Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Joey Jackson and the McDonald's Door Ding

My children go today to a McDonald's that I went to as a child.  Yes, I still live that close from home.  Although, back when I was a child, the shopping strip mall was just being built and the McDonald's was the height of excitement to go to as a child. I remember going there as a special occasion after our fifth grade play.  We played outside on the playground, ate our food and had sundaes for dessert.

When I was older, I went to that McDonald's with my friends.  It had gone through some reonvations by that point and they had this new thing called a, "drive-through" that was very exciting.  They had to retro-fit the building so that the drivers could move around the outside to order and get their food and the only way they could accomplish this was to put an overhead conveyor belt that passed through the dining area and went to the pick-up area.  It was so fun watching the bags of food going overhead as you ate your chicken McNuggets.

When I got a little older, my next door neighbor got his license.  He saved up money and got an old car.  One afternoon he decided to take his brother, Joey, and me to McDonald's for lunch.  We ate and had a nice meal and as we were leaving in the parking lot a man rushed out and was very upset because Joey had just dinged his car when he opened the door.  Jeff, the older brother, was furious.  How could Joey do such a thing he asked when we got back in the car after swapping insurance information with the man.   Joey and I were younger and we didn't see why a silly door ding made any difference and who would care.

Today, that McDonald's has gone through more iterations.  It was torn down completely at one point and rebuilt.  The drive through works very well now and it's one of the most efficient McDonald's around.  And while we've gone there many times, my children will have an entirely different memory of that store, because they never go inside.  We always get our food to go.

The Big Boy Update:  The newest Whovian.  I have mentioned before how he gets easily scared of movies.  The other night he wasn't sleepy and I decided to let him stay up a bit longer and watch my television show, "Doctor Who".  I asked him if he liked the show--which is filled with aliens and robots attacking in the middle of a time war--he told me, "yes, mommy".  He watched the whole, relatively scary, episode and never flinched.  He's my little Whovian.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Spontaneous napper.  Two days in a row she's decided quietly, and without saying anything to anyone, that she wants a nap.  She disappeared a while ago and is now asleep in her bed.

Monday, December 30, 2013

Backed Up, Again

I have a one page limit on blog post titles.  When it gets beyond that, I have to play catchup and dump some thoughts in abbreviated form.  This seems to be happening more and more lately.  If only there was more time for typing.  I think I might be getting that problem writers have where it's more painful to not write than it is to write. 

Clean house, clean desktop, clean mind:  I like to have things orderly.  That can be a problem though when you can't relax until the things on your list are done.  My list was long after the holidays and thanks to the understanding and helpfulness of my husband, we're getting closer to having many things completed.  The holiday decorations will be up by new years, the pantry has been cleaned out, the condensate pans have been sanitized, the thank you notes have been written and hopefully in the next two days our web sites will be updated with new pictures of our children.  That's the short list.  There are more things but good grief, if the list is boring to me, it's got to be terrible for entertainment value here.  Oh, and I cleaned off my desktop.  Icons and folders do so pile up.  I now have only four things on my desktop.  And that is a nice feeling.  So much screen real-estate to fill up with junk in the future...

Borderline Madonna:  I haven't braved shopping since before Christmas.  Today I hoped it would be somewhat better crowd-wise and made a trip out to the mall.  It was busy, but not terrible.  As I walked into my favorite department store, I had a flashback to my youth--specifically before I was of driving age--as Madonna's "Borderline" song played through the speakers.  I went to that same mall as a child and I shopped in that same department store, probably to that very same song.  Memories do have a way of flooding you at times.

If a man says he will fix it...
...there's no need to remind him every six months.   And I swear, I try not to be a nagging wife but I am low on patience.  I do try to be appreciative when things get done, however. 

The Divorce Items:  I didn't realize I had so many, "divorce items" until my husband started teasing me about it.  It started initially when my husband wanted to get rid of an old towel in the kitchen and I cried out, "that was Erica's and if you get rid of that I'll have to divorce you!"  Or I said something like that.  Erica was a friend who had died in college and that one old, greasy towel is the only thing I have to remember her by, so it's important to me.  And my husband respects that.  It wasn't until several years later that he started telling me how many, "divorce" items I had that it became a big joke between us.  Let's see, there's the piece of Tupperware from my childhood, the Harry and David plates from the Weems, the ruler from New Zealand, and the stick (don't ask about the stick, it's the silliest of the lot.)  I appreciate him for understanding and teasing me about it.

The Big Boy Update:  Tying the knot.  He can tie knots.  We didn't teach him, he figured it out from long practice, "hooking" and he's pretty good at getting anything tied up these days.  Yesterday he had a balloon string tied to the blinds pull tied to his rockin' crock and he was trying to drag the left side of the house out into the hall when I caught him.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Guess who ate dog food?  That's why she threw up at dinner the other night at our friend's house.  The dog food was at a location she could reach and I guess she wanted to try it...more than once. 

Fitness Update: 
Gym.  Normal workout, possibly the last of the year.  I'm still maintaining my weight, which is a nice thing.

Sunday, December 29, 2013

The Christmas Clock Experience

We have had this issue with a clock in a room I spend time in but my husband usually doesn't.  It's got my craft and jewelry things in there and he'd most likely prefer to be anywhere else than that room, lest he get sucked into helping me wrap presents or do some other thing that's not high on his list of, "fun activities".

The clock was an inexpensive one but it seemed to have a problem with a power leak.  We'd put in a new AA battery and in a short while it would be dead again.  Or worse, it would start to slowly lose time until it wasn't even close to the actual time. 

My husband and I were discussing one day how we hadn't gotten each other anything for Christmas yet and we were having that follow-on discussion about how neither of us really cared and that not to worry about it.  My husband had just put the children to bed and I was working on earrings for staff gifts and about that time he looked at the clock and said, "is it really that late?"  Then he realized it was the clock and one of us (and I don't remember who) said, "that's what I want/I'm getting you for Christmas--a clock that keeps time."

My husband then did some trips to Lowes and the Michael's and got some things to make me a clock.  He didn't tell me this, only that he was working on a "secret project" he told me was for me.  I wondered if it was a clock.  I was sort of hoping it was.

Christmas morning I opened a box that felt suspiciously empty.  It had a single piece of paper in it that was a picture of that room where the un-timely clock had been, only in the picture there was a new clock there, and it was orange.  I love orange.  Not only had he made me a clock, he had already hung it.  How sweet!

Later in the day on Christmas, I went up to take some things upstairs and I saw the clock and thought how great it was in the room.  Then I got to putting some things away and forgot about it.  A bit later I looked up at the time and had a "hey, that's actually the correct time and no one is late for anything" moment.  

I like my new clock.

The Big Boy Update:  Two flights for toothpicks.  My son was upstairs this morning doing something with a rideable train.  And then I heard noises in the basement.  That's two flights down.  I discovered it was my son, who had gone down to the bar to get toothpicks (something I didn't know he knew were there).   He had taken a child's chair down from the second floor, to the basement, to the bar, gotten three toothpicks and was heading back upstairs.  His plan was to use the three toothpicks to detach the car part of the train from the engine part of the train--something toothpicks would in no way accomplish, but it was still some good ingenuity.  Can I mention again that he carried a chair down two flights to get the toothpicks?

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  "Mommy, I need more party cheese."  My daughter likes cheese.  She really likes Havarti cheese and I think she thinks it's called, "party cheese".

Saturday, December 28, 2013

That Story You Don't Really Remember

Have you heard the same story again and again over the years so many times you know the story and you feel like you were there, only you don't know that you really were?  We had post-Christmas dinner with family friends tonight and one of the traditional stories came up.  I think this story comes up at least once every other year.  I remember the story like I was there, at least I think I was, only I'm not sure.

This year, I asked more questions.  I found out the era in which this story happened (it was a cooking calamity).  At about that time I was somewhere around thirteen to sixteen years old, and that explains a lot about why I don't remember it.  A young teen doesn't care much about food.  What I cared about in those days was not how well the turkey was cooked (or in this case the goose).  I wanted to play video games with my friend or board games or do puzzles or make origami models or anything other than discuss the intricacies of roasting a goose.

I especially didn't care if it was a wild goose given to our friends by their friends who had shot it themselves.  It didn't bother me that the pin feathers stuck out as the goose was roasted and I don't think I cared one bit that the meat was terribly dry.   I had other pursuits that were more important.  On the whole, I probably liked the cheese and crackers more than the goose anyways.

But it's a fun story and it was a mess and it was one of those "disaster meals" you remember for years that never goes out of style in the telling.  Even though I have very little personal memory of the event itself, I remember back to that time and I have a warm feeling inside because I loved those times spent with our friends during the holidays at their vacation home.

The Big Boy Update:  Sweat band muscles.  We have some sweat bands.  Like the old kind you wore if you were a tennis player in the eighties.  My son has decided if he puts them on his upper arms, they are muscles.  Sometimes he has to "put his muscles on" before he combats evil in the house.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  "I got the mar malls.  Look, it's a mar mall!"  She has a new found fascination of not only the, "marbles" but the marble run puzzles we got for Christmas from our friend, Cam.

Friday, December 27, 2013

ElbOW!

I've mentioned my elbow, but I haven't written about it much because I keep hoping it will go away.  It hasn't.  It's gotten worse even.  So I've had to take action because the ignoring thing is hard when you wake up at night yelling from the pain. 

I fell while running last April.  Not April 2013, April 2012.  I landed on my elbow and did something to it at that time internally.  It was a fine elbow before that, but afterwards it was inflamed for about two months and had a nasty thunk/clunk when I put it under tension fully extended (like when doing push ups, for instance).

It wasn't painful after the initial healing, but it didn't get much better.  About three months ago I went to a yoga class with my neighbor and something changed.  The clunk disappeared, but to there was pain.  Lots of pain.  It was strange, because I didn't fall or have any sudden change that I noticed in that one hour class, but something gave way or something.

Since that time it's gotten worse and I finally decided I'd had enough and I went to see an orthopedic surgeon.  She called for an MR Arthrogram (an MRI with contrast) to see if it was a tendon, ligament or cartilage issue.  She said I most likely also had tennis elbow and gave me a brace for that, as well as a prescription for an anti-inflammatory.

Yesterday, I went back for the MR Arthrogram results.  The surgeon told me it looked like I had possibly torn a ligament, but that it had mostly healed.  There was no visible cartilage floating around and other than some degenerative issues, he couldn't see anything definitive causing the problem.  But he agreed the clunking issue and sudden change could be something he was missing on the scan.

Step one (and we're hoping the only step) was to give me a cortisone injection in the elbow and see if it will heal on its own.  This happens many times and symptoms go away completely.  If it doesn't improve and I'm still in significant pain, they would do exploratory arthroscopic surgery to see if some of the concerning areas are more damaged than they appear.

He gave me the injection and I left the office hopeful.  I was preparing to go for a run when an hour-and-a-half later my elbow and entire arm was radiating in awful pain.   I was shaking all over as the local anesthesia wore off and the pain ramped up.  It was bizarre.  I drove back to the office and asked if there was something wrong or if this was to be expected, because the doctor didn't mention anything about agonizing pain.

The technician came out in a few minutes and said it was an uncommon side-effect of trigger-point pain and that it should go away in hopefully a day.  A DAY?  I wasn't sure I was going to make that.  Thankfully I had some left-over pain medication from my recent tooth issues.  I went home, took one and an hour later took a second one.   About six hours later the pain was mostly gone.

Today, I'm hoping the cortisone injection will solver the problem.  I'll know in a few weeks.

The Big Boy Update:  Scissors.  My son wanted a Christmas present opened tonight and I was having a difficult time getting through the plastic.  I mentioned I might need scissors and didn't notice he disappeared.  The next thing I see, he's handing me scissors...from upstairs...from the knife block.  I said at that point (because I am a genius) that the scissors might not work and I might need a knife.  My husband watched my son go back upstairs, grab a knife and try to bring it downstairs.  He's never gone near the knife block before and he knows they're not available to him, but he knew they were something I could use and I guess he wanted that present opened very badly.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  "That's Eleanor.  That's Eleanor.  With the running."  She said this to me today when I got a Gatorade from the refrigerator in the garage.  The only time we get Gatorade out of that refrigerator is when we're done running, and my neighbor, Eleanor, and I are getting one out together.  I didn't know she had been paying attention.

Fitness Update:  Seven miles.  It's been a long time.  It was nice to run.

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Colds, Infections and Mucous, Oh My!

Tis' the season for runny noses.  And mucous.  And raw noses.  Don't forget about the coughs and colds and fevers too.  That's right, Toddler Plague is in full swing in our house.  Just in time for the winter break too.

My son has a mild ear infection in one ear and my daughter has one of those runny noses that's so runny the skin can't hold up to the wiping necessary to keep it clean.  She's not been happy with us but the nasal aspirator has come back out and it's giving her a little relief, even if she hates us when we hold her down to use it on her. 

Both children have a cough that gets out of hand when they get in full cough swing, but thankfully that only happens a few times each day.

Maybe they'll be better by spring.  The doctor said today when we took them in under the suspicion of ear infections, that they had bad colds and it might take a few weeks to clear up.  Now, all we need is snow to cap of the winter.

The Big Boy Update:  "Daddy, I have an ear issue."  (Words my son said in the middle of the night last night over the monitor.)  Then, a half-hour later, "Daddy, I have another thing."  Okay, what could that be?  I listened over the monitor but couldn't tell what the "other thing" was until my husband came down and told me.  My son wanted to tell daddy a story.  He whispered something about animals and a witch for a minute or so, my husband told me and then daddy said, "thank you for the story," and my son went back to sleep.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  No nose!  She does not want you messing with her nose right now, even it's to put on pain relieving antibiotic ointment.  It's red and she's mad at anyone who gets near it.

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Well, That Was Fun

Today was Christmas.  I had a wonderful day.  Really.  Truly. 

We started with traditional Christmas morning where the kids come downstairs and the adults watch as they enjoy the sights around the tree.  My children each had one large, unwrapped present they got to play with while the rest of us unwrapped presents.  My son had an Emergency Responder building with various accoutrements (imagine a doll house a boy would go nuts for) and my daughter had a doll house replete with a fitness room, sewing room and outdoor lounging area.

We had my parents, my in-laws, Uncle Bob, Uncle Brian and our four all swapping presents.  Everyone seemed to get something they wanted and we all had fun opening the presents we had gotten from each other as well as our relative who weren't able to be with us.

Phone calls and Skypeing ensued with those in other states and we wished everyone a happy day and said thanks for our great gifts.   Then, my husband and I headed down the street for a secret Santa swap with other children on the street.  And oh, that was fun.  We have a great neighborhood and a fantastic street.  The children all had fun opening their gifts.

After we came back, we got ready for what I think is one of the best parts of my year, Christmas Day Dinner.  We inherited this dinner from my parent's best friends and it is always a good year when they're able to join us, and this year, they did. 

We were joined by our Aunt Rebecca, Uncle Dale and cousin Olivia as well and the champagne, food and wine were almost as good as the company.  My children were fun to be around (this means less hitting than there could have been) and dessert was delicious.

Baths were had (by the children) and the adults swapped stories.  And then all too soon, the evening was over.  I love Christmas day.  I'll look forward to next year's starting tomorrow.

The Big Boy Update:  Papa came into their room this morning to the sound of loud banging.  When he walked in, my son said, "We're okay, we didn't make a mess."

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Feeling so-so.  She is feeling poorly still from this cold-thing she has.  She is fine when she's had some ibuprofen, but not so hot the rest of the time.  She napped on Mimi for a good while through the dinner tonight.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

The Stockings Were Laid

By the TV with care,
It's not a chimney, but it's close, I hope no one will care.

It's Christmas Eve and the children aren't nestled in their beds, but they're curled up and their coughs and fevers aren't as bad as they could be during this season of contagion. 

My brother-in-laws, in-laws and parents have braved the situation and I hope they don't contract the latest round of, "toddler plague" we're, well, plagued with as parents of young, school-bound children.

It's busy under our tree.  There are more presents than I expected and my husband has done a lot of wedging to make them all fit.  We have ten people celebrating Christmas tomorrow morning and the number of presents will hopefully be spread evenly across us all, because our toddlers only need so much stuff.  I'm not worried though, we have great relatives who always send fun and exciting things.  Mommy would like to be three sometimes, because the toys are just that cool.

So we have stockings (ten of them) and presents (loads of them) and holiday spirit in abundance.  I think it's going to be a fun day tomorrow.  My children at two and three don't quite get Christmas yet, so we're going to have them eat a leisurely breakfast and watch their favorite television show until eight-thirty when my parents will arrive.  Then, we'll all head down to the basement and Christmas will begin in it's wrapping paper, messy earnest.

The Big Boy Update:  Present deliverer.  We went around our court of eleven houses and handed our a little gift of a Christmas tree ornament and some chocolate to each family.  My son enjoyed the entire process, my daughter just wanted to sleep on daddy's shoulder.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Fever and feeling cranky.  She also has congestion.  I got out the nasal aspirator and made her very angry, but I think she could breathe afterwards. 

Monday, December 23, 2013

The Super Secure Locker Situation

Two years?  Can it be?  Yes, it's been two years since I started this blog, writing once each day (and twice on a few occasions when I couldn't fit it all in in a single post).  It doesn't seem that long.  Okay, it does.  Or maybe it doesn't.  Time, you are a fickle friend.

So today I experienced something that happens from time to time that, in this case, just made me laugh.  It has to do with being separated from our personal items and our comfort level (or lack of comfort) that entails.

I went to have an MRI this afternoon on my elbow (and I swear, I'm going to put an update about that soon, when I have the results, but not yet).  The whole process of the MRI takes some time.  It occurs in a room that must meet certain criteria, which doesn't include your personal belongings.  So, you get to leave your things elsewhere while it all goes down.

Today, I had to remove my shirt, put on a cotton top and leave my belongings, including my purse, in a locker.  But not to worry, you can lock this locker with a key.  Then, so you'll feel comforted that your belongings are safe, you can put the key around your neck.  After that's done, please follow the technician to the next building, because you have to have contrast injected into your elbow first.

We arrive at the next building, go into the room, and the technician tells me I can give her the key and she'll hold it for me.  I realize there must be a backup key to this locker, but the whole psychological thing with the key is that you feel you've got your things locked away someplace safe and only you can access them.  But, you've just been asked to give away the key.

The technician tells me what's about to happen with the contrast injection and then leaves the room for the doctor to come in.  I look on the cabinet and notice the key isn't there.  It's gone.   She and the doctor come in in a few minutes and we spend thirty minutes injecting contrast with a fluoroscope to get everything right.  Now, we can head back to the main building for the MRI.  I ask her, "where did the key go?" and she says, "I'll get it to you when we're finished."

Mind you, if someone at that facility wanted to steal my things or copy my credit card information, the culprit would find a way around the key situation, but the whole emotional safety aspect of the key was negated when the key disappears until you magically need it at the end to claim your items. 

Aside from the questionable safety of my personal belongings, the staff was great, the MRI went well, I'll find out soon what's up with my arm.  Only...wait a minute...the naked pictures of my husband I keep in my wallet are missing!

The Big Boy Update:  Tattletale.  He yelled down from the top of the stairs yesterday evening that his sister had pooped.  He was tattling, but he was trying to be helpful, not specifically get her in trouble.  She had gotten her blanket, taken her dirty pullup off, climbed up onto the desk and sat her dirty bottom on her blanket.  Sanitizing and cleaning followed. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  She doesn't like pullups.  She much prefers underpants.  Only a few minutes ago she disappeared (wearing a pullup) and re-appeared with only underpants on.  If only she were trustworthy in underpants.

Fitness Update:  Trainer on vacation; rain storm imminent.  To the fitness room we went this morning.  My neighbor, Uncle Jonathan and I spent almost ninety minutes exercising and talking together.

Sunday, December 22, 2013

This Is My Life

I get up in the morning and eat my breakfast.
I spend five minutes taking care of my personal needs.
I wander around for a while, watching what everyone else is doing for breakfast.
I take a nap until lunch time.
I get excited when people come home, but they're busy and say a quick hello.
I take a nap through the afternoon.
At dinner time I'm happy to eat -- I love food.
I follow around the children in the house if they have food. otherwise I stay away from them.
I try to play from time to time with my family, but I'm old and I'm not able to play much anymore.
I love bath time and I bark and bark while the children have their baths.
I would spend a lot of time outside, but I'm only out for a few minutes before I'm called back inside.
It's bedtime so I get on the bed and sleep all night with my owners.
This is my life (as a dog).

Writer's Note:
 - I love my dog, but I wonder how interesting the life of a dog is.  We watch television, they sleep.  We talk and have conversations, they sleep.  We play with toys and games or cook dinner, they sleep.  We work on the computer, they sleep.  We do laundry, clean house, and do anything else, and they sleep.   I want to give my dog a happy and fulfilling life.  I hope I haven't failed her.

The Big Boy Update:  LOUD.  Oh my goodness, he is loud.  We are working on volume, but he is so exuberant it's difficult to control some days.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Jiggle jiggle jiggle.  For as long as my daughter has been having a bath in the big bath tub, my husband has pulled her out by holding her up and saying, "jiggle jiggle jiggle" while he shakes the water off her.  She giggled for a long time.  Of late, she always responds, "no jiggle!"


Saturday, December 21, 2013

A Charles Dickens Christmass

Today we had a family event. My parents drove to town yesterday so they could join us this morning to drive to my in-laws for an afternoon and evening dinner at their country club. The club was having a special evening in the theme of Charles Dickens and there were things specifically for children. It sounded like a nice way to spend the day. 

We left town in time to arrive at my in-laws by lunch and the. We spent the afternoon doing things together and before dinner time, we got dressed in out nice clothes to go to the dinner event. My children had new outfits my mother-in-law had gotten them. They looked great. They didn't need coats because the temperature was seventy degrees, which is very strange for this time of year.  

I had a shirt I'd had for over a year that I loved but had had trouble wearing it as there was a problem with the lining hanging down below the outer layer. I showed my mother-in-law and she said she could fix it before dinner. I felt bad because I didn't expect her to spend the rest of the afternoon on my shirt repairs. I say down with my iPad and i swear, not seven minutes later, she was back upstairs with my shirt fixed. I conferred with my husband on that time because it was so fast. But she had done it and the shirt was fixed that fast. 

We arrived at dinner and the children ate from the children's buffet. They ran out of paitebce early and we too turns walking around with them. My son visited with Santa but my daughter wasn't that interested. A short while later I noticed an area marked, "Santa's Workshop" and my daughter and investigated. There were people there helping children make ornaments and fill out a wish list to Santa. My son showed up shortly with daddy and made an ornament and list as well.

Next we went outside to the fire pits, roasted marshmallows and had hot chocolate and hope apple cider while we waited for our turn for a carriage ride. The carriage ride was very exciting to the children, but the best was my son when he fed the horse a carrot afterwards. 

As I write this, we're in the car heading home and the children are falling asleep. It was a nice day with four grandparents during the holidays. 

The Big Boy Update:  We went on a boat ride today on the lake my in-laws live on. My son always likes riding in their pontoon boat. Today, he got to drive. We survived, thanks to Papa. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  After my daughter made her ornament today at the Christmas dinner, she was helped by a nice lady in creating her wish list for Santa. Most of her items were things like, "that one" or "candy" because she didn't really understand.  When she was done the lady told her she could I've Santa her list and suddenly, my daughter got it.  She turned and walked out of the room, went down the stairs and walked straight up to Santa at the other end of the entrance hall.  He put her in his lap and read her list back to her.  When she was done, she got off his lap, walked over to the large tree and hung her ornament on it. 

Friday, December 20, 2013

Substituting the Last Day of School

I had things I wanted to get done today but I got a last minute call this morning that the school needed a substitute teacher and could I come to help. I rearranged my day and headed over as quickly as I could. 

I was substituting in the classes my children are in, something I have t done befoere. I've see their classrooms and I know how the day normally flows, but with two of four teachers out and a special last day before winter break, things did not go as smoothly (or calmly) as normal. It was chaos. 

Well, it wasn't that bad, it was just an excited classroom of students who werE able to. I've to the neighboring classroom to visit with their playground friends. There were new things to see and a slide and added inside the classroom and energy levels were high.  So was the mucous. 

It was a tiring day and I was short on sleep from a late night before and a five am morning. After substituting I had another commitment with a friend to help make some gifts with the children she nannys. 

I didn't have a chance to get breakfast nor did I have enough time to pack a lunch since I heard about the substituting need when I was already in the car. I did find some things to eat but it either wasn't enough or it wasn't the right things because as the kids are going to bed, I'm only wanting to get in the tub to help with this migraine I have followed by crashing to sleep. 

Our two-week winter break has officially started. 

The Big Boy Update:  Wild man.  He was all energy and no listening ears today at school. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  She was unhappy at school today and we didn't know why until she came home with a fever of one-hundred-two.  

Fitness update:  the last workout for a while because our trainer is taking some time off for the holidays. Hopefully I'll get a run or two in,

Thursday, December 19, 2013

The Shindig, the Cookies, and the Christmas Trees

I've never been to a "Cookie Swap" before.  I don't know if they've been around for hundreds of years or they're a new fad but I heard about them multiple times over the last two months.  One mother suggested we have one for our neighborhood at the clubhouse.  Someone else wanted to have one, but wasn't sure how many people to invite or what to do to coordinate.

I got an invitation last Sunday from a neighbor who was taking over a cookie swap her friend was hosting but had to cancel at the last minute.  I had two days to make three dozen cookies.  My children helped me make cookies and on Tuesday night at seven-thirty I walked down the street to my friend's house.

I had a general idea of how the swap would go: you come in with three dozen cookies and leave with three dozen cookies, only the cookies you leave with will be a variety from the other participants.  It didn't sound like a complicated event.  So I walked into the house with my cookies.  That's when I got distracted.

Let me start by saying the outside of this house is the most spectacular one in our entire neighborhood.  They have many decorations and it's my son's favorite place to visit outside in the dark these days.  We had all guessed that the inside of the house would be equally decked out, but we had no idea.

All I can say is Biltmore Estate has nothing on Ginger and Jason's house if the judging were to be done by square feet.  They had six fully decorated trees, each with its own theme and coloration.  And these were major themes, as in everything on the candy tree was a larger than life replica of a type of candy you'd love to eat.  There were decorations on every shelf and mantle.  Chairs had their own wreaths or other holiday-themed items on the backs.  It was stunning.  I enjoyed looking around and discovering new things the entire night.

But back to the cookie swap.  This was not little swap, this was a shindig.  There were appetizers, wine, beer, gorgeous Christmas plates on which the food was being served, and a gracious host who always makes you feel at home when you're around her.  So, I had a glass of sangria and talked with my neighbors and the new people I didn't know.

Then, I had a second glass of sangria, because we were still eating and chatting.   Did I mention I was in a sweat shirt, jeans and tennis shoes and everyone else was nicely dressed for the evening?  I didn't mind, but next year I'll know these cookie swaps are serious business.

So two hours go by and I text my husband, "no cookies have been swapped yet."  After a while longer, I debated leaving my cookies there and heading back home to bed.  I abandoned that idea because the plates my cookies were on were sentimental to me.  I leaned over and said something to one a neighbor and she said she had to go soon too.

And it seemed everyone was ready to do the swapping at just about that time.  The swap itself was very informal and took less than ten minutes.  The cookies are great and I'm glad I went.  I think I'm more glad I went because it was a fun night--just not the night I was expecting.

The Big Boy Update:  Needing a nap, or food, or both.  He's been very cranky at times lately.  We think it's related to his hunger level, but it's also tied to his desire to control his environment.  He is also very strong-willed.  The combination of those three things make him difficult to deal with at times.   Then, as soon as he's gotten enough calories in his system, he's a happy kid again. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  This is a typical way conversations go with my daughter at this age (with varying topics). Her, "where's my iPad?"  (She thinks the iPad is hers.)  Mommy, "Uncle Jonathan is using it."  My daughter, "I want my ipad."  Me, "Uncle Jonathan has it upstairs." Her, "Where's my iPad?"  Mommy, "it's upstairs with Uncle Jonathan."  My daughter, "I want my iPad."  Me, "go ask Uncle Jonathan if you can use it."  My daughter, "where's my iPad?"    Eventually she wanders off, deciding she's grilled you enough on the subject.

Fitness Update:  Our trainer is having us do circuit work with very little recovery breaks of late.  Today we built up to fifteen elements in a row before we got a chance to recover.  The running has helped on the cardiovascular front, but he's working lots of muscle groups that don't get utilized the same way when you're just running, so it's all tiring.  Today, the last exercise in the circuit was the worst because we were the most tired: one-and-a-half minutes on the treadmill at 7.5 speed and a 7.5 degree incline.  We run, but not like that.  It's a killer ninety seconds.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

The Stocking Surprise

A few weeks ago our neighbors invited us over to share in their celebration of Hanukkah.   We invited them to our Christmas day dinner, but since they were going to be out of town, we had them tonight instead to help us celebrate Christmas a bit early.

I made a roast and they brought a dessert of banana cream pie.   My husband and I talked about where to have the dinner and decided to use the main dining room because it would seat all eight of us.  Only hold on, the chairs have light cream upholstery...and we have toddlers.   My husband covered the chairs with large towels and we hoped the dog would get whatever hit the rug.

Our neighbors arrived and we had a nice dinner together with their two children (twelve and fourteen) and our two wildcards (three and two).  They like our children and we like their children and all four children like each other so it was a relaxed meal punctuated by funny things my kids were saying and doing.

In far too short a time my children were done sitting still, so before dessert I told all four children I had a small present for them if they would head to the living room.  To back up, at their Hanukkah celebration, they got my children a toy each.  Our plan was that we would get their children something at our early Christmas celebration together.

Instead of a single bigger gift, we decided to get them stockings full of stuff.  My children also had stockings filled for the night so they could participate too.  You know how you never know if something's going to work or not?  I hoped it would work, I hoped I had age-appropriate gadgets, candy and silly things; but I wasn't sure.

But they had a great time pulling out thing after thing from their stockings.  Their mother told me they'd never had a stocking before and I told them stockings were my favorite thing to do because you could put lots of little fun things in them.

My children had a good time with their stockings too.  I think everyone got something fun.  The best part to me was watching everyone exclaiming as they pulled out something they liked from their stocking.

As an aside, today is the three-year anniversary of the date we moved in to our new house.   Three busy, tiring, fast-moving, baby-filled years of fun.

The Big Boy Update:  "I want the penguin!"  I didn't put out the stockings until right before our neighbors arrived and it's a good thing, because they were held up on the mantle by "hooks" and you know how my son feels about hooks.  He kept trying to take the stockings down and hook them on other locations.   Also, he only wanted the penguin one (they have stuffed animal heads at the top) but his was the reindeer.  I showed him one of the toys inside his and he changed his mind after that.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Fuzzy sock boots.   My neighbors got my children cool socks tonight.  My daughter's are these outrageously fuzzy socks that come up almost to her knees.  But they have treads on the bottom and she put them on, pulled them up, walked around, laughed, took them off and then repeated the process until bedtime. 

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

The Shaving Alignment

Shaving has come up recently in several ways that have been related but not intentionally so.  One of them was even a little strange.

Hair Reduction:  Some years ago I had laser hair removal on my legs.  It's been nice not having to shave my legs regularly, but it doesn't mean I don't have to shave them at all.  I have hair remaining that's very light blonde or grey and light in texture that the laser doesn't see well.  But unless someone looks close, it's mostly not visible.  I shave every few weeks and change razors once a year or so.  The best part is the savings in time.

Clean Sheets, Shaved Legs:  I don't know how it feels to a man when he gets into bed and has a scratchy beard against his pillow, but it sounds frightful to me.  I'm a woman though and I don't have facial hair (that I need to shave).  And yet there are some things that are, "ahhhhh, that's nice" moments to me when it comes to shaving.  One of them in having clean sheets on the bed and freshly shaven legs.  The sheets are nice and crisp and the smooth skin on your legs moving around under the covers while you get comfortable is so cozy.

Father and Son shaving (and daughter too):  At my son's birthday party this weekend he received a gift of a bath shaving kit.  He was excited to try it out and it was very charming to see in action.  Daddy told him he would show him how to shave, and that night in the tub, daddy shaved and showed both children what to do.  My son did a nice job with the plastic razor, but he was completely unhappy with the "shaving cream" (foaming body wash) that he accidentally got in his mouth.  My daughter tried shaving her legs after that, because daddy told her that's the area ladies shave when they become older.

Fuiotine:  I had a dream I think the night after the children tried to practice shave in the bath.  I have very little recollection of the details now, but I know my father-in-law was trying to give my husband a demonstration of something shaving-related.  I think my husband was busy at the time but this shaving thing was important so he was making sure he listened.  The one thing I remember clearly was that the word, "fuiotine" was repeated again and again.  As a spectator to this dream-event, I remember thinking, "I must remember 'fuiotine' for later."  And I did, because when I woke up I looked online to fine out what the hell fuiotine is.  And something unexpected happened...I got six results.  Not six million, not six thousand, six.  There are so few results that there isn't even a "go to the next page for more results" option.  I didn't think that was possible any more what with the amount of content and indexing that's happening on the World Wide Web.

The Big Boy Update:  Terrible Tantrums.  We are still having them from time to time.  I had to bodily restrain him to prevent him from kicking, biting, punching or scratching me the other night.  He was very angry.  He was in the primal part of his mind, his amygdala, and wasn't able to control his emotions or actions rationally so we had to help him calm down.  All over putting lotion on his body to help with the itching he was having.  He normally likes the lotion. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Color confused?  She is having trouble telling us what color something is.  I was concerned it was color-blindness until I did some more investigating by asking her questions about what color things were.  It appears she's just throwing out random answers or guesses.  But she can sort things into piles that are the same color easily.  So did we not work on colors with her?  I spoke with her teacher today and she said associations like colors can be more difficult than grammar and to not worry about it at this age.  She suggested we can do fun games that include naming colors to help her if it's something we're concerned about.

Fitness Update:  Thought I'd stopped exercising due to the lack of recent updates here?  That pesky dry socket coupled with a wacked out back for a few days kept me away from the gym.  I was back this morning and it appears I didn't lose all my physical fitness from one week of laziness, which is a relief.

Monday, December 16, 2013

The Expensive Fly Swat

I love Amazon Prime.  Well, let's back up.  I love Amazon.  Amazon has made it so convenient for me to make purchases that I frequently order something without ever thinking of leaving the house.  It's easier than getting in the car to drive and find out if my local grocery store or drug store or Wal*Mart or Target carries the item I'm looking for.  Amazon has made it so easy to purchase something that shows up at your house two days later that it's often easier to go ahead and buy the item than it is to put it on a shopping list and figure it out later.

The combination of Prime (shipping included), One Click Purchasing (using default address and payment options), large array of offerings, and ease of not having to leave my living room (or even bed) to make the purchase is a consumer lethal punch of convenience.  As a result, the days the UPS man doesn't stop at our house are more uncommon than those he does.

Back to the ease of purchasing though.  I was lying in bed a while back, considering possible lawn decorations for the holidays.  I brought up Amazon and started searching.   It was in a dark room and the sudden light from the screen drew the attention of a gnat or small fly over to investigate.

After a minute I got annoyed with the bug and tried to brush it off the screen when..."Thank you, your one-click order has been placed."   Wait, what?   Um, what did I just buy?

It appears I bought a two-hundred dollar tree thing that was close to twelve feet tall.  A tree thing I had no interest in buying. 

Thankfully, another excellent feature is the ease with which you can cancel an order with Amazon if it hasn't yet been processed or shipped.

The Big Boy Update:  "I need my tar."  My son got a new present for his birthday and he decided to take it to the potty with him for some quality time this afternoon.  He went to the toy corner, got his guitar and headed off to the potty (where he stayed for a good long while).

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  "Daddy's upstairs making meat malls," my daughter told me tonight.  And yes, he was.  Daddy was making meatballs for dinner.  She got close. 

Sunday, December 15, 2013

The Page After the End of the Book

When I was a child I loved books.  And thankfully, today I still have some of those books as my parents were kind enough to save them for me.  Many of them we haven't let our children read yet, mostly because they're a little delicate after all the years and my children aren't the most gentle beings when it comes to books and paper.

I remember there were books that were so good, so riveting, so happy at the end that I wanted there to be more to the story.  The way the paper was wrapped over the back cover makes sense to an adult, but to a young child, it looks like it's a special wrapping job that's there to hide the secret page after the last page in the book. 

I was a little hesitant to just rip into the books because if the book was that good, I didn't want to mess it up looking for a page I hoped was there, but wasn't altogether sure was actually there.  I remember peeling back a little of the paper.  Maybe there was some tearing, but no serious damage.  I didn't see anything yet, but maybe the hidden page was smaller in dimensions than the other pages because it was hidden and inside that cardboard back cover.  It's sure to be something good if it's hidden so well.

Mostly, I was disappointed to find brown paper fibers and a complete lack of bonus story content.  One time I remember seeing something, getting excited and then discovering it was a printer's mark on the reverse side of the paper.

I never did find a secret message or final page.  Eventually I realized it was just hopeful thinking.  I had forgotten all about that until I noticed my daughter doing the same thing the other day when we got to the end of one of her books.

The Bit Boy Update:  He only wants daddy...again.  We had to swap children a while back because my husband usually "manned" him while I would handle my daughter for various things like shopping trips, getting them ready for bed and putting them to bed.  We're going to have to switch it up again to get things reset.  Last time it took about a week.  It appears we've lapsed into old habits again.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  She's only two, but she has tried to find a secret page more than once.  Initially she would flip the last page all the way over, see the book was closed, and then open it back up again.  Most recently, she's been trying to find out if there's a page she's missed before the end of the book.  It brought back childhood memories to watch her do this.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Childhood Secret Spaces

Was there a special spot you liked to play in when you were a child that was just yours?  I had forgotten about two places that were lots of fun to have secret meetings, special sessions and child-only events in until I spoke with my cousin the other day.

We were talking about how children can cram into the smallest spaces, specifically my two hiding under the clothes in our master closet, when she reminded me of a place we used to play when we were much smaller.

I had a trundle bed when I was young, which is bunk beds, only they're collapsed on top of one another.  The main bed is mostly normal in height but underneath it is a second bed that rolls out.  My cousin said she remembered coming to visit and wanting to sleep on the trundle part of the bed but when she mentioned it, of course I claimed that I would be the one sleeping there.  A little reverse psychology later and my cousin had a guaranteed spot on that lower bed because I was in no way giving up my bed just because she said it looked more comfortable with softer sheets.  It's a good thing I won that argument.

There was a secret place with that bed though and that was the space under the bed when the trundle part was all the way out.  It was vertically-challenged space, but it was a hideout and we had lots of fun doing things I can't even remember anymore.

The other space I played in that I had no competition for, was the top shelf of my closet.  I don't know how old I was, but I was old enough to pull a chair over, move the clothes out of the way, somehow hold on to the clothes rod and brace myself against the wall so that I could get onto the shelf above the full-length clothes. 

I don't know how I did it and I don't know what I did up there (it was rather dark).   What I can tell you is that my parents still live in that house and I have looked up into that closet at that same shelf as an adult.  It's a narrow shelf.  It's almost at the top of the closet.  I have no idea why it was "fun" to be up there as a child, but I remember that it was to me at the time.

The Big Boy Update:  Third birthday party.  Today was his birthday party.  The theme was "Cars" (the movie) and we had our friends from our street come to share in his birthday fun.  We all had a good time but the thing that made me laugh was when he left in the middle of unwrapping a present to disappear into the closet.  Was he suddenly shy?  My husband speculates that he was going to look for a tool to help open this particularly difficult present.  His departure didn't bother his sister one bit who stepped in and finished unwrapping it for him.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  "I don't know."  The other day I was asking her to identify things in a book with me.  She wasn't sure on one of them and clearly said, "I don't know." I showed her which animal was the sea lion and then asked her the next question (something she clearly knew the answer to) to which she also replied, "I don't know" in this very high-pitched sing-song little girl voice.  She "didn't know" the answers to any other questions after that.  Was she enjoying someone else showing her the answers or had she just gotten too tired to finish the book?

Friday, December 13, 2013

The Small Plate Mystery

Children need plastic plates.  Or, they could use paper plates or anything else that's unbreakable that preferably won't dent the floor when they drop it.   And trust me, they will drop them.

There are lots of great plastic plates at stores these days.  You can get ones with compartments and ones with pictures of your child's favorite characters on them (and those will cost much more of course).  There are bowls big and small.  There are bowls with compartments on the side.  There are plates in a square shape, or did you want an oval, and don't forget about the round either, because all those choices are easily found. 

But the one thing I can't find is a small plate.   It's a commonly used size.  We go to all sorts of events and the most common thing people want is a small plate because they're going to be eating a small amount of food while they stand around and talk to people.  When you have cake or pie, you put it on a small plate.   Children have little appetites and for snack or a side item like apple slices or crackers, a small plate would be a perfect as an accompaniment to their bowl of food. 

But they are no where to be found.  I'm trying to be sustainable, but until I find a small plastic plate, it's going to be paper plates or just cookies on the table direct for now.

The Big Boy Update:  "I don't want food.  I had enough yesterday."  Words my son said to daddy when he didn't want to eat dinner because he was watching television.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Waddie-pops.  My daughter loves lollipops.  She loves to hold them.  She loves to unwrap them and she loves to eat them.  Interestingly enough, she also likes to throw them away long before they're completely eaten.  Sometimes...she will pull them out of the trash can and eat them some more when we're not paying attention.  Also, she pronounces them, "waddie-pops".

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Too Old to be Carded

Remember when you were old enough to drink alcohol and you would proudly pull out your drivers license to show to the cashier?  I looked young and I got carded all the time.  I didn't mind for the most part because I didn't look so young that they didn't believe I was old enough, just young enough to make sure.

I remember going to Las Vegas when I was in my thirties and getting carded by one of the security guards because you can't gamble if you're under aged.  I was so happy to be carded then.   I remember that being about the sunset time of my "era of being carded". 

As you get older and your face and hands look their age, the people ringing up your purchases don't give you a second glance because, clearly, that lady is waaaay over twenty-one.  I look at myself in the mirror these days and depending on my hair style and the clothes I'm wearing, it's clear that yes, I am far removed from the pre-drinking aged. 

I am, in fact, more than double the drinking age.  Wait, can that possibly be right?  But so it is.  I suppose I hold on to a little bit of hope that someone will card me again.  At the liquor store, which has more strict requirements, I have my wallet ready for them to ask, but they don't even give my license in the clear plastic compartment more than a cursory glance.

Old...it was bound to happen eventually.

The Big Boy Update:  I got out some different train tracks for my son yesterday.  These are tracks he loves but his interest waned in them several months ago, so we put them away and now they're "new" again.  He was so thrilled to be playing with them, but he needed help to put the tracks together.  He came and asked me not once, but twice, "would you like to join me mommy and help with my work?"  This is phrasing they learn at school when they would like to work together (because it's fine to work alone on some things).  Who wouldn't want to play trains with such a polite request?

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter likes her jackets.  After school when she comes into the house, she will take her jacket off, open the drawer it goes in (which is at ground level so she can reach it,) put her jacket in and then close the drawer back.  Sometimes, if she's in a jacket selection mood, she'll pull all the jackets out onto the floor.  She might try on the gloves and hats and she might even walk around with a hat over her eyes for some time, bumping into things and leaning her head way back so she can see.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Appointment Times and The New Confusion

This has been happening a lot of late.  It seems to be the new thing.  You call to make an appointment somewhere, say your child's doctor's office or the endodontist or any other medical office.  You ask when they can get you in, they tell you something along the lines of, "would Tuesday at 10:45 work?"  You check your calendar to see if you have availability then and if there's enough time to get to their office and then you tell them that yes, you can make that appointment.

Then, they tell you you have to be there before then.  There are two scenarios I've encountered that seem to happen.  First, for my children's pediatrician's office, you make an appointment for time X.  But you are required to be there fifteen minutes before time X.  If you haven't arrived at that point, they will cancel your appointment and possibly charge you for the visit.

The second scenario is if you're a new patient.  I have an elbow problem that needs to be addressed because the pain is significant enough that it's waking me up at night.  I'm not a new patient at this particular orthopedic office, but this is a new issue.  The appointment scheduler said to me, "can you make 9:45 on Thursday?"   I said, "yes, I have a meeting that ends at 9:30, I can make that.  She said, "did you say 9:30?  That won't be enough time."  I told her that I would be only five minutes away from their office and should have no problem getting there for the appointment.

That's when she told me that since this was a new issue I was being seen for, I would need to arrive fifteen to twenty minutes early in order to fill out new paperwork.   And I am completely fine with that.  But she spoke to me at length about my reason for needing the appointment and knew I was a prior patient with their office.  This was before she gave me any scheduling options.  She didn't tell me the effective time of my appointment (otherwise known as arrival time) until I had checked my calendar to see if the time slot worked.

It's added a layer of confusion.  For my children's wellness appointments, which happen rather regularly, I put the "arrival time," which is fifteen minutes prior to the appointment onmy calendar.   When they call to confirm, they make a big deal of the appointment time and warn me that I have to arrive early.

I'm guessing this new, more confusing scheduling is due to two things: First, people were arriving late and any time a medical office gets behind, late patients don't help the problem.  The second reason could be that customer satisfaction is in large part tied to wait times.  That fifteen minutes may have been added in all along, but we just thought we were having to wait in their lobby and they were behind.  When we're called back five minutes past our appointment time with this new system, they're only five minutes late, not twenty.  From a psychological perspective, this may make a big difference to many people.

I'm an on-time person.  I keep a calendar.  And even if I didn't, the email and voice mail reminders that are offered by all medical offices these days make it hard to miss an appointment accidentally.  I'm hate that these types of scheduling things have become necessary.

The Big Boy Update:  Three-years-old today.  He had a good day.  It was fairly quiet with his party happening on Saturday.  We were very happy to have his Aunt Rebecca and cousin Olivia to open their gift and some presents he got via mail.  Then we sang the birthday song and ate cake with him.  

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  "I want to ride to town."  My daughter knows Mimi's leg, when she's sitting down, is the "pony".  Mimi gives her rides on the pony a lot.  Aunt Rebecca's legs however, have another name.  Her aunt puts my daughter on top of her knees and bounces her up and down saying, "Riding on the pony, riding to town, riding on the pony, don't fall down!"  My daughter came up to her this afternoon, looked at her legs and said, "I want to ride to town."

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Dry Socket

My jaw hurts.  It aches.  I have a dry socket from the tooth extraction.  It could be worse and more bone could be exposed, but the little that's uncovered is enough. 

There's not much to do while I wait for tissue to grow over the bone.  I'm applying clove oil fairly regularly but that's rough on the mouth, so I have to be careful.  When I put the clove oil on the bone area I feel a significant relief very quickly.  That's when I sigh. 

This tooth (number fourteen in case you were wondering) has been a real pain...for a long time.

The Big Boy Update:  "The Santa Clauses are watching us."  We haven't been emphasizing Santa in our house, but he's hard to avoid with all the media in our lives.  Other families and children mention Santa in various contexts.   Driving down the road the other day my son informed me that the Santa Clauses were watching us.  I wonder how many there are?

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Green Apple Jacks.  My daughter likes the green-colored apple jacks in her cereal more than the yellow ones.  Is it because there are ten yellow for every green or is there some difference in flavor I can't discern that her keen toddler taste buds like?

Monday, December 9, 2013

Dropping Pants

This isn't about the children and their pants, although there is a lot I could tell you on that front.  I could tell you about messy pants, dirty pants, pants that are far too big and some that are much too small.  This post, however, is about my pants.

And no, it's not about me dropping my pants at an inappropriate time, although I'm sure I've done that before at some point in my life.  It's about waistlines and how they've changed over the years. 

I've had a lot of dress pants over the years.  I was a business traveler and a corporate instructor and I needed to have a good collection of business attire for the work I did.  When I found a pair of pants I liked that both looked good and fit well, I commonly went back and purchased several more of that exact same pant.  I might get the pair in different colors or if the color was good--say like black--I'd just get several of the same color.

I haven't been in the business world for several years, but I do have an opportunity to dress up from time to time.  There was no reason to get rid of my perfectly good business attire pants, but most of them sat in the closet, doing not much. 

Then yesterday, I needed to wear pants and I had a specific criteria for which pants I'd wear.  We were going to a fondue restaurant and while I love their food, anything you wear must be cleaned afterwards because the steam from the fondue pot gets infused into your attire.  Months later, it will still smell like the meal you had.

So, I picked something I didn't like that much to wear.  And that's when a strange pants thing happened.  These slacks were fine, they still fit me, but the waist line was crazy high.  It was far over my navel, up into the most narrow portion of your trunk.  It was strange.  It felt strange to sit down and it felt strange standing up.

Funny that, because I always liked those pants.  What's happened is the waistlines have gotten lower and lower over the past few years and those pants are old.  The pants I wear now (and I'm not one to wear crazy fashions) have the waist line right around the top of my hip bone or possibly even lower. When I first started wearing them, they felt strange.  Now, that's the norm.

I wonder if the high-waist style will come back into popularity before I get rid of my old pants.

The Big Boy Update: 
We've been spelling things more and more.  My son asked me yesterday, "what's a P O T T Y?" 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Backwards and inside out: that's how her pants came home from school today on her body.  She must have put them on herself.  We took her to lunch at a restaurant like that and people thought it was cute. 

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Where Did The Toys Go?

I like to have a neat house.  I like to have order and I like to have a reasonable amount of toys out for the children.  There is evidence that shows too many toys out in view for a child can be overwhelming.  I've seen this in action.  Take a room full of toys and watch a child walk in and while they may play with the toys, they might dump lots of toys all over the place or they may just seem to move the toys around.

But, take most of the toys away, leaving only a few toys out, say eight to ten, and watch them dive into those toys with excitement and vigor.  Interestingly enough, should you decide to do this test, leave eight toys that were already in the room when it was cluttered and you'll see your child have a sudden interest in the toys they may not have had before.  They're more engaged with the toys and they may play longer with less overall, "toy clutter".

We've been to lots of houses with small children  and many families have lots and lots of toys out.  Some people have toys in every room and some people have toys only in designated areas.   Today, we ran into a completely different situation: we couldn't find the toys.

The house was around the corner and we were there for a two-year-old birthday party.  As more adults and children arrived, the adults got to talking and the children started looking for things to do.  We found only one toy, a little plastic camera that lit up.  I tried to get my children to share it, but that's never a good solution.  In a bit of desperation, we took them out onto the porch and there were some outdoor toys my two liked playing with in the thirty-six degree weather. 

We found out later when other children were in the same situation, that the toys were stored away in the lowest cabinets.  The family was much like ours in that they like having a place for the toys.  They just had them all hidden at the start of the party.  Once we found toys, we had a bunch of entertained and happy children.

The Big Boy Update:  Ornament hanging and hooking and un-hanging.  We hung ornaments on the Christmas tree today.  Consider the standard ornament:  it has either a loop or a hook.  Hold on, did you just say, "hook"?  Guess who is obsessed with hooking?  My son enjoyed taking the ornaments down and trying to "hook" them together and he was almost faster than we were at putting them up. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  The Pillow Upgrade.  She's had a pillow on her bed for some time now and has been happy with it.  Prior to her current pillow, she had one of those pillow pets and she liked that.  I had forgotten about it and it was stored away in the closet the children can't get into.  When I opened the door the other day and my daughter came in with me, she saw her old pillow, grabbed it and took it back into her room.  When I returned, the pillow pet was in the pillow spot on the bed and her other pillow was on the floor in the corner, discarded.  

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Not For Us...Yet

We went to our school's all-school winter event, "Winterfest" today.  We've been for two years now and it's been described by many as, "a very sweet event."  I agree, it is.  Families bring appetizers, and desserts and we order lots of pizzas for the main meal.

It's a short event comprised of songs, skits and musical numbers by the older students in the school.  For the younger children, there's a play room and a craft area.  Our children fall into the "younger students" category.

And by that I mean they're not going to sit still and watch a bunch of children perform.  So they get to go to the children's area.  My husband and I don't have much to do either as neither of our children are old enough to participate in the performances.

So I stay in the play area and graze on the desserts, crackers, cheese and vegetables while my children play with unfamiliar toys in a room to the side. 

It's a nice event though and it's always a good time socializing with other parents and talking to other children.  We watched a little of the event, which was funny and sweet and cute.  We went home with two tired children, full of cookies.

Soon, in the next few years, we'll get to see our children perform at this winter celebration.

The Big Boy Update:  Going to bed himself.  If he's tired of late, he walks upstairs and puts himself to bed for a nap.  He will sleep with the door open for several hours with noise all around him if he's tired enough.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Crackers and cheese.  She loves both and I think ate mostly this for lunch today during the school event.

Friday, December 6, 2013

The Lollipop Tree

The year we moved into our new house, which was right when my son was born and was also just before Christmas, my father gave us a lollipop tree.  

He found the components of these lollipop trees at an estate sale or yard sale.  They were wood and he had an idea he could finish them and they would be a fun addition to a house with children or even with adults who liked lollipops.

For the first two years we put it out and not many lollipops were eaten because the children were too small.  This year, my children know exactly what lollipops are and they love them.  This has been reinforced by my neighbors who love to share lollipops with my children when they come to visit. 

So today, my children helped me set up the lollipop tree.  There are little holes in each of the wooden arms of the tree that you insert suckers into.  We had plenty of leftover suckers from Halloween so I put them on the counter, explained they were helping set up the tree and if they ate their dinner, they could have one for dessert.  They were excited. 

My son did a good job of putting suckers into the holes.  My daughter wanted to make sure each lollipop was tightly wrapped in its wrapper, something that she felt was best tested by trying to unwrap each one before sticking it on the tree.

The only challenge now is keeping my children from grabbing and eating the suckers whenever they want to.  They can get to high places by pushing or bringing a chair to the location.  So we're working on self-control and boundaries.  We'll see how it goes.

The Big Boy Update:  My son sometimes needs to eat and until he does, he can be a ball of emotion.  This morning when he came down for breakfast he said, "don't look at me mommy."  So I looked away.  Shortly after that he needed to go to the potty and I told him he could go and come back to finish his meal.  He didn't want his sister to touch his food or drink so he told me, "save this work mommy, in the saving spot."  The saving spot was on the counter, away from her reach.  So I saved his meal and he went and then he came back and got enough calories in his system and he was a happy kid again.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  She pooped on the potty.  Key word here being, "on".  In the morning before daddy got up to the room apparently she needed to go.  She got her pants and diaper off and got on the potty and then pooped.  Only the lid was down.  I hear it wasn't as much of a mess as it sounds.

Fitness Update:  We got one break today for water.  Usually we do something and then get water or wait for instructions on the next set or circuit.  Today was all about pushing us.  I didn't do as well as my friends, or so it seemed to me.  I suppose that means I have room to improve.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Hanukkah Hearts

We celebrated Hanukkah with our neighbors last night.  It was the eighth and last day of Hanukkah and we were going to have an opportunity to see them light the candles, sing the traditional songs, eat a traditional meal and of course, spin driedels. 

They had potato latkes with sour cream and apple sauce.  There was matzo ball soup my neighbor had made and we had a special kind of donut for dessert.  My children were excited from the start.  My son knew it was a special day and he told me when it was about time to go, "I want to go see Hanukkah."

We watched as they lighted their Menorahs and sang and then we sat down to dinner.  We ate, had fun, tried to keep the two excitable children calm, and eventually let them go upstairs to play in the room with the toys. 

My neighbor's children are twelve and fourteen, but they have toys in a special closet that my son and daughter know about.  These toys are there just for them and other children who come over.  They're toys from when Blake and Shane were younger.   Blake and Shane love to play with our children too, so in short order, they disappeared upstairs to play with them.

But there were presents!  So everyone came back downstairs.  My children got a toy each that they have been playing with since yesterday.  We didn't get presents for Shane and Blake, but that's because we have a plan.  We're going to have them over for a celebration around Christmas and we're going to have stockings filled with lots of fun things for each of them.   We're looking forward to that.

After the presents, we played the dreidel game and I discovered it was easier to lose your money to your son than it was your competitors.  My son had discovered the "coins" were really chocolate wrapped in foil.  He was all over them. 

Then we had dessert, which traditionally is a jelly-filled donut, but in this case, was Dunkin Donuts Boston Creme variety.  My neighbors said they didn't like jelly-filled donuts and we all decided that was fine with us.

We came home with two tired and happy children.  It was a special evening and we were so happy our new neighbors wanted to share it with us.

The Big Boy Update:  He decided to take a nap today.  This is the second time he's done this recently.  We know he's tired, but he usually doesn't want to nap.  Today he went up to his room and didn't come out.  We found him a few minutes later asleep in his bed.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  The hair spray trick is helping keep her hair out of her eyes well.  I haven't been putting hair bows in for a while now and I think she likes it better too.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

It's a Kid Post

The children have been doing lots of things lately that I would dub, "blog-worthy".  Sometimes my list of what they've done or said is empty and my husband and I think back about something notable to say for the day.  Other times, like now, they're busy being cute or funny or ingenious or even aggravating and my list gets long.  Right now, my list needs to be trimmed so tonight is all about the toddlers.

The Big Boy Tiny Girl Update Chronicles:  (It's about the both of them, you know, together.)

Door Openings:  My son has been able to open doors for some time now which has enabled him to shut his sister our or into locations at times.  We'd hear her over the monitor in the morning asking for him to open the door to the playroom and let her in, but now, she can open the doors on her own--unless he's holding the knob on the other side, which I've seen him do.  The other trick in play is my son's ability to remove the child protection knobs on the doors.  We have these on doors we don't want him to open.  Sometimes though, if he wants to get into that room badly enough, he works out how to get them off.  But not always.  We'll see how much longer they last.

The Closet Hiding Spot:  My children have a spot they hide in all the time.  It's the same spot...always.  They love this spot because it's in our closet under a row of my husband's long-sleeve T-shirts.  It's soft and almost all the way to the ground and they can get completely hidden and if we didn't know that's where they always go, it would be a hell of a hiding place.  Today, they both got in there and I pretended I was looking for them by moving one shirt out of the way at a time.  They got as close to each other as they could and I was surprised I still couldn't see any of them at all with only about a foot of shirts left.  That's when my son started grabbing the shirts I'd pulled away and began pulling them back for more cover.

Becoming Friends:  My daughter is getting old enough and verbal enough now that she and my son have begun to actually play together.  He tells her things and she helps out or she has an idea and they work on something together.  There isn't always harmony, but they're starting to be more of a team at times.  It's fun to see them when they're working together as friends.

Sticker Sticker Stuck:  Both my son and my daughter like stickers.  Today, my daughter was busily trying to take every sticker off a sticker sheet Mimi had brought over before she returned home.  As my daughter struggled to pull them off one at a time and place them on the paper (or the sofa), my son came over and asked if he could have a sticker.    Which one did he want?  He wanted the Daisy Duck sticker.  After I helped him get Daisy off the sheet, he looked at her and said, "She's very pretty" before sticking her to his chest and walking off.

Fitness Update:  Team workout at the gym.  It's fun to be in a group of five or more people who are suffering, er, having fun with you.  And by that I mean the kind of out of breath, I can't talk until we get a water break and we can commiserate then, sort.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Extraction

Remember that tooth that's been through the three root canals, the crown preparation, build-up and worst of all, the apicoectomy where one of the roots was removed through the side of my jaw?  None of that solved the problem and due to some strange anatomy of the tooth, there wasn't a lot more to be done.

If it wasn't so painful that I couldn't chew on that side of my mouth I might wait it out longer, but not only was it painful and not getting better, it throbbed every time I did anything rigorous, including running.  So every single step of the marathon, this tooth was pestering me.  And that wears on you after a while.

The endodontist was willing to do another partial amputation of a root in the hopes that would solve the problem, but we weren't sure that would do it and it would make the tooth more susceptible to fracture and less stable.  So I decided to have them extract it.

I'd like to say it's less painful today than it was yesterday, but a big hole in your jaw isn't that comfortable shortly after it's made.  Soon though, bone matter will begin to fill in the area and after some time, I'll have a fancy new bionic tooth replacing it.  

For now, I'm in a four-month holding pattern where the extraction heals and fills in.  This tooth saga is turning out to be longer than anticipated from when I went in to get a fairly routine crown a while back.

The Big Boy Update:  "I want to go see the lights."  Our street has become very festive with holiday decorations.  The cul-de-sac has a lot of nighttime excitement for small children.  There are inflatables and lit trees and reindeer and lots of other things that make my children hop up and down, point and yell.  After dinner when it was dark, my son asked if we could go see the lights.  We had a hard time getting them back home they were having so much fun.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  "My stool."  She loves her stool.  She is a menace with her stool.  She pushes it all over the house to see what we're doing, especially when we're doing something with knives or hot boiling oil.  But for the most part, she has more independence with the stool, and that's a good thing.  Tonight, she was standing on the first rung of the stool, leaned over, put her arms around it and her cheek to the top of it and said, "my stool."

Monday, December 2, 2013

The Small Space, The Cake and The Run


This no nap thing is working fairly well, but there are some drawbacks.  For instance, we had a birthday party to attend yesterday at four o'clock and as soon as we put the two children in the car they fell straight asleep.   Twenty minutes later, we arrive at the party with two cranky children who don't want to wake up, be pleasant or even walk at first.

They did manage to come around in a few minutes when they saw friends, food and new toys.  The  party went until six o'clock, ending with cake and ice cream.  The cake was chocolaty with lots of icing and the ice cream was an added bonus on their plates.  Both children ate as much as they could shove in.

Then, Elle, who's party it was, opened her presents.  It was at about this point that our two children couldn't manage to stay still.  My husband and I each took one and tried to help them focus on the present opening across the room.  I thought they were ready to go or that they wanted to open presents or be involved in some way.  I realized later though that it was the small space in that crowded room and the surge of sugar they were getting from the cake and ice cream.  They just needed to move.

After the presents, we depart and my husband says he needs to stop in at Best Buy to get something and do I want to stay in the car with the children or should we all go in together?  I said let's bring them in because we still had time before bedtime and we might as well spend some of it in a large retail store with lots of colors and lights.

And that's where we found out how much energy they had bottled up.  We held hands across the parking lot and all walked in.  Then...they were gone.  They ran.  They ran fast.  They ran far.  We had to literally run to keep up with them as they took turns down aisles, ran all the way to the back of the store, headed back to the front and dashed through several other departments along the way.  

They didn't seem to be getting tired at all.  We didn't need to worry too much about losing them or them causing trouble.  They were mostly into running inside the store.  They had no interest in merchandise, or leaving the store of colors and a hundred televisions.

Finally, they stopped running and we found our item.  But by then we had decided to run them out.  We chased them around and had them hold on to carts while we pushed them along.  They left with a lot of cake burned out of their systems and they fell asleep easily.


The Big Boy Update:  Success in remote parenting.  The consistency is paying off.  Today, the children were down at the swing set while I swept leaves off the deck.  My son was trying to control both the red and the blue swings and my daughter wasn't happy that her swing was taken away from her.  I told him he had to give it back and he did, even though I was relatively far away couldn't physically enforce my request. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  "I want my hat."  I told her she could go outside if she put her coat on.  She got to the coat drawer and decided she didn't care about the hat so much as the hat.  She put on the hat, pulled it down almost over her eyes, and then ran into the wall trying to get out the back door. 

Fitness Update:  It's never good when our trainer asks us how much longer we have and when we tell him, he laughs at us.  Although it was a fun day at the gym.  I had a rib out of alignment and some lower sacrum tightness, so it wasn't the most comfortable workout, but the chiropractor straightened things out later in the day.  All in all, he's been rougher on us on Monday's in the past.

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Manners Unexpected

Children can be very rude to each other.  They're not born polite; they're selfish and they don't think of anyone other than themselves until you help them learn otherwise.  Our society expects a level of respect and consideration in most cases and it takes a lot of work to help a child see that by sharing the blocks now, your new friend will let you play with his cool firetruck in the future.

Some days I feel like I'm just trying to keep the peace.  Other days, there are good points.  This morning my son and daughter were working together with some break-apart cars.  The pieces are interchangeable across cars and while my daughter spent lots of time taking the various sections, wheels, roofs off, my son would put them back together into new creations.  They did this at the same table, working with the same items, for some time.

Then, I heard my son say, "here Reese," as he handed her something to take apart.  She took the proffered items and replied, "thank you Greyson," to which my son said, "you're welcome."

So maybe something's getting in through the cracks between the bashing of the heads and the grabbing of the toys and the pushing and the shoving and the yelling of, "walk away!" to the other child.

The Big Boy Update:  His birthday is coming up and we decided to go with a Cars movie theme.  My son was so into the movie, Lightning MacQueen, Mater and all the other characters for so long that it made sense.  But now that the invitation's been sent out, he seems so over it.  He's moved on.  But we have the cake pan.  So it looks like he's getting a Lightning MacQueen party.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  I don't think she knows there's a difference between, "milk" and "chocolate milk".  My son never asks for milk, he always asks for chocolate milk, or as he says it, "chocolate nook".  They don't get chocolate milk all the time, but that's what he wants so that's what he asks for.  My daughter, who must think he knows what he's talking about, asks for, "chocolate milk" even though I think she prefers regular milk.