Golden Boy's yuk face, circa 2002.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Gender Reassignment Pt 3 and The Plague
Belly woke up sick today. Cough, congestion, slight fever - the whole package. As such, Momma had to take the day off work. I hate calling in like that, it feels so irresponsible. Usually I plan my days off at least a month in advance since I have to work around the school calendar. So here I am with little Sickie, who is curled up on the couch watching PBS.
Yesterday an accountant for one of my customers had the nerve to hang up on me. But wait, there's more. He actually said, "Good day sir" and THEN hung up. So I told a friend who then reminded me that it's from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Lemmetellya, it was much funnier when Gene Wilder said it.
Belly was looking through Golden Boy's religion book and stopped on a picture of Jesus. (Yes, I see the irony of the ranting atheist sending her kids to Catholic school.... but if I sent them to public school I'd have to START praying) So he asks, "Who is that?" and I say simply that it's Jesus. He nodded and then said, "She's a pretty lady,"
When I tried to correct him, he looked at me like he pitied me and pointed out the long flowing hair and the dress. Somehow he missed the BEARD. I've got to make sure he understands that part.
Belly was in the kitchen talking a mile a minute and asking generally un-answerable questions when he pointed up at a picture and asked, "What about him?" It was a postcard of Frida Kahlo, my favorite artist. I tried to explain that SHE is a WOMAN, but he pointed out the moustache. So he gets THAT part, but missed the whole beard on the Jewish guy.
Now I'm off to make breakfast for my poor little guy, then curl up with him and read a story. Now that my kids are no longer babies, it's rare for them to snuggle up to me and fall asleep. There's nothing more magical than holding your child in that moment when they give in to sleep. They trust you to watch over them, and to keep their world safe while they snooze. So, Super Momma signs off.... I've got a sick little guy to watch over.
Yesterday an accountant for one of my customers had the nerve to hang up on me. But wait, there's more. He actually said, "Good day sir" and THEN hung up. So I told a friend who then reminded me that it's from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Lemmetellya, it was much funnier when Gene Wilder said it.
Belly was looking through Golden Boy's religion book and stopped on a picture of Jesus. (Yes, I see the irony of the ranting atheist sending her kids to Catholic school.... but if I sent them to public school I'd have to START praying) So he asks, "Who is that?" and I say simply that it's Jesus. He nodded and then said, "She's a pretty lady,"
When I tried to correct him, he looked at me like he pitied me and pointed out the long flowing hair and the dress. Somehow he missed the BEARD. I've got to make sure he understands that part.
Belly was in the kitchen talking a mile a minute and asking generally un-answerable questions when he pointed up at a picture and asked, "What about him?" It was a postcard of Frida Kahlo, my favorite artist. I tried to explain that SHE is a WOMAN, but he pointed out the moustache. So he gets THAT part, but missed the whole beard on the Jewish guy.
Now I'm off to make breakfast for my poor little guy, then curl up with him and read a story. Now that my kids are no longer babies, it's rare for them to snuggle up to me and fall asleep. There's nothing more magical than holding your child in that moment when they give in to sleep. They trust you to watch over them, and to keep their world safe while they snooze. So, Super Momma signs off.... I've got a sick little guy to watch over.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Time Machine?
Does anyone have a time machine? I'd like to rewind and start the weekend again, because I need the rest. Since I didn't get any housework done, what exactly did I do this weekend?
Friday - Went shopping. Got a new bag and a jacket. Did I NEED a new bag? Depends on what your definition of the word "need" is.
Went to support my oldest friend at the opening reception of her first gallery showing. *I am not biased* She is an incredible artist and it was wonderful to see her work out there and hear all the compliments being heaped upon her. She deserves every bit of the praise and then some. I wanted desperately to buy one of her paintings, but then I wouldn't be able to pay my car payment....
Went to try a restaurant in our neighborhood, as we don't get many chances to dine out sans kiddies. And since we live in a dog friendly area, they had smoked pig ears on the menu, a little take home treat for Spot.
Saturday - Morning basketball game for Golden Boy. Our team won by 3 points! It was a close game, very exciting, and it was nice to see the kids bustin some ass out on the court :) Oh, but then we went out and found 2 parking tickets on Big Bertha. Damn permit parking! Damn expired plates!
Went directly to Currency Exchange to purchase new plate sticker.
Went shopping, where Belly had his own cart and pretended he was taking care of his "baby" as well. So he filled his cart with fruit, milk and other baby friendly things while pretending to chase said baby around and plop him/her back into the cart with a reminder that he/she must sit down while inside the store. Fellow shoppers either thought he was very cute and precocious or thought he was readying himself for teen parenting. Not sure.
Spent a long time at Target picking out stuff for Joey's birthday party. And trying to find my mother who kept wandering away like an Alzheimer's patient. Seriously, I wanted to kill her. Then she tried to buy a handbag organizer thingie for me, that goes over your closet door to hold/display all your bags. I said no. Do I reeeealy want my husband to see just how many handbags I have??
Spent a long time at Home Depot picking out tile and stuff for the bathroom project. A. Very. Long. Time.
Sunday - Started the laundry that I neglected all weekend. Didn't finish.
Was happily trying out my new 1.5" ceramic curling iron when my husband came in to ask me a question. Turned around and burned myself. Smart, I know.
Went to Joey's party, where we all had a great time. On the way home, however, Belly realized he had to go to the bathroom. We pulled into a gas station, where he had to wait because someone was already in the bathroom. He waited, doing the international Gotta Pee dance. Finally got in, thankfully it was a very clean bathroom, but the toilet was too tall for him. So I lifted him up just far enough to reach it, but instead of just doing his thing, he thought it would be better to lift his little legs up to stand on the toilet, and since he did that just as he started to GO..... he peed all over the place, including his pants, which got in the way as he tried to stand up. Soooo I had to strip him of his warm and wet clothes and wrap him in my coat. He looked like a little flasher! Shirt, socks and shoes and that's it. Poor little guy. He was upset because he made it to the bathroom. It was just a logistical error that caused his pants to be wet!
Then I went to the Save Abandoned Babies meeting where we fight for truth and justice. Oh wait. Wrong meeting. I meant, where we fight to stop unsafe newborn abandonments, in the hopes that all babies will be raised in safe and loving homes.
Got home at 9pm to find DH and small children playing video games. *sigh* Shuffle everyone to bed, forget to let the dog out, so that Monday morning started like shit. Quite literally.
So here it is, Monday, and I've gotten nothing of import accomplished. So, if you do, perchance, have a time machine, may I borrow it?
Friday - Went shopping. Got a new bag and a jacket. Did I NEED a new bag? Depends on what your definition of the word "need" is.
Went to support my oldest friend at the opening reception of her first gallery showing. *I am not biased* She is an incredible artist and it was wonderful to see her work out there and hear all the compliments being heaped upon her. She deserves every bit of the praise and then some. I wanted desperately to buy one of her paintings, but then I wouldn't be able to pay my car payment....
Went to try a restaurant in our neighborhood, as we don't get many chances to dine out sans kiddies. And since we live in a dog friendly area, they had smoked pig ears on the menu, a little take home treat for Spot.
Saturday - Morning basketball game for Golden Boy. Our team won by 3 points! It was a close game, very exciting, and it was nice to see the kids bustin some ass out on the court :) Oh, but then we went out and found 2 parking tickets on Big Bertha. Damn permit parking! Damn expired plates!
Went directly to Currency Exchange to purchase new plate sticker.
Went shopping, where Belly had his own cart and pretended he was taking care of his "baby" as well. So he filled his cart with fruit, milk and other baby friendly things while pretending to chase said baby around and plop him/her back into the cart with a reminder that he/she must sit down while inside the store. Fellow shoppers either thought he was very cute and precocious or thought he was readying himself for teen parenting. Not sure.
Spent a long time at Target picking out stuff for Joey's birthday party. And trying to find my mother who kept wandering away like an Alzheimer's patient. Seriously, I wanted to kill her. Then she tried to buy a handbag organizer thingie for me, that goes over your closet door to hold/display all your bags. I said no. Do I reeeealy want my husband to see just how many handbags I have??
Spent a long time at Home Depot picking out tile and stuff for the bathroom project. A. Very. Long. Time.
Sunday - Started the laundry that I neglected all weekend. Didn't finish.
Was happily trying out my new 1.5" ceramic curling iron when my husband came in to ask me a question. Turned around and burned myself. Smart, I know.
Went to Joey's party, where we all had a great time. On the way home, however, Belly realized he had to go to the bathroom. We pulled into a gas station, where he had to wait because someone was already in the bathroom. He waited, doing the international Gotta Pee dance. Finally got in, thankfully it was a very clean bathroom, but the toilet was too tall for him. So I lifted him up just far enough to reach it, but instead of just doing his thing, he thought it would be better to lift his little legs up to stand on the toilet, and since he did that just as he started to GO..... he peed all over the place, including his pants, which got in the way as he tried to stand up. Soooo I had to strip him of his warm and wet clothes and wrap him in my coat. He looked like a little flasher! Shirt, socks and shoes and that's it. Poor little guy. He was upset because he made it to the bathroom. It was just a logistical error that caused his pants to be wet!
Then I went to the Save Abandoned Babies meeting where we fight for truth and justice. Oh wait. Wrong meeting. I meant, where we fight to stop unsafe newborn abandonments, in the hopes that all babies will be raised in safe and loving homes.
Got home at 9pm to find DH and small children playing video games. *sigh* Shuffle everyone to bed, forget to let the dog out, so that Monday morning started like shit. Quite literally.
So here it is, Monday, and I've gotten nothing of import accomplished. So, if you do, perchance, have a time machine, may I borrow it?
Bag and parking ticket --->
Guess which was more expensive.
Hint: Not the blue one!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Sorry, Can't Hear You
Yes, that oblivious individual walking (strolling, more like) down a very busy downtown Chicago street this morning, singing along with D'Angelo and ignoring the stares of fellow office drones making their own way to daily confinement and looking at the singer wondering what the HELL could be so fine on a grey, cold morning to sing about....That was me. One of my co workers saw me and waved. It took a minute for me to realize that the outside world was trying to communicate with me.
Start your day off right. Here's D'Angelo before he ended up with his very own celebrity mug shot.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Happy Birthdays
Two posts in one day. My, aren't we busy? By we, I mean myself and my (our?) 12 other personalities.
Happy birthday, Dad.
Today would have been my father's 51st birthday. I miss him. A lot.
Happy birthday, Joey! - today is my godson's 1st birthday.
Happy birthday, Dave! - today is my godfather's __ birthday. I think he's 21 again. For the 30th time, or so he says :)
Happy birthday, Dad.
Today would have been my father's 51st birthday. I miss him. A lot.
Happy birthday, Joey! - today is my godson's 1st birthday.
Happy birthday, Dave! - today is my godfather's __ birthday. I think he's 21 again. For the 30th time, or so he says :)
Monday, January 7, 2008
Back to Work
Today is my first day back in the office after being home for two glorious weeks. A few of those days were spent working from home, so it wasn’t all cartoons and Dr. Seuss. But still, I haven’t been here since December 21st and that’s the longest I’ve ever been off of work without giving birth.
What I didn’t expect was the knot of anxiety in my stomach upon my return. (Or did I drink too much coffee without eating?) DH’s schedule changed for some training session at work, so I called the school to say that Belly needs to be there 5 days (instead of 4) both this week and next. I ask how much that will be extra, and tell them I’ll send it in next week. The principal tells me that they don’t allow temporary changes to the schedule. If he goes 5 days then they have to change his schedule to five days, and adjust the tuition accordingly for the rest of the year. What?! That’s insane. It’s freaking pre-school, not pre med. I explained as nicely as possible that I just took TWO weeks off of work to stay with the boys over Christmas break and cannot take any more unanticipated time this month. She stalls and finally agrees to talk to the director of childhood development and get back to me. Seriously, what’s the big deal? As if no kids will be absent those days and suddenly they’ll be overcrowded because Belly is there? Oh, but it’s fine if I’ll pay higher tuition for the remainder of the year. THEN the schedule would be okay. Between tuition and fundraising, don’t I pay enough already?! And it’s not as if I was asking for two free days, I was going to pay for him to go! Now, if I was a less conscientious parent, I’d have just dropped his little butt off each day and waited for them to say something. But did I do that? No, I did not. Maybe I should have.
Before I had that wonderful block of time off, I’d been having horrible, pounding headaches. I tried to tell myself I wasn’t stressed. But the doctor said, “They’re stress headaches.” Then I realized I only got them at work. Hmmm. Coincidence? I think not. It’s not my job, specifically, that’s giving me headaches. It’s the pain of trying to juggle work and home, along with bills and other fun things like basketball practice and birthday parties, that’s what stresses me out. Then I sent an email to a customer and didn’t proof read it, and was embarrassed by my grammar. I wrote “was” when I meant “were”, since I was referring to the plural form of my subject.
Oh, and while I was off I started looking into BS programs so I could return to school. What I found was that I have 2 brain cells left available at the end of each day, and even less money. So school will have to wait.
I think I need a vacation. Again!
What I didn’t expect was the knot of anxiety in my stomach upon my return. (Or did I drink too much coffee without eating?) DH’s schedule changed for some training session at work, so I called the school to say that Belly needs to be there 5 days (instead of 4) both this week and next. I ask how much that will be extra, and tell them I’ll send it in next week. The principal tells me that they don’t allow temporary changes to the schedule. If he goes 5 days then they have to change his schedule to five days, and adjust the tuition accordingly for the rest of the year. What?! That’s insane. It’s freaking pre-school, not pre med. I explained as nicely as possible that I just took TWO weeks off of work to stay with the boys over Christmas break and cannot take any more unanticipated time this month. She stalls and finally agrees to talk to the director of childhood development and get back to me. Seriously, what’s the big deal? As if no kids will be absent those days and suddenly they’ll be overcrowded because Belly is there? Oh, but it’s fine if I’ll pay higher tuition for the remainder of the year. THEN the schedule would be okay. Between tuition and fundraising, don’t I pay enough already?! And it’s not as if I was asking for two free days, I was going to pay for him to go! Now, if I was a less conscientious parent, I’d have just dropped his little butt off each day and waited for them to say something. But did I do that? No, I did not. Maybe I should have.
Before I had that wonderful block of time off, I’d been having horrible, pounding headaches. I tried to tell myself I wasn’t stressed. But the doctor said, “They’re stress headaches.” Then I realized I only got them at work. Hmmm. Coincidence? I think not. It’s not my job, specifically, that’s giving me headaches. It’s the pain of trying to juggle work and home, along with bills and other fun things like basketball practice and birthday parties, that’s what stresses me out. Then I sent an email to a customer and didn’t proof read it, and was embarrassed by my grammar. I wrote “was” when I meant “were”, since I was referring to the plural form of my subject.
Oh, and while I was off I started looking into BS programs so I could return to school. What I found was that I have 2 brain cells left available at the end of each day, and even less money. So school will have to wait.
I think I need a vacation. Again!
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