Wait, I've seen this movie. Only I'm prettier than Bill Murray.

It's going to be difficut for me to adjust to every. Day. Being. The same.

I am not sure what I had thought -- that I was going to get to go to work this weekend? Or, like, on a vacation somewhere? Because I was a little shocked to find that Saturday and Sunday were eerily similar to the rest of the week. Only, with a large blond man also taking up space in the house. And goofing up my feeding/nap schedule.


Oh! Okay, I have held this in long enough. Have you seen those new McDonald's billboards?

"Let us add the cream and sugar."

What?

I'm no marketing guru, but I don't get these ads at all. First of all, who's the the "us"? Is it McDonald's, as in, "No, no, let US do it!" or is it like a collective "us," as in "Let us all rejoice and together we will add cream and sugar!"

So I happened to be at McDonald's for breakfast shortly after these ads came out. (They're mostly billboards here in the Twin Cities, and they are omnipresent.) And I ordered a coffee, and because the ads seemed so blasted adamant, I said:

"... and a small coffee. With LOTS of cream, and a little bit of sugar" (because this is how I like my coffee, and I'm particular about it, it has to end up the right color or I cannot drink it)

and the girl kind of squinted at me and said "Do you want to just do it yourself?"

YES! Of course I do! I don't even trust the "baristas" at a place that specializes in coffee to add my cream and sugar; I'm sure as heck not going to entrust the creaming-and-sugaring of my coffee to a McDonald's employee.

So anyway, totally hate the ads. They just make me want coffee, which I'd honestly prefer not to get at McDonald's anyway.


And! We rented "American Dreamz" last night. It's a movie. With Hugh Grant and Dennis Quaid and a bunch of other people I really like. The movie is cheesy, to be sure, but JG and I LOVED it. Okay, now, I know that I also really like "American Idol" which the movie is sorta based on, but it was just a really cute movie and oh man the baby's screaming gotta go...

Whoa-oh, here she comes...

...She's a bon-bon eater!

Joel just called me that. Mostly because I am not completely exhausted at 10pm. ANYWAY! I made it through Day Three!

I promise these posts will become less child-centric in the very near future. In the meanwhile, though, I feel like a starving child who has been given a free pass to Old Country Buffet. I have been given this amazing gift of Unlimited Time with my young'uns and I am gorging myself.

Long stories short:

On two separate occasions, either Joel or I has injured ourself (that is NOT the right tense but I can't figure it out) when Lucy's been nearby. (I stubbed a toe -- I don't know what happened to JG.) Lucy immediately, upon recognizing our pain, ran over to each of us, knelt down, said "Come-here" and gave us the BIGGEST hugs. Her empathy (er, wait, sympathy?) is astounding.
Also! Guess how many dirty diapers I changed today? Only one. Ed's. Why? Because Lu went in the toilet TWICE today. Both her morning and her afternoon #2s were perfect bullseyes. I can't believe it! Awesome!

Okay, okay, two photos for you guys, I can't resist...

Step One! (We could have lots of fun)

OR

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

It's generally not a good sign when you're quoting Charles Dickens and New Kids on the Block in the same breath.

So, today had its ups and downs.

Up: We all slept until 7:45.

Down: That includes Joel, who was consequently late for work. I must have forgotten to alert him to the fact I will no longer be setting my alarm to get up for work.

Up: We got all bundled up and actually made it out to the park!

Up: We had no freak-outs over food and I actually had healthful meals and snacks available in a timely fashion throughout the day!

Down: We had no nap. Okay, wait, Pie-Oh-My took about an hour-and-a-half morning nap. Pants? No nap.

Up: We (and when I say "we" I think you know who I mean) only had one, very small, timeout.

Down: It was due NOT to a screaming/whining fit but rather to a stubborn refusal to help me pick up her toys before dinnertime.

Down: Um, this is a Big Down. We are dogsitting for Hobo until Tuesday. Now, I frequently second-guess decisions I have made -- in fact, I typically second-guess ALL decisions I make. Drat! Should have made a double-batch of AP Bio cookies. Drat! Should have bought the real Philly-brand cream cheese. But the decision to end our status as dog-owners? Best Decision Ever. Of course, it brings up the point of the original decision to get a dog in the first place... never mind! Let me ride my high. Where was I? Oh, right, so we're dogsittting. Total flipping nightmare. He's going home tomorrow and it will not be soon enough, believe me you.

UP (saved for last because it's a Big Up!): Pants WENT in the TOILET. I went in to change her diaper mid-nap because she said she had done a #2. Took off the dirty diaper and she said she had to go. I asked if she wanted to use the toilet and she said "Okay." And she DID! I sat her up there, and she did a #2 and then I asked if she wanted to do a tinkle and she said "Okay" and she DID! She was all smiles and I was caught totally off-guard -- how/when does wiping happen? Who does the wiping? Should I still use wet wipes, or just TP? How much praise do I give? Because I'll tell you, I was pretty dang excited. It was hard for me not to go all wiggy. Anyway, I totally forgot to tell her to wash her hands so that's something to work on for next time.

Holdstillholdstillholdstill

...That was me trying to wipe a huge sneeze off Eddie's face about 7 minutes ago.

So here I am! At home! The weekend preceding was a bit of a challenge -- Saturday was actually all right (got in a walk with Jean and a visit with Great-gram) but Lucy woke up with a vomit on Sunday and spent most of the day moping between the couch and her bed. She never did have a fever, but she kept saying her "bee-bo hurts". Today, she seems fine. Oh, except her new thing is awakening in the middle of the night and screaming for one of us. Oy.

Ed is most likely teething. He's whiny and clingy and unhappy which, as you know, is not like him at all.

Ha! Lucy's eating cereal right now and she was staring at her bowl yelling "where's my spoon??"
The spoon was in her hand. Hilarious.

Signing off! Wish us luck!

Email! Heads up!

Hello there. Just in case you have been living under a rock, please note that tomorrow (Friday, 10/20) will be my last day being able to access any email account you may have for me which ends in:
libertysite.com
altafimarketing.com
harlandics.net

I will not be able to get any emails sent to those accounts after about 4pm CDT on the 20th. Any emails sent to those accounts will most likely be picked up by my manager.

From now on, please use my yahoo! email address. If you do not have my yahoo email, you can get it by looking at my profile on this blog.

Thanks so much for your understanding!

-Me

Snot in my brain

Hooeee, that was one long night.
Ed did not sleep last night. Well okay. He went down at 8 and slept until approximately 11. Then he was up until, maybe 1? It's all a blur. Anyway he was awake again at 4, I think. Alternating between crying and just talking. He just wasn't sleepy. It was very weird.
And of course Lucy was up wanting a drink of water at like 3.
And I am very tired.
And I have a cold, blast it all.

Why I'm staying home

That title is kind of a misnomer. This is actually Joel's story, of how his mornings go when taking the kids to daycare. I thought it was entertaining and totally accurate. This was today:

Usually they are gems in the morning. Eddie was whiney a little bit when you left but really he hung out in his office happy as a clam until I was ready. Then we got ready on the floor in the living room, then perfect timing Lucy turned the doorknob and we got ready and out the door.

As you know it's just one of those days when time is a-tickin' and nothing is going right, eddie's hand gets caught in his shirt sleeve and he twists and you can't get his shirt on and then you can't get his socks on and tick tock tick tock lucy is calling for daddy pounding on her door tick tock tick tock. Then you get eddie in his car seat and trying to get lucy ready.

She wants to play, eat cereal skwirm around while diapering... tick tock tick, and then getting them into the car tick tock tick tock. Lucy falls down in the kitchen. tick tock tick wants to zipper her own jacket tick tock tick tock. Eddie's happy in his car seat. Lucy wants to close the door, its cold outside eddie's giving funny windy faces.. Tick tock tick

1...3...8 count the steps .. 1 2 3 4 8 13 5 3 count the steps to the car... Tick tock tick tock. Lucy wants to get in the car first.. Wants to open the door.. Get eddie in the car. Tick tock tick tock.. Need I go on... It's funny. Nothing bad it's just strange how like I can feel my stress level, (10 is the highest) at a 13 before I even get to work. Very weird. Okay enough about that.

Sort of like a second honeymoon?

We dropped off the kids with Joel's p's on Saturday morning and had 30 FULL HOURS to spend with ourselves this weekend. It was awesome. On Saturday, we went to see Theatre Latte Da's Gypsy at the Loring Playhouse, we got dinner at Donovan's by the Lake, and we went to see The Departed.

Gypsy was great. Different, but really enjoyable. I wasn't familiar with the show but my friend Katie played June and it was fun to see her. We were extremely undecided about where to go to dinner but decided on Donovan's because every time we drive by it Joel says "Someday I'll take you there!"

So he did! Apparently it just reopened about three weeks ago. We got there at 5pm and had an entire dining room to ourselves, with a lovely view of... Tanners Lake? Some lake. The owner came out to talk to us and ask what we thought. The food was really incredible and it was a great dining experience.

We were really disappointed with The Departed. Like, I think maybe we didn't get it. I think it's the kind of movie that improves upon repeated watchings.

Sunday, we did laundry and moved the kids' beds away from the cold, exterior walls in their respective rooms. Woo-hoo, I know, can you even handle the excitement?

We also bought a new car seat for Lucy with the intent of moving Ed into Lucy's convertible seat. That huge box will be sitting in our kitchen until at least Thanksgiving, I think.

Lucy is slimming down a little, looking and acting much more like a little girl than a baby. Well, except for the temper tantrums. Joel and I decided we are going to have to start teaching her deep-breathing relaxation exercises or she'll have an ulcer by second grade.

Ed does not crawl, but that doesn't mean he's not mobile. On his tummy, he pushes up into, well, I think it's called "downward dog" in yoga. And he can kind of tuck his legs under his body to inch along like an inchworm. Only far less gracefully. Just about yesterday he started standing, holding on to things (typically, the shirt-front of the person monitoring him at the time). He's just delighted with himself. I still desperately want to try a crib bumper -- I think that would do the trick to keep him from A. losing his nuk and B. finding himself with his face pressed against the bars at 4am and screaming his lungs out.

So I'm in my last week of work! Hurrah!

Hi, what's new?

Well, I had my Psych midterm last night. I didn't do any "studying" but I had read the text and taken notes and defined all the vocab words and rewritten each chapter's "summary points" and answered the prof's essay questions she'd handed out (all of which are required for this "notebook project" she asks us to hand in later in the term). Anyway, the test seemed really easy. I even went back and checked all my answers (because I was done in, like, eight minutes) and found a couple answers to change -- cripes, I probably should have done that in undergrad, I might have done better.

Anyway!

I was talking to a gal in the class before the test started and she sounded JUST LIKE ME. Except, with more money. She's a financial adviser and she's just totally sick of corporate America. She's got one kid and wants more, and wants a career with more flexibility and in the healthcare industry. It was really interesting talking with her. Basically our situations were almost identical except she and her husband earn approximately twice (soon to be four times!) what us Gronaus do. But you know what? She had all the same concerns, all the same issues. Okay, she probably owns a dishwasher. BUT she also works like 60-80 hours a week. It was just really fascinating. She had done some job-shadowing in a hospital and I gave her my email address. I hope we'll stay in touch.

The kids are great. Ed has not been sleeping really well lately, but last night he only got up crying once... or maybe twice. Instead of letting him cry it out (because he just gets angrier and angrier!), I kept rocking/bouncing him to sleep. I also gave him the undershirt I'd been wearing all day, in hopes my stink would soothe him. And I think it did the trick.

Autumn has hit in full effect here -- it's mad windy and really cold. I have NO idea where all our hats and mittens are -- a project for the weekend, I suppose. We are mailing the kids off to Monticello for about 24 hours this weekend, and Joel and I are going to see Gypsy and then maybe do dinner and a movie. And of course we will find time to reorganize the garage so we can get both our cars in there! House-for-sale be danged, we need to reclaim some of our "real life living," including a place to store boots and hats and mittens by the back door.

Thanks to everyone who has posted, emailed, or spoken to me in person with words of encouragement for staying home with the kids. Your kind thoughts and "you can do it!"-ness means the world to me, and I have really been pleasantly surprised at how supportive everyone at work has been, too. Unfortunately for you, this just means I will be calling YOU for help when the dirty dishes/crayon on the walls/food splatters get to be too much. Ha! I can't wait!

Read this book!

For those of you who may not have heard, my friend-from-high-school Alison Strobel Morrow (Al, I'm not sure that's really your name but it gets the point across) has written (and published!) two books. She's currently in the process of promoting her second book, Violette Between.

Buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1578567947

Read the first chapter of the book online!
http://www.americanfamilysuperstore.net/e/firstchapter.asp?mode=view&index=470

You can also read Alison's blog here. (http://blog.alisonstrobel.com)

Here's a quick synopsis:

Violette is the quintessential artist: passionate, emotional and full of life. After suffering a great loss, she finds herself enamored with a new relationship and asking if it is truly time to move on. Christian lost his wife years ago and understands Violette's pain firsthand. He offers her a chance to love once more, and hopes to build a future with the spirited artist. But just as Violette and Christian begin to feel something unexpected, tragedy strikes again. Violette retreats into her past -- and she finds that she may not want to come back. This is a captivating novel that asks what is more precious: the memories of one who is gone... or the memories waiting to be made with someone new?

Al, I want to apologize for the uncreative post -- I got to work an hour late and have been in spaz-attack mode ever since. I am so proud of you and your writing. This is an awesome accomplishment!!

I DID IT!

In a fun little twist of events, "I Did It" is the title of this post for two reasons:

1. It's Lucy's new favorite thing to say. If you have been paying close attention (that is, if your name is John, Donna, Ray, or Leslie), you'll remember that Lu had been using "my" as her first-person pronoun of choice, i.e. "My scared," "My eat now." Recently, she's upgraded to "I". And she really likes to say "I did it!" It makes her sound very empowered.

2. Now for the big news: I have given my notice at work. That's right, boys and girls, at approximately 4pm on Friday, October 20, I will officially be a stay-at-home mom. I'm excited and scared, of course! And I don't know what to say besides that -- though I'm happy to entertain questions, as always.

In other news, we had a lovely weekend in Chicago. We went to Dennis and Sally's wedding reception (they were married in Tuscany over Labor Day) and got to hang out with some very dear friends we don't see too much. As always, it's good to be home. Okay, I really have to go work now.

What a lovely weekend it was!

I mean, A) the weather was simply gorgeous. Just the perfect fall weekend, but a little warmer than you'd expect. Beautiful.

B) We took the kids to Como Zoo on Saturday. We saw the animals (Lucy had very little interest in the animals, but she loved running around), and we took Lucy on some of the Como Town rides. She took one look at the rides and said "Round and round!" and she was very excited for "Aladdin's Magic Carpet" but when she found out she was going to have to go alone, she got a little teary-eyed. "My scared," she said, very matter-of-factly,* and we moved on to the Teacups. Which she loved. Then I took her on the train. It's so nice that they have some rides where parents can ride too -- it was just a great experience. AND, we discovered, it was the last day of the season! What fortune! We ate a PBJ picnic, did some people-watching, and headed home. I LOVE little outings like that. They remind me so much of my childhood -- only with shorter drive-times. And smaller crowds.

C) We got to hang out with the Curtis family on Saturday night. Dave and Jen were in our birthing class when we had Lucy, so they have a little Mandy who's just about to turn two. The two girls were very cute together and we had a very nice time.

D) Joel got to go golfing(!) with Pat Daly and some Brians, while

E) The Daly girls and Jean and the kids and I got to see the Twin Cities Marathon on Sunday. We sat at, like, Mile 24.5 on Summit Ave. Jean and I each saw someone we knew (she some doctor from her hospital, and me Tasya Rivera who I was on the WSU dance team with like, a million years ago; I am pretty sure I read somewhere she just got married), and us three grownups had one good tearful moment when a husband jumped out of the crowd to cheer on his wife, saying something like "You can DO this, honey!" and it was just such a cool thing to watch.

F) We had a showing(!) last night(!). Amazing. And we have another one tomorrow, which may or may not be the same people. *sigh* I don't know if I'm really ready for this.

G) The Twins Actually Won the Cental Division. I don't think anyone in the entire state can believe it. After ALL THAT. And, (G1!) Joel and I get to go to Game 2 on Wednesday!! Hooray!

*Seriously, I just think she is at such an interesting age. She's not afraid to tell you the exact truth, she isn't afraid of any consequences, and has no sense of shame or deceit. It's so wonderful. And she's so curious... as we were driving around over the weekend, she'd frequently ask whether we were going to Jean's house, or Dee's house, or the doctor. On the way to the Curtis's house, she even asked if we were going to see Paige, her little friend who lives in the same neighborhood. Now, Lucy's been in that neighborhood maybe twice, tops. How on earth did she know that's where we were? Amazing.

Side note: we gave her a Ziploc baggie of Cheerios in the car on Saturday. Instead of getting frustrated about being unable to open the zipper, and instead of asking us to help, she chewed right through a corner of the bag to get the Cheerios out.

P.S. I am in desperate need of a crib bumper for Eddie. Anyone have a cheapo/used one we could borrow for a few months? I am totally unpicky of color/decor. The poor kid just needs something to cuddle up to -- we find him every morning all wadded up against the railings, usually with a limb or two dangling out the side. Help!

...So I can end my time with you

We were talking about teen sexuality in class last night, when the instructor brought up the Meat Loaf song "Paradise By the Dashboard Light." Apparently there are people in this world (or at least in community college Psych class) who have not heard this song. I admit, it's dreadfully and inappropriately overplayed at weddings... and it's a little weird to imagine a now-59-year-old-Meat-Loaf singing it... but the fact remains that I DO know the song.

So the professor starts singing it. And then she insists that the rest of us join in. Well, the 20-year-olds in class mostly demur. But I sit next to this maybe-45-year-old biker chick, who's got spiky platinum-blonde hair and a nose ring, and I know that SHE knows the song. So me in my little business-casual twinset and pearls, along with spiky-biker-girl, join our voices in song with "..prayin' for the end of time, that's all that I can do, woo, WOO!!..."

It was a little embarrassing. But what the heck, life is too short not to sing along with Meat Loaf.


Anyway, my dad came up yesterday to hang out with the kids for a few days. He looked a little dazed by the time I got home at 9pm last night, but I'm sure he'll survive all day today.

Happy Friday, y'all. It's going to be a looong, slow day at work, so you should comment or email me or something.

Owie.

Joel went golfing with his dad yesterday -- thanks to my p's for his Third-Favorite Birthday Gift Ever (the house we bought for his 27th, and the Lucy he got (a few weeks early) for his 30th are 1st- and 2nd-favorites, respectively, or at least they ought to be).

I subbed for Jean's mad-competitive co-rec softball team last night and, miraculously, made not a fool of myself. I caught one fly ball in the outfield (I always thought I liked left better but I'm getting quite comfy in right field) and got a few hits, including... (drum roll)... a triple! I think it helps that the mad-competetive people we play with have mad-expensive bats that hit mad-well. Afterward, we went to a bar to watch the end of the Twins game (that's two nights in a row for me, I'm such a swingin' socialite!).

We had an open house over the weekend and thought maybe we had an interested party, but they have not "brought their realtor" as promised. *shrug* Meanwhile, you would be appalled at the assortment of bags/shoes that has accumulated by our back door.

I think I have a new hangnail record -- hangnails on all 10 fingers! "Hangnail," in this case, being a euphemism for what's actually going on with my fingers. It's pretty bad.

The kids are great. Of course, I haven't seen them much in the last three days. Ed keeps us on our toes with his random pattern of sleeping through the night and then waking up three times a night. Hungry? Lonely? Cold? Nightmares? Who ever knows.

Convo with Lu this morning in the van on the way to Dee's.

Lucy: Go Dee's house?
Me: Yes, we're going to Dee's house.
Lucy: No picking. (She has this owie on her cheek that she picks incessantly. It's been bleeding on and off for a couple weeks. Hmm, why does this sound familiar?)
Me: That's right. Don't pick your face, and don't pull off your band-aid.
Lucy: No, man.

Baseball. Baseball. Baseball.

Repeat after me: Baseball. Baseball. Baseball.

I know, it's like 40 degrees out, and I know the leaves are falling off the trees. But we are in a PENNANT RACE, people, and if I have to hear one more word about the stinkin' Vikings or whatever other football team you care about, I am going to put my index finger right up to your lips and go "Sssssshhhhh. Shh shh sshhhhhhhh."

People like it when you do that, right, Jean?

Also, I was reading an article the other day about people having too many home-grown tomatoes and not being able to find anybody who will take them. Let it be known: I will take them! It's probably not even tomato season anymore. Whatever.

Bleepin' blargin' rassafrass!

And Manny Tanner!

I have lost my cell phone. I fear it may be gone for good this time. Therefore, if I have not returned a call you've made since Sunday, you know why.

And if I NEVER call you back, it's because your number is IN MY CELL PHONE WHICH IS LOST.

Drats and double-drats.

Crazy Time!

Sorry, work was so busy yesterday I didn't get a chance to post stuff. So!

Joel's AWESOME Aunt Denise sent us a lovely package the other day under the pretense of a belated birthday present for Lucy. And there WAS an adorable and much-appreciated present for Lu, but there were also... FOUR brand-new fluffy red bath towels!! Sweet!!! Thank you SO much Aunt Denise and Uncle Charley.

In other Joel's-cool-family news, Joel's uncle Don was inducted into the Monticello HS Alumni Wall of Fame last night, honoring his service in the military. It was a very lovely little ceremony and it was good to see some of the extended family and meet some Monti people who knew Joel back in the day.

Pat Watson took some lovely pix of the kids the other day. Need a photog? Isn't he awesome?
(Edit: I'm growing increasingly uncomfortable posting pix of the kids here. Not to mention, I'm thinking of using some of these recent photos for Xmas cards and I don't want to spoil the surprise! If you would like to see a couple photos I can email them to you. If you are certain I have your email address, just let me know via comment/phone call/whatever; otherwise, click on my photo and then click on "Email" to email me. Thanks for understanding!)

Happy Birthday to Joel! I don't know if he wants me to tell you how old he is. I love you Beefy.

Our poor Realtor -- a whole week on the market and not a single showing. I truly feel for the guy.

Actual conversation with Lucy (some of you may have already heard this story):
We're in the car, driving home. Radio is on.
Lucy: Too loud!
Me: I'm sorry the radio is too loud, honey. I'll turn it down.
Lucy: No down. Turn it off!

My kids are the smartest children alive, blah blah blah.

Went to the doc yesterday for checkups. You want to feel like a superwoman? Take 2 kids in for checkups at once. Yow.

Lucy:
34" tall; 31.4#. She's a very average-sized 2-year-old. I am guessing at some point she will ask me to knock it off with the height and weight updates. Maybe now is a good time. :)

Ed:
29.25" tall (still ridiculously long for his age; 99th percentile -- looking at the chart, there are some perfectly normal 15-month-olds who are the same height Ed is now. YIKES. But Joel says he was 5'10" in 4th grade, so there you go.); 19.25# (75th pct.).

Amazing that I can still lift them both at the same time.

My cell phone has gone missing, AGAIN. I had it at the in-laws' on Sunday afternoon, but I haven't seen it since. It's probably sitting in their driveway.

Had the open house on Sunday, and a whole three parties walked through. There's supposed to be a "realtor tour" this morning and another open on Sunday. It's funny to see the things our realtor changes when he's there. Hiding the soap... hiding the alarm clocks... I'm on the verge of canning the whole thing. I'm just not a model-home kind of gal.

It's getting chilly these days -- after Ed's midnight feeding last night, I put a little hat on his melon to try to keep him cozy. He kicks off his socks and loses his blankets thru the night, and with all the hardwood floors in the house now, it just feels COLD on the main level. Anyway, my point was, when JG checked on him this morning, Ed was fast asleep with his Nuk in his mouth and his hat pulled right over his eyes and the bridge of his nose. Super cute.

Lucy's still Lucy, which is just the way I like her. Sometimes when we suggest a nap, or bedtime, she responds very seriously with "No ni-night. My 'wake now."
She's also taken to calling me "Mom" sometimes. Did I mention that already? I don't know why it's so different from "Mommy" but it cracks me up. "Hi, Mom."

Oh! Lu now sings her ABCs ("ABCD song!" she calls it) all the way through. I'm sure she has no idea what it means, but it's very impressive-sounding, if I do say so myself.

I thought I had more to write about -- well, I'll let you know if I think of what it was. More raving about the miracles I've produced, I'm sure.

Teacher's Pet, I Wanna Be...

Had class last night -- we're in a section on genes and how they affect development. I had just read the chapter at lunch, so I felt pretty up-to-date on the material. In fact, I spent a lot of the class thinking "CRIPES, I could be giving this lecture, and making it a lot more interesting!"

At one point the prof completely lost track of what she was talking about. "Sex-related characteristics," she said, "I have that written down, but what does that mean?"

There was a long enough pause where it got uncomfortable. So I piped up.

"It means traits that are carried on the X chromosome, so you get them from your mother." Seriously, I was only trying to keep the lecture moving along.

"Wow, somebody did the reading," the prof said.

Embarrassed, I made a little show of ironically/dramatically pumping my fist in the "Yess!" gesture, as though my team had just made a triple play.

Which, I forgot to mention, Joel's one-pitch team did Wednesday night. I missed it, but I'm sure it was cool!

Which reminds me, How 'bout them Twins!!??! But oh boy do their radio announcers drive me bonkers. Cuddyer gets his 100th RBI, which is a Big Deal, and it took them like six minutes after it happened to tell us! And LNP gets a double with the score 2-1, to move our insurance run over to 3rd, and the call was so monotone you'd think it was June and we were ahead by about 40 runs. PEOPLE! We are in a Pennant Race! It's not possible to get too excited. Let's go!

Singin' to the Oldies

Hauled the kids along to Joel's softball games last night, where we met up with some of my book club gals and their babes as well. What a fun time! Despite the constant threat of getting beaned by foul balls, the kids jumped right in to playing together. There were seven kids aged 3 years to 2 months -- the older ones played on the jungle gym (well, except mine, who was content to sit in the rocks and sift through them) and chased each other around the pavilion (which Lu DID partake in). Us moms actually sort of got to talk to each other! It was great.

Lisa and I volunteered at the Roseville Presby Home yesterday at lunch. Usually we just push the wheelchairs to and from chapel, but this time Lisa and I led the singing. We did "Amazing Grace" and "For the Beauty of the Earth" and we skipped the third song because we were unfamiliar. We were a little rusty but it was very fun, and we apparently get to go do it again next week!

In other news... there is no other news. Looking forward to a lovely autumnal weekend.

We're On.

Our house is on the market. I still can't really believe it. (Link has been removed. If you would like to see the listing, please email me.)

There are a couple errors (i.e. the square footage) that will be corrected ASAP (I hope!).

This will be boring if you are not, like, a relative. And maybe even if you are. Sorry.

Realtor cancelled/changed not one, but two appointments this weekend. Yaarrrr.

He and his realtor-buddy came over late Saturday morning to hang up pictures and move furniture just-so. They blew lots of smoke up our be-hinds about how "adorable" the house is -- blah, blah, blah. The house is now devoid of any sign that actual humans live there. Honestly, it looks great!

It rained miserably all day Sunday, so JG and I dropped Lu off at Jean's house for naptime and took Eddie to nine (count 'em!) open houses. Oof.
#1: Very nice, but wayy too cramped for space.
#2: A disaster -- destroyed hardwood floors, unfinished cabinets in the kitchen, cat urine upstairs, totally gross and priced ridiculously high
#3: I didn't actually go in this one (Ed needed to eat). Similar to #1.
#4: Actually loved this one. Not GOBS of space, but well-laid-out and a nice yard.
#5: A little spendy, but TONS of space.
#6: Nice, but a little cramped -- and so cluttered it was really hard to tell what the potential was.
#7: Cute, but way too much like our current home.
#8: Bizarre doll-house -- the 1/2 story upstairs had seriously a 5'5" ceiling. And the basement felt like it was going to cave in at any moment.
#9: Kind of nice, but a little too chopped-up space on the main level. Teeny yard.

I can't believe I remembered all that! Wow. Jamie came over to babysit in the evening so JG and I could go out but we were thwarted once again -- this time by me being so exhausted and frustrated from the last couple weeks that I couldn't stop crying. Arrgh.

Our photos got rain-delayed. With luck, we'll be able to reschedule soon.

In kid news: MAN are our kids neat. Ed slept great the last two nights -- he's (finally!) learned how to sleep on his tummy, and we even found him with his bottom up in the air (a-la-Lucy) on Sunday morning. He's also just starting to get up on all fours and "rock." I don't remember Lu doing this, but it's hilarious.

Lucy herself is just awesome. She sings along with her crazy Karaoke machine, and she serves us tea, pizza, and lettuce from her little kitchen. She continues to be gentle and loving with Ed... and to exert her will upon us at every available opportunity.

She likes to go down stairs by herself now. If I even make the slightest motion to help her, I get "MY do it, Mommy." Or, occasionally, "Mom," which sounds so serious and makes me giggle. Oh, so she gets to the bottom of the stairs, and the railing runs out, so she grabs the wall to get to the bottom step, and then reaches for the railing again, which is now out of reach, so she goes back UP a step to grab the railing, and then tries to get back to the bottom step... I can see she's confounded. Like, "I know I have to use the railing. So I go up to get it, but then the bottom of the stairs gets farther away!"

Joel took her to Menard's over the weekend and she was a little scared by the Halloween display, and told me so when she got home.

Oh! I'm sorry, one more thing she's into now: "Hide!" She gets all excited and runs around the house, yelling, "Hide, hide!" And then she pulls a blanket (or a curtain, or my shoe) over her face and stands there waiting for you to find her.

Made it through the weekend. Barely.

This is not my finest writing. Really, I just wanted this weekend documented somewhere.

Realtor came over on Friday night to drop off some paperwork and go over the "Competitive Market Analysis" which will determine the price of our house. He brought spaghetti, we ate in the gazebo, and he convinced us to paint our 1/2 story upstairs. And the kitchen cabinets.

Saturday morning: made two trips to Menard's before 11AM. Jean saved the day by stopping by Hirshfields for us and by spending the Entire Day helping us paint and watch the kids in rotation. We painted the kitchen and my folks arrived at noonish, bearing Subway (mmmm, perfect timing).

My memory of Saturday afternoon fails me. Alas! Saturday night, I made cupcakes and prepped egg bakes for Lucy's party on Sunday. I think we may have started priming the upstairs walls on Saturday night.

Sunday: Joel's p's arrived at 8AM and then met my family at Jan's to help them move her belongings into storage. Everybody came to our house around noon for Lucy's bruncheon party -- which went swimmingly. Papa and Gramma G and Grampa & Gramma Books (we are at a loss for nicknames here) were there, as were Jean and my Uncle Bill, and Grandma Jake. Ed slept through the whole thing, which was probably good because there wasn't any extra room in the gazebo for his high chair! Lucy was a total doll and received an embarrassment of riches in birthday gifts. She spent the rest of the day playing as though she's been waiting two years for some decent toys.

Everybody except Donna and the kids and I made another trip to Jan's to unload things. Donna did all the dishes and watched the kids while I finished some laundry and tried to put away some of the bday gifts.

Sunday night: Joel and I really tried to finish the kitchen cabinets but we were so tired I ended up goofing them up.

Monday: Joel went to his fantasy football draft, and the kids and I hung out at home. We tried to hang some of the kitchen cabinets and then we all took much-needed afternoon naps (except maybe Joel). The Dalys stopped by in the afternoon, and I don't recall much except that Carol's hair looked really cute. In the evening we decluttered much of the upstairs as well as Eddie's room; after the babes retired, Joel and I finished priming the upstairs.

I am covered in paint and am, surprisingly, neither tired nor divorced today.

Fun conversation from the weekend, repeated several times:
Jean/Me/Joel/Anybody: Lucy, how old are you?
Lucy: Cakecups!
J/M/J/A: No, honey, two! You're two!
Lucy: No. Four!

Oh! And something else. Joel and Lu were watching Nemo the other day. Guess what Marlin (the daddy clownfish) says to Nemo? You guessed it:
"Nemo, GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Correspondence

Dearest Lucy:

My darling baby girl, you are going to be two years old tomorrow! I feel terrible that I have not properly prepared you for your birthday -- I forget that you don't comprehend things like that yet. I often forget that you're still so little. You do understand so much, and it's so fun talking with you now. The other day you told me "I'm going to take a bath now." Do you know how awesome that is, that you can say that? Do you have any idea how much my heart melts every time you say "Mommy"?

You're the big sister now, and you are so perfect for that role. You're so assertive and yet so gentle. Daddy and I love how you cup Ed's little chin in your hands and kiss him. We love how focused you can be (like selecting rocks to pick up), and we love watching your thoughtfulness when working through a problem (like whether or not to let me cut your toenails).

I adore you and look forward to growing and learning and building our relationship together. Happy Birthday Baby.

Love,
Mommy



Sweet Eddie:

You are the easiest-going little guy -- you have made life so wonderful for us the past 6 months. You're sensitive, loving, and eager-to-please, and it's amazing how much we can tell about you already. Yup, we sure we have you pegged -- so don't go proving us wrong!

You, too, are getting so big, so fast. We had to move the seat of your "office" up not one, but two notches the other day. But you're still such a little guy. Last night you were fussy around 10pm, and I swear it wasn't that you were very hungry; you just wanted to nurse a little. I'm so happy we could share that time together. Of course, you were fussy again at 3AM, and then again at 5, and you could cut all that out any time.

I am so excited to continue to get to know you, and I am so filled with joy that you are a part of our family.

Love,
The Milk Truck



Dear Joel:

You're not so bad yourself.

Meg

Oh, and my psych class is fine too.

Lucy loves yogurt. She calls it "why-gurt." Or, maybe, "Y-gurt." Kids today and their slang!


Here's the sitch on our house, for those out of the loop. Which is probably you, since even Joel and I are barely hanging onto said loop.

Background:
We're not 100% sold on selling. And we have not found a new place to go.

Story:
We are putting our house on the market sometime betwixt September 8 and 12. We're going to give it a month or two, and if it doesn't go, then we'll sit tight and enjoy our newly-clean living space for a few more years! If we get anything resembling an offer, we'll start looking for places in South St Paul and West St Paul.

So Now:
We are madly cleaning and touching up paint and tightening pipes in preparation. We know the market is lousy. We are sticking with our Realtor, who was starting to worry us a bit but we realized is just kind of a "creative," with which we can deal.


And finally...
Apparently, you CAN take the City out of the girl.

Well, I've lost my mind. (This is not news.) Went downtown Minneapolis yesterday afternoon, around 2:00, for a work get-together at Brit's. I often complain about Minneapolis: how it's "scary" and how I avoid it. I thought I was kidding. Until I tried to go home after Brit's and:

1. Couldn't find the parking garage
2. Didn't have a check or cash with which to pay for my parking
3. Nearly lost a hubcap and even-nearerly killed a pedestrian trying to get out of the ramp after some kind anonymous good Samaritan behind me offered to pay the remaining $4 I owed after I scraped together $3 in change from under the seats in my van

I mean, really, you would think I'd never been off the farm before. I was so dreadfully embarrassed and SO ashamed about the parking (how can a place that charges $7 for 2 hours of parking not take Visa!?!?). And I get to work this morning only to discover that my "anonymous good Samaritan" was none other than my friend Kate from work! Kate, with whom I'd just been lamenting a few hours earlier that I hated going downtown and paying for parking. What are the chances of that? That of all the ramps downtown and all the people using them at 4:15 on a Tuesday, the person behind me ends up being Kate. Who happens to have $4 on her person when she goes downtown, because she was not raised in a barn. Wild.

Hives, Attitude, and Ed keeps smiling

Brief report: Since last Thursday, Lucy has this recurring rash thing all over her legs, arms, and occasionally bottom and face. It looks like hives (raised, irregular, with yellow/white centers), it's hot to the touch, and it comes and goes mostly in the evening. Took her to urgent care Friday night because she also had a 102 temp at the same time (that was our "date", hooray) and the doc said it was a virus that would come and go over the next few days.

No rash all weekend -- but yesterday evening it came back. And then went away again, within a couple hours.

Also, she's been screaming. And not just a wordless scream (which would be bad enough), but she's actually screaming unkind things like "GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW MOMMY!" and "NO EAT NOW NO WAY JAMIE!" in a very nasty tone, like you or I might use if our child was about to run into oncoming traffic. Not a scream to be used lightly. So, obviously, she's hearing this language and this tone somewhere.

So we're a little freaked out by these developments.
And we're supposed to put our house on the market in 2 weeks.
And Joel's out of town this week.
And I'm starting class this week.
And Lucy is turning 2 next week. Can you believe that? Two. How did that happen.

Hah!

Fed Eddie cereal for the first time last night.

Or, that's what would have happened in a normal family.

What actually happened was: Ed was fussing at dinnertime and Joel thought maybe it was NOT because he was desperately tired, but rather because he liked the looks of the leftover-chicken-and-veggies that the rest of us were eating. However, I hadn't actually purchased any baby rice cereal, and all we had was a jar of "Stage 2" turkey puree.

Which we fed to Eddie, only microseconds after I found the camera and deleted a bunch of old pictures because the memory card was full and he may be the second child but I'll be danged if I don't get a picture of his first bites of people-food.

Anyway, he hated the turkey (and who wouldn't? It's GRODY!) and I'm going to Target to get some rice cereal today.

P.S. Lucy, sometime between teeth-brushing and bedtime last night, put on her own Crocs (this is new) and insisted upon wearing them to bed. I love that.

The Joel Annals

That's ANNALs. With TWO "n"s.

Okay, so Jean and Joel and I are driving home from Rent last night. It was at the Ordway (which is right downtown St Paul, so we just take 3rd street all the way down. And it was so good. I cried lots.). So anyway, we're driving home; it's 10:45 PM. Now, 3rd Street between downtown and our house is NOT the best neighborhood. Nay, it's maybe one of the worst two neighborhoods in St Paul. But, you know, we just keep driving; it's not like it's the South Side of Chicago; don't-live-your-life-in-fear, all that rot.

So Jean's driving, and Joel's shotgun.

Joel: "How fast are we going?"

Jean: "30."

Me (piping up from the back seat, because that's the only way to talk from the back seat): "Joel thinks he can run this fast!"

Joel: "No!! I said, like, 20!"

(Aside: this is referencing a conversation Joel and I had a couple months ago, in which he claimed that, at his top speed in like high school, he could hit 20 mph. Or maybe 30.)

Me: "Well, either way, you can't run that fast."

Joel: "Can too!"

Jean: "Here, Joel, get out of the car and run. We'll drive next to you and tell you how fast you're going."

At which, Joel actually unbuckles his seat belt and pops his door open. Mind you, we are still driving. Jean quickly pulls the car over to the curb, and Joel hops out and takes off down the street ahead of us. I don't know how Jean is able to drive, because I am laughing so hard my face is starting to cramp up. But she starts the car moving, and soon is going about 10 mph.

I stick my head out the window to holler our speed at Joel, who is tearing up the street in his dress shirt, dress pants, tie, and dress-shoes-with-the-holes-in-the-soles-because-he-won't-take-himself-shoe-shopping.

Me (as we approach him from behind): "10! Honey! We're going ten miles per hour!"

Joel: "Ten!! No prob--"

At which point, of course, Jean and I had already FLOWN by him, zipping by at the blazing speed of, of course, ten miles per hour.

But was Joel discouraged by the fact that his top speed topped out around 4 mph?? NO! He immediately (and joyfully) started handicapping himself.

"Well!" he says triumphantly, hopping back into the car, "that was in dress shoes. With holes! AND I have that broken ankle. There's 6 or 7 mph right there! And I was only jogging -- my top speed is at LEAST double that."

Within about 15 seconds he managed to talk himself back up to "about" 20 mph again.

I love that guy.

Heavy for a Friday!

I'm getting a lot of forwarded emails these days with this quote appended at the bottom:

"If you can read this, thank a teacher! If you are reading it in English, Thank a Veteran"

I totally agree with the first part.

But.

Countless thousands of U.S. Veterans have given their lives so that us Americans can enjoy Freedom: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. All rights, which were self-evident to Thomas Jefferson 230 years ago and remain so today.

Notice that "The English Language" doesn't appear in the Declaration of Independence, nor the Constitution, nor the Bill of Rights. And last time I checked, English is not the official language of the USA (I'm not even sure it's the official language of England, but that's another Wikipedia search, for another day). It's pure happenstance that English is the language that Americans speak today. There's no reason to believe that the American version of Democracy (which I believe, is what our military is defending), could not have sprung from people who speak French. Or Mandarin Chinese.

English is not, in and of itself, superior to other languages. It so happens that in the world today, English is a "common language" that many people around the world learn as a second (or third, or fourth) language -- this is mostly due to American culture permeating the entire globe. So what if American culture spoke Arabic instead?

I guess the reason the little quote bothers me so much is, it sounds like xenophobia. Which leads to racism, stereotyping, misunderstanding, and fear of people different from "us." Which leads to problems. More war. More bigotry. More senseless hurt.

Maybe this is more appropriate: "If you're reading this without fear, thank a Veteran." But maybe that's too esoteric of a concept for an email forward.

Preserve your mammaries

I swear, I don't mis-hear things on purpose. But I was half-watching TV, half-reading about the Twins and I heard that in the middle of a commercial for a scrapbook or something.

Saw the Dalys (Dalies?) tonight for only the second time since their new bebe was born. I miss them! We've been seeing a lot of the "Wats" recently too -- trying to cram in as much face-time as possible before they move to the 'burbs. The kids are all so adorable together. Toddlers are just incredible.

I've been chewing my fingers off this last week, stressing about work and the house. When am I going to learn not to sweat it? Why can't I just accept that things happen in due time, and that I can't control everything? Anyway, to console myself I am attending a Twins game on Friday and Rent on Saturday. I cannot decide which I am more excited about. Plus I have book club Sunday. Our Realtor is after us to repaint the kitchen and our bedroom, but I'm sorry, two people (and by two, I mean Joel) can only do SO MUCH while holding down a 40-hour-a-week job and keeping two babies clothed, diapered, and fed. At some point we have to simply say: this is it; this is the best we can do.

There is a lovely breeze in our living room as I type this. We don't get a lot of lovely breezes in our house. I'd better go do some dishes. So goes the battle.

"Projects... We Got Projects"

Or... "Would You Buy A Book Full of Little Anecdotes Like This?"


We own three good towels.

They’re not GREAT towels. I think I paid $10 apiece. But they’re big, and fluffy, and red. The red that matches our shower curtain. The red that is the accent color of the bathroom.

So we needed to paint the bathroom, and Joel took some time off work to do so (in addition to tackling about 35 other projects… and if you think I’m exaggerating, I will list them for you). And when I got home to inspect his work, I found that the paint looked fabulous on the walls (and ceiling, long story) of the bathroom.

I also found that the paint did NOT look quite as fabulous on my towels. And on my shower curtain. And all over the sink. And the toilet. And various other bathroom toiletries and accessories that were apparently too much trouble to remove from the bathroom prior to beginning a painting project.

So, like, the toiletries and shower curtain, I could see -- because the shower curtain can be bunched up in the middle of the rod, away from the walls and, ostensibly, safe from paint splatters -- and, oops, a big splatter, oh well. And paint, of course, can be scraped off a sink, floor etc.

But the TOWELS!?!? Need I remind you, we do not have some wild uber-high-tech bathroom where towels float in midair. Nay, when they are not bunched up in a puddle on the floor, our towels generally HANG FROM THE WALLS.

As a side note to other husbands who may be tempted to try this trick: interior latex paint does not machine-wash off of terrycloth.

Someday, Joel is going to be arrested and charged with murder or some other heinous crime. And he will be found Not Guilty by reason of Chronic Insanity. And all it will take... is my testimony.

OK, OK catching up...

My darling, darling son's new fun trick is waking up every two hours throughout the night. 11PM, 1AM, 3, 5... yessir, just like the sweetest little alarm clock you ever did see. He's also learned to grab things and jam them in his mouth. Which is adorable when it's his own foot, or his shirt or blanket. Less adorable when it's my hair or glasses, or the sewing shears Lucy left on the floor.

Lucy (besides being a precocious seamstress) is... Lucy. A little volatile, a lot wonderful. Her Cabbage Patch Baby is her obsession. Baby eat now. Baby ni-night. Baby milk. Where Baby? Baby soap. Baby eat again. She puts Ed's diaper on Baby, then takes it off and wipes Baby's bottom, then pantomimes putting Desitin all over Baby, from bee-bo to be-hind. We have to keep reminding her to use "pretend wipes" and "pretend soap (Desitin)", but she's awfully good about it. At dinner time, Baby sits in Lu's booster seat and gets a plate too. Lucy's lots into the pantomiming: pretending to eat cookies, drink milk, etc. which is very fun to watch and play along.

What else? Oh, we're getting the floor refinished in the living room and hallway today. And Joel's on a Projects Rampage, working late into the night finishing up the basement bathroom and various other jobs we've been putzing on for the last couple of years. He's great, albeit tired. It's been raining for the last 12 hours or so here, and it's cooled off beautifully outside. And... that might be it for now. Happy Wednesday.

Meg is an Idiot

Chapter MCMLXXVI
In which I attempt to burn down my house and kill my entire family in their beds

Replacement breast pump parts: $30
Replacement baby bottles: $13
Replacement favorite nonstick 8-quart soup pan: Who even knows; it was part of a set.
One call to Poison Control: Free, actually, it's a toll-free number.
Waking up to the smell of noxious fumes and thinking "why does my bedroom smell like noxious fumes?" and going back to sleep for a couple hours: Priceless!

Need I continue, or are you getting the gist? I got home from softball last night at 10:45 and thought it would be a good idea to sterilize my pump parts, plus some of Ed's bottles, while I showered. Only, I forgot to turn off the stove, and went to bed.

Where is tall-man?

Ed had his 4-month checkup today. He's fabulous (and very handsome, according to the doctor). 17 lbs, and a whopping 28.75 inches tall. Which explains why he's dangling out of his car seat AND why we had to raise the level of his "office" yesterday.

Update: I am NOT taking Chem this fall; I am taking Lifespan ("Developmental") Psych. Only one night a week for three hours (rather than two nights a week for eight total hours) -- MUCH better.

Other than that, we're just taking everything one day at a time -- working hard at communicating with the Pants (small victory today: she was eating a banana in the car on the way to the doc and then decided to drop the banana on the floor. But then immediately realized that that meant she could no longer reach, nor eat, it. She had a FIT and I explained that she could have the banana back once we got to the doctor's office. And that if she wanted to eat it, she shouldn't drop it. And I swear she stopped crying and said something like "Don't drop 'nana, can eat it." And I was like "YESSS!")... and enjoying our soon-to-be-departed neighbors and our Twins victories while we can. Happy Thursday!

Go Gone Went

Congratulations to Carol and Pat and Josie, who have a new baby (and sister, respectively)!
Genevieve (Eve) (not sure if I'm spelling that right) was born late Monday. Mom and baby are doing great!

Here's a quote I liked, found on my cup of Starbucks yesterday:

Wrangling fear is the biggest challenge the world faces now and the challenge we all face, now and again, at our crossroads, in the dark moments, at those times we are asked to compromise, at those times when we know deep down that we must revolutionize our own lives.
-- Holly Morris, Author of Adventure Divas: Searching the Globe for a New Kind of Heroine.

I have one of those air-conditioning colds I sometimes get in the summer. After three whole winters without a cold, it's an unpleasant surprise.

Lessee, what else is new?

Ed is still the wiggliest little guy. He flips himself onto his tummy in his crib and then gets mad when he can't get back over. He squirms over to the edge so he's sleeping with his legs hanging out between the bars. He's getting a little fiesty while feeding too -- pounding me with those tiny fists, and writhing his whole body. The other night he was playing this game while eating -- he'd look up and over to where Joel was sitting, wait for Joel to look at him, then smile a huge grin and quickly latch back on.

Lucy started saying either "I hate you" or "I hit you" last night. She said it (whatever it was) very clearly to both Joel and me, on three separate occasions. It was very creepy.

Happy Thursday

Okay, sorry if I got anybody too excited: that is not really Lu and Ed on Time. It just really, really looks like them. ***Dreaming of royalty checks...***

Get this: Eddie DID roll over last night. Back to front. Grampa R was there to witness. Yay Ed!

JT and I are going to see Liriano pitch tonight and we are BESIDE OURSELVES with excitement. Go 'Cisco!

Oh! And just in case you missed it...

My kids are on the cover of Time this week!

Really, though, the resemblance is kind of striking.

Hold me closer, Tony Danza.

Eddie is STILL not rolling over. Both Grandmas have told me, in no uncertain terms, that it'll be "any minute now." I think he's strong enough, but it's really just a question of motivation. He'll do it when he wants to.

I forgot to mention that when G&G Ryan were in for my bday, Lucy went tinkle in her little potty. Once. Under Gram's gentle encouragement. We were VERY surprised and delighted, though we have not yet been graced with an encore performance.

We can really understand what Lu's saying about 85% of the time now. It is truly amazing. Yesterday we were in the living room watching Elmo and I was feeding Ed, and Lu says, "Mocha-meese?" Which means, milk please? And I said, sure, honey, you left your milk on the kitchen table. And she said "Mommy get?" And I said, no way no way, if you want it, you get it yourself little darlin' and she sat there for a bit and thought, and then got up and got it. So cool.

I've been listening to Elton John at work this week. MAN do I love his songs! And they put me in SUCH a better mood than the 1979 recording of "Sweeney Todd."

So I'm registered for a Chemistry class (lab and lecture) at Century College this fall. Am I mental? Anyway, I had to get my old WSU transcript in order to enroll, and it was SO interesting looking at that thing. I took some weird classes. In fact, there's one class on there I have NO recollection of. Some Hallmark thing for Advertising... three credits and I got an A. Fall of 1997, I think. What??

Also! Remember Erin Davidson, who was in our wedding? Right, I barely do either. Anyway, Ellen apparently saw her on some crazy cable-TV "Pop Culture Tournament" or something, competing for like a quarter of a million dollars. Honestly, if there's anybody besides Stu who KNOWS pop culture, it's Erin. Or it was, when I last talked to her 6 years ago. So I hope she did well.

Pressure

I've been reading "Pride and Prejudice" for the first time; or rather, trying to read it. I'm sure it's an awesome book and I know it's a classic but for some reason I can't hardly make heads or tails of what half the sentences mean. I guess it's been a long time since I really had to concentrate on reading comprehension, and I can't say it makes for especially pleasurable entertainment. But I'm getting the gist of the story (I think) and I really want to see the movie(s).
Good God, someone rescue me, I've been swallowed by pop culture. I swore I'd never say "I can't get the book... bring on the movie!" Egads.

The 'Stones song "Jumpin' Jack Flash" is on the radio right now. This song always reminds me of a tongue-in-cheek radio conversation I heard once, where they were debating what exactly the refrain ("Jumpin' jack flash, it's a gas gas gas") was about. E.g. "Jumpin' jack flash is neither a solid, nor a liquid" or something like that.

I am so sorry I've been such a bad blogger. Life just isn't easy these days. "No one said it would be easy... but no one said it'd be this hard" is the Sheryl Crow line that keeps running through my head.

Let's talk current events for a stitch here. The death of Ken Lay really has me thinking. For one, I'm thinking maybe he faked it. That aside, let's say he really did pass away yesterday. What are we supposed to learn from this? That yup, you should go ahead and steal from your employees because you could die before you get sentenced? Isn't that terrible? I know the government is still seeking something like $45 million in damages from him. What happens to that, now that he's gone? What about the decades of prison time he was facing? Am I really to accept that it all just gets wiped away? I don't know, the whole thing really has me down on our justice system, and the justice of life in general. Of course, life's not fair. Worse people have probably gotten away with worse. But it really discontents (I looked it up; it's a transitive verb -- who on earth remembers what that is?) me. I'd be interested to hear what your thoughts are on this -- whether from a religious standpoint, a moral standpoint, or just a concerned-citizen's standpoint. I know my thoughts aren't really well-thought-out, for which I apologize.

This looks like enough for a post. More later, perhaps?

The fastest thing on three legs

Photos of Marnie and me, dominating our building's three-legged event yesterday. Note our intensity... and the largeish, long-legged men we vanquished.

Also note the guy on the far right in the second photo (and far left in the third photo), who, in his defense, also had to battle a couple trees.
Also, I have the race final on video, which does better justice to the actual excitement of the event. I think I can email that to you, upon request.

"How To Win Three-Legged Races and Influence People" seminars coming soon to a convention center near you!

I've received a thinly-veiled threat of being fired for internet usage at work... so I'm blogging from home.

Joel wanted to say a few things. But he won't write, so I do it for him.

We went to a movie in Alexandria over the weekend -- DaVinci Code, actually. It was decent. Cheesy... but not dreadful. As it turns out, Jesus really was a woman!
But seriously, folks, we were especially impressed by the etiquette of our fellow moviegoers. It was a teeny little theatre, with maybe only 15 rows of seats. Maybe 10. Anyway, we like to sit toward the front, but not too close, which in this case was about Row Three. Unfortunately, there was Couple #1 seated near the center of Row Four, and we thought, gee, we shouldn't plop down right in front of them. So we moved a few seats in, and sat.
So another couple comes in behind us and goes to sit in our row, but that would have landed them directly in front of Couple #1. They immediately realize this, about-face, and proceed to Row Two. It was such a lovely display of congenial Minnesotaism. I am so proud.

Okay, this next story isn't Joel's. But it's Happy To Be a Minnesotan Part Deux.
So Donald Trump was giving some get-rich-quick seminar in Minneapolis and... why am I typing this? I can just link you to the story. Click here. Okay, wait, that article doesn't exactly explain what happened... apparently only like 4,000 people showed up. Anyway, I love that.

Back to Joel's stories. He also wanted to share that this morning he popped his head into Lucy's room to wake her up, and she was sitting up in bed, so he grabbed her clothes and diaper and then went to put on his shoes and socks and gel his hair, all the while singing "Where is Thumbkin" to her. He went back into her room to get her and... no Lucy. So he peeked in the living room and there she is, laying on her back, feet in the air, just waiting for her diaper change. You have to picture it in your head, it's cute, honestly.

We had a fabulous evening tonight -- our Neighborinos had some people looking at their house, so Neighborina and the Neighboriños (plus a bonus Neighb-amiga) came over for chili *dinner. We dined in the gazebo, scarfing chili and sipping wine in between referreeing three toddlers perched on telephone books. The tods did their hilarious-toddler thing, much to our delight. After several fits, of course, regarding the proper way to serve chili (i.e. the toddler-preferred ratio of one teaspoon chili : one cup sour cream, which is not Mom's first choice).

*Chili! I invented a chili! It could NOT be easier, and so I present to you the recipe:
Three-Can-Chili
3 cooked, cubed chicken breasts (or three cooked, cubed small steaks)
1 small chopped onion (but I've made it without)
1 can corn (tonight I used 1/2 pkg frozen spinach, thawed, instead)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can black or kidney or any other kind of beans. Or a combo, if you're doubling the recipe.
1 Tb chili powder
1/2 Tb dried cilantro
1 Tb "It's a Dilly" or dill seasoning... or not.
1 tsp cumin (but I think my beans had extra cumin in them, so maybe a little more)Shakea-shakea Tabasco, if that's your thing.

-->Make sure the meat is cooked, then sauté up the onion and add in the spinach to cook it a little, if that's what you're using. Then throw in everything else. Bring it to a boil, or don't, and then serve. You can't go wrong.

We interrupt this blog...

You will simply have to excuse my sporadic blogging. It's a difficult time right now. And on top of it all, my fridge is freezing things again. Which would be great if IT WERE A FREEZER. But if I wanted an enormous, stand-up freezer, I would certainly go out and purchase one (used, from Craig's list, most likely). What I really want, however, is a stinkin' fridge. Actually, I don't really even want a fridge, per se; to paraphrase an old Advertising-class mantra, what I want is chilled food. Chilled. Not solid-blocks-of-ice food.

At least the Twins are winning.

The real father of my child

Is the resemblance not striking? Eh, maybe not.

New blogs to keep up on...

I mentioned my cousins Bridget and Kate have new blogs. Now, you have links! Either click on their names, respectively, in the first line, or click the links on the right side of the page.

I have the song "Blood on the Coal" (from "A Mighty Wind" soundtrack) stuck in my head. Much to my chagrin and frustration. And occasional amusement.

Super-adorable Alley Kittens Available!

Remember the Alley-Kittens from yesterday? In about a month or two, they will be ready for a new home. Wouldn't you loooove to adopt one?
Email me! Free DVD/video of the birth with each adoption!

Five-part discord

I
So I'm not really sure when "bars" worked its way into the popular lexicon. I'm not talking about dessert-bars, which I think growing up we always called "cookies" or "treats" (i.e. Rice Krispie Treats or No-Bake Cookies) but apparently in Minnesota they're "bars." Rice Krispie Bars. Special K Bars. It's taken quite an adjustment on my part.
BUT! I am not talking about that. I am talking about cell-phone bars. Referring to whether or not you'll be able to make a call from whichever location you happen to be. Like, "Man, I don't have any bars! How am I going to get a hold of my babysitter?" Or, "Here, use my phone, I have at least three bars." In the last week I've heard people use the word "bars" a LOT. I have a couple of questions about this:
1. Does everyone have the same number of bars, total? My phone's max is seven bars. I suppose I could just ask some people.
2. What's the number of bars at which the quality of service suffers? Two? One?
3. If your phone goes to eight, but you only have six bars, is the quality of the phone call you're about to make really going to suffer at all?
4. Did the usage of the word "bars" come directly from AT&T's "How many bars do you have?" ads? Why can't we just say "Grr! I have no service!" I'm just not certain "bars" sounds any cooler.

II
This is really just a note to my dad: I was driving home from dropping Mom off at the airport on Saturday morning and it was such a beautiful morning so I drove home along the river and right downtown St. Paul there are some train tracks that go over the road and the river, and there was an old dude standing at the railing just gazing up at the train going right over our heads and I totally thought of you. Trains AND rivers AND a downtown area all in the same place! See, you should totally move up here. ;)

III
Jean hit a home run in our softball game. It may even have been a grand slam; I can't remember. My sister kicks butt.

IV
Joel and the kids and I were totally on TV last week! Channel 5, 10:00 news, local sports wrap -- we were watching Jean's softball team at Sectionals (which they WON, go Sibley!!) and there we were. I still haven't seen it, however.

V
Congratulations to Alley Joel and Cara, new foster parents of five teeny little Alley Kittens. Cara actually assisted in the birth. She even has it on video (what a rock star!!). I will try to get some photos but they are seriously like only 4 inches long apiece. Their little mews are the saddest thing you have ever heard, Mom ("Tails") seems to be doing fine as well... she's remarkably at ease with the Alleys handling her babies and with all of us coming and going. Lucy wasn't so thrilled about the fuzzy little ones, although, in her defense, she's kind of going through the DT's after going cold-turkey off the Nuk yesterday after we found out she chewed a hole in it and we didn't have a replacement.

Shaking the cobwebs from my mind

It's been the hardest week-and-a-half of my life. Thank you to:

• My "original" family. You are an awesome group of people. I know we will get through this together.
  
• My "new" family (JG and the babies). I love you all more every day.
  
• My friends. Your love and support is so, so appreciated.
  
• Jan's friends -- you are now my friends. This has been a terrible time, but I am so glad to have been able to get to know you. You are such cool people. Thanks for the stories and the ice cream!

Let's go back to my kids again. Just a couple updates:

Eddie has slept through the night the last 3 nights or so. All the way through. It is very nice.

Last Wednesday, after a VERY long day, I was putting Lulu to bed and we couldn't find her Nuk. Like, anywhere. And you know how she is about that thing. She was sobbing, crying for it: "Nu-huh-huh-ook." Well, we found one of Ed's nuks on the floor, and I said:
"Here, Lu, I know it's not your nuk but will it work for you? It's got to be better than nothing, right?"
Lucy: "Eddie's. Eddie's."
Me: "Yes, it's Eddie's, but you can use it now, if you want. Look, he's sleeping; he doesn't even want it right now."
So I gave it to her and she took it and sucked on it and I went to the living room to find her toothbrush (don't ask). And when I came back Ed's nuk was sitting on his lap and Lucy was standing there looking at him with tears streaming down her face.
Like, she wanted a nuk so very badly but thought it was more important that Eddie have one available, in case he should need it, than for her to keep it for herself. Maybe it wasn't completely selfless, but it felt like it was. I cried rivers.

I can't believe she's gone.

I just can't believe she's gone.

My Aunt Jan passed away very suddenly and very unexpectedly this weekend while she and Jean were canoeing in Wisconsin. She was 55 and in seemingly perfect health. The cause is as of yet undetermined, and my entire family and I are all still in shock. My grandmother has lost her daughter; my mother and uncle have lost their sister; my sisters and I have lost our aunt... and countless others have lost an amazing woman, musician and friend.

Jan was a reader at our wedding six years ago today. She hosted Lucy's baby shower. She was Jean's godmother, travel companion, and tennis- and piano-partner. She adored and doted on Lucy and Eddie. As the phone calls come in we are learning how many people's lives she touched. Please either pray or "send power" to my family during this excruciating time. And please give all your loved ones a giant hug and tell them how much they mean to you.

Band Name of the Day

I've been getting the Pioneer Press every morning for HOW long now? And I just discovered the section where they have the Band Name of the Day. They have a bunch of contributions from readers, generally "cute kid stories" or "hey, I noticed this" kind of thing, and at the very end they take some weird juxtaposition of words and call it the Band Name of the Day. It's usually something like "Hairy Coffee" or "Dancing Interns." I had no point there but I like the feature.

Only three notes from the AI finale tonight:
1. Best part of the night: when the real Clay Aiken came out during the Clay-Aiken-impersonator's song. The expression on the impersonator's face was that of someone who's just won the lotto. And Clay Aiken now looks EXACTLY like Paul McCartney circa 1962, only slightly less heterosexual. Making the impersonator the only one onstage who actually looked like Clay Aiken. It was a bizarre and wonderful moment.

2. I used to think Toni Braxton was super-talented and classy. Like a new Aretha Franklin or somebody. And then she shows up on AI, and she's all mumbling through her song, and wearing that trampy white dress, and grinding on my man Taylor! Toni, I thought you were better than that. I really did. And how weird is it that Taylor sang with Toni Braxton, given Carol's post earlier this week?!??! Like, if Toni and Taylor married, she'd be Toni Braxton-Hicks!! Wild!

3. Taylor Won! Taylor Won! Party time! Excellent! Woo hoo! Woo hoo!


Back to real life. Eddie scared me a little today by eating on one side at 8:30 AM, and then on the other side at 9:30 (breastfeeding nazis: I normally feed one side right after the other but I had to get Lucy out of her booster and entertained with her toys before I could finish). Okay, that wasn't the scary part. He then slept from 10:30 AM until 2:30 PM!! I actually called the doctor, and I knew it was silly, but I just needed to make sure Mr. Rip Van Winkle was all right. Especially with the weird engorgement issues (not mastitis, and all better now) I've been having. So the nurse who called back mentioned a growth spurt, and I said to myself, "Self? Your son's head does look a little bigger." So I whipped out the tape measure. His head grew THREE-QUARTERS OF AN INCH in two weeks. Ow! And really, he does look less pinheady.

So I'm putting Lu to bed tonight and Ed was already in his crib, and Lu said "Ni-night" to Jean and gave her a kiss good night, and then looked around the living room and said "Where Eddie?" And when I said "Well, Eddie already went to bed" she toddled over to his door and peeked in and whispered "Ni-night Eddie!" before heading into her own room. It never occurred to me that it would be important to her to say ni-night to all of her family members. She is so far ahead of me.

Speaking of which, did I mention this? She's counting to ten. I am not joking. I'm sure she doesn't know what the words mean, but she generally gets the sequence right. All right, she usually flips eight and nine. She's always liked nine better anyway.

My husband brings all the boys to the yard

Okay, it's like, 75 degrees and sunny right now. Way too beautyful to be bloggering! BUT I needed to update a little.

Joel was a ROCK STAR of a husband this morning. He let me mow the lawn so he could spend some time with the kids (and I could get some exercise!). He assembled Lulu's new toddler bed. Threw in some laundry. Did dishes. Finished the lawn (he doesn't like it when I do the hills). Let me shower. Want a husband like that? I could teach you, but I'd have to charge. ;)

Not to be outdone, I personally de-ssembled Lucy's crib, moved it into Ed's room and re-assembled it, solo. I know, I'm amazing. :) Both kids are napping and I have some stuff to do, but have a great day, ok?

Oh, some of my awesomest cousins have new blogs. I'll add links... sometime.

Dumpster Diving... or whatever the opposite of that is. A potato chip?

So last night it took a full hour and many crocodile-tears and some backup from my sister, but I managed to get both kids bathed AND all their finger- and toenails clipped. Phew. It's one of those that, once it's done, I feel SO much better... but getting it done is a large challenge.

This morning, some of our alley-neighbors pulled in a huge dumpster to clean out their rabbit-warren of a home. Here are some ensuing conversations.

Joel: Hey, did'ja see the dumpster back there? After dark, I'm totally tossing the toilet (that we'd pulled out of the basement in, oh, January and is STILL sitting in our yard) and the tire (that for some wild reason a maple tree had been allowed to grow through and it has taken Joel the entire 4.5 years we have lived here to remove from said tree) in there.

Me: Sweet!

Fast-forward to this morning. I return home from an errand and see the guys tossing stuff in the dumpster. And I say, well I may not have any makeup on but I'm still going to see how far my "feminine wiles" can get me! So I grab Lucy, hoist her up on my hip and saunter over to the guys.

Me: Hieee.

Guy #1 (who is the Hobbit version of Alley Joel): How's it going?

Me: Great! Say, I was just wondering, and you can totally say no, would you maybe have some extra room in this thing... I have an old toilet and tire, do you think maybe I could toss 'em in there?

Guy #1: Sure! We're never going to fill this thing up. Do you need me to carry the stuff for you?

Me (aside to self): Yess! I still got it!

Guy #2: Hey, thanks for asking. You know, lotsa people would probably have just thrown their stuff in there.

Me: Really? That's so rude!

Mom, you'll be delighted to hear that we have acquired a toddler bed (crib size) and mattress for Lucy, so she doesn't have to have a "big girl" bed just yet. I'm excited to make the switch because Ed is getting WAY too big for the bassinet-part of his pack-n-play.

Pix

if you click on a photo, it gets bigger.

Lindsay Lohan and me: soul mates?

Hello my darlings!
I'm sorry I've been slacking a bit. I am kind of gearing up to go back to work... by spending LESS time on the computer. Um, I know, that makes no sense. Took the kids to Como Zoo today with my sister. That place is just fantastic. Tons of cool animals, close to home and the price is right! Then we had a Taco Bell picnic in my yard afterward. It felt like summer: heavenly.

Hmm, not much to talk about I guess. I'll be missing "AI" tonight because I'm going to an info session about the nursing program at St. Kate's.

I did want to give a shout-out to the woman wearing denim-on-denim (gaah! Lindsay Lohan's pet peeve! And one of mine!) at Target yesterday, who had the unbelievable gall to get in the checkout line behind me and Jean and the two kids, and to comment on the fact that they had only one register open, and then, when they did open another register, to saunter over to that open register without even a courtesy "do you want to go first?" glance in our direction. Both Jean's and my jaws hit our respective shoes and I am pretty sure I said, loudly, "Who does that?!?"
Anyway, so the only question for her now is which hell (Fashion Hell or Raised-in-a-Barn Hell) gets first dibs.

Oh. And also: the other day on the Channel 4 news, some blonde field reporter said: "Police think the perpetrators would have went down this alley..." WHAT!??!?! How can a professional newscaster be allowed to speak like that?? Anyway, you should boycott Channel 4. I am.

Yeah! Mail's here! Best part of the day. Bring on the formula coupons and Pottery Barn catalogs!

Beauty and the daddy

So Lucy and I were reading a generic "Beauty and the Beast" book yesterday (generic, as in, non-Disney-sanctioned), and every time dark-haired Beauty appeared on a page, Lucy would point and say "Mommy!"

Flattered, I encouraged her. "Yup, Mommy is a beautiful princess!" I said. When we came to the end and the blond prince appeared, she pointed again and said "Daddy!"

"Yes! That looks like Daddy!"

So last night I was getting Lu ready for bed while "America's Next Top Model" was on (I wasn't watching it, of course, it was just on. See, there's a difference). The models were lanking around, doin' their model-thing, and Lucy pointed again and said, "Mommy!"

Well, my goodness! She must have a very high opinion of her mother! And I must be really, really, ridiculously good-looking! Hurrah!

Okay, so this morning, I was holding Lu on my lap while I looked up a couple things online. Alas, she said "Daddy" while pointing to photos of, in turn, Kyle Lohse and Adam Rosenbaum. Neither of whom are at all bad-looking, but also neither of whom look particularly like Joel. So probably, any grownup female is "Mom" and any grownup man is "Dad." Rats.

I want the spoon.

I'm here! Despite reports to the contrary, I have not fallen right off the face of the Earth. Which is a funny phrase. Because if you're standing next to someone, and they fall off the Earth, you would stand there and watch as they were forcefully ejected off into the sky. See? Now isn't that weird?

Eddie Money had his 2-month checkup today. He is gynormous. 15 pounds and 25.5 inches long, which are the 98th and 99th percentiles, respectively. So we get those numbers and then the doctor saunters in and says, "Sooo, how is he eating?" And I was, like, are you kidding? Oh, but just in case you were starting to gaze woefully at your own underachieving, normal-sized child's body, get this: Eddie has a pin-head. His head-measurement percentile? 17th. Yowsa. So basically, though 98% of other 2-month-old boys' bodies are smaller than Eddie's, 83% of them have larger heads. How embarrassing.

Word, so I owe you an AI recap. I'm working on it! Hang tight there, dawg, and I'll work it on out for ya. It's all love. Or something.

Oh, right, the title: "I want the spoon." That, my friends, was Lucy's first full sentence (we think). I mean, she's been saying "Where Eddie?" and "Hey, poo-poo!" but that was the first full, diagrammable, subject-verb-predicate-or-whatever, sentence. It sprang from her little lips Monday evening at the end of a delish meal of BBQ ribs, just as I was about to tear off for dance class. My parents, aunt and grandmother were all beside themselves that they got to witness it. Never mind that it was technically a fork!

Hang on Sloopy

Okay, I know I've been a bad, bad blogger... the most effort I've made in the last few weeks has been toward my American Idol reviews, and even those have been eroding a little. Or that could be because there is one fewer singer every week. Hmm.

My parents have been in town this weekend, and man has it been nice to bust out of the usual routine a bit. This morning I got to play tennis with my mom, aunt and sister -- and Jean and I also got to play some coed softball in the afternoon.

Eddie's been an angel for the grandparents, totally putting up with me coming and going. I've had to pump a couple times when my "activities" didn't quite mesh with feeding-times, and he's been taking the bottle like a champ. What a guy.

Lucy is, simply, hilarious. Just a joy to behold. I adore her.

So the bummer-news this week is that our beloved Neighborinos, the Watsons, will be moving. They're buying a house actually not too far from Jean. We all knew we wouldn't all be staying in the 'hood forever, but it is still a very sad prospect for us Gronaus. We will miss them something awful.

The fabu-news this week is that our friends Becky and Adam had their baby girl! Vivian Jade was born on May 4 and we can't wait to meet her! Congratulations!!

So I'm sitting in bed, typing and enjoying the breeze coming through the window, and the lovely solitude and quiet, and then I stop and go: "quiet?! Something's wrong." Nothing was wrong, except that I'd forgotten to turn on the "parent unit" of the baby monitor. It was only 20 minutes, and I'm sure the Buckets is fine down there.

So we are trying to sell our bassinet. Know anyone who needs one? Eddie has outgrown it (and he is on the brink of outgrowing the bassinet-part of his pack-n-play too, holy cats!). We were asking $30 but I would take any offer at all at this point -- just want to get rid of the sucker.

Hmm, what else can I say? That just might do it for now. Happy Monday!

Dorky McDorkergirl, the least-talented paparrazza on the planet.

Lindsay Lohan, in the center, facing front. She has red hair. Okay, wait, the next one is better.

John C. Reilly, Virginia Madsen and Kevin Kline. These you should be able to pick out. Oh!! John C. Reilly TOTALLY waved at me. It helped that I was wearing an enormous yellow anorak, standing on a step, waving like a dang freak show and hollering "We love you Mr. Cellophane!"

Just kidding about the hollering part.

Oops, I tried to put a caption on this one but I am not that good. The dark-haired woman in the back (facing away from me) is Lily Tomlin; the blond wearing glasses (or just with a thick dark unibrow, it's hard to tell from here) is Meryl Streep.

This is a tulip from our yard. Yes, OUR yard, home of the Happiest Dandelions on the Planet, A.K.A. "Grass Alcatraz." I can't believe I actually took a picture of a friggin flower. Anyhoo, it's pretty, isn't it?

American Idol, 5/2

I apologize. I wanted to do something super-extra clever this week... but I'm coming up short of ideas and time. Time mostly. You understand, no?

Oh, and also we only took notes for the first song; Lucy and Eddie were taking up all our attentions during the second half of the show. So my second-half notes are going to be 100% by my memory of last evening. Which is now 17 hours old. And not good.

Elliott
"On Broadway" -- Awesome! Loved it. It was like he finally let go and just sang the heck out of it.

"Home" (Michael Buble) -- Ooh, wee, Elliott, that was so boring!

Paris
"Kiss" (Prince) -- At the time she was singing this, I thought the theme was "songs from the year you were born" and I was appalled that Paris is so young that she was born the year "Kiss" was a hit. But then it was brought to my attention that I probably only remembered this song from the movie "Pretty Woman" which came out after the song. But then it was brought to my attention that Paris is only 16ish and was born in 1990... No wait, can that POSSIBLY be right?? Holy crud, it is. Okay, I am old. Anyway, with all that going on, who even knows how she sang? I think it was actually pretty good.

"Be Without You" (Mary J. Blige) -- I sooo can't get into whatever genre of music this song is.

Chris
"Renegade" (Styx)
"I Dare You" (Shinedown)
Jean thought his voice sounded really good (which sounds like a tepid compliment but she said it very enthusiastically, I promise), and I thought Chris kicked ass. Joel said he thought it was pitchy and that I could put that in my back pocket and smoke it.

Katharine
"Against All Odds" (Phil Collins)
"Black Horse in a Cherry Tree" (KT Turnstall)
You ever know someone who is especially lovely, but so much so that people comment on how beautiful she is, like, ALL THE TIME? And like, sure, she is ridiculously good-looking, but maybe not, because you've heard it so many times and are tired of hearing it, because ain't nobody saying that kind of stuff about you, you're pretty sure? But then she opens her mouth, and she's just so dang nice, too... kind of makes you think maybe she has some hideous foot-fungus or something, because the universe must have some kind of balance? That's Katharine. I'm just glad I don't have to hang around with her in real life.

Taylor
"Play That Funky Music" (Wild Cherry)
Jean and I Just. Love. Him. Have I mentioned that before? Because we do. Love him.

"Something" (the Bea'les)
Ooh, wee, Taylor, hate to say it, but that was boring!


And one side note: there must be a product invented that allows one-armed people to do things, such as scrape out the inside of a sour-cream container. What is it? And why is it not marketed to new mothers? And where can I get one??

P.S. Congrats to my baby sister Ellen who is moving into her new apartment in Wrigleyville/Lakeview today. Let's all of us old/married/parents live vicariously through her!

"Look at this place... call it a mess" (actual song lyric on the radio right now!)

Random happenings from the fort:

In our alley, we have, arguably, the largest parking space on our block. We happily and readily let our friends park there for snow emergencies, or when they're constructing new garages, etc. Apparently the space's loveliness has attracted the attention of others, as well -- some neighbors we've never spoken to just asked if they could leave a car there for an hour. Which is totally fine. I am delighted to share our abundance of concrete with the teeming masses. Except they parked their little Nissan right in front of the garage door. And, like, I'm not going anywhere in the next hour, but cripes, there is room for approximately four cars on our slab, three of which could park without blocking our garage access. People. Use your brains.

I accidentally clocked Lucy in the eyeball with my elbow this morning. No harm done, but it came about three minutes after a little lesson about "not hitting people. Ever." Oops.

Eddie is such a funny little monkey. He's worked himself into a great little schedule -- a morning nap (or two!)... a little afternoon wakey time, another little nap, some evening wakey and then out like a light between 8 and 10 AM. Sleeps until 2, 3, or 4 AM(depending on the lateness of the last evening feeding)... then sleeps until about 8 (with another feeding at 6 or 7 AM). He's a champion feeder. Never really goes more than 10 minutes on one side, then happily takes the second for another 10. We are so, so lucky to have such an easygoing little guy. And he's smiling lots these days, and yesterday he cried "real tears". We were so entertained by his crying yesterday (eyes darting around quietly, followed by a lower-lip tremble and then a big "WAAAA!") that we forgot that it probably meant he needed something. He's got his 2-month (two months, I can't even believe it!!) checkup next week -- I'll post more after that.

Lucy's new fun thing is splashing in the toilet water. Gross, gross, gross. At least it was cleaned on Monday.

We're on a new "eating-healthy" kick. I'm busting out all my old issues of "Cooking Light" and we've found a couple SUPER tasty salads, of all things. But my real weakness is desserts. Cookies, ice cream, jelly-on-graham-crackers: you name it, if it's sugary goodness, I am all over it. Oh, and it doesn't help when I take a "light" recipe and go "well, it says fat-free sour cream but all I have is full-fat... I'm sure it's fine!" Drat. So I'll be trying a little harder.

Oh my gosh they just moved their turquoise 1982 conversion van onto our slab too. What must!