The year in review/How'd I do?

A year ago I made the following resolutions:

1. Continuing to enjoy being at home with 2 crazy monkeys. I have made great strides in this area over the last year, and want to keep it up.
2. Getting more exercise. One 1 hour class per week probably isn't enough. Even if it is the hardest class on earth.
3. Improving our living situation. Whether this means buying a house, or finally getting the appropriate storage for this one, things could be better.
4. Not beating myself up for eating too much. I like eating and I should allow myself to enjoy it responsibly.
5. Making sure I continue to respect my own needs as much as I do those of the other people in my house.

So, how did I do? Okay, I guess.

1. I did/do enjoy being home with the boys, and I sometimes wish Sebastian were still home, but he's not and he's happy, so there you go.
2. I think I did pretty well with this one at the beginning of the year, but I only made it to one exercise class the entire month of December. And our current financial situation does not make me feel like a gym membership is a viable option, so I'll have to try harder. I'm hoping DDR2 will help with this.
3. We did buy a house. Which is awesome and way better than living in our old apartment. (Plus, the stair action must count toward number 2, right?) I'm still working on the proper storage arrangements for this house, though.
4. I apparently did so well with this one that I even forgot that I had to make such a resolution in the first place. Go me!
5. I would give myself a "fair" for this. I am definitely doing better than last year, anyway, which is a start.

So, what will the plan for 2009 be? Let's see...

• Painting the spare room, dining room and hallway
• Building a fence
• Growing a great garden and canning some of my own produce
• Not allowing myself to get roped into anything I don't really want to do, especially where Sebastian's school is involved
• and trying to find realistic, non-pharmaceutical solutions to my mental health issues.

Can I accomplish all that? Who knows? I'd say probably not, but that wouldn't be very optimistic, now would it?

Less nimble, smaller brain

We got an awesome package in the mail yesterday from my brother who sent both DDR: Hottest Party 2 and Big Brain Academy. (Thanks, Jack!) Unfortunately, I had to wait until after exercise class to try out the DDR, which was a gigantic mistake.

After Lois' butt-kicking class in which I had to lift 5 lb weights over my head 90 times in a row* among other things, I was more than a smidge tired and suffering from the jelly legs. You are probably wondering why I would even get on a dance pad at that point, and you would be totally right to wonder. I, too, am wondering the same thing. Especially since the new version is loaded with exciting new tricks designed to confuse even the nimblest among us. And apparently my mad skillz on the original Hottest Party are more attributable to repetition and memorization than to actual foot-eye coordination. I'm psyched about the new songs and looking forward to trying again...

...But today was spent enrolling in the Big Brain Academy where I discovered that, although my blog may be "genius" level, I am decidedly not. When tested, I received a C+. The horror! Sebastian got a C--, and Dorian got a D (for Dorian!). I am only slightly reassured by the fact that Jeremy got a C++, but I still kicked his ass repeatedly in the Brain Quiz and Mind Sprint categories.

*I totally only did 60, but it was still too much.

The reason I don't use patterns

Alright, I do use patterns. But there's always something I want to do differently. Not this time. I was fully prepared to follow the directions for this baby jacket. Every single direction. Without fail. Not only that, but I even scored the exact yarn the pattern was designed with, except in orange instead of mint green. I should have been all set, right?

Well, my gauge is apparently totally ridiculous. In case you don't know already, knitting patterns come with a gauge that tells you how many stitches and rows there are to make a 4" square. Even with size 3 needles instead of size 6 ones, I am still knitting way too big. I must be the loosest knitter around. (Don't laugh.) Now, this doesn't explain why my gauge is perfectly fine with the sock I'm working on (above, right).

Maybe it's the cotton yarn that isn't as elastic as wool. Maybe it's me. Either way, I get to tweak the pattern so I don't end up with sleeves to fit an adult.

The addiction

Even though I got some perfectly good vintage yarn from Clockwatcher for Xmas, I couldn't help but go down to Webs when they very kindly sent me a postcard detailing their big end of year sale.

I started trying to knit a pair of socks Xmas morning with the aforementioned vintage yarn, but it was a little stiff from waiting for a willing pair of needles, and I feared the socks would not be very comfortable, so I ripped them out and formulated a new plan for a throw pillow for the couch. But I really wanted a pair of wool socks since I am the only one in the house without a pair.

Thus, my plan to go down to Webs for sock yarn was born. And that picture is what I came home with. Two balls of sock yarn, a sock on the needles (bottom left); 4 balls of cotton yarn for a little baby jacket (bottom right); a fancy skein of pink and orangeyness so Christine can make a hat (in the middle, leftish); and 12 balls of shimmery cranberry cotton for a jacket for me.

I am not prepared to admit what this set me back, but just know that it was a lot less than it would have been full price.

What a holiday!

Jeremy worked on Christmas Eve, so I spent the day trying (in vain) to keep the Kristmas Krazy Kids in line. We baked some cookies for Santa, delivered some presents to neighborhood friends, and got ready to head over to my in-laws for Xmas Eve dinner and gifts.

We've had a lot of weather around here and there was a lot of icy snow on top of my car. So, I was standing on the driver's side of the minivan next to Sebastian's seat and holding the frame between the front door and the sliding door while I cleaned the snow off the roof. (You may see where this is headed.) Jeremy gets into the driver's seat and slams his door closed right on my hand! My scream echoed through the neighborhood as he looked up to see my disembodied fingers inside the car. Lucky for me, I was just a little dented--nothing broken and less bruising and swelling than expected. Nevertheless, it was not the best start to our trip.

The visit was nice. We all got snowshoes, and I got a canning pot so I can stop improvising with my stock pot. But I left my purse at their house with my wallet and camera inside. This we didn't discover until after we got home and were dealing with the fact that...

Dorian threw up all over himself right before we arrived, covering his coat, his Christmas jammies and his carseat in puke. It's not a holiday without a little vomit management. He was devastated that he couldn't wear the pajamas, but they were washed and dried for him the next morning so all was well.

And probably the highlight of my day was this scene of Dorian opening his socks. I have never heard a child so happily exclaim, "Socks! I got socks!"

After the Xmas bomb exploded all over the dining room, we went outside to try out the snowshoes and hang up the new bird feeder. All the rain the day before made the mountains of powder more malleable, so we could make snowmen. The boys used the snowman kit for theirs, and I made 2 little ones with some pine needles and dried chrysanthemums.

Then we went to lunch where I finally got to try Peking duck. Every year I say I want to have it, and every year I don't. So it was very exciting (and delicious) to fulfill my dream of duck for Xmas. But more exciting was when I looked over at Sebastian and one of his bottom teeth looked crooked. I checked, and sure enough, it and its neighbor were loose!

Dorian is almost out of diapers and Sebastian's losing his teeth! What the hell?

Mail in a small(ish) town

Lucky for us, we live in a town that is not so big, or we might not receive some of our mail.

So far this Christmas, we have received one card addressed to us at "Fair St." (Only one letter right.) And today we got a package addressed to us at "Vine St." (At least it rhymes.) Either there aren't many people with our last name here, or we have some clever postmen.

On the other hand, we have also gotten mail for a woman with a totally different name who lives at "(Our #) Pearl St." which is 3 blocks away. And then we got a letter for someone with our last name, but at a totally different address on the street behind us. Both of those letters were correctly addressed but completely mis-delivered.

The conclusion? It's an imperfect system which has worked in our favor on a couple of occasions. Now I just have to hope that the letter I mis-addressed to Germany gets to the right place!

Not everything is bigger in Texas

Busy busy busy

My first project* for the day was this "maze" I dug in the foot or so of snow we have accumulated over 2+ days of constant snowfall. I took this from the boys' bedroom window, but the car should give you some sense of scale. Yes, I shovelled almost the whole yard. Yes, my back does hurt-- thanks for asking.

The early afternoon was spent supervising 4 kids decorating the gingerbread houses I made yesterday. (Pictures to come on the boys' blog. Maybe tomorrow.) They were fascinating to watch, as usual. Dorian was especially intent and spent a long time covering as much surface as possible.

And after our second annual viewing of Pee-Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special**, it was time to make the latkes for the first night of Hanukkah. We forgot to have them last year which was a total mistake because, really, you should never pass up an opportunity for fried potatoes.

* When I say "first", I mean after making a pancake breakfast for everyone.
**Do yourself a favor and watch this after you go check out that awesome guest list. It is truly hilarious.

The tree

Upon viewing the Xmas tree lying in the middle of the kitchen floor while we assembled the stand:

Dorian: Wow! That's a big tree!

Sebastian: Yeah! And such sturdy wood, too.

Because I didn't have anything else to do

It's not like I totally underestimated how much I had left to do before my mother's visit or anything, right? Wrong. I forgot that Sebastian's presents required twice as much of my time as his. I forgot that I needed to get packages together. And then the last 24 hours hit me like a ton of fruitcakes. I needed to get a new tree stand before we get the tree tomorrow. This required going to the hardware store after Dorian's Little Peoples camp yesterday. The trouble?

• I forgot about Sebastian's "Writer's Celebration" at school. So, I had to
• Rush through the hardware store, discover that the tree stand was way too big to fit in the back of the jog stroller, and run up the big hill home to
• Scarf down a piece of bread with peanut butter and jump in the car to head back to school. (Worth it.)
• Rushed back home to try to get a little cleaning in before Bus Stop Loitering Hour.
• Got dinner together. Ran to grocery store for last couple items before impending visit. Forgot milk.
• Came back (why?!) so Jeremy could leave for a work function.
• Worked on Xmas cards while cracking the whip over Sebastian so he would finish his project.
• Got kids in bed. Wrapped presents for an hour.
• Had stupid fight with Jeremy that was induced by stress/exhaustion.
• Woke up bright and early, showered, and shovelled the 2 inches of snow so we could get to school at 8 to make healthy snack only to go inside and find out
• School is delayed by 2 hours.

Awesome. And here I could have been in bed until at least 7am.

What am I doing?!

Jeremy and I talked about how we were going to get our Xmas acts together, specifically by preparing the packages that need to be mailed. This was supposed to happen this weekend. Ha ha.

Between broken promises of a day off (totally not his fault) and a surprise visit by my electricity-less in-laws (not totally a surprise, just the timing), my Sunday was thrown off and I didn't get around to taking care of what I needed to before my mother's impending visit on Wednesday.

And now, while I should be taking care of that whole package thing, I'm blogging. Go figure.

Testosterone Town

Lately, I have been repeatedly reminded of the fact that I don't just have two children, I have two boys. When they aren't using the words "poop", "poopy", "diarrhea" or "pee" in every sentence, they find other ways to be completely rambunctious.

Such as:

• Running around mooning each other and singing, "My butt is stickin' out!"
• Becoming "powerbots" to fight their arch-nemesis "The Big Gorilla". This usually involves plotting some horrible death.
• Replacing song lyrics with potty language. For example, "Blitzkrieg Bop" includes the line "Pooping in the backseat."
• Getting K'Nex all over the house in their quest to build a robot.

Oh, boys!

The final Xmas project

Last night I got halfway through the final Xmas project. Can it be that I could finish this one today and finish the second sock a couple of days later and be totally done with more than a week before Christmas?

It's certainly possible. This particular project has been a long time coming. I started a similar item with this same yarn a few years ago and then an event arose that postponed the completion. Well, it is probably for the best, as this pattern is way better than the one I was making up as I went along. I can't reveal what it is, but suffice to say, it involves I-cords which I have never wanted to do before, but now find oddly appealing.

I also practically finished Dorian's first sock yesterday. It just needs to have the toe sewn up with the kitchener stitch. Assuming I don't give myself arthritis or carpal tunnel or something, this is shaping up to be a decent Xmas creating season.

Goddamn tiny needles

Our current ice storm action coupled with a chest cold has left me inside for the last 2 days. The work you see to the left represents hours of ignoring the recipient yesterday. I am still loving the striping, and for someone who literally doesn't get out much (in this weather anyway), it is endlessly fascinating. But I do now remember why I tend to aim more for the bulky yarn in my projects. It took me an hour and 20 minutes to do 3 inches of sock last night. The top half is 6 inches + a double knit heel + those bottom 3 inches= a long time. I thought a pair of socks for a 3 year old would be a quick knit. Wrong-o.

That's okay, though, because I only have one more specific project for Xmas in mind and it should be relatively quick. I'll probably do it between socks since the socks don't need to be done for Xmas. As you can see, they certainly won't be a surprise.

Look, Kathrin!

Thirteen years ago, Kathrin taught me to knit. My motivation was to make socks. I wanted a pair of socks to be my first project. She was having none of that. Rightfully so. Socks are not a good first project. You need to work out the kinks on a scarf or a dishcloth or something simple.

Well, not only were they not a good first project for me, they weren't a good 2nd, 3rd, 10th or even 20th project. Thirteen years later, I am finally knitting my first pair of socks. (This is where my mother tries to pipe up and contradict.) I made my mother some socks, it is true. But they were 2 needle socks with side seams I had to sew up. They were not the real deal, knit in the round on teeny tiny needles socks.

Last night, after I finished the other project (finally!) I could allow myself to start on these socks for Dorian. They look huge, but I swear I'm following the pattern exactly this time. No fudging, no making shit up as I go along. So if they are too big, they are too big. But you and I both know how that child can grow.

The best part of this whole project is that I finally get to use self-striping yarn. Even a basic stockinette stitch is thrilling when the color changes all by itself every once in a while. And knowing that I don't have to weave in a million ends to have a fancy pattern... it makes my heart skip a beat!

Santa scored big time!

This weekend, Sebastian asked Santa for "a kind of fancy costume, not just one random kind." Now, I'm not entirely sure what that means, but Santa (spoiler alert: that's me) got one hell of a bargain yesterday.

I went out to a party store thinking that they must have some costumes available at all times, right? Wrong. I looked and looked while Dorian did his best to manhandle at least one of every type of party favor known to man. I decided I may as well check the cake decorating aisle while I was there, and lo and behold, there was the Halloween clearance section. As I was trying to determine whether a foam clown nose and a green pageboy wig would fit Sebastian's vague specifications, my eye fell on a "Honey Bunny" costume. What is a Honey Bunny, you ask? Well, apparently it is a child in a pink velour dress with marabou trim and a set of bunny ears. When I checked the price tag I was floored, but knowing my retail protocol like I do, I knew that even if it were a mistake they had to honor the price.

The costume that originally retailed for $24.99 now said $2.19! Boy, was I psyched. And when I looked to the right, there was a "The Thing" costume (from the Fantastic 4 or something) which originally sold for $34.99 going for only$1.09!

So, I walked out with two full costumes and a couple of stocking stuffers for $5 and a penny!

The mysteries of the world (or at least this blog) revealed

Chances are, you probably don't care why my blog is called "There'll be days like this" and you probably never bothered to wonder why the address is "marmoset-marmoset.blogspot.com". But just in case you ever did, this should illuminate things for you. I always sang this Shirelles song this way to be silly, and that's where I got the blog name and address. And now Clockwatcher, savvy sis-in-law that she is, has uncovered this little gem:

Enjoy!

The procrastination station

This weekend, in avoidance of a certain project for which I never should have done the math, I have completed one mystery knitted item and these 2 little cuties.

Once upon a time, I was given an advanced reader copy of Oddball Knitting, which is not for people who are oddballs, but for using up leftover skeins of yarn in creative ways. There was a pattern for mini stockings which I thought I might whip up a few of if I had time left over after finishing my planned projects. Well, somehow these became more inspiring to me. I did not follow the instructions exactly because I was using different needles than suggested and I didn't have quite enough yarn and I don't think I have ever followed a pattern exactly... but as you can see they do look like Christmas stockings, which was the whole point. I also decided to add the crochet edging as an embellishment.

Now I just need to decide who will receive them. I'm thinking the red one will go to my paternal grandmother, probably full of chocolates. I'm still undecided about the green, though.

This little elf is still hard at work

A little tease of 2 projects: one halfway there, and one complete. The one on the bottom is using up leftovers from the big blanket with a very subtle pattern of natural sheep colors. The top probably did not come from blue alpacas and sheep, but you never can tell.

It's not Xmas in Brattleboro without...

ELFRED !!!!

A Tale of Two Knitties

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to knit in two very different knitting circles.

The first was more of a knitting triangle, consisting of me, Amanda, and Allegra trying to knit at my house amidst toddler chaos. Two 2 year olds and one newly 3 year old are not ideal knitting companions. It was like knitting in a room full of kittens. We made a little progress all the same, and enjoyed each other's company and some yummy bagels and muffins.

The second was the knitting circle (more of a rectangle because of the table) at the local yarn store. Generally, I think it is a nice way to escape for an hour and a half a week. I am also often surprised by who I see there. But last night, I had to listen to several of the group's members express their deep and abiding love for Scrubs and how it is one of the best written shows on TV. One person said, "It makes TV worthwhile." I bit my tongue. And I also realized that the owner has a really (or should I say reawwy) bad habit of using baby talk in general conversation with other adults. It makes my skin crawl. But I did get a lot of my knitting done.

So, on the one hand, I was trying to knit while Dorian was dive bombing from a table to the couch and tangling himself in my yarn, and on the other I was listen to someone say, "She shouldn't go outside, it's fweezing. It's fweezing out there."

Which would I rather experience again? I'll take the toddlers any day. At least they are supposed to talk like that.

Today I feel a little annoyed

You wanted more Dorian? Well, you can have him.

After writing on the wall and on himself with markers, and peeing all over the house, I'm trying to make dinner when this happens:

D: Mama, I put the toothbrush thing in my potty to make it better.

M: (through gritted teeth) What "toothbrush thing"?

D: In here.

M: (enters bathroom and sees potty full of pee but no "toothbrush thing") What did you put in the potty?

D: (points) Wha-wha

M: What?!

D: (points again and mumbles) Yuck.

M: (holding mostly full tube of toothpaste globbed with same) This?!

D: (nods) Wha. Yuck.

M: (sniffing tube) No...

D: (nods)

Today I'm a little frustrated

Frustrated because the more I think about it, the more wrong I think that teacher is. (See previous post) First off, because I'm quite certain that one of the children she was probably referring to was shopping at the fair this morning. And secondly, because I can think of 8 children who definitely could buy something. Especially since they have several non-book items available for less than a dollar. And now I'm concerned about how her attitude is impacting the kids in her class.

I'm also frustrated because last night I made a mistake in knitting that backwards ass scarf, but I couldn't even deal with trying to figure out where I went wrong. So this morning I take a look and there's the mistake... right at the beginning of the damn row. Which would mean pulling out 300 stitches to fix. So, I looked at the picture of the pattern again. And then I unraveled the whole god forsaken thing. Fuck that scarf. I would feel lousy that I had wasted 3 hours of my life, but I did learn a lesson: Don't knit scarves that way because it is totally stupid.

Today, I'm a little sad

I'm sad because of a conversation I had with Sebastian's teacher this morning while I sliced cucumbers for healthy snack. I asked whether their class would be going back to the book fair this week so I could give Mr. S a little spending money. I think we all remember the book fair, right? The glossy movie novelizations, the bendy pencils, counting out your change to buy that special thing that (chances are) your parents would never have picked out.

Well, the teacher said no, they would not be going back because it is just torture for the children who know they can't have anything. How many kids could that be? Oh, only 13 out of the 18. The teacher said that probably only 5 kids in the class would be able to buy anything this year. It just made me want to cry.

She then went on to say that she "fears for our community, the number of children growing up in squalor." I would have guessed that 5 of the kids were really poor. Not 13. What can you do about that?

I guess I just have to resist the temptation to get really frustrated that I am the only parent who seems involved on a regular basis, and be thankful that those kids (and their teacher) at least have one person helping them out.

Weirdest collection of bumper stickers I've seen in a while

1. Something about organ donation, with a toll-free number
2. The USAPATRIOT Act-- One Nation, One God, One President-- Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil!
3. Try to take my gun away and you won't get my trust
4. Dragons are HOT lovers

All this on a truck with the handicapped license plate GEEK

Eventful morning

The Good: We started the morning off with the best All School Sing yet featuring everyone's favorite performer, Sebastian. He was the first of three soloists from the multi-age classes, singing a song about no more pie. Very cute. (Sorry no video, I didn't want to try to get permission from other people who might have popped into view.) Then, his class was one of several demonstrating the Twist. All 450-ish students plus 50 or so teachers and guests were twisting away in the sweatiest dance party I've been to in a long time. And me without my vinyl skirt...

The Bad: On the way to Little Peoples camp, I was crossing in the crosswalk at Malfunction Junction* (if you've been to Bratt, you know where I mean). A pickup turning left stopped to let me pass, as he should have since pedestrians have the right of way. The old man driving the car behind him neglected to notice, and I heard a CRUNCH! Whoops. I booked it up the street, which I don't think was technically leaving the scene of an accident since I wasn't in one of the cars involved. Besides, I'm the only person I've seen in this town with a giant, bright red jog stroller, so I'm sure they could track me down if they wanted to.

* What does it say about VT that every town seems to have one of these?

Things I said to Dorian today and where

• "Take your face out of the toilet."-- public bathroom
• "Next October."-- explaining for the umpteenth time when Halloween will be happening again
• "At the end of the month."-- explaining yet again when Xmas will be
• "What if I cut off the leaky parts?"-- in the kitchen while negotiating his PB&J lunch
• "Not right now!"-- answer to the interminable question "Can I go on PBSKids?"
• "Don't put pretzel sticks in your ears."-- living room
• "Don't put pretzels in any holes in your body."-- living room 1 minute later after seeing them hanging from his nostrils

Xmas gift #2

I just cast on for the second Xmas project, and it is way different from the way I usually do things. It is a scarf. (This isn't really a spoiler, as it was a request. But there will be no pictures until after it is received.)

Normally when I knit a scarf, I cast on the width (+/- 20 stitches) and just keep plugging away until it is long enough. Well, the design I chose (and was ratified by 2 other members of the household) needs to be knit the other way: lengthwise. Which means that I cast on 305 stitches. Lordy, lordy.

I keep trying to remind myself that this means I only need to knit 19 rows and it will be done. But it is too easy to do the math and see that I will be knitting 5,795 stitches overall, not including the 305 cast on and the 305 to bind off. I don't usually know that sort of information, so I can just be blissful in my ignorance. No such luck this time.

Only 18 rows to go...

I guess that's why they call them "Doorbuster" sales

How crazy is this story about the guy being trampled to death in a Wal-Mart? Do you really need their poorly manufactured goods so badly that you actually need to kill someone to get to them? The worst part of the whole tragic tale is that shoppers were refusing to leave even though someone was dead and there was an investigation going on. Good gravy!

I haven't been to a party like that in a looong time

Last night, I went to a friend's birthday party and felt like I had been transported back about 10 years. Now, granted, I haven't been to many parties in the last 10 years, what with being wildly unpopular and all. Somehow, Jeremy's work parties aren't usually this exciting. Damn bosses!

At the party, I was witness to the following things:

• A moody, skinny girl moping about her impending 26th birthday. (Baby!)
• A doofus who left sort of early, saying, "Happy birthday, but I need to go make my music."
• Many, many people who I'd never seen before or had seen before but never met.
• The birthday girl gushing about the babies her guppy had the night before. (They were pretty cute.)
• The landlord bringing some weed. (I kid you not.)
• The unveiling of a new, slightly infected tattoo, applied by the owner of the leg it was on with a tattoo needle gun built by this other creepy dude at the party.

It was reminiscent of the time we went to a party at our friend Dylan's and I got to see a penis piercing that had been performed earlier that day. (Seriously, do not click on that if you are at all squeamish or easily offended. Don't say you weren't warned. And the one I saw was all sad and swaddled in gauze.)

They need they cornflakes

One of the things I'm thankful for this year is WIC. It has always been pretty awesome getting 4 pounds of Cabot cheese for free every month, but with grocery prices being what they are, I'm more appreciative than ever.

So, here's to you, guv'ment cheese!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Why is it?

Why is it that:

• my son's class supposedly doesn't have time for the nature program run by volunteers, but does have time to watch the movie Prancer? (First of all, what?! And second of all, Xmas movies before Thanksgiving?!)
• I still don't know exactly how many people I am feeding this holiday?
• the kid in class that Sebastian worships is the one who has: made false calls to 911, climbed onto the roof of his house, allegedly spray-painted on his neighbors' house, and cut school, prompting a search by the state police? (He's a second grader!!!)
• I decided it would be a good idea to let the kids stay up until 9pm watching commercial television tonight (Charlie Brown Thanksgiving), cutting into my valuable me time?

So I wasn't entirely truthful...

You know how just 2 or 3 short days ago I showed you all a little tease of someone's Xmas present and said something about how there would be no more personal projects for a little while? Well, that was sort of a lie. Okay, it was a lie. Sue me.

I had already started this project a few days ago with the yarn left over from the hat, scarf and wrist warmer set that I made and didn't show you. So it isn't like I started a whole new personal project or anything. Here are the new winter woollies:

Anyway, I love that scarf. I pretty much wear it all the time. Especially because I'm afraid to spend too much on oil this winter so it's always freezing in our house. (Unless someone is coming over. Don't worry, I mostly only torture myself.) I love the yarn from the scarf and I had 4 skeins left, so I decided to make a little short sleeved sweater with it. Well, this is what I came up with:

Perhaps if I would bother to use a pattern, I might make something slightly more flattering for myself. I also did not really have enough to make the sweater as long as it should be for me. Oh, well. It's a 2x2 rib to the breast, then stockinette for the top.

Then I used my paltry crochet skills to make a ruffly collar and "sleeves". Once again, not quite enough yarn for what I had in mind.

Here it is on me:

I'm sucking in the gut in case you can't tell. If I don't, the effect is far less pleasant, and it's silly enough right there. So what do I do with this thing? Keep it? Or try to sell it to someone with a smaller frame?

2 movies in 2 days

Both of the movies we watched this weekend featured the "filming within a film" conceit. One was far more enjoyable than the other.

Last night, we watched Tropic Thunder. I was less than impressed. (Keep it to yourself, Dustin.) I had read such great things, but not so great that I felt like it would be impossible to live up to what the reviewers were saying. Frankly, I was bored. The fake previews were funny, and I liked Robert Downey, Jr. That's about it. Ben Stiller is like SNL. They both need to learn that just because something is funny for 5 seconds does not mean it will be funny for 5 minutes. I'd give it a 6.5 out of 10.

Today, we took the kids to see Bolt (aka The Truman Show with a dog). I liked it. The action sequences were crisp and fresh. The story line was a little predictable, but it is a kid movie. Unlike Ben Stiller, somebody knew just when to pull the plug on the silly supporting characters, like the pigeons and the hamster. They came in small, enjoyable doses. Some of the animation was a little awkward-- the humans often looked mechanical when walking and one looked exactly like the Barbie in Toy Story 2-- but for the most part it was well done. The boys and their friend Lydia loved it. This one gets an 8.

My hands are not so idle

May I introduce Miss Kiki? You may have seen her already over on the boys' blog where she made several appearances in the birthday post. Somehow I never got around to photographing her until now. So here she is! Sebastian specifically asked for a pink kitty with yellow spots and purple eyes. I contributed the striped tail idea, as well as the other yellow detailing. This was supposed to be a Christmas gift, but a rainy birthday afternoon was all it took to whip her up, so she became a birthday present fresh off the needles. Sebastian picked this acrylic/wool blend whose only redeeming feature (in my eyes) was the $1 per skein price tag. I think the color and yarn make her look a little Grannycraftfair, but that does not make her any less loved. It was a real tragedy when I asked to borrow her for an hour and a half to take to knitting group. Rest assured, she came home safe and sound.

The other thing that came home with me was this:



Oh...Malabrigo! I have often lusted after this yarn. It is so plushy and soft! When I finally settle on a pattern, I will be making my next sweater for me with this yarn. Not this color, though. Alas, now is not the time for personal projects, as Christmas is fast approaching. So you may be getting the occasional tease such as this, but I don't want to spoil any present surprises for anyone.

Boo to that

So, no RockBand last night after all. But it was probably for the best since I didn't escape PTA until 8:45pm anyway.

You know how they say you can't fight city hall? I think you might not be able to fight the powers in the PTA either. Especially when one of them will be there for at least the next 12 years because of all her children, the youngest of whom is 1.

I'm pretty tenacious, though, so they haven't shaken me off yet. And I've still got plenty of shaking up to do.

When it's the dead of winter, I'll wish for this much activity...

Just a little taste of today:

8am-9am: Make healthy snack at school. Requires cutting the largest carrots I've ever seen into about 3lbs of carrot sticks and cutting apples in half.

9-11:30: Playdate for Dorian/awesome gossip session for me. I must remind myself that having a friend who is a cop's wife is a very good thing. I'm sure Martha Stewart would agree.

11:30-3:30: Come home to make lunch and share aforementioned gossip with my two best gossip recipients. Catch up on email, blog, get some little things done.

3:30-4: Stand on street corner freezing butt off waiting for school bus.

4-4:30: Feed school child copious amounts of snacks before...

4:40: Dropping him off at appointment and returning home to...

4:50-5:30: Make healthy dinner instead of the junk food I seem to be constantly craving these days.

5:35-6:45: Eat dinner, help with homework, etc.

6:45-8: Go to PTA meeting

8pm-?: Escape PTA after-chat to rush over to good old Walker Farm for some RockBand 2.

And you ask yourself why I'm the Hott Mama...

Big Day!

Today is an exciting day! After we go to All School Sing, Dorian will be attending Little Peoples [sic] camp for one hour and fifteen minutes. This will be his first time going anywhere other than a friend's house without me.

And this will be my first time having an entire hour to myself on a weekday that doesn't involve my going to the gynecologist, dentist, therapist, etc. Woo-hooo!

Maybe it wasn't the nicest thing to do...

But I don't think you can blame me much. See, earlier in the week, mother of the Children Across the Street (who are similar to the Children of the Corn) tells me that she forgot to drop off an invitation to the youngest's birthday party which was happening today. I noncommittally told her I wasn't sure what we were doing but I'd let her know. (Read: not going. Nuh-uh. No way in hell.) I hoped that was the end of it.

I had no real intention of going. Those kids make me feel "ooky" as my grandmother would say. The youngest came over to play again Thursday (because I can't possibly take Dorian out to play without someone showing up). This time she wore no shoes or a coat again but at least it was 45 degrees. Her face is covered in crust and her lips are chapped from smearing her runny nose with her shirt since Jews don't believe in tissues. I suspect they also don't believe in laundry detergent, but I have no proof of that.* So she starts asking why Sebastian won't come out to play. I told her he was at school. "Why?" she asks, "It's boring." I said, "Have you ever been to school?" "No. I'm home schooled. That's because we're Jewish. I'm a Jew. But I'm not sure if you are."** Now, either her parents are filling her head with lies or she thinks everything she does has to do with her religion. Either way, I'm getting tired of it.

The last thing I wanted to do was have my family involved with a 3 hour party to which only one other child was being invited. I certainly didn't want to be in a house where there may not be toilet paper, nor did I want to send my children alone into that lion's den, so I decided to play the avoidance game. "I'll just pretend I forgot" was the preferred strategy. No such luck.

As I'm plating dinner last night, she comes knocking asking whether we'd be coming. Jeremy mumbles something while Sebastian announces he's "organically grown-- straight from the banana patch." I steadfastly continue to prepare the meal, trying to pretend she isn't 10 feet away from me outside my kitchen door. Finally, Jeremy says, "You don't really need to know right now, do you?" and she left.

So despite the fact that I just wanted a lazy weekend at home, we had to come up with somewhere to be for the whole afternoon. I didn't want to be a complete asshole, so I went over to let them know we wouldn't be coming before we headed to another state. Lucky for me, the speech-impaired boy came out just as I stepped in their yard so I gave the message to him. Whether his mother could understand it or not is none of my concern.

*This particular family, not Jews in general.
**I'm not, but my husband Jewremy might be.

46 hours, 34 minutes later...

I finally beat The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess last night! Thank goodness that's done!

I have to say this one is only slightly higher than the second Zelda game in my ranking. If you ever played The Adventures of Link you know how bad that game was. I beat the first Zelda probably 6 or 7 times, I loved it so much. The second was a stinker. Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask were great and I spent years anticipating this most recent installment. It tore me up inside that we couldn't get a Wii sooner so I could play this game.

I guess it was a case of "Be careful what you wish for" because I hated Twilight Princess with a passion for the entire first half. Jeremy continually admonished me to just stop playing. "Why are you doing this to yourself?" he would ask. Why? Why?! Because I waited so long for this game, that's why. And I wanted it to be so much better than it was.

The entire first half was just fighting. That is not what I buy Zelda games for. I buy them for the awesome logic puzzle aspect. In Princess, you are not allowed to wander around, there are no little tasks to achieve, you just fight, fight, fight for about 16 hours. That is too long.

Once that horrible beginning is completed, the game returns to the traditional Zelda model, but by then I was too mad to appreciate much. There were some challenging new puzzles and some cool new gadgets, like the spinner and the double grappling hooks, but overall I was underwhelmed.

The controls were unwieldy. For example, 90% of the time, if you wanted to back out of a screen, you would push B. However, the other 10% of the time, if you pushed B you would end up equipping or using a piece of equipment you didn't intend to use. There was a lot of that kind of irritation. And this is kind of a general Wii complaint that applies to this game: there is not enough enjoyable use of the motion technology the Wii could deliver.

The graphics were okay, but much better for the evil characters than the good ones. That Link looked like an empty-headed dope. And his girlfriend was worse. I was not a fan of the plastic hair look.

I'm not sorry I played it, but boy am I glad it's over! At least it didn't take me the extra 8 hours Jeremy spent on it. On to Super Paper Mario!

I ain't no helicopter parent!

Last night, I went to the parent education event at Sebastian's school hosted by "Dr. Rob" (who is not Quinn's fiance, no matter what he says). The topic was "Raising Authentically Happy and Resilient Children" and it couldn't have come at a more opportune time for me.


Sebastian has struggled with some bullying issues at school. And then at our conference on Monday, his teacher said he was socially immature even for his age. While I was trying to process that information, he comes home Tuesday from school saying things that only the saddest people say. I was devastated and felt enormous guilt.

Should I not have sent him to school even though he wanted to go? Did I fail him in some way in my parenting? Should I never have had children at all, knowing what I know about my own mental health and heredity?

What the talk helped me see was that Sebastian is having a hard time, but he is already a very resilient child. He has never once said that he wanted to stay home. Instead he says things like, "I know I have some little problems on the bus, but I really love to ride with my friends." That's a tough little cookie.

I also felt encouraged to continue doing the things I have always felt were important: giving the kids responsibility and chores from an early age to make them important members of our household, and trying to praise the things they do well to create real self-esteem.

It has been a real wake up call for Sebastian being at school and not hearing a lot of empty praise. I know that people mean well when they tell him he's "perfect" or a "genius". But no one is perfect and that is a lot of pressure for a little boy. He's beating himself up for every little mistake. That's no way to live. I know.

So I have some work ahead of me. But I knew that already.

"Little" Mr. Dorian

Oh, Dorian, my little chunk-a-lunk. Three years ago, your gigantic 9 lb 4oz self emerged and you are still larger than life. A big personality with an even bigger head, you somehow weigh more than your brother did at 4 and a half.

Those chubby cheeks so sweet to kiss, those pudgy hands so soft to hold, those big blue eyes that melt my heart-- as crazy as you are, I can't imagine our family without you.

Another rest-free weekend

This weekend fell smack in the middle of the boys' two birthdays, hence there has been a lot of excitement around here. Yesterday was their birthday party which went very well, despite my feeling less organized than I should have been. Yesterday was also Rob's birthday, so Mimi babysat so we could go to his chili hoedown. Less than 6 hours of sleep later, it was time to get up again so the kids could have their surprise from Mimi, a trip to the NH version of Chuck E Cheese. That went well also, and after an expensive shopping trip, we stopped by Stonewall Farm where I saw this:

A little hard to read if you don't click on the pictures, but the top cow is named Allison, while the bottom picture features Quinn and Amanda side by side. Coincidence? I hope so.

Then Sebastian fell in the brook in his brand new shoes and it was time to come home.

Please let me have an uneventful evening...

Little Mr. Sebastian

It hardly seems possible, but 6 years ago today at 4:15pm, I pushed out the entirely unique little boy we named Sebastian.


He's a dreamer, he's an artist, he's a musician, he's a troublemaker, he's a lover, he's a reader. But most of all, he's enthusiastic. He throws himself wholeheartedly into every endeavor. (Unless it's something I asked him to do, but that's neither here nor there.) If he can keep that level of energy and interest, he will surely be able to do anything.

I'm glad he's my kid.

Best Day

This is the first time that I am not disappointed in the results of a national election I participated in. (And for the record, I have voted in every election available to me.)

I never thought I would see the day that we would have an African American President. When I think of what this must mean to all the black kids I grew up with, and what this means for my own children, I get all choked up.

I may even start saying the pledge again...

A scene from Election Day All School Sing

Three teachers run out wearing "voting booths" over their heads and turn in their "ballots" to the music teacher. He starts to read them...

Music teacher: (pulls out first ballot) McCain...

5th grade girl: (audible gasp)

Music teacher: (pulls out second) McCain...

(Silence)

Music teacher: (pulls out third) Obama...

The whole room erupts into applause and hoots. One girl boos with a double thumbs down.

The final tally of the 3rd through 6th graders at Sebastian's school was 165 Obama-37 McCain. If only that were indicative of tonight's results...

The honeycomb hat

I had this idea for a honeycomb hat after doing a section in that stitch for my blanket. I decided it would make a nice birthday present for Dorian and found some bee buttons. Then we went to the yarn store yesterday, and when we got home I just couldn't stop until it was done. It was a design I just had to get out of my system. It was kind of a pain in the butt because the alpaca yarn I was using was so soft the stitches kept slipping off the double-pointed needles. But it turned out the way I had envisioned in my fevered mind, so it was worth it.

And, of course, I was too impatient to save it for 9 days, so I gave it to him this morning.

There are consistent honeycombs around the bottom that fade irregularly to the crown, and two little bees bring pollen back to the hive.

And this morning, I started on Sebastian's present, the pink kitty named Kiki. He picked out the yarn himself. It is mostly acrylic and extremely pink and nothing I would have chosen. But it is his kitty. At least I have design control otherwise...

My Halloween

I managed to get a few things done between fantasies of the candy the boys would be bringing home to me later in the evening. The first was getting Jeremy ready for work. (He still needs help dressing himself on occasion.) Not too far from what he usually wears:
But, look!

Half Casual Jeremy, half The-Board-Is-Coming Jeremy. He actually sewed the shirts together himself with my sewing machine. I really need to cut the rest of his hair today because I cannot look at that monstrosity anymore.

I also laid out all the pieces of the blanket and sewed them together!

I still need to sew in all the loose ends and knit and attach the border. But that didn't stop me from sleeping under it last night. It was just as cozy as I'd hoped.

Now, I need yarn for the next 2 projects: a honeycomb hat for Dorian and a pink kitty named "Kiki" for Sebastian. And I'm still a little in denial about Christmas coming and the several babies friends have on the way...

That's news to me

Our 4 year old neighbor came over to play with Dorian yesterday while I finished hoeing the garden. (It's done! Sort of.) As usual, she had no shoes on despite the 39 degree temperature. She fell off our swing and was crying which led to a runny nose. I went inside to get her a tissue so she would stop using her shirt. (No coat either, of course.)

I wiped her nose and she said, "We don't really believe in these tissues. And we don't believe in toilet paper either. That's because we're Jews. I'm a Jew."

Is there something about this in the Torah?

Why I don't have two kids one year apart

Yesterday I watched 2 year old Davy for Amanda and Nathan while they closed on some land in Marlboro. (Congrats again!) Everything was going smoothly until we were almost done with lunch.

Davy announced he needed to poop. I take him to the bathroom and place him on the toilet. So far so good.

Dorian yells that he needs something. I step out of the bathroom (which adjoins the kitchen) to cater to the almost 3 year old. Finishing that, I turn back to the bathroom to find...

Davy has fallen in the toilet! He's just a head and feet sticking out. He didn't yelp or anything! Suppressing the urge to laugh, I pull him out and dry him off. Just as I get him settled on the seat again, I hear...

"Mama, I need to pee! I mean, I did pee." I return to the kitchen to find wet pants and a puddle. I take Dorian into the bathroom to clean him up and put him on the little potty on the off chance he still needed to relieve himself a little.

The scene ends with the 2 toddlers sitting side by side on their potties yelling, "Conk on the ___!" (insert anything you can see, ie. shower curtain, sink, towel, floor)

It's squashtastic!

I think I went a little overboard at the farm yesterday. When I got home, I had 6 delicata squash, 2 butternut, one buttercup, and a pie pumpkin.

We won't be lacking for vitamin A this fall, that's for sure!

I'm so glad I moved...

Two blocks away. My neighbor stopped by the bus stop yesterday afternoon to tell me that she found 9 bags of heroin in her parking space over the weekend. Her parking space used to be my parking space.

Dorian ist ein Berliner

Dorian asked a question this morning to which Jeremy answered "Nein." (Why not?)

Dorian: Nine?

Jeremy: That's German for "no".

D: Nine?! Eight.

J: Eight?

D: Eight is German for "yes".

Sounds like he's ready for a trip to Auntie Kathrin in Luneburg...

A trip to the basement

Yesterday, I went down cellar to take care of a few more weatherization woes plaguing this old house. When you're almost 130 years old, a few cracks are going to start showing. And some of your cracks may go clear through your foundation. So I got some spray foam and went to work. Just in case you can't see the grass through the crack above, I thought you might like to see how much light comes through.

Our chimney was unusable, so we had to install a power vent to avoid being killed in our beds by carbon monoxide. Now we have a giant pipe running from the oil furnace under the original part of the house into the crawl space under the first addition. The exhaust is pulled by a fan attached to the outside of the house near where my kitchen sink is located.

Over the years, this house has had every major heating fuel. Originally, there were wood stoves, one upstairs and one down. Then, there was coal, evidenced by a cool old control in our dining room (left). They also had gas at some point and left the old meter behind when it was disconnected (above).

And while I was downstairs, I found all of these jars. One lid still has a slogan for Kraft mustard. I like to imagine the women who used to live here putting up their food for the winter in the same kitchen in which I have been canning. 128 years of sterilizing and filling jars is pretty awesome. The heating fuel may change, the variety of the fruits and vegetables may change, but the process is still the same.

Blanket update

I finished the gray section at the top yesterday. Even with the complicated cabling, that section was less than 2 hours of work. If only I could devote 2 hours a day to this blanket, I could finish in about 2 weeks. (Don't forget that it needs a border.) Right now, I'm just hoping it can be done by Christmas. It would be a really nice gift to myself to be done!

But it's so yummy...

Yesterday we stopped by the co-op so Sebastian could have a quick puke on the floor of the deli (true story) and we could pick up some milk and eggs and yogurt. Over near the eggs is a little kiosk where they often have samples. Not yesterday. No no. Yesterday, Sebastian's friend, the education coordinator for the co-op, was passing out bags of chocolate and pamphlets for "Reverse Trick-or-Treating".

What is reverse trick or treating, you may ask? Well, that is when your child goes around the neighborhood as he normally would, begging for candy from strangers. After receiving a piece of chocolaty yumminess, he then hands the person a card with a piece of Fair Trade chocolate attached and says one of the following things:

• Thank you! Here is a piece of Fair Trade chocolate for you!
• Here is a card about how to end child slavery on cocoa farms!
• Here is a card on how you can help end poverty for cocoa farming families!

So, now we have this propaganda in our house and Sebastian wants to participate, but he doesn't really understand what it is about and, I think, just wants to make his friend happy. While I appreciate the sentiment of this exercise, I have a few problems with this.

1. I think it is rude to take the candy that you are saying is wrong and tainted by the blood and sweat of children. If you don't want that candy and don't think people should be buying it, then don't take it in the first place. If you just throw it away, the efforts of those little slave children will be totally wasted.
2. Why not just hand out the propaganda and leave the candy for people who want it? Raising awareness is a good thing, but making someone feel bad for giving out candy to neighborhood children is just plain mean.
3. This cause is probably not the cause of 95% of the kids who will be passing these out on Halloween. This is their parents' cause. This is child exploitation, too. All the information that came in the packet makes it clear that a child should be giving this out. For example, if you go to a community event instead of door-to-door, the instructions read, "As you walk around the event, your child can approach other parents..." Don't make your child your pawn, people!

Obviously, I don't want kids suffering for my chocolate addiction. Bloody chocolate probably doesn't taste as good. But I don't think that this method of informing people about the business practices of "Big Chocolate" is appropriate. If you want to pass out Fair Trade chocolate at your house and give out a pamphlet with it, go ahead. Maybe I will just pass these out with our organic lollipops, but Sebastian will definitely not be carting them around our neighborhood.

They say pimpin' ain't easy

Well, the hoeing ain't either. That's my future garden up there. I really want to finish digging it before the ground freezes. But it was raining yesterday. And today? Snow flurries. I kid you not.

Scenes from a nature program

Today I braved the wilds of Sebastian's 1st & 2nd grade classroom to introduce the kids to the wonder of leaves. Leaves-- the food factories of the plant. The fundamental components of all the food we eat.

I think there was definitely too much information packed into the hour I had with their little 5 to 8 year old minds. They started to lose it a little toward the end.

Our final activity, after the puppet show, scavenger hunt, and leaf rubbings, was a quick discussion of how we can thank a green plant for all of our favorite foods. What follows is a sampling of the conversation. [Initials are substituted to protect the innocents.]

Me: So, who has a favorite food? A?

A: Ummm.... [long pause] Mac and cheese!

Me: Now do you think we can thank a plant for mac and cheese?

Kids: Noooooo!!!!!

Me: Well, let's think about what it's made of. Noodles are made of flour and water. And flour is made from wheat which is a plant. Who knows where cheese comes from? M?

M: Goats!

Teacher: Okay... or?

S: Cows!

Me: Right. So we can get cheese from goats, cows or even sheep. And they all eat grass so that they can grow and make milk. Who else has a favorite food? M2?

M2: Tomatoes.

Me: Okay! Now that's an easy one. B, you know what plant we can thank for tomatoes, right?

B: One in a garden?

Me: Yes. Which plant grows tomatoes?

B: [blank stare]

Me: The tomato plant. What is your favorite food?

B: Pasta.

Me: Okay, so we talked about noodles before. Do you remember what they are made of?

B: Ham?

Me: No... but you could eat ham with your pasta.

B: Hamburgers?

Me: No. Pasta is made from flour which...

D: Pasta is made of power?

Me: No, flour. Okay, what if I told you my favorite food was chicken nuggets [not true]? What are chicken nuggets made of?

G: Chicken.

Me: Right. And what do you think chickens eat? C?

C: Umm... chickens?

Me: No, chickens don't usually eat other chickens. M?

M: Corn.

Boy, was that an adventure! It was funny to see how nothing has really changed in school. There are the kids who raise their hands even if they have no clue what the answer, or even the question, is. There are the kids who never raise their hands. There are the kids who demand a lot of your attention. And there are the kids you don't even realize were in the group until ten minutes before you leave. It's a crazy place, school. My hat is off to my teacher friends! I'd forgotten how nutty it can be.

I'm running out of time!

Why did I think that things would slow down after August? That will be my busy month, I said, and then it will be smooth sailing. Well, I neglected to remember how much work it takes to keep a sailboat afloat and on course, I guess.

The calendar is full. November's calendar is beyond full. And I still need to dig next year's vegetable garden and sew some Halloween costumes!

I'm hoping to be able to get the necessary supplies to start on the garden today. This town is over-run with stray cats and cats who have homes but run the streets all day and have nothing better to do than poop in my garden and the dirt floor of my garage. Naughty kitties! So I can't just dig a garden. Oh, no. I need to also put fencing around the garden when I'm done. So, it is off to the salvage yard and the hardware store for me.

Meanwhile, I need to get to making a couple of costumes for the kids, one of whom is quite settled on his costume and the other of whom keeps trying to convince me he needs to be a Powerpuff Girl. (Go ahead and guess.) But the one who is settled wants to unnecessarily paint his face and keeps changing his mind about what color. Naughty kiddies! Then my husband has a grand idea which involves my cutting his hair twice in 2 days. (Go ahead and try to figure his costume out.)

I also have to find time today to prepare for the nature program/puppet show at school tomorrow. Sorry guys, there will be no video. Jeremy has to chase the DeeDee at home. It's just pictures on sticks for puppets anyway. You aren't missing much. (You can see a preview here.) But I also need to get my hands on some wax paper to prepare for the lesson on leaves.

And I still need to finish my blanket because it is mighty cold at night now.

I have my hands full.


Luckily for me, I also had my mouth full-- of the first pumpkin pie of the season, seen here with a steamy apple pie for Sebastian. The fool does not like pumpkin pie. Not my child.

I am surviving

So far, I have made it through more than half of Jeremy's current business trip. The mornings have mysteriously been easier with him gone, but the nights have been, well, nightmarish.

That Sebastian, like his father, seems to think sleeping is for suckers and pitches a huge fit every night. Or he just gets rude and unpleasant and makes me want to leave the room without kissing him goodnight. That almost happened on Wednesday but when I made for the door he cried, "Oh, Mama! Please don't leave! You are one of my favorite people! I'm sorry! Thank you for the advice." I couldn't very well deny him a kiss then. The advice? Don't be a rude boy.

It, of course, didn't stop the kids from waging war while I tried to talk to a friend and make dinner yesterday. I asked Sebastian to do his spelling homework, so what was Dorian's response to his compliance? Throwing a metal milk can at his brother's head. Awesome. Then he was punching me and throwing things. And laughing hysterically like a little devil. While I was dealing with that situation, Sebastian took the opportunity to run off without finishing his sentences.

I seriously considered walking out the door and not turning back. However, I have put too much time and effort into this house over the last 2 months to leave it behind. And if I tried tossing the kids out on the street, they would have just come crying at the door again, so I was forced to work it out. Maybe next time it will be worth the drive to Nebraska.

It may seem counter-intuitive

But I swear public schooling is much harder for me than home schooling ever was.

It is far more tiring. Getting Sebastian ready in the morning, making a lunch before 8am while simultaneously making breakfast, making sure he has everything he needs in his backpack, ensuring he's wearing the appropriate combination of layers for a 35 degree morning and a 75 degree afternoon, getting to the bus stop at 7:58, spending a half hour twice a day waiting for the bus that is late 80% of the time, doing way more homework than a first grader who has been gone for 8 hours should ever have to do, struggling with the resulting bad attitude/exhaustion-- it's all wearing me out.

Add to that the never-ending requests for baked goods, the PTA meetings, the healthy snack prep at school once a week, and my up-coming puppet show performance and you have one chronically fatigued mama.

But he loves it so far, so I'll grin and bear it. Or grimace and bear it. I might need to go back to caffeinated coffee, though.

A nutrition question

When I ate the entire bunch of organic asian greens from our CSA for lunch, did I make it okay that I had fudge at 10am and have my sights set on a big glass of chocolate milk?

Or should I have had the greens for breakfast instead?

All School Sing

Every Tuesday, Sebastian's school has All School Sing, which is pretty self-explanatory. It is also totally crazy. There is a group of 4 or 5 repressed rock-n-rollers accompanying the music teacher. They remind me of Matthew Broderick and his fellow teacher in Election.

The first time Dorian and I went, the cross country team did 2 laps around the audience which sits on the floor of the gym. That was the time that we learned our new favorite song, "Black Socks".

Today was totally out of control. The kids were supposed to get to taste test some cauliflower from everyone's favorite Walker Farm. But one teacher comes out with a phone pretending to talk to Dustin's daddy about why the weather conditions haven't been good enough to have enough cauliflower ready for the whole school. (The kids did not seem in the least bit disappointed by this news. Shock.) So instead, the music teacher starts wailing on the piano to herald "Will it float?" a rip off of the Letterman show. All the kids were hooting and hollering trying to guess if a head of cauliflower would float. It did. At various points in the program, the game was played with a baseball (yes), provolone cheese (no) and a bell (yes, for a short time). After the kids all did the chicken dance, the music teacher was calling for a chicken, but the cafeteria ladies did not have one.

Why didn't we do this when I was in school?

It's House Party Time!

We had our open house today, and it was a blast! About 35 people took a break from admiring the foliage to come check out the new digs and bring goodies for our neighbors in need. We asked that instead of housewarming gifts our guests should bring a donation for the Drop In Center. Sebastian made signs for the boxes: one for food, one for toiletries and one for clothing. We ended up with a full box of food, 2 boxes of warm clothes and one not so full box of toiletries. I'm sure all of it will be appreciated.

We had beautiful weather, a yard full of happy kids and a house full of happy adults. What more could I ask for?

Special thanks to everyone who came, especially those who came from far away. It was great to see everyone!

Look what I did today!

I overcame my fear of electrical current long enough to install a new programmable thermostat. It works. I did it myself in about 30 minutes. And it claims it could save me up to 33% on my energy bills. We'll see about that. What I'm looking forward to is having it turn the heat on a half hour before we wake up. That, I'm hoping, will prevent the children from wearing hats to the breakfast table and crying about how cold they are. Hello new programmable thermostat!
And goodbye old lady thermostat! (Now if I could just say goodbye to that terrible wallpaper...)

What a dummy!

I have been a real idiot this week. So far, I have:

• Worn my shirt backwards for about 5 hours (mostly in public) before I realized that was why I felt like I was choking all day.
• Walked all the way to the post office before I realized I didn't have the letter that was the whole reason I was walking downtown in the first place.
• Run the portable dishwasher without turning the water on. You can't wash dishes without water. Duh. The magic box is not that magical.

The knitting news

Yesterday, I bought the last of the yarn I need for the queen-sized blanket. All I need to do is knit it up and sew it up and then I can live it up.
And about the only good thing to come from last night's debate was the beginning of my new scarf. It's made from a very texturally interesting yarn that goes from being very fine and thin to super bulky in the course of 3 or 4 stitches. It is very, very soft wool. I bought so much of it, that I think I can get 2 scarves out of it. Maybe someone else needs such a soft, pretty scarf. Then we could be all matchy matchy and start an evil clique who ostracizes people with acrylic store bought scarves. Or not.

You'd have to be pretty tired...

to fall asleep in this position.

Another busy day in a string of busy days

My day started bright and early when the boys' experiment in sharing a bed went terribly wrong. So, I decided to make the best of it and knit myself a hat from my new yarn.

Then, we went for a scenic drive. Probably 90% of my drives could be termed "scenic" (I go through a covered bridge to get to Sebastian's school for chrissakes) but we thought we'd enjoy the foliage. After lunch, we came home so I could caulk.

Then, Jeremy helped me dice lots of apples so that I could can them. And here they are:

While the apples were cooking, I was knitting some wristlets to match the hat. I am not so magical that they are done, but they are about 2/3 knit and then I just need to sew them up. Then I can start the charcoal grey scarf.

And after I put the kids to bed, I made the valances for the kitchen windows:

And now I'm very, very tired.

My new theory

The other day, I decided that Sarah Palin was nominated because the Republicans want to prove they can have someone dumber than W elected to a high office.

But this morning, I realized that this has been Republican policy for as long as I have been aware politically. They seem to like the combination of an older man with a questionable psychology and a "likable" doofus.

Reagan/Bush: Bumbling old fool for Pres, former CIA agent prone to weeping for VP

Bush/Quayle: see above for Pres, spelling-impaired young'un for Veep

GW/Cheney: drunken, born-again with fake accent for Prez, creepy psychopath for VP

McCain/Palin: POW "maverick" for Pres, completely uninformed small time clown for VP

It has been a pretty successful MO for them so far.

And I was disappointed to hear so many women supporting her while I was at the dentist this morning. The woman is just plain not prepared to do this job. If she weren't so ignorant, I would think it was great that she had been nominated. She's a woman who doesn't come from a privileged background. She would be the embodiment of the whole "anyone could be President" ideal that we are spoon-fed as elementary school students. But she is the perfect example of why just "anyone" shouldn't be.