Jessica's Blog

Happy Halloween y'all!

We've had a good one.  Big Boy was on solid food again today and things seemed to be all back to normal.  We even went out and ran a couple errands as a family.

Honey Girl was a major grump.  I joked to Hubby via AIM that she was possessed with the spirits, and would nap as soon as she stopped shrieking.  Time changes, can I get a witness?  they throw everyone off.  I think they are a young kid's mom's worste nightmare.  "What?  It's not wake up time?  It's not lunchtime YET?  It's not dinnertime YET?"

Trick or Treating looked fun.  Hubby even humored Big Boy (and ME) by putting on his king costume.  Yup.  Now there's  a sport!  Honey Girl was in her no volume control voice and yelling that she needed the flashlight all the way down the walkway.  I luxuriated in sitting and e-mailing and giving out candy while in my "Lady Jane" costume.

The kids and Hubby came home and Honey Girl had another hit the floor kicking tantrum.  We got her to bath and in jammies and she complained of being cold.  Then, whammo.  Right in the middle of a Berestain Bears story, Honey Girl hurled all over me.  I turned to Big Boy who was aghast and said "Go tell Daddy, ok?"  Mostly to get him away before he be reminded of how easy it is the vomit.  Thankfully the "puke bucket" was still next to Big Boy's bed and I grabbed it in time to catch the next five or six rounds of hurlage.

So I guess Honey Girl won't be going to school tomorrow, but Big Boy will.

Big Boy wouldn't come back to his bed for stories after we stripped the bedspread and changed out Honey Girl's and my pajamas.  he said "I don't want to get the throw up on me.  I'll stay here and make a water shooter." and was busy with his legos while I read Yertle the Turtle and where the Wild Things Are to Honey Girl.

I got a shower.  While drying off I heard Hubby running up the stairs and Honey Girl hollering for "MOMMMMYYYYYY".  Another set of jammies and another pillow and pillow case.

Happy Halloween!  Hey, at least they won't ask for candy!

Big Boy's potty training:  Since that entry, Big Boy has not had an accident.  He wets at night occasionally, but will usually wear an overnight diaper "just in case".  Now I hope I don't jinx things by writing that!

The $10 chicken:  I ran out of steam that day and made the chicken and dumplings with that fabulous chicken.  It was exceedingly popular with hubby and kids.  I think I need to put in a double batch of dumplings though... I find us all fishing through broth for them, and grabbing the chunks of shredded chicken.  The continued evolution of mom and grandma's recipe.  I bought another lesser chicken for another batch today and found it was closer to $7... so as Tonya said in her comment... sometimes it's just worth it.  The Whole Foods thing, that is.

Hubby's tummy:  He was back at work until 8pm the day following the endoscopy.  He's feeling fine, eating well and carefully.  He sipped some soda this weekend and immediately "felt it" thus getting him to go get some water instead.  But he's doing well, thanks.  meds working, lifestyle changing.  I felt horrible for his caffeine withdrawl headaches though... tylenol wouldn't touch them.

The fav-neighbors:  I'm learning a lot about compassionate assertiveness.  I've learned they really just are not aware that they are so loud.  They're nice and accommodating.  I had to laugh that it took me yelling four times to her 5 feet away to please turn down the music... because she couldn't hear me.  She was surprised to hear the whole street can hear it, and was embarrassed.  I sigh and do my best to be very nice.

hair removal:  still a big fan on all counts, and now I need to find the time and money.  I have an urge for a facial something awful.

Grandma Eleanor:  Still in the SNARF and apparently being robbed blind, but refusing to allow family members to take home all of her jewelry.  So far about $100 cash and a diamond necklace she's been wearing as long as I can remember have "disappeared".  Gotta love the respect given to the elderly in nursing homes.. as well as how well CNA and such are paid such that they steal with no guilt.  Social workers shrug.  She's refusing to take part in activities, so when my mom visited this weekend, she got it to Grandma that she has to shape up or ship out.  Her insurance will not keep her there if she doesn't  start USING the place.

Holiday Travel:  I've decided not to worry about it and not go south for now.  Maybe I'll take a trip by myself to visit.  But clearly Grandma Toni does not have a handle on her pain in any way and therefore it would make sense that while she would love a visit form all of us, it would be a tough one for everyone involved.  Let's keep wishing her well.

ex-playgroup issues:  I am all but over it.  I still get pissed off when I think of what .... oops, almost wrote her name....did, but I love the friends I have kept from the group.  They are awesome loving women who make me laugh a lot, and with whom I feel at ease.  So what if we didn't get invited to the continuation?  I am a firm believer in kharma and it's only a matter of time before everything comes out in the wash.

Dude ranch:  just sent them a note with some pictures this weekend.  Mom says it's in the budget, but I'm not going to badger.  God knows I've got enough on my mind.

I tried to get rid of the cat:  Cleo will now cuddle with Big Boy when he comes to our bedroom in the mornings, and while reading stories at night.  She's somewhat psycho and imperfect; a perfect match for our family .

Family Fall Festival:  It was this last weekend.  I got all my work done in an organized and timely fashion.  The actual event was tough in terms of tracking the critters in the mobs of other critters, and I ended up having to hand off my duties to volunteers when I thought the fest ended, but was told "Oh no.. this party goes until 10PM."  I'd do it again with better planning.  Many parents came up to me at different points in the evening to tell me I had the hardest job of the night.  Thank you Paulette  and Subha for coming to my rescue!  Boy did I fall for the okey doke on that one!  tickets is the least labor intensive my bahooney!

Well, I had time to scribble all this out because  I am not out getting a fitness walk.  I'm home with a not so feeling great Big Boy.  Uh-oh.. I think I hear snoring, better make sure the puke bucket is close enough to him!

After taking a lovely walk and playtime at the park with Honey Girl, I decided to just stop in at the local Whole Foods for some things I needed to pick up, saving us the bother of packing into the car AGAIN.  It is a nice day out and I hadn't gone to WF in a while.

I went to the meat counter and asked to a "teeny weeny itty bitty chicken".  Not because I'm cheap (though God knows I am) but because I was thinking of making my killer chicken and dumplings for Hubby's tummy recovery.  Honestly the smaller the chicken the better and easier it is to make this recipe.  The butcher got out the smallest little hen.  It weighted all of about 4 pounds.  $10 voila.  This of course made me realize I couldn't just use this $10 chicken to make soup!  It's free range goodness would be wasted on a simple broth.  I wouldn't use all of the meat.  So with the golden bird in our basket, Honey Girl and I returned to the produce section to get the fresh rosemary and thyme for a bouquet garnis to stuff into the bird's cavity as this was now going to be a roasted bird.  Like, a softened butter mixed with herbs and garlic scrammed under it's kosher salted skin bird.  Yes.  Delicious, but a feast for us.  I could scallop some potatoes and boil some corn we have.  A time consuming, but not labor intensive meal.

I wandered the aisles and looked at prices on things.  There is a reason for this.  See, in another couple of years, a Whole Foods will be in place right down the street from our lovely home.  Buildings are being torn down for this to be built 6,500sq ft glorious thing! Major boost to property value, and it will make it logically difficult to trek across town to a Safeway or Albertson's when an ethically seamless, moral, healthy, hearty WHOLE FOODS store is right-there.  I have fantasies of walking there with the kiddos to decide on dinner and then going home and cooking it.  Very European.  Fun, lovely.  Super healthy in buying fresh and whole, eating it fresh and whole.  This nutritional nazi's dream come true for my kids.  But then I looked down at the $10  4 pound chicken that a la Foster Farms (ethically icky and chuck full of goodness knows what) would cost me $4.  Forget price of gas and time spent driivng and such.... it would be decidedly way more expensive to switch. 

Honey Girl came across a plastic dome full of teeny tiny cubes of the most scrumptious cheddar cheese I have had since the black wax rind stuff The Reeves introduced me to in Vermont.  She kept dancing for more and more samples.  It got to the point I decided to buy some since  it seemed she had already eaten about a quarter pound.  I picked up the smallest wedge at a mere $5.  No, wait.  Just checked.  $5.50 for a half pound.  That was my splurge.  But as I sit here eating my lunch munching on some nice little slices of it, I have no regrets.  Every now and then a damned good cheese is like a damned good wine.  SOOOooo worth it.

I had to laugh as I left and Whole Foods and found myself scrounging the rack of the Ross for socks for Honey Girl.  Six pair for $5.... typical mark down from $12 or whatever.  But I had to laugh at myself.  Laugh at myself and my $10 chicken sitting in the car.  But she got socks that fit now!

Most likely when the Whole Foods comes in down the street I'll go there for some good stuff, but will likely continue my rounds with Trader Joe's, Costco and Safeway or what have you.  I will be so happy when it opens though!  If only for the fact that if we have a cold, Whole Foods chicken soup will be close enough to our home we will be able to  walk there and back, even with a fever!

Night before last Hubby woke me at 2AM.
"My stomach really hurts!"
I directed him to the huge tub of tums I had under my side of the sink from my last pregnancy.  They were still good.  But they didn't help.  He showed me where it hurt and I suggested maybe motrin.  Yes, I get how stupid that is now.

Hubby got up at 4AM and took more motrin because he hurt too much to sleep.

Now, I will sugar coat what I told him when he said he was going to go to work the next morning.  I suggested the maybe that might not be advisable..... all said while he was hunched over and holding his tummy.  It was another code monkey wife moment.

We got him to the doctor who saw him between appointments, as we walked in and I demanded it..... hey, he's my husband, and I got no plan B!  The doctor sent him right to the gastroenterologist two buildings over who happened to have an opening at that moment and is my new best friend because he scheduled Hubby into the endoscopy appt that had just cancelled for the next day in the morning.  He also played with Honey Girl during the appt.  Best Friend Doctor  gave him handfuls of pepsid, told him to eat them like candy and show up for an endoscopy today at 10AM.  When the pepsid did finally really kick in yesterday, Hubby was out like a light.  Kids jumping on the bed and all.  He must have been in terrific pain. 

Only times I've passed out cold with pain help was 1) during labor 2) when my blood pressure was high enough to allow me to have morphine during a ER visit with a stomache flu.  Granted, I didn't tell Hubby that detail for a day or two.  Huh.... I've put Hubby through a lot of worry in our married life... maybe I gave him the tummy aches!

Dear Friend sweetly switched around her day to get Honey Girl at school so I could be there for the procedure.  Thank you, Tonya! Granted, the losers at the office would not allow me back until the procedure was done.  When I recounted this to my parents, they were shocked I wasn't able to convince them of otherwise.  I sat and read People magazine in the waiting room for an hour. 

As an aside, I read my college semi-friend's book review in People!  It got four stars!  Way to go Thomas Mullen.  Granted, I knew him as Tom, and we weren't close at all... just ran in the same group of friends,...but anyway.  That did lift my spirits quite a bit as I waited to be allowed to be with my husband.  Kind of like finding out Lemony Snickets is Daniel Handler.. my sister's friend from Lowell high school.  But anyway....

Hubby has an ulcerated tummy.  We got to see pictures of each of the little bumps and ouchies in his belly.  I think there were about 5 or 6.  While a little loopy from the meds afterward, Hubby was bummed out we didn't get to keep the pictures.

No more pepsi.
No More excedrin as candy.
No more late night meals.

He gets prilosec in the AM and pepsid at night.  We go back in 8 weeks.  Thankfully the prognosis is that they are not "bad" and can heal.  Provided we take care and follow directions.  Biopsies were done on both the ulcer material as well as the healthy material to check for bacteria.

I didn't realized how freaked I have been about this until I passed out cold on the couch that afternoon and had a hell of a time waking up.  Hubby still hurts and will for a bit.  Chicken soup, jello, pudding maybe.  He's got a whopping headache from the caffeine withdrawl due to the ixnay on the epsipay.  I had to go find some tylenol in the house. Fingers are crossed.

Oh, and he is working right now on the next couch over.  He's lost two days to this ulcerated stomach business and felt he needed to get back at it.  Yeah, he's hurting.

Code monkey wife moment.  Code Monkey wives out there, can I get a witness????

I just was checking out travelocity to figure out if we will be able to fly down to visit Grandma Toni in December for the holiday season.  It would be "doable".  I say "doable" because the cost is nothing to sneeze at.  The cost on every level.  flights, rental cars, housesitter.  And just saying that fills me with regret and guilt over not feeling over the moon a bout packing up all four of us and setting up a house sitter because Grandma doesn't feel up to traveling up here.

Grandma Toni is in tough shape with rheumatoid arthritis pain.  It is hard to have her be so far away.  I miss her a lot.  I want to see her.  I dread that it is a 12+ hour drive away.  ugh.  I want to visit grandpa's niche and talk with him too.  Last year around this time, he was on his second round of cipro because doctors thought he had pneumonia, not lung cancer.  Anniversary season approaches, people.  Big Boy has started asking today again when GGpa Ronald would be getting better and coming back.  yup. 

Hubby's work schedule doesn't leave space for travel until after the beginning of December and then might just close up again the last week of December.  Start up, baby!  travel is prime and not a cake walk.

Grandma Eleanor is also in tough shape.  In the SNARF(skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility).  Not walking yet and still in a lot of pain.  Lonely and sad too.  So we want to get to Sacramento to see her.  Easy to do since she is not at her home and we can stay at her home and visit her during the day. 

So two grandmas not doing well.  On opposite sides of this HUGE ass state.  Me not too hot on travel either at the moment.  Holiday season and expenses on the way.

Just feeling stressed ALREADY. 

We'll go to mom and dad's for Thanksgiving and figure this all out in a timely manner.

I'm just all stressed right now.  It is a blessing to love family so much as to want to see them all.  I'll focus on that part.

Tis the time of year to allow oneself (as a parent) to be hopelessly ripped off by people selling pumpkins.  Or rather, the pumpkin patch experience.

I never had this when I was a kid.  No way!  Pumkins arrived at the house from the Safeway and we would carve them, hopefully close enough to Halloween such that they would not rot on our front steps before the big day.  If they did, I don't think we got new ones.  But usually, they were good to go.. and by mid November my mom would get a shovel or dust pan and scoop the moldy mushy remnants from the stoop. ha ha.  Before Thanksgiving when family was coming to visit.

I never knew about this whole pumpkin patch deal until I was working in Colorado.  Every kid of every walk of life would ask, "Have you gone to the pumpkin patch yet??!?!?!?" In the same bated breath they would ask if the toothfairy had paid me a dollar, if the Easter Bunny came to MY house, or if Santa would still come to their house if they were broke.  I found it really endearing.  And yes, the years I lived there I did in fact go to the pumpkin patch because I LOVE HALLOWEEEN.  Hay mazes, corn mazes, petting zoos, grossly overpriced produce and snacks.  You'd stay for an hour or so, and often would not even buy a pumpkin, because all your funds went to a tractor ride or a another couple mugs of the yummi-licious (especially in places OTHER than California) spiced cider.  Always fun, always room to breath and laugh.  You had to be sure to dress warmly because those autumn breezes could go right through you.

See, why on earth would you want hot cider when you're wearing shorts and sweating through your sunscreen while in  a pumpkin patch?  California misses so much of that autumn beauty that inspires these autumnal pagan celebrations.  It wasn't until I left the state that I grew to love Halloween so very much.  The cold, dark, spooky, communal decorations, waiting for the first snow, midwestern experience sold me on Halloween.... that and Oberlin's love of costume parties. ;-)

Before I had kids I would drive by pumpkin patches in shopping center lots and think, "Bummer.... in other parts of the country, you go to the pumpkin FARM and spend time to get a pumpkin."  In Mountain View a farm sold pumpkins, but to this day I don't think they grow them, or the Christmas trees they sell later.  I think they've got some acres of land and an orchard of cherries, and just keep changing the decorations for each holiday to avoid selling out to developers.  It didn't cross my mind to go to a patch for the pumpkins.

Going to a pumpkin patch is one of those things you just do as a parent.  Like going to the zoo, or (for some) church. It's that bond to training your child on cultural celebrations, showing them where pumpkins come from, showing them a farm, and, by the way getting them out of the house to exhaust them in a grossly overpriced and dirty bouncy house.

When I had a mom's group, we would go down to Morgan Hill to the Eusegi pumpkin farm.  They (as you see by the website) have a train, maze, pumpkin pyramid, yadda yadda yadda.  That was cool.  We took pics of the babes and the group (shrinking year by year until its demise) by the great pumpkin pyramid.  That was nice.  We'd go during the week so it wasn't as crowded and got some great pictures of the boys standing on the fence looking at the hills.

For some reason, I thought it would be good for us to try a new pumpkin farm.  So I decided to go for it and trek the whole caboodle over to Half Moon Bay for the Lemos Farm.  I wouldn't suggest it.  For a few reasons.

ONce you get off of 280 to 92 west, well, it takes an hour of bumper to bumper traffic to make it to the farm.  Once you arrive, you find out that the bumper to bumper traffic is actually caused (kind of) due to the Lemos farm.  There are about six CHP cruisers parked along 92 on either side of the road and officers directing traffic (LARGE AMOUNTS OF IT) into or out of this place.  Crowds of folks.  serious crowds.  Sure, the place looked nice, but it didn't fill me Halloween cheer. 

Hot.  Dusty.  Crowded.  Nothing like the Half Moon Bay fogged in and chilly dream I had my heart set on.    I definitely did not enjoy the process of finding a place for the car.  Or the kids who apparently lived there who looked to be all of 6 years old driving motorcycles around the property jockeying among the cars.  Super crowded.  Hard to walk crowded.  The place boasts birthday parties and I had thought of having ours there, but now not so much.  The birthday spaces were nice, but the vying for a spot to do anything else really nixed it for me.  But we took well over an hour of time to travel about 15 miles, so we were going to do something....

Petting Zoo $1.  Kid playground with two different bouncy houses, $5.  train ride (diesel tractor pulling little plastic carts) $5.  Pony ride $5.  All day pass for one kid $15.  We did not do much.  By the time we even got there the kids were all but done in.  We did what we could wait for in lines, hassling for a spot in the bouncy houses, feeding already stuffed solid goats.  The pony ride was a huge success because it was IN THE SHADE and the first time the kids got on horseback since the dude ranch.  Big Boy cried a little when we refused to pay $7 for a pumpkin, Honey Girl was barely handling the heat.  I wasn't handling the heat or crowds well either.  We got back to the car with Honey Girl in the stroller and Big Boy getting a weepy piggy back  ride with his head resting on my shoulder and legs flopping about.  I was not thrilled that I had just gotten the car washed the day before.  We had to turn on the windshield wipers to see through the settled dust.

The CHP officers stopped traffic  on 92 in order for a stream of cars to leave, and a stream of cars to go in, and a stream of people to cross the street to the second half of the farm that we didn't even want to try to see.

It was good to try something new.  But I am so glad we didn't drag anyone else down there with us.  I should have known better.  Last time we went down to Half Moon Bay in October was with Dear Friend when our first born babes were in bjorns.  Maybe we'll try again in another few years.  Just maybe.

Hubby is now starting to play more with his new toy.

My last post was interrupted as he was holding his powerbook up and swinging it around as it made light saber noises with each swoosh and swivel.  Before that he was taking all of the books. dvds he could find and using the camera to load their barcodes and add to our virtual bookshelf.

Last night or a couple nights ago,  he was showing me a program with which you can "arm" your powerbook.  Push a button and it will chirp like a car alarm, and if you move it, it goes off like a car alarm too!

He wants to video chat now.  Granted I don't have a camera on my iBook.. but hey, I can see him, right?

It's really kinda cute.

Those of you who know me know how much I *ahem* love my neighbors.

They're quite  loud.  They don't mind their kids who are loud and tend to.... I'll keep it short by saying... not my favorite folks.

Well, today I heard the mom pulling out of their garage.  I am amazed I even noticed because normally this occurance is marked with extremely loud music playing.  So loud I can hear song lyrics through the double paned super duper windows two and three floor up.  But today, blessed be, there was no music!  Right when I was about to let my shoulders drop, I heard a :

Ka-Chunk!  followed by a CReeeEEEEEEK!

uh-oh.  I thought maybe she closed the garage door on her new SUV.  IT was quiet time, I looked out the window and saw the car parked kitty corner across the drive aisle and went to lie on the couch.  I was beat from my overly busy, yet truly uneventful day.

After getting up, I went to the kitchen and turned on the tap.  No pressure.  Sigh.  I look out the window and the fav-neighbor's SUV is now parked in front of my garage, and Manuel (maintenance director) is there.  A Drain Doctor truck is there.  uh-oh.  I hear water.  I decide to go downstairs and say "Hola!"

"Hola! Yessica, commos estas?"  Manuel says.  Maria is standing near him looking sheepish and embarrassed.  A river of water is going down the drive aisle and seeping into our garage.

"Buenos tardes, Manuel, que tal?"

He explained to me that Fav- neighbor ran into the spiget pipe between our two garages and, well, bent/crushed/ desimated it.  I looked at the damage and was pretty impressed.  The pipe down in the ground was crushed, the whole thing was tipped at a 40degree angle and the wall was scarred.  I guess she was thinking she wouldn't need to reverse further to complete the turn.  Manuel had to turn back on the water briefly... thus causing the river, because a homeowner was in the shower when they shut it off, and well, that didn't fly too well.

I was nice, really I was.  We finally were formally introduced.  I asked if she was ok, was her car damaged,  and said that I had backed into a spigot when we first moved in as well, and dented the Nissan. 

The water didn't get turned on again until about 6:30pm.  Four hours without water kind of sucks.  Mostly because I had to explain it every twenty minutes to Big Boy about not flushing, being really fast washing hands, etc etc.  Made the time go by real slow.

I called Hillary tafter getting the kids down for the night o say Hi and told her about the Fav-Neighbor water spigot incident.  We got a good chuckle.
"What I would really love is a nice big frozen margarita,  but that's not going to happen, so I'm thinking this Halloween candy will do just fine for now."

Melanie moved away. *sniff sniff*

She picked up Hannah and Charlotte (Thomas too) and moved to Redwood City... something about her husband's commute being ten minutes a day instead of three hours.  Well, I guess if you gotta chose... marriage harmony is kinda big ;-).

I decided to blow off Honey Girl's Music together class and go visit her instead.  Great choice.

I kind of forgot how much I missed her.  Not to sound trite, but as moms we all get caught up in the day to day and don't get around to calling.  It was also good to see her and her girls.  Well, and her new HOUSE... house is in all caps because that's how it feels as you meander through it's many hallways and levels and such.

Melanie is a priceless friend to me.  Melanie, I don't tell you that enough.  She cracks me up with her chiding and humor.  I love her upfront honesty.  That and she always has the best  teas ever.  We talk politics a bit, finances a bit, motherhood a lot.  At one point I actually said, "I was kind of hoping you were having trouble settling in up here so I could beg you to come back."
"Ummm.... no.  No chance, but thanks."

There are only a handfull (if you are so lucky) of people in life you can feel at ease with in their presence to TALK to and LISTEN to without effing filters.  Melanie is one of those people for me.  I'd like to be more that person for her, as Honey's gone through a lot as of late.

Melanie, for the record:
Your eyebrows do NOT look like caterpillars!
I DO know Colbert is just doing an act with his whole conservative thing.... he's just too convincing sometimes!
You are an amazing, beautiful, wonderful mom.  Hannah and Charlotte are awesome kids and they would not be so cool if you weren't as great as you are.
Thanks for letting me riffle through your fridge for toast and peanut butter and jelly with *gasp* high fructose corn syrup!
Moms get beat up and blamed for everything enough, let's not beat you up too!
Call me more often, I love you!

When Hubby and I were first together, he worked at Apple.  In every group of engineers there are those who procrastinate or don't tell when they need help, and so it is all but inevitable that crunch times in schedules occur.  Late nights.  If a codemonkey is at a startup in it's initial years, there are some all nights.  It's just they way of Silicon Valley.

When he worked at Apple, I would pick up some food and we would sit together at a table in the well decorated/ color coordinated hallway by a window and eat and visit.  I'd kiss him goodbye or goodnight, depending on how much more work he'd have and go home, watch tv, go to bed.

When Hubby worked at TiVo it was even more fun because they had super well decorated TiVo tv rooms with flat screens and we would eat and watch a tv show in HD or whatever before kisses and goodbyes.  I would bring the kiddos there later, but usually for lunch.

Now Hubby is at Zing. 

Hubby had to work late last night.  I had a feeling that it might need to be the case tonight.  As 4:30pm rolled around I called him.

"Hello?"
"HellooOOooo." (I usually do this)

"I have absolutely no idea what to make for the kids for dinner tonight.  I mean, I look around and think, 'no pasta.. too boring or requiring dairy and that just doesn't work for me right now. Rice.. boring or the seasoned stuff is too seasony.  I don't want to do nuggets a-gain.  Do you have a late night tonight?"

"Yeah, it's looking like I'm going to...."  then he explained details I cannot recount lest they find me and kill me... another codemonkey wife detail.. the non-disclosure stuff.

"Would you want to have a quick drive thru meal with the kids and then get back to work?"

"sure!  There's a park nearby with tables and a playground they'd like.  I don't think the office will work so well, there are meetings going on."

"Cool, I'll come up then, They'll like it."

The kids did like it.  Big Boy said, "Daddy, I really like your office.  Where are the windows?"  Hubby chuckled and said "Managers have windows... oh, and conference rooms have windows too."  Big Boy then looked up at the building and pointed to the windows saying, "Manager, manager, manager...."  too funny.  Lots of managers.

While we wrestled the tired out kiddos from the park structure as the sun was setting, I was thinking to myself how different and yet the same this "see Hubby and support him even if he has to work late for a while"  routine is.  It's not as quiet.  I don't hear as much about his work day and who said what or did what.  But he gets a break from that to see his babies and play with them and they get to laugh together and talk to him before going to bed.  They also get to see his office and his work and put the pieces together of "where's daddy???"

My post Hubby visit routine has changed a bit too since motherhood.  Instead of driving home, sitting and opening a book or having a glass of wine... well, it's busy.  Lost of negotiating, lots of soothing as it's a little late bedtime. 
"No,  we only have time for one story and no time for naked playtime because we had so much fun at the park and stayed out late." 
"Ok kiddos, you're all clean, hop out of the tub and brush teeth."
"NNNnoooOOOoooOOOOooooo!  Water play time!  Naked playtime???"
"Sorry, you two, but remember I told you we are late for bed, and I KNOW you want stories.  It's either stories or playtime."  Then they hop out of the tub because they love stories.

With kids in bed and house now relative quiet, I breathe deep.  They both sit quietly and read books on their own with low light (after we read a couple together ) and go to sleep when they're ready... I know... odd to imagine a 2 year old demanding books and reading them to herself, but there you go.  Big Boy is reading "Mighty Machines" .  I have a moment to pull out my computer and blog a bit.  Hubby will get home when he gets home, and agrees to take a taxi if it's after 10PM.  He'll most likely kiss me on the forehead like he kisses the babes when he checks the house and does his "close down the house for the night" routine.

Goodnight Codemonkey, I love you.

I got out by myself today!  I was well overdue for a haircut.  Well overdue.  It was getting to be scraggly bad... couldn't comb through it.  The color was two distinct colors.  Brown at the 3 inches of roots and orange everywhere else where my cheap attempt at summer warmth had faded and gone utterly wrong.

I left the house this morning and walked to the salon.  Partly because its close enough and partly because.. quiet as it's kept... the nissan is dead as a dornail sitting in the garage going on it's third month.  We will get it jumped when one of us will drive it long enough to recharge the battery, but that time has not come yet.  Honey Girl opened a door, thus draining the battery with the dome light.  But I digress.

While getting color gooped into place, I asked if Sima, the esthetician would have time to do an upper lip wax.  It was time to take another bold stab at this upper lip venture.  No, I don't have a mustache, but I do feel I have some darker peach fuss that vexes me that I would like to get rid of.

Removing upper lip peach fuzz has been a painful process in my life.  Doing such a  thing never crossed my mind until one blizzard afternoon in Oberlin, Ohio when my housemate Norah and I were doing some in-home pampering.  She heated some wax, cut the cloth like paper and shoop shoop looked pretty cool.  I gave it a go, and it felt great at first, but then it hurt a bit more.  Then I had scabs across my upper lip, as I had simply ripped off a layer of skin with the cloth strip!  Big scabs are a bit worse than measly peach fuzz.

I tried again recently with my mom... I think it was during the holidays.  Same thing.  I thought it was ok and woke up with scabs.  Grrr.  Then I tried an epilator, and while I wouldn't have scabs, I would get a rash of zits afterwards.  Again worse than just having peach fuzz.

Why would I continue to pursue such an endeavor if the fuzz isn't "that bad?".  Well 1) simple vanity.  I don't wear make up so I tend to go over the top with facial care and tweezing.  Clean fresh face au naturale.  2) I want to get it right before I actually start getting wiskers!  Dun dun dun....

For some reason, I thought today would be the day to change this wretched self injury due to vanity history.  I was right!  Thank heavens I was right!  Yay!

With my hair in  a cap letting the color sink in, I lay on Sima's table.  She was holding a teeny bit of wax on the popcycle stick when I told her about how I always seem to hurt myself.  "Would you want to try threading?  WIth your sensitive skin, I think you'll like it."  She suggested in a sweet reassuring voice.  "Sure!" I said.  Threading was something I had heard about years ago from my Indian friend, Pallavi, at work.  She would go with her girlfriends and have her face threaded and eyebrows shaped.  She said waxing was barbaric.  She was so right!  But I wasn't sure how to find a "threader".

I've never seen such a cool ballet of esthetician skill before.  She wound thread around her neck, twisted in between her hands and did some kind of cat's cradle knot.  Then she rhythmically twisted the thread over my upper lip.  Then she went all over my chin... not that I had ever noticed hair there! ha!  That's the funny thing about hair removal with a professional and why I get addicted.  You never know you have it in places until you see a professional and they rip it out of you and it's too cool.  Well, then Sima got lovingly carried away.  She did my eyebrows and brow line too!  Did it hurt?  Not as much as waxing or epillating.  Also, it just kind of tingled.  My eyes did tear up a bit while she did my upper lip closer to my nose, but that's understandable.  When she was done, she handed me the mirror and I gasped a bit.  I had no idea what a HUGE difference professional eyebrow shaping would make.  Dear Friend has sworn by it in the past.  But I always just plucked when I was in a bad mood.  Sima got a chuckle from that.  When I came out of the facial room, Sima let me know she wouldn't charge me for the brows, since she got carried away.  "Thank. You."  I said in a seriously heartfelt way.  She's now got a customer for life, I swear.

The hair cut needed to be more dramatic to hack off all the shredded dead stuff.  I'll never learn.  I only get a hair cut maybe twice a year, so it's usually this way.  I had to see someone new, Melanie, because Rachel had moved away.. oh  4 months ago, didn't I know that??? umm... naw.  Sorry.  So three inches off, new back to natural medium warm brown. 

I came in door to be greeted by my mom on the couch with the kids.  The first thing she said was, "Wow!  You look great!  Did you get your eyebrows done?"  She knew just what to say.  I called the salon, got her in her car, and within half an hour she was lying on Sima's table getting threaded too.  "My face feels so soft!  wow!"  She got her face and brows done and tinted.  Looked rather fetching afterward.  I know if my sis comes to visit, I'll be dragging her in there too!

So now I feel put back together.  I'd love to think I'll go in for a facial in a month, but I doubt I will.  I have a dream of being a well kept woman, but at this point, with the kiddos where they are, it will sadly need to remain just that.  Someday I won't need to blog about getting a haircut because it won't be such a big deal! ha!

"I love my country, but I think we need to see other people..."

My Sister went to the dude ranch this last weekend for their "singles weekend".  I was really happy for her.  She would get to see the horses, the mountains, the wranglers. 

I called her today to see how it went.  I wanted to hear about the horses, the trails, the saloon.  Did she do karioke?  Did she meet anyone fun?  Well, she got thrown from her horse, thankfully in the ring so the landing was not on a stump or boulder or creek bed.... phew!  She said her feelings were a lot more hurt than her body, but she cried and got lots of hugs.  She cried because she bit her tongue when she hit the ground.... hit the ground in that unpleasant head and shoulder crunch way.  But she got back on and had a good ride after that.  That can really suck, those of you who have ridden in life.  Give thanks to soft ground and hard heads.

Vanessa took with her up there some pictures we took while there this summer.  She told me the wranglers that were still on the ranch for the down season.  Our favs were there.  She shared with them the pictures, and they remembered us and missed us and loved the pics, saying they wished we had sent them along.  That felt really good to hear.  Makes me realize I ought to send them some of the pics.

I asked Big Boy if he would like to write a note to the Dude Ranch.  He said yes.  When I asked what he would like to write, he said, "That I'm sorry I will never get to go there again."

I recounted this to my mom on the phone tonight, and she said "WHAT!?!?!?"  See, we hope to go back, but it is a bit of an investment and can't happen unless some other ducks fall into a row around here.  I let Big Boy know the Dude Ranch is a summer thing, and not to worry, we'd get back there when we can.

It is so nice to have that special place in our minds to go to!  Not so clean, not so five star, but full of heart and hospitality.    Dusty dirty, hooking worms to fish, hunting bullfrogs and wasting away the days hanging with our family.  It's no wonder Big Boy misses it so much.  I miss it too.

I got a call from my friend HIllary today.  She didn't leave a message, but I called her back because I had a feeling I ought to.

"I was calling to grumble, I guess."  she told me.

"A mom-group mom showed up at my playgroup not playgroup today."

I know that to many this makes no sense, but to many SAHM this might make perfect sense.  See, having seen the enormous screw up my and Dear Friend's playgroup became, Hillary didn't take that route when her sweet boy was born.  She quite smartly became part of what she lovingly called "her playgroup non-playgroup"  Small, cozy, meet at a park, the kids shared their toys and spit, mellow.. and y'know.  Ideal. 

Today a friend of a friend came to the group.  She was not okay with the toy and germ sharing.  She talked incessantly about where the group was going and what future activities they could plan.  My heart ached for Hillary, really it did.  She was so happy to enjoy some time at the park once a week with a small group of moms she met at Music Together.  Simple, common ground. 

Hang in there, hon.  Maybe you can talk to your friend about this sensitive issue or not, but I do know you are the wiser from seeing our experience, so I seriously doubt your group will take the road ours did. 

I have been real music deprived for a long long time.  As in I have not actively paid for new music for an adult listener for years.  Yes, motherhood zapped me of this ability in a way.  I hear something good on  the radio or at the starbucks, in pole dance class (well, no I buy those) and I hum and enjoy it, but then it's gone.  I can't for the life of me remember all of the new artists I hear and I am too effing tired at day's end to go hunting and shopping around itunes.

I remember one night Hubby and I sat on itunes and ordered up a whole bunch of music that went onto the mac mini.  But then using the mac mini was made somewhat more difficult because Big Boy couldn't just listen to the music.  He had to ask over and over about each track, to read the artist, to look at the picture.  So I would give up and put on Laurie Berkner Band or Dan Zanes and Friends or even best yet Jack Johnson's Curious George movie soundtrack.  "Monkey George music!  Monkey George music!" Honey Girls hollers and bounces in circles.  A winner, really.  Songs about recycling, sharing, moons, etc.  Jack Johnsons kicks it because his songs are all with other artists who kick ass.. like Ben Harper.  But I digress.  I have just joyfully inherited Hubby's old ipod (not even near a year old yet).  And I want new music on it, by golly!

But oh how I thirst for new music.  Something that I can listen to and enjoy with the kids around.  So, sadly,  Eminem, Missy Elliot,  and even Fergie have had to be put on the back burner.  I listened to Eryka Badu tonight and just felt ooooooooolllllddddd.  Even if I hummed and sang along to "you got to pick your afro baby, 'cuz it's flat on one side."  But I cringed a bit with "you got sugah on your pita, but your nigga' thinks I'm sweetah but I don't want him"  hmmm... the n-word.  Kinda charged.  The kids didn't seem to mind too much.... unlike how they both came running to the TV when Fergie's "London Bridge" started.... "OH SHIT!  OH SHIT!  I'm a lady but I dance like a ho!"  Oh how I miss profanity in music.  But I really really don't want to get a note from school about Honey girl saying the "s" word or Morgan calling someone his Nigga.

In the car I now listen to Hear Music on satellite radio.  It's all good, but yeah, when I catch myself cranking it when they play Dylan or Crosby Stills Nash and Young.... I wanna just buy a condo in a Del Webb subdivision in a hot place and take up golfing.

Is this what my parents went through with me as a kid?  NO!  I know all the words to "sexual healing" at the age of 8.  My first cassette I ever bought was Prince Purple Rain...  my favorite song?  Darling Nickie.  Songs weren't as deliciously nasty as they are now.  It was all inuendo.... you could choke on the inuendo, but imagine what the words would be to Sexual HEaling if it were written now by, say,  Lil Kim?

So please,  give me a shout out.  Give me a clue.. who NEW do you listen to?