Hmm, perhaps life is looking up...

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!!!

Yet more wireless rapture

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

Whirlwind weekend

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.

Dinner with Tucker

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

Oooh Pretty...

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

They know us here

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.

A good weekend

I haven't had many really, truly GOOD weekends lately; they haven't been hideous or traumatic (at least not TOO traumatic), but there have been high emotions, exhaustion, whininess, etc. And, yes, pretty much all from me, though some of the emotion (and certainly some exhaustion) has come from other quarters.

Anyway, THIS weekend was really, really good. Even great, I might say.

First of all, I had a lazy Friday evening of Pinewood Dery final steps and Rockband. Grace had a fundraiser at school for her drum line; Peter needed to get the wheels on his Pinewood Derby car, so came to my house to do that; we got the wheels on, glued on the figure, and then grabbed a bite to eat. Then David and I played Rockband! Nothing major, but a good, calm, non-angst ridden night.

Then Saturday was pretty much a red-letter day. Peter won first place in Most Original at his Pinewood Derby. Both kids lost their basketball games, true, but Grace learned to set a screen, and did it well! Peter had a great (personal) game: 10 points, 8 rebounds, a block and a steal (and a turnover, but we won't talk about that). After Peter's game, I headed to David's house where I watched UNC beat State (always a good thing), then we went to a Hurricanes game. The 'Canes played really well, and really HARD! Tons of checks, very aggressive play, and they won.

Today was milder again; I rang in church, which means getting up early (ugh), but putzed around with David, then made chicken wings, nachos and pound cake and watched the Superbowl with him and his kids. And the Steelers won, so Peter, and by extension his mother, is happy!

I like good weekends!
.

Yet ANOTHER adventure with the boys

Jack and Dusty are hanging out with Auntie Meg again for a bit. As usual, there's always at least one adventure when the boys are here.

Tonight's drama involved Dusty (by FAR the more adventurous of the two). The kids and I had gone to Cary to have dinner with my friend David and his family (always an adventure in itself).

After a quick trip to the grocery store, we got home a smidgie before nine, which is a little later than I'd wanted, so I hopped straight into Mom mode, and started barking orders: "Peter, go check what's for lunch!" "Grace, run upstairs and take a quick shower" "I'll unload the groceries!" (Hey, at least I order myself around, too...)

As I was getting the bags out of the car, Grace said, "Hey, was that just a cat running across the driveway?" I blew her off, but she was insistent, so I told her to go inside and make sure both cats were there.

She walked in to Peter in a panic, because he could see Dusty on the stoop, looking IN! Yep, the indoor cat was on the outside looking in....

So, I went around the front of the house, snagged Dusty, and brought him inside. Then we went looking for how he got out; today was Grace's kid birthday party, and I was afraid he'd gone missing in all of that confusion (which would've meant he was out about 9 hours). Then I remembered we'd seen him AFTER the party, so at most he would've been out about 5 hours, but we still didn't know HOW he'd escaped!

Peter pretty quickly found a screen missing in the upstairs playroom, though, so we figured out HOW he got out, even if we still don't quite know WHEN!

Dusty is none the worse for the experience, even falling from a second story window. He did, though, look somewhat confused by it all! Jack was very glad he was back in safe and sound, and spent a large amount of time licking Dusty!

Silly, silly boys....

I Made it!!!

Mondays are the craziest days in my week. I leave work at 4, drive 5 miles west to pick up the kids at school, drive 7 miles east (yep, right past my office) to get Grace to To Shin Do by 5, Drive 9 miles west (yep, right past my office again, school, AND my house) to get Peter to tennis by 5:30, then fly back to get G by 5:45.

It's definitely a race against time, but after 4 weeks, I think I've gotten it down; the trick was to get Grace comfortable enough at the Dojo so that she didn't need me to stay till her class started; that means (when the Good Lord's willing and the lights aren't red) that I can get Peter to his tennis lession 5 or 10 minutes early, which means I have a full 20 minutes to get back to Grace!

Here's a shot of my car clock when I parked outside of Grace's Dojo tonight (my car clock is 5 minutes fast, for the record) -- 2 minutes to spare!!!

Here They Are!!!

My new washer and dryer came today!!! Here they are:

Watching the guys who delivered and installed them made me very, very happy that that's not my job. These guys (Tim D. and his partner) were outstanding.

For those of you who haven't seen my house, I have a 2nd floor laundry room, coupled with a staircase that's at an angle with a 180 degree turn in the middle of it. They weren't happy when they got here! But they figured out how to get the new washer and dryer up, installed, and carted the old washer and dryer away, all in less than an hour, in 97 degree heat. Good delivery men amaze me.

And now Jack and Dusty have been released from the playroom, and are investigating the new appliances!

Well, it's no XBox....

A few weeks ago, I was seriously debating getting a gaming system. I wound up not, because I know that summer is a costly time for me. My kids are suddenly not in (free) school, so my childcare expenses get about 4 times as costly. Not fun, and more to the point I just couldn't see spending the $700 that I knew I'd spend before all was said and done on a gaming system right at the beginning of the summer.

What a nice, responsible, grown-up decision. I should've been guaranteed an easy summer because of it, right?

Wrong.

A week ago, my dryer starting showing signs of dying (won't fully dry a load, breaker switch in the fuse box gets really warm). Now, it's probably in the 10-12 year old range, so he's had a nice long life. But I don't WANT to buy a new dryer! Moreover, because the washer is also old, also shows sign of nearing the end of it's life, and because I like things to match, I knew when I bought a dryer I'd buy a washer, too, and I REALLY didn't want to buy both!

But, sadly, clean clothes are kinda a must. And, yes, I know you can hang clothes to dry, but 9 times out of 10 my laundry routine runs something like this: throw a load of clothes in when I get out of the shower; let them sit in the washer all day, throw them in the dryer when I get home at night and throw another in the washer, put the dry clothes into a laundry basket and put the last load in the dryer before bed. I don't have TIME to hang laundry!

So, yeah, I've spent the last several days looking at Consumer Reports reccomendations, going from Lowe's to Home Depot, to Best Buy, to Sears, and back to Lowes, talking to people at work, and agonizing over this (Oh, and I've always gotten my W/D included in the houses I bought, so this is the FIRST time I've ever bought one!).

Well, finally tonight I bit the bullet and bought my new washer and dryer. I got a Maytag Epic 4.0 cubic foot washer, and the matching dryer. They got decent ratings from Consumer Reports, and I wound up getting a great deal on them: They were already $100 off because of a sale, then I got an additional 10% off the washer because it was an Energy Star appliance, and an additional 10% off the entire order because I used my new Lowe's card, AND they got me 12 months no-interest financing! So, all in all I saved about $400 or $500. Not too shabby.

But it's no XBox....

Fun, and not fun

So, taken all in all, this has been a fun weekend. The kids and I went to a UNC ballgame Friday night (NCAA regionals), and Carolina beat the living STINK out of Mt. St. Mary's (what can you say about a school that has three punctuation marks in their name?).

Then Saturday we went to Burlington to see Dad, and go to the Twin Lakes Family Fun Day, celebrating their 25th anniversary. There were art exhibits, a craft show, carnival games, a fishing tournament, and (best of all in Peter and Grace's eyes), a Wii! Wheee! ;-). Grace caught a 15 inch bass in the fishing tournament, and Peter got his first fish ever, a nice sized little bream. They played Wii, and got snow cones, cotten candy, and all sorts of good junk!

After scooting home to drop Kathy off, we headed BACK to Cary to watch another baseball game. This one was much closer, but Carolina won again (YAY), this time 5-1.

But now it's Sunday, and things are turning not-fun. We all overslept, and therefore had to rush to make it to The Waffle Shoppe. We had to rush our breakfast to make it to Sunday School. I got called by my boss because bad code is killing servers, so I'm working while blogging (I think that's really what the Dwarves were doing in Snow White: "Blo-og while you work....do dee doo do de de dum").

And, sadly, I can find no reason for my dryer to not be working, but it's not. I've checked the lint trap, and everything else I know to check, and it all looks normal. It just won't dry a full load without cutting off. Oh, and the switch in the fuse box that controls the dryer gets really warm! Not a good thing, I'm thinking.

So, today Grace and I are blowing off all baseball (sadness), and going to look at new dryers. Yuck.

Now THIS is blogging....

Wireless and hammocks were just made for each other.

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

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

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

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

Ahhhhhhh

What a game!

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



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

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

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

Look Mom no cast!

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

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

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

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

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

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS!!!

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

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

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

April birthdays rock.

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

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

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

But they out did themselves over the weekend.

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

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

How amazing is that?!?!?!

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

Friday Night!

It's been a long week, for me, and apparently for my kids. There WERE high spots (the Superbowl was fun, for many reasons), but The Game stank. And then there were work things, as well -- a friend left (moving to Dublin, so yay for a road trip, but sad to be losing her), and the week alternated between extreme boredom and trying to figure out why the application we thought was fixed died again. Sigh.

Apparently it was long for my kids, too, because they both said this morning, "Boy I'm glad it's Friday!". So, after getting them from school, we took a quick trip to Harris Teeter for the couple of things we needed from the store (capers and mushrooms for the shrimp I was making). While there we also got supplies for "fun drinks". Olives for me, so that I could have a martini, and Orange Crush and Wink for the kids.

Here are their concoctions: Peter's (Carolina glass) is Wink, Orange Crush and cranberry juice, Grace's (Giant's glass) is Root Beer, Wink, Orange Crush, and "two drops" of cranberry juice. And a cherry, which you can't see because it's on the ent of the umbrella.

Mine is gin, vermouth, and three olives.....

Happy Birthday, Ye Olde Waffle Shoppe!!!!

I've been in many lines on Franklin Street in the past 23 years. Lines waiting for the U bus on a cold and rainy day. Lines of inebriated 19 and 20 year olds, waiting to get into Trolls, the night the drinking age went up. Lines of "alternatives" waiting outside of the Record Bar (now Coldstone Creamery) all night to buy REM tickets (the cops made us keep our feet behind one of the cracks in the sidewalk, and the guys from Peppers gave us the leftover pizza when they closed!) Lines of Carolina fanatics after national championships. Lots and lots of lines.

But, until today, I've never line up on the street waiting for breakfast.

Today the Waffle Shoppe, a true Chapel Hill institution, turns 35, and to celebrate they reverted to their 1972 menu for the day. I eat there every Sunday, so I've been hearing about this for a couple of months, and had told the kids we'd get up early and go before school. We did, and got there about 5 of 7, and discovered about 20 or 30 people lined up outside the restaurant!

I was a little worried that all the tables would fill up, but I told the kids if that happened, we'd just order take out. Luckily, we were able to score seats at the counter, though, so we were all good.

I have to say, it was an absolute blast. In addition to the 1972 menu, they were dressed in '70s style clothes, and were playing songs from the 70's! Peter was a little disappointed that they didn't serve M&M pancakes in 1972, and I was bummed that there were no Big Jim's hash browns, but it was a fun trip. Oh, and the food was great, too, but it always is.

In addition to the 1972 menu, they also had 1972 prices. A sampling? A hotcake sandwich (now known as a hotcake combo) for $1.35. A short stack for $1.10. Coffee for $.35. Our entire meal was $4.69, including tax! That's only a little less than the tip (I tipped in 2008 dollars)!

What a blast. The place was packed, the employees were having a blast, the customers were loving it. And it was better than cold cereal!

Breakfast on a snow day

There was a "wintry mix" this morning (North Carolina speak for cold and rainy with slick bridges), so the kids school is opening two hours late, which means even with sleeping in a bit, we could have a more fun breakfast than normal for a school day.

I made cinnamon rolls, but the kids also wanted oatmeal, so I made that, too (I guess they're carbo loading). Peter just has standard cinnamon and sugar in his oatmeal, Grace has sugar, but she likes the colored sugar that's used to decorate cookies in cool designs on the top of her oatmeal. Today was red and blue striped.

And me? I sauteed some apples and walnuts in butter and apple juice till the apples were soft and the walnuts just starting to get tender. Then I added peanut butter (a favorite oatmeal additive), honey, and dumped the whole thing into my oatmeal. YUM!

And now I get to read the paper (in the MORNING!!!) and drink my coffee! I LOVE snow days!