more pics 1

Birthday Girl

Maggie's party

I have such a crush on this guy!

Look at this picture. A total DILF.

OMG it is hard to get here these days

You guys. Where does the time go? Even now, I only have, like, two minutes!

Maggie is having her birthday party this weekend - any chance you can come? It's going to be a My Little Pony party you know - Pinkie Pie, Rainbow something, Sparkly Horsenuts and whoever else there is. Maggie will be the Princess of All That Sparkles and Glows, just like Lily Lightly, etc. ugh.

Turns out there's a my little pony customization web presence - had you any idea? I mean really. HAD YOU ANY IDEA?!

And let's see. My man Barack is making it happen. Newsweek had a great cover story on his lovely wife Michelle that I'm hoping you might seek out and read. I really would prefer her sleeping next to the President than Bill Clinton. Can't lie.

For whatever reason, my Big Brother obsession is mixing with my feverent support of Mr. Obama. Last night I dreamt that I was "going to everyone in the house" trying to convince them not to vote to evict him. Lol. And me and Barack were having a showmance, too! Hotsy Totsy!

Okay. Gotta go. More later. With pictures!

Welcome back Susie!

Oy, where have I been?!!

Okay, here's an update. On Friday we hired our first ever external babysitter! Her name is Jessica and she is terrific. We will definitely be utilizing her services again. Jeff and I were able to go out to dinner with some of my new friends at work, and it was great to be able to introduce him around.

On Saturday night, we had the Flynns and the Fishes over for a little house party. WHAT FUN! Both of those families are right on, and we all had a great time. And my chicken was a hit!

On Sunday, laid low. I began working on a quilt this weekend for a certain somebody, and spent much of the day at my sewing machine. Quite blissful. Also I made good progress on the library book I am reading, entitled "Shattered Dreams" by Irene Spencer. About life in a polygamous marriage. Very interesting. Dian, didn't you read this book also?

Sunday night I got a terrible headache, slept fitfully and then decided to stay home from work on Monday. Nice quiet day, with long naps and further progress on both the quilt and the book.

Monday night, Maggie got a terrible headache, slept fitfully and then decided to stay home from school on Tuesday. I stayed with her. She was sort of okay in the morning, but then began to seep profusely from all head holes (except her ears) and was down for the count until sometime this morning.

And today we have the worst sort of weather. Several inches of snow came overnight, and now it's been raining non stop. Ice cold rain that is puddling up everywhere there isn't snow to block its path. yucko.

So that's it, mostly. You didn't miss much with my short break in posting... Oh and Barack Obama is in it to win it! You better believe it! Yes We Can, Indeed.

A couple funny things said by Henry

Thing One:

While discussing what he could bring to school for the Chinese New Years party in his classroom on Thursday:

"I know what I can bring in that's Chinese! Lead Paint!"

Thing Two:

While discussing politics:

"You know what I wanna do? I wanna get a pad of paper and sit and watch Rudy Guilliani give a speech. And then every time he mentions 9/11, I'm gonna make a mark on my paper!"

You're not the only one making sloppy mistakes.

Last night, Jeff ran out of gas. And it was my fault! I'd been driving around on E for awhile, then put the van in to be serviced. (Didn't put gas in the car before the appointment, because why tie up my money in gas when I wouldn't even be able to drive the van for a whole day nearly! Jeesh! Obviously!)

Then Jeff picked up the van and promptly ran out of gas on the way home. (He was who was on the other line when I was on the phone with you, eldest sister.) D'oh! So I had to pack up the kids, throw us all into Jeff's car (the car I'd been using while mine was in the shop) and head out into a very foggy dark night to the rescue.

Getting a gas can and putting gas into it went very smoothly. But then I went around town, in attempt to be able to pull over to the correct side of the highway. Wasting precious minutes. I should've gotten on the highway, then just reversed direction at the exit past where Jeff was. Instead I meandered through Milford and didn't seek out the highway until after I "knew" I passed where Jeff was. Stoopid.

Anyway. Luckily, a cop had stopped by where Jeff was stranded and put a flare behind the van, so that, with the hazards, helped him to be seen by the cars rushing past. (When I talked to Jeff to let him know we were on the way, I heard NPR on the radio and would be willing to bet Jeff had been surfing the internet on his phone before I called. So he wasn't exactly shivering roadside while waiting for me.)

At one point, Maggie admitted that she was scared as we waited for Jeff to get the van running again. This gave me a chance to remember all the times I'd been a kid whose car had been broken down on the highway. I recalled that happening with mom and dad numerous times, once with Nigel, etc. I even told the story about you, Dian, and how you didn't show up and didn't show up, and then finally, showed up. Drenched by the rain, you had to walk all the way home from where your car broke down on 405 -remember?

"This was in the days before cell phones, you see..." I said. Henry was all, "WHOA." sort of funny.

Our trip to New York City

Oh my did we have good times on Wednesday. A very long day, and we are still recovering, but what fun.

On Tuesday night, Jocelyn and Brooke and I drove down to my friends Donna and Neil's place in CT. The plan was to get there late Tuesday, which we did, in great part to an error made by yours truly. I missed something somewhere, and we ended up nearly in Boston before turning around and backtracking. When we stopped for directions to the Mass Pike, the guy who helped us laughed and said, "From here?!" (We were at Alewife, for those in the know.)

But we got there safe and sound, and went to sleep pretty quickly. I remember laughing real hard about something, can't remember what. Oh! We ate like pigs on the way down, voracious, unspeakable quantities of snack crackery. Someone said they could feel their belly laying on the mattress as they were on their side. Someone else said to name their baby Candy, and we all busted up. You might've had to have been there.



Next morning Donna was so gracious and took us to the Norwalk train station, where we boarded a train to New York City! It was great to sit and watch out the window as we got closer and closer to the city. Got out at Grand Central Station and immediately began to shop, spend money, search out places to pee, and soak up the atmosphere. Jocelyn got this great combination tissue box cover/photo display opportunity, where you can have the tissue spout out the photo's nose or mouth or whatever. And I got a tape measure to keep at my sewing table. and Brooke picked up a cute shopping bag.


And water, and energy drinks, and potty breaks and out onto 42nd street I think it is. The day was gorgeous, and the wind on the long avenue blocks was brutal. We began shopping for hats and mittens quickly. But no luck, not until later that is...





So right around Grand Central Station is mid town Manhattan. You can walk towards Times Square or you can hit Rockefeller Center, or you can do both. We had pizza at Rockefeller Center, then walked to Times Square, and then hit the subway. We wanted to buy some fake handbags on Canal Street, so that's where we went.

Almost as soon as we reached the street, a small Asian woman in a black puffy jacket whispered to Jocelyn, "Coach? Gucci? Prada?" We said yes, and she set off, indicating we should follow. She took us into a tiny backroom storage thing, a hidden door almost, at the mouth of the subway station. A kind of dirty storage room, no frills, but gorgeous bags lining the walls and garbage bags and other modes of transporting goods on the sly littering the floor. The guy was selling the bags for about $30 - $35 a piece, and while we were there another guy (in another black puffy jacket) swept in and dropped off a garbage bag, which carried that mornings stock update. It was a little crazy.

We didn't want to shoot our wad on our first stop of the day, so we decided to keep looking. We just walked up and down the street and popped in to teeny tiny little store fronts, all operated by friendly Asian folks who would usher us into hidden back rooms and storage closets concealed by T-shirt displays and fancy Chinese gowns for sale. Wild.

We ended up getting six bags, and most of those from one guy whose wife works the streets, escorting customers to the tiny stairwell off Canal Street that they rented for $1,500 a month come to find out! He was a great guy, very friendly and informative. Described how the whole thing sort of worked, that there are people with walkie talkies or cell phones, who stand on the street and radio in to say whether the coast is clear of cops, if it's safe to send the customers out the door or not. And how one time customers were inside shopping and there were two cop cars parked outside, on unrelated business. The guy had to keep the customers inside for so long that their families (who had been waiting for them down the street) panicked and called the cops! "The police they sweep in, take all the bags!" the guy said. Here is a picture of Jocelyn and Brooke with this nice fellow.



So we just shopped and shopped all up and down the street, then took the subway back up to Times Square. Found a warm place to sit down and have a few drinks, and that was really restorative. The plan was to meet up with Neil (who works in the city) after he got off work, but he didn't know exactly when that would be. He advised us to walk over to the East Side, find another bar or pub near his office and wait there.

Here are some pictures from our walk to the East Side. By the time we got out of the resteraunt in Times Square (where we were served by Skye, a guy who had moved to the city just six months ago from Cincinnati. He declared it 'exhausting' to live in the city, but seemed happy.) it was evening, so of course I got some great shots for you to enjoy:






From here on out, the evening takes a bit of a hazy turn. Went to another bar, drank and laughed and chummed it up with the waitress and the Irish bartender. The place we went to was called "The Black Sheep", and we were all pretty tipsy when Neil showed up, I won't lie to you. Real good times, however, make no mistake.

Neil threw our drunk asses into a cab and hauled us up to a place called "Cabana", where we had several more rounds of drinks and fantastic dinner and great conversation, etc. etc. etc. Our waitress' name was Anna (cue me bellowing, "HANNAH?!?") and she was terrific. And Neil was a champ, totally up for being the responsible, capable guy who was up for handling the details and knows all the tricks.

Here are some pictures of us hamming it up in Grand Central Station, so silly and tipsy that Neil basically told us to just stand there and wait for him. He returned with tickets for all and herded us onto the train. Got us back nice and safe, around 11:30. When I went downstairs at around 4:30 in the morning to get sick (ahem!) I heard him getting ready for work! That guy is a workhorse, I've said it before, I'll say it again...

The ride home was a little rough. The bright sunlight and the sour tummy and the long day before it, made things difficult. It was great to finally get home and relax. And of course examine all our new treasures, play with Wii (Jocelyn and Brooke have serious Wii envy) and hang out with the kids.

Tonight we were supposed to go to You You's Japanese Bistro in Nashua with a bunch of my friends. But the weather has decided to take a terrible turn. We are in the middle of a freezing rain sleet storm, which forced us to cancel our dinner plans. It sucks how the weather can force you to have to do that once in awhile, but what can you do. We have been having a lot of fun hanging around the house, and Jocelyn's made lasagne, so it's all good. Now we just have to get Jeff home safely! His car is terrible in weather like this and he is currently stuck at work! We're supposed to call him when the plow truck goes down our road, then he'll give the commute a try.

So that's it! The girls go home tomorrow afternoon, and it has been so great to have them here. I always laugh so hard, and I just love to do that. Can't be beat.

Eli is really growing up!

Check out these very cute pictures Nicole sent me of baby Eli from the Curtis Farm.

LOOK.

AT.

THAT.

FACE.

Yes We Can!

I really love this guy. Check out this inspiring speech Barack Obama made after he won the South Carolina primary this weekend. You will be glad you did!

Part One


Part Two

Professor Obama and Me

Professor Obama and Me

It was 1996, and there I was, in a seminar room with maybe fifteen students, not knowing that I was learning from the man who might be the next President of the United States.

This is a pretty interesting article I found on daily kos, which is a website I am visiting regularly now. ch-ch-check it out!

Up to Ten

So Maggie has discovered the computer. She plays games online as long as you will let her. (She's a Mortland, after all.) I want to support this, but the commercialism and advertising that goes on within the one spot she likes to go was too much! I wondered if perhaps there was an independant website for kids games that we could find.

Friends, I am here to tell you that there is, and she loves it, and it is going to be great. Uptoten.com is where we will be hanging out. There is a free area, and there is a premium area. Last night she played puzzles and games on the free side, and this morning I just bought a premium membership. 49 bucks for one year, but it's full screen, no ads, more games, supports a small independant company, etc.

If you have small kids and you'd like to incorporate multimedia games and learning experiences for them, check this place out. Heather, Lanie, Katie, I'm talking to you. Let me know what you think!

I'm hungry!

I am looking forward to going home for lunch. I will make a turkey and cheese sandwich. I will wipe down the countertops. I will use the bathroom. I will cuddle with Kermit. I will watch a show.

So the inmates are running the asylum. Both kids, certainly Maggie, end up sleeping in our bed at night. Yesterday it was discovered that Maggie doesn't find her bed to be as cozy as other beds in the house. So yesterday she and I went to Homegoods and Target and picked out some cozy pink flannel sheets. Looked for other "princess" ephemera, but could not find anything worthy of purchase.

It stinks how you see something "everywhere" and then when you finally decide you want some, and you return to the places you thought would stock that stuff to the rafters and you are thwarted at every turn. Boo. Maybe when I'm not in the market for it, I see it and think "Pink!" or "Maggie would love that" and that's the end. But when I decide to go out and make the purchase, I determine that Maggie wouldn't love exactly that. And Pink is one thing, 49.99 is another.

Anyway. I tried to make her bed as cozy and warm as possible, but she still ended up in our bed halfway through the night...Boo....

Elsewhere in my life... I'm going to be taking over a new position at work. It was the one I originally interviewed for way back when. I wish I were more excited about it, but hopefully that will be good. I'm not having second thoughts, I'm just sort of "eh..." I guess I'm not dissatisfied with the job I've got, and I wasn't really looking to jump ship just yet - I feel like I'm just getting warmed up in this position and now it's time to learn something new. Luckily I really like the woman I'll be working for/with, she and I have a great rapport, and she, apparently, is convinced I'll love the new work. Time will tell...

Next weekend kicks of day after day of good times and visits with some of the very important women in my life. Lanie and Cassidy and Nora plan to arrive on Thursday night, and then Jocelyn and Brooke come Saturday night! Jeff and Henry will be surrounded by women this weekend - the lucky ducks!

Henry works on his homework

Maggie works on the computer

Good Day, dear reader

Hello good people of Bloggingtown, it is I, your loyal scribe.

Jeff and I had a great dinner date on Friday. We had a babysitter and everything! Went to Amigos, where I quickly ordered a house margarita. the thing was so nasty and bottom dwelling, I turned right around and upgraded to a top shelf quality margarita and mmm-boy, was it just what I was looking for. Yum. And, Ole!

On Saturday Jeff took the kids to see "Alvin and the Chipmunks" and I went out with my new girlfriend Liza to look at used furniture. F-U-N spells fun for this gal! Liza was the one who watched the kids for us on Friday, and it is so nice to feel like maybe I have a sister pal on my hands! She's the bees knees, that one.

And yesterday Maggie and I made a mermaid dolly. She still needs some work, but I'll try to post a picture of her.

I have six or seven more 'parts' of Maggie working on the puzzle. Videos at youtube take forever to upload, so you will get those in installments. After I figure out what is wrong with Part Two, that is.

We got a whole bunch of snow over the last 12 hours or so, several to a-whole-bunch of inches of snow. Hopefully we'll get some snow while Jocelyn and Brooke are here, 'cause it's real purty to watch falling from the sky. (Unlike other things falling from the sky, that is.)

Maggie works on a puzzle

Part 1



Part 2

Election Analysis

Our local paper published the election results for the towns in the community... very interesting.

In our town, Obama got 386 votes, Clinton got 284 in the democratic primary. Romney got 245 and McCain got 283. Our town had a 60% voter turn out. There are 2,923 registered voters and 1,771 votes were cast.

In Milford, the breakdown was this: Obama 1,052, Clinton 1,091, Romney 867 and McCain 978. Milford had a 56% voter turn out. There are 10,045 registered voters, 5,693 votes cast.

For Amherst: Obama 1,300, Clinton 970. Romney 1,140 and McCain 1,250. Amherst had a 72% votern turn out. There are 8,459 registered voters and 6,165 votes were cast.

So we delivered our town to Obama!

Hello, friends...

Well!

So!

Tonight, Jeff and I are going out to dinner! Just the two of us! Alone! My girlfriend Liza is going to watch the kids at her house for us. I will have a margarita for YOU, dear reader!

And a margarita for YOU, other dear reader!

Weekend plans this weekend are not so hot. The sheer quantity of laundry that needs doing is unbelievable. And I won't even mention going to the dump. Anyway, a bunch of housework, in other words.

Oh if only I didn't have a Wii to play and a new chair to sit in and a laptop to surf on! I might actually get things done around here...

Maggie is really enjoying puzzles. She's so patient and careful about them. I picked up a few new puzzles for her at the Job Lot today at lunch. And last night was the first in several dozen (it seems like) where we woke up in our own bed, with no small children in it! So she gets a My Little Pony.

The other new thing with Maggie is that she's been working on the computer more. last night, for a very long while, she was consumed with playing "Bunnyland" games at disney.com or whatever it is. And heaven help the adult who might have a tip or two on how to use a trackpad. This sister will do it for herself!

Another goal this weekend will be to sell one of our red couches on craigslist. Gotta work up my craigslist karma, you know.

And, I'd like to see a movie, too. Maybe "Juno" or "Lars and the Real Girl", or whatever's playing at our local movie theater...

Have a great weekend blogland!

p.s. I hope to get my sew on this weekend as well. wish me luck!

First Lady in Waiting

Here is a great article about Michelle Obama...

Change Agent
First Lady in Waiting
Who needs a warm-up campaign? Having scaled down her career to support her husband’s political goals, Michelle Obama says “it’s now or never” for the couple to take the White House. As Barack gathers momentum, Michelle speaks candidly about America’s need for change, and a different kind of political marriage.

First Lady in Waiting

That's a relief.

Obama to Get Union Endorsement

After suffering a setback in New Hampshire on Tuesday, Senate Barack Obama will get some good news at 11 a.m. today, Pacific time, when Unite Here, the union representing 460,000 apparel, laundry, hotel and restaurant workers, announces that it is endorsing him, a union official said.
The union will make the announcement simultaneously at its New York headquarters and in Las Vegas, where its local, Culinary Local 226, representing more than 60,000 casino, hotel and restaurant workers, is by far the largest and most politically potent union in Nevada.

White Yankee Talking

I think what's important to remember is that:

a) NH doesn't know anything - we are all a bunch of yankee white folks - not at all representative of the nation as a whole.

b) obama's strategy and plan didn't have him winning NH anyway -- winning Iowa and then the polls lurched him onto this trajectory of expectation.

c) it is odd that the polls were so wrong, but something I read today said that the independants went to mccain rather than obama (more afraid of romney than clinton those folks were apparently) yesterday. so the committed voters for clinton were more than the committed voters for obama.

d) romney is such a sleazeball, I'm just relieved to see him going south.

e) interestingly, the actual count of democratic delegates awarded to each candidate went down like this: obama 9, clinton 9 and edwards 4. so technically it was a tie! but clinton gets the 'popular vote' win. And who will get Edwards' 4 delegates when he drops out?

f) I worry about nevada and who the food service workers union will back. word was it would be obama, but they were waiting until after NH to announce who they were backing. obama hasn't gottem many union endorsements, it would be really sweet for him to get that one.... whoever gets that endorsement will basically win onaccounta how many union members make up the population in nevada.

The serious, intently listening rocker girl

I think I figured it out

The adorable rocker girl

Gol Dang it, I did it again!

(You could also say I'm turning video capturing on its ear!)

My new world headquarters

Here is the chair you may've heard me talking about. $110 cash! got it off of craigslist over the weekend. The guy, a furniture liquidator for hotels, got these chairs out of a Ritz Carlton, and they were reupholstered about three months ago. I am loving it, and intend to purchase another one in a couple weeks when it becomes available. Makes me not crazy about the rug though. Like the fabric on the chair looks like the dingy denim couch next to it. Could be the nasty florescent light bulbs in the lamps. But very comfortable, great shape and exactly what I've been looking for.

Got a new digital camera!

Here is the first video from it...

NOTE: the camera I got is an upgraded version of my old Canon Powershot. So it's a camera looking camera, but has video and audio too. I had been shooting some portrait shots of Maggie when I started to make the video. Notice it did not occur to me that I wouldn't be able to rotate this picture once I got it in the computer...

Anyway. It's a start!

In this video, Maggie is listening to my ipod...

Say hi to my guy

Meet Barack.

Mindy Ephron

If you recognize this woman, Mindy Kaling from "The Office", you might be happy to know she has a blog! And you may be happier still to know that I have a link to her blog right here for you! Pretty funny stuff. She and her friends write about the things they've bought that they love. Hence, the title.


Things I've Bought That I love

1. Zenergize Drink Tablets.

In my efforts to ween myself off of disgusting, stomach-lining-eroding diet soda, I've turned to healthful alternatives. For a while it was kombucha, but man, it is expensive, and also it kind of tastes like an alcoholic is peeing in your mouth. But yeah, I try to keep a minimum to the chemicals and preservatives I ingest.



Remember those old ads as a kid where you'd see an elderly person happily plunking a tablet in water and then dropping their dentures in it? And even though it was kind of grotesque, it also looked really, well, fun? Zenergize tabs allow regular cool, healthy, young people to drop tablets in water, but instead of cleaning dentures, they create a fun fizzy drink you can gulp down before you work out, or take a midterm, or have sex or something. I primarily use the "Burn" tablets because I am obsessed with any calorie burning booster. But if you're feeling sick or something, you can use "Immunity" which has a kind of citrusy taste and it really does feel like you're keeping yourself good and impenetrable to baddie cold germs. I love that they aren't too-too sweet or anything, and have only 2 calories for a whole tablet! Moreoever, if you lick a tablet, you get a super satisfying little fizzle on your tongue.

Henry ROCKS!

Photos from Christmas

I need to get outside and take some pictures, because this snow is crazy. Follow this link to our friend's blog where he posted a walk down main street during the last snow storm. Thanks Scott!

These few pictures represent the majority of the photos I took over the holidays. Sad, I know. A nice new digital camera is now twinkling at me off in the distance. And I'm going to toy with making a youtube video of Henry playing Guitar Hero, so keep your fingers crossed on that. Hopefully tonight is the night!

First, I show you a bath mat I made recently. Let's just get that right out of the way.



Here's where I got the idea.


Santa brought Maggie a new winter coat!



Maggie and Jeff napped out on the couch.



And, lastly, Henry's snowballs.

Happy Nude Rear!

(I saw that new year greeting somewhere online, made me snicker...)

Oy VEY have I been feeling lousy! *Cough* *Hack* *Snort*... I am feeling better, thank goodness. Still lots of ...uh... residual sickness product inside, but I'm making my way through it. It was nice because I was just beginning to forget what it felt like to feel good when I woke up from my sleep to meet the new year feeling tons better. Yay! cough hack snort.

We didn't do much at all for new years eve. Maggie and I went to sleep early, and Henry and Jeff stayed up past midnight playing Guitar Hero or Super Mario Galaxy. (We are loving our Wii!) I was going to have to go to work on Monday, but the snow that came in late Sunday night ended up causing work to be cancelled, so at least I got to stay home for the day, which was great. And then yesterday we got a ton MORE snow, but it got all sorted and plowed away in time for us to get where we needed to go today.

We are getting a ton of snow this winter, by the way... Jocelyn and Brooke, you'd better bring your snow gear! maybe we'll go sledding when you're here...

Merry Christmas!

We got up at seven this morning and enjoyed a very nice and leisurely Christmas morning... Not as much under the tree this year, but only because we've sort of been opening gifts all along. One thing I observed is that we got the Wii a bit out of our system and were much more able to enjoy our other gifts.

Oh and guess what I got?! An iPod Nano! This one, in black:



Nice, huh? It even has my name and email address etched on the back! Earlier today I was wearing the ear buds in my ears, listening to music nice and low - it was so sweet! Everywhere I went, so did the soft little tune in my ear. If I heard a great song, I could turn it up! And I could totally hear everything else going on around me in the meantime. This will be especially handy at work, where I itch to listen to music, but need to be able to hear, too.

My Christmas package was delivered to Jocelyn's house last night, yay! What a relief.

And back to work tomorrow... There was talk of Jeff taking the kids up to Maine, since they have the rest of the week off. Hopefully that'll still happen, hopefully the kids will be well enough to hit the road. Maggie hasn't stepped foot outside since coming home from school on Friday! Henry and I went for a walk down to Curtis Farm this afternoon, it was really gorgeous out. Snow, but still sort of warm - good smelling, too!

We're stretching Christmas like taffy over here

Jeff and I decided to have a staggered roll out of Christmas gifts this year, and so far it has gone pretty well. Another factor at play in our lives right now is that both kids are just not 100%. A lot of laying around and napping and accounts of not feeling good, stomachs hurting, bodies feeling "scratchy" (a catch all adjective for Maggie, although she could use some lotion). So ever since Friday night, when our holiday vacation actually kicked off, the kids have been sort of lackluster, save for some brief pockets of brightness, as documented below.

We are loving our Wii, and are still managing to get a lot of play in, despite the ill health. Right now Jeff is horsing around with the preferences, poking around and putting his mind to it. He also kicked out the JAM his first time out at Guitar Hero (Thanks for the gift, Grammi and Papa!) which surprised me, but didn't. So far I am impressed with the parental controls that come with the Wii. For example, Henry always plays using a certain "Mii" character named "hok", and we can go a message center or somewhere on the Wii that will tell us which games, and for how long, his "hok" Mii played. Pretty interesting.

I think another thing about this Christmas that's different is, of course, that I'm working. Last week, as we were all clawing our way through the work and school week, digging out cars from snow storms, securing christmas party gift exchange contribution and the holiday concert at the school, I realized yet again how hard we all work now that we have some place to be every weekday. What a chore it is to just get through the week sometimes, and how nice it would be to have four days of just us, etc. It has been very nice and mellow... I am just now realizing that Matt from the farm is the only non resident of our house to actually set eyes on our Christmas tree! How sad is that!?

Here is our tree this year, by the way:



One way to look at it is if there is only going to be one person outside our house to see our tree, it ought to be the person who actually cut the dang thing down! Maybe?






Onward with the photographs.

Here is Henry, thrilled to pieces with his very own copy of The Simpsons movie (thank you Jocelyn!), which came complete with it's own t-shirt. The t-shirt, incidentally, came compressed into the shape of a pink frosted half eaten donut. d'oh!




And this is Maggie, proudly displaying her "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse set!" Thank you again, Jocelyn... This set came with only one character! I had to explain that the reason it only comes with Mickey (and not Minnie, or Daisy, or even Daffy) is so that people will spend more money. I can't figure out which is worse, that I'm right, or that she understood what I was talking about.



And yes, that is a nasty dusty old microwave she's using as a play table surface..

I just like this pic. She opened up a gift of a dozen headbands, and put this one on herself! cutie pie.



Since I knew we were getting Guitar Hero, and I knew that Maggie would end up not exactly being able to participate too significantly with that game, I worked it out so that Henry gave Maggie her own electric guitar toy for Christmas. Here she is jamming out. We've been listening to classic rock songs ("Iron Man", "You Really Got Me", "Shout at the Devil", etc.) and she was always lamenting that she didn't have the right rocker outfit. The rocker outfit involves a guitar, and also dark sunglasses. She'd been wondering about footwear, but I pointed out that a lot of rockers go barefoot, and so she was all set.




Here's a dud shot of Maggie and her Mickey Mouse Clubhouse set. Gives you an idea of the quantity of snow we have around here.




In other news, the giant package I shipped to Seattle still has not reached it's final destination! I will be so bummed out if it doesn't get there! The degree of sweat and toil I employed to put what's in that box, in that box, cannot be replaced! I will be bumming hard core. Although when I was at the post office, saying goodbye to the box, as it were, I was struck by how I may never see any of the items in this box. I was putting it all in a box and then entrusting it to the good folks at my local post office to get it there. Odd, that. Also, once I got that shipment out, and then the other priority piece of mail (I'm looking at you, Arizona) made it's way into the mail, the holiday stress level, in general, really took a nosedive for me. I mellowed out like an old hound dog after those two boxes left our possession. But now I think of all the goodies in that Seattle package, and I am bumming hard core at the thought of none of getting anywhere!

Keep the faith, Susie. Keep the faith. Tomorrow is another day. The mail comes on Christmas Eve day, doesn't it?

Oh, and one more thing! I know it sounds like a regift, but it's actually a kick ass regift and I am thrilled to get it. I've never turned my nose up at anything I got second hand, and I'm not starting now! Jeff had his Powerbook G4 laptop refurbished and tuned up and now it's all mine! mine mine MINE! I am thrilled with this. He and I had talked about how I would inherit his laptop after he got his new one. But then his old laptop shit the bed somehow and I was busy passing him notes about Christmas gift ideas for me and between this and that, I forgot all about it. Until he gave me a big "Merry Christmas!" and made like a game show tv hostess and with a big sweep of his arm revealed a gorgeous laptop -- just like his new one! with a screensaver that said, "Susie's Tibook G4" -- I was like, whoo hoo! sweet!

He'd stripped it of all his business, cleaned it up and out and then fixed it up nice and sweet, and now it's all mine mine MINE! I already feel like I am writing to you from my new world headquarters... And last night, I went to Marshalls and bought the perfect backpack for it, with which I am super pleased. I would, ultimately, like to downplay the significance of the Mac in the kitchen, and this powerbook will be the first major step in that direction. if I could figure out how to retain the large scale convienence of all the Kitchen Mac delivers without having that giant clutter pit of cables and papers and dust and so forth, I would certainly do so. Now, at least, I can strip the kitchen mac of my personal business and begin to taper off my dependance of that machine and refocus it to this one I'm on right now! I can also begin to contemplate different projects I've had in my mind but have been too shy to crank out while perched on a stool in the kitchen. Dig?

Okedoke, dear reader. Sure do love you. I hope that, whichever specific reader you are, you find yourself content and able to cope with this unusual holiday season. My dad's not here anymore to say "Bah Humbug" and "fiddle dee dee" and all the rest, and we all are having to go it alone without him, and that's hard. My way to cope is to isolate myself with my family and do what I want (and what my husband agrees to - love you Jebby!) about gift gifting and waiting (or not), and so I'm hanging in there. I hope you are too. bye for now...

We opened some gifts

Here are Henry and Jeff and Kermit modeling their great looking christmas gifts made with love by my mom!

News of Visitors!

Howdy!

Jocelyn and Brooke bought their tickets last night!!! Hooray! They'll be here the last week in January. This news makes me so happy! A dream come true!

In the dreams-crushed department, however, we have a story from Henry's life. He lost another tooth, and was broken hearted at no money from the tooth fairy under his pillow. Even though this is not the first tooth lost in a world where your mother is the tooth fairy for Henry. Last week when a tooth fell out, I confessed that I was the tooth fairy, and let him grab a handful of change from Jeff's spare change jar.

Regardless, this morning's crushing disappointment over the tooth fairy issue was just the ammunition he needed to mount his defense for why he wasn't dressed yet. In fact, further, he would be throwing out all his baby teeth from here on out, dashing my hopes of crafting a baby-tooth necklace for his bride to wear on their wedding day. LOL!

I told him, "Hey. you know what? I can only keep so many dreams afloat at once." There was a silent, pregnant pause where nobody mentioned Santa Claus, and then he got out of bed and got dressed.

I need to update more often, I know, I know!

Hi everyone...

It snowed a super bunch yesterday! With more expected this weekend - hooray! It's very beautiful outside right now and I am happy to have at least one day this weekend with the weather too yucky to be out running errands.

Maggie and Henry were both sick this week! Maggie more so. She began throwing up around 2 in the morning on Wednesday, and then kept throwing up almost every hour on the hour until around 2pm. Night Night had taken one for the team and soaked his ear in the vomit bowl, so he didn't get out of the dryer until 2. He got right back to work however, and our girl was able to sleep pretty much until the next day. Jeff stayed home on Thursday, and both kids are back at school today. Henry had a stomach ache and seemed plagued by some sort of bug that didn't make him barf, but did seem to keep him down for the count all of Wednesday.

It was nice to stay home on Wednesday as I was able to finally get a holiday shipment in the mail to Seattle Thursday at lunch. There are still other packages to get in the mail (Arizona, I'm looking at you), but sending that box out West was a big load off my mind, I won't lie to you.

We are getting a Wii for Christmas! They are so hard to find in stock right now, I was complaining about that fact to my sister Dian and she said she knew someone who was selling one second hand! It's only four months old, so it's hardly second hand - we are very excited!

NOTE: Say nothing to Henry or Maggie on this issue until AFTER Christmas. Thank you.

Fishes

Here is sweet baby Eli from down the road. what a cutie. Took this yesterday when we went to cut down our christmas tree...

Maho Bay Camps, St. John, U.S. Virgin Island

omg I want to go here:

The roomy tent-cottages are nearly hidden by lush foliage providing privacy. Translucent fabric on wood frames, screened windows and open air terraces take advantage of the cooling Virgin Islands trade winds. Each has a separate sleeping area with comfortable twin beds. An extra mattress is behind the sleeping-couch in the living area. Bed linens, blankets, towels, cooking and eating utensils are all provided, including propane stove and ice cooler. Every tent-cottage has its own private deck, electric outlets, lights and fans. Barbecue areas and fresh water are available along the walkways.

Our secluded white sand beach and year-round tropical climate offer a variety of popular water sports (with expert instruction available) including kayaking, windsurfing, sailing, snorkeling and scuba diving. Massage, yoga, National Park presentations, weddings, live music and other activities are available. Glassblowing demonstrations are a popular activity with mesmerized guests watching beautiful glasswork being made from crushed bottles in our Trash to Treasure Art Center. So there is something for everyone, we also offer an array of classes for both adults and children that include a number of craft areas such as tie-dyeing, ceramics, glass blowing, watercolor painting, and paper making -- and each class demonstrates an aspect of creating art out of recycled materials.

and it's like just $160 a night for a family of four in January. Doesn't that sound wonderful?! I'd post a picture but iphotos acting funny - but go ahead, click! see for yourself.

Maho Bay Camps, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands

Good Morning...

We have been having trouble with Henry getting up in time for school in the mornings. I go in and wake him up and get his clothes out for him (if I'm feeling charitable) and then leave him in a seemingly awake state to suffer the consequences of not following through and actually getting up and dressed and downstairs.

This morning, Jeff facilitated some consequences. I was in the kitchen making lunches when in walks Jeff with Henry (wearing only his underwear) in his arms. Jeff opens the front door, deposits Henry outside, then closes and locks the door! I was howling with laughter. "It's not funny." he says. "You can't carry a seven year old kid in his underwear outside and lock him out in the snow and not expect me to laugh - THAT IS FUNNY." I say.

The morning did not get much better for our boy. I let Henry inside, he ran upstairs to get dressed, then accidentally slipped on the stairs coming back downstairs and landed on his tailbone. :-( And then he accidentally smacked his sister in the face with his backpack. And no time for breakfast. And no gloves to be found (just two right hands) which meant he'd either get in trouble at recess or not be able to go outside, etc. I was feeling bad for the guy! Hopefully this morning was sufficiently uncomfortable for him to maybe get up a little earlier tomorrow.

Hello...

Maggie has been wearing the dress pictured below NON STOP, except for school. She wore it all day Saturday, slept in it, wore it all day Sunday, slept in it, took it off for school, put it back on when she got home, and slept in it again last night.

HOWS THAT FOR HOLIDAY SPIRIT?!?!?

Maggie's new Holiday dress

Morning Edition

I was a few minutes late to work this morning, partly because I couldn't get out of the car for listening to the radio! NPR did a story on the CNN/Youtube debate last night between the Republican presidential nominees. I found myself able to follow along and knit together what I was hearing with what I already knew and just really enjoying the story all the way around.

I even found myself chuckling aloud at something Fred Thompson said. Each candidate was invited to present their own youtube video, and his video was a collection of clips of his fellow candidates flip flopping or whatever. He explained his creative vision by saying he just wanted to give the other guys more air time.

And the youtube viewer who asked how the guys who hadn't specifically been tortured before could stand up there next to a guy who HAD been tortured before and, further, believes that waterboarding is torture, how could they stand there next to that guy and not admit that waterboarding is torture.

Oh! And the guy who asked, with regard to the death penalty, what would Jesus do? One candidate (I can't remember who) answered by saying that Jesus wouldn't run for political office, that's what Jesus would do! I'm still not sure what to think about that!

Anyway. Reminds me of my Dad and how much fun following politics was for him and how I'm going to let my Orvillelight shine by continuing to follow along and knit together what I know with what I hear. By caring.

I'm certainly not in danger of tuning into Fox News Channel and I won't install a tattoo of Ronald Reagan's signature over my heart -- or Barack Obamas! but I may march in a parade or two, and participate in any "Political Interest Survey for a Major News Network" dinner time phone calls that come my way. I will care! And I'll tip my hat to my dad, and give thanks to him for being such a top notch character who actually gave a hoot about the state of the Republic.

And so can you! Know Your Vote!

PEACE Quote

Do you know what is really new?
The latest is that breath that just came.
That's the newest thing in this whole universe.
That is the newest thing.

And you just got it.
And it left - and here comes a new one.
And it just left.
And here comes another one.

I'm trying to point out the magic of that existence to you. Just the magic that's there. That's heaven.
- Maharaji

Family Photo calamity

We've gotten a special request for a nice family photo, and we took a few minutes last night to try to make that happen. What a calamity! My goodness. The kids were bouncing off the wall, the parents were patiently trying to set up/stand in frame, keep things light. Then Maggie nearly smashed her face on the coffee table while trying to jump off the couch, smacking her hand instead and breaking down in hysterical tears. So we stopped efforts and comforted her, and decided to try the photo again when her tears had dried.

Only that second effort didn't go so well, more chaos ensued, more jumping about and acting wild from the kids, fissure cracks spreading like wildfire in the parents ability to keep cool, until KABLAM! it all went to hell and the eldest child mutinied and we had to abandon our efforts until another time for the four of us to be together long enough to regroup and try again -- which is looking like Thursday at this point!

Wish us luck!

p.s. it wasn't so bad. it sort of got ridiculous after a certain point. you wouldn't think it would be so difficult to fit the four of us in the frame, but I guess it is. These days anyway!

Great Minds Think Alike

On the way home from our terrific Thanksgiving vacation up in Maine this weekend, Henry and I were in line at the double D for donuts and juice. I made a joke about the Chocolate Stick donut and it's resemblence to poop, to which Henry politely giggled about.

When we got back to the van and everyone had their half a gingerbread donut in hand, Maggie remarked, "Hey. This donut is shaped like the poop I made last week."

PEACE Quote

Choice is destiny's soul mate.
- Sarah Ban Breathnach

Be You Ess Why

Well would you look at that. Another week has blown past. Jeff got home on Wednesday night and it is good to have him home. No less hectic, however.

I could type out a laundry list of my To-do's for the weekend and another list of What-did for the work week, but let me sum it up for in three words: home, work and family. and PTO. So, four words.

I shall now give you four things to sum up what my week did NOT include: Alone time. A decent cheeseburger. Sitting down before 8 or 9pm. Hanging out with friends (especially Matt, who is as busy as me and whom I am most desiring a hang out and chat with. Besides YOU, dear reader.)And, lastly, my week did NOT include.... drumroll please... anything more than I could handle.

Last week I made up some very cute little lunch bags. I used an apple tote bag from the produce department for a pattern and managed to whip out three bags in the space of a Sunday afternoon! The first one turned out the best in terms of finished quality, but the other two incorporated lessons learned and designs tweaked while making the first one that had me winging it here and there (resulting in a poor quality finished product). Which one might YOU get for Christmas?!

(Insert Sisyphus-ian blurb here about laundry and housework chores awaiting my Saturday and Sunday.)

I believe we are traveling to our family in Maine next week for the Thanksgiving Holiday! It will be terrific to see them again, feels like forever...

Yesterday, where I bought my sandwich, I finally checked out their used book nook and came away with two goodies. Witness to America by everyone's favorite Mans Man historian Stephen Ambrose (R.I.P.) and some other guy, I think he's related to Tom Brokaw. And also a book I'd given as a gift years ago that I have heard was very helpful to her and others she passed it to, Another Country by Mary Phipher, who wrote "Reviving Ophelia" and in this book explores the 'emotional lives of elders' So I guess if you are an elder that matters to me, I will soon be gaining more insight into your emotional life. And you can too!

Alrightie, have a good weekend blog!

TGIFriday

Goodness gracious what a week. I have made it to Friday! My house is a pit, my laundry is piled up, I have a busy weekend as well, but at least I'm taking Monday off work! That's the goal, get to Monday...

Maggie is really missing her daddy! We all really notice his absence in the mornings, when he is always around usually. The evenings can still make sense when Jeff isn't home, but the morning, it just doesn't make sense! Lots of whining and whimpering and very fearful of shadows and being left alone while in the house. :-( I guess her Daddy really makes her feel safe!

Henry is doing great, what a wonderful fellow he is. Last night my friend Bob watched the kids so I could get out for a couple hours, and I had told the kids that they could have a sleepover in my bed once we got hom. Henry said, on our way to Bob's house, "I feel like the luckiest kid in town! I'm going over to my best friend's house, but my best friend won't be there, I had corndogs for dinner, tapioca pudding for desert, I have new pokemon cards, I don't have school tomorrow AND I get to sleep in your bed tonight!"

There's a teachers conference today, so Henry is at the daycare all day today. He was laying in (my) bed this morning, whimpering about how it is supposed to be a long weekend for him, boo hoo, etc. I admitted to him that this is one of those times where I wish I hadn't gone back to work. Quick as a flash he assured me, "At least I have two days off..."

Then at drop off, I was feeling sort of overwhelmed because the ladies there don't exactly pitch in to get the kids settled, so I was sort of running all around and feeling funny/guilty by the lack of warmish welcome, Henry having to ask, "Where do I put my stuff?" to the ladies. Small feelings of guilt and doubt about what am I doing making my kid sit in day care so I can come here and click and drag, but not exactly wanting to stay home with a whimpering three year old all day either. Oy. Made me well up and almost start crying as I headed out the door. No fun.

Let the Pokemon begin!

Henry is beginning the Pokemon trading craze with his friends at school. It's been cute to listen to his plans for total domination of the Pokemon world. This morning he said that he had been going to trade two of one kind of cards for one of another but that he couldn't find those two cards so what he was going to do is trade THREE of a third kind of card to a different boy, who in turn would trade him the original two he needed to trade for the one, most important card of the day. Then he found the two cards he'd misplaced and happily scrapped the backup plan he'd put in place.

We have little plastic bags that are made to fit trading cards of this nature, so I gave him some of those to protect the cards he's got. I suggested that one way to build his collection would be to trade empty plastic bags to his friends for cards. Boy you'd a thought he'd figured out a way to print money or something. "You know, you've really given me an idea, mom!"

Hey Now

A good friend of the family passed away suddenly a day or so ago, and this guy was a classic character. Real decent fellow. He came to the family thru Jocelyn and Brooke, name of Duane. I guess Jocelyn met him when she was 3 months pregnant with Brooke, which would've made me about 10 years old when he came into the mix.

I was talking with Jocelyn earlier and we had a sad chuckle at the thought of our Dad possibly being there to greet and welcome Duane to the other side. Big smile, hand outstretched for a nice warm and welcoming handshake, laughing with Duane about not expecting to run in to him so soon, Duane countering with a quick quip about not expecting to be there so soon himself, etc. Then maybe the two of them go off to find a golf game or something good to eat.

Anyway, give your loved ones a squeeze and call all your good buddies to check in and let them know you're glad they're yours, would you? You know where to reach me.

Online shopping for fabric

I have been drooling over fabric websites. Here is a good one I just found.

Reproduction Fabrics

ReproductionFabrics.com is a source of cotton reproduction fabrics for costumers and quilters. Fabrics of time periods 1775-1950, as well as indigo-dyed prints. We have the largest selection of reproduction fabrics on the web, including the "newest" of the old.

http://www.reproductionfabrics.com/

Kermit enjoys the fresh air