooooool's OUT!

2009-06-12T13:33:00.002-04:00

For Summer!

Yep, they're all done. Report cards came home Wednesday (straight A's for Peter, a mix of 3's and 4's for Grace). They both got 4's on their EOGs (have I mentioned I HATE EOGs, but I love that my kids do well on them?).

And the rest of our lives? Well, here's what that's been like since 12:30 pm Wed:

They each had an end-of-the-year pool party to go to after school. I picked Peter up from his around 4:30 (it was at a pool -- it's MISERABLE being at a pool when you're dressed for work!), took him home, and got him to a baseball game. Grace and their Dad showed up in time for the after-game pizza party, and got to see Peter get his trophy and one of the game-balls.

Thursday they stayed with their Dad, then G had a swim meet (they won), so we weren't home till nearly nine -- eggs and fruit for dinner!

Today was running errands, getting things for camp, gettting me to the doctor (my toe is still all swollen), then on Sunday Peter goes to basketball camp. He'll be home about 6 days over the next 3 weeks! Grace will have swim team daily till the middle of July.

Oh, and I of course get to juggle all this with my WORK!

Who says summer is relaxing?????

And I didn't even get any Spidey Powers!

2009-06-11T10:25:00.002-04:00

I was at Peter's last baseball game for the season last night, and was amusing myself before the game (the boys need to be there 15-30 minutes before game time) talking to David on my cell phone.

When I talk on the phone, I pace. Not sure why, but I do; always have, and probably always will.

Luckily, at a baseball game, there's plenty of room to pace.

Unluckily, there were yellow jackets (or wasps, or some ungodly stinging insect) buzzing around the clover I was walking through.

One of them got caught between my toe and my sandal, so when I stepped down, I squooshed him. He didn't like being squooshed, so he stung me.

O M G.

I've not been stung much since I was a little kid -- one horsefly bite a few years ago, and a run-in with some fire ants when G was a baby. So, maybe it's just because I've forgotten what it feels like.

But OMG, that hurt SO BLANKETY-BLANKING BAD!!!!!

The last 15 seconds of my conversation with David went something like this:

"Ow! *&#@%!!! ow-ow-ow-ow (*&^ ^%&^%$ (*&)*&^&^% !!!! Ow-^%@#*^$!!!! I-just-got-stung-I-gotta-go OWWWW $%&^#&^%#&^#!!!!!"

I hobbled back to the bleachers, breathed deeply, avoided cursing in front of the kids, and pulled the stinger out. That helped some -- there was no longer the feeling of red-hot needles being driven into my toe with a barbed iron poker, just an excrutiating, throbbing, pain. I got some ice from a cooler, and put that on the sting, which also helped.

But it hurt. And throbbed. And by bedtime was red and swollen, so I took benedryl and ibuprofen. Still red and swollen, so I'm on benedryl and ibuprofen some more today (which is making me sleepy for some reason, which is unusual).

The redness goes down with benedryl, and it's not so bad that I can't walk. But DANG, that hurt! It really hurt! Very much!

And I didn't even get any super-powers out of it...

My new favorite term

2009-06-10T14:07:00.002-04:00

Kate (Kayt) -noun, slang: A controlling, OCD, selfish...Um, well, not a nice person. After Kate Gosselin, reality TV star and over-all not-nice person.

Usage: OMG, she is SUCH a Kate!

My Boy!

2009-06-08T21:57:00.005-04:00

Today was Peter's fifth-grade "graduation". It was a nice ceremony; there was lots of involvement by the students in either introducing speakers, emceeing, performing, and speaking.

Each of the three third grade classes had a speaker; all the kids wrote essays on what FPG (the school) meant to them; the teachers then selected finalists, and the kids in each class voted on which essay they wanted to represent their class.

Peter was chosen from his class (Mom beams with pride!). I'll post a video of him reading his essay once I swipe it from his Dad's website, but for now, here's the text:

Hi. My name is Peter Cohen, and I have been at FPG since Kindergarten. I have loved every single minute that I’ve been here. Throughout my years here, I have learned many things, such as:

Don’t touch your teacher’s lava lamp at nap time! That happened when I was in Ms. Story and Ms. Potter’s kindergarten class. We had nap time every day, and on that day I decided to lay down next to Ms. Potter’s desk. I had been fascinated by that lava lamp since the first day of school, so when she got up, I stuck my hand up, and touched it. Big mistake. It had been on for a few hours, so it was very hot. No one ever found out, but I have always regretted it.

Another thing that I’ve learned is that when you make a discovery, and want to tell people about it, don’t. Trust me, because the same thing happened to me when I was in Ms. Del Gaizo and Ms. Farrington’s second grade class. I was outside taking my weekly spelling test, and I noticed a large green caterpillar inching towards me. I told Ms. Del Gaizo, and since we were done with the test, we had to go inside and read quietly. Well, yours truly started talking about how he had made a great discovery, and how he was going to be rich and famous. Well, I did make a discovery that day, but it wasn’t the caterpillar. It was that teacher’s have ears like a hawk. Ms. Farrington heard, and I got silent lunch for the first time ever.

The last thing I will tell you about is this:

Teachers love it when you are a good student. They don’t love it when you hate their favorite sports team. That happened to me this year in Ms. Rigor and Ms. Gray-Ford’s fifth grade class. I’m a pretty good student, but my teacher, Ms. Rigor is a die-hard San Francisco Giants fan, and I’m a big Boston Red Sox fan. There has been a lot of arguing, mostly about Barry Bonds and the upcoming World Series. So, she loves me, and she hates the shirts I wear.

These are some memories I have from FPG, and I hope I never forget
them.

That's my boy! (Mom beams some more)

OK, done now.....

2009-06-08T09:37:00.002-04:00

So, I had a lovely dinner planned last night. I was over at David's and for some reason got a wild hair and felt like cooking.

The plan was to have steak, fingerling potatoes, spinach, with a roasted beet and goat cheese salad, and homemade ice cream for dessert. Yum, right?

Well, yeah, if it had worked out.

First, I burned the walnuts that I was toasting for the salad. No one felt like going back to the store (I broke the cardinal rule of toasting nuts, and bought the exact amount I needed without any extra for mistakes!), so I improvised and made croutons. Then Tucker (dog) ATE MY BEETS. My lovely, roasted, diced beets! ALL OF THEM!

Suddenly, my lovely roasted beet and goat-cheese salad with toasted walnuts became...mixed greens with goat cheese and croutons. NOT what I was planning, but the steak was good, the potatoes were good, the spinach was tasty, so that part was fine. But I was really looking forward to the ice cream.

The ice cream that, at 10 pm, was still not firm.

Hmph.

So, went to sleep, woke up today, and had the (pardon the TMI) mother of all temperature irregularities while trying to get dressed. Holy Smokes, I could NOT get cool. A sweaty head makes it hard to dry one's hair, and a sweaty body makes it hard to get dressed.

And, of course, hurrying only makes it worse.

Eventually, I made it out the door, got in my car, and cranked the air. And of course was immediately FREEZING. Not that I like the furnace-like properties of my body at the moment, but it's merely adding insult to injury to make me go from inferno to ice-box in, oh, maybe 5 minutes. For one thing, it means that everyone around me going, "you know, it's really NOT that hot" is right, but when MY core temp is, oh, 9.5 million degrees, that's not a heck of a lot of comfort.

So, I made it to work (late, because I hurrying only made me sweat more). I didn't have my badge, I walked into an issue that was keeping users from doing their work, I can't get to my favorite music site to listen to the radio, my swim team stroke and turn judges got yelled at (unwarrented) over the weekend and are upset, and people are talking Ayn Randian politics outside my door.

ARGH!!!!!

It had to happen

2009-06-05T12:38:00.001-04:00

Well, it finally happened.

After walking across my kitchen curtain rods for months, Dusty finally pulled them apart, and fell down!

No harm done, either to him or the curtains!

My Girl is playing the Cradle!

2009-06-03T19:54:00.002-04:00

Grace is signed up for a Rock Camp this summer.

Rock as in Rock-n-Roll, not geology, which is what her grandfather thought!

She goes to camp for a week (days only -- Mom is not ready for sleepaway yet, even if Grace is), then they play two shows -- one the Friday that camp ends, at a place in Pittsboro.

And one at Cat's Cradle, in Carrboro.

Cat's Cradle.

Cat's-stinkin'-Cradle! How cool is that?!?!?!

For those of you who don't know, Cat's Cradle is an indie music institution, at least in the south-east. It's been around in various Chapel Hill-Carrboro locations since forever, nearly (or at least 30+ years). It's provided a place for up-and-coming musicians to play, some of whom have even become famous!

It's also where I spent a LOT of time in college. Lots. Lots and Lots.

The Cradle is a bar, yes, but it was never part of the bar scene per se. It was one of the first bars to let underage kids in, so that they could see the bands (and oh, boy, you did NOT want to risk drinking with a fake there -- you'd get banned for life, and they meant it, and then where would you go to watch bands?). It went smoke-free several years ago, out of concern for both the employees and the bands who pass through.

The Cradle has a mystique. It has an aura. It has a presence.

And Grace is going to play there!

HOW COOL IS THAT???

Impulsive me!

2009-06-02T19:46:00.001-04:00

Some people impulse shop.

I impulse blood-let.

Well, sort of.

So, I saw on the news today that UNC was trying to set a record for the greatest number of pints donated at a single blood drive. UNC used to hold this record, but lost it a year or so ago.

I thought at the time, "Hey, that's cool. I should donate."

Now I have donated before.

About twenty-five years ago... :-(. So I really should donate.

But, of course, I got busy and promptly forgot about donating. Until, that is, I was driving home, and saw the signs.

So, whoosh, I promptly (but, of course safely) exited the bypass, and drove myself to the donation center; the Smith Center.

Now, as a true Carolina fan, I have shed my share of sweat and tears in that building. And now I've shed blood, too!

Mmmm, Betsy Bread

2009-05-29T08:04:00.002-04:00

My Dad's friend Betsy makes a sourdough bread. It's fine as bread, but we all agree that it's real forte is as toast.

Dad came over last night bearing two loaves of Betsy bread, and I got one! So today's breakfast is Betsy Bread Toast, fresh fruit and coffee.

Yum!

Peter, you're a whale.

2009-05-17T12:35:00.004-04:00

And Grace, you're evil.

No, I'm not angry at my children! And, no, I haven't become a nasty vindictive mother who hurls insults at her kids in a vain attampt to boost her own ego and deny her own insecurities.

Nope, it's just church choir musical time.

This year's musical was "Oh, Jonah"; it's (duh) the story of Jonah and the Whale. Peter was the whale; he mainly had to do a boogie-swimmy-ish sort of dance, and did sing a bit (solo, he sang a lot in the choir). Peter memorizes well, and enjoys choir, but he is not, generally speaking, a child that covets the spotlight, so it was interesting to see him! He did quite well, though, and got some laughs.

Grace had a speaking line at the beginning of the musical, but really came into her own when the choir became evil Ninevites -- let's just say my girl tapped into her inner bad-guy. She looked EVIL. E-V-I-L Evil. Good stuff.

It was a fun morning -- we went for brunch at the Waffle Shoppe after!

ACK! GAG!!

2009-05-13T09:29:00.000-04:00

Or, gross things in the morning.

So I got up this morning, and in my bleary way headed to the bathroom to take a shower. Washed my face, put in my contacts, peed...

and felt something tickling the back of my throat. It felt like a hair, but I couldn't get it to move.

So I hacked. And coughed. And hacked some more, and periodically would move it enough that it would REALLY tickle the back of my throat and I'd gag, and then hack some more, and basically did a really good Bill the Cat impersonation for about 2 minutes.

Until, finally, I was able to pull out a hair (yes, it was grey. Hush).

And then I realized, it was like my own little human hairball! Except, of course, I don't groom myself with my tongue, and, yeah, just one hair, not a matted phlegm covered mass of them.

But I'm a little more sympathetic to The Boys now!

In case you wondered

2009-05-11T21:46:00.001-04:00

My son ROCKS at the sports trivia quizes on Facebook.

80's music, though, not so much.

And when it comes to NASCAR math the three words that describe us are as follows, and I quote:

"STINK. STANK. STUNK!"

Woah, TWENTY YEARS??????

2009-05-08T13:34:00.003-04:00

So, I was driving down Franklin Street last night, taking my kids to choir, and I passed a guy, roughly my age, standing on the corner talking to a few other people. He looked vaguely familiar, but couldn't quite place him.

He was wearing a sport coat, which is a little odd -- the dress code on Franklin Street, particularly on a warm spring evening, tends to lean towards the casual. But, whatever.

I finally decided he was someone I'd been to college with, and vaguely wondered why he was there, but didn't really think about it.

Today, Kathy and Dad went to a program put on by UNC called the Living Legends lunch; at Carolina you become a Living Legend on your 50th college reunion. The Living Legends lunch is held each year on graduation/reunion weekend (yes, Carolina, for some bizarre reason, thinks its a good idea to bring even MORE people into Chapel Hill this weekend!).

And, yes, this is graduation/reunion weekend.

Graduation/REUNION weekend. In 2009. When my preferred year (don't ask) is 1989.

Holy Smokes, this is my 20th college reunion! Course, I'm missing it, but still.

TWENTY YEARS! Damn. Now I feel old....

I'm BA-ACK!!!!

2009-05-08T13:22:00.003-04:00

So, a whole month (essentially) since I've blogged.

Why, you ask? Well, OK, so you didn't (well, Trina did, and David commented), but I'll tell you anyway!

A lot of reasons, really. Partially just crazy busy life, which was cutting down on time in front of a computer when I didn't need to be doing other things.

Partially a lot of stress in my life lately, which affects my mood. And while blogging can be good for one's soul, to a point, I have a hard time blogging when I'm upset. When I'm very upset, I tend to dwell on things, perhaps even obsess (resounding chorus of, "Nah, ya THINK?!?!" from the peanut gallery). And, quite frankly, I tend to NOT blog, because I don't want to blog about the things that are upsetting me.

But I am in a much better mood of late, which is, in and of itself, a little disturbing. While yes, there's been much in my life lately causing me stress and angst, I was noticing that I was not reacting to it as I felt I should. It wasn't that I was having inappropriate reactions (i.e. no tears when Grace brought home a great report card), but it was as if my reactions were a bit extreme. Or, a better analogy: if I'd been a thermostat, a .05 degree difference in temperature would cause me to kick in and try to heat the world. And, yes, that in and of itself was very disturbing, and scary.

And then I read an article that said that in some people, for some reason, statins can affect moods. And I've been on Lipitor since November.

So, I went to my doctor. I told her all the things going on in my life. I told her what I was doing, behaviorially, to deal with them. We talked about the anecdotal evidence that Lipitor can affect mood (cause it is mainly anecdotal), and we talked about the very, very small body of empirical evidence showing similar correlations (and, yes, I know that correlation is NOT the same as causation).

And, in the end, we decided it couldn't hurt to do a little experiment, and take me off Lipitor for a bit, just to see what'll happen.

And my mood has improved. Now, granted, I'm also still working on the stressors in my life, so it may not be the lack o' Lipitor.

But part of me doesn't care -- it doesn't really matter WHY I feel better, but I do.

So, I'm back, baby!

It's almost worth turning old!

2009-04-09T09:04:00.003-04:00

So, I'm 42 today. As Kathy says, that's nearly old as dirt. We decided I was old as topsoil, if not actual dirt.

And, yes, I do have mixed feelings about turning older. On the one hand, it sure as heck beats the alternative. But, periodically I stop and think, "Dang, am I REALLY 42! That sounds OLD!!!!"

But, there are benefits to birthdays. Besides getting attention and phone calls and cards and whatnot, periodically one gets something that just makes them laugh.

Like this:

Now I love Ramses. He's a great mascot. But, I think we all have to admit, that the real Ramses does not exactly strike fear into opponents hearts. Perhaps it's the blue horns, perhaps it's because he spends football games nibbling on bushes. Dunno. But if you want fearsome, go for the student in the Ramses suit, not the real Ramses.

PARTICULARLY when the real Ramses has a birthday hat on his head! I'm not sure why this tickles me so much; I think it's probably because Ramses has the same expression that he has when he's nibbling the bushes, or riding on a float in a parade, or, well, ANYTIME I've ever seen him!

One could, I suppose, call it placid. Lobotomized is certainly another word. Whatever, the picture made me laugh, and that's a good thing!

Lawful? Really, me???

2009-04-08T15:01:00.002-04:00

LOL! DUH!

I found a site with a (very long) survey; if you complete it, the nice webpage will tell you what D&D character you are.

So, of course, I took it!

I Am A: Lawful Neutral Elf Cleric (5th Level)

Ability Scores:

Strength-12

Dexterity-13

Constitution-12

Intelligence-16

Wisdom-15

Charisma-12

Alignment:
Lawful Neutral A lawful neutral character acts as law, tradition, or a personal code directs him. Order and organization are paramount to him. He may believe in personal order and live by a code or standard, or he may believe in order for all and favor a strong, organized government. Lawful neutral is the best alignment you can be because it means you are reliable and honorable without being a zealot. However, lawful neutral can be a dangerous alignment because it seeks to eliminate all freedom, choice, and diversity in society.

Race:
Elves are known for their poetry, song, and magical arts, but when danger threatens they show great skill with weapons and strategy. Elves can live to be over 700 years old and, by human standards, are slow to make friends and enemies, and even slower to forget them. Elves are slim and stand 4.5 to 5.5 feet tall. They have no facial or body hair, prefer comfortable clothes, and possess unearthly grace. Many others races find them hauntingly beautiful.

Class:
Clerics act as intermediaries between the earthly and the divine (or infernal) worlds. A good cleric helps those in need, while an evil cleric seeks to spread his patron's vision of evil across the world. All clerics can heal wounds and bring people back from the brink of death, and powerful clerics can even raise the dead. Likewise, all clerics have authority over undead creatures, and they can turn away or even destroy these creatures. Clerics are trained in the use of simple weapons, and can use all forms of armor and shields without penalty, since armor does not interfere with the casting of divine spells. In addition to his normal complement of spells, every cleric chooses to focus on two of his deity's domains. These domains grants the cleric special powers, and give him access to spells that he might otherwise never learn. A cleric's Wisdom score should be high, since this determines the maximum spell level that he can cast.

Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)

Yeah, pretty much sounds like me... :-)

Kinda sad

2009-04-07T21:12:00.002-04:00

I went to the Hurricanes game tonight. It was pretty much a blowout; they were playing the Islanders, who are not particularly good this year.

At one point in the 3rd period, we realized that the 'Canes had SIGNIFICANTLY more shots on goal than the Islanders:

The truly scary thing is at this point the score was 8-0, 'Canes. So they not only had more shots on goal, they had as many GOALS as the Islanders had shots on goal.

Fun game!

Why, yes, thanks, we ARE that superstitious...

2009-04-07T00:29:00.000-04:00

My son left for Florida this morning (OK, technically yesterday, since it's after midnight). He packed a bathing suit, some shorts, his sandals...

... And a dark green shirt of mine to sit on during the game tonight (by sitting on the color of the opposing team while wearing UNC gear, he is symbolically dominating them).

I got home from work today (yeah, yeah, yesterday), and was going to grill my dinner, but first needed to change into the T-shirt I'd worn on the second game of each tournament weekend (i.e. not first round, but second. Not Sweet Sixteen, but regional Championships. Not semifinals, but, you BET tonight). It was cold, though, so I nearly grabbed a long-sleeved white shirt to wear underneath...

...But then I remembered the last time I wore that combination was a certain football Game-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named (but it was played December 27th of 2008).

I started to grab my sneakers, because I still needed to walk the dog, and I wanted to take him on a long-ish walk...but I've worn my Keens with this T-shirt, so on they went!

Now, some people who are reading this will probably think I'm exagerating, or kidding. But the sports fans who are reading it, and certainly the Carolina fans, are nodding their heads knowingly. We are a community of superstitious fanatics. To paraphrase Woody, we go where we go and we do what we do; our rational minds are kinda sure that if we didn't, our team, our boys, would still win.

But the visceral, emotional core that makes us bleed Carolina Blue, that part will have none of it.

We eat the same foods, sit in the same positions, wear the same clothes.

And tonight, Oh! did it work!

Luckily, I apparently do not need to carry my traditions over from one championship game to another -- I can start with a clean slate each season and even from the regular season to the ACC tourney and the NCAAs (though, I'd been saving a pair of Carolina Blue underwear to wear for the ACC champs; I've not worn it since, and CERTAINLY not during a game). I've watche the 4 champinship games in my lifetime in 4 very different places, with very different people around me.

But you can bet, when they make it back again, no matter where I'm watching or who I'm with, I will be wearing and doing whatever got us (er, them) to that point.

(And, yes, I am superstitious enough that I waited to write and post this AFTER the game!)

GO HEELS!!!!

Oh, Clark...

2009-04-06T21:38:00.001-04:00

Clark Kellogg is just an idiot. Here's a quote:

"They are the epitome of the spurtability team."

Clark. Seriously. Spurtability????

Poor Tucker

2009-04-06T21:29:00.001-04:00

Tucker does NOT like it when I yell at the TV. It worries him, and he tries to climb in my lap.

My One Plate Wonder

2009-04-06T18:35:00.003-04:00

OK, really two. But one of them doesn't count.

My kids are on Spring Break this week, in Florida with their Dad visiting their Grandparents. David's kids are also on Spring Break, with their Mom. David is in DC.

I was all alone for dinner.

So, I did what any self-respecting foodie does! Turned it into a challenge! OK, any self-respecting lazy foodie.

My challenge to myself was to cook myself a really nice, tasty dinner, without breaking my budget...and without dirtying my entire kitchen.

Enter the grill.

Now, grilling is not my thing. Perhaps it's the lack of a Y chromosome, perhaps it's because I had a person WITH a Y chromosome around for so long. Not sure, doesn't really matter. I am grill-challenged.

My main problem is the grill is VERY unforgiving. Turn the flame (yeah, I have a gas grill, sorry) up to high, food burns. Leave it on too long, food burns. Put it on the wrong rack, food burns.

My poor kids ate more charred dinners the past two summers as I was trying to refine my grilling skills.

Tonight, however, I got it. I went to my local Harris Teeter, and bought a zuccini, an ear of corn, and a couple of steaks (they only came in packages of two or more). Went home, lit the grill, gave Tucker a potty break, came back and got the corn on the grill, then rubbed the steaks. I let them sit for a bit while I took the trash out and prepped the zuccini, then they went on.

And here's the trick (for me, at least). SET THE FLIPPIN' TIMER!!!!!!

Yep, I need a timer to remind me to go flip/turn/look at/otherwise manipulate the food on my grill or I'll char it beyond all recognition. But I've learned this, now, and accept it about myself.

So, yeah, timer went off, steaks got flipped, zukes got put on, and timer got reset. A few minutes later, and dinner was done:

YUM

Total dirty dishes? Two plates (one to eat off of, one to bring the things in from the grill), two knives, a fork, and a wine glass.

Total cost? $6.68 (but, to be honest, I already had the wine.)

Yeah, Baby!!!!

Dinner with Tucker

2009-04-05T19:47:00.002-04:00

We were all tired and lazy tonight. We'd had a reasonably busy day (Waffle Shop, Church, Lunch, errands, haircuts...), so at dinner time we were still washing clothes so that the kids could pack (they're going to Florida for Spring Break with their Dad)

I'm also keeping Tucker again because David is travelling the first part of this week. Tucker does not typically beg, but he DOES love people food. Especially chips. So, dinners in the living room are hard on him.

Tonight we had Armadillo Grill, and did eat in the living room. Poor Tuckie wanted a chip SO bad!

PLEASE can I have a chip???? PLEASE

Where's Buddy?

2009-04-05T13:32:00.002-04:00

When we got home from Church...

I don't know why

2009-04-01T13:15:00.001-04:00

But for some reason I have Bananarama's Cruel Summer going through my head.

What an odd lunch

2009-03-30T12:22:00.002-04:00

Here's what I'm having for lunch today:

A small mixed greens salad with broccoli, cauliflour, celery, radishes and carrots
a small scoop of pasta salad
a small scoop of chicken salad
a small scoop of egg salad

Not sure WHY those were the things on Harris Teeter's salad bar that appealed to me, but they were!

Dang, I'm old.

2009-03-27T11:11:00.002-04:00

So, I'm less than two weeks out from my 42nd birthday (milestone birthday for me, of sorts), which is making me feel...well, odd, I guess is the best way to sum it up.

My daughter, my BABY, is officially eight and a half today. Wow.

And I just bought my first pair of reading glasses.

I'm still not entirely sure I need them, and perhaps more importantly I'm not entirely sure I like them. But, I noticed I was squinting a lot as I tried to work at my computer, and I've gotten to the point where I can't read in bed with my glasses on, so I figured I'd give 'em a shot.

Not sure if they're helping or not -- I think they are, but I need to get used to them. And I HATE that I can't just turn and look out my window. Well, I suppose I can, but I can't see anything unless I take the wretched reading glasses off!!!!

Sigh. This is NOT going to be a fun year.

Dusty the Water Cat

2009-03-26T21:56:00.001-04:00

Jack and Dusty love water, but only, apparently, running water.

They always have a bowl of water, and typically ignore it. But let me make a move towards a bathroom, and they're right there, on the sink, mewing for me to turn on the faucet.

Apparently Dusty loves this so much, he now associates the sink with all things good, because he's taken to curling up in it:

Dusty's new happy place

Where's Buddy

2009-03-26T16:50:00.001-04:00

On the stairs

Crazy Afternoon

2009-03-25T18:35:00.002-04:00

Today my group at work had our annual Christmas Lunch. Yeah, Christmas -- we've discovered that having a group lunch during December is nearly impossible; in early December everyone is busy trying to get work finished, and then people are frequently gone for the holidays.

Anyway, I got out of lunch, and discoverd many missed calls, voice mails, etc. from Jeff (PF Changs is apparently loud). Turns out Grace had fallen off a piece of playground equipment at school, and fell about 5 feet, hitting her neck and back on the way down. She was complaining of a pain in her neck (and it WASN'T her brother), so the school tried to call me, couldn't (stinkin' Christmas lunch), called her Dad, and called the paramedics.

Jeff got there a little before the paramedics, which was good. They (paramedics) decided to put a brace on her neck and put her on a back board, then take her to the ER.

At the ER they examined her, then took her back for x-rays (at which point I showed up).

Luckily, all was well; nothing broken, and with an afternoon of rest (cause, yeah, nothing moves fast in the ER, so we were there for over three hours), the pain subsided as well.

She's now on th chaise, plaing NBA 09 with her brother, is alert, not in pain, and her normal, exuberant Grace self.

But I'd really rather not go through that again!

You know what hurts?

2009-03-23T10:28:00.001-04:00

When you brush your teeth, then forget (or don't realize) that you've still got a bit of toothpaste foam on your finger, and go to scratch your eyes. Toothpaste in the eye is NOT a thing I'd reccommend.

But, on the positive side: my contacts are now minty fresh!

Easter Research

2009-03-17T16:12:00.002-04:00

One of my favorite sites, ever, just for the sheer silliness of it, is the Peeps research site. If you've ever wanted to know how these tasty little globs of sugar react to extreme heat, cold, etc. this is the site for you.

And, I can now conclusively state, that, when experiencing a stressful afternoon, two Dove Milk Chocolate Almond eggs provide significantly more mellow-feeling-ness than two Cadbury Mini Creme Eggs.

For a nasty, grey, rainy weekend, that was GREAT!

2009-03-16T09:18:00.002-04:00

You know you really needed a getaway when you get away to a place that's cold (highs in the 30's and 40's) and rainy, but come home saying, "Man, that was a GREAT weekend!"

But, yeah, it was a great weekend.

David and I went up to the Boone area; we really didn't do much, other than cook, eat, drink good wine, sit in the hot tub, watch basketball (which, honestly wasn't that great). Nothing major. We drove around some and looked at art/antiques, but didn't buy anything. Wasn't warm or dry enough to hike.

So, yeah, mainly just hung out, rested, played Scrabble.

But now I want to go back!

Pretty Cake

2009-03-15T20:28:00.004-04:00

I was out of town this weekend; a GREAT weekend in the mountains. As with all vacations, there was a little bit of sadness when I got home; I never want vacations to end!

But there, on my kitchen table (under a bowl so The Boys wouldn't eat it) was this:

What a pretty cake!

It's a flower cake that Grace made me at the birthday party she went to on Saturday!

Tourney Time

2009-03-12T15:59:00.001-04:00

Actual conversation today:

Me: What is up with Georgia Tech beating Clemson? They've done NOTHING all year!?!?!?!

Peter: It's the tournament!

I love my boy!

I feel so .... FUNKY!

2009-03-12T12:14:00.001-04:00

So, I broke down and spent some more Microsoft points on new Rockband songs today. One of the songpacks I got was a Lenny Kravitz songpack. I LOVE Lenny Kravitz!

So, I was goofing around, playing my new songs, and played "Are you Gonna Go My Way?'

And I felt FUNKY, baby!

Gotta love it -- a 41-year-old, mother-of-two white girl channelling Lenny Kravitz in all his funkyness.

THAT'S a video game!

That took longer than it should've

2009-03-10T09:28:00.002-04:00

My darling son is a big fat sleepy-head. And a night owl, to boot.

So, regardless of what time I insist he be in his jammies and in his room, he will frequently stay up till all hours of the night. I learned when he was about 2 that it's really hard to make someone sleep, at least without lots of tears and threats, so I figure there's not much to do other than insist on bedtime, even if he doesn't sleep, and insist on getting-up-time.

But it's a challenge.

He has an alarm clock, and it goes off every morning. On a buzzer, even.

He sleeps through it.

He slept through it for an hour one morning when I was feeling particularly passive aggressive!

He will wake up when I call him, but to be honest, he needs to learn to get himself up.

So, last night we tried something different. His clock actually has two alarm settings; he put one on for 6:00 (he also has his mother's tendency to like to get up gradually), and set it to 99.9 The Fan, the local all-sports, all-talk station. Then he set the other one to go off at 6:30, with a buzzer.

Worked a charm, as my English grand-boss would say! He was out of bed and in the shower at 6:33!

But you'd think that the sports angle would've ocurred to us before now!

Even when they're not bothering me, they wake me up!

2009-03-09T13:07:00.003-04:00

The Boys, that is.

There were tons of people in my house last night; David and his kids came over, plus my Dad and Kathy came to watch the Duke game (WOOT!) and have dinner. Plus me and mine, for a grand total of, like, 9 people in my house. Minor chaos.

But, eventually they all left. The kids and I were up for a little bit longer, but not much, then we headed upstairs to bed. I'd done tons of yard work this weekend, so I was very tired, and went to sleep quickly.

And woke up at midnight to the BBC blaring; apparently in all the DST clock changing I managed to set the clock in my bathroom to go off at midnight! So, I got up, peed, got some water, and went back to sleep, but I noticed that neither cat was in my room (a rarity). Dusty was out on the landing, but Jack was nowhere in sight.

I woke up again a little before 3; not sure why, but this time Dusty was on my bed. No Jack, though, which was odd.

And then it ocurred to me that I hadn't really seen him at all since everyone left!

Now, I knew he hadn't gotten out when David left, and he was the last to head out. But, I'd had various doors and windows open during the day (BEAUTIFUL weather this weekend), and The Boys have been known to push screens out in order to escape.

So I got worried, and started looking around for Jack. No screens missing in my room or bathroom. No cat (or missing screens) in the playroom. I was heading for the kids rooms, turning on lights as I went, when I saw him, inside, sitting by the front door. Nothing wrong, happy as a little clam. Not pouncing, grooming, crying, or any of the other things he ordinarily does to wake me. Just sitting.

Yes, I know this one was my own fault. But, DANG, it's bad when your pets disrupt your sleep by BEHAVING!

Peter the Carnivore

2009-03-06T11:01:00.003-05:00

Last night was Prime Rib night at The Carolina Club, so Kathy invited the kids and I to go after their choir rehearsal. It's a yummy dinner: a HUGE slice of prime rib, mashed potatoes, and a vegetable medley, plus either soup or salad and a glass of wine.

My kids LOVE prime rib, so rather than ordering off the kids menu, they ordered that (sans wine, of course).

So, our dinners came, and I will repeat, these were HUGE slices. Easily 3/4 of a pound, maybe more, an inch thick and bigger than half the dinner plate. Huge.

Grace ate a fair amount for an 8 year old; probably about 1/4 of the entire hunk. Kathy and I each ate about half ours, give or take.

Peter ate the entire thing.

THE. ENTIRE. THING.

Now, granted, he did not eat his veggies or potatoes (did eat his salad, though). Ang, he apparently did not eat much of his lunch -- he's been fighting a cold, so his taste buds are off, and what appealed to him in the morning while he was making his lunch just didn't do it at lunchtime.

But still.

He ate THE ENTIRE THING!

Oh, and he took a primerib sandwich for lunch today, made from my leftovers! Cause, yeah, a POUND of prime rib just isn't enough...

That's my boy -- carnivore extrordinaire!

Where's Lassie when you need her?

2009-03-05T08:31:00.004-05:00

There are so many nice, sweet, normal animals out there in the world.

And then there are the ones in my life.

So, I've got Jack, who's a needy boy, and who also likes to groom me. Including nibbling on me. At 4 in the morning, typically. Very odd, but it makes him SO happy.

There's Dusty, who likes to walk across my curtain rods!!!!

And then there's Tucker. Tucker, like Jack, is a needy boy, so he gets clingy when he comes to visit me. He also periodically gets TERRIFIED of hardwood floors, so sits at the edge of the carpet and whimpers.

And, apparently, sleeps in odd places:

Tucker's new "bed"

Now, Tucker has a perfectly good bed. Soft, fluffy, and even has raised edges so he will feel all snuggly.

He also has a pad in his crate -- again, nice and soft, and he's been known to crash there when he wants a nap.

But apparently, they were NOT what he wanted this morning!

Your beer, Mr. President

2009-03-03T19:21:00.002-05:00

I was in Cary tonight, and went to Tyler's Taproom, one of the Triangle's best places for beer. They have an excellent beer list; tons of interesting microbrews, frequently on draft.

My first choice was a Big Boss (local brewery) beer, but they were out. So, I went with the Ale 2009 from Ommegang Brewery in NY -- one of my favorite breweries, in general, and this beer sounded tasty.

Plus, it was brewed in celebration of Barak Obama's innauguration, and It's working name was Obamagang!

And, yes, for the record, it WAS tasty!

So, Mr. President, your beer:

Oooh Pretty...

2009-03-02T08:13:00.001-05:00

Well, the weather guys were right again; the Triangle got about 3 inches of snow last night (they were predicting 2-4 inches). Schools are closed, and it's very pretty, but luckily the roads are actually getting pretty clear. Wet, but clear.

Here's a picture:

The snow out Grace's window

He's Done!!!

2009-02-28T19:37:00.003-05:00

Peter is now officially a Boy Scout; his Cub Scout Pack had their Blue and Gold banquet tonight, and he and two other boys crossed over to their respective Boy Scout Troops.

Peter chose Troop 39, which is also the troop at our church; he looked at a couple of others, but had friends in 39, and just really liked them.

Troop 39 was originally chartered through UNC, and so has strong ties there, hence the blue and white neckerchief. The Scoutmaster made a big deal about telling the boys that the neckerchiefs were only being loaned to them; they have to give them back when they leave the troop...unless they leave with the rank of Eagle!

Peter and his loaner neckerchief

Whoo hooo!

2009-02-26T13:48:00.003-05:00

When I had my physical last fall, my cholesterol was high.

Way high.

Now, I've struggled with cholesterol basically my entire adult live, as far as I can tell. I was first told I needed to watch it in 1992, when I was 25. It wasn't that high then (200), but given my age, it was worrisome. I've never been a fan of using drugs to manage a condition that can be managed by behavior, so for the past 17 year or so I've been trying to reduce my cholesterol via diet and exercise.

Now, granted, I'm no Twiggy. Never have been, never will be. I actually way less now than I have in awhile, but I know I should still drop some more weight.

And my exercise habits in the last, oh, 5 years or so (basically since my kids started getting involved in activities!) have waned.

But I've worked at it. I don't eat a ton of junk food or fast food. I try to avoid highly processed foods. I loves my veggies and fruit. I even eat oatmeal pretty much EVERY DAY for breakfast! Dang!

But last fall, I hit an all time high of 300 for a total cholesterol score, and my doc (who is a wonderful person, frequently laughs with me, occasionally at me, but always takes me seriously), very gently but firmly, told me it was time to give up the fight and accept some help.

So, I went on Lipitor back around Thanksgiving. I was not happy -- I wanted BADLY to be able to fix this myself; between my doc and David, though, they convinced me that there are some folks who simply process cholesterol differently, and need drugs. So, I swallowed my pride and my pills.

Well, I went in at the beginning of the week for my 3 month blood check.

My total cholesterol has dropped 120 points. One hundred TWENTY! Screw Cheerios and their measly little "I dropped my cholesterol 10%". That's 40% Four-Zero, baby!!!

I'm a little excited.

Now, for the record: This has not changed my opinion of the proper role of pharmaceuticals. I'm glad that I tried (and tried and tried) to reduce my cholesterol on my own first. But I'm glad that there are options out there for those of us for whom that just isn't working.

Where's Buddy, Feb 25th, 3pm

2009-02-25T16:30:00.002-05:00

In the kitchen, when Peter got home
Not sure if Buddy was trying to eat the cats food, or if the cats were trying to eat Buddy

Can Pan-Galactic Gargle Blasters be far behind?

2009-02-25T09:37:00.002-05:00

Not sure how I haven't made this connection yet, but I suddenly, through the mind of Randell Munroe, have realized the wonderful implications of the Kindle:

How cool is this! I never even THOUGHT of this before, but I may need to suck it up and buy a kindle, just so I can run around throwing obscure Hitchhikers' references into my conversation (I'll keep it in a satchel, under a copy of Godspell and my towel....)

Where's Buddy, Feb. 25 6:45 am

2009-02-25T06:48:00.003-05:00

Outside my bedroom door
(At least it wasn't a mouse)

Just an ironic Monday

2009-02-23T10:04:00.004-05:00

(sung, of course, to the tune of Manic Monday, which was not ironic but DUMB since the singer was so NOT manic).

Anyway.

Monday's child is, apparently, full of irony, and it's ekeing out today. Witness:

IRONY NUMBER 1:
I had my regular cholesterol check today; my physician decided last fall that I'd fought the good fight, but that diet and exercise were just not working for me, and put me on Lipitor (ticked me off, incidentally, but that's another post and I've moved on, thanks!). Today I had to go back to see if said Lipitor is working nicely.

For cholesterol, they need a fasting sample, so no food for me after 9pm last night. My appointment was 9 am, I have a hard time remembering not to eat before these things (says so much, doesn't it!), so decided not to bring my breakfast with me to work, just to be safe.

Which, of coures, meant that at 9:15 when I was done with my I was HUNGRY. And most take-out breakfasts involve some combination of eggs, cheese, and your favorite breakfast-meat...all cholesterol producing! I supposed I could've gone with a muffin, but please, is an oversized, highly processed muffin any better?

IRONY NUMBER 2:
I saw a reference today to the simplified version of Wikipedia, a version of wikipedia with simplified language so that children or those learning English can more easily understand things. I love real-wikipedia, so went to it to check it out. One of the sections is a simplified version of Wikiquote, which I thought initially was ironic, till I read the blurb; the quotes themselves have not been changed, but the explanations following them have.

OK.

But then they had this quote, from Albert Einstein: "Things should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." And the explanation? "Do not make things too easy to understand, or you might change what it means."

Um, yeah. That's ironic!

Where's Buddy, Feb 22, 2009

2009-02-22T12:37:00.001-05:00

The front hallway

They know us here

2009-02-21T20:55:00.005-05:00

Grace is having a sleepover tonight (with her friend Grace, no less, just to thoroughly confuse the situation), and I've been spreading mulch all day, so didn't feel like cooking, so we went to Elmo's for dinner.

We saw, between the four of us, roughly 5 separate parties of people we knew, and a grand total of about 20 - 30 people.

And that's not even counting the wait staff that we recognize!

And the sad thing is, I didn't actually see ANYONE I knew! They were all families the KIDS knew!

Sheesh.

Forget Buddy, where's DUSTY?

2009-02-21T12:15:00.001-05:00

So, previously I said I was going to track where Dusty took Buddy.

Apparently, I need to track where DUSTY goes:

Yes, that's my kitchen window

The story?

He jumped to the fridge, jumped from the fridge to the top of the cabinets (not the ones above the fridge, the ones above the stove), walked along the cabinets till he got to the window over the sink, and was momentarily stymied.

Eventually, though, he very, very carefully walked across THE CURTAIN ROD, till he got to the cabinets on the other side, then walked to the end of THOSE cabinets, then walked across the curtain rods on THOSE windows, and finally jumped down to my table.

I told Peter it was like Lego Indiana Jones, where you have to jump to the hand-holds and shimmie across them!

Where's Buddy?

2009-02-20T16:48:00.002-05:00

So, I've decided to start a new feature of my blog: Where's Buddy?

When Dusty takes Buddy and carries him somewhere, we'll take a picture and post it here.

Buddy and Dusty outside the playroom

Fridays are supposed to be GOOD days!

2009-02-20T09:32:00.002-05:00

Here's my day so far:

My kids were bickering
We were all late
I made myself a LOVELY lunch
and left it on my kitchen counter
I spilled toothpaste on my black turtleneck
and coffee on my khaki pants

I'd like to be done now!

Dusty the...retriever?

2009-02-17T15:34:00.002-05:00

Lots of animals carry things. St. Bernard's carry whiskey (OK, probably not really, but they SHOULD). Hunting dogs can carry game. Service animals carry all sorts of things; books, remotes, car keys. Even cats, big or small, have been known to carry things; kittens, usually, but occasionally prey.

Dusty likes to carry Buddy, mainly.

Buddy is Peter's stuffie; he's had him since before he was born. Buddy still hangs out on Peter's top bunk, watching the world go by.

Dusty LOVES Buddy. Dusty will go into Peter's room, climb onto his top bunk (using the ladder, of course) get Buddy, and take him...somewhere.

So far, he's been found in my closet, in the hall landing, in the den, in the living room, on the stairs, in the playroom, on my bed, and, today, facedown in the kitchen.

I won't be truly worried till we come home and there's a Buddy-shaped chalk outline, and bits of fluff on the floor....

Daddy-Daughter Dance

2009-02-13T17:19:00.002-05:00

It's that time again -- Grace is all decked out for the annual Daddy-Daughter dance at church:

I heart free chocolate!

2009-02-13T14:03:00.001-05:00

My employer is giving everyone a free candy bar for Valentines Day! What a nice treat!

<3 <3 <3 <3

Oh, the 80's just make me laugh.

2009-02-12T15:56:00.003-05:00

I'm listening to 1st Wave on XMRadio "Classic Alternative", or so they say. Typically I love it, but every now and then something comes on that reminds me of just how PRETENTIOUS we all were in the 80s.

We took ourselves so seriously: making (and living in) shanty towns to protest apartheid, standing up for AIDS research, insisting that housekeepers be paid a living wage (or at least that's what we did at my college).

But then we listened to bands like Kajagoogoo.

OK, so:

Silly Name
Silly Lyrics (You're too shy shy, hush hush, eye-to-eye (which, yeah, I always heard as Idlewild)
OMG, the HAIR!

And just look at how serious THEY were! LOL!! If you can be that serious wearing those clothes and that hair, there is just something wrong.

I'm just sayin'...

I have a good kid

2009-02-12T13:44:00.004-05:00

Well, actually, I have two good kids! But I'm especially proud of Grace today.

As anyone with more than a superficial interest in ACC (perhaps even college) basketball knows, last night was the first of this years Duke-Carolina games.

The Duke-Carolina rivalry is a passionate one. We hate each other. Truly. And, yes, if it sounds like I'm repeating myself, I have blogged about this before.

But part of the fun of the rivalry is that we DO hate each other. Both fanbases are passionate about their school, and convinced they do it right, even though only Carolina really does. And we revel in provoking each other (witness that last sentence!).

Now, for the most part in Chapel Hill, folks are UNC fans. But not all, by any means. A few of the teachers at the kids' school are Dookies, while I'm saddened by their choice, I do applaud their undying loyalty; they wear their Duke blue and their Devils proudly, particularly on the days of the Duke-Carolina game.

Well, one of the teachers who's a Duke fan decked himself out yesterday; undoubtedly at least partially to egg on the student body. He not only had on the pants/shirt/hat/socks, he also draped himself in a Duke flag and ran through the cafeteria.

He was soundly booed. Goodnaturedly (I hope), but soundly. And, yes, Grace as a good Tarheel, joined in...

...until she saw her friend Grace T (who, for some reason is known as Baby Bob). Baby Bob, who's also a Duke fan, was really, really upset by all the boos, and had started crying. My Grace immediately stopped booing, and tried to make Other Grace/Baby Bob feel better.

As much as I enjoy sharing my love for Carolina with my kids, I am far, FAR prouder that Grace realizes that it IS just a game, and isn't worth losing a friendship over.

But, yeah, I don't know if I'd've posted this if Carolina had lost last night! ;-)
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