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Thank you so much for sticking with me at In THIS Life.  It’s been fun.  It’s just time for a little something different…

I need some catharsis, and I think sharing this dream as often as possible is the way to make it happen.

Last night, I dreamed about going to the hospital with my mother.  Because we were both nine months pregnant.  And she was in labor.  (By the way, she was doing a kick-ass job.  When we got there, the nurse checked her, and she was 9 cm.  She hadn’t made a peep.  Go, Mom!)

As Jason said when I woke up and shared said dream, “Father of the Bride 2, eh?”  Sure.  Only…scarier.

In retrospect, it’s hilarious.  During the dreaming…it was a nightmare.  You know how you reason with yourself during dreams?  ”Oh, surely this is a dream.  Maybe it isn’t, and then what?”  This time it went a little further.

My internal dialogue:

Oh good lord.  Mom doesn’t have the energy or desire to have another baby.  I know she doesn’t.  What on Earth is she going to do with this baby?  I hope she’s not going to give it to me. I’m about to have another of my own.  I can’t go around with two newborn babies that are uncle and nephew.  What will I say when people ask if they’re twins?  ”Oh, no, this one’s mine, but the other is my BROTHER.”  What is going on here?  I can’t ask Mom about this…she’s in labor.  That would be rude.  OMG, what are we going to DO???

Of course, nowhere in there did I realize that (a) there’s no. way. Mom would be pregnant, and (b) there’s no way I would ever be nine months pregnant.  My pregnancies simply don’t last that long.

When I told Mom about the dream, thankfully, she found it as hilarious as I.  She also reminded me that she’d probably be thinking the same thing.  (i.e., Aimee doesn’t want another baby!  I hope she’s not going to give it to me…)

It’s funny how the world around us plays with the subconscious mind, isn’t it?  I do have babies on the brain lately, since a dear friend gave birth last week.  In fact, I got to spend two hours at their home cuddling him while he slept today.

It was highly preferable to being a new mom AND a new big sister at the same time, I can assure you.

Here’s last year’s post with more information.

Note:  St. Jude’s takes every kind of greeting card, not just those from Christmas!  If you have birthday cards, thank you cards, Mother’s Day cards – whatever! – that you’ve received and don’t feel quite right about throwing out, here’s a great way to have them reused.  If you’d like to keep the sentiments inside, just send along the front half of the card.  That’s the part they use, anyway.

I’ve been thinking about a lot of things.  One tends to do that while trapped in a very comfy chair with ice on the knees several times a week.  Even with a crochet hook in hand (the baby blanket I’ve been working on for two months is STILL not finished, and Little Mister was born yesterday!), the mind wanders.

Today, it wandered over here, to my blog.  I thought for a good fifteen seconds about whether or not I would post today.  After all, today is the twelfth, and I didn’t bring my camera along today for a 12 of 12.  I’ve missed several weeks of Random Tuesdays.  I have obviously not been very inspired in recent months, outside of those meme prompts.

Those fifteen seconds of thought results in a, “Nah, I don’t feel like it,” response.  Which is what got me thinking.

I haven’t felt like it much at all lately, have I?  So where does that leave me/us/this blog?

I think I’ve decided that it means this particular blog is done.  I don’t mean I’m done blogging – not at all.  I just think In THIS Life has run its course.  It started in a very different place (both geographically and in the matter of subject material) than where it’s ended up.  More accurately, I began writing it when I was in a very different place.  What it boils down to is this:

What I want to write doesn’t feel like it fits on this blog.

There, that wasn’t so difficult.

The solution?  Well, that’s easy enough.  A new blog.  I’m not saying it will come tomorrow, or even next week, but it’s coming.  This blog will not go away.  For now, it will remain as is.  I will likely stop posting on here eventually, but I won’t delete it.

This is a good thing.  The weight of the blog is suddenly gone from my shoulders.  When a thing you love becomes a weight, you must change it or change your approach to it.

Stay tuned.

The presents are wrapped, my parents are here, and I pick my sister up from the airport tonight.  Not even the rain can dampen my spirits, although I’ve started singing, “I’m dreaming of a wet Christmas,” to try to fool my white-Christmas-desiring heart into thinking it’s getting what it wants.

Have a wonderful holiday, if you celebrate it.  If not, have a wonderful weekend.  Enjoy your family!

What I wish I had the guts to type in the Comments boxes:

• There is no such thing as a War on Christmas.  It doesn’t exist, at least here in the U.S.  Stop the fear-mongering.  PLEASE.
• The fact that I am a liberal does not mean I automatically agree with everything Michael Moore says.  Stop lumping all liberals together.  Hell, stop lumping all conservatives together.  It makes no sense.  We.  Are.  Individuals.
• I say, “Happy Holidays.”  I also say, “Merry Christmas” to people I know celebrate Christmas, “Happy Hanukkah” to people I know celebrate Hanukkah, “Happy Solstice” to practically everyone, and “Ahoy, Matey!” on Talk Like a Pirate Day.  Which part of this makes me a terrorist?
• Oh, you might have meant that terrorist thing as a joke?  It’s not funny.
• Your status is offensive and hurts my feelings.  I thought you were more open-minded than that.
• Saying “Merry Christmas” is not ‘The American Way.’  Methinks you need to go to a local college and take a course in Constitutional Law.  Or a course on the history of world religion.  Or, come to think of it, both.

What I posted instead:

• “It’s in every one of us to be wise.  Find your heart.  Open up both your eyes.”*

  You know, not being Christian does not make me un-American, anti-American, or a terrorist.  Happy Holidays, everyone!  Love and peace to all, all year ’round.

What I learned:

• Holding love and peace in your heart can help melt some hurt away, but the support of friends melts it away almost completely.

*This quote is from one of my favorite Christmas Albums.  Oh. My. Gosh.  The videos of the original special are on YouTube!  They weren’t up the last time I looked!  I know what I’m showing the boys this weekend…

Wow.  I know the story of Alfie and the songs by heart, because they’re on the CD, but the bit in the middle with John and Kermit…it had been too many decades…Sniff…

• This week, Keely has geeky waffles on her Random Tuesday post.   Click the purple button to see them.
• No matter how much I play Tetris over the years, it still brings back memories of college and my roommate Heather’s computer.  (Neither my sister Heather, nor my friend Heather I’ve mentioned several times, nor even my friend Heather who blogs here.  I’m serious when I say we were overflowing with Heathers in the Georgia Tech Chorale in the early 90′s.)
• Have you realized it’s only 18 days ’til Christmas?
• Crap, it’s after midnight on the East Coast.  Make that 17 days.  Yikes.
• Two awesome words: Pirate Snowmen.
• Tonight, I roasted Brussels sprouts.  This will only seem like a remarkable event to you if you understand the state of the Brussels sprout in my parents’ household.  They are forbidden.  Both of my grandmothers apparently mangled and overcooked the darn wee cabbages so badly that my parents have lifelong Brussels sprout issues.  Jason has never been a fan, either, so it’s no surprise that, until tonight, I had never tasted one.  Roasted properly, they’re not too bad.  Nicolas proclaimed them, “fine,” and Kalen even loved them.  Jason’s still not a fan.  (Don’t tell him, but I’m going to have to make them once in a while.  I don’t like green beans and manage to eat them now and then.  So there.)  Here’s the recipe I used.
• So what was it that induced this strange hankering to try the little green balls of death?  I lost three pounds this week (28 since September!), I was in a great mood, and I had a great conversation with my dietitian wherein I promised to try more veggies.  Plus, I stopped by Trader Joe’s, and they were sitting there, clean and fresh, in a one-pound bag, looking very cute.  I hate cabbages (sorry, I’ve tried them – yuck), but they’re more enticing in miniature.  Much like schnauzers.  Only in a tasty way, rather than a companionable one.  I think I’m rambling here.
• My knee is apparently healing nicely.  For the first time in more than five weeks, it was nearly pain-free.  (A big part of that good mood mentioned above.)  It would have been entirely pain-free if I hadn’t turned my dang ankle and fallen on my knees today.  (Twice, even.  On the same stair.  Grace, they name is Aimee.)  Still, I have hope for the near future.
• On a related note, I’ve been frustrated that my knee has kept me from the treadmill and bike at the gym for over a month now.  Obviously, I’m still losing weight, but my weekly average would be much better if I could get some cardio in there.  (I know, swim laps – they just don’t do it for me.)  On a whim yesterday, however, I sat down on one of the rowing machines and gave it a go…with nary a twinge in any joint, even after ten full minutes at it.  I’m so excited by this discovery, and my trainer is enthusiastic as well.  The doctor even suggested today that I consider looking into taking classes next spring at the local rowing club.  How much FUN would that be?
• Since I’m in the midst of getting the holiday cards rolling, I’ll leave you with a sneak peak:

What, too sneaky?  Sorry, haven’t sent them out yet.  Wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise for some of you…

• This is “one of those weeks.”  You know, the ones where you look at your calendar on your way to bed Sunday night and it looks really doable, and you feel like you’re going to be quite accomplished, until you realize your kids are still going to want to eat – three meals a day (the nerve), and one of those things on the calendar that only takes up two hours of space actually has about fifteen hours of necessary prep work, and if you don’t do some laundry NOW no one will have underwear or socks in which to accomplish anything?  Yeah, one of those.
• Still, I’m not stressing.  Busy, yes.  Stressing, no.  I honestly don’t know where the laid back approach to this week is coming from, but hey, I’m not fighting it.
• As of last night, I’ve joined the 10′s.  Teens?  (What do we call this decade anyway?)  Jason got his Windows Phone 7, so I got the practically-new, but-now-out-dated, Windows Phone he no longer needs.  A smart phone!  Woot!  Unfortunately, it seems to be outsmarting me already.  I can’t figure out how to do most of what one is supposed to do on it.  I shall persevere, however, and figure the darned thing out!  Next week.
• Okay, dinner’s in the oven (albeit a bit late).  Now to get something in the washing machine, so we don’t start an Annual Winter Commando Season tradition.  While I’m doing that, why don’t you go click that purple button up top?

It may be the only hard and fast rule I have about the holidays in our home – no Christmas music* or Christmas movies until after Thanksgiving dinner, and White Christmas kicks it off.

This one’s for my Swis…

And last, but not least, Rosemary.  Sigh.  I’ve wanted this dress since I was a little girl.  (Not to mention the body and voice to go with it.)

*This rule does not extend to the garage or Jason’s car.  I do, after all, love my husband and would like to keep him around, and he breaks out the Christmas music a good month or two before I’m ready for it.

I could go on forever, but there are Yukon Golds in the kitchen awaiting my knife.  Happy Thanksgiving, all.  Be safe and happy.

• It’s a snow day!  For everybody.  The boys are home and playing happily, I handled my dietitian appointment over the phone (and cancelled my therapist and physical therapy appointments), and Jason’s working from home/looking at Black Friday ads.  With all this fluffy whiteness outside, it feels like Winter Break.  All we need is some egg nog (not on plan) and Christmas carols/movies (not happening before Thanksgiving dinner is cleared from the table).
• Speaking of ‘on plan,’ please cross your fingers that my home scale matches the one at the club.  If it’s right, I lost 4.2 pounds this week, bringing my total lost to an even 25 pounds.  I KNOW.  And that’s with adding bread back into the diet and going out to a nice restaurant for Jason’s birthday.
• We saw Harry Potter on Saturday night.  Loved it.  After the Lavender Brown fiasco of installment six (her portrayal ruined the movie for me), it was nice to be back on track.
• We’re doing Thanksgiving at home, just the four of us, this year.  I’m looking forward to it.  I love seeing extended family, of course, but as that’s not an option right now, this feels right.  It reminds me of holiday dinners growing up, when it was often just Mom, Dad, Heather & me.
• The boys have discovered a fun new game – snow shoveling!  They have kid-sized shovels and think it’s such a great time.  Heh.
• Dancing With the Stars – What do you think the chances are of Jennifer winning?  I adore Kyle, he’s been my favorite since Week 1, but I can admit that Jennifer out-dances him.  And their competition.  By a half mile, at least.  I hope the results reflect that.
• ‘Tis the season…to be updating Amazon Wish Lists.  What’s going on yours?  I started a separate Board Game Wish List for the family, and lists for each of the boys.  It makes shopping easier for long-distance grandparents and aunties.  One list is somewhat Lego-heavy; the other is very Sherlocky.  Any guesses as to which is which?
• Speaking of Sherlock.  PBS.  Wow.  We are loving these.  Holmes & Watson in the 21st century.  And Watson is a strong, smart, adventurous character.  Love him.  Love them both, actually.  No, not true to the stories, but a great modern adaptation.  There are only three episodes in the first series (season for us American-types).  I hope they make more, and soon.  Ooh, it looks like you can watch them online for a while!
• Now, go click that purple button up top and see how random we can get.  It’s good for you.  I said so.

By 7:30, I had to head out to brush the snow off the car, so I could drive Nicolas to band practice at the junior high school.

At 8:00, I was seriously concerned that I might not make it back from band drop-off, but thankfully, my little Civic spun its wheels only a few times before digging in and getting Kalen and me up the little hill.

At 8:20, I was standing outside nervously, chains in hand, trying to remember whether they are supposed to go on the front or rear tires.

At 8:22, I realized my nervousness had nothing to do with actually getting said chains on the tires, but with the facts that I’ve never driven on snow, we live on the top of a very high hill, the gym is a distance from the bottom of said hill, and I have no earthly idea if my little car – even with chains – could manage to get back up the hill after several more hours of snow.  Trapped at home I can handle.  Trapped at the bottom of a 500-ft. elevation hill that I would then have to walk up with a still-healing knee?  Not so much.

At 8:40, I flagged down some neighbors who were walking to school and sent Kalen along with them.

At 8:46, I emailed my trainer to cancel our session today, promising that I would do my best with my resistance bands and hand weights at home.

At 8:57, I took this picture from our back deck.

At 9:36, I realized that since I’m not spending several hours going to and from the gym this morning, I actually have time to blog.

How was your morning?

(I know, I know, I need to study up on food photography.)

This is our new favorite chili recipe, given to me by my dietitian.  Our annual Halloween tradition is to have a pot of chili, but our old recipe used a seasoning packet (containing sugar) and Jason’s “secret ingredient” (a few of Wendy’s chili seasoning packets, with high fructose corn syrup).  We made this recipe Halloween night, and we are converts for life.  I’m pretty sure, judging by comments from Jason, that we’re going to be chowing down on chili a couple of times a month all fall and winter long.

Not content to leave a recipe be, of course we had to add a little something extra.  Enter the family’s newest favorite “little something”:

This stuff is GOOD.  I’m not a big Tabasco fan, but this version isn’t quite as spicy as the original.  Even the boys love it.

Incidentally, I was not yet on the phase of our plan that allowed beans when Halloween rolled around.  In addition to the big pot of chili with kidney beans, we made a half recipe, substituting finely chopped zucchini and a bit of water.  It was just as tasty.  (Happily, I am now allowed beans, and I am looking forward to those kidney beans tonight!)

Our New Favorite Chili
Recipe adapted from Cook’s Illustrated

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped (about 2 cups)
6 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp dried oregano
2 pounds lean ground turkey or lean ground beef (we use a pound of each)
2 cans (16 oz. ea.) low-sodium dark red kidney beans, no added sugar, drained & rinsed
1 can (28 oz.) low-sodium diced tomatoes with juice
1 can (28 oz.) low-sodium tomato puree
2-3 tsp Tabasco Chipotle sauce
Low-fat cheese, shredded (for garnish)
Non-fat sour cream (for garnish)

1. Heat oil in large heavy-bottomed nonreactive Dutch oven.  Add onions, garlic, chili powder, cumin, coriander, pepper flakes, oregano and cayenne.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes.

2. Increase heat to medium-high and add the ground meat.  Break the meat up with a spoon.  Cook until no longer pink.

3. Add beans, tomatoes, tomato puree; bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally for 1 hour.  Remove cover and stir in Tabasco Chiptotle sauce to taste.  Continue to simmer, uncovered, 1 hour longer, stirring occasionally.  (If chili begins to stick to bottom of pot, stir in 1/2 cup water and continue to simmer).

Serves 12 (1.5 cup servings)
Calories 260, Fat 7 g, Carbohydrate 26 g, Protein 23 g

This month, all photos are SOOP – Straight Out Of [my simple little] Phone.  No fancy iPhone or Windows Phone or Apps or Photoshopping.  Just some good, old-fashioned grainy snapshots.

8:29 am – After we drop Nicolas off at band practice three mornings a week, Kalen gets some piano practicing in before school.  I love everything about this photo, including the graininess.  It reminds me of snapshots from the 70′s.  Notice the giraffe keeping him company on the keyboard.

9:06 am – Driving through a valley on my way to a doctor’s appointment.  The valley’s fields, to my left, were completely encased in fog.  The road was clear.

9:07 am – This was the scene to the right of my car on the same stretch of road.  Not a wisp of fog!  Very odd.

9:17 am – This office has an unusually broad variety of magazines.

9:25 am – I couldn’t resist a shot of this guy while I was waiting for the doctor.  I think he needs a visit to the chiropractor.  That twist can’t be comfortable.

11:50 am – Post-doctor, post-workout, leaving the gym.  Not a good shot of the building, but an inadvertent self portrait.

3:38 pm – The usual pile of backpacks et al to be found by the playground after school on a non-rainy day.

4:18 pm – Happy place.  I impulse-bought a papaya.

4:23 pm – Autumn in the Pacific Northwest, and Daylight Saving Time is over.  Hence sunset in the mid-afternoon.

5:58 pm – Coming out of Occupational Therapy, the moon was much prettier than my little phone could capture.

8:37 pm – We got the first couple of seasons of The Muppet Show and have been sharing them with the boys.  The guest stars and musical numbers are hilarious in their outdatedness, but Waldorf and Statler never go out of style.

9:41 pm – This is Otis.  I love Otis.

<— Click here to find out what the heck I’m talking typing about.

The theme I chose for my sketchbook is Down Your Street, which seemed to be a nice story prompt.  I have only a vague idea so far of where the story is going, but I thought I’d share it as it evolves.

Page 1

Pages 2-3

Pages 4-5

For the entire project, I’m using Prismacolor colored pencils and outlining with a Marvey scrapbooking pen.  (Hooray for stashes from college design classes and my paper scrapping days!)

Now, onto the fun stuff:

Have I mentioned how much I love Halloween?

Oh, I have?

Once or twice?

Thrice even?

So, yeah.  I love Halloween.

Jason took Nicolas out for some guy time today, so Kalen and I took the chance to spookify the yard.

I suppose introductions are in order.  That fellow on the right is Spot.  We acquired him years ago, when Nicolas was a toddler.  He was named (by Nicolas) after Rolie Polie Olie‘s dog.

The pirate on the left is a new addition to our graveyard family.  I found him at the thrift store last November.  I’m not sure who that extra skull belongs to, but we do have his twin brother up on the deck.

He’s keeping all the dead flowers from Garden Week!™ company.  Now that I’ve gotten the cobwebs up, I feel much less guilty about my lack of green thumb.  The dead plants fit the mood perfectly.

Kalen’s creativity added the perfect touch:

Nice spider placement, kiddo.  He’s got this creepy thing down.  Mostly.

Hey, Spot.  Are you glad to be out of that box?

8:12 am – Dinner being put in the Crock Pot.  Verdict: YUM.  So good.

11:02 am – Heading home from my dietitian appointment with ‘The Skinny on Fat’.  Literally.  That’s what this packet is called.

1:46 pm – A replacement for our often-used, well-loved, and getting-frighteningly-hot-on-the-outside-whenever-we-use-it Crock Pot.  The locking handles sold us – great for office chili cook-offs!

4:02 pm – Homework time.  (In his favorite shirt again!)

4:45 pm – Rushing out the door for a busy evening, homework in hand.

5:04 pm – This is how Nicolas spent Kalen’s piano lesson time.

5:45 pm – Piano lesson’s done, now to the pool for swim lessons.  The smile is because he loves both!

6:56 pm – Jason got to the pool at 6:30, so I could run home, eat one of the chicken breasts from the Crock Pot, and get to the PTA board meeting at 7:00.  Like I said, one of those busy evenings.  Thankfully, the PTA board is all busy moms, so I wasn’t the only one eating dinner while standing at the kitchen counter before showing up a couple of minutes late.

9:0o pm – What I found when I got home.  He’ll sleep through anything, including the flash.

10:31 pm – A recent remake of The Music Man, starring Matthew Broderick and Kristen Chenoweth.  I love them both, and their singing was great, but the acting was…uncomfortable to watch.  It probably didn’t help that we watched the original just last weekend.  The kid playing Winthrop sounded remarkably like Ronny Howard, though.

10:40 pm – Filling in a few blanks before bed.

10:58 pm – Last thing before setting the alarm clock and going to sleep – check my day’s steps.  My daily goal is 5,000, outside of any formal workouts.  Not too shabby!

That’s it!  My day.  Unexciting, but certainly not boring.  Click here to visit Chad’s site and take a World Tour of October 12.

• It’s Tuesday!  It’s the 12th!  Yes, that means TWO posts today, you lucky readers, you.  Unless you just pop in here from Keely’s for Randomness or from Chad’s for 12 or 12.  Then you probably won’t even notice the other post.  So forget I said that.
• Yeah, I know.  I’m doing well these days if I can manage two posts a WEEK.  I was stressing about it there for a while, but now I’m just letting it go.  This whole spend-three-hours-at-the-gym-every-day deal is eating up the time.  And I’m okay with that.  Even if the antibiotics did halt my weight loss this week.  Dammit.
• Today, I made this chicken.  It is cooking as I type, and it. smells. glorious.  It also looked quite pretty when I put it in the Crock Pot this morning.  I took a picture.  You have to wait ’til I post my 12 of 12 tonight to see it.  I hope you can handle the suspense.
• When I was at the gym yesterday, I noticed a couple of those really buff guys in the free weight room* giving me encouraging smiles.  I told my trainer that it was a nice change from other gyms I’ve been to where the encouraging smiles are lacking, and the smirks are poorly hidden.  He replied, “Well, to anyone who works out regularly, it’s obvious you have great form and know what you’re doing.  So that might be part of it.”  I might have actually blushed, but thankfully, I was already beet-red from my workout.
• My sons are amazing me.  Kalen has had four or five piano lessons, and he’s doing great.  Nicolas has had three trumpet lessons and three weeks of band practices, and he’s zooming through the songs in his book.  My dad, who was a trumpet player for many years, admitted to being impressed at his progress, too.  I suppose there’s a reason neither of them has been interested in sports.  Looks like I’m not a soccer mom — I’m a music mom!  (Phew!  Even with folding chairs, recital halls are much more comfortable than Seattle-rainy soccer fields.)
• Have I shared that Jason is doing this program, too?  He, of course, is down nearly 20 pounds, but as my dietitian reminds me every week, I am NOT allowed to compare myself to him.  Because he’s a guy.  And guys, when it comes to weight loss, suck.  Jason also reminded me that antibiotics and monthly visitors do not contribute to weight loss.  Which also sucks, but is true.  Watch out next week.  I plan to rock that scale!
• Purple button.  At the top.  Press it!  Or, if you’re Southern, mash it!  Go random; you’ll never go back.

*Yes, I work out with my trainer in the free weight room.  Me, an overweight, 30-something, stay-at-home mom — in the free weight room!  I love it and feel so strong in there.

• I have a voice again!  Turns out, I also have strep throat.  Which I’ve been unknowingly spreading around my family and my kids’ school and the gym for the past however many days.  In my defense, I haven’t even had a low-grade fever and honestly thought it was a cold.  I need to practice my innocent look for when people around me start coming down with sore throats, though.
• Tuesday is my weigh-in day, so those of you who just pop by for Random Tuesdays are going to get to watch my weight plummet as I go through the program over the next few months.  This week, down 4.5 pounds, for a total of 8.5-ish.  You may commence with the happy dancing on my account.  Oh, and I can take my jeans out of a hot dryer, put them on, and zip them up with nary a breath held.  That, my friends, is real progress.  (My arms and shoulders are so sore from working out, however, that I can’t open a jar of applesauce.  Ah well, small victories.)
• It’s Fall!  I know, September 23 or some such day was the official start.  In my mind, though, it comes with October.  I need to pull out all the fun Halloween decorations.  Unfortunately, with the house a wreck, there’s really nowhere to put them.  First things first, I suppose.
• Whereas October 1 means Fall! Halloween! to me, to Jason it means Bring out the Christmas music!  Seriously.  It’s apparently genetic, since one of his cousins mentioned something similar on Facebook recently.  Still.  October??  It’s only because of my very strict must-Trick-or-Treat-and-finish-Thanksgiving-dinner-first policy that the Christmas movies aren’t pulled out around now, too.  I have my priorities, you know, which include raising my kids to value the importance of spookiness, dress-up and giving thanks.
• I’m joining this.  I ordered my sketchbook over the weekend.  Who’s in?  You certainly don’t have to be an artist…I can’t draw worth anything and am turning mine (I think) into a hand-lettered storybook.  Everyone from very accomplished illustrators to moms and kids coloring may participate.  I encourage anyone who wants to share any creativity to jump on in!  My mom and sister have ordered their books, too.  I’m even more excited now that they’ve added Seattle to the tour.  I can’t help but think it would be a really fun project for homeschoolers.

I kind of wonder if they even remember those days.

This is why we stay on the school playground and run wild for a while at the end of the school day.

The painful part is knowing how much bigger the workload is going to get in the next few years.

Sadly, this movement was sparked by the ongoing crisis of gay teen suicide.  Kids who have been bullied and exploited, who think they just can’t take it any more.

Dan Savage, a performer and columnist, is sick of it.  Like so many of us, he is heartbroken over the loss of so many lives for so horrible a reason.  As he wrote in his popular column Savage Love:

I wish I could have talked to this kid for five minutes. I wish I could have told Billy that it gets better. I wish I could have told him that, however bad things were, however isolated and alone he was, it gets better.

So, he began a movement.

It Gets Better

Videos for gay teens by gay adults.  Giving hope and love, sharing their experiences, sharing how wonderful live will turn out to be.  Watch a few.  I guarantee most of you will be moved to tears.

It. Gets. Better.

This is such an phenomenally important concept for gay teens to try to understand.

Come to think of it, not only gay teens.  Freaks.  Nerds.  Geeks.  (Yes, it’s now chic-to-be-geek in a lot of places, but not everywhere.)  Losers.  Babies.  Fastsos.  Dumb-fucks.  Beanpoles.  Know-it-alls.  Mama’s Boys.  Sluts.  Scum.  Four-eyes.  ’Tards.  Whatever name you’ve been called…if you can continue to hold your head up high and just get through it, it DOES get better.

I’m going to quote The Bloggess here, because she said it so beautifully:

Right now it’s hard to see clearly but there is a world of amazing people out there who…will love you and respect you and cherish your contributions.  I’m one of them and I can’t wait to meet you.  Don’t let me down.

I’m one of them, too.  If you have been or are being bullied, pushed around, put down or exploited, I won’t presume to know or understand exactly what you’re going through.  What I do know, however, is how many wonderful gifts you have to give the world, even if you haven’t found them yet.  You are infinitely worthy of love and deserving of joy.  Please, please give us the chance to get to know you and help you find your joy.

When you have laryngitis, it does more harm than good to whisper.  Try to talk with your voice, or don’t speak at all.  The latter is preferable.  My PA-C suggested a small white board.  That I do not have, but I do have about three trillion (give or take a dozen) partially-used spiral notebooks.  And slightly more pens.  The combo works just fine.

When you have to communicate with your seven-year-old via the written word, you can’t use your usual cursive-printing-hybrid scrawl.

Or substitute ‘w/’ for ‘with.’

You can, however substitute ’@’ for ‘at.’  Thank you, internet age.

Even though I do a large majority of my communicating via e-mail and IM, there are still some things one needs a phone for.  And, if one is not connected to the Telephone Relay Service, a voice.  (e.g. Elementary school Safe Arrival Lines.  Oops.)

Short of having one’s mouth wired shut, it is probably impossible for an extremely verbal person to assist a ten-year-old with his homework without talking.

Friends and family are extremely helpful when they hear you croaking (literally, not euphemistically) over the phone.

Pharmacists can be very sweet and helpful when you present them with a sheet of paper that says, “Sorry, laryngitis!  Do you have…”

Both seven- and ten-year-olds respond quite well to being clapped at and whistled for.  This discovery, I believe, has definite training possibilities.  My future daughters-in-law will thank me, don’t you think?

When you communicate with children via expression, note pad, and hand gestures, they will be tempted to respond only in nods and grunts.  Hence, this page, which I’ve referred to several times this afternoon:

(The first page was quite neatly written.  That went downhill, and fast.)

The sore throat I’ve had for the past three mornings has apparently progressed into something more dysphonic.  (Ooh, big word!  Thank you, Wikipedia.)

So, just for fun, I thought I’d keep track of the things I want to say today that can’t quite make it past my uncooperative vocal chords:

“Stop messing around and Go. Get. Dressed!”

(This was replaced by loud clapping – to get his attention, a tug on his PJs shirt, and pointing toward the bedroom.)

“Did you pack a snack?”

(Meh, if he forgot it, he forgot it.  He’ll survive.)

“Absolutely amazing and astounding, something that is brought about by a miracle.”

(In answer to Nicolas’s question, “Mom, what does miraculous mean?”  I just stared at him with my eyebrows raised and whispered, Unnnhhh.  ”Oh yeah.  Sorry, Mom.”)

“Have a good day!  Learn lots!  Don’t bite your teacher on the leg.*”

(I blew kisses instead.)

“Why are you washing your Legos in the bathroom sink?”

(More clapping, and a whispered, “What are you doing??”  Apparently, he thought wetting them would make them easier to pull apart.)

“Hello, I’d like to make an appointment to see the doctor this morning.”

(After a choke-whispered phone conversation with my sister, “Sick. No voice. Please call doctor. Make appointment,” and an email with details, my fabu little sis came through for me.)

And so to the doctor’s office I head.  Will there be a Part II?  We shall see…

*My Dad’s standard farewell in the mornings when we were kids.  Funny how your parents creep into your lexicon as you get older, isn’t it?

• I’ve been doing this exercise:

• I don’t think anything can adequately convey how much it can hurt, but I’ll try.  Derik (my trainer) said, somewhat jokingly, “Most of the women I start on this say childbirth hurt only slightly less.”  Yes, well…I had a c-section.  The epidural wore off in the middle of it.  Okay, imagine that pain.  Believe it or not, this exercise did come sort of close to that sharp, excruciating feeling the first time I did it.  There were tears dripping off my face onto the gym floor.  The cool thing, though?  The second time I did it, a couple of days later, no problem.  Sure, it was really painful, but exponentially less so than the first time.  It was even less painful today (the third time).  There is hope, especially since doing this on a daily basis may help relieve some – or a lot – of my knee pain.
• I am now reading The Hunger Games.  Wow, it’s as fabulous as everyone says it is.
• I just got a great email.  In 2005, Jason and I drove from Atlanta to St. Louis to see one of the last games at Busch Stadium, before it was torn down to build a new Busch Stadium.  While there, we planted a letterbox with a very cool stamp, if I may say so.  Upon arriving home, I lost the clues for the box.  Oops.  *Time warp to 2010, almost exactly 5 years to the week after that trip.* Someone found the box, rescued it, looked me up on letterboxing.org, and emailed me tonight.  I do hope the box is intact and that we can get someone to replant it in that area.  Trust me, this is very exciting news for a letterboxer.
• Kalen has a raging ear infection.  It’s so bad that doctor actually recoiled from his ear when she first looked in.  Apparently, both ears are fire engine red on the inside.  Of course, he feels miserable, but he loves the pink amoxicillin (who doesn’t?) and the break from school to watch Star Wars movies.  What is he most upset about?  Missing the first Lego Engineering class after school tomorrow.  (That “24 hours free of fever” rule.)  I can’t say as I blame him, especially when I think about how much that class cost.  Oh, and, I guess, the Legos.
• That should do for some random.  Plenty more available if you click the not-so-ugly button up top!

On our return from Model United Nations my Junior year in high school.  We had actually gone to The Hague, worked our tails off, and had a great time.  I was beyond tired when I got home.

Similarly, after a certain school trip to France.  (Hey, you get lots of cool field trip opportunities when you go to high school overseas!)  I believe I slept for nearly 24 hours after returning from that trip.

When I had a toddler and a baby.  Who cried a lot.  And didn’t sleep through the night.  I was exhausted for months.

This time, the exhaustion is new and different: it is completely physical.  I am, essentially, a lazy person.  I am sedentary.  I don’t like getting up and moving around.  When I was a child, my mom had to take my books away and practically push me outside to play with other kids.

And now, here I am, going to the gym five(!) days a week.  Spending up to three hours(!) there each time.  Granted, a chunk of that time is taken up with walking to and from my car, showering, changing, filling ice bags and icing my knees, etc.  Still.  I am working out.  A lot, for me.  Compared to how those three hours of my day have been spent in recent years (I read a lot of blogs.  I crochet or knit.  I scrapbook.), this is quite the shock to my body.

I had an idea going into this experience that the workouts would bring me energy, not zap it.  And I’m sure they will…eventually.  For now, though, I am — and there are no other words that come close to describing it — simply exhausted.

But in a good way.

I think.

• So, Dancing With the Stars, in my nutshell world:  The Hoff?  Major disappointment.  I had hopes.  They were dashed.  ~*~  Breakout?  Kyle Massey, who my boys recognize from The Disney Channel, and who I now officially Adore-with-a-capital-A.  ~*~  Cringeworthy?  Margaret Cho, who had a beautiful beginning and fouled it up with slapstick.  (Margaret, some advice: Don’t try to be Cloris.  Cloris couldn’t dance and HAD to slapstick it up.  You have real dancing potential.  I know you’re being funny to overcome your discomfort with your own beauty and grace, but you have both beauty and grace, so OWN IT, GIRL!  Louis, some advice: Do NOT let her convince you to go that route again, or Len may come across the judges’ table and strangle you.  Should that happen, I will cheer him on.)  ~*~  Cringeworthy, part II?  Florence Henderson.  Ouch, but LOVED when she flashed the world her sports bra.  ~*~  Simply gorgeous on the dance floor?  Tie: Brandy, Jennifer Grey and Rick Fox.  The season has definite potential.
• What?  I should get a life of my own?  Sure.  I met with my personal trainer for the first time yesterday.  I like him.  He is very nice, but he is going to push me.  Hard.  I’m sore, and the only thing we did yesterday was some stretching.
• I made these meatballs last week.  I was concerned they might be sub-par, given that I was working with ground turkey, but I needn’t have worried.  We all agreed they were the best meatballs we’d ever had.  The best meatballs we’d ever had…made with ground turkey!  Doesn’t seem possible, does it?  Try them.  You may not agree with us, but you’ll probably at least like them.
• Book recommendation: Middlesex.  May not be everyone’s cuppa, but I found it riveting and moving.
• Game recommendation: Dominion.  When it comes to games, this is an easy one:  If it’s won the Spiel des Jahres, we want to own it, because the games that win it are GOOD.  Dominion won last year.  Ooh, I just noticed that Scotland Yard, one of my sister’s and my favorites from way back when, won in 1983.  Cool.
• Randomizing is fun!  Find more of it here at Keely’s.

Still, I was a designer at heart.  Unfortunately, at such a technically-heavy university, there were limited avenues for liberal-arts-designer-types.  And I’d fallen in love.  With the school, with a group of friends, with the Chorale, and with a certain young man who was a part of all three.  So I stuck around.

At Georgia Tech, what I did has a name.  A derogative name that we recipients have grabbed onto and joked about and adopted as our own to lessen the sting a bit.

I rode the M-Train.

Sure, being a Management* major exempted me from the calculus-based courses (thank goodness), the many science classes (awesome), and the killer programming (double thank goodness).  That’s a good thing, because my brain isn’t wired the way that good scientists’ and developers’ brains are.  But “easier” doesn’t mean “easy,” especially at a school like Tech, and college certainly wasn’t a cakewalk.  I earned my management degree.

Still, I didn’t go to school to be a manager.  I went through the motions, convincing myself that I’d get along just fine in business.  Upon graduation, I had no idea what I wanted to do.  The designer in me was completely unfulfilled…enough to be pretty well squelched.  The artistic outlet that Chorale had provided was suddenly gone.  But I was happy.  The aforementioned young man and I were planning our wedding, and we had the rest of our lives together.  I had the rest of my life to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up.

While I was figuring that out (or more accurately, while I was still figuring out that I hadn’t yet figured it out), part of our planning took root.  We were expecting a child.  We made plans.  My mom offered daycare for the baby, and I would continue my administrative-assistant-financial-analyst job for the wonderful people I worked with.

Nicolas had other plans.  Having a baby three months early does tend to throw a wrench into whatever intentions might have existed.  We couldn’t afford for me to stay home back then, but Nicolas needed me.  We scrambled, we borrowed, we struggled, we made huge mistakes.  Finally, we pulled ahead.

I didn’t go to school to be a manager, but I am a manager.  I manage our lives.  I’m continually amazed at how experiences in college – in class, in extracurricular activities, in my social life – prepared me for where I am in life.

I took statistics and have a healthy understanding of standard deviation.  I am an advocate for my special needs child and can interpret the data given me, with a bit of help.

I took human resources.  I understand the nuances of open enrollment and various benefits when Jason brings home the paperwork and am well-equipped to make the best decisions for our family.

I sang in the Chorale for four years.  I can help my son sing the notes he’s attempting to replicate as a new trumpet player.

I took economics.  I didn’t understand it a bit, but at least I understand the words the economists use while talking about the current state of the economy and can nod intelligently.

I made friends.  Really, really good friends.  Friends who helped me become the person I am.  Friends I love a lot.

I took finance and accounting.  I make a killer budget spreadsheet.

I took class after class after class requiring written reports.  Before those classes, I thought I couldn’t write.  I thought I was “BS’ing” my way through the papers.  I was told otherwise by my grades and the praise of my professors.  My confidence in my writing was nonexistent before college.  Now, I write.  I know I write well, and I enjoy writing well.

So, no, I didn’t go to school to be a manager, but I don’t regret the path one bit.  There’s still time to decide what I want to be when I grow up.

*A management degree is basically a business degree obtained from a technical school.  (I’ve read other descriptions about their differences, but I truly believe it boils down to that.)  In the business world, this difference has distinct advantages, including an exposure to technology that can be applied well in business and a lot of exposure to engineers, developers, and scientists.  The latter exposure, I believe, contributes to more successful management, especially in a technical setting.  A manager whose friends are “techie” will better know how to communicate and work with folks in those positions.

• I’ve been seeing memoir after memoir in the media lately that I want to pick up and read.  This weekend, we saw Shappi Khorsandi on The Graham Norton Show, and her book, A Beginner’s Guide to Acting English, intrigues me quite a bit.  This morning, Amy Yasbeck was on The Today Show, promoting her book about her life with John Ritter.  Tim Gunn’s Little Life Lessons… is a must-read, if only because I adore Tim Gunn.  (In our household, he’s known as Uncle Tim.  I like to pretend I know him for real.)  And, of course, I’m looking forward to buying and reading Two Kisses For Maddy.
• None of those are affiliate links.  I don’t make a dime off of ‘em, unfortunately.
• I am really beginning to understand how much I’ve taken ultra-involved PTA parents for granted in the past.  This is a lot of work, folks.  And I’m not even doing one of the “harder” jobs.  Support your school’s PTA!  They need all the help they can get.  Trust me.
• This morning, I was ready a little bit early.  So I put clear nail polish on.  Before walking the boys to school.  This is not normal behavior.  I have no idea what came over me.
• This makes me giggle.
• The sun is shining brightly outside.  We spent some time on the playground after school today, as we always try to do when the weather allows.  Because too soon, it’ll be this:

8:35 am – Drip, drip, drip.  My favorite thing to see when I stumble into the kitchen.  No, we don’t keep the clock set on the coffee pot.  I try to remember to unplug it to save energy.

11:54 am – Jason must have someone from one of these teams on his fantasy team.

1:06 pm – I love these dying hydrangeas from the front yard.

1:06 pm – …and these fresher ones.  From the same bush.  There’s great contrast out there right now.

1:16 pm – Reading time.  Some books never get old.

2:58 pm – Nicolas had his first trumpet lesson on Saturday.  This picture makes me so happy.

4:34 pm – Kalen has gotten into The Sorcerer’s Stone, so we started him on his own collection of the series.  Another picture that makes me so happy.  (Beth, that’s still his favorite shirt!)

4:57 pm – Bicycle racks shaped like bicycles!  Cute, until your goofy mom insists you pose with them for a photo.  That’s going on her blog.  At least Kalen seems to be going for it.

5:07 pm – He is really into this book.  He maintained this position for the entire ride.  Note the death grip on his new bookmark.

5:07 pm – Nicolas got a few new-to-him Choose Your Own Adventures.  Vintage 1980′s!

6:29 pm – Playing with my new toy after a stop at the mall.

8:21 pm – The aftermath of a collage assignment for school.

And that was our 12th!  A much-needed day of relaxation.  Check out how the rest of the world wiled away their Sunday over at Chad’s.

It looks like someone finally heard me.

Where do I sign up?

• Look!  Keely made a new Random Tuesday button!
• We were thrilled to usher in the college football season this weekend.  (My apologies to several of you.  I know you care not one whit.)  A great win for Georgia Tech on Saturday, and an exciting game between Boise State and Virginia Tech last night.  I have a bit of an affinity for Boise State, since we’ve played a couple of bowl games on their blue turf in recent years.
• I just got off the phone with the intake coordinator for a program I’m beginning…tomorrow, apparently!  Intense dietary counseling, personal training, counseling, etc. with the goal of complete lifestyle change and a turnaround of my health and fitness.  And hopefully 100(+?) pounds gone.  I am exhilarated, excited, and so nervous my stomach’s doing flip-flops just from talking/typing about it.  I think this is where my obsessive nature is going to be focused for a while.
• I promise not to turn this into a health and fitness blog.  There’s nothing more irritating than the unasked-for preaching of a reformed whatever (smoker, fitness nut, evangelist, fountain pen user).  Besides, the idea of me becoming a health and fitness nut is so extreme I can’t begin to imagine it.
• I’m so excited that The Preeclampsia Foundation‘s annual gala fundraiser is being held in Seattle this year!  I’ve always wanted to go, and this year we are.  If you can’t go, please consider donating.  It’s a cause that needs a lot of support.  Not everyone who has preeclampsia gets the happy ending we got.
• Okay, I have about fifty errands to run today (give or take a few dozen), so get thee over to Keely’s and check out some more randomness, mmkay?

Chilly wind & keeping warm

Keeping warm & bright flashes

Bright flashes & goofy smiles

Yes, yes that is a blue fauxhawk on my seven-year-old’s head.

Why do you ask?

• So, you all know I jump from hobby to hobby like a toddler on a sugar high, right?  Only without so much energy.  Or any energy, actually.  Get this:  I’ve been hobby-free all summer.  Sure, I’ve knitted a bit here and there on the baby blanket I started last spring.  (The child WILL get it before she goes to preschool.  I promise.)  And I knitted a hat/scarflette combo for myself.  But that’s it.  Really.  It’s like this summer was a giant hobby black hole.  I can’t say it’s going to pick up anytime soon, either.
• I saw this video on Dooce’s site today.  I could have written her post about it, right down to the goosebumps.  I canNOT dance.  I really wish I could.  I so enjoy watching people with true dancing talent.

• Okay, summer, you’ve made your point.  I’ve interrupted writing this post three times already to put out fires (i.e., tell the kids to STOP ALREADY) or remind them that We Have To Leave To Go To the Chiropractor in TEN Minutes, So Get Your Shoes On.  ~*~  Whoever invented summer break was genius.  Make it just long enough that the crazies hit the kids a week or two before it’s over, completely obliterating any parental sentimentality that might make us wish for a longer summer break.  Brilliantly played, summer break inventor person.
• Is anyone else really curious and really excited to see Jennifer Grey on the new season of Dancing With the Stars?  Is anyone else going to get misty when she’s not dancing with Patrick Swayze?  Am I a hormonal nutcase?  (Hint: the answer to that last question is likely a yes.)
• And, c’mon…David Hasselhoff?  Awesome.
• Speaking of, the boys have discovered the original Knight Rider on Neftlix.  It does an 80′s girl’s heart good to see her boys enjoying a bit of Kitt and Michael Knight time.

• 8 days until the first day of school.  Yes, this does translate to about 9 days until my blog and I get to know one another again.
• Is there anyone more wonderful than the front office staff at an elementary school?  I love those ladies.  (Sorry to exclude you, men, but our two schools have been guy-free in the front office.)  They are always happy smiles and comforting hugs.  Just genuinely great people.
• They are also the people you want to get to know.  Even if you’re working two jobs and just don’t have time to be a school volunteer, get to know the front office ladies.  Having a relationship with someone who has their finger on the pulse of the whole school can only be a good thing for your kids’ educational experience.  Plus, they are usually, like I said, just neat, neat people with a true love for the kids.  There’s my unsolicited advice for the day.
• The boys are on a Harry Potter kick, thanks to the Lego game that came out this summer.  They are currently running around the backyard, casting spells.  Conversation snippet that has me losing it:

Kalen: Halt, Bloody Baron!
Nicolas: I’m not Baron!

(Say it out loud.)

• Jason and I have kidcare (yay for kidcare swaps!) for a movie date this weekend.  What shall we see?  Inception?  Scott Pilgrim?  The Switch?  It’s a huge choice.  This kind of opportunity comes but once or twice a year, after all.  I’m leaning toward Inception.  I hear we should make another date for a second viewing, so we can glean some understanding of it.
• Time to stop procrastinating and make some phone calls.  While I’m doing that, you go ahead and click that purple button up top for more randomness, mm-kay?

• Today, August 17, 2010 is the first anniversary of our move to Seattle.  At this time last year, our plane was just about to touch down, I believe.  A year!
• We spent the weekend in Oregon.  It was a whirlwind trip, smiled upon by the angels.  Or, more likely, the god of getting into restaurants just before the long lines.  Which god is that, anyway?  Dionysus, maybe…
• Seriously, we picked the right weekend, even with the 95-degree temps.  See, since it WAS going to be so hot, I spent time online looking for air-conditioned stuff to do.  Which led us to OMSI, which just happens to be hosting an Einstein exhibit right now.  And which just happened to be free this weekend.  Fa-ree.  Completely sponsored by Fred Meyer (local grocery store).  YES!  Cheap trip just got cheaper, baby.
• Oh, and Einstein?  I never knew much about his life or political beliefs before Saturday, but I’m now a huge fan.  Totally cool old dead guy.
• Speaking of travel, have you checked out Trazzler?  Fun!  I read about it on someone else’s blog recently, and I’m ashamed to say I can’t remember whose.  But thank you, mysterious blogger who I follow in RSS but apparently am too daft to recall!
• It looks like the blackberries are ripe around these parts.  The boys and I must make a roadside stop.  I can’t imagine any better summer taste than fresh blackberries.  Unless it’s blackberry pie.  Or blackberry cobbler.

9:18 am – Good morning!

9:46 am – Heading out for the boys’ annual portrait together.  We’ve done one every summer since we’ve had both of them.

11:20 am – Post-portrait lunch at Ruby’s.  I think they’d had enough smiling for the camera at this point.

12:43 pm – Ruby’s delivers on kids’ distractions.  These are even better than the masks we used to get at Denny’s back in the day.  Anyone remember those?

12:46 pm – Our library system has really cool automated return machines.

2:25 pm – This is disturbing.

2:59 pm – Scenes like this make me wonder where my babies went.

4:14 pm – Have I mentioned the very cool playgrounds we have here?

4:28 pm – Jason likes them, too.

4:28 pm – Let’s call this “motion blur,” not “point and shoot with no time to change the shutter speed.”

4:30 – Proof I was there, too!  (What is with my neck?!?)

11:07 pm – What he said!  (Is it me, or does he look like he could be filling in for Gene Kelly?  Gotta dance!)

• I’m feeling incredibly Random today, which you would think would bode well for Random Tuesday Thoughts.  Hint: It doesn’t.  Random = scattered = what, a blog?  Where?
• I’ve been enjoying all the BlogHer posts trickling in everywhere.  No jealousy.  None.  Okay, I lie.  Maybe a tad.  But it’s mixed with “I don’t know anyone anyway and would have felt like an outsider” relief at not being there.  So, mostly, I’m happy to read from afar about the fun that was had by most.
• Have you ever gone mini-golfing in the rain?  I highly recommend it.  It’s sort of become a family tradition now.  Our Saturday escapade in the Seattle drizzle doesn’t quite match the downpour on the mountainside course in Gatlinburg when I was a kid, but still.  I really do think wet days are the best ones to be out on the mini-links.  The main reason: NO crowds.

• Look at Kalen’s happy smile.  See how his eyes are all squinty?  Pure, fabulous genetics.  That squint is how I know I’ve actually captured a joyous moment.  If you see Kalen or my dad (or his mom) smiling in a photograph, and you can see the whites of their eyes, it’s not their “happy” smile.  It’s a posed “picture smile.”  Or a stage smile.  There’s nothing wrong picture and stage smiles; I just happen to be partial to the happy, squinty ones, myself.
• Look at Nicolas’s smile.  It’s pure “for the camera.”  As is his pose.  The kid should be a model.  He does this every time.
• The Spin Cycle this week is all about weddings.  Scattered brain over here is trying to decide which aspect of ours to write about.  (“About which to write,” I know, I know.)  Any requests?
• Hey, lookie there.  I managed some random!  Check out Keely’s for a lot more.

Yikes, that yarrow on the bottom left is looking more than a bit sad.  I’m happy to report that he’s perked up a bit since Thursday morning, however.

If he doesn’t continue to perk up, there’s always Home Depot’s exchange policy.

I’m pulling for him, though.

As for the mums, I’m surprised at myself.

They’re my favorite part.

Or maybe that’s my favorite part.

Seeing them learn new chores makes me happy.

It’s Miracle Treat Day!

Go get a Blizzard, and make someone’s (or several someones’) day.

Yesterday was Flower Buying Day.  We started our hunt at Home Depot’s clearance racks before moving onto the main nursery section.  I’m nothing if not cheap budget-minded.

I think we did well.

Yarrow!  (I’ve heard of it, but never used it before.)

Trailing Petunias!

Mums!  I’ve never been much of a fan, but they’re so cheery, aren’t they?

Blanket Flowers (Gaillardia).  I’ve never heard of this one.  It’s full and pretty.

Dahlias!  These are gor. geous.  Absolutely brilliant.

Soil!

Oh, how my farming ancestors would have laughed at me, buying dirt from a store.  What a different world we live in.

Tomorrow on Garden Week!™ — the finished product.

However, in an attempt to (a) do something fulfilling with the boys, (b) make some pretty, and (c) work on that list from the beginning of summer, I’ve declared it Garden Week!™ here at Camp Mom.  Seeing as this house, and therefore its yard, does not belong to us, a container garden it is.  I’ve broken Garden Week!™ down into daily steps to better keep the boys’ interest – and my sanity – intact.

Day 1: Procure containers.

My original thought was to go thrift store shopping to get all the containers.  That original thought became shocked resolve when I looked at the price of new pots and planters – $28-$45 apiece?  Wow.

So, yesterday, the boys and I hit the thrift store circuit.  Selection is low.  Okay, okay, I know it’s August, and most on-the-ball people started their gardens much earlier in the summer.  Or spring.  But still.  NOTHING at the first three stores.  What we did find was cracked, chipped, or plain old ug-lee.

Goodwill, though.  Goodwill came through for us.

Goodwill always comes through.

$27 later, and out we walked with a bevy (herd?  flock? murder?) of containers for our front porch.  (Plus two flower containers for inside, because why not?)

There’s a shy one hiding in the red planter, too.  He wasn’t too keen on hopping out during the photo session.

Or I forgot about him.  Either way.

Tomorrow on Garden Week!™ – Day 2: Buying flowers!

• I think we can all agree that Geico has a brilliant ad team.  This latest one, at least for me, takes the cake.  It won’t tempt me to leave USAA, but I must admit to uncontrollable laughter when I saw it for the first time last night:

• I knit a hat over the past few days, without a pattern.  It’s HUGE.  Giant.  Ginormous.  I read Yarn Harlot’s Knitting Rules! and went by her guidelines for swatching, determining size, etc.  Considering her expertise, I can only conclude that I messed up somewhere, probably in the math.  Or maybe I should have stretched the swatch before measuring.  The more I think about it, the more I think that’s the answer.  Jason or I could wear the hat, turned up at the brim, but…yeah, even then, it’s rather comically gigantic.
• Remember that list we made back at the beginning of the summer?  Surprisingly, we haven’t made a whole lot of progress on it.  I had been envisioning a summer full of boredom, during which we would NEED that list as an idea-maker.  The List would serve as a hero of sorts, rescuing us from bickering, frustrated doldrums.  Really, though, we haven’t needed it.
• We are knocking a rather large item off The List this week, however.  More on that tomorrow.
• I’ve never been one to fear change.  In fact, I tend to embrace it with glee.  Sometimes it manages to throw me for a loop, though.  A couple of weeks ago, the boys’ swim lessons were changed from Tuesday evenings to Wednesdays at the same time.  Every Tuesday afternoon about this time, I get antsy, feeling like I’m forgetting an appointment.  I now check my calendar more on Tuesdays than I do any other day of the week.
• Every evening, just after dinnertime, the ice cream truck drives through our neighborhood.  More often than not, the annoying music blaring from the speaker is “Greensleeves”.  Which, of course, is also used as the music for “What Child Is This?”  Which means that I’m finding myself humming Christmas music.  In July/August.
• That’s all I got.  Check out Keely’s place for more randomness!  (Click the purple button at the top of the page.)

The Locks are pretty darned amazing.  We arrived as a group of small craft piled into the lock to make the descent from Lake Union to Puget Sound.

Boats going down!  They also manage to change the water the boats are sitting on from fresh to saltwater.  Lake Union is freshwater; the Sound, of course, is salt.

The engineering of it all is pretty darned cool.

But enough about the science, right?  We want to see the fish ladder!

Best. Sign. EVER.

You can tell by the look on his face how hard he’s working to get up that staircase.

Seattle = GREAT public art.  Everywhere.

Even at fish ladders.

I love saying that.  Fish ladder fish ladder fish ladder.

Huh.  All of that, and I didn’t get any pictures of the actual ladders.  In my defense, the fish weren’t doing much publicly-visible climbing.

We did go inside the viewing area to see some who were in between “rungs.”

Salmon!

Yum.

I mean, how cute.

I think this guy is a Chinook.  He was HUGE.

Dinner for six, at least.

I’m horrible.

It was pretty incredible.  We’ve seen fish that close before, of course, in aquariums.  But these are wild salmon, on their way “home” to whatever stream or hatchery from whence they came 2-3 years ago.  The ladder was built for them long before salmon habitat conservation was a major concern in the area, and it saves them from getting all smashed up in the locks.  Pretty great planning.

On the way home, we went to a great burger joint in Ballard.  I had a salmon burger.  With tartar sauce.  Yum.

I was wearing my go-to maternity top: a blue, patterned shirt with gathered elastic below the bust and the requisite string tied around the back.  Pregnant with my second child.  Jason, Nicolas and I were checking out, and the cashier asked me when I was due.

Believe it or not, my eyes filled.  When you’re plus-sized and well-endowed, you “show” later than other women.  For a long time, you just look fatter.  Clothing hangs from your chest, rather than your stomach, for months.  (Two-year-old Nicolas once told a woman at Michaels, “My mommy has a baby in her CHEST!” while pointing at my newly-enhanced cleavage.  Awkward!)

Thus, when you’re plus-sized and well-endowed and have your first baby at 28 weeks, chances are you can go your whole pregnancy with no one outside your friends and family asking your due date, asking to rub your tummy, or annoyingly rubbing it without asking.

So the poor Disney Store Girl asked and got more than she asked for.  A teary “August 3,” and I think, perhaps, a quick attempt at explaining my emotion.  I don’t remember.

I do remember savoring the feeling, the knowledge that I was pregnant enough that other people could tell.  It was one of many things I missed by not having a “complete” pregnancy the first time around.

While I always felt lucky and blessed that things turned out as well as they did with Nicolas’s birth, I also felt gypped.  Gypped of the happy, if painful, birthing experience.  Gypped of the glowing and planning and expectation that comes in the third trimester.  And, yes, even gypped of the annoying touches from intrusive strangers.  All the normal pregnancy things that every single one of my pregnant friends experienced.

Kalen was my second – and last – chance, and I went in knowing it was unlikely to be a typical pregnancy.  Of course, it wasn’t.  I was on partial bed rest by 30 weeks, and full bed rest shortly thereafter.  But, while I never did have to put up with a stranger reaching out for my belly, I did at least get pregnant enough that people – strangers – knew it.

And I basked in it, because by then I knew what a gift the knowing was.

• I am really, really not looking forward to school starting again.  It’s the first time I’ve felt this way in my entire life.  Including when I was in school.  We have very few concrete plans, the boys and I, and I’m quite enjoying sort of floating along through summer.  Who knew?
• It is very cool, however, that school doesn’t start until September here.  The back-to-school sales have begun at all the national chains, with new sales running every week.  I’ve made a game for myself of comparing prices and finding killer deals on markers, Pink Pearl erasers, reams of papers, and a protractor.
• Oh yeah, remember this?  He did it again on Sunday.  Seriously.  Same crash, other side of the same towel bar.  Lessons, schmessons.  The only person not beside themselves during the whole drama was Nicolas, who wisely grabbed The Order of the Phoenix and retreated to the den to read for a while.
• How did I handle it?  I mostly didn’t.  I left him and it to Jason, grabbed a basket of laundry, and folded it while I watched the season finale of Doctor Who On Demand.  Yes.  You read that right.  I hid.  Given my incredulity and potential inability to respond rationally, I believe I made the responsible choice.
• Speaking of Doctor Who, I have to say the cliff hanger episode directly before the finale was much more compelling.  I find that “I knew what to do to save the future because I came back and told myself” bit a little far fetched.  Yes, I know we’re talking about time-traveling aliens here, but I have to draw my far-fetchery line somewhere, don’t I?
• I was amused yesterday while checking my blog stats page.  There have been additional, completely out-of-left-field search engine queries bringing people by.  Someone is looking for ‘Civil War scrapbooking paper,’ and Google apparently thought I had the answer.  Four times.  Another person searching for the cost of Dooce’s new house popped in.  Seriously?  (a) Hello, NOSY!  (b) Do you think that search is really going to yield results??  Not that I didn’t wonder, myself, when I saw that bath tub Monday morning.  I don’t care what other amenities that house has, that tub alone would have me pulling my credit scores and scrambling for a good mortgage rate.
• The boys want to make Harry Potter wands today.  I think we might just have to do that.

Remember, back in February, when I showed you how we convert the kids’ play room to a guest room?  That’s not quite all of it.

There’s something we’ve started hanging up in there to make our guests feel a little more special.

1 ~ Use an old manila folder to create a diamond-shaped template.  Diamonds folded in half, of course, make triangles.  Trace the diamonds onto newspaper.  Make sure you’ve already read the newspaper, if you want to, because it’s going to get ruined.

2 ~ Water down acrylic paints just a bit, so the newsprint will show through.  Be sure to keep warm colors separated from cool to prevent muddiness.  Notice that I gave Nicolas all the reds, oranges, and yellows, and Kalen had the greens, blues, and purples.

3 ~ Paint!  Go hog wild.  Go outside the lines!  It’s abstract!  It’s fun!

4 ~ While the paint is drying, cut out letters that will fit on the folded triangles.  I wanted to print perfect letters in a pretty font from my computer but decided to embrace the child-like, handmade look of it all.  I hand-drew the letters on construction paper with Sharpie and cut them out.  W’s and M’s are particularly difficult; just thought you deserved fair warning.

5 ~ Choose a string/ribbon/something-like-that to hold all your triangles.  I found some red paper twine in my stash and braided it with raffia.  Cut the [dry] diamonds out, fold them over and glue them around the s/r/s-l-t.  Reinforce the top with a staple, if you’re concerned they might slide around a bit.

6 ~ Attach the letters.

7 ~ Hang.  You know all those looooong plastic twist ties that hold toys in their packaging and generally make birthdays and Christmas morning so frustrating?  Jason’s always insisted on keeping them and storing them out with the hardware in the garage.  I cannot tell you how often they’ve come in handy.  I use two to attach the bunting the curtain rod.  The hardware’s a little much for a paper banner, but I might get curtains in there someday, too.  Maybe.

It was a fun, free project that took us only an hour or so one afternoon.  Folded up, it fits nicely in the drawer with the guest room alarm clock.  Unfolded and hung, it shows our guests how happy we are to have them.

“HOLY cow!  What was that??  Are you okay?”

“yes.”

“WHAT was that??”

“i was…hanging…on something. and it fell.”

“WHAT were you hanging on???”

[Door opens]

“this.”

Towel bar in hand.  Left towel bar holder in hand.  Screws – which had been installed without anchors, thank you previous owners – ripped out of drywall.

“You were HANGING on the TOWEL BAR?!?”

“yes.”

“I. You. I can’t believe this.  Put that down.  I’m not dealing with this right now.  You can tell Dad when you get home and ask him to fix it.”

Retreat to den.  Seethe.  Congratulate yourself for not exploding.  Feel slight guilt over pushing the repair off on Dad when you’re perfectly capable of fixing it in five minutes.

Hear sniffles.  Sniffles turn to sobs.

Enter child, head hanging, sobs at maximum, words incoherent.

“I can’t understand you.”

“I. *sob* Don’t. *gasp* Deserve. *sob* To have. *gasp* ANY. *sob* Fun. *Choke* Today.”

“No fun?”

“No. *sob* I tried to fix it. *gasp* But it won’t STAY! *wheeze*”

At this point, hyperventilation seems imminent.

“Come here, sweetie.”

Hug.  Breathe.  Repeat.  Again.

“Would you like me to help you fix it?”

“yes.  please.”

“Okay, then, put some shoes on and come out to the garage with me.”

Lessons learned by him:

~ The importance of drywall anchors and how they work.

~ Righty tighty, lefty loosy.

~ How towel bars are assembled.

~ Why we have rules against treating the household fixtures like a jungle gym.

Lessons learned by me:

~ We have some teeny-tiny hex wrenches.

~ Bathroom lighting is even worse for photography than the rest of the house.

~ My baby’s growing up and learning unprompted responsibility.

~ I just might be doing something right in this whole parenting thing.

It turns out, picking up stitches and knitting in the round are harder to explain than they are to execute.

It turns out, after a lot of handling, Noro feels a lot softer than it does in the original hank.

It turns out, this pattern plus this yarn make a fun [and warm!] hat.

Mochi Spiral Hat
Noro Furin (colorway #11), Sz. 10 needles (6.0 mm)

It turns out, I only used one skein to make this hat.

It turns out, casting on for a matching scarf is pretty irresistible, even if said scarf is going to be somewhat short and skinny.