Thursday, January 07, 2010

Jesse has a pathological love of his Walmart cheapo fake Crocs. Despite the fact that his toes are crunched painfully (I can only assume) because they are too small, he insists on wearing them still. Prior to Christmas we were only letting him wear them around the house, like slippers.

Aside: He has an equal pathological hatred for socks. We have no idea where it came from, but it is a battle nearly to the death to get them on his feet. We compromise and only require them when we know he’s going outside, since it’s winter and we seem to be in The New Ice Age.

Anyway, I put a pair of real Crocs on his wishlist for Christmas - orange, because it’s his favorite color. You may have seen the pictures of him wearing the shoes while also astride his orange bike.

We noticed that his feet seemed awfully close to overlapping the heel, so I dug out this size chart that I had printed so that we could actually measure the boy’s foot. It seemed silly to keep guessing at his foot size, clearly we weren’t keeping up with his growth. He obediently laid his foot on the sheet and his toe hit the line at size 11.

Wha?!

The shiny new Crocs are 8/9. Oy vey.

I promptly hopped on the computer to find larger shoes for the kid. There are no orange Crocs to be had in his size. And then I noticed the fleece-lined versions, which seemed a better way to go with his socks phobia. I read that it was wise to get the next size up if opting for the fleece lined shoes, to accommodate socks. Knowing that there would be days when we insisted on socks, this is what I ordered. In brown - his beloveds are brown with an orange stripe.

They arrived yesterday and they are HUGE! He came down to the basement with them on and he looked Bozo. It was obvious that they were way too big - even with socks. There’s easily one full inch at the heel and when I felt for his toes, there was about that much empty space there, too.

Ah, comedy of errors.

Aside: Beau bought mittens for the kid last week. He carefully measured the boy’s hand to make sure he bought the right size. Like me, he opted for the next size up since his hands measured .25” less than the minimum of that size (medium). They are enormous. So he’ll be set for shoes and mittens next winter, at least. *sigh*

We figure his feet are probably size 10. So now the question, do I bother to order a pair of size 10 Crocs for him, too?

Went to see my dentist yesterday to get my temporary crown put in and also a filling in another tooth. I was there for over 3 hours. I managed to watch The Wedding Planner 1.5 times. “Watch” meaning it was playing on the screen next to my chair and ran throughout the procedure of drilling and shots and drilling and shots. When I sat down I caught the last 10-15 minutes and the first 5-10 minutes of the movie. And then I was laid back and hung out that way for about 90 minutes of torture - I could hear the movie, but I couldn’t see it. Then, when he was done with the drilling I sat there watching the last 15 minutes and the first 5-10 minutes again while I waited for the temporary crown to be molded prior to insertion into my mouth.

It’s a little disconcerting to hear that drilling sound behind you when you’re at the dentist.

1.5 viewings of The Wedding Planner = way too much J.Lo. But it also = still not enough Matthew McConaghey. So does that make it a wash?

Anyhow, 3+ hours and 3 shots of novocaine later I spent the afternoon trying not to chew off the right side of my lower lip (somehow it got slightly mangled as the day went on). I go back in 2 weeks to get the permanent crown and then I’m done with the dentist for the rest of my life. No, that’s not true. I have been asked to go back in 3 months for a cleaning that didn’t get finished since it had been 8 years since my last trip to a dentist’s torture chamber.

Friday, January 01, 2010

The last movie I saw in the theater was The Dark Knight. Children change things, don’t they?

Sherlock Holmes was the pick for our date yesterday. I was a little nervous about it - aside from seeing the trailers, I didn’t know much about it. And then my mother said she wasn’t interested in it because she heard it had a “spirit of wickedness” in it. When asked, she didn’t go into specifics about what that meant.

It became clear what she meant in the opening minutes of the movie - the “bad guy” was involved in occult practices. I’m not giving much away to state that - I won’t say anything more, except to reassure folks that the occult angle was handled more as superstition than as supernatural. It was not glorified at all.

Anyway, we loved the movie. Purists may take issue with Robert Downey’s Holmes, but I liked him. Jude Law as Watson was excellent. And the two men together had great timing. The movie was fast-paced, had an interesting stylized feel (kind of comic book-y, but not in a distracting way), and moved the plot well. I predict a sequel and we will be in the theater to see it when it comes out.

4 stars out of 5.

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy Anniversary to my own true love, Beau. It’s hard to believe it’s been 4 years already (and 2 kids, too!). I can’t imagine living life without you and I’m so grateful that the Lord saw fit to prompt Marty to introduce us. I love you.

We have dinner and movie on tap for the afternoon/evening - Marmie and Pop will be babysitting the kiddos for us. This is a first date in more than a year for us. On our anniversary last year, I was miserably and hugely pregnant and very disinclined to do anything other than get in my jammies after being at work and putting my feet up. So we ordered in dinner and played Scrabble and it was lovely.

I did this on Facebook, so I thought I’d share here, too. The music from our wedding - because I am super picky and we were able to do it, we used canned music. We did have a pianist and she played before the ceremony and filled in during communion. We also had congregational singing of some very old, traditional hymns.

Mothers Entrance - We used the Amy Grant version of this from one her Christmas CDs.

Flower Girls - I first heard this in the movie Babe. I thought it was twinkly and sweet for the girls.

Bridal Processional - Again, we used the Amy Grant version from one of her Christmas CDs. The first time I heard it I knew that if I ever got married I wanted it to be the processional music. My bridesmaids came in to it and then I came in at the last when it had fully built.

Communion - We used the version from Michael W. Smith’s Christmastime CD. I think it’s a beautiful piece.

Recessional - Again, heard the tune in Babe - when Farmer Hoggett sang to Babe when he was ill. I knew that if I ever got married I wanted to use the music somewhere. I hunted for years, just in case. When I finally found it, I realized it was perfect as the recessional with all of its majesty. “That’ll do, pig.”

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

My new favorite humor blog.

Adult language alert, for the more sensitive. But it’s hilarious.

Monday, December 28, 2009

I hope that Christmas was merry and blessed for all 3 of you that still read the blog. Ours was full and festive, spent at Marmie and Pop’s house from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day.

For Jesse, it was fun for us to watch him enjoy his CootieCousins, unwrapping his gifts, and seem to get the magic of it all. Thanks to the grandparents (Santa) and Uncle Bill for the awesome gifts for him - he loves his Strider Bike and Handy Manny Tool Truck above all other gifts. We are holding the Little Einsteins and Bingo games for when he seems to get bored with the tool truck.

Molly’s favorite gift is the jumper, hands down.

It’s now back to reality. Back to work for me and back to the daily routine for Beau and the kids. I start the week with a trip to the dentist this morning, which may end in a crown on one tooth.

What we have to look forward to is our 4th anniversary on Thursday and another 4-day weekend. We plan to go out (sans kids), but the weather may not cooperate (there’s a possibility of snow/ice Wednesday night into Friday). Either way, we will do something to commemorate the occasion.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

The Nativity Story: I caught this on cable over the weekend. Somehow I hadn’t seen it before now, but I really liked it. 4 stars out of 5.

Julie & Julia: Loved this movie. Streep is freakin’ amazing. I heart Stanley Tucci. 5 stars out of 5.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Excellent. I’m thinking about re-reading the books, but it would have to be the audio versions. I’m also thinking about watching all of the movies together, sort of, we don’t have the time for that with our kids, but some kind of marathon in any case. I may wait to do that before the last movie come out. 4 stars out of 5.

Monday, December 21, 2009

We survived the weekend of snow.

Our final total snowfall was 21”.

Post snow play hot chocolate.

Molly Ann peeking at Daddy’s boots.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Monday - somehow managed to scratch my right eye enough to generate pain for most of the day. Turns out it was just an irritation of the outer corner and not the cornea, but still. Missed a day of work and sported an eye patch until about 4pm. Not a cool black, pirate-type eye patch - just your every day gauze and tape patch.  But it did the trick and by late afternoon the eye was no longer painful.

Tuesday - Spent the morning at work and then went to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular at the Patriot Center. That is a very cool show. Both kids loved it. Yes, Molly Ann was enthralled and stayed cheerful and engaged until about the last 30 minutes. I took her up to the tunnel where I wore her and we watched the end. Throughout I felt the scratchy throat of an oncoming cold.

Wednesday - woke up with more intense scratchy sore throat, but went to work because I felt fine otherwise. By the time I got home, I was worn out and not feeling so hot. Went to bed early.

Thursday - started in the middle of the night when the congestion invaded my sinuses and interrupted my sleep. Spent a restless night fighting to breathe. “Woke up” in the morning convinced I was dying, called in to inform my boss** that I was staying home to save them from the plague. By the evening, the cough had settled in quite nicely and it was an effort to speak. I’m sure Beau appreciated this new aspect of my illness.

** My new boss is now Amazing One. She was promoted to that slot when My Boss retired this month. She is not to be confused with my real New Boss when I transfer to the New Job. That hasn’t happened yet. Are you all properly confused now? Good.

Friday - awoke this morning to the wracking cough. Interestingly, the congestion is much diminished although my sinuses still feel like each is about 10 lbs. I’m really hoping I don’t have a sinus infection. The barking cough is enough for now. I can speak, but it is an effort at times. Stayed home - again, for the good of the people at my office. No need to share my germs with them the week before Christmas.

I’ve spent the past two days hiding from my children. That part really sux, but I don’t want them to be sick at Christmas either. Jesse is a sweetheart - very concerned that I take my medicine and offering to sleep with me, although that is code for jumping on the bed. Where that boy got the gift of mercy is a mystery - although his father seems much more merciful than I.

And then we get to the snow part - we basically have a blizzard headed this way. I’m bummed because I have two Christmas parties this weekend that I was really looking forward to attending. I’m thinking the one for Sunday with my small group ladies will still happen since by that time the snow will have stopped falling. But the one for tomorrow night is a no-go, at least for me. I still have not gotten word from the hosts on any plans to cancel or reschedule - imho, it would be odd to expect people to show up at a party when we’ll be getting better than a foot of snow.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Wow, my last post was on November 30th? That’s just sad. Ye olde blogge is sorely neglected.

Is anyone still checking in?

Here’s a load of random stuff from the past couple of weeks:

1. Watched Night at the Museum 2 - not as good as the first, we laughed in places probably not intended to be funny. Hank Azaria was not funny. 2.5 stars out of 5. Next up: Julie & Julia. Amy Adams, yet again, in all of her perkiness.

2. We have beef. A large quantity of it. It looks very good - nice and lean. We managed to screw up in our order of the cuts wanted, which resulted in a lot of ground beef, but that was our fault. The first to be eaten will be t-bone steaks on Monday or Tuesday.

3. Jesse is entering the challenging 3s. I loved 2. He’s just shy of 3 and there are times when I wonder if he’ll make it to 4. The problem is his insatiable curiosity and intelligence. My fear is that he will figure out how to dismantle the DVD player (or something similar). Yesterday he decided to decorate his room with Boudreaux’s Butt Paste. I won’t go into further details, except that attempts at clean up involved Orange Glo furniture polish. I’ll be breaking out the OxiClean tomorrow. Truthfully, I haven’t had a chance to investigate the whole situation yet because I haven’t been in his room in daylight since it happened.

4. Traffic is killing me this week - it took me 2 hours to get from work to our church last night, which is actually closer than if I had gone home. I had band practice, so I had to be there.  Got no dinner and I didn’t get home until after 10pm. If Beau hadn’t brought the kids to the pot luck lunch at work I wouldn’t have seen either of them at all yesterday. Boo.

5. Why is December so freakin’ busy? I have worship team this weekend. Then next weekend I have a worship arts team Christmas party at our pastor’s house on Saturday night (with the departure of our worship leader in the spring, we’ve been lead by a team of folks in the interim. Supposedly we’re supposed to hear the vision at this party. I have heard bits and pieces from various staff that trouble me.) On Sunday night my small group ladies are having a Christmas pot luck. I’m not sure if we’ll then have our regular Monday night meeting or not, but I know the plan was to be finished with the Meyer book before Christmas, so I think we well.

6. On the Meyer book, I have mixed feelings about it. The general principles are good and the encouragement to go to Scripture is well needed and excellent. However, I have issues with a few of the things she has said - not major theological things, but things that could be taken wrong if out of context.

7. Still no word on a date for my transition to the new job. It’s beyond frustrating. I’m sure my stuff is sitting on some drone’s desk waiting for action, while said drone is out on his/her use-or-lose leave.

Monday, November 30, 2009

We watched a movie this weekend - first time in months. It’s all we can do to keep up with the TV shows I’m recording. I have a backlog of stuff on the DVR that still needs watching, too.

Speaking of TV - V good. But we have to wait until March for more episodes? Ridiculous.

So anyway, we watched Star Trek. I loved it. The casting was nearly perfect (McCoy weirded me out a bit, because I know that guy was Eomer and I couldn’t get used to the McCoy hair over Eomer’s blond locks). The acting was awful. I liked just about everything about it (except for the gratuitous bedroom scene, but even that rang true with Kirk’s womanizing ways).

I assume there will be sequels. I’m hoping there will be and I’m looking forward to them.

4 stars out of 5.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

President George Washington’s First Thanksgiving Address:

Proclamation of National Thanksgiving

George Washington

City of New York, October 3, 1789

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks, for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation, for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his providence, which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war, for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed, for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions, to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually, to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed, to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord. To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and Us, and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Go: Washington

Amen.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

For those who care. Those who don’t may move along.

Total weight lost so far - 12 lbs.

I’m still pretty consistently losing about 1.5 lbs a week. At this rate I figure I’ll be able to lose another 6 lbs or so by Christmas/New Years. That will put me about 15 lbs shy of my pre-Jesse-pregnancy weight. Then the really hard stage begins, I think.

I dug out the bin with my winter sweaters and turtlenecks yesterday. They’ve been under Jesse’s bed for two winters since there was no way I could fit in them at this time last year with Molly in utero. Also in the bins were my old flannel PJs and lounging pants. I haven’t worn those since I got pregnant with Jesse. On a lark I tried on a pair and was pleased that they fit comfortably. Woo!

As for the pre-preggo jeans, I’m getting close to being able to wear them comfortably for a whole day. Just another 5 lbs I think. We’ll see, of course.

Now I’m needing to get the pants and jeans that I just bought before starting the diet taken in at the waist. And I have another pair that need hemming that I never took to be tailored because I started the diet and so I figured I’d just wait until I need to get others taken and to get those done, too. That’s a bad sentence, but I can’t deal with editing it right now. I’m sorry.

Anyway, things progress well.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Obama’s Home Teleprompter Malfunctions During Family Dinner

[via Granny]

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

When we moved into this house 2+ years ago one of the things I found out early is that there is no outside outlet. This meant no Christmas lights outside unless we wanted to have a window opened a crack. That wasn’t happening. So for the past two Christmases we were the Scrooge house because we didn’t have a tree up or any other decorations inside either. I couldn’t be bothered last year with my uncomfortable pregnancy.

This year we plan to have a tree. I have a large planter outside that is empty. Beau suggested that we get a small, live blue spruce to plant instead of bringing in a dead tree to later trash. So that’s our plan. We’ll put it on a small table in the window and decorate it simply depending on its size.

And I decided to investigate solar-powered lights for outside because I was determined to have some kind of festive thing out there this Christmas. No more Scrooge house. So I mentioned that I was researching solar-powered Christmas lights to Beau and he bursts out laughing, “I forgot to tell you!”

What he forgot to tell me is that when our landlord came to the house a couple of weeks ago to replace the flashing on the front and back doors, he plugged in his cell phone out front. Beau walked out to talk to LD (landlord dude) and noticed the phone sitting on the stoop with the cord leading through the azalea bush over to the box of the bay window. Turns out the outside plug is on the underside of the bay window box. LD and Beau had a good chuckle over it when Beau explained why he was so surprised to discover it. What a weird place, but it makes some kind of sense, I guess. It’s out of the weather and hidden, too. Very well hidden.

I’m excited to dig out our Christmas stuff. And I may buy new outdoor stuff, too, since what I have is pretty old and weather-beaten from winters in New Hampshire.