SheDidItSheDidItSheDidIt!!!

Above, at mile 8.5.

Below, about 1 block from the finish line:



Jean finished the marathon!

Congratulations, Beansie. You're an inspiration.

Oh, and Joel's having knee surgery on Oct 10.

Well! This is certainly going to be More Like It.

Just got back from the kids' first official "field trip" to Afton Apple Orchard. SO much fun, and the best way to pass a gorgeous fall morning! I was pleasantly surprised, and actually I continue to be, by how well some of these ECFE things are orchestrated. Truly, they have so much experience with kids this age -- just plug new kids right in every year and you're set.

For example, they installed 15 car seats into a school bus in what seemed like 30 seconds. Incredible. Getting 2 car seats in my van takes about a half-hour for me -- these gals are whizzes. When we got the the orchard, there was plenty of time allowed for the kids to play at the playground or observe/feed/pet the sheep, llamas, goats (my kids' fave), cows, donkeys, and pigs, before we all loaded onto the hayride for an apple-pickin' tour. Each person got to pick three apples, which sounds kinda lame-o but really it was perfect for the attention span of 15 under-5-year-olds. We saw horses, got to see a pumpkin growing on a tree (seriously), sampled some apple cider, and sang the "Louisiana Hayride" song (actually just me). Then we tucked into lunch, played in the mud, and loaded back on the van. It was a perfect little outing and I'm sure the kids are going to nap well if they would just allow themselves to fall asleep.

Sooooo... what the heck's been going on the last couple weeks? Unfortunately September has been ripped off my calendar, because I just don't remember. I suppose I could work backward.

Last night I really thought I was coming down with something: allover aches and a really sore throat. But I realized I'd done a lot of talking in the prior few days, plus my dance class on Monday was particularly intense, so I gargled some salt water, took some ibu, sucked on a Cold-Eez and really today I feel about 80% better.

The sore throat also could have been caused by walking about 10 blocks in the rain yesterday -- nobody told me it was going to rain! I'd packed up the kids and hustled them onto the bus for a lovely excursion to the Children's Museum -- but it was not to be. The kids were uber-crabby and sprinting off in opposite directions at all times. I could not even keep them both in the same exhibit -- a nightmare. Neither one even napped after that, which was actually a good thing because I had to hustle them over to Dee's at 3pm so I could go teach my new class.

Back it up! You say. Class? What class?

Remember Ashland Productions, home of the "Joseph" summer camp I helped direct? Ashland has an afterschool theatre program for elementary-school kids, and I'm going to help direct it. We play theatre games and icebreaker/get-to-know-each-other games, and I teach the kids a song and dance each time. It is every other Tuesday from 3:30-5pm.

What a dreadful time of day! You say.

You're right! My kids are generally napsy-doodles at that time. Except Lucy's down to only a couple actual naps a week (Don't pick Tuesday, Lu!) and... well, that's the only good thing. So I'm planning to take them to Dee's (my old daycare provider) house for about 2 hours, every other Tuesday. It's 20 bucks each time, and I'm not entirely certain I'll be making that back in income... but it's something I really want to do. Anyone interested in filling Dee's role for less than $20? You're hired!

In addition to the after-school program, Ashland has two show choirs that I'm also helping out with. If you know me, you know show choir has been my true passion since 1992, so I'm extra-excited to get my hands on those kids.

Last weekend we left the kids with Joel's folks and trekked down to Madison for my cousin Mary's wedding. I discovered a new drink (the UV Blue Lemonade) and had some nice convos with many mostly-drunk relatives. It was a good little getaway for us, and also for the kids, who thoroughly enjoyed the relaxed bedtimes and abundance of new toys at Grammy and Papa's house.

After we picked up the kids on Sunday, we swung by this place for an open house. The home is AMAZING and tantalizingly close to being affordable -- but, not. *Shrug* It is fun to dream.

We had a meeting with a contractor last night to talk about the possibility of opening up the wall to Ed's room and turning it into a dining room. He's a family friend (holy cats, I better not be old enough to have "family friends"!) and we had a great, educational chat and visit with him. It really helped put a lot of things into perspective and that actually reminds me I need to email him and tell him that in addition to a dishwasher (not named Joel) I also MUST have a couple more functioning electrical outlets in the kitchen.

So! Because we have so ungodly much going on, and because we were gone all weekend so lots of housework was neglected... my children are being ignored. Not at this instant, mind you, because they are blissfully napping, but in general, I am finding there is simply not enough time in the day to spend all morning goofing off with them and still expect myself to get all the dishes/cooking/laundry/choreography done, that needs to get done.

Whic brings me to: where's the balance between "homemaker" and "stay-at-home-mom"? Because I read two articles recently about SAHMs, and both said that my staying home ought to "ease some of the housework burden" on my husband, ostensibly allowing him to "focus more on his career." I don't think that's happening. And I don't mean JG's not focusing, I just mean that I still think he does a ton of dishes, dusting, vacuuming, baths, and general pickup -- and he would, even if I didn't have 100 evening activities to dash off to. Some of which bring in some extra money. So what's my responsibility? Is it to roll around in the living room with the kiddos, paint their faces, do crafts (I still haven't done a single craft with them, I swear, I just can't handle whatever disgusting mess would ensue... but maybe I'm thinking of the wrong crafts? And where does one purchase "alum" for making homemade play-dough?)... or is it to organize the bills, do the dishes, change out the laundry, scrub the toilets, dust and vacuum? I'm sure it's some kind of balance; I'm just finding it hard to strike it.

Let's see, what are the kids doing?

Lucy is still really enjoying her dance class (still despite her claims to the contrary). It amazes me that she's making these friends, whom she can name, and I have no idea who they are. Chloe? Reed? Hattie? Leah? Who are you?
Two weeks ago they worked on "pas de chat" ("step of the cat") and this week it was "zig-zags". The other day I caught Lucy demonstrating to Ed how to walk backward... now slow... now fast! But that's as close to a demo as I can get from her.

Ed is jabbering away as usual -- if he wants you to follow him, he'll run ahead, reach his hand behind him, and say "ummm-ON! ummm-ON!" He will give "knuckles" now ("NUCK-ull!") and then pump his fist "Yesss!" afterward. When he goes down a slide at the playground, he stands up at the end and claps for himself: "Yaaayyy!!" and sometimes "Ta-Daa!" and then says "Bow?" and neatly ducks his head before running off to try something else.

Lucy is still insisting that I call Ed "little prince" and calling herself "Singer-lella." She's also started speaking in gibberish, for no good reason. Usually when she's trying to pull your attention, or trying to distract you from something naughty she did.

I will round this out by saying that you know you're a grownup when you start experiencing things coming full circle -- like, when you actually live in a place long enough to see a huge road construction project begin and then end. Or when you actually have to replace something you've never had to replace before, like throw pillows. It somehow gives you the wisdom of age to be able to say "nothing lasts forever" and really have lived it.

Jean's running the marathon this Sunday -- take a quick minute to send her power! If you somehow didn't cadge an invitation to the post-marathon party starting around 1:30 PM Sunday, it's a more-the-merrier thing and you should try to swing by. Cheers!

Mortgage market?
See other sheet
Ed: Umm-ON!
Lucy's gibberish and drawings: what I draw? A cup. Purple. Daddy. The wind. Friday. The "new Faje": Koo-koo.

Just a bite

Imagine a garage-sized pile of debris: newspapers, dance shoes, laundry, wet towels, apples, CDs, kleenexes, papers, papers, and more papers -- all the flotsam and jetsom of our lives here on 4th Street.

Enter: ME (lifting a dirty sock and one of Lucy's drawings off my head): Hey. I'm still here. I've got to get back to work. But I'll blog again soon.

Till then...

...Tomorrow Comes!! ...My Amazing Colored Coat!! ...You Can't Stop the Beat!! and what-have-you

Yesterday Lucy bit Eddie. She hadn't napped, see, and he had his mitts on her Sad Puppy. But, you might ask, how did you know Lu bit Ed, because you were cooking dinner and not paying attention to your children?

Because Ed told me. He actually said "Bit me!" It may have been "You bit me" or "It bit me" but I couldn't make out the first word. I heard him say it (from the kitchen, where I was preparing dinner and ignoring my children) and thought, oh, that was Lucy, except why was she speaking in Ed's voice? Anyway, I think that was his first full sentence. "___ bit me!"

We went back for Day 2 of ECFE yesterday (I volunteer in the little kids' room on the day we don't actually go to class, so I got to hang out with Ned). It was not good. For one, Lucy was overwhelmed by being away from me 2 mornings in a row. For two, I was in the room with Ed and the other 2 "teachers" (both 60-something women) and I don't really have my daycare-sea-legs yet. So we'll see how this Thursday thing goes.

Also! I just realized an error of omission (when, rereading my last post, I hit the lone comma at the end a paragraph). I forgot to finish the story about Ed at the end of the song, at ECFE class. You know how in most Broadway-style-showstopping-songs, there's a large, long note at the end? I assure you, there is. Well, we listen to a lot of Broadway around this joint, so at the end of the song we all belt out the last note and raise our arms in victory and elation and hope for a better tomorrow. So... Ed now does this at the end of all songs. Which is amusing to strangers.

Lucy started crying mid-nap about 20 minutes ago, so I went in there to hear "My mouf hurts!" So I peeked inside, and Lu has a jumbo canker sore. Ooooh, those smart. So I told her I was sorry about it hurting, and that it would go away in a few days, and then I told her that, yes, she HAD to try to go back to sleep for a while (because it's only 2pm fer chrissakes and I am not yet mentally prepared for The Late-Afternoon Child-Rearing).

So she asked Why, of course, because she's three, and I said You have to sleep so you can grow big and strong and not to mention, don't you remember yesterday when you didn't nap and how sad you were the whole rest of the day?

And she thought for a sec, and said, If I sleep I will grow big, like you?

And I said, Yes, big and strong like Mommy.

And she said, And I can have a beer?

She's in there now, but I can hear her playing her harmonica... like a lonesome cowgirl idling away a lazy afternoon, waiting for the herd to finish its afternoon graze.

What the devil is falling on my roof -- it sounds like bricks!!

Apparently it's International Talk Like a Pirate Day -- I know this because I got an email from my sister Jean. You wouldn't know it if you checked her blog, though, because she didn't post on it, just like she didn't post on the fact that she ran 21 miles on Saturday, without stopping. Isn't she awesome?!?


Lucy's dance class is apparently going fine -- I was able to peek in and see about three minutes' worth of activity and it sure looked like the Pants was joining in. Of course, after class I asked Lucy how it went and she told me she didn't want to be in the jungle and that Miss Lee yelled at her. Both of which I highly doubt.


Ed is talking like crazy. He invented a game where he pokes someone (usually Lucy) in the bellybutton and says "Bee!" ... and lots more good-natured poking and "Bee!"ing ensues, much to his delight. He likes to "beesh" his own teeth by holding the toothbrush in his head and shaking his entire head back and forth. He is constantly pointing at things and saying "Uttdat?" which, I just read somewhere, is how kids increase their vocabulary. Well, I mean, obviously.


At ECFE class today, the kids had no problem with the separation (us moms were in a room together the whole time). Ed's teacher said that Ed asked for me a couple times, but was very easily distracted. She also commented that he ate tons of snack (surprise, surprise) and that he REALLY enjoyed the song they sang,


Lucy's new favorite song is still Elton John's Your Song (which Lu calls It's a Little Bit Funny). She also likes Goodnight My Someone from "The Music Man" and makes sure to remind me, before I start singing it to her, that the lyrics during the bridge are "True love can be whispered from heart to heart..." and not "...star to star..." which is how I had previously (and errantly) been singing it. "Sing heart to heart this time, Mommy." Lucy also reminds me to close my eyes when I sing the last high note, because that's how Kristin Chenoweth does it. Geez Martha. A stickler for accuracy.


So despite what I told everyone, I am indeed teaching some adult social dance lessons this fall, for that same group I taught in the spring. We're doing West Coast Swing and Hustle this time around, and I certainly have my work cut out for me. It's been 5 years since I taught West Coast to anybody, and it's a tricky little dance. But the group is fun.

I hope it's not too early to get excited about this, but I believe I will be choreographing Ashland Productions' version of "High School Musical," which audition in November and go up in March. I am so excited I can hardly stand it -- and I get to work with some of my favorite people on such an incredibly fun and high-energy show. Can't wait!

Lucy has a new imaginary friend: Hoo-Hoo. Hoo-Hoo is a red spider (but sometimes it's Eddie). Lucy found my old theatre scrapbook (I say old because the last show I did was 2.5 years ago) and was astounded that Mommy is there right next to the Pharaoh in pictures from "Joseph." And that Mommy is an Egyptian. And a cowgirl. And Mrs. Potiphar.

And seriously? I know she's no Yo Yo Ma, but that girl can sing every word in the "Joseph" soundtrack, on key, with all the right pauses and inflections, and seriously minimal prompting. And if you don't believe me, give me a call and I'll give her the phone so she can sing it to you. Even if it's not musical genius, it's pretty dang entertaining.

I told Lu she could take the scrapbook into her room with her for Quiet Time (our new euphemism for naptime) and Lucy told me she would let me know when she was ready to be tucked in and have a song and a kiss and a hug. And I thought "right, this is going to be a battle" but no, about 5 minutes later, she opened the door, came out, asked for her tuck-in/song/kiss/hug, and climbed right into bed. Do I have these kids trained, or what?!? :) She'd left the scrapbook on the floor, and as I was about the exit she showed great concern that I was going to "step on it and smash it." So she made me do a giant leap over it, which I did, in exchange for her very tired but very satisfied smile.

Joel's bday is on Friday -- any gift ideas? He is excruciating to buy for. No hobbies to speak of, and he gets all his clothes from his mom. Which sounds bad, but honestly she's just super-generous. I might revert to buying him a large block of cheese, as I've done in the past.

Oh, Mr. Adams, you are driving me to homicide!

Both kids had regular checkups this AM -- now that I don't have to get up for work every morning, I forget that the kids frequently really do sleep until 7:30, and that I do, too, and that getting them to a 7:45 appointment really is kind of pushing it a bit. And yes, it's almost been a year. I'm a slow learner.

The appointment actually went swimmingly. Lucy asked the whole way there if she was getting a shot, and I really had no idea whether or not she was getting one, so I didn't quite know what to tell her. Then, when she found out Ed was getting one, and would get a sticker for his trouble, she decided she wanted a shot. Except she kept saying "take a shot."

Hence,

"Mommy, am I going to take a shot?"

"Mama, I want to take a shot before Eddie does!"

So we got a couple weird looks from the nurses at the station. Dr. Brown (the new ped at the clinic) was very nice, but you could tell she wasn't quite accustomed to such little ones. She didn't handle Ed's squirming with the aplomb you'd sort of expect from a pediatrician, and then she gave Ed a completely full paper cup of water and proceeded to totally hover/freak about him spilling it, which of course he did, but mostly because she was sort of grabbing at him and/or the cup. Ed actually can drink well from a normal cup, thankyouverymuch, but not when it's full to the brim and certainly not when he's being swatted at.

Both kids seem to be doing just fine, developmentally (tho I wasn't questioning that). Lu weighs 36 lb. and is in the 90th percentile for both height and weight. Ed weighs 26 lbs (but it's a real heavy 26, I tell you what) and I didn't get his percentages because I was sort of focused on the kids, who at the time were dumping out their dry-cereal crumbs all over the rug. I knew (from the pencil marks on our wall at home) that both kids have gained more than 3" in the last 9 months (also because I've had to swap out all of last year's pants for both of them -- yay, new pants!).

Lucy did end up getting a shot (Hep A, they both got), and of course she insisted on going first. And thank goodness for that, because no way would she have "taken her shot" if she'd had to witness Eddie's shot beforehand.

Afterward, I treated myself to the cheapest Caribou ever (house blend with milk -- still tastes heavenly!), thanks to the extra quarters Joel collects in our key tray at home. Then we swung over to Dayton's Bluff Elementary for our first ECFE class!

We were way early, which was actually part of the plan, so we hung out at the playground for a bit. There's a whole section there just for little kids and mine were so happy. It's actually a really nice park, with lots of softball fields and surrounded by some lovely old Victorian homes. So lovely, in fact, that it really got me thinking: I wonder if we could pick up one of these giant old beauties for not too much money? Since we're considering a big kitchen remodel in our current digs, and since we're starting to feel truly committed to living in St Paul (more on that later), why the heck not? I've always wanted to live in a big old home with interesting architechture. Well anyway, while I was daydreaming Eddie dirtied his diaper, so we did a quick change and skipped inside for class.

My initial impression, last week, of the ECFE leaders, was extremely positive. But today, for some reason, I was less delighted about being there. They told us parents that today, the first class, would be "non-separating" (meaning the kids stay with the parents), except that they still sorta-militantly separate the little kids from the bigger kids, so if a parent has kids of different ages (like ME!), I did have to be separated from at least one of my kids during the whole class. And really, Ed is so easy-going that he was fine, except he kept escaping from his class to find me and Lu in the next room. And Lucy was not OK with me leaving (not to mention I'd promised her, based on the info I'd received, that I wouldn't be leaving her), so she had a couple fits.

Which brings me to my next point: I'd spent a bit of brainpower leading myself to believe that Lu is particularly bright for her age, and while she may very well be, as I watch her in dance class and at ECFE today, I see that she really does act her age. Which is only barely-3. So, sure, she can sing all the words to Your Song mostly on-key -- emotionally, however, she really is still a very little girl. It's good for me to see her interacting with the other kids, who are all a *little* older than she.

OK, OK, a couple more Lucy stories.

She got lots of art supplies for her birthday, and she was at Jean's house playing with markers the other day. She brought home one of her works-in-progress and insisted that we hang it up high on the fridge, so Ed couldn't get to it.
Later, we had to bring it down so she could continue to draw on it. By the time she was done, the entire page was nearly covered in dark-blue or black marker. For the next few days, she would often refer to it as "my dark drawing" -- like a moody artiste holding her current masterpiece in the highest reverence. "Momma, where is my dark drawing?"

Story #2. Last week Joel brought the kids to my softball games. There wasn't really any safe place to sit, so the kids were in the dirt. Lu filled Julie's Gatorade bottle with dirt, rocks, and various weeds. And treasured it. She made sure Joel put it in a safe place that night, and the next day she recovered it. It stays outside, but she often asks about her bottle of dirt. Unlike the "dark drawing", the "bottle of dirt" masquerades not as a science-fair project, or a terrarium for beloved bugs. Nope, it's a bottle of dirt. Lu likes to add things to it, like rocks, or more dirt. More power to her, I guess.

Last story: I don't know quite how to document this one, but a while ago we were talking to Lucy about going to a party. And then we were talking about going to some other party that we hadn't quite been invited to -- I have no idea what party this might have been -- and we used the term "crash the party."
A few days later, we were at the park with the Dalys, and we invited Josie to come to Lu's little birthday party. Later at the park, Josie fell and scraped her leg. Oops! We said, Josie crashed! Josie was very upset and I think Lucy empathized. Or, wait, sympathized? DANG!
The next day Joel and I were talking about Lu's upcoming party, and we asked Lu who was coming. "Josie's going to crash my party," she told us. It took me a while to sort out the root of that, and I was really impressed how she put all that together.

Injury update!

- Joel probably has a torn meniscus in his knee -- MRI results next week.

- The pain in my thumb actually kept me awake much of Monday night. Today I took a tip from Nicole Watson (cue Joel: And if Nicole Watson jumped off a bridge, would you do it too? Me: If Nicole Watson jumped off a bridge, I bet she had an awfully good reason for doing it, and it's probably something I should seriously consider.) and coated the tip of my thumb (with the dangling flap in place) with Krazy-Glue. It was genius for a few hours -- I could almost use my thumb like a normal person ought to be able to. Then it got wet, though, and the glue-tip popped off, bringing with it most of the dangly flap as well. So I removed the dangly-flap and am back to a band-aid, but the pain is mostly gone and I'm going to try to air the whole thing out tonight in hopes of spurring new-skin-growth as much as possible.

I should add that I only sorta took the tip from Nicole -- she has something called Liquid Skin that she uses on the boys' various wounds in order to avoid trips to the emergency room for stitches, and so far so good. She only said it was "like" Krazy Glue... and since I'd already spent my entire Liquid Skin budget on Caribou this morning, I had to make do.

All they want is a little blood

Just got off the phone with a lovely woman from the American Red Cross. Actual transcript:

Lovely woman: Is Megan available?

Me: Oh, Lord, a telemarketer. Yes, this is Megan.

LW: I'm Lisa from the American Red Cross and...

Me: Hey, excuse me, I'm sorry, but you guys call me seriously once a week asking me to donate, and last time I donated, back in April, I passed out and bonked my head, and every time you call I ask please not to call me until, like, September, and...

Oh, wait, it's totally September, isn't it.

(Beat.)

Oh, dear, I'm sorry.

(Beat.)

Well, obviously I jarred something loose back in April -- can you put me on the list for, say, December?

LW: Sure.

Me: Okay, thanks.


Total idiot, yours truly.

Joel went in for an MRI this morning, for his knee. Results next week.

Lucy had her first dance class yesterday, and I was a nervous wreck -- she'd spent the entire morning whining "I don't WANNA go to dance class!!!" so I was gearing up for a big old fight. And then, when we got there, they kicked out the parents right away. I had visions of Lucy refusing to give her name, or telling the teacher she was "Fajhe" (more on that later), or simply dancing on her own in front of the mirror, with her "listening ears" turned firmly off. But apparently she was a champ. I peeked in through the blinds (which wasn't easy, mind you) and it sort of looked like she was doing the moves along with the rest of the class.

Afterward, Lu told me that she didn't sit in her spot, but the teacher told me Lu was "a hoot" (whatever that means) and the teacher wasn't actually shedding tears, nor bleeding, at the end of class, so I'm guessing it went all right. Ed and I got some quality time waiting in the hall, and he made friends with a pudgy little 14-month-old Josephine, so truly it wasn't half bad. And Lucy took a terrific nap yesterday afternoon. Which is the most important thing, after all.

I went to an intermediate-level dance class yesterday evening at Dance Spectrum on Grand Ave. I loved it! It was incredibly challenging, but there were only 4 gals in the class and I didn't feel totally outclassed. We did about a 40-minute warmup, which was a serious workout, and the instructor is adorable and fun -- she reminds me of the second can-can dancer in Moulin Rouge; the one who rats out Satine. But much nicer. And probably not a prostitute. Although she did make a comment about one of the other teachers, who is "like 34 or 35" and, amazingly enough, still dancing. Oooh, that one hurt a little bit. So, maybe part-prostitute.

Fazje! Right. So Lucy has this imaginary shape-shifting ethnic friend named "Fajhe." I spell it that way because sometimes Lu pronounces it "Faje" and sometimes it's much more like "Fazhe". Anyway, Fajhe has been around for several months; maybe even the better part of a year. Sometimes Eddie is Fajhe; sometimes I'm Fajhe. Sometimes Lu herself is Fajhe. Sometimes Fajhe gets scapegoated for various wrong-doings around the house; sometimes Fajhe is "still using" one of the toys that Ed tries to appropriate. It all seems like pretty-standard imaginary-friend fare, so we go along with it and enjoy it.

There should be a much-funnier story about Fajhe right here, but I simply do not have one. Oops!

I did want to mention that I sliced off the tip of my thumb slicing tomatoes on Sunday. I sort of forgot that I'd had my knives sharpened. At the moment it happened, I had some serious flashbacks to my mom doing the same thing one day in the kitchen. Hers was much worse, if I recall correctly -- I think she may have gone in for stitches, and I vaguely remember it being a larger slice off her thumb than mine. It is really hard going through life with only one thumb, though, I tell you what.

Well, I've got a johnny-glasses pile of dishes waiting for me that I'd better tackle. Ick. When are we acquiring that dishwasher, again??

Chupacabra, the goat-sucker

Ohhh, boy, I am rapidly getting in too deep.
My fall schedule is just about booked to the hilt, and I am getting scared. I took the kids to register for a Wednesday ECFE class this morning, and ended up committing to volunteer one other morning per week. I also have a few moms (you know who you are!) with whom I like to enjoy weekly playdates... not to mention I just got a notice that there are FREE toddler-oriented open gyms at several within-city-limits St Paul rec centers. Lucy has a Monday AM dance class -- and there go my mornings.

I'm taking a Monday evening dance class, and the adult group I taught Swing to last spring is thinking of engaging me for weekly lessons (woo-hoo!), and I'm playing volleyball on Thursday nights, and I'm supposed to be working more (I hope?) with Ashland this fall -- not to mention my "fall" softball league still has a few weeks left... yikes! Why do I do this to myself?

Well anyway, to be honest I am SUPER excited about all the new things starting up. Most of all, my dance class I get to take. FINally. But I'm also happily anticipating the ECFE class, which I now realize I should have told the kids is like "school" because they do use the words "school" and "teacher" and "class" and I think that would have gotten Lucy, anyway, a little more jazzed about it. I'm also excited because the ECFE people might have me volunteer to watch the kids for the Spanish-speaking class on Tuesday mornings, so I'd get to practice my Spanish and also expose my kids to a once-a-week Spanish-immersion playdate. For free!

Oh, hey, let's play Am I the Only One Who Does This?
Sometimes I spell things wrong on purpose, to entertain myself or because it reminds me of something.

Like, "Best Buoy" instead of "Best Buy."
Or "Congrels" instead of "Congress."
Or "transunconstitutional" instead of "transcontinental."

Okay, so I don't have occasion to write the word "transcontinental" all that often in my line of work. Or, like, I pluralize semi-collective nouns, like "celeries" and "milks." OK, so do you ever do that?

Graph paper and fresh cilantro

You wouldn't think it would be that hard to find either of these items, would you? I assure you, it is nigh-on impossible. Blimey!

Let's see, Lucy turned 3 on Sunday and fully enjoyed (and is still stringing out) her week as the birthday princess. We had a great weekend up at the lake an now we're gently easing into our fall schedule, as our summer sports start to die down and the fall activities rise to take their places.

Shout out to my mom, who made matching mom-and-daughter aprons for me and Lu. Lucy loves hers (I do too!) and I hope a picture will be forthcoming. In the meanwhile, these will have to suffice:

Some random shots from last week...

Lu-La opening (and wearing) gifts from G&G Books

Ed, this morning (he's a man-bug!).

Falling slowly / Sing your melody / I'll sing along

Jean bought me a copy of the soundtrack to Once, mostly because she didn't want her copy out of her posession for as long as it would take for me to burn myself a copy. She and I went to see this movie a few weeks ago and it was ... just wonderful. Which sounds cheesy, but it totally wasn't. The music and the movie are simply fantastic and quietly moving. Anyway, I recommend both.

Belated congratulations to a few of my peeps:

Michelle and Jeff welcomed Anna Catherine last week. She's a beauty!

Nikki completed the 3-day, 60-mile Susan J. Komen 3-Day. An incredible accomplishment for a great cause.

Ellen and her bud Gretchen came in 77th out of 300 teams (out of about 500 non-finishing teams) in Chicago's City Chase, a super-bizarre "Amazing Race"-type gig where you run, walk, or use public transportation to complete a series of challenges, like learning and performing a striptease dance, letting a python crawl inside your shirt, rappelling down a 15-story building, and asking total strangers to donate $25 for Special Olympics... all throughout the city of Chicago. Ellen phoned us about 2pm on Saturday to ask for help solving some word puzzles -- Jean was way more help than I.

My coed softball team tied for the league championship and there are rumours of a travelling trophy. Can't wait to get my hands on it! Uh, just kidding... I typically have no clue what the score is or even whether or not we're winning, during the games.

My coed volleyball team won our first round of playoffs, so we live to play another week for the championship. We might need another female player next Tuesday night; any volunteers?

Eddie, oh Eddie! We have full convos with him now. Granted, his lines are one word at a time. But he repeats absolutely everything -- he does every letter of the alphabet (repeating the sound) when we read "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" to him.

Lucy turns 3 on Sunday (insert shocked face here) so it's been Lu's Birthday Week of Fun for the last few days. Some of her friends came over for a little soiree on Monday night... she got to open some gifts from G&G Books tonight... and Sunday we'll be doing a little cake-and-gifts up at the lake, I think. Lucy has eschewed naps twice this week (and may I remind you, it's only Wednesday), but she does manage to stay in her room for about 2 hours, singing and banging around but being relatively quiet. I tell you, it's as good as a nap to me.

Joel's knee continues to ail him, so he went back to the doc today. This doc said there probably is something slightly torn, so Joel's going to see an orthopedist in September. Surgery is not a certainty at this point, but JG's taking it easy by only working his upper body at the Y (I roll my eyes as he launches into wayyy-too-detailed explanations of curls, flies, hammers, and whatevertheheck else he does there; I miss the simpler days of Joel's Y membership, when I was regaled with stories of naked men's junk propped up on the sink).

Well, that seems like a decent place to sign off for the time being.

Ramalama Bang Bang

If you're not in the mood to hear me feel sorry for myself, I recommend you go read somebody else's blog. Try www.velveteenmind.com or www.dooce.com. Plenty of happy, self-effacing moms there. Or find some of the flood victims in southern Minnesota... there's some actual tragedy for you.

Right. So it's been raining for six full days. It stopped for about two hours yesterday evening, and it has stopped now; in fact, if my entire assortment of mismatched lawn furniture wasn't as soaked through as a fully-clothed-and-diapered toddler who flings himself into the bathtub... but i'm getting ahead of myself.

My daddy coming home soon?
No, Lu, he'll be home in three more days.
Where daddy go?
He's working far away.
He's going to have dinner with us.
No, no, he's not.

Wednesday was great. I biked the kids to the bank and Target in the AM and made it home (the bike trailer actually holds two giant boxes of diapers! Who'd'a thunk?) only having to walk three of the gigantic hills along the way. And how many gigantic hills are there, total? Why, three, thanks for asking. Oh, and by "walk" of course I mean "push my 40-year-old 10-speed, dragging 65 pounds of kid and 10 pounds of diapers and Borax behind it, uphill, in 99.5% humidity."

But I got the errands done without having to strap the kids in the car. Wednesday naps were A-OK, and we met up with the Riggs family at the park before dinner. And the sun came out! Hooray!

I was even going to skip the baths, but I was feeling ambitious (Joel's usually the bath dispenser). Bathed Ed. Dried, diapered and jammied him. Lovingly lotioned his little dry patches. Started a new bath for Lu. Ran to the kitchen to throw something in the trash, and

SPLASH.

Then silence.

Then, "Eddie fell in the tub!"

I run into the bathroom, and yup, there's Ned, sitting in water up to his little baby waist, fully dressed. And fully drenched. And fully delighted with himself for figuring out how to get into the bathtub all by himself. Yayyyy, Eddie. Argggh. So there goes another $.25 overnight diaper. Damn, damn.

Apparently that was foreshadowing for Thursday: Bride of Wednesday. Pouring rain, unceasing, all morning. And I discover at about 9AM that, to paraphrase MacArthur Park: someone left the stroller out in the rain... I don't think that I can hold it, 'cuz it takes so long to fold it... and I'll never go on an evening walk agaaaaaaain!!

Oh, God, I'm getting delusional. Well anyway. I plugged through Thursday, through unbelievably truncated naps (Ed actually sobbed through his entire brief nap; when I went in to see what his deal was, he crawled into my arms and said "Hi!" like he'd just been waiting patiently for me to go get him), through my first attempt at actually baking bread (to be honest, it was absolutely delicious), through getting my period (sorry TMA for any boys who might be reading), through a Johnny-glasses diarrhea explosion (not mine! Ed's!) all over the entire contents of my rather large and chock-full drawer of Tupperware containers.

"What I smell?" asks Lucy.

Holy-sonofamotherlessgoat, there's poop everywhere. I dump Ned in the tub, nay-kay him up and hose him down. And scrub him out. And rinse out the tub (which reminds me, now I have to go actually scrub out the tub, damn it). And rediaper him, and then gate off the kitchen so the kids don't spread the liquid poop to even farther reaches of the house, and I am hollering because Eddie is desperately trying to defeat the gate, and Lucy is totally abetting him, and I am up to my elbows in Clorox wipes and poopy Tupperware.

Not to mention, neither of my kids have eaten more than three bites of dinner. Or lunch. Here's what they do deign to eat:

cold cereal
raisins
grapes
yogurt
peanut butter and jelly shammiches
graham crackers
salmon (they are mad about salmon)

Oh, and Lucy will eat cherry tomatoes.

So I plugged through all of this, because Jamie was coming at 7pm to watch the kids while I went to play softball. I was so excited to play softball. I love softball. And I love getting out of the house when I am single-momming it. And I was so happy to get to spend the entire day with my kids before kissing them good-night and heading off to play softball.

Remember all that rain I mentioned? It makes fields soggy. No softball.

So I call Jamie to tell her.

"Great!" She says. "Now I can go for a run!"

Great, Jamie, I'm so happy for you.

So I call Jean to make sure she'd heard.

"Great!" She says. "Now I can go for a run!"

Great, Jean, I'm so happy for you.

"Yeah! This is so perfect! Um, Meg, are you okay?"

Oh, sure, sure, I'm just gritting my teeth so hard that I busted a filling.

So I call Joel, to whine a little and also because Lucy wanted to talk to him.

"I'm almost done golfing, can I call you right back?"

Oh, dear, honey, no, I'm sorry, that's not the right answer. Try gushing with sympathy, and after a few minutes of that, tell me you're going to take me on a date somewhere and that you've totally planned the whole thing and maybe throw in a nice little compliment, like You made a veggie egg bake for dinner tonight? With extra cheese in hopes that the kids would actually eat it? That sounds great, I miss homecooked meals. And don't call me back while you're pooping, either, I seriously cannot take it.

So there was just wayy too much screaming and whining and crabbiness in the house, and that didn't even include the kids, so I decided bedtime was at 7:00 tonight instead of 8, and as I have Ed on my lap and Lu by my side and we've finished our two lovely bedtime books and we're just starting our first lovely bedtime song, Ed decides to chomp on my thumb. The thumb with the fingernail that's a little too short today as it is, and is a little owie anyway -- he bites down on it like it's a BLT. I scream and immediately burst into tears. Can I even tell you how much it hurt? It's an hour later and it still hurts like the dickens. It's reminiscent of the time I burned my hand on hot soup while waitressing at the HobNob back in the summer of '97. Instant, unbelievable pain. Anyway, my tears totally freaked out both kids (I remember reading somewhere that parents really need to try to quell their emotions because toddlers can't handle the idea of their parents being out of control, and it could ruin their little brains).

So... I'm stuck alone with these kids for the next 22 hours. Say a little prayer for all of us.

Oh! I did find an amazing time-waster at ikea.com -- the kitchen planning tool! It's the coolest thing -- you can draw your kitchen and change/move things as you wish and then view the whole thing 3D. It's seriously awesome. I spent 3 hours (kids' naps and bedtime!) yesterday goofing around with it, which is another reason I had six hours' worth of dishes to do today.

Well, listen. It's 8:30 and I think the Twins game is still on the radio. Plus I know there's ice cream in the fridge with my name on it. Plus I know I can scrounge up a vodka-tonic if I work a little. Ciao. On to a better tomorrow.

Just more stuff...

I'm sorry I have not been writing at all recently. I don't know if it's just a summer slump, or if my routine is getting so dreadfully boring that I can't think of a single reason to put pen to paper. Or fingers to keyboard, as it were.

On Saturday it was raining, miserable, and freezing, for the first wonderful time in about four months. Eddie is apparently old enough to have formed certain short-term memories, but not old enough to remember ever having worn long sleeves before. Joel dressed him in a long-sleeve tee on Saturday morning and the kid freaked out. Screaming, beet-red, with big old crocodile tears streaming down his cheeks. Alternately clawing at his sleeves and staring at them in abject horror. It was super funny.

We told this story to the Rosenbaums, who nodded appreciatively and pointed at their daughter, Viv -- same thing! They've lived in Florida until a couple months ago, and when they put long pants on Vivian on Saturday, she too was crying and screaming and kicking her pants-legs. The babes better suck it up soon, or it's going to be a long winter.

Shout out to the Weigands for letting us trash their beautiful house Saturday night. We had such a great time, thanks!! And welcome home.

Let's see, what else is Ed saying? Oh, everything. Bish for toothbrush. Mocky for blankie or monkey. Again for again, or for "more food please." Goat, pig, duck, puppy. Ho ho ho just to be silly.

The other day Lucy, apropos of nothing and no one, said: "You're just like your mudder."

I biked for 2 hours, 40 minutes (16 miles) with Jean last night. See her blog for the complete story. I am seriously so proud of her!!

Johnny Glasses Running!

CONGRATS to El, my favorite baby sister, who ran the Chicago Distance Classic Half Marathon on Sunday, finishing 129th out of 1179 in the women's division, keeping 8.5 minute miles, which is completely amazing, especially considering she was out at the 311 concert until like 2AM the night before.

The action shot, I can't tell if it's the beginning or the end of the race. I recognize the tunnel, but leave it to my parents, on a beautiful day when the entire race is run along the lakeshore, to take one action shot and have it be in a tunnel. :) Just teasin', Mom and Dad, love ya!

Congrats to my other sis Jean on running 15 whole miles this morning. Farthest ever! You rock!

I forgot to post this when Jean ran her half-marathon back in June: I am shocked by how many people don't know that "a marathon" is a specific distance. All marathons are 26.2 miles, and all halves are 13.1 miles. But I guess I didn't realize until like 5 years ago that the Masters golf tournament is always held at Augusta so... you know, to each his own.

S'more photos, these from Joseph:

"Forming banana" in the shop, pre-show

Some wives and Egyptians, and a goat

Jacob, some brothers, and Sydney

"One More Angel"

"Potiphar"

The Go-Go!

Kids are funny, because they don't realize that I want pictures of their costumes and not just pictures of them and their beautiful faces. Hence the missing beards and burqas in the non-candids.

OK, more pix:

Ceili dancing with Lucy at the Irish Fest on Saturday (Our Gaelic names were Mairead and Loiseach, and Joel's and Ed's were Eoil and Eoin, respectiveli)

Ed's new haircut

And...

I got bangs!

Rhubarb bars, so yummy in my tummy

Hi, oof, I am finally getting a few seconds to post.

Still one more weekend left of Joseph; I am really going to be sad when this is over!

I've started actively looking for dance classes to take... for me. Or, rather, dance class -- these puppies are expensive. Geez martha. I think I'm going to take a jazz class, though how much would I love to do ballet and modern, too? I will tell you. Lots.

Also ISO a class for Lucy. Ugh; I just wish there was a single studio super-close by that I knew I liked.

Today was Crazy Errands Day -- I dropped off some kitchen knives at Frank's Sharpening up on Arlington. When I picked up the knives later, I paid the old man (Frank, I presume) and told him to enjoy the rest of his day and he replied that he planned to "sit on [his] fanny." I adore oldies who say "fanny."

I also dropped off some stuff at Goodwill, hit the Maplewood Farmers' Market, grocery shopped, attempted (again) to return a shirt I bought for Lucy but that she refuses to wear, and let the kids run around for a bit at the Maplewood Mall playground. It was fun for about 20 minutes until Ed decided to escape... and then I couldn't tear him away from the exit.

This afternoon I went to the doc quick because I'd been having some weird heartbeats now and again, and also because I practically faint every time I stand up from doing something near the floor (and when you have two toddlers you are constantly doing things near the floor). My EKG was fine and they tested me for anemia (results forthcoming). I'm sure I'm fine but it was good to get checked out. My blood pressure was a little low (well, that's what Jean said; the nurse said it was "good") and I had lost 2 pounds since April so maybe I just need to eat more. So I came home and made some rhubarb bars. Oooooh they are good action. I had written a note on them: "5/26/04", meaning I made them that date too, but I have no recollection of that (although I was pregnant with Lucy at the time, so I'm not surprised I didn't remember anything). Right, so I guess I'm fine. The doc told me he sensed I was a bit of an anxious personality, which I know is true -- the problem being that I'm really not happy unless I have eight zillion things going on. If I'm quiet and sitting still, I'm probably ill or ticked off. He said I should try to reduce the stress in my life, and believe me, when I can afford a dishwasher and a live-in maid-slash-masseuse, I will jump right on it.

Our tomato plants are yielding an embarrassment of riches -- I've got seven Big Boys and 4 cups of Grapes sitting on my counter, just waiting to be put to good use. I'd like to make some salsa tomorrow, if Lisa would ever send me her stinkin' recipe!! :) :)

OK OK what else? Yesterday at lunch Eddie was crying (about something terribly insignificant, as usual) and Lucy, without looking up from her PBJ, said "Oh Eddie, cry me a river!"

Lu's also in a phase where she waits for a break in the action and then says "Mommy... I love you." It's great!

Ed is obsessed with "shish!" (fish) and any other kind of animal. He busts out all kinds of words, like "bubble" and "Elmo" and "okay!" and "Go go go go!"

I've got to try to cross some more of these little annoyances off my list of Things That Are Starting To Drive Me Crazy...

1. Sew Lucy's 2 blue dresses that have been torn all to heck since she wears them every day

2. Tape together the kids' books that Ed has ripped the pages out of

3. Take my bike in to try to figure out what parts have fallen off (since every time I ride it I hear the clanging of fallen metal behind me), and maybe to see if the brakes can be muted slightly

4. Try to sign me and the kids up for an ECFE class which you would think really shouldn't be that hard but seems to involve eight different forms to be filled out, not to mention just finding a class when my kids' ages seem to be just off the age limits for all the classes I would want

5. Divest myself of some of these baby items we no longer need. Anybody want a baby bathtub? How about two baby bathtubs? Little boy and/or toddler girl clothes? A high chair? Changing table?

Three Revelations

Hello.

1. I had NO IDEA that Johnny Depp was going to play Sweeney Todd in the movie version!! I am overcome with excitement. Aiiiieeeee!!

2. I had no idea that the word "painstaking" would be split into "pains-taking." In my head, I always thought of it as "pain-staking," which, upon reflection, doesn't actually make any sense. I think I had a vague notion of someone climbing a very steep mountain using only two small wooden stakes.

3. It's probably a little too late, but I think I want to be one of Avril Lavigne's backup singers. Anyone got any connections?

Mama, sing Joseph songs for me AGAIN.

Omigosh, I'm sure you're like, seriously?!?!? Nothing but Lucy sayings? But it's true, this is all I have to offer you today.

Chapter 1
At lunch today, Lucy threw a fit because she ate all the jelly off her PBJ and then wanted more. Sorry, I said, you've had your jelly ration -- if you're hungry there's plenty of bread and PB left on your plate.

Timeout! During which she had an accident in her room, probably because she was crying so hard.

So I'm mopping it up, and Lu, weeping, asks what I'm doing, and I tell her. And I ask if she'll please remove her own underpants so I can wipe her down and get her changed.

"I'm sorry," she says, between sobs, "You're out of luck."


Chapter the Second
Still at lunch.

"Mommy, your skirt is blue."

Me: "Yes, it is!"

Lucy: "Like my eyes."


Part 3
(This is something she's been saying for a while, but I'm now documenting it.)

I'm handing out strawberries because, my stars and garters, everyone has eaten their respective sandwiches.

Lu: "Mommy, I get two. Because I'm two."


The Grand Finale
Lunch is, at long last, winding down. Lucy is still picking at her food. The naptime negotiations are beginning.

Lu: "I have to sit on the potty... and then I can eat more."

Me: "Orrr... then, you can take a nap.

Lu: "ORRRRRRR... eat."

Three Lucys

Sooo... I don't like jumping into a post without even a rudimentary idea of what I'm going to say... but here I am.

It's Monday! TGIM!! Seriously! I have my life back, after 3 weeks of theatre camp. Lord, did I learn to love those campers, though. What a terrific bunch. Not that they don't also drive me crazy sometimes. My duties for the remainder of the run are:

1. Show up an hour before curtain.

2. Apply "Egyptian eyes" to seven 10-year-olds, making sure to remember which 10-year-old likes which style of Egypt-eyes (there are several; you'd be surprised), which 10-year-old has the super-sensitive skin, and which one gets all twitchy and teary if I press too hard with the eyeliner, beacuse heaven knows I don't have anything better to do with my gray matter than dedicate it to the makeup preferences of a handful of fifth-graders. Also they don't think to remind me when they start lining up in front of me, pencils in hand, wearing their identical Egyptian outfits with the adorable matching wigs.

3. Move the stairs a few times between scenes.

4. Sing at the little kids over Annie's shoulder through the entire show, because Annie's voice is super tired from singing at little kids for three straight weeks.

Well anyway, I'm back with my own brood today and I really missed them! Lucy's grown, like, a foot, and Eddie says all kinds of fun new words now.

We met the Watsons at the Childrens Museum this morning (P.S. Here's the title of the post: Lucy wanted to fingerpaint. Insisted. So Nicole kept an eye on the 3 boys while Lu and I went next door to the otherwise empty fingerpainting room. A little girl, also named Lucy, and her mom walked in. Wow! I thought, only 2 kids in here, and both little blonde Lucys. A third little blonde girl came in with her mom and grandpa... also Lucy. Now isn't that a bizarre coincidence?) and had a wild and crazy time, and I'm looking forward to busting out my new (new to me, that is) bike trailer for quick errands around the neighborhood. But right now I'm thinking I'm just going to grab my book and put up the ol' feet for a few minutes during naptime. Mmmmm, how I've missed naptime!

Hey, does anybody know how to uninstall Nero on my computer?

Also, what are those shiny, pretty, horned beetles called (the ones trying to eat my tomatoes, drowning themselves in our kiddie pool, and nesting in Lucy's hair)? They are beautiful and also very scary.

Also, I have a weird mutated plant in my tomato garden. It's tall as the tomatoes, but the leaves are big and broad (about the size of my jazz hand). It has teeny yellow flowers that look just like tomato flowers, but also weird larger buds that look like they're going to open into actual flowers. What the heck?

Oops, I goofed on the show sked...

Friday and Saturday shows are 7:30, not 7pm. The Ashland Youth Performers (like a show choir) perform 45 minutes before each showtime. They're doing some super fun medleys from Hairspray, Wicked, High School Musical, and Footloose. Sorry for the confusion!!


This morning Lu got up early (6:45ish), climbed over the gate we have on the bottom of the stairs, and strolled up to our bed saying "Hi!"

I came downstairs, grabbed the paper, and sat on the couch. I told Lu I was just going to snooze for a while, while she played. I put my feet up, and picked up the paper.

Lucy says, "I have to tell you something, Mama."

Sure, come tell me.

She bends over and whispers in my ear: "You don't read the paper when you're sleeping."

More 411 on the show... EDIT!! Actual details!

Hey kids. OK more details...

Call 651-274-8020 for tickets. You can also buy them at the door... people keep making noises about it selling out but I think that's just a sales-motivational tactic. You may certainly buy them at the door. The show is at Maplewood Community Center. It's just south of Highway 36, at 2100 White Bear Ave, in Maplewood.

Lucy will actually be going to the show a lot. So!
This Friday (July 27) she's going to come with me and be my little buddy. I'm not sure if she'll sit in the audience with me or if I'll be needed backstage -- either way, she's tagging. If that goes OK, she will accompany me to the remainder of the shows this weekend (July 28 and 29).

Next Saturday (Aug 4), Becky and Vivian are going along to the show along with Lu and Ed. I think Julie and Jamie are coming that day too. Anybody else is welcome to join us!

Cara and Alley Joel also offered to go with Lucy this Sunday (July 29).

If I know you are coming, I can ask to get sitting-in-the-audience duty, so we can sit together. The kids are so very talented and are working their little tails off to make this show great. It's been an incredible experience that I have been so blessed to have been able to take part in. As usual, I'm sure I'm learning more than the kids are. Argh! I just love it.

Shameless Plug! Come see my show!

And bring your kids!

So most of you know I'm working at a kids' theatre camp thru Ashland Productions. In a week and a half, we will mount a full-scale production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, with a cast of 75 performers age 6 thru 18.

Joseph is an incredible, funny, high-energy show based on the Old Testament tale of Jacob's favorite son Joseph. You should come see it! Tickets are only $6, general admission, and the cast is really great, and the costumes are supercool, and the orchestra is all professional grownup musicians, AND a few bits of the choreography are Original Meg. ;)

I cannot WAIT for Lucy to see the show, so you should totally consider bringing your kids too. Kids under age 2 can sit on your lap and don't need their own ticket. The show is probably under 2 hours long, even including the intermission. Kids will DIG this show; it is goofy and fun and quite a spectacle. With can-can dancers! Go-go dancers! And Elvis! For six dollars, how could you go wrong?

Fridays (7pm), Saturdays (7pm), and Sundays (2pm), July 26, 27, 28, and August 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12. I won't be at the Aug 10 performance but you can still come then if you wish.

Omigosh!

I totally forgot one of the MOST important things we did last week in Illinois! We got to meet...

Stulie's new babies!!!

Winona and Dashiell Vanorny were born via scheduled Caesarean section on Friday, 7/6/07 at 9:39 and 9:40 AM, respectively. They were 6 lbs, 2 oz, and 6 lbs, 4 oz, respectively, and were 18 or 19ish inches long. Not too shabby for twins!

Here's the best part: Winona looks just like Stu. Blonde hair, Stu's nose and small mouth. And Dash looks exactly like Julie: black hair, full lips and a wonderful scrunchy face. Not that Julie ever looks scrunchy! :) We got to see them when they were only like 6 hours old and it was totally awesome to hold the kids and be with this brand-new little family. Julie was doing great and Stu was totally blissed-out. It was great to be able to be there.

Congratulations Julie and Stu! Hope you read this some day, you super-lazy blog-abstainers.

Oh man I'm wiped out!!

Hoo, boy, I bet you'd thought I'd vanished, didn't you?

Nay! Still here. We were on vacation for about a week, heading up to the lake on June 29ish and then back home on Monday, only to vacate on Tuesday for Rolling Meadows. We watched the big RM 4th of July parade go right past my p's house, and then we spent the next couple days garage-sailing and being lazy. And Saturday, 7/7/07, was the annual Ryan Family Picnic!

We counted 83 warm bodies in attendance this year, which is pretty incredible. It's always great to catch up with all the cousins, especially since so many of us have kids now. See my cousin Molly's blog for some photos... I may try to attach some of my own here in a bit. And by "my own" of course I mean the ones my cousin Lynda took. :)

So I started camp this week and it is SO much fun. We have about 75 kids age 6 to 18. And these kids are so incredible. They are the nicest, sweetest, most hardworking group. And they're all theatre geeks. Like me!!! And the grownups acting as camp counselors are wonderful, kind, supportive and so talented too. It's only been three days and I am so far beyond exhausted and my body has not hurt this badly all over since WSU Dance Team auditions in fall 1994, but I am just loving it. The kids will be putting on a full-scale production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat for three weekends starting July 27, and tickets are only $6. I'm going to have Joel bring Lucy for sure, so if you are going to be in the area and maybe have kids who would love to watch a great show, you should definitely come.

Just a couple kidnotes (on my kids, that is):

2 weekends ago when we were up at the lake, Donna and the kids and I were playing in the water, when all of a sudden Lucy grabbed her ladybug water-floatie and dragged it out of the lake and way up on the shore.

"Lu," I said, "Why don't you bring that back down so Eddie can use it?"

Lucy turned to me and said (and I kid you not):
"Here's the thing. I put it in the water once and it gets all dirty, so I'm going to put it up here, okay?"

Donna and I about had to scrape our lower jaws up off the beach.

Later that day, Ed pointed to a windchime that's in the shape of a fish. "Fish!" he said.

"YES!" I said, "Good job Ed! That's a fish."

Couple minutes pass, and Joel walks over. Trying to get Ed to show off his new word, I point to the windchime.

"Ed, what's that?"

Ed: "Shish."

Well, okay, close enough. Soon John walks over.

Me (pointing again): "Ed, what's that?"

Ed: "Shit!"


Ed and Eric


Ed and Grandma Books


The Ryan/Gronau clan. In case it isn't immediately apparent, I should mention that it's kind of RFP tradition that each family wears a somewhat matching shirt. We couldn't think of what kind of shirts to wear. So at noon on Friday my mom and I came up with the brilliant idea of sewing up some clothings out of some ugly old curtains, a'la The Sound of Music. We found the requisite ugly old curtains at a garage sale and we sewed nine (including Grandma Jake, not pictured)outfits in just under seven hours. If you look closely you can see Ellen's and Ed's lederhosen. These were gourmet costumes sewn by Juilliard-trained seamstresses, if you catch my drift.


My dad with Nana, his mom. She's 91.


The tug of war. I think this is the "original eleven" (my dad and his 6 brothers and 4 sisters) against their children (there are 35 of us but not all were participating). The oldies still won!

Lucy Up-spye-down

So I'm foraging around in the fridge for some lunch, because I'm determined to use up some of the A) massive amounts of fresh produce I've bought, before it goes bad, and B) massive amounts of leftovers I've created, because I have been trying out tons of new recipes with only moderate and intermittent success.

So I come across a batch of 2-week-old garbanzos-and-couscous mixture, and I open the lid and wrinkle my nose up and give it a good sniff. And then I kind of stare at it, because I don't think it's turned rotten but I also don't think that anybody's really going to eat it, and I suddenly hear, from behind me, the little blonde voice of reason:

"Mommy, nobody likes that."


And just now, Lucy and Jayla are romping on the loveseat, when I hear "Uh oh! Uh oh!" I turn around, expecting blood or at least impending disaster, to see that the seat cushion has shifted slightly off center.
"Uh oh, Momma, this is CRAZY!"

Eddie and I totally had a conversation at breakfast today. He said "Banana?" and I said "You want a banana?" and he said "Uss?" (which I think was yes) and then when I gave it to him he said his version of "thank you!"

I think I found an Asian beetle (it actually looked a little more slimy than a traditional ladybug, and bigger too) on my tomatoes the other day. I mean, Joel's tomatoes. Anyway, I picked off the leaf it was on (the bug was chewing through it)... did I do the right thing? And how vigilant do I have to be about weeding... do I need to remove absolutely every little peep of green that isn't part of the tomato plants? And what's deadheading and do I have to do it? And when there are sad, yellow leaves at the bottom of the plant, do I have to pull those off?

I may not blog at once, but I do blog... at last.

Sort of a paraphrase from Gigi... for all you movie buffs out there.

Well! Let me tell you, it's been an eventful few days here! This post was going to be about my birthday (which was Sunday; thank you ever so much to all the family and friends who called, sent cards, emailed, or improvised "Happy Birthday" on the trombone, and Large Props to Nicole Wats for taking me out for a lovely dessert and wine at Moscow on the Hill) -- but now that it's three days ago I've really already moved on. I'm 31 now, if you were wondering.

My dad was in town last week, giving me some much-appreciated time to cook (I know that sounds bizarre, but I really love being able to make dinner sans interruption) and gallivant a little with Jean. On Saturday, I went to the Farmer's Market and bought all kinds of wonderful foods, and then I did a teeny bit of garage sailing... scoring not one, but two sets of kids' golf clubs (golf bags included), for $27. One righty set, one lefty. (!!!) I know, I'm ridiculous, but I'm determined to retire in style... and golf pays well. :) :) :) Truly, the clubs are in perfect condition (as are the bags) so what the heck. Joel's dad is excited, so I am too.

Joel started taking down our dead maple tree on Saturday... to make room for my dream luxury sand volleyball court. I can't wait! Saturday afternoon we went up to Oak Grove (north of Andover) for Vivian's 1st birthday party. The food was delish, the beach was fantastic (despite the bizarre sight of people smoking on the beach... I mean, really, who even smokes anymore??), and we got to see lots of people we hadn't seen in a while. It was very fun, even though our kids went sour kind of early. Shout-out to Adam's family members who have been lurking here for a while.

Sunday I didn't get out of my jammies until 5PM. What a perfect birthday! Jean had a softball tourney in South St Paul so we went to watch a game early in the evening. We ate ice cream cake, did some laundry, cleaned the house... not too shabby.

The kids have been enjoying the hot weather immensely. We hang out in the $7 backyard pool and Joel turns on the sprinklers sometimes. Today we went to the beach at Ft. Snelling State Park, which was AWESOME and perfect for the little ones. Imagine all 4 Watson and Gronau kids pointing crazily at the sky, shouting "AIRPLANE!!!" and then resuming their splashing around in the knee-high wateer, and that's how the morning was. Unadulterated glee.

Cousin Kate was in town this week and we had her over for dinner last night. We watched the highlights of Annie (the dance numbers, natch), drank wine-in-a-box, ate brownies and leftover ice-cream cake, and had very nice chats.

And... tomatoes! OK actually, before I go into the details of my harvest, I have to remind you people that this is not a vegetable garden that we're talking about. It's 4 lonely tomato plants. My basil plant is, I fear, headed for the great compost heap in the sky, so let's not lose our heads. But the tomatoes!! I harvested about 8 cherrys in the last couple days. The first one was truly mediocre-tasting, but the following few have been very delicious. There are several dozen green ones on the vines, so I will keep you all updated on our bounty.

MUDBATH!

Have mud, will bathe.

Here are some photos of last week's playdate with the Wats.
Great googly moogly!

Kid Things

Not only is Ed repeating everything we say and obeying all kinds of instructions tossed his way (Put the shoe in the bucket! Feet off the table!)... he's also neighing like a horse. Somewhat all the time, but also when he sees a pic of a horse. He can also apparently do a mean chicken, on command. His sweet nature continues to amaze me... this morning he cuddled right into Nicole Watson's shoulder before lunch and just about fell asleep there. But he's soooo sensitive. Give him the slightest correction and sometimes he just shrugs it off but other times you would swear I was ripping out his toenails.

Lucy's bedtime routine for the last monthish has been thus: the usual (brush teeth, sit potty, read book, sing song, kiss, goodnight)... plus her new bonus conversation with herself:

(mind you, this is after I give the final kiss)

"I have to sit on the potty. Really? You're kidding me. Really? You're kidding me. Okay, let's go."

At which, she swings her legs out of bed and does her little Lucy-trot to the bathroom. Where, much to my surprise, she actually does some business about 60% of the time, despite just having gone within the previous 10 minutes. Go figure.

When she's really ready for bed, I say "I love you, Little Mister" and she says:

"I love you, Big Mister! See you in the morning. Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bugs-bye bite." (Then, in a whisper:) "Good niiiiiiiiiight!"


Oh rats! I meant to tell Nicole Watson this today. So, last week we were playing at the Watsons' (mudbath photos to follow, as soon as I get 'em!) and the kids were playing with the house phone. Nicole okayed this, "As long as you don't call China." (This is something I have also often said to the kids as they play with our phone.)

Well, you guessed it, the next time Lucy's pretending to talk on the phone, we hear:

"Hello, China? China!! You want a BANANA!?!?"

Bursting with pride!

Just got back from Duluth, where we cheered on Jean and Donna in the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon. What an awesome weekend! Joel and I rolled into Duluth around 8pm and met up with Jean, Donna, Deena, and Tim at the "finish-grounds" for the races. (Jean and I play volleyball in Apple Valley with Donna and Deena.) Our runners had to wake up at 4AM to get showered and ready, and the rest of us couldn't get back to sleep. So, hopped up on Hostess Donuts and hotel coffee, we set out to do some serious cheering.

It was an unbelievably gorgeous morning. I rode my bike out to about mile 8 of the half-marathon -- as it turns out, I was parked right in front of some historic old mansion where some grisly murders occurred awhile back (I found this out later). I started cheering for the first male runners and found it completely impossible to stop. I didn't expect any of the runners (apart form Jean and Donna) to care whether or not I jumped up and down and hollered and shook my gigantic pom-pon at them, but they did! It was so cool to get a smile, a thumbs-up, or a "thank you" from people; I felt terrible having to get on my bike to go back into town, like I was letting the rest of the pack down... those slower runners, who needed me! :) Not like there weren't thousands of other fans out there, though. I caught up with Joel, Tim, and Deena at about mile 11 (which was right across the street from our hotel); once Jean and Donna passed us, we booked it toward the finish line and got to see the gals run past us again, about three blocks from the finish line. We got to see the female marathon winner at the finish line (as well as many other marathon finishers). The whole thing was such an awesome experience. I think about the very personal, individual struggle that every single runner out there has to go through to finish his or her race, and it is so incredibly moving. The injuries, the setbacks, and whatever it is that motivated each person to take up the crazy quest of long-distance running in the first place: what a a testament to the human spirit!

Since our hotel was on the race route, we got to see many, many of the late marathon stragglers, hitting mile 24 at the five- and six-hour mark. Joel (who finished Grandma's Marathon 1997 in about six hours) went out to watch some of them by himself for a while, while Jean and I took naps (since we share a brain, I also felt like I'd run 13.1 miles).

Thanks Donna and Jean for giving us something to cheer for -- thanks Tim and Deena for being the coolest roommates/co-cheerleaders/one-uppers on the planet -- and thanks to Duluth for your beauty and hospitality.

And Oh! Some photos!

Just a couple more thangs

This photo was up on discountdance.com next to "Was $9.00; now $7.50!" Which seems like a really good price for a new set of naked, mannish legs.


Just a supercute photo of Joel and Ed:






Up at the lake last weekend. Yes, I know it's hard to believe but that IS actually a photo of John, smiling!

Lucy drew this face, this morning. It's me! My daughter is a genius. Where it looks like the ears are, though -- those are arms.
I asked.

Bruschetta lives!

Hello again and happy Wednesday. At least, I think it is Wednesday.

In case there was ever a need for any empirical evidence that Joel mostly doesn't hear anything I tell him, let me tell you a little story:

Last week I made something for dinner. What it was, is not important -- what matters is that I made it in our big, nice Calphalon skillet. Typically this pan is used on our stovetop; however, it also happens to be oven-safe, and since I'd had to brown the meat on the stove and then bake it, I saw no need to dirty another pan. OK so the pan is in the oven, and the timer dings. Jean and Joel are in the kitchen, and I'm upstairs getting changed for volleyball, or something. Joel hollers up: "What does that dinger mean?" And I holler back "Take it out of the oven!".

Then I remember the last time I'd baked something in this pan. I had removed it from the oven, set it on the stove, and promptly grabbed the long handle with my bare hand. Oh yes, in the immortal words of Maurice Chevalier, I remember it well. When I cook with the pan on the stovetop, the handle doesn't get hot. No need for an oven mitt. When the pan comes out of the oven, I assure you, it is hot as blazes.

So, remembering this, I scurry down the stairs, yelling all the way "Don't grab the handle! Don't grab the handle!" in my best Don Knotts-"Citizen's arrest!" voice. For dramatic effect (and to make sure Joel understood), I yelled it a couple more times upon my arrival in the kitchen. Let me emphasize here that I was yelling especially loud and making large, sweeping arm gestures. Extra-dramatic. Even for me.

Panting slightly, I explained that the handle is very hot (which, I know, ought to be obvious since it just came out of the oven) and to remember not to touch it.

I continue getting ready for volleyball.

Two minutes later, I hear a medium-sized crash and some male swearing.

Joel grabbed the handle. Of course, he burned his hand, and had to spend the rest of the evening alternating between icing four of his fingers, and simply holding his hand up above his head to slow the blood flow.

He says he "Listen[s] to [me], but just do[es]n't seem to hear" me. Hmm.


OK, 'nuff of that. Time for a plant update!! The tomatoes have been watered every day, often twice-a-day, and there are actual tomatoes starting to grow. It's very exciting. The plants are even starting to exude that "tomato plant smell" that I didn't even know I knew, but I recall from my youth. It's a great smell. The basil plant in my kitchen is also, well, I hesitate to use the word "thriving" but I've been harvesting basil and somehow also encouraging the new growth. It looks pretty healthy, if I do say so. Oh hey! Green-thumbs out there: does it matter that I put them in a pot sans a drain? I could try to re-pot again if necessary. They seem to be doing OK but I don't know if the lack of a drain is going to cause a problem eventually. Help?

Last night after vball I showered and then went straight to sleep. I awoke at 6:30, feeling very refreshed... and looking just like Justin Guarini. On a no-hair-gel day. (OK not quite as curly.) I didn't even know my hair could do that. Even Joel was impressed. So... it's a little humid this week.

There was something else I was going to ask for a general opinion on... but I have forgotten what it was. Something terribly urgent and fascinating, I'm sure. Cripes, what was it?

Cute kid story of the day: Monday I was admonishing Ed for something, which of course he took very hard and started to cry. Lucy looked at me very seriously and said: "Mommy, you broke my Eddie's heart."