Dia de Los Muertes

Here are some wonderfully colorful photos of the Day of the Dead displays at the National Museum of the American Indian!

























Rosie and Thea were having lots of fun together!











We missed the demonstrations where they showed how to make/paint sugar skulls, create the paper cut-outs, and make the paper flowers, but at least they gave us some flowers for the girls. They both wanted to wear them in their hair! Cuties!













Somehow, none of the photos I took of Liam came out, but here is a gorgeous moon sculpture that hopefully makes up for lack of boy. Dash had a fever & was hanging out at home. He was just fine the next day.

AJS can still fit in his leather pants

This weekend is AJS's 40th birthday, and he told me that all he really wanted to do is hang out with me at a decent restaurant and have a few drinks. He's all dressed up right now, polishing his black leather motorcycle boots while we wait for the babysitter. When he's not polishing his boots, he has been wooing me all evening, but we won't go there.

Usually, when we have impending plans that require a sitter, I invoke my limited resources, put out a net, and have a person on the line well in advance. This time, it all kind of snuck up on me. I have been planning Rosie's party and initially, AJS said he wanted to do something completely different that involved lots of friends and renting a room out in a lovely local cocktail bar. When he nixed that a couple weeks ago, my planning train went off track.

So, I finally booked a sitter, Ms. M., on Thursday. Whew, I thought, that's a relief. Only, she didn't give me her cell number and then didn't confirm that she got my email with directions. Yikes! I sent another email hoping that she'd follow up, but I started wondering if I even had the right address. Did she even get the directions? Worse yet, would she be one of those flaky people that would just show up without confirming or calling?

I needed a back up plan and I needed to keep AJS in the dark about the situation as long as possible.

On Friday, I called another sitter, Ms. T. and told her frankly what was going on. She said she could come, but it would be 2 hours later. That was fine, we don't have reservations.

So, this afternoon, Ms. M. phoned, only to tell us that she would be running late and she didn't know how late; she'd phone back in 2 hours. 2.5 hrs later, no call, so I phoned her. She was still in the midst of her earlier plans and would be too late. Thank goodness that we had a back up!! Ms. T. should be here in about 15 minutes. Whew!

I'll let you know how the dinner went later. AJS looks pretty smooth in his leather pants and boots!

Seven facts, weird & random

underwater lena
Originally uploaded by monokultur

I was tagged by my pal Ms. Obsessive for this meme. The rules are:

• Link to your tagger and post rules.
• Share 7 facts about yourself, some random and some weird.
• Tag 7 people at the end of post and list their names.
• Let them know they were tagged by a comment on their blog.

1. I have memories of swimming underwater solo (accidentally) for the very first time on a family vacation when I was four years old. I went on to swim competitively and was a lifeguard in high school.

2. Whenever I tried to “sneak out” or otherwise surreptitiously disobey my parents in high school, they somehow found out every time in random and bizarre circumstances. After several embarrassingly thwarted incidents, I gave up and started just being up front with them.

3. As a child, I never had to suffer the death of a treasured pet; our cockatiel, Chirp, was added to our family when I was 8 years old and died in 2002. She was 27 years old.

4. Foods I tell people I’m allergic to, but really just don’t like: mayonnaise, blue cheese, sea scallops, American cheese, and pasta salad (the kind with cheese cubes). For some bizarre reason, I don’t like chocolate cake or fudge, but just can’t resist BROWNIES!!

5. One of my ears is about 1/4-inch higher than the other, which makes wearing/adjusting glasses and sunglasses a bit of a pain. I can wiggle my ears, though!

6. I met my husband 15 years ago through a Washington City Paper personals ad. His was the only ad I have ever answered. He likes to say he wrote it to find me. I also can remember it by heart: “Slim, exotic, single male, 25, half-Japanese (no accent), ISO clever, non-insane bureaucrat with an artist’s soul to explore bookstores, existential dilemmas. Likes Joyce, Python, Waits, Welles, iced coffee. No double-dipped Baptists or women who can’t recover from their recovery.”

7. Our children’s first names are based on a character in an Orson Welles movie and a 1930s crime fiction author (bonus points if you can guess who to either!); their middle names are from AJS’s maternal grandmother and my father.

I tag:
Dees
Radical Mama
On the curb
Mrs. G. (who has commented here a few times lately, HI!)
Miss Molly
Monkeyrotica
Forstmeister

Since I’m not readily able to leave comments on people’s blogs, I’ll make an effort to poke around at home on our dial-up; it might take awhile, so I hope you take your cue from this tag!!

No Tricky-treets for you.

Yesterday, AJS got a call early on from daycare that Rosie had a fever and when he arrived to pick her up, she had just puked on the lunch table. Ewww. OUR theory is that this fever and nausea are related to the flu shots that we all got on Tuesday.

My Tuesday was all messed up by the flu shots; I decided to ditch my dance class :-( because we were going to the flu shot clinic and I hadn't finished the final details on the kids' mostly-home-made costumes. If I went to the class, the costumes would be moot. So, we were at the very-overcrowded clinic for over an hour waiting and finally getting the shots. AJS and I got them too, and set very fine examples for the kids.

Nurse: Who's getting their shot first?

AJS: (jumping up with arm in the air) ME!! ME!! I'm first!

I followed suit. Rosie was slightly upset, trying to watch the shot go in (kind of like at the Rock N Romp Halloween Party last year when she couldn't keep her eyes off the Taco costume), so I reached over and covered her face with my hand.

Dash was not a trooper. As soon as that shot went in his thigh, he screamed bloody murder! We were calling the shot a "pinch", so the whole way to the car we kept hearing "No like pinch. Pinch hurt. Don wan ennymore pinch." I did finish their costumes, yay me.

Back to yesterday. Daycare had a costume parade, so the kids were very excited to get all dressed up in them before leaving the house. I think they both participated in the parade, but by the end of it, Rosie was falling asleep and the teacher took her temp to discover a fever. AJS brought Rosie home and she slept for about 5 hours straight. She was a little out of it and weepy when they picked me up at the train station, so really, there was no trick-or-treating in store for her, poor thing.

Dash, however, had removed his costume during the day, so somebody wrote ELMO in marker on his forehead, WHY? I really don't know. So teachers would stop asking what his costume was? I dunno. It's actually quite brilliant. Why make or even buy a costume when you can just write what you are on your forehead in marker?

We still stayed in. Everyone was just not up for braving the streets. That's about it for me. Hail NaBloPoMO!

This remind you of someone? AJS?

Kebab Koobideh
Originally uploaded by plhu

Auntie M. and I took Rosie and Dash to play in a wonderful outdoor park on Sundy before lunch. They both were running around everywhere and being so crazy-active that I was surprised to see Dash with tears in his eyes. Here's how our conversation went:

Me: Dash, are you sad?
Dash: No! Am angry!
Me: Why are you angry?
Dash: Have tears!
Me: Hmm, are you hungry for lunch?
Dash: YES!!!!

So, we left the park and took them to Moby Dick's House of Kebab, where I ordered Kubideh with rice and we had a side of hummous and bread. Rosie quietly consumed large quantities of rice, some bread and a much-cajoled sliver or two of Auntie M.'s chicken kebab. But after he gobbled up the bread, rice, and some kubideh (which I called "burger" for acceptance's sake), I got this unsolicited response from our boy:

Dash: Am happy! I am happy now!

(try to imagine a swaying happy-dance in his seat)

Halloween Windows!

I found this crazy-wonderful idea at Aimee's site! Make cut-outs of Halloween-themed shapes, backlight your window (we have fabric pleated blinds that let light through) and you have a scary scene. I love it!

When I finally got my act together to cut out the shapes, I didn't have any reference shapes to trace, and very little time, so I just free-handed the shapes quickly and went for it. I tried to make a stencil-look for BOO on the ghost, but it looks a bit more like 300. Just imagine that it really says Boo, okay? Thanks.

Out with no kids!

Friday night, I went to see Tori Amos in concert at Constitution Hall, very spur-of-the-moment
and with girlfriends only. AJS watched the kids, fed them cookies and Apple Jacks and was upset that they didn't go to sleep until 10:45. All three of my girlfriends also have two kids and we were all delighted that our spouses agreed to watch them so we could go out together.

When Sheryl told us that she had won free tix through a radio station, we all jumped at the
opportunity. I still can't recall any show that I've seen between yesterday and 2002. Seriously!
I saw Billy Bragg @ the 9:30 Club while I was pregnant with Rosie (that's 5 years, for those of
you not keeping track). We all enjoyed the show, even though our vantage point mostly showed
the back of Tori's wig as she played her grand piano. Beautiful light show!

Thanks, girlfriends! We need to do this more often, but maybe earlier in the evening,
especially for those of us with child-induced sleep-deprivation.

Dash is 28 months today

Dash28mos_crop.jpg
Originally uploaded by nylonthread

Dash woke me up once in the night because he thought there was a cat on his nightlight; he woke up screaming in the morning because he thought there was a snake in his bed. We had to turn all the lights on and carefully go through his blankets to be sure.

There was a snake in his bed! It was a ty beanie baby green snake that we named "No Feet" after the Maurice Sendak snake; also, I showed Dash his articulated wooden snake (who is now named "Other No Feet") and Dash made sure there were introductions all around.

At 28 months, Dash is a very friendly boy "Hi! I'm Dash!", is sweet, goofy, and really helps curb the moodiness around the house. If AJS starts ranting about something, Dash recognises the escalating tones and says, "be quiet, Daddy." (It works!) He's very active and almost acrobatic (especially on couches), but still likes to be carried in the sling when he's tired. I prefer this to trying to carry him unsupported; if he needs to be carried, the sling is the best!

Dash loves his toys and other possessions and will hug them with a little squeak when he rediscovers them. One of his favorite stuffed animals, "Happy Duck," was found when we returned from our vacation and so named when he lovingly picked it up squeezed it tightly, saying "happy see duck!" I have given him lots of bird toys, so he has quite a collection of plush ducks, owls, parrots, and even an ostrich and an eagle.

Dash's best loved movies right now are "Here Come the ABCs" by TMBG, and "Mulan". His favorite foods are grapes, hot dogs, and noodles, but he is a pretty hearty eater with many foods. His vocabulary is really soaring! I really haven't been keeping track of it because he seems to understand most of what we're saying and is able to communicate his thoughts very well in extended complex sentences.

He is playing very independently these days, thankfully!!! When we visit friends' houses and there are other kids his age, I'm letting him play fairly unsupervised and only intervening if there's an altercation. This is a fabulous development for me, socially! I can actually carry on a conversation with friends and the kids don't need my constant attention.

Dash is very cuddly and affectionate, too. He gives the cutest "fish-kisses" and usually has my lipstick all over him when he heads into school, where Rosie is fine with one kiss, Dash wants multiple kisses when they drop me off at the train station in the mornings.

I love you, little guy!

Junior and Dash

Junior is AJS's bunny. Junior shared AJS's crib when he was a babe, which gives the bunny about 38 years on Dash.

Even so, Dash seems to enjoy his company. Junior, you've still got the magic!

Up close and personal with C.P. Huntington

Okay, I'll fess up; C.P.'s not really a person. The Central Pacific Huntington was the miniature train that we rode today at Burke Lake Park. The kids seemed to enjoy themselves and I can only hope it took the edge off of the train jonesing that they've had all week, dropping me off at the Metro station.

BurkeLake_Awe
Originally uploaded by nylonthread

The ride included many nice "trainy" touches: a tunnel, a trestle, a signal station, many twists and turns through the woods and out into open areas, including nice views of the lake. I have no idea what everyone is looking at in the photo with Dash and AJS. It must have been somewhat awe-inspiring, given the look on the face of the guy sitting behind Dash. What do you think? Glinda the Good Fairy descending from the sky, surrounded by bubbles? Maybe God came out from behind a cloud and was waving? I'll never know—I was looking through the camera lens, and AJS was looking at me.

Both Rosie and Dash met the Train Engineer, authentically outfitted in blue and white striped hat and overalls. He was gray-haired and friendly and gave all the kids small bags of candy at the end of the ride.

Next, Rosie and I rode the carousel. Her pony was white and she loved her. Ahh, what a beautiful day! And it was much too short.

Freaky rainstorm

Right now it is raining to hard and the wind is blowing so crazy that
I'm afraid our rickety metal gazebo is going to collapse.

Also, our power has gone on and off three times in a row. It's off right
now, and I'm still blogging. How, you ask? I blog from the phone!

Woot!

Belated Dover Design Thursday

William Tell Apples.jpg
Originally uploaded by nylonthread

Firstly, I apologize for not posting this yesterday -- I was exhausted by the time I got home and didn't have time to get to the computer before I fell asleep.

Secondly, you know, I had always thought that William Tell was an irresponsible show-off who recklessly endangered his child, thinking that he was such a great archer, he could shoot an apple of his son's head. Obviously, I never read the disputedly true story of William Tell, where he is a legendary hero. According to Wikipedia,

"William Tell from Bürglen was known as an expert marksman with the crossbow. At the time, the Habsburg emperors were seeking to dominate Uri. Hermann Gessler, the newly appointed Austrian Vogt of Altdorf raised a pole in the village's central square with his hat on top and demanded that all the local townsfolk bow before it. As Tell passed by without bowing, he was arrested. He received the punishment of being forced to shoot an apple off the head of his son, Walter, or else both would be executed."

Interesting trivia: This story was a favorite of Adolf Hitler's.

Anyway, I guess it's one way to advertise your apples for sale, but it still looks to me like Mr. Tell is about to kill his child. A little too much tension for me when I'm at point-of-purchase in the produce section.

Rosie freaked me out this morning.

toddler bed
Originally uploaded by Hey Cookie

It's the second day on my new commute and it seemed like I had it all under control. I had a shower, got dressed, then went to get Rosie started. I usually open her door, show her the clothes we picked out last night, then suggest that she get dressed, fully expecting that when I come back in three minutes that she'll still be in bed.

That's what I was expecting to do. I opened her door, glanced at her bed, no Rosie. I looked on her floor (where she goes to sleep sometimes if she wet the bed), no Rosie. I looked in her wardrobe (where she sometimes threatens to spend the night), no Rosie. I glance into our bedroom, thinking that she magically slipped behind me while I was crossing the hallway, and nope.

In the 5 seconds it took me to get to Dash's room, I had all these thoughts shoot through my head, like, maybe she was abducted in the night? what will I tell AJS? how the hell would that have happened? wouldn't we have heard it?

And, when I got to Dash's room, I found Dash AND Rosie both asleep in Dash's crib.

Commuting trials

Metro
Originally uploaded by zlguocius

Hey, I'm blogging from Flickr!! Thanx Kelly!

With my impending job relocation, we've been preparing the kids with tales of how I will be dropped off at the train station before they get dropped off at school. We even drove by the station to show them where Mommy will be getting on a train.

Even so, this morning when we arrived, I gave both kids kisses, hugs and said, "Bye! I'm getting on the train now!" Dash was still asking, "Dash go train ride?" Rosie understood better and asked me, "Can we have a little train ride later when we pick you up?" (Answer to both questions: sorry, no.)

But AJS told me that Dash freaked out when I left the car. It was "Wan. Mommee. Train. RIGHT! NOW!" in tearful screams all the way over to daycare.

When this is more routine, I hope he chills out.

New jay-o-bee 4 me

Hey all, I'm blogging from my phone again, because I am at my new job,
where pretty much everything is firewalled. I can look at text on other
people's blogs, but can't comment or see their photos. I have no excuses
to not be productive here.

I guess I'll be checking around in the evening? Maybe I'll figure out
how to post photos from my phone or try out a flickr link (Kelly's
suggestion). See you later!

Dover Design Thursday!

Today, I give you peacocks (because Dash loves them; they are beautiful, delicate and curious birds):

In Greek mythology, Hera, the Queen of the Olympian gods and goddesses, commanded Argus to watch over Io. Io was a woman with whom Zeus - the ruler of the Olympians - had conducted a passionate love affair. However, in order to protect his mistress from the wrath of his wife, Zeus had transformed Io into a heifer. So Hera, who was quite clever, had Argus guard her rival, the heifer Io. Zeus was not pleased. He sent the god Hermes to dispatch the monster. Hermes managed to subdue Argus, and here the details differ depending on the source of the myth. Some sources suggest that Hermes lulled Argus to sleep, while others state that Hermes killed the monster.

So in the end, the nearly perfect guard creature was defeated by the wit and cunning of Hermes. Hera paid tribute to Argus by placing his eyes into the tail of the peacock, her favorite bird. In this way, Argus was immortalized, his eyes adorning the feathers of Hera's peacock.

According to some superstitions, the "eyes" on the peacock's feathers are the "evil eye" so, if you place peacock feathers in your home you will never have privacy. Kelly, I don't think that applies for paintings of peacocks, but with kids, who has any privacy anyway?

More dancing!

I think I'm actually starting to pick up on the class structure now, which is something that wasn't happening earlier. I was relying entirely on mimicking the instructor and the other students and am pretty good at this. I've done pretty well the past several years in step-aerobics classes, where you just follow the calls the trainer makes. The problems occur when Mrs. H (the teacher) switches the classroom around and makes the back line (where I am) move to the front, without demonstrating. With nobody to mimic, I floundered.

I failed horribly when Mrs. H asked the class to recap the combination from last month all in one swoop, without any brush-up. I thought we were done with September! It's October! It was like a pop quiz where you have to stand up in front of the class and dance your way through a book you didn't read. Anyway, she made some disappointed noises (nobody really did that well) and went on to October's combo. YES!

This one is more my type of dancing! Strong arm movements, street dance styling, decent music (the last dance used a campy song from the Hairspray soundtrack), and quick spins -- I can totally rock this. The ballet moves with delicate fluidity aren't coming so naturally just yet. The aerobics and strength work that I've done have trained away those smooth arcs and I'm making more jerky motions than I used to.

You know, the main reason I stopped taking dance classes back in high school is because (note here: I know you read my blog, mom and dad, but this is how I remember it) my parents *thought* I wasn't going to the classes (I biked or sometimes drove myself there, so they weren't dropping me off) and they stopped paying for it. I recall being horrified when they told me this and I tried to convince them that I wasn't a typical slacker-teen and I'd made it to every class they paid for! There were a couple of classes that I missed for whatever reason (too much homework? too much teenage angst?) but the studio allowed me to make them up by taking a class on a different day. I wound up taking a couple of ballet classes that I wouldn't have tried otherwise. It was a good mix. But whatever, I got through it by going to dance clubs all around Chicagoland every weekend.

But what am I complaining about? They put me through college! And you better believe I went to those classes. So, I'm going to pay more attention this time around, practice, and remember the combinations from class to class! For sure, it's on my dollar-bill this time. And, I'm trying to set a good example for Rosie, who is in Mrs. H's ballet class on Saturdays. Woot!

Road rage

AJS and I saw this crazy car accident this weekend. Luckily, nobody was hurt, but everyone involved needs their heads checked.

So, I notice a car tailgaiting me and when I can, I pull into the right lane. This red truck whizzes past me, closely followed by a white Lexus SUV. When there was a small opening, the Lexus swerves into the right lane, hits the gas, then oh-so-tightly! swerves back into the left lane to cut off the red truck! I swear, there was only a few inches in between them.

From there, the red truck stays on the Lexus, just inches away, when the Lexus makes a crazy right turn --from the LEFT lane-- to exit onto a side street. Too late and enraged, the red truck tries to follow the Lexus (for retribution?) and loses control.

The red truck does a 180 to land rearward into a copse of bushes and small trees. The Lexus got the F out of there.

And so did we. Yikes!

Our boys

Like father, like son.

They luuuuvs them a good sit!

















Kelly and Liam.
Sue and Daniel.

Feel the love...

It just pulsates from the screen, doesn't it?

Yep, you're very welcome.

Weirdo housekeeping tip #23

If you're vacuuming a light-colored carpet and aren't sure your Hoover picked up all the debris, just turn your blacklights on! They'll highlight every crumb (as well as kill bacteria). Happy vacuuming!

Yours,
Ms. Nylon

Thursday is Dover Picture Day!

Kelly's "happy birthday mom" post, featuring a Dover Design Sampler image of a Marc Chagall painting inspired this post (and I have serial intentions!). I get the Dover sampler weekly and download every last JPEG they send.

The images are beautiful, weird, historic, cute, or sometimes just confusing. Here is one that caught my eye for you today:



While we were visiting with AJS's mom (Grandma I-ko, to Dash) last weekend, he brought out this wonderful tome of Vintage Advertising cuts that had belonged to his dad. It was gorgeous! It was such a fantastic snapshot of Victorian design sensibilities, for fashion and graphics, I just wanted to rush home, scan each page and create an online archive. But, who has time for that sort of thing? There were all sorts of corset ads, not unlike this one, that AJS said he quizzically (or lasciviously) viewed many a time as a young boy.

Corsets are just fascinating creations altogether...they are just one of many, many fashion items that you only need to give a sideways glance and label, "a woman did not have anything to do with this idea."

2nd night of dance class!

In case you were wondering, I'm continuing with the dance instruction, despite all the teeny teens who are mostly named Ellie. Last night was class number two, and thank all that's holy, the teacher started a new dance combo, because I couldn't fight my way through the one from the previous class and of course all the other girls knew it because they'd been practicing it for weeks.

So, I'm not only at a disadvantage for not dancing (in a structured setting) for 20 years, I've also come into the class five weeks late. But look, really, I'm not here to learn to be a Dancah! Or perform, I just like the movement. Dancing and moving your body fluidly is just not accepted at all in any other part of an adult's life. Even going to dance clubs downtown these days I feel like I'm too old to be going out there with those early-20-somethings. I try to dance at home and get, "MoooOOooom!" If I tried to dance at work, I'd probably be taken aside for a mental consult. You know what I mean. There's that guy I used to see on the Metro subway platforms, doing little toe-kicks or pirouettes when he was in the mood; I don't want to be him.

BTW, I saw my neighbor picking up his daughter for the class before mine. I said hi, and told him that I was taking the next class (Samantha had already waved at me). He got this Rodney Daingerfield look and said, "Um, hey, can I stay and watch?!?" More next week!

The fly

Growing up, my dad always had a little game with us if a bug got in the house or if a bee was following us around. He would ask, "Who's fly is this? Is this your pet fly? You need to take your pet out of the house," etc. And my sister and I'd be all indignant, "Noo-wuh! I don't have any pet bugs, EWWW!"

So, it was just natural for me when I had this chat with Dash this morning, only it backfired:

Me: (changing Dash's diaper, fly buzzes nearby) Hey, there's
a fly here! Dash, is this your fly-friend?
Dash: Yeah. My fly-friend.
Me: Well, your fly-friend is being a pest. AJS! Dash has a fly!
AJS: Okay, I'll come kill that fly! (Has magazine rolled up and ready)
Dash: (face collapses into quivering lip and droopy eyes) NO! No kill! My fly-friend!! Mine! Friend!
(AJS & I start laughing.)
AJS: Aw, our sweet little Buddhist!

Head not screwed on right & anniversary recap (buried within).

[just read the text in green if you want to learn how our anniversary dinner went.]

So, on Saturday afternoon, we were preparing for our wonderful evening out at Restaurant Eve, anticipating delicious tastiness and enjoying each other's company for our 10th anniversary. I took the kids over to my parents' so I could clean the house a bit before the sitter showed up (and just because the house needed it, of course), and while cleaning, what I witnessed across the street just messed with my head. Not for any rational reason, mind you. I glanced out the window and saw that my neighbors kitty-corner across the street were having an outdoor wedding (a second wedding for both bride and groom). Nice, no problem, only that I wasn't even aware of their wedding date but had talked with the bride about her engagement, etc.

It's what I saw next that got me all wiggy: my other neighbors, directly across, left their house all dressed up, heading to the wedding; then, my other neighbors, next door to me, the same; more neighbors two doors down, across the street, the same; even more two doors down, my side, the same; more from one block over, the same. Basically, everyone within three houses over from the bride's house was invited to this wedding EXCEPT US. Now, I might be PMS-ing, or just reverting back to some childhood issues of being ostracised, but this reeeeeallly bothered me.

I know it's totally illogical!! I know!! I don't even know her husband-to-be's name! We've invited her over to our place for parties, but she's declined every time and never invited us over (although her daughter comes over to play with Rosie and has been to birthday parties at our house, solo). AND, I HAD PLANS. We had reservations and were celebrating our anniversary. On top of this, I am a busy person with lots of friends and family, all local, so I really don't need to be best buds with my neighbors. I just experienced this overwhelming feeling of being cut out of something, blacklisted from some club that I never knew existed, etc. and I got kinda weepy.

AJS kept telling me that I was being ridiculous, and I know that I was. I picked up the kids, the sitter showed up, and we went out and really had a lovely dinner. I tried not to let the neighbor's wedding interfere, but it kept creeping in. We had delightful cocktails, oxtail ravioli for my appetizer, and wrapped Arctic char with pesto and Swiss chard for me. Jasmine tea and mango sorbet for dessert; all were just enough food to satisfy completely.

The next day, decided to have some closure in my own way. I went out and bought a lovely wedding card along with a gift card and dropped it off at their house, with a nice note. For further peace of mind, one of my neighbors who attended the wedding (and who knows I have exclusion issues) told me that she and the other neighbors were invited because the bride let her children pick two friends each whom they wanted to invite, which pretty much accounts for four of the houses around me. AND EVERYONE ELSE WAS CLOSE FRIENDS AND FAMILY!! Gah (banging head). Not peripheral like me who knows her name, email address and maybe five other things about her. Rosie doesn't play at their house because they have a large dog, so isn't close to their daughter; Kate is about four years older as well.

I just don't really get how my mind works sometimes. I wish I could just reassure it and it would shut up about this kind of stuff and not take it personally.

Candidate Calculator

I'm one of the least political people you'll find in the D.C. area. I feel lucky if I even know whether there's an election coming up, much less who's running in it. Kelly sometimes keeps me apprised, since she's exceptionally good at tracking candidates/issues, and AJS is also much more on top of it than me.

Someone sent me this calculator, where you can answer yes/no/unsure to different hot-button issues and it'll tell you which candidate you're most in alignment with. According to my results today (which included a lot of unsures), I should consider voting for Sen Joe Biden. Good, Bad? I'll have to do more research (or ask Kelly for help).

Car inspection time

When we lived in DC, the sheer mass of people who lived there and the fact that most of the city's car inspection stations were inoperable basically meant that no matter what, once you got in line at a station, you were there for 3 to 4 hours. I recall arriving at a line early one morning, an hour before the station was even open, and driving blocks past dozens of cars waiting in line and finally parking at the end, car number 68 or something.

I recall a flaky moment when I thought a break in the DC line (crossing a driveway) was the end, so I tried to pull into it. Mass honking! Several angry drivers who'd already been there who knows how long let me know that they weren't about to let me cut ahead of them. Yow!

Here I am in Virginia now, and while I started in a line with only 4 cars ahead of me, it's Virginia. Things are slower here. After an hour, I'm second in line.

Hopefully, I'll be getting home soon; we've got all kinds of things planned for the rest of the day!

Ten Whole Years!

Today is the tenth anniversary of my wedding with AJS. Back in 1997, I had long, dyed red hair and had lost 20 lbs so's I'd look fabulously glamorous in my wedding fotos! Ten years later, many short hairstyles, and two kids later, my hair is long again and I have those 20 lbs back. (I'm okay with 10 of them.)

Less than a year after we were married, we bought our first house, in a "gentrifying" area of Washington DC. We loved our house, but it was pretty uncertain there at night; lots of drug-dealing, mugging, and break-ins went on. After dark, AJS would meet me at the Metro, rather than let me walk home alone. We made some really good friends in that neighborhood, many whom we still are in touch with today.

Our life back then centered around bars, clubs, restaurants and going out with our friends. We loved that we were walking distance to most of our favorite night spots, The Black Cat, Metro Cafe (which has been gone for YEARS, yet still has a website?), Polly's Cafe, Fox & Hounds, The Big Hunt, Townhouse Tavern, Velvet Lounge, 9:30 Club, Common Share, Lucky Bar, and later, Saint-Ex. For years, we religiously went to Mousetrap, a monthly DJ night at the Black Cat, because our friend Mark was the DJ, we knew our friends would be there, and best of all, AJS would dance with me. Before Mousetrap, AJS never danced, but when we were there, he'd be dragging me onto the dance floor! I love you, AJS, for always dancing with me at the Black Cat.

Our friends got together for a weekly "game night" that started in 1999 and went on for a year or more. Different people came and went, but there was a core group that was always there. After the weekly died out, Molly picked it up and made it monthly. A few of our friends were in bands (The Meat Joy, Squatweiler, Rose) that played local venues and we did our darndest to make every show. We always had lots of house parties and were invited to our friends' parties, so we felt busy, and loved. We went on a few vacations to the U.K. (photo in Dublin at left), New Orleans, Mackinaw Island in Michigan, and Phoenix (Tempe, AZ, really); I loved our early married life.

When we had Rosie in 2002, we were the first in our group of friends to have a child, or as Ed put it, "you're the first people I know that had a planned pregnancy!" Our life started to change. While I was pregnant, AJS became a regular at the Black Cat's Red Room. His nickname with Billy (the homeless doorman outside, "Change for the homeless, Black Cat, Black Cat") was Mr. Smooth, the bartenders would have his drink ready on the bar before he sat down. Not able to drink, I was rarely joining him.

After she was a few months old, Rosie was an easy baby to take to parties! We'd bring her along, everyone would coo over her, then she'd fall asleep in her car seat no matter how loud the party was. So, we'd just tuck her away in a bedroom and spend a few more hours out. She went to so many parties!!! For Mousetrap, we'd drop Rosie off at my parents' house, head into DC for some dancing, then bring her home. As she grew, our outings became more limited and mostly because AJS was paying attention to the housing market, he decided it was time to leave the city (our noisy, careless, renter-neighbors helped the decision). Pure genius, AJS!

Rosie celebrated her first birthday in our new house, Dash was born about two years later, and we've lived there for four years now. AJS set up our own bar in the basement, and we have a perfect house-party house, with an excellent deck out back. Our trips to bars, clubs, and restaurants are pretty infrequent these days, but we are staying entertained by the goofy antics of our kids and regularly visiting friends (especially Kelly O! BFF!) and family on the weekends. Just this past weekend, we had dinner parties on Saturday and Sunday.

I'm so glad I'm married to you, AJS! You are loving, caring, clever, creative, entertaining, and a wonderful husband and father.

We're hiiiii-diiing!!

Rosie loves our local library. We normally find at least 10 books every time we go and she'll want to read all of them at bedtime that night (and no, I rarely give in). Dash loves the new kids-only room, where there are soundproofed walls and he can whoop and shriek to his delight. The books are nice too, but when it's time to read, he prefers the standards from his own shelf.

There's something about the library that makes Rosie want to play hide-and-seek. As soon as we step in the main room and she sees the tall stacks of books with aisle after aisle, she just darts off, out of sight and it's all I can do to not scream after her. We're in a library, after all! I have to rein it in and hiss, "Rosie! Get baaccck here, NOW!"

AJS found them hiding together in a study carrel or something. Don't they look guilty? Dash is a giggly Rosie-accomplice. They were hiding from Dash-mommy and Bath-daddy (which is Dash's name for AJS)!

Jazz Hands!

On a lark, I decided to enroll in a dance class at Rosie's ballet studio (they offer family discounts!). One class that caught my eye was an Adult and Teen Intermediate Jazz Dance course on Tuesday nights. I figure, I took several years of it in junior high to high school, it should come right back! I've been maintaining some of my skills taking step aerobics and dancing at clubs, right?

More than I counted on came back—I am in a class of high-school-aged teens, just like when I last left off. Sure, I have more muscle tone and a bit more coordination than most of these teeny teens, but I also have at least 35 pounds on every last (junior-size-3) one of them. Thankfully, the instructor and I are close to being a matched set (down to our shoe size), so I'm not entirely the odd woman out.

Boo was my silver lining, suggesting, "Well, at least you have a group of potential baby sitters!" Thanks, darlin'!

The spider

Dash is such a friendly little boy. He's been introducing me to his toys, his teachers, his classmates: "Hi ewybuuy! This Dash-mommy!" He loves to announce random things, too, like this one-way conversation he had with our parrot the other day: "Look, Weegee! I hav Spnng-Bob bannaid on finngr!"

This morning, Rosie was horrified to see a spider crawling on the carpet in Dash's room. AJS had shoes on, so he was called over to stomp it. Stomping a bug on carpet isn't all that effective, so it was quivering a bit, all mangled. Dash leaned over to look.

Then, he said,

"Hi 'pider! I'm Dash!!"

At least the spider's last few moments were filled with affection directed its way.

More "Ghostie" hijinks

Hi, it's Ghostie here again. You know how Rosie has those beautiful, long eyelashes? Well, I was kinda jealous of them and played a prank on her. I showed her where some scissors were and then told her about how my little sister used scissors to trim her eyelashes off. I even helped her find a mirror!

Ha, it was so funny. I told her that when my little sister did the same thing, I was telling my sister not to cut hers off, but she did it anyway. So, Rosie trimmed her eyelashes, too. What a trickster I am!

Rosie really got in trouble with her mommy. Rosie's mommy told her that if she found out that she did this again, cutting her hair, her brother's hair, her doll's hair—or anything else that wasn't paper—with scissors, that she was going to take all of Rosie's toys that were in the house and hide them away. Yeesh. I was only playing.

My nite 4 dinner

Ms. Nylon was in charge of dinner tonight. I think I covered all the
food groups, what about you?

Milk
Almonds, roasted, salted
Fuji Apples, peeled, sliced
Popcorn, air popped, lightly buttered
Sugar cookies (from scratch)

This was my dinner, too, not just for kids! (Um, but with beer, not
milk. Yum!)

More on parenting powers

I was blogging about the imaginary extra antennae and limbs that we grow as parents tending our dear, unpredictable offspring a few weeks ago and came across references to the phenomena on other blogs (natural references, nothing to do with me):

From Julia at the artful flower,

"No, it's not dangerous for my child. If it was, I'd do something. Yes, I know where my kids are at all times. It's the MommyRadar. It snapped on at birth and I can't seem to turn it off, ever. Trust me, I've tried. I know what my kids are doing, what they are capable of and when to intervene. Just because your kid might fall off the ropes doesn't mean mine will. My kids are part monkey. I can't seem to turn it off. Trust me, I've tried."

From Annie at What Do I Know?

"I have an uber-sensitive mommy radar. My mommy radar is noise sensitive. I can be in the deepest of slumbers and the faintest sound that even slightly resembles the voice of my child can bring me to full alertness in .5 seconds."

From Crazy MomCat:

"I am overly attentive and watch my kids like a hawk even more so now than before. But, it is a hard way to go through your days, quite honestly...I need to find a way to turn my radar down, just a smidge so that I don't continue to feel depressed and scared about the world we live in."

(Note, CrazyMomCat's son ran off at the beach and was missing for an eternity 30 minutes before she found him. More here.)

Waking up for ABCs!

For the last week or so, Dash has been waking up early (5 a.m. yesterday) and when I come in to check on him, he says to me in his little voice: "Go downstairs. Watch ABCs."

This DVD, by They Might Be Giants, is one of the few items that Rosie will actually listen to and act on. For example, if Dora says, GET UP AND REACH FOR THE ROPE! Rosie ignores Dora. If Steve asks Rosie to help look for a Blue's clue, nothing doing.

When the two Johns sing "Clap your hands!" and "Stomp your feet!" Rosie is not only clapping and stomping, she is singing along. Big score, for R to be anything but zombified in front of the tube.

Thanks and kudos, TMBG!

Career meme

Here's a meme I found on Molly & Kelly's blogs. What's amazing to me is that my first declared major in college was Industrial Design and that's what came up as my #1. Maybe I shouldn't have dropped it? My chosen career was down at #18, which isn't too bad, really. I have actually gained income from working in #s: 3, 7, 9-11, 16-20, 26-27, and 32. I would have loved a career as a medical illustrator, but my history of fainting at the sight of blood would have gotten in the way.

Instructions to the Career quiz at Careerbuilder.com:

a. Go to http://www.careercruising.com/.
b. Put in Username: nycareers, Password: landmark.
c. Take their "Career Matchmaker" questions.
d. Post the top-whatever results

1. Industrial Designer
2. Interior Designer
3. Website Designer
4. Fashion Designer
5. Cabinetmaker
6. Model Maker
7. Animator
8. Electronics Assembler
9. Sign Maker
10. Desktop Publisher
11. Cartoonist/Comic Illustrator
12. Office Machine Repairer
13. Costume Designer
14. Set Designer
15. Makeup Artist
16. Multimedia Developer
17. Exhibit Designer
18. Graphic Designer
19. Artist
20. Computer Animator
21. Musical Instrument Builder and Repairer
22. Bicycle Mechanic
23. Furniture Finisher
24. Potter
25. Boilermaker
26. Picture Framer
27. Craftsperson
28. Welder
29. Upholsterer
30. Tilesetter
31. Medical Illustrator
32. Jeweler
33. Cable Installer and Repairer
34. Carpenter
35. Electrician
36. Security Systems Technician
37. Autobody Repairer
38. Plumber
39. Gunsmith
40. Dental Lab Tech

SAVE THE SPINDLE!!

I just learned that this hilarious and attractive piece of pop art located in the Chicago suburb of Berwyn, IL is planned to be demolished. What a damn shame!

The "Spindle," affectionately known by Chicagoland residents as the "Car Kabob" was created by artist Dustin Shuler in 1989. The site owner planned to bulldoze it to build a Walgreens, but a local activist group drew attention to the sculpture's plight. On Friday, July 27th, 2007, The Chicago Critical Mass rode to the Spindle in an effort to raise awareness surrounding the sculpture. Around 2,000 cyclists made the 14.8 mile trek from Daley Plaza in the Loop in support of the artwork.

According to Wikipedia, the mayor of Berwyn, IL has agreed to move the sculpture down the road, but this has not been confirmed.

Go here for more information about saving the Spindle.

Photo credit: Sean Gallagher

Rosie's Pre-K Class

Early this summer, I was walking around Rosie's Pre-K room, looking at all the art/craft projects on the walls, photos posted and little questionnaires with each kid's cute non-sequitor answers and I did not see Rosie's name on anything.

I asked her teacher, what's the deal? Is she even in this class?

Her answer made me angry. She told me that since they were a few months away from graduation for most of the kids, she was focusing on the older children who were moving on to Kindergarten. Since she had another year with Rosie, they weren't pressuring her to participate. This really pissed me off! I'm not paying any less than the other parents? Why should my child get less attention?

When I asked Rosie why she wasn't participating, she told me that she didn't feel like it. I tried to reinforce with her that that wasn't an option. She needed to join in on the group projects, draw, paint, and practice writing with the other children. I think she got it for a while.

Now, all the older children have moved on to public school a few weeks ago. Rosie is the oldest child in her class and should be getting the attention that she lacked before, right? This morning, I looked around her class, full of all the new children's artwork, questionnaires, and photos. Rosie is in the photos. However, she still doesn't have any projects up with her name on them or answers posted attributed to her.

I can imagine the teacher telling me this time that they are focusing on the younger children now because they need more training. And that Rosie is way ahead of them so they're not pressuring her to participate. I really need to find out what's going on, because I'm getting angrier and think that I will yell at the teacher if I start this conversation with her.

Today, I walked around the class and pointedly asked the teacher where Rosie's art was? Where are Rosie's projects? She only told me that they were around somewhere. Grrrrrrr.

Babywearing a 26-month-old

Dash is officially 30 pounds, confirmed by the doc's office on Monday. Yet, I am still carrying him in a sling. Why, you may ask? He's been walking since he was 9 months. And it must be hurting your back to carry all that weight?

Not to worry:

I wear him because he still gets tired and wants to be carried; without my sling (a Maya Wrap) to assist, my arm muscles would give out.

When he falls asleep in the car (like on Monday, while he was sick), I can easily transfer him from his car seat to the sling (in a hip-carry) without waking him. Once he's in the sling, asleep, I use the tail of the fabric to cover his head. If he's awake and tired, he'll tell me that he wants to "hide" under the fabric, which is a sure sign that he's going to fall asleep soon. I can also transfer him back to the car seat from the sling without waking.

The Maya only hurts my shoulder muscles (not my upper or lower back) after an hour or two, and even then, not a whole lot. I've been carrying him in the sling since he was an infant, so my muscles have been adapting as he's gotten bigger.

If I do have the stroller out and Rosie is also with us, she will want to sit in the stroller. It was once hers (and apparently still is), so I can understand her territorialism. We went on a hike recently and I had the stroller with us, expecting that Dash would ride and Rosie would walk. Luckily I had the sling with us, because given the speed of the group, Rosie had to ride and I carried Dash in the back-carry position with the Maya.

Dash also LOVES the sling! If he sees it lying around, he picks it up and brings it to me, saying, "Mommy ride! Mommy ride!" I love this enthusiasm and will snuggle up to him in the sling as long as he'll allow it.

And until my chiropractor tells me not to.

Can't afford quality daycare?

This would never work in my house.

More deliciousness

I don't know how AJS did it (I'm sure he could tell you) but somehow he cooked chicken wings so wonderfully that they tasted like you were eating chicken that, instead of skin, had potato chips. But, there were no potatoes involved! Just careful grilling and only salt and pepper for seasoning. I ate waaaay too many of them (kind of like I do with potato chips). Good Eats!

Here are the pics:

Sunday Cookie Baking

While Dash was feverish all weekend (high of 105.5 degrees Saturday afternoon) we had to cancel all of our plans for our jam-packed weekend. I was really hoping that his fever (which started on Friday) would be over by at least Noon on Saturday so we could make it to Emma's birthday party, but nothing doing. Rosie was so disappointed. [Todd gets points for offering to pick her up and take her to the party; 2.75hr round-trip total. XOX, BFF!]

I made it up to her with cookies. And a visit from Auntie M. and Grandma including a walk to the playground. Dash came along, but was asleep as soon as we turned the corner at the end of the block & slept till we got back to the house. I'm sure he felt sort of robbed.

In this photo, she is saying, "Can we eat them now?"

Dash and Weegee are friends!

Dash was very happy to see Weegee when we came back from our trip! Weegee was being boarded by a neighbor while we were gone and had a happy visit; more one-on-one time with a work-at-home caregiver, more fun with lots of other birds. I'll bet coming home with us was a bit of a downer for him.

Hopefully, some on-the-head time with Dash made up for lack of socialization with our neighbor's flock. They're awfully cute together! We had friends over on Labor Day and Dash was very well-behaved interacting with Thea and Lila. He needs more fun!

Visible life alteration

Whaaa? Are those mountains shaped like mammaries? And they're erupting with.... ack!

Pregnancy and childbirth have made a huge impact on the work of these friends of mine.

Jeff and Ellen are couple that live and work in Boston as fine artists; they both went to college with me. As far as I've been keeping track of them, Jeff's work has been clever and funny, making homages to Japanese horror movies with animated vegetables, or poking fun at commercially packaged foods, while Ellen's has touched on explorations of many different subjects, many of them dealing with strangenesses in the world and bringing them into sharp focus, with humor.

Close to a year ago, they had a child; during Ellen's pregnancy, she was in awe of the bizarre transformations going on with her body, and these changes inspired her sculpture.

"Boob balls" and




"this little piggy goes to market" are other work that were focused on her impending motherhood.

Having gone through this experience twice myself, I completely understand the fascination with bodily changes, and applaud the Warmouth/Wetmores' hilarious and attractive pieces!

My life as a mutant.

Our beach vacation in Rehoboth was a great trip, really. The soft breezes, the warm air, the beautiful weather and gorgeous surroundings, getting outside and letting the kids really enjoy themselves: it was all worth it. It was just my second head, third eye and four extra arms getting in the way. Don't worry, they're all invisible, and as soon as my kids are grown enough for me not to need them, I'm sure I'll abandon them. I know I started to grow them the day I brought Rosie home from the hospital (listening for crying during the night and trying not to roll when co-sleeping) and as she and Dash have become increasingly mobile, my eye in the back of the head and extra arms have helped keep them out of trouble. I was even complimented by strangers in a restaurant for having well-behaved chlidren!

Even so, I work full-time and am not used to having my kids in my care all day for several days consecutively. My extra appendages became overworked. Out with two young kids in tow in an unfamiliar place, my guard rarely came down. While I slept, my invisible antennae tuned in to the kids' room, listening for the "whump" when one of them might fall out of their strange bed. I was constantly on the watch for a meltdown, trying to anticipate triggers and calming measures. Most of the time I stayed on high alert, repeating inane phrases in sing-song voice like, "what's that, sweetheart?" and "sure cutie, that sounds fine," and "wow, baby, look at you!" I was trying so, so, very hard to keep them from screaming and snapping at them myself.

One of the few things that helps a mutated human more than anything is being around other mutants. My other parent-friends! They all have two or three heads, octopus-like collections of arms, and antennae that would make a milliner envious! When we're together, the collective brain power in action is a panacea like no other. I can relax as our children play with each other and all the parents, together, can keep watch over the group with our fortified extrasensory-child-field. We each reach a limb out to grab an errant child, yell to keep another in line; no worries about whose child is grabbed or compensation for our care. We relax, laugh, have a few drinks and maybe even indulge our adult-selves for a while. Thank you, my dear friends!

I know this is a fleeting time. My friends without children are blissfully unaware of how much of a change I've been through; even people with older children easily forget what it was like. They say things like, "Oh god, that was so HARD! I don't know how I got through it!" at the same time, incredibly grateful that they only have one head now and no additional arms. An older relative offered to watch Rosie once, saying, "How hard could it be? Babies only eat and sleep." I knew all her mutant-ness was long-forgotten.

At the same time I am reveling in my superpowers, I find that they are impediments in other ways. Shopping? Forget it. Alienating certain friends and family? Oh, yeah. Nevertheless, these are hard-won mutations. I love my children and am grateful that I have developed the necessary power and energy to care for them. I'm exhausted and exhiliarated. I'm adored (kiss!)and reviled (swat!). One day, I'll hang up my supersuit and it will be a fuzzy memory along with the sweet, chubby, recklessness of the toddlers that forced me to don it. For now, my extra head, octopus arms and other appendages are with me to retrieve the toddler, leaping off the table, or the sprinting preschooler, half-a-block away. I'm saving the world, one child at a time.

While in Rehoboth, we rode our bikes around the area. During peak season, parking is at a premium and it's really just easier to grab the bikes and move out than to have to search for parking spaces. Rehoboth is very bike and bike-rental friendly; they even rent trailers for kids as well as some interesting contraptions that are like bike/golf carts that ride six or more people (more if you have kids riding on the rack in front). We rented a 2nd trailer, since Rosie is too long-legged these days for mine. The Burley trailer converts to a double-stroller, which was great! You'll see Grandaddy Jim with his helmet on to the left.

In the north part of Rehoboth, there is Henlopen State Park, which has a bird sanctuary at Gordon's Pond with an observation deck for viewing different birds across a wetland. Strangely, I saw more interesting birds wading in a canal across from a "tot lot". In the pic below, you'll see a great blue heron, posing grandly for me. I only noticed after I got home that he is presiding over a log with about six turtles on it! (Were they going to be his lunch? We didn't stay to find out.)

The tot lot was a destination at least once daily for the kids; they got to run around, swing, and climb for a little while before getting tucked back into the trailer.

Rosie liked to run up to the top and scramble back down, while Dash was happy to run around and bang on the different playground materials.


We found plenty of great places to have lunch and dinner; breakfast was prepped by us at the beach house. A few restaurants I'd recommend as very tasty and kid-friendly were The Summer House, Go Fish! (oh so delicious!), Stoney Lonen, and Jake's Seafood. We made two trips each to Summer House and Stoney Lonen, and I would have loved to go to Go Fish! another time. When I go back, I'd like to try out a Japanese restaurant if possible; my current traveling companions aren't fond of it, so I'll have to be under different circumstances.

Scandalizing the governor

After a long, sunny, sandy day on the beach, we dragged ourselves back to our beach house, which coincidentally, is right next door to the former governor of Delaware. Since we were all covered with sand (and gravel for me, wiped out 2X playing in the breakers), I took advantage of the outdoor shower to rinse off before going inside. Both kids were freaked out by the shower jets, but Dash started to calm down once I picked him up and rinsed him off while holding him. I handed him off to Auntie M. and then decided to take off my suit while I rinsed Rosie so I could carry her in and not waste time rinsing separately. Rosie screamed bloody murder. The entire time. I was just reaching for her towel when the governor peeked around to see what the commotion was (and he's quite deaf, so she was LOUD) and caught me and Rosie in the nude. Yeep! He only said, "one little girl is creating all that noise?" and quickly disappeared after assessing the situation.

Role reversal

Hello from the beach! I'm back in Rehoboth with the kids, my dad and sister (Auntie M.). Rosie didn't nap during the drive at all, so I got to hear a lot of "are we there yet? no. are we there yet? no." (thank you, Shrek 2) from the backseat. Rosie showed unusual interest in the beach itself along the way, which is strange because she normally avoids water, and when we finally hit the sand, actually had a fantastic time in the water! She was dragging us in, shrieking and jumping, yelling, again! again! more! She really was disappointed when it was time to go.

Dash, who is normally my water-lover, screamed no mommy no! from the instant he set eyes on his swim trunks (on the beach, yes I changed my son in front of all the beachgoers; is that a faux pas?). He made the sandcastles today and didn't set foot in the ocean. Wierd, but I guess it's all developmental stages. He was upset when we left, too, but more because he wanted to continue amassing seashells for his new collection.

I'll be here all week! I'm sending from my phone (a Sidekick).

Yet another casualty of tax hikes: Franz Bader Books

AJS has been keeping me apprised of skyrocketing property assessments for businesses across DC, telling me about how the owners of The Black Cat are wondering how they are going to stay in business and is very concerned about how any small or start-up business is going to survive. One of our favorite long-time restaurants, AV Ristorante Italiano, closed its doors in July (but was bought out, a related exception). Will all the eclectic, fun, and colorful places we love around DC fold and be replaced by Globalized, soul-less chains?

This hit home for me today in a different way today. I was referring a co-worker with a high-school-aged son (who has an artistic bent, but needs some guidance) to Franz Bader Books, a wonderful, small, art-and-design bookstore (est. 1963) that's close to GWU's campus downtown. While searching for the street address, I found Jerry Lebo's blog and learned that it's CLOSING. This year. Within months.

If this is so widespread, what will DC look like in a few years? Will we even recognise it?

Here's a link from DCist.com that tells you how AJS really feels.

I'm blaming the Froot Loops

The kids were stalling at bedtime until 9:45 p.m.! (completely unheard of!) and still seemed to have plenty of energy. I think it was the SUGAR from the treat I gave them for dessert:

FROOT LOOPS!

The stalling cascaded into other delays for me: the kids and I are leaving on a trip early Saturday morning, so I want to have all the packing done by Friday night.

After I finished the dishes, it was 10:30. When I finished (most of) the laundry for the trip, it was after midnight. I set a load of whites to wash on hot, and went to bed.

Then, Dash woke up: he couldn't find his water cup (it was under his stuffed owl). Then he woke up again: he wanted milk. Then he woke up again: he wanted more milk. It occurred to me after the third time that maaaaaybe it was something else. His bedroom is right over the laundry room, so I asked him if the washer and the water pipes were too noisy.

"Djeeaah!" was the affirmative. Off went the washing machine, and me to bed at, I don't know? 1:30 a.m.? 2? I got up at 5:45 for work.

The previous three nights I've been up till midnight trying to finish a newsletter before our trip and I was really hoping to get some sleep last night. Here's my plea to the universe: please let me get some solid sleep tonight so I can be completely awake for the 3-hour drive to Delaware tomorrow!!!

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I still say the Froot Loops started it. Or maybe my logic is impaired by sleep deprivation?

They're both going to tower above me!

I just did the numbers on Babycenter.com's child height predictor, and based on Rosie's 4-year and Dash's 2-year checkups, their heights at age 18 will be:


Rosie: 5' 4"

Dash: 6' 0"


I'm just slightly under 5' 2". It's hard to imagine my little man at 6 feet, but I look forward to watching it happen.

My dad, as a dormitory prankster

This is one of my favorite stories that my dad told me about his college life.

While he was an engineering undergrad student, Jim lived in a dorm at UCONN. Back in the 60s, dorm living was pretty bare bones, with linoleum floors (not like the posh carpet I had) and metal radiators for heat. Jim's dorm was housed with a diverse group of students, like at most universities, and he happened to be across the hall from a room full of football players.

He preferred do his studying in his dorm room and over the course of the year found a very entertaining way to take a study break. From the back of his room, he would carefully aim a coin and launch it at just the right angle and with just the amount of force to skitter-skitter-skitter across his floor, into the hallway, through the football players' room, and then strike with a satisfying

PING!

on their radiator.

Well, then there'd be rumbling and stomping while all the bulky athletes got to their feet and rushed to their door, to burst out in the hallway, yelling and swearing! And finding: an empty hall.

They'd run up and down the halls looking for the prankster and eventually settle down and go back to the room, grumbling.

Jim repeated this regularly throughout the year and had the jocks so tightly wound that they were ready to beat the coin-shooter to a pulp! They launched themselves out of their room at high speed, faster each time, made more ferocious noises, and ran further down the halls.

They never did figure out that it was the very slightly built, 5'9" engineering student from across the hall. ;-)

Mmmm, lunch...

Two-thirds of my delightful lunch today came from my backyard! It was a tomato (yes), basil (yes), and mozzarella (no, we don't have a dairy) salad that AJS lovingly prepared for me. He even went out in the rain this morning to clip basil for the salad. What a trooper; he must love me.

[<--not an actual photo of MY lunch, but an awfully close approximation]

It was delightful! I think he added a bit of olive oil and cracked pepper.