I'll never get those hours back...

Hmmm, why did I stay up to watch the One Hit Wonders of the 80s last night? I was flipping channels, heard a familiar song and the next thing I know I'm getting cozy on my couch and settling in to watch the countdown.

Worst of all...the #1 "One Hit Wonder" of the 1980s was Come On Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners. Had I known that, I would have gotten my zzzzzzzzs earlier.

(It was kind of fun to see videos that I hadn't seen in ages from the early years of MTV: the hair, the makeup, the costumes...mostly, the hair!)

On a high note, I did find forgotten Easter candy and that tastes just as sweet in July...

grumble, grumble

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this one hundred times before. Our power was out last night. That’s not the focus of my complaint here just the beginning of the story although it was annoying because it’s happened at least five times this summer and so far none of those times has been storm related.

Back on point…

The power was out so Bug was driving his little car around the neighborhood and Donnie and I were walking with him. We chatted with various neighbors during our outing.

One woman was telling me about her sister who’s moving out of the country. She said that her sister needs a clean break (this is where my pet peeve comes into play…you knew I would get there at some point, right?) because “her 21-year-old adopted son is into drugs and has some petty crime issues.”

I know that she’s simply telling the story but is “adopted” necessary? Can’t he just simply be referred to as her son with no qualifier? It was as though she was making it clear that her family’s blood wasn’t flowing through the veins of the young man with problems.

Again, I acknowledge that I’m sensitive to this issue and realize there are times when being adopted is part of a story--or even central to a story--but I've noticed it's often used when the story is unflattering. I couldn’t help thinking that my neighbor’s tale might have been told differently if it were good news as in: “my sister’s 21-year-old son just graduated college and is headed to Harvard for med school.” Ah, no need to mention adoption then.


Okay, I'm done complaining and am off to eat a raspberry lemonade cupcake.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

Grocery shopping with Bug can be kind of fun. Sure, it takes longer and I typically go to a store that’s a bit farther down the road because they have child-size carts but he really loves it. Last night after day one back at work, he and I spent more than an hour in the store. It was relaxing in an odd sort of way. Then as we were walking to the check out a store worker passed us who had a patch over his eye and Bug announced he just saw a pirate.

I’m co-chairing our adoption agency’s gala this year and am looking for silent auction items. Any ideas on some interesting/unique things you’ve seen at silent auctions?

When I was on the Cape, Bug and I went for a walk. Someone asked me for directions. (I’m terrible with directions…don't know north from south and a friend once said I have a negative sense of direction.) BUT…this time…the woman asked me for directions to the beach and those, my friend, I could give in detail. As she was leaving, I thanked her for asking me because it’s the only location I could have directed her to.



Check out The Un Mom for more.

Hey, there's no beach here

We’re back from vacation. Sigh… The trip was good and we learned that Bug can go nonstop…not just the typical three-year-old gottabemovingallthetime energy but his mouth as well. He can talk ALL day. The chatter is more apparent in the car or maybe it’s just harder to tune out in that closed environment.

A few comments on the trip:

Donnie and I got away for an overnight when my in-laws offered to watch Bug. Funny how quickly we could get out the door when that offer was made!

Beach time.

Bug took swimming lessons in the ocean. He seemed to be less interested in the water after the lessons. What did he learn? Every so often he’ll put his hands together over his head and say “I’m a rocket.” (Well worth the money, don't you think?) Best part for him…he got to wear goggles while in the water and got a lifesaver after the lesson. He thought they were tiny Oreos obviously, the boy needs to be introduced to more candy.

Great seafood dinners but spaced out enough that I have a hive-free body.

Great steak dinners.

Two trips for cantaloupe ice cream and a pint in the freezer at the house.

Wine, wine, wine…

(Umm, too many food references here, maybe?)

Reading time never enough but always grateful for what I can sneak in.

A Cape Cod Baseball League game.

Dancing with Bug in the dining room to the new Bruce DVD before dinner.

Uneventful drives to and from the Cape with extra stops each way when Bug announced he had to use the potty. Now if we can just get him to stop taking off his shoes when he pees...

Greetings from Cape Cod

The weather is great. Wish you were here.

Love,

Mag

pillow talk--parent style

A conversation that, no doubt, has played in many of your homes in one form or another.

Here's our recent pillow talk...

Donnie: What did Bug want at dinner?
Me: I gave him the apple juice in a yellow box but he wanted orange juice in a cup.
Donnie: We have orange juice?
Me: Yeah, who knew? Bug said he saw it in the fridge and he was right. (AND it wasn't expired!)
Donnie: I thought he liked the green boxes of apple juice.
Me: He does like the green boxes but they're bigger and if he takes them to camp he doesn't drink all of it and it ends up spilling/leaking in his lunchbox. Plus, he announced he hadn't had orange juice ALL DAY. (this last portion included a heavy sigh and hand gestures to re-enact the overacting by Bug at dinner)
Donnie: Why do we buy the green boxes?
Me: He likes them but drinks them at home.
Donnie: No, I mean why do we have the smaller green boxes?
Me: I bought them for him to take to camp in his lunch box but he doesn't like those.
Donnie: So why do we have the yellow boxes?
Me: J has those and Bug drinks them at his house. And they're great for his lunchbox because they're smaller than the big green boxes.
Donnie: (silent but I could almost see the cartoon bubble filled with question marks above his head)
Me: The ever-changing moods of a three-year-old's preferences, huh?
Donnie: I'm still surprised we have orange juice.

Clearly, this should have ended with...Say good-night, Gracie.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

We’ve begun calling Bug Shadow because he’s with me everywhere I go. I tripped over him the other day because I didn’t realize he was SO close behind me when I turned around. Sigh... (I know, I'll long for these days when he's a teen and doesn't want me on the same planet, right?)

Now that he’s almost potty trained, he tells me he needs privacy in the bathroom. I use the same line when he follows me into the bathroom but it usually doesn’t work. Instead he thinks hiding behind the towel rack is enough privacy for me. I can’t wait for the day when I can pee without a play-by-play commentary from my bath towel.
****
This morning our neighbor gave our sons a ride to camp. This is the email I received later: Driving the boys to camp, J says:" Let's listen to Thomas the Tank." Bug says: "Let's listen to Bruce." That’s my boy!
****
My nighttime snack of choice these days: wine and M&Ms…a lovely combination!
****
Beg begged to go to church with me (see Shadow section above...) so prior to going we had a big conversation about being quiet. We sat in the back and he was fine until he announced in the stagiest stage whisper of all that he had to go potty. I didn’t know if there was a bathroom available so I quietly told him he was wearing a pull-up and it was okay to just pee. Then…a bit louder he demanded announced: “I want to put on underwear NOW.” I quickly found the occupied bathroom (sigh) and stayed in the back of the church for the duration while Bug played with his cars. When we left church, Bug told me he didn’t want to go to church with me again.
****
I’d really like a donut right now.

Go to The Un Mom for more.

Almost Vacation time

‘Twas the week of vacation and all through the house
I’m running around and so is my spouse
Finding swimsuits and coverups and charging my iPod
All in advance of our trip to Cape Cod


I’ll choose Bug's and my clothes to be packed
Along with food that will need to be snacked
The biggest challenge is the drive to and fro
And hope that we have everything before we say “GO”


The DVD player--this time--should work
She said with great hope and just a slight smirk
We'll settle in the backseat with popcorn...and some juice
We’ve got the first Toy Story and the just-released Bruuuuuuce
It should be fun because Bug loves Springsteen
He's heard him, of course, but never viewed him on the screen


There are new toys safely hidden away
For Bug on the drive when he’s ready to play
Donnie's in the driver's seat and with some luck I can read
I’ll have plenty of books to get me up to speed

There are things to be done before we hit the road
Laundry tops the list--and more than just one load
We'll get the car checked and we’ll find our sun lotion
Because I don’t plan to stop until we’ve hit the ocean.


(For some reason going on vacation in the summer prompts 'Twas the Night Before Christmas to go through my head. Same thing happened last year so there was a bad poem then as well.)

F-Bomb Friday

Years ago my nephew RP was in the car with me. He was quite a chatterbox so the car was never quiet. This is how the conversation went on this particular day:

RP: Mooie, you know how men have moustaches but women don't?

Me: Yes...

RP: Well, you have one.

I'm sure our outing ending quickly because if a 4-year-old tells you you've got that much facial hair and you're not on tour with a circus, it's best to take care of it immediately.

Check out MiMi for more.

PS. Happy 20th Birthday, RP! (Good grief...how did he get to be 20?)

sleepover

Last night was one of those not-so-typical nights at our house. I had a meeting and Donnie and Bug were going to hang out at home. Before the meeting started Donnie called to say our power was out (again) and they were heading out. (Lucky me, they stopped at the bookstore and picked up a book I wanted--yay!!) By time I arrived home at 9:30, the power was scheduled to be back at 11. Of course, 11pm became 5am, 5am became 7am, 7am became 9am and then we just stopped checking. When we left the house the power still wasn't on.

Bottom line: the three humans in our house slept together on the futon in our basement and our little girl was curled up on the floor in her bed. I'm not sure when Bug has slept better. Not a peep from him during the night. Donnie and I, of course, were tossing all night and dodging flying arms and feet that come from the ninja moves toddlers make in their sleep. Apparently, Bug should have been called for a low blow after one particularly hard kick to Donnie.

The biggest surprise: our sweet little girl, MissClaraVeraCora (call her any of these names and she'll respond in some manner), is the noisiest thing in our house. She farts, she snores, she licks, she paces, she yawns (loudly--like an old man) ALL. NIGHT. LONG.
But she's cute.

PMS air conditioning and other burning issues

Now that summer is officially here our AC is PMS (Pretty Much Sucks). If only the temps could hover in the upper 80s, our house would be oh-so-comfortable. Once the outside numbers hit the top 90s and tip into three-digit territory, I feel like it's a sauna in our house (shouldn’t I be dropping a pound or two at the Mood Swing Spa?). I actually love having an older house nearly all the time but right now I would kill for a home built with AC in mind.

We've got fans in each bedroom so sleeping hasn't actually been bad. The other night Donnie and I were watching TV. We were settled in the warm living room but we’ve found having M&Ms can make any situation a little more tolerable. (Hey, they won't melt in your hands...)

All of a sudden I smelled something burning…a smell like overcooked microwave popcorn or a pot left on the stove…but the smell seemed to come from our living room wall near the stairs. I first fly upstairs to Bug's room to make sure he’s okay and that the smell isn’t on the second floor or coming from the fan in his room (the most recent "new" electrical thing in the house). He's fine, room is fine, upstairs is fine. Donnie checks the first floor while I run to the basement. We go back to the living room and realize the smell is isolated to that room and one area of the room. I unplugged the lamp and the outlet and wall were cool. The smell lingered but at times was stronger.

We figured it must be the lamp but wanted to rule out electrical stuff because, ummmm, who can sleep if you think there's something burning in your walls? Long story short, we called 911. The firefighters were great and after several minutes of checking various things, decided there was no electrical problem so the consensus was that the lamp was about to blow.

Last night we took pies and fruit to the fire station to thank them for their help . They were appreciative and then showed Bug the firetrucks (he was also appreciative but more awestruck--especially when they asked him to sit in the driver's seat!). They also gave us a free smoke detector, which was very nice but prompted jokes between Donnie and me (in the car) that they don’t want us calling again. (We do have smoke detectors but because there was only a burning smell and no actual smoke, the detector did nothing the night before. See, I learned something from the firefighters' visit.)

We got home and as I was making dinner the power went out in the neighborhood. With our PMS AC, hot flashes have taken on a new meaning.

be my Shortmama's guest

Look, Ma, I'm over here today! I'm guest posting for Amanda at Family of Shorts. She's got a busy week and I don't and she asked me to write a post for her blog...what pressure fun! I'm sure you follow her already--why wouldn't you?!--so check out her guests this week!


Off topic: we've been watching a lot of Curious George lately and I gotta tell ya...every time they're at their country house I'm jealous I get a kick out of Bill (the neighbor kid) calling George a city kid. It's not like a laugh until I cry but I do smile and find that I watch for it in every episode. Also, it's weird that George doesn't need clothes but wears a swimsuit to the beach...but it's a cute suit so I don't blame him.